Epic Fantasy Short

Each night, the world is overrun by bloodthirsty demons. For centuries, humanity survived only by hiding behind defensive wards – magical symbols of power. Now, though, the rediscovery of other, long-forgotten wards has given them the magic they need to fight back.... In Tibbet’s Brook, the fighting wards have brought change, heightening tensions and grudges of a troubled past. Selia Square, the woman they call Barren, has long been the force holding the Brook together. As a terrifying new threat emerges, she must rally the people of the Brook once more.

Fourteen tales of speculative fiction from the author of The Crimson Queen. Beneath the demon-haunted ruins of Nes Vaneth a priest of the old ways confronts his darkest fears. A young hacker risks everything to rescue the mind of her friend from the clutches of a malicious AI. On a moon of Mars the guardian of humanity awakens to find the solar system in peril. And a dilettante invites a manticore to accompany him to an infamous engagement.

"Dagon." Howard Phillips Lovecraft (1890-1937) is a novelist famous for his horror stories, fantasy and science fiction. Although he was not famous during his lifetime, his work is now considered a classic of literature. Lovecraft's work has influenced many authors, including Stephen King, who considers him "the greatest craftsman of the classic horror story of the 20th century."

Cadmus Errol is an apprentice clockmaker rankling under the tutelage of a master he has already surpassed. He has dreams of greater things but too much patience for his own good. When Jennai steps into his life, she derails the track his life was stuck on. Together, they find a purpose, a crusade. She introduces him to a whole new world, and it needs a Mad Tinker, not a clockmaker.

This is the story of a place that never was: the kingdom of Prester John, the utopia described by an anonymous, 12th-century document which captured the imagination of the medieval world and drove hundreds of lost souls to seek out its secrets, inspiring explorers, missionaries, and kings. But what if it were all true? What if there was such a place, and a poor, broken priest once stumbled past its borders, discovering, not a Christian paradise, but a country where everything is possible....

After escaping the harsh desert with his fox companion, Benjamin, an elf with amnesia finds relief in a large grassland. The elf soon discovers a lizard-like creature who steals his magical dagger. The weapon holds secrets that the elf has yet to discover. In the course of recovering his dagger, the elf discovers a small human town in dire need. Their food supply is cut off after their farms were invaded by the lizard creatures. The elf decides to help the humans and ward off the threat before the town starves.

In The Key of Eldoria, scientists Taki and Jessica uncover a hidden world within a glass jar, teeming with intelligent, miniature beings.

Everything Aria tried to do in order to save her brother and help those closest to her has made everything worse. She's now alone with Beru, trying to figure out a way to fix what they've done, to undo what they've started. But Aria still can't get over the fact that Beru is a traitor to Onen Suun, the only man who dared to defy Dag'draath. Beru was the reason Onen Suun was forced to sacrifice his life to save the world.

e legendary times of the Kingpriest, the Reign of Istar, and the War of the Lance. Tales of the wrath of gods, the clash of dragons, the emergence of foul villains and shining heroes. Here are collected the best short stories of the Dragonlance Tales II series. For new readers, this is your invitation to a world of wondrous adventure and fantasy, while for longtime followers of the Dragonlance saga, this is a collector's edition of indispensable stories.This volume includes an exciting fast-play adventure by Tracy Hickman set in the world of Dragonlance.

The mute elven archer known only as Killer. Azyrin, a half Winter-orc shaman and his human swordswoman bride, Makha. Drake, the charming, swashbuckling rogue. The fireball-slinging pixie-goblin, Rahiel, and her mini-unicorn, Bill. These are the Gryphonpike Companions. En route to the town of Coldragon, the Companions find a peaceful monastery threatened by necromantic evil and get a chance to answer an important question: How many times can you kill a dragon?

After being rescued from the greedy mole by her faithful swallow and brought to the tropical kingdom populated by elves, Thumbelina finds herself thrust into the intricacies of elvish court politics and facing yet another marriage no one had asked her about.

A.J. Gallant's book of short stories features powerful and emotionally charged narratives, often set against dramatic historical backdrops. One of the stories introduces Enzo, a courageous 11-year-old Jewish boy living in hiding with an Italian family who renamed him from Ephraim to Enzo to protect him during the Nazi occupation. Enzo harbors a fierce hatred for the Germans, particularly after witnessing the brutalities of war. His defiant spirit is on full display when confronted by a German soldier named Claus, who mockingly offers him a role as a messenger. Enzo’s bold and vulgar ...

Draw your blade. Fasten your armor. Prepare for war. Seven new tales of harrowing challenges, epic battles, rousing victories, and crushing defeats.

At 10-feet, four inches tall, Gowanus was the runt of the litter. Working the mines of No’ad took strength and height, unless you had the smarts to be able to help the dwarves invent and build new mining tools. He didn’t have smarts and didn’t have height, and yet his curiosity got the better of him: Where had Sakima gone? In an attempt to find the rogue giant Sakima, Gowanus learns the secret to how the giants have spread so far, so fast and comes face-to-face with the worst betrayal of giant-kind.

The outcast elf with no magic will be the only one who can overcome a magical apocalypse, but first, he must embrace the very thing he has been running from.

After the extinction asteroid does not strike Earth, the dinosaurs keep evolving - but so do the mammals. We mammals have achieved humanlike shapes, but now it's cold-blooded, magic-using reptiles against the hot-blooded, hot-tempered descendants of cats. In a heroic, Bronze Age world similar to 300, the Mrem Clans expand their rough-and-tumble territory, but now they face the Lishkash, reptilian masters of a cold-blooded empire of slave armies and magic.

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.

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!

In the dungeon diving business and life, things haven't been going Amabel's way. Passed up in progressing up the tiers of power by friends and former teammates she finds herself at the end of her rope and purse adventuring wise. In that tight spot, she finds herself making choices and agreements she wouldn't usually make.

What do you do when your best friend is three stories tall, breathes fire, and might be forgetting that you're his friend? That's the dilemma in this short story about an aging dragonrider and his dragon.