I woke up face-down in the sand and rock.

Spring, 1963 Dead Man Peak, New Mexico I woke up face-down in the sand and rock. A voice sounded from somewhere over me. "Hey..uh...mister. You alright?" I think I grunted. I was not entirely sure. Tentative, the voice came again. "Mister?" I felt a hand on my shoulder. A hand that slowly,...

Thrice curse Black Erlik!

"Thrice curse Black Erlik! May Hel herself take him into her busom!" The necromancer continued to rant for several moments, wiping blood and the ruined remains of his left eye from his cheek. The pain was nearly unbearable, but it was a moon-cast shadow compared to the flaring hatred that scorched...

Too long have they kept us down.

"Too long have they kept us down. Too long have our kind--our kin, our people--been suppressed. Too long have they shorn our horns from birth. Too long have they forced us to work in their mine shafts, in their foundries, in their coal pits...we were once a proud people, a people who ruled...

The edges of the Curtain are fraying.

The edges of the Curtain are fraying. Few realms relish in these moments when the gaps and tears grow wider to reveal that man is not alone. Mine is such a place. We have craved the coming days, too long in the dark. It came like a key-shaped star dropping into the midnight pool of our reality....

Ija the Indestructible

Ija the Indestructible Abhorrent. Abased. "They call me the Hitman of Heaven, and the Hitman of Hell." Bitter. Blistered. "Pain is my bread and butter, baby..." Cold. Calculating. "I'm a rock 'til th' target's locked." Disgraced. Degenerate. "Oh, my how the mighty have fallen..." Killer-for-hire....

Fallen In Love

For some reason, humans always portrayed us as ugly and our brethren as beautiful. I say, "for some reason" when I know the reason. It's easy to make something you don't agree with or think is wrong into something ugly. It's called "demonizing" for a reason. The truth is, we are both beautiful...

"Th' name's Deacon. What's it to ya?"

"Th' name's Deacon. What's it to ya?" the mountain-of-a-man turned as he grumbled, a look of irritation on his face. There was something else there, something other than the petulance at being bothered after a long day's watch. Sadness, perhaps. The vampir opened herself up to the damnable...

There was once a great place called America.

There was once a great place called America. It was a good and noble place, filled with concepts like freedom, democracy, liberty, and justice. It was a place that was founded upon belief in God, and with that, came a sense of protection, and grounding, and right standing. Good men and women...

The Maritsa ran red with blood.

September 27, 1371 A.D. Chernomen, Serbia The Maritsa ran red with blood. "By the hinges of Hell!" I cursed. Bodies, horribly hacked and mutilated, floated around me as I led what remained of the Sect across the river. I knew we had to cross into northern Greece. I knew we had to put as many...

Bad Company

“You don’t want to pursue this end, Avide,” Tenet warned. He rubbed his temples as if wearied. The raven-haired woman at his side retorted playfully, “You don’t know what I want, Betrayer.” Tenet sighed, running a hand across his bald scalp. She had almost always been this way, except...

Bad Decisions

“The razor that sliced Napoleon’s nape was the one that swallowed Ceasar’s grape, but few will see It drawing near as they are consumed by fear,” the rider chanted breathlessly as he drove his steed forward. He knew he had made a mistake. It was an honest mistake in his line of work. Steal...

Things of the Water

Even as they unbuckled Nemo from his excursion suit, he felt the Nautilus ascending. "Secure the moon pool." Even as he leapt to the deck, Vasquez and Miko worked to swing the immense plate into place. While it wouldn't cause their progress any issues, there was a chance some creature could take...

Sens squawked hoarsely, flapping its inky wings.

1350 A.D. Lublin, Poland Sens squawked hoarsely, flapping its inky wings. Off in the distance, a storm was looming and the Raven seemed disturbed by its deep-throated rumbling. Tarik looked up from the tome it was perusing and shot a searing glance at the bird. "Husssssh," it growled. Sens...

"Erlik! Where are you?"

"Erlik! Where are you?" Frigid water invaded his leather boots and seeped into his wool-wrapped leggings. Ingemar Vekelsson fished about for his sword and the torch he'd been carrying. "Erlik!" He called out again, his voice questing out into the damp darkness. Ingemar had no idea where he...

The lad trembled. "I don't want to."

"'Twas brilling, and the silthy toves Did gyre and gimble in the wabe: All mimsy were the borogoves And the mome graths outgrabe." *** The lad trembled. "I don't want to." "You have to," came the crackling voice. The boy, no more than twelve, shook his head furiously. "But I don't want...

28. 6. 15. 7.

28. 6. 15. 7. The man ran his thumb across the lock face hanging off his pack strap as he fixed his grip on the slip ring of his rifle. He stepped off his midnight Boulevard and onto the gravel trail. The wind sliced through long stalks of wheat, perfuming the air with the scent of straw and...

Violence of action has never been just a mortal trait.

Violence of action has never been just a mortal trait. This flicked through H’zrael’s mind as he rolled his shoulders under the trench coat, his left hand twitching with anticipation. He breathed in the air, hoping to catch the hint of something as primordial as the bald rock that yawned all...