Queer Fantasy and Weird Tales for the People
“What,” Aysulu retorted, “are you afraid to fight the women?”
Alaric only sneered up in her direction. It was likely he could not see her over the hoardings. She pulled an arrow from her quiver and drew back her bow, leveling it at his chest. Beside her, Roshani was completing her magic circle, scratching runes into the wooden platform with charcoal and chalk.
Continue reading “Beyond the Frost-Cold Sea: Interlude Four”At first, Khalim could see nothing. The evening outside had not been bright, but the mine was black as the heart of the earth. The air was thick with dust and smoke that scraped down his throat as he breathed and made his chest burn. Gradually, faint lights swam out of the darkness—sputtering lanterns hanging at regular intervals, each encircled by a ring reflected from the dust in the air.
It was a dim, filthy, miserable place. The miners, their backs bent and their heads bowed, shuffled down the tunnel under sacks of rock, listless and unheeding. The guards stood straighter, and their eyes were wary, but they were as dirty as the miners they watched.
I have passed into the realm of the dead, Khalim thought with a shudder.
Continue reading “Beyond the Frost-Cold Sea: Interlude Three”As they left the industrial district, Reva split off to head through the back alleys toward the slums, and Aysulu and Garvesh went on to the noble quarter. It was almost fully dark, with only the faintest glow of the setting sun casting light on the hills beyond the city walls. Phyreios itself did not sleep during the festival, and already it was lit up in an array of torches and lanterns that outshone the glittering stars above.
Continue reading “Beyond the Frost-Cold Sea: Interlude Two”It had been a fine day, despite its inelegant start. Garvesh and Khalim had performed admirably, and the Iron Mountain team had maintained its lead. Aysulu would compete the next day, in the contests of skill, and she was confident that she would carry the day. Among the warriors assembled here, only the Tribe of the Lion and the Wolf had any reputation for horse archery. It would be a good test of her abilities before the time when she would face them on a real battlefield.
She found Jin facing a stand weighed down with dumplings, each filled with meat and spices. He pored over them, brows furrowed, as though they held some great mystery that he was required to puzzle out.
Continue reading “Beyond the Frost-Cold Sea: Interlude One”
Space Whales Press 