fantasy short story
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A Night at the Gilded Quill
If humans had taglines, what would yours be? The amber glow of crystalline lanterns bathed the Gilded Quill’s common room in warmth that seemed to seep into weathered bones and travel-worn souls. Smoke from sweet-grass pipes mingled with the aroma of honeyed ale and roasted root vegetables, creating an atmosphere thick with stories waiting to Continue reading
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The Books That Made Me
Do you remember your favorite book from childhood? The scent of old parchment and binding glue transported Evangeline Stormwright back through the decades as surely as any temporal enchantment. She knelt beside her daughter’s bed in their tower chamber overlooking Lumenvale’s Merchant Quarter, watching seven-year-old Celestine’s eyelids grow heavy with approaching sleep. The child’s fingers Continue reading
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The Alchemy of Fear
What fears have you overcome and how? The crystalline formations that lined my lair caught the amber glow of evening light filtering through the cavern’s mouth, casting fractured rainbows across walls worn smooth by five centuries of my passage. I, Thessarian the Everburning, settled my massive form upon the treasure-bed that had been my resting Continue reading
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The Tapestry of Departures
What quality do you value most in a friend? The evening mist clung to Lumenvale’s weathered cobblestones like the ghost of unspoken promises as Kestrel Thornwick traced patterns in the condensation gathering on her tavern window. The Merchant’s Rest had become her sanctuary during these brief interludes between courier runs—a place where conversations flowed as Continue reading
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The Scared Stones
Do you practice religion? The prayer bells of Lumenvale’s Sacred Quarter chimed across the evening mist as I knelt beside the weathered shrine, my calloused hands tracing patterns older than memory in the dust-worn stone. Forty-seven years had passed since I first entered the Monastery of Silent Depths as a wide-eyed girl seeking answers to Continue reading
Chadwick Rye 