Short Stories
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The Mountain’s Shadow
What’s the first impression you want to give people? The first time Mica Ashvein saw Cragsen Ironheart, she was certain he would kill her. She was cornered in the narrow alley between the Deepstone Merchant Hall and the communal grain stores—one of those forgotten spaces in the Peak-rider settlement that seemed to exist outside normal Continue reading
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The Heart That Never Stopped
An orphan finds a glowing bio-mechanical heart in the river and keeps it for 37 years, becoming Lumenvale’s greatest watchmaker. A cozy fantasy story about mysterious Mechanican artifacts, childhood discoveries, and how the coolest things we find can shape our entire lives. Rich steampunk worldbuilding. Continue reading
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The Rhythm of Stone
Theron Deeproot woke before dawn, as he always did, to the sensation of stillness. It was a strange thing to cherish in the heart of Lumenvale’s Merchant Quarter, where the city’s pulse quickened with each passing hour, where silver canals carried commerce and conversation in equal measure, where the Crystal Spires sang their eternal harmonics Continue reading
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The Luminescence of Companionship
Maris Coralweaver’s scales flickered from deep indigo to troubled silver as she descended through the kelp forests toward home. The day’s work at the Reef Restoration Project had been grueling—six hours of coaxing damaged coral polyps back to life, her hands aching from the precise manipulation of healing currents, her mind exhausted from maintaining the Continue reading
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The Three Ledgers
What are your favorite websites? The morning bells had barely finished their second chime when Cyrus Mindwell pushed open the doors to the Grand Archive’s eastern wing, his leather satchel heavy with the notebooks he’d filled during yesterday’s research. At thirty-four, he’d spent the better part of a decade pursuing knowledge with the particular hunger Continue reading
Chadwick Rye 