Experiment #308

Sacrifice

From deep in the cave, a belch reverberated. Klon adjusted his grip on the spear and walked toward it. He sprinkled forma root behind him. Its red, psychic resonance clear in his mind. He’d volunteered for the sacrifice. His brother, Klar, who hadn’t volunteered, never returned.

Klon rounded a corner and found the monster. It belched again. A bloody shred of ceremonial robes landed in front of Klon as a toxic miasma blew over him. His eyes burned. The world … Read More

Experiment #235

The Lesson

Margana aimed her wand. “Morpho Formo!” She yelled. Nothing happened.

The monster lurched toward her with a glint in its eye. It knew its dinner was close at hand. Slobber splattered on the floor.

“Morpho Formo!” she tried again.

The monster roared with horrid laughter. “Your mentor failed you, or rather you’re failing her.”

Margana trembled.

The monster licked its hairy lips. It picked up a chair and tossed it in its gaping jaws. “You call yourself a sorceress. You’ve got … Read More

Experiment #173

Monsters Among Us

Experiment #148

The Vial

She put the vial of green slippery liquid to her lips and drank deeply. Her chest heaved. A droplet of liquid slipped out of the corner of her mouth. Her knees buckled. She tipped toward the ground, her slick black dress crumpled as the careful creases and abundant sheen were undone by her fall.

Kalagan caught her before she hit the floor. “Lyra,” he shouted. He held her close and whispered, “Please don’t leave me, my … Read More

Experiment #103

Sir Dancealot & the Dragon of Dancealonia Part 3

As his eyes narrowed into reptilian slits he recognized the girl. She was the princess he had danced with so many years ago who had stepped on his feet and kicked his shins. And then into his vision came the owner of the voice who had shouted, a diminutive woman with gnarled features and exquisite clothes.

“What’s going on?” he asked. His tongue had thickened and the words struggled to get out of his mouth.

“The night … Read More

Experiment #102

Sir Dancealot & the Dragon of Dancealonia Part 2

“The problem you’re here for,” said a surly middle-aged woman who lay on the ground next to him.

“It’s beautiful,” Dancealot said.

“It’s terrifying,” the woman said.

Fixing his eye on where the dragon disappeared into the mountains, Sir Dancealot danced into the hills alone.

He followed it to its cave, dancing all the way.

When he arrived he danced outside the cave entrance for four hours. He put his heart and soul into that dance to lure the dragon … Read More

Experiment #101

Sir Dancealot & the Dragon of Dancealonia Part 1

Once upon a time there lived a knight who liked to dance. He floored them at the Castle Ball, astounded them at the Armory Disco, and set the dance world on fire with his solo Jitterbug at the Soirée of the Keep. Sir Dancealot, they called him and people from far and wide came to hear of his dancing prowess.

Experiment #99

We Followed

We followed the boy inside. He had played beyond the boundary. The place where we must stay, the place beyond the boundary. But we did not force ourselves past the boundary. No.