Fiction Stories

Halloween 2024
2024 Halloween Contest Third Place Winner! Witches, vampires, dire wolves, a gryphon, a shapeshifter, an animal talker, villains, and heroes all meet in this fantasy. The one who captures the key from around the cat's neck will win the heart and home of the fair maiden. The race is on!

It is the 12th century, and the Holy Roman Empire stands on the edge of turmoil. Frederick of Hohenstaufen, newly elected King of the Romans and destined to become Emperor, rides toward Rome beneath the weight of growing unrest. On his way to Rome Frederick stops at the Castle of Trier for food and and rest. While there, he learns of the trial of a young squire accused of defying the Church itself, one Johannes Braun. A young man King Frederick learns to depend on if he is to become Emperor.

The world comes tumbling down on Carlie but a random encounter brings her to a better place, gives her time to breathe, to look around, to make choices.

A story in the The Fading Stars Universe
Some choices are easy. Either face fifteen years in an off-world prison for trying to steal a military battlecruiser or join a crew of interstellar fixers for a hazardous mission. Rembrandt chose the latter and finds much more than he bargained for.

Three young restaurant coworkers—a charismatic extrovert, a guarded transgender artist, and a quietly troubled cook—navigate a tangled web of desire, secrets, and the daily grind. As their lives collide, they discover that the key to surviving work, love, and their own demons lies not in going it alone, but in forging a unique, unbreakable bond with each other.

A Story in the Jake's C&W Invitational Universe
A guy comes to a point in his life when he starts to wonder whether he made the right decisions when he was young man. Written in response to Jake River's forth C&W invitational.

After his fief is put to the torch, a lowly serf named Rian is taken captive by Orcs. The women cart him back to their stronghold and put him to work cooking, cleaning, and serving them. Little do they know, his new situation is a marked improvement. For the first time, he has a soft bed, plentiful food, and a warm hearth. Will his hosts ever find out that he's only pretending to lament his new role?

A tribute story in The Vallis Defense universe, continuing worlds created by Refusenik and Cold Creek
Three worlds. One saga — and you don't need to have read a page to start. This companion to The Vallis Defense: Cold Human catches you up on every source story, from Refusenik's Island Mine and Human novels to Cold Creek's Defenceman series, then hands you a full codex of the characters, locations, and lore behind Waylon's Mars, Scott's Texas, and Michael's Michigan. New readers start here; returning readers keep it close.

When a college girl who's several months pregnant shows up on Rory's doorstep claiming that he's the one who did the deed-but in the future-he doesn't see much choice but to let her in and explain herself. He never expected to be entangled in her time travel...

A Story in the Naked In School Universe
Following the end of the main events of Allison and Emanuel NiS, Kara Foster's week in the Program begins. What does 'fate' have in store for her (and them!) this week? This is a direct sequel to Allison and Emanuel NiS, and may not make much sense if you haven't already read that story. Minor Content Warnings (handled tastefully and sensitively): attempted assault (chps 23, 28, 44) and mentions of self-harm. A letter in () indicates the speaker/thinker of a given line - ie (K) for Kara.