Welcome to this week’s installment of many micro stories, ranging in length from 100 words to 500 words.

With each story we hope to deliver a little whimsy into the lives of our readers.

A MOUTHFUL OF WATER

Their steel shone cream and lavender beneath the crescent moons. For a moment, the foes stood motionless: man and woman, veiled tribesman and outland adventurer. He raised his blade, hesitated. An amateur mistake.

One stroke of her saber daubed the white sand red. He wobbled, dead on his feet, and tumbled down the dune. While he rolled on and on, she shook her head. Drank the last little bit from her stolen waterskin. What a wretched land, this Sea of Sands.

Arlise had killed her fair share: for crowns and coin, life and love…

…but never a mouthful of water.

Austin Worley writes everything from heroic fantasy to romance and poetry. A native Oklahoman, he fills his downtime with books and nights under the stars. His short fiction has appeared in magazines and anthologies such as Fantastic Detectives, Sword & Scandal, and Broadswords and Blasters. Several of these stories have earned Honorable Mentions from the Writers of the Future Contest.

If you enjoyed this story you can find it and more in the Hawthorn & Ash anthology.

AVAILABLE HERE!

Welcome to this week’s installment of many micro stories, ranging in length from 100 words to 500 words.

With each story we hope to deliver a little whimsy into the lives of our readers.

ON THE ROADSIDE

Stefan found her beside the road. Blood stained her tattered surcoat dark as wine, and the shreds of mail underneath couldn’t hide four wicked claw marks. Her chest rose and fell, each breath a little shallower. If she didn’t see a healer soon, she never would.

What could’ve done this to a Watch-Sister? He scanned the trees. Primal instincts screamed for him to run. Run far, run fast, and never look back.

Instead, he knelt. This world brimmed with monsters, but folk needn’t turn monstrous themselves. Stefan lifted her from the bed of leaves and headed back to his ox-cart.

Austin Worley writes everything from heroic fantasy to romance and poetry. A native Oklahoman, he fills his downtime with books and nights under the stars. His short fiction has appeared in magazines and anthologies such as Fantastic Detectives, Sword & Scandal, and Broadswords and Blasters. Several of these stories have earned Honorable Mentions from the Writers of the Future Contest.

If you enjoyed this story you can find it and more in the Hawthorn & Ash anthology.

AVAILABLE HERE!