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Dragonsphere

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By Richard Fierce

“There has often been theological debate as to who, or what, is behind the forces of evil. No one is certain, but there is one thing everyone agrees upon: whatever it is, it certainly calls the Viss Mountains home. The feeling of evil there is palpable.”- from the Book of Faith INTRODUCTIONYear of t ...

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3 min.

The Gentleman Physician

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By Sally Britton

Chapter One January 10th, 1812 Nathaniel Hastings bit his bottom lip to keep from laughing while his patient, Lady Huntington, continued to spout nonsense about the reasons behind her various ailments. He knew very well nothing troubled her that a good conversation could not cure. “You are ...

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26 min.

Incognolio

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By Michael Sussman

CHAPTER ONE Churn the Weasel Incognolio. Ever since the concussion, I can’t get the damn word out of my head. I haven’t a clue what it means. But I love the sound of it. So, I’ll make it the title of my novel and allow the entire story to spring forth from this mysterious word. My ne ...

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12 min.

Red Marks the Child, The Ankhs (Book 1)

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By Amira Awaad

This desert land was exceptionally dear to me. Its warm sands resound in the drumming beats of my eye-lashes. The sultry wasteland engulfed fresh oases with water that was pure — it pulsed and it pulsated. It throbbed like the beating of a living heart — Pharaoh’s beating heart. It was the heart tha ...

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11 min.

The Purse

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By Dan Hahn

The smell of coffee lingered lightly from lunch as warm afternoon light streamed through the windows onto the linoleum topped table. Lorine sat with her purse open, engaged in the light conversation of old lovers. Yet Stanley hadn’t been in her life long, and certainly wasn’t, couldn’t be her lover. ...

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13 min.

Deus Ex Mechina

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By Zach McClellan

Chapter one: A Day in the Generic Life A dark figure crashed through the window of the saloon into the dusty street, releasing a grunt of pain. Jeers called out after him as he scrambled away. “Teach that slimeball a lesson, Sloan!” “He’ll think twice about cheating!” “Wow, he had to have flown ...

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60 min.

Rebel Mage: Awakening

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By Ben Swallow

Is still in the middle of the night as I wake up. I frown as I look around. It is still dark and there is no one in my room. What woke me up, then? I was already falling back asleep when I heard a sound from outside the room. It sounded like clattering, as if someone was doing the dishes in the mi ...

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8 min.

Supervillain High

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By Gerhard Gehrke

1. Daddy Was a Bank Robber “See that guy there in the purple mask robbing the bank? That’s my dad.” Brendan stopped the video on his phone and waited for a reaction. Mr. Childes, his school counselor, nodded as if this was something he had heard before. The older man took his reading glasses off h ...

Science Fiction

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7 min.

REN, The Asha Renu Series (Book 1)

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By Amira Awaad

The ancients used to say that a spirit resides in everything. That all matter, living and inanimate, are gravitational channels of energy. They believed that some individuals were selected to encompass magnificent fragments of older souls. But unless all the components of the new soul were complete ...

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6 min.

Eagle in the fridge

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By Zenta Brice

I need to pee!’ ‘Great!’ I definitely can’t let Karl back in the house by himself. He has a quite serious predilection for destruction. I can’t leave my spot here either, not right now. ‘Well, do it, then.’ I bend down and unzip his trousers. ‘Nobody will see you.’ We stand together on the derelic ...

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42 min.

The Follower

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By M. K. Martin

I watch her sleep, her short bristle of hair twisted into sweaty knots. I can’t help her and it’s killing me. I lay down next to her, the heat baking off her in waves. I sigh and the dust puffs out, a few small dry leaves flap at me as if annoyed by the disturbance. Can’t you see we’re dying here? A ...

Science Fiction

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5 min.

Fateful Italian Passion

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By Olga GOA

Veronica didn’t expect that she would agree to a trip to Italy so quickly. She was tired of being under the constant scrutiny of her step-aunt, Henrietta, who was always taking care of her. But what could Veronica expect from the people who had abandoned her as soon as she let out her first cry afte ...

Realistic fiction

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16 min.

Ultimas Drake

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By MIchael Young

Meckule fidgeted in his ceremonial attire, wondering whose name he needed to curse for coming up with such fickle clothing. Not for the first time, he wished he had been born in the Dorian Clan instead of the Scarlatti. Then, he would have been brought up as a master of disguise, and there would be ...

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48 min.

Red Wrath

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By Gerhard Gehrke

I was sitting in a bar, brooding and thinking about superheroes. There was a special on the news all about them. The large flat-screen televisions mounted on the wall should have been showing the Mets game. Instead we got a fawning comedian whose film career had tanked years ago talking across a des ...

Science Fiction

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9 min.

My Beauty For Your Ashes

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By Traci Wooden-Carlisle

CHAPTER 1 It all started with one lone tear. It escaped unguarded, quickly falling from her high cheek bone, wetting the concrete below. It was closely followed by another. Soon there was a rain of tears splashing against the once warm, dry stone underneath her patent leather pumps. As the picture ...

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9 min.

Heal Me Slowly

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By Hibah Shabkhez

Heal me slowly, O death, heal me slowlyLeave me the day's dying lightCome for me gently in the nightHeal me slowly, O death, heal me slowlyLeave me a little while my painLet me watch a sun set againHeal me slowly, O death, heal me slowlyThe scent of new-born summer lingersMingles with winter's cold ...

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1 min.

The Speed of Sound

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By Steppen Sawicki

Jay had never been much of a talker. He had won Carrie’s heart with gentle touches on the hand and shoulder, neck and waist. He had made her dizzy with rare utterances of her beauty and his love, precious because they were so rare. When they married three years ago his vow had been short and sweet – ...

Science Fiction

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5 min.

Christmas Eve Frenzy

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By Adelaide Walsh

Chapter 1 “2040. That is a year that will live in infamy in our history. That year, Dr. Zack Temba and Biolance unleashed a scourge, a lethal virus, on all of us that eliminated millions of the Journeymen around the world, reducing the rest of us to mere subjects under his reign. Most of those kil ...

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11 min.

As a Sword in My Bones

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By Jessica Joiner

"If the Royal Council does nothing to curb my mother's cruelty, the oppressed people of Boldaria will revolt and this nation will be engulfed in a civil war," Prince Tristan Leander warned as he finished speaking before the gathered members of the twelve man Royal Council. "You speak treason, young ...

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14 min.

The System

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By Jess Peters

One. Today is the day. Today is my turn to participate in the system. Today I become a man in our safe zone three's eyes. I don't particularly understand the point in the system if I'm honest. Why can't we just pick a quadrant to work in? Deep down I do know why it's in place. Everyone would pick ei ...

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16 min.