Quistix Dedumal, an elf blacksmith, suffers a tragic, devastating loss the night a bandit invades her humble Bellaneau home in search of something called “The Illuminator.” After months of crushing loneliness, the disheveled half-elf is out for blood, seeing revenge on the man who shattered her once-contented life.

When poachers invade an idyllic Wyoming meadow to scout the perfect location to build a lucrative hunting lodge, the animals' lives are forever changed. Marred by the harrowing intrusion, the grieving society of woodland creatures must summon the courage to unite, predators and prey alike, to protect their majestic utopia from the rifle-toting men.

Garrett was an ordinary New Yorker, appeasing annoying neighbors and paying over-inflated rent for a dumpy apartment in Hell's Kitchen. That is... until the larvae hatched. With a brain squirming with voracious worms, Garrett's humanity dissipates and rage takes its place. As the end of the year draws near, his violent wrath is unleashed in a torrent of bloodshed and carnage.

Arien Blair yearns to belong. Aged out of the foster system and living on the streets, the desperate eighteen-year-old works odd jobs just to put a roof over her head. But when she’s attacked by a hooded and faceless being, she’s stunned when a brooding warrior steps in and promptly declares he’s duty-bound to protect.

Lilac Trécesson is a prisoner in her parents' castle after a most wicked secret was revealed on the eve of her fifteenth birthday. Years later, her Accession looms upon her father's decision to abdicate, and between the riotous townsfolk and scheming noble bent on snatching her throne, she prepares for the worst… Until a letter arrives from The Witch of Lupine Grotto, containing a curious offer to banish her curse forever.

From a young age I knew this to be true and loyal I remained. To my friends, to my boyfriend Chris, to my school Sally Brown. I fought, bled, and cried for them. That is until my parents forced my transfer. Thrown into the dangerous world of my greatest School rival, Kent Wood, I had to figure out how to stay in the shadows. So Loran Black disappeared and in her place Lovota Miller, a small alternative school girl emerged. Everything was going according to plan until the cheer captain knocked on my door.

Ever wonder what else is out there? So does twelve-year-old Drew Shipley, a daydreamer whose only fear is growing up. To escape his present and avoid his future, Drew and his friends roam their small town playing night tag, fantasizing about aliens and spaceships, and exploring the haunted Gladhill barn. But Drew’s fantasies become reality when a starfighter from another dimension crashes in the cornfield behind his house: Sheela Vestril, commander of the Dimension Warriors and last hope in a galactic war to save their world from the vile Lord Malgore.

Following seventy thousand years of undisturbed slumber, the vessel of a planetary empire that had followed its own predetermined path to destruction eons earlier had finally reawakened, bringing with her the potential to change everything. Embodying all that was benevolent and beautiful from innumerable long-forgotten cultures, this lifeform in suspended animation also possessed the power necessary to prevent her gifts from being corrupted by those who will eternally thirst for dominion over others.

A boy is plunged into a quest within a mysterious world. When he uncovers a dark conspiracy, he realizes he must find his true identity to find his way home...

A short story by L Nembhard: In the sunny tranquillity of her uncle's garden, eight-year-old Lilly uncovers an old, buried doll that whispers unexpected words. As the doll's presence disrupts their lives, Lilly's family is left questioning its origins. What secrets lie behind the doll's eerie whispers? Can they unravel the mystery before it consumes them? With each strange occurrence, they're forced to confront the chilling possibility: is the doll merely a toy, or something far more sinister?

When Astrid is attacked by a creep calling himself a Slayer, it seems like a cruel prank the universe is pulling on her already crappy life. Then Kaden, the most infuriating, stunning boy she’s ever met, arrives and tells her she’s a dragon-kin like him—part dragon, part human. Then Astrid actually shifts into a dragon.

It is the Year of Our Lord 1685 and fourteen-year-old Maude Prichard finds herself at a crossroads in life. A chance meeting with a strange woman, who never ages, sets the young Puritan maid on a path littered with fear, superstition, and witchcraft. A boy whose love is forbidden and an old man, drenched in darkness and depravity, will catapult Maude out of her well-ordered world into a life fraught with danger.

His jaw clenches and his eyes flash from gray to green. I feel Neoma come to the surface, letting her eyes shine their lighter blue to my dark ones. She’s not happy with the comment either. His nostrils flare. It’s considered a challenge. He growls low and my temper gets the better of me… I match it. I can see if only for a split second it surprises him.

I’ve been rejected by family and locked in a mental hospital for believing the fae exist and roam among us. I was ready to rid the world of the burden of my existence until I learned the truth. Madness isn’t my curse. Destiny is. Thrust into a mysterious new world, I discover the truth of my heritage and a love that knows no bounds in the arms of Brynjar.

This short story is a look back into Judy and Lily's past. Meet Judy at the moment of her first mystery and hear the story of Lily and Marty's young love. Don't worry. There will be an adorable dog and some delicious food included.

Ryland Grace is the sole survivor on a desperate, last-chance mission - and if he fails, humanity and the Earth itself will perish. Except that right now, he doesn't know that. He can't even remember his own name, let alone the nature of his assignment or how to complete it. All he knows is that he's been asleep for a very, very long time. And he's just been awakened to find himself millions of miles from home, with nothing but two corpses for company.

Inheriting your uncle's supervillain business is more complicated than you might think. Particularly when you discover who's running the place. Charlie's life is going nowhere fast. A divorced substitute teacher living with his cat in a house his siblings want to sell, all he wants is to open a pub downtown, if only the bank will approve his loan. Then his long-lost uncle Jake dies and leaves his supervillain business (complete with island volcano lair) to Charlie. But becoming a supervillain isn't all giant laser death rays and lava pits.

Six days ago, astronaut Mark Watney became one of the first people to walk on Mars. Now, he's sure he'll be the first person to die there. After a dust storm nearly kills him and forces his crew to evacuate while thinking him dead, Mark finds himself stranded and completely alone with no way to even signal Earth that he’s alive - and even if he could get word out, his supplies would be gone long before a rescue could arrive. But Mark isn't ready to give up yet.

It’s 1984, and life has changed beyond recognition. Airstrip One, formerly known as Great Britain, is a place where Big Brother is always watching, and nobody can hide. Except, perhaps, for Winston Smith. Whilst working at the Ministry of Truth, rewriting history, he secretly dreams of freedom. And in a world where love and sex are forbidden, where it’s hard to distinguish between friend and foe, he meets Julia and O’Brien and vows to rebel.

Ashley Perrin is fresh out of college and starting a job as a community liaison for the Third District–the city’s only sector with more alien residents than humans. Ashley’s barely found where the paper clips are kept when she’s beset with constituent complaints–from too much noise at the Annual Lupidian Celebration Parade to a trip-and-fall chicken to a very particular type of alien hornet that threatens the very city itself. And if that’s not terrifying enough, Ashley is next up at the office karaoke night.