Epic Fantasy Short

An incurable sickness has infected a fishing village along the coast of Ishalar. The sick do not die - they vanish, leaving behind footprints and ashen shadows. Delanis, the fourth throne of Ishalar, has already lost his wife to The Vanishing, and now his daughter is deep in the throes of the illness. More in his village are succumbing almost every day.

Alidor is a world of many tales and there is no better collector of them than I. Toiled and sweated I have, scoured the lands far and conversed with hundreds I did. So much so my hidey holes and secret places burst at the seams with stolen tales. Stories however need to be shared, so here I have chosen my favorite for you. Will it be the brothers Balmoth who draw your eye or perhaps an extremely cunning thief is more to your taste.

What if a dragon looked into your eyes...and saw into your soul? Wenlyn dreams of seeing one of the legendary Harpy's Servants up close. As a poor village boy, he can't help but dream of the adventures the dragon-riding protectors of the realm must have. Now, one of them is coming to Tranquil village. When the Servant arrives, Wenlyn's entire world falls away, and he embarks on an adventure of his own that even his wildest dreams couldn't have conjured up.

Daniel Chai ist in eine Routine aus Abenteuern und Dungeons mit seinen Freunden verfallen. Als seine geheime Gabe als Heiler enthüllt wird, kommen Daniels größte Ängste zum Vorschein, denn Abenteurergilden und die königliche Familie wollen ihn rekrutieren. Um zu überleben, müssen sich Daniel und sein Team nicht nur gefährlichen Monstern und Dungeons der Meisterklasse stellen–sie müssen auch einem Netz aus Gildenpolitik und intrigantem Adel entkommen.

Neill Torvald muss sich unbedingt beweisen – das Reich seines Vaters, eines Kriegsherrn, verlässt sich auf ihn. Als ein heimtückischer Angriff ihn auf dem Weg in das Kloster des Draconis-Ordens fast umbringt, wird klar, dass ihn auf seinem Weg schwere Prüfungen erwarten.

The Dragon's Den has revealed to Wizard, now more than ever, the urgency to find the dragons and put a stop to the atrocities, but he must now face the consequences of the death of a man, and the destruction of the Dragon's Den. Wizard must learn to master his power, or never use it again. He discovers parts of himself beyond his control, as time moves at an increasingly slower pace, the closer he gets to living out his dreams of terror.

The Bluesman - musician, magician, lethal killer. Thrown into our world from a parallel universe, the Bluesman seeks to save the Earth from being overrun by the horrid, mutated creatures that came with him. Armed with magic, skill, and his companion, Scotch, he faces these monsters hoping to create a peaceful world for all.

In the Age of the Dracon-esti, darkness and war ravage the continent of Draston. The dragons that once ruled the skies have died off and other horrors have since taken their place. To the south, dark rumors have surfaced of armies being massed, led by the Wicked Eye. The elves are slowly dying off, refusing to change with the winds of time. Eleven exciting short stories, four talented young authors, one epic start to the Dragonband Saga.

At just 18 years old, Arthur is on the verge of being crushed under the weight of his great destiny. The mighty castle at Tintagel has fallen. King Uther Pendragon lies dead. The mad King Vortigern sits upon the throne with a dragon at his command. And Merlin, having turned traitor, stands at the new king's side. Now Arthur, with the help of the mysterious sword in the stone and his loyal mentors, Gawain and Percival, embarks on a daring mission to retake the crown.

Private investigator Samantha Moon gets up close and personal with her dead ex-husband's mistress, Nancy, who might be a woman who knows too much. When Nancy opens up to Sam about her history with Danny, Sam tries to forgive her and move on with her life, maybe even be friends. After all, Danny didn't play it straight with either of them. Despite her good intentions, something rises up in Sam, something dark and evil, and something that she can barely keep under control.

Across the Azkhantian steppe, warrior women ride to battle against foes both human and supernatural. From the world of The Seven-Petaled Shield come four fantasy tales, originally published in Marion Zimmer Bradley’s Sword & Sorceress. Prophecy links a mother and daughter in an unbreakable bond. A young woman defies tradition to become a shaman. When twins are magically divided, the survivor searches for the other half of her soul. A warrior woman discovers that to wield a magical blade dishonorably carries a heavy price.

Roam with Herakles in search of a safe home for a magical sword, go into exile with a descendant of Merlin, and learn the wisdom of a wolfhound pup to help you wander along newly forged paths into the imagination.

Your favorite award-winning, critically acclaimed, and best-selling authors unite to tell stories set in the Dungeons & Dragons world, filled with desperate dragons and cruel elves, honorable demons and fickle gods, wild magic and the sharpest of steel. You don't want to miss this rarest of opportunities to get a glimpse into the D&D adventures created by some of the most brilliant fantasy writers of our age.

Renowned and knighted for capturing the fearsome Dark Elf of Syron, Sir Fredric has nagging doubts about his victory. His brother Malgrid's drunken remark strengthens dire suspicions. Was it all some devious scheme? Fredric has enough enemies who would want to compromise his honor, especially with the prestigious Jewel Quest coming up. It seems that there is only one person who can possibly shed some light on the situation - the Dark Elf himself. But will the captured enemy speak? Will Fredric discover the truth before a plot far more elaborate and danger much greater than he realizes take his life?

King Gelleran is facing a dilemma. The dangerous dark elf he holds captive and uses as his protection from the neighboring country of Kerbia has drawn the attention of Welmar, a kingdom even more powerful. The Welmarians have offered a generous sum for the prisoner; refusing the offer could mean war. As the king tries to find a way to handle this, he learns a devastating news: Things are not as they appeared, and the prisoner he thought securely jailed is playing a game of his own, threatening vengeance if it's not played by his rules.

Intelligence told the High Command that the Mar Tabban, arch enemies of the Citizens' Army, had moved into the territory garrisoned by Larian's Regiment. In response, the Regimental Commander sent the B company scouts, Larian's unit, out to investigate. On his first operational assignment, Larian has to overcome inexperience and his own fear and uncertainty if he wants to survive and get the information his Regiment needs to emerge victorious.

The dragons had been created by ancient sorcerers deep beneath Firestorm Mountain. The most powerful of these deadly creatures was Gilmreth. After the Worldfire, the dragons escaped from the mountain to prey upon the few living creatures left upon the Earth. Over the centuries, living sources of food became harder to find and the dragons took to preying upon each other. In a small secluded valley, a few humans still struggle to survive. Just when their lives are finally turning for the better, the surviving dragons find them.

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.

Pietro, a young man, has never killed: something rare for the corrupt city of Peregoth and totally alien to the tropics of Molkoro, where circumstances will soon take him. In the sweltering jungle, his purity has become a commodity to the ettin invaders and their lord, the dark Vexor. But how long can his innocence last in a godless land?

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....