The tavern swells in a dark shroud, as the few remaining torchlights burn low and suffering. Patrons huddle closely to the walls, their faces hidden behind the blanket of night. Your eyes find a table, oaken and stained with the years lost, and you take your seat. Something in the way the barkeep looks at you, or how the strange eyes behind the familiar shadows flash their interest, keeps your hand on the pommel of your sword.

You hear a sound. A gale of wind flings the doors open. The lone courier is here, and he finds you there. You’re handed a note caked in dust, blood, and grime from the long road. With a tip of his beret, the courier silently turns his back to you and sets off again, but your attention is on the parcel. You are filled with trepidation as your fingers undress the letter. Fearful of what you may find, yet fearful of what may happen if you don’t discover its contents, you reach for your letter opener.

It’s a collection of tales—warnings, chronicles, lore, memories.

You dip low into the shadows and begin to read.

In this Issue:

• The Mand by Liam Hogan


• The Bells of Kraeden by Evan Davis


• The Final Battle of the Third Sphere by B.S. Roberts


• Riga by David Dixon


• The Bastion of the Midnight Bells by Dennis Mombauer


• The Deep Words by Adam Ells


• Sentenced to Boil by Justin Dill


• Immortal by Joseph R. Carrel