Epic Fantasy Short

When Angli cattle thieves slaughter his wife and son, Dwras son of Gwyn vows revenge upon their murderers. But how can a mere farmer prevail against ruthless, trained warriors? For the answer Dwras must look not to his sword, but within his heart.

Alidor is a world of many tales and there is no better collector of them than I. Toiled and sweated I have, scoured the lands far and conversed with hundreds I did. So much so my hidey holes and secret places burst at the seams with stolen tales. Stories however need to be shared, so here I have chosen my favorite for you. Will it be the brothers Balmoth who draw your eye or perhaps an extremely cunning thief is more to your taste.

Echo, violated by Zeus and banished by a jealous Hera, rediscovers love, only to have it cruelly snatched away. Scylla, whose great mistake was falling for the lover of her rival, Circe, faces an eternity trapped in the body of a monster. Psyche, raised up on a pedestal as the embodiment of Aphrodite, is married off to a monster whose face she shall never see. Three goddesses emerge from the sands of time to set the record straight.

She thought she could just leave her trouble behind. She was wrong. Sersha is relieved to be able to leave Landsfall. Her people aren't safe as long as she stays, and her future lies with Kazmerev now. But when her cousin, Mally, makes a series of headstrong decisions, it plunges Sersha and her friends into trouble they can't easily escape. Getting free will push her ethics, her abilities, and her newfound friendship with her beloved phoenix. Will she have what it takes to keep her people safe?

The Bluesman - musician, magician, lethal killer. Thrown into our world from a parallel universe, the Bluesman seeks to save the Earth from being overrun by the horrid, mutated creatures that came with him. Armed with magic, skill, and his companion, Scotch, he faces these monsters hoping to create a peaceful world for all.

Pietro, a young man, has never killed: something rare for the corrupt city of Peregoth and totally alien to the tropics of Molkoro, where circumstances will soon take him. In the sweltering jungle, his purity has become a commodity to the ettin invaders and their lord, the dark Vexor. But how long can his innocence last in a godless land?

When Jarek steps into the alley to toss out the trash, he finds Erron and can't look away. Even when her father roughly jostles her out of sight, claiming she'd made a wrong turn. He should leave well enough alone, but those desperate eyes haunt him. And he's never been one to turn his back on someone in trouble, especially the most beautiful lass he's ever seen. He just never imagined it'd be his life in jeopardy, and his heart that needs saving.

Four hundred years ago, master vampire Eliseo Daisani and dragonlord Janx both fell in love with Sarah Hopkins, an extraordinary beauty born in London's slaughterfields. Caught in their ancient and complex bond, Sarah glimpses the world as it might be.

Elzibeth just wanted to be left alone to play her grandfather's flute, but others in her village seem to think she needs a lesson in bringing her down from her soaring dreams and stand firmly on the ground like everyone else. Three brothers take it upon themselves to teach Elzibeth how dangerous dreams and fancies can be. Three brothers challenge her to seek out the dragon's cave, even though the last man who went there never returned.

Sergeant Jacob Knox leads the Head Knockers, a unit of scout-saboteurs in the war against the Dread Duke and his armies. They are the favorite squad among Captain Brighton's Stormwalkers, until an ambush by shapeshifters kills the Captain, half the company, and Knox's best men. Now the new Captain has new orders: he's sending the Head Knockers to investigate an abandoned village, the possible source of the attack.

This story bundle includes three novellas and a bonus!

On the shortest night of the year, blue eyes pierce the snowstorm.The elusive gryphons of the frozen taiga are beautiful, mysterious, and nearly extinct. As the days grow short and danger lurks around every corner, their eyes turn a bright blue. This short story collection set in the world of Eyrie follows several famous taiga gryphons during their most trying times.

The Dance of Moonlighters: Heather needed to prove not only to herself, but the world, that she was more. More than a simple thief. It took her years to perfect her craft. Adapting to those around her. Surviving alone. Now her years looked to be spent on proving she held more in her hands than the items she borrowed. In this short story for Heather Halcyon, we discover a glimpse of her life and how she crosses paths with familiar names and faces. This is The Dance of Moonlighters, a tale of a thief who lives as a Queen.

In the lawless aftermath of a collapsed galactic empire, survival belongs to the cunning, the ruthless, and—rarely—the honorable. Commodore Gideon Adira, heir to a once-noble house now struggling for relevance, leads a fragile convoy of merchant starships through hostile star lanes to deliver food to the starving millions aboard the crumbling space city of Albion. The task is noble. The risks are immense. Pirates lurk behind every asteroid. Treacherous rival houses scheme for control. And worse still, an old enemy is on the hunt.

As the Order celebrates its union with the crown, a founding member of the secret society plots its demise. Wanting to use the potential of the Soul Stones - legendary relics of unspeakable power - Victor gathers his supporters to rise against the Prophet and all those who wish for the stones' existence to be kept unknown. Caught between his duty and his heart, Lucian must either stand with Victor and betray his fellow brethren, or take his true love, Sarie, and leave it all behind.

Welcome to Necrolopolis, a fantasy world with a postal system as inefficient as our own, an undead pharaoh with an ego as big as his pyramid, a ghoul with an unhealthy interest in soup pots, not to mention a faction war between mummies and ashlings. A necromancer's job is never done, especially in a city of four million undead souls!

The first time Darrion struck her, Lana loaded her wagon and left Cynegil. Two-year-olds should not hit like that. She draped the windows of her cottage with dense cloth and worked by a single candle. If she timed her flight well, she could pass through the market during changing of the guard. In another era, under another king's reign, Lana would have rejoiced that Darrion had inherited his father's gift. Now, if Lana does not present her son to the king, she could lose her head.

When it comes to warfare of the mind, the battlefield is an unweeded garden.... Dusan is a young outsider on Ora, a remote island inhabited by a telepathic species who actively avoid the humans who live far across the ocean. He is effectively "deaf" - unable to communicate mind to mind with his peers. In fact, his people regard him as little better than the feebleminded humans. Shunned and taunted by his own people, he leads a dreary existence...until a chance encounter with a human boy from across the sea changes everything.

A collection of short stories featuring characters from the world of The Broken Gods trilogy by fantasy author Aaron S. Jones. Blood feuds in the Borderlands. Murder mysteries in the United Cities. A heist gone wrong in the East. Meet some of the weird and wonderful characters of the world of Takaara and they fight, love, and survive in A Long Way from Home.

A tracker named Hawkwing and a former bandit known as the White Demon try to evade a clandestine organization known as the Seroko. “The Hawk’s Shadow” tells their tale and leads into the Black Earth trilogy.