I'm Aware, Wolf
The standard getting-to-know-you questions in college, annoying as they might be, are usually the following: name, major, and something interesting about yourself. I might as well do the same to start this story. John. Undecided, and yes, I am aware I...
Trading Places
“Winston, he finally finished it!” Shelley exclaims as she sprints into my home office, holding up the case as a declaration of victory. Her typically on-point skirt and blouse are disheveled, and her ponytail is coming apart at the seams. I look up...
That Time I Bought A Transformation Spell On Etsy
It is a Friday night in late October close to midnight, perhaps the most appropriate time of year for magic. Friday the 14th, though, but that can’t be helped. A chill seeps through the twenty year old windows in my apartment which badly need...
Fertility Goddess Arise
Adam slowly pushed the squeaky cart, laden with books, between the towering metal bookcases, periodically depositing a returned book to its rightful place on a shelf. It was a quiet Wednesday evening early in the fall semester, so the study areas...
Heir To The Dragon Queen
The dragon queen was dead, passing away peacefully in her sleep at the respectable age of 937. There was little time for dragonkind to mourn, however, as war raged in the valley below the stony mountain stronghold. Humans, with their advanced machinery...
Mer-Made Differently
Silas entered the tavern, ducking his 6’6’’ frame to avoid banging his head on the weather-worn doorway. The movement was second nature, as none of the entrances in the port city were built for someone of his stature. He clutched a book to his side,...
The Dark Wizard's Curse?
Steryx’s sword made quick work of the undead ghoul, slicing it to ribbons. It fell to the stony floor of the castle hallway, its desiccated corpse collapsing into dust. The gray wolf let loose a howl of rage and sprinted to the immobile form sitting...
Kaiju à Deux
“Godspeed, son. Make your country proud.” “Yes, sir. Thank you, sir.” The general walked away, leaving Private James Corsellis in the hands of a score of technicians, doctors, and nurses, who read data gathered from a mess of IVs, attachments, and...
Scourge Of The Were-Dragon
Matthew considered himself a good man, but he was ready to sin. He slowed his pickup truck on the winding mountain route and turned into the visitor’s center, not bothering to use his turn signal since he hadn’t spotted another vehicle for miles. A...
This Life Is Bull
Perix was a hardened warrior, having served with distinction in scores of battles in service to his city-state. Yet, on a quiet spring morning, in the safety of his hometown, he had never been more scared in his life. The bull gripped his spear until...
Temple Tantrum Denied
“Keep digging, for fuck’s sake!” Derek screamed at the panting, sweating crew, his voice reverberating off the close-set stone walls. “I’m not paying you to stand around!” The mouse stormed out of the subterranean dig site, back into the recently...
Harvest Goddess Reborn
Something was wrong with the weather. Despite being late October, the first autumn chill had not arrived. The leaves on the trees had browned, not from the natural change in the seasons but from a weeks-long lack of rain and the biting, oppressive heat...