“So, who’s going to die today? It’s a simple question, with a simple solution.”

Jack stared down the barrel of the gun, still in disbelief. He couldn’t even tear his gaze away for a second to see how Gina was dealing with this.

“I know I hit you hard, but you should still be able to ANSWER ME!” The last two words echoed throughout the room as the man shouted them with such intensity that Jack fi...

There was an energy in the air, seeming to charge everything around us. Usually this only happened when a storm was on its way, at least that’s what the Elders had said. But they also mentioned something like “clouds”, which, by their description, were nowhere to be seen. The sun beat down, as it always does in this godforsaken place. One sunny day followed by another, for all of memory.

I had be...

“Magic comes with a price, are you willing to pay?”

The impossibly deep voice kept rumbling through Elizabeth’s head as she splashed through the damp cobblestone alley. Darting furtive glances around her, she hugged her shawl tighter. It seemed as though every shaded corner or dark alcove held those eyes.

Eyes like smoldering coals. That’s all she had seen that night. Two slanted lines seemingly ...

Jake sat bolt upright in his bed. He had been lightly dozing, the gentle pattering of the rain had put him to sleep but now it was hammering against his windowpane. But that was not what had torn him from his slumber. He looked to the window, though in the darkness he could not see anything anyway.

Jake shook his head, half in an attempt to clear it and half out of disbelief. Surely he hadn’t hea...

My bones ached against the cold stone beneath me. When was I awoken? It had been so long since the last summoning and the lid to my crypt seemed heavier than last time. The stone ground harshly as I pushed it off and my old wedding dress rustled like dry leaves as I stepped out. Standing before me was my summoner, the name of his intended victim on a sheet of paper that he was holding out to me. F...

“Excuse me, but do you have the next book in this series?”

The voice catches me by surprise as I whirl around to see the young woman, holding a book up in her right hand. Her nails are perfectly manicured and painted a vibrant shade of pink, almost matching the cover of the book she has in her grip.

Of course, I think with an internal eye roll. The flowers twining over the book cover evoke a fee...

It was difficult to differentiate the smells filling the tent. Odors… odors was the much more fitting descriptor. The obvious candidates were piss, shit and blood, though the less apparent stenches were what had Ivy lathering her upper lip with harralander extract. Not only was it useful because of its powerful, fresh scent, but the herb was often used as a smelling salt, which the master healer d...