Tag Archives: short story

February 10, 2023

Fateful Revelations – Fiction Short Story — Fantasy

Ortigan stood before Lord Aju, his head hung low, as Lord Aju proceeded to explain the task he was sending him on. It was a dangerous mission and he just could not understand why Lord Aju was sending him on this mission of all the knights he had at his disposal. Ortigan was but a page, he didn’t even know how to fight, let alone pick up a sword.

‘Why me, Lord? Why me?’ was all Ortigan could say once Lord Aju was done.

‘It’s My Lord, when you are addressing me,’ Lord Aju bellowed.

‘Yes, My Lord.’ Ortigan bowed in supplication. ‘My apologies, My Lord.’

‘And why you?’ Lord Aju chuckled sinisterly, a crooked grin spreading across his face. ‘You will find out when you reach the tombs.’

‘Yes, My Lord.’ Ortigan bowed again. ‘I will depart immediately.’

He bowed and left for the armoury, where he fumbled a bit, trying to get a sword’s scabbard tied to his belt.

The tombs were a dangerous place where dwelt sinister beings, he was told. It was said that any knight Lord Aju sent there died perilously. Ortigan didn’t stand a chance. Lord Aju was sending him to his death, for he had somehow failed him in his service, but he sure as hell wasn’t going to go down without at least trying to fight.

The young page took a horse and rode all day towards the graveyard where these tombs stood deserted and desecrated. Ortigan dismounted a few feet away from the gate that gave access to the graveyard.

A gloomy fog hovered above the ground, making it difficult to see where he was stepping. Ortigan stumbled forward, tripping on a large rock and stepping into a puddle. He lifted his boot and realized he had not stepped in water or mud, but blood.

A chill ran down his spine and he froze in place.

He wanted to turn back, but then where would he go? The next kingdom was days away; they were enemies of Lord Aju’s. If they let him in and Ortigan survived, he would forever be hunted by Lord Aju’s knights as a traitor. If he ran and never returned, he would be hunted as a deserter. And if he continued, he would be killed by the beings that haunted the tombs.

So Ortigan, the young page who had failed every test he’d been given to prove himself worthy of apprenticeship, merely stood there, petrified by the possibility of death.

Something in the distance moved, a figure shaped like a human. Ortigan took a step towards it, unsheathing the sword he had at his belt. A laugh reached his ears, oddly enough, a hearty laugh.

A man stepped forward, perhaps in his middle age, wielding a large broadsword.

‘Did anyone ever teach you how to even hold a sword before, boy?’

‘I…’ Ortigan stammered.

‘So now instead of sending his seasoned knights, for he knows they will not return, Lord Aju sends a mere boy?’

‘I’m thirteen, sir!’ Ortigan retorted angrily, feeling insulted. He was not just a mere boy.

‘You are brave, I’ll give you that?’ the man remarked. He studied Ortigan. ‘Did Lord Aju even tell you what he was sending you here for?’

‘He told me there was a magical artefact hidden in the tombs and that I was to retrieve it,’ stated the lad.

‘There is. It is the subject of war. Lord Aju has tried to take it before. I am one of those who guard it. Through these tombs, not only lies this magical item, but the passage to my kingdom. It is a secret passage to a hidden kingdom. Lord Aju knows this because he once came from this kingdom, before he was usurped and banished for being a murderer and tyrant. He founded his own kingdom and keeps sending knights to retrieve the magic that allows my kingdom to remain safe.’

‘Your kingdom?’

‘Yes. My name is King Tristan Draelawell. I rule the lands beyond that passage. I knew Lord Aju would send another, I sensed it needed to be me who would guard the way this night. I did not expect to encounter such a young and unseasoned fighter. I am conflicted in knowing I must kill you. Perhaps Lord Aju knew this.’

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February 5, 2023

Daring Defiance – Fiction Short Story — Romance — Drama

By binkyproductions

Warnings: Violence, Language.

Vincent woke up, groggily regaining awareness, and for a moment, he felt happy, before a pang punched deep into his heart, wrenching him back to reality, and a wail escaped his lips.

Vincent reached for Olivia’s arm, pulling her back to him. ‘Livvy, please, don’t go. I’m begging you!’

‘Let go of me, Vincent,’ shouted Olivia.

Vincent let go and took a step back. ‘Please, stay,’ he whispered.

‘We have nothing to say to each other,’ Olivia sneered.

‘Livvy,’ began Vincent.

‘Don’t “Livvy” me. God, Vincent, do you even love me?’

‘Of course, I do!’ The shock of the question hit Vincent like the punch in the gut he’d received earlier. ‘Livvy, you’re my world!’ Again, Vincent pleaded for Livvy to stay.

‘Then tell me, where were you tonight and what were you doing?’ demanded Olivia.

Vincent opened his mouth to speak but merely bowed his head. He swallowed. ‘I can’t tell you.’

Olivia let out a mirthless laugh. ‘You know, I thought you were different.’

‘What is that supposed to mean, Olivia?’ Vicent moved to block her path as she turned towards the door. ‘You’re the one who told me every other guy you dated disappeared. Have I disappeared? No. I’m still here because I love you!’

‘Then why won’t you tell me where you were? Why you have a black eye and a swollen lip? Why your hair is dishevelled and you’re acting shifty as though you’ve been in a fight?’

‘I…’ Vincent hesitated. ‘I can’t tell you.’ Tears stung his eyes at the hurt in Olivia’s eyes.

Olivia’s voice came out a seething half-whisper. ‘You’re just like my brother, Vincent; you’re dangerous. Men who aren’t dangerous don’t get into fights they can’t tell the woman they love about.’

Vincent merely stared at Olivia, trembling.

‘It’s over between us, Vincent.’

‘Olivia, please!’ Vincent reached over to take her hand and she flinched away. ‘How can you say that? We have plans.’

‘Move out of the way!’

Vincent and Olivia stared at each other for what felt like an eternity of anguish before Vincent relented and moved aside. Olivia wrenched the door open and, pausing at the threshold, whispered. ‘I never want to see you again.’ Olivia slammed the door.

Leaning his back against the wall, Vincent slid down into a crouch, weeping.

Opening his tear-filled eyes, Vincent reached over to Olivia’s side of the bed, the side where she had lain so many times after they made love. His heart ached for her.

A jolt in his ribs elicited a grunt from him.

Vincent raised his hands to protect his face as a fist came towards his jaw. An uppercut from the side sent him sprawling to the ground.

Kaidan loomed above Vincent for a beat before kicking him in the stomach. Vincent grunted, curling up. Kaidan’s friend kicked Vincent’s back and Vincent cried out.

Kaidan crouched and grabbed Vincent by the hair, yanking his head back. ‘I’m telling you to stay the hell away from my sister,’ he growled. ‘Maybe you thought I wasn’t being serious?’

Vincent heaved painfully as Kaidan’s friend punched him in the ribs.

‘Tell me you’re going to stay away from her!’

‘I don’t have to tell you anything,’ Vincent sneered defiantly.

Letting go of Vincent’s hair, Kaidan punched Vincent in the face again, sending his head jolting back before he grabbed his hair again. ‘Wrong answer. You’re going to stay away from my sister, and if you don’t, I’ll kill you.’

‘Do your worst!’ Vincent spat blood onto the pavement.

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February 4, 2023

The Haunted Dunes – Fiction Short Story — Fantasy —Sinister

By binkyproductions

‘Now listen carefully,’ the elder woman rasped, ‘you are never to travel to the Dunes of Novalei, do you hear? That desert is dangerous, treacherous, and it is haunted.’

The old woman walked over to the fire and stoked it before sitting back down on her stool.

‘Long ago, there was a great war between the two most fearsome warlords these lands have ever known. Both were proficient in great magic, and both were mounted upon great flying beasts. Their armies counted hundreds of thousands of soldiers and knights, and many of their greatest knights sat upon those great flying beasts.

‘Both warlords were set on conquering the other’s kingdom, and for many years they warred. Many died but there never was any real victor.

‘Then one day, they decided to settle this once and for all and declared a battle upon the then Plains of Dunalei where their armies clashed day and night.

‘For ten whole days and ten whole nights, they fought. They slew each other’s beasts, and bodies piled upon each other, creating mountains of the dead. The hills of corpses dripped rivers of blood as their slaughter continued until finally, tired and battered, only the two warlords remained.’

The elder woman paused and narrowed her eyes sinisterly.

‘But the warlords had not foreseen the arrival of a third ruler, one who had duped them for so long, one who had claimed to remain neutral in their war, and he came with his army and finished the warlords off and whoever remained of their soldiers and knights.

‘The new sole ruler laughed at his deception and triumph as he set the hills of corpses ablaze.

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February 2, 2023

A Bond Between Sisters – Fiction Short Story — Teens — Sisters — Drama

By binkyproductions

Lydia studied herself in the mirror, placing a blouse in front of her pajama top, as she tried to figure out what to wear. Switching hangars, she placed another blouse in front before switching again.

‘Come on, Lydia, we can’t spend all day trying to figure out what you’re going to wear!’ complained Sarah, her older sister. She sat on Lydia’s bed, leaning back on her elbows, kicking her legs back and forth as she waited for Lydia to finish getting dressed.

‘I can’t decide, Sarah. I don’t know which will look nicest.’

‘Who cares!’

‘But it’s the start of the new school year, I want to look my best,’ insisted Lydia.

‘That’s why we’re going shopping before school actually starts!’ Sarah sighed exaggeratedly. ‘It’s your senior year, it’ll be the best! And,’ Sarah stood and stepped over to Lydia, wrapping an arm around her shoulders, ‘as we do every year, I’m going to help you choose a new handbag that’ll match every outfit you have so you can dazzle the boys at Homecoming.’ She grinned looking at Lydia’s reflection in the mirror. ‘So it doesn’t matter what you wear. Just get dressed already.’

‘Okay, okay.’ Lydia relented.

She cast both blouses aside and took a third and slipped it on with a pair of tight jeans. Sarah laughed before skipping out of the bedroom, beckoning Lydia to follow.

‘Mom, dad, we’re going shopping!’ Lydia called over her shoulder as she and Sarah skipped out the door.

They started down the street. When they turned the corner, a young man wearing a light hoodie with his hands in his pockets looked up from the ground and beamed at Lydia.

‘Hey, Lydia.’ He hesitated. ‘You look nice.’

Lydia felt herself blush. ‘Uh, thanks, Kai.’

‘So, you excited to start school again?’

Lydia opened her mouth but no sound came out.

‘Tell him you’re excited to see more of him,’ Sarah muttered into Lydia’s ear.

Lydia smiled, feeling self-conscious. ‘Not really, but it has its perks, like…seeing you.’

Kai’s smile widened. ‘Yeah?’ They stared at each other for another awkward moment. ‘Well, I’ll see you at school tomorrow, yeah?’

‘Yeah. See you, Kai.’

Kai continued down the street and Lydia bit her lower lip, watching him go.

Sarah squealed excitedly. ‘Oh my god, he so likes you! Like, he’s so into you.’

‘You think?’

‘Oh my god, Lydia, it’s so obvious!’ Sarah placed herself in front of Lydia. ‘If he doesn’t ask you to Homecoming, you have to ask him.’

‘I don’t know, I’m kind of scared to.’

‘Why? He totally has the hots for you.’

‘You really think so?’

Sarah leaned her head back in exasperation. ‘It’s so obvious. Trust me.’

‘But me…ask a guy out?’

‘Lydia, we’re modern times. Girls can ask guys out. And I just know he’ll say “yes”. He’s got hearts in his eyes when he looks at you, and who wouldn’t? Believe me, he’s into you just as much as you’re into him. Trust your older sister on this, okay?’

‘Okay.’

They started off again. Across the street, a group of girls from the cheerleading team were eyeing them condescendingly.

‘Ugh,’ Sarah rolled her eyes. ‘Just ignore them.’

‘Weirdo!’ one of the girls called out.