It has been twenty long years since the Dark Shogun’s victory at the Great War.The Dark Shogun now rules the country with absolute power. Some say he is invincible. Some say he is a God. Only a handful of Samurai clans remain. Only a handful of Kensei warriors remain.But not for long...It has been twenty long years since the Dark Shogun’s victory at the Great War. After the war, everyone expected peace. Everyone wanted peace. But in the twenty years since the war there has been only fear and uncertainty and oppression. The Shogun, with the approval of Emperor Yozei, has outlawed the Samurai class and the public display of swords. He has outlawed the use of Ninja and the practice of Ninjutsu. He has outlawed the Kensei order, the legendary Sword Saints of Japan. After the Kensei surrendered, he began systematically dismantling the great Samurai clans. The Shogun's army would be the only military force. The Ninja clans retreated to their secret mountain villages. The great Samurai clans chose to fight. They were crushed. The Shogun's army is too massive. Too ruthless. The Dark Shogun now rules the country with absolute power. Some say he is invincible. Some say he is a God. Only a handful of Samurai clans remain. Only a handful of Kensei warriors remain. But not for long… Views: 771
Maddie, the main character of the story, is an only child. She lives on the farm with her two parents and feels alone as a result. She struggles to find peace and love, until Dad surprises her. Easter comes around and this is where a new beginning starts, but ends quickly too. Little does she know where her desperate need to be loved lies...The Pied Piper is known for his supernatural ability to catch rats. Of course. He’s a vampire. Rats, bats, wolves, and humans fall prey to his command. It’s a lucrative living until a payment dispute with a small-town German client in 1284 and his revenge--kidnapping the town’s children and turning them into vampires--escalated into a territorial battle with Count Dracula, forcing the Piper to flee Europe with a few of his children.Seven hundred years later in Manhattan, Jack follows in his father’s footsteps. It’s a good living: the number of rats in New York City is no joke. When the Piper’s girlfriend, an animal rights activist, threatens Jack’s business in a scheme to get the Piper out of pest control, the Piper and Jack fight for control. And Jack must decide what he’ll sacrifice for love. Views: 771
In a future where people must live underground to survive, some must pay the ultimate sacrifice in order the human race to continue to exist. The banished are sent above ground so the rest of the community can thrive. Resources become the biggest hardship the colonist face and eventually it will all run out. How will humanity survive when life above ground is next to impossible?In this very short story by Rish Outfield, Wyatt is given a magical ballpoint pen, but its power is limited. Cover art by Jonathan Wilson. Views: 771
This a story for older kids about social bullying and the impact it can have for the victim...and the bully.This is a short story about social bullying. Although the main character is a first grader, the story itself targets older children. I wrote this story as part of a bully-proofing curriculum for my sixth-grade students. It would, however, be appropriate for high school students, too. The story is true. Included with the story are thought provoking written response questions that can be used as-is in your classroom or altered to fit your specific need. Again, this is a serious and perhaps slightly disturbing story about social bullying. It illustrates that not all bullying is intentional, and that social ostracism can sometimes be more damaging than a physical assault.Generally, I write suspense/thrillers, so this story is very different from my usual genre. If you would like to use this story in your classroom, you could easily display it using your classroom computer. If you would rather, I would be happy to send you the word file so that you could more easily print it and the written response questions for your students. If you would like to have a word file, please visit my website at www.sdexter.com and use my contact form for your request. Views: 771
Somebody is always in trouble. And it's always Rose. So when she gets sent to the Principal's office, she thinks nothing of it, knowing she can convince him she's done nothing wrong. But there are men in black suits - with BIG guns.A young pastor explores the best path for his future ministry. His worldview is shattered by conversations with the Apostles John and Paul, as well as Christian leaders, from businessmen to pastors, from America to China. Restoring the “strategery” of the corporate Church to God’s original plan in Scripture is never easy, but it’s encouraging to hear from those who have faced similar questions in their own times. The biggest, hardest to swallow, and most helpful truth he found was where the business world and the Church in China found agreement: the difference between pastors and clergy. Views: 771
First: kill Satan. Second: reorganize Hell. Sounded simple enough back then, but for Betsy Taylor, managing "down below" isn't as easy as she'd hoped - even if she is doing it with her sister, Laura, a bona-fide Antichrist. So yes, Betsy has been shirking her hellish responsibilities, but she's been just so darn busy these days. And she's not just yanking Laura's chain. There's a brand new baby drama involving a pair of uncanny (ok, terrifying) toddler twins, an upcoming birthday party that has to be planned, and, are you ready for it? Betsy's dad - once so very dead - has been spotted in downtown St. Paul.
Now, despite all the chaos, Betsy's friends rally around, helping her to handle all this fire and brimstone jazz. As for Betsy's sister and dad - they have their own surprises in store for the vampire queen. And jolt by jolt, Betsy will discover that there's nothing as heartwarming as family. Yeah, like Hell. Views: 771
In this tongue-in-cheek short story, Doreen Sizemore, an elderly and opinionated Kentucky woman who hasn't been outside of home town since her senior class trip, gathers her courage and boards the Texas Eagle train bound for her brother's home in Texas. She is feeling quite the brave adventuress...until she discovers a murder on the train.There will be one. One who rises above them all. A man of valor and great strength who will free us from the fall… Ever since Jonathan was a child, the prophesy has haunted him. He longs to find the one who will free the human race. When aliens rain death—destruction—and fear upon his village, he is forced into a life of slavery. Zahara’s entire world shatters when her village is raided, and she is sold to an alien mistress. Beyond hope, she finds love with the handsome, red-haired, determined Jonathan. When peril arises, the two must flee, but where will they go in a city full of aliens? Will they escape? Will they unlock the mysteries of the ancient prophesy? Views: 771
Emma Savage’s life was relatively normal, if normal includes searing headaches, seeing things that aren’t there, and having a best friend with super powers. But all that paled in comparison to the events that unfold after she finds a box of her birth mother’s belongings.“This is my last entry. It is not easy to leave my daughter, especially knowing…” Emma Savage’s life was relatively normal, if normal includes searing headaches, seeing things that aren’t there, and having a best friend with super powers. But all that paled in comparison to the events that unfold after she finds a box of her birth mother’s belongings. Soon after she discovers that there are more things in this world that she would have ever guessed existed, but in her search for answers she stumbles across something she was never meant to see. Now she has become a target herself and the only way out is to learn what it is that her mother sacrificed everything to save Emma from all those years ago. Views: 771
Dane must make the ultimate decision: Kill to retain his immortal dragon form, losing the woman he loves in the process... or face a powerful foe as a weakened mortal.Dane needs to feed. Desperately. His guide sends him a new victim, a woman named Athens who wants death’s deliverance. There’s just one problem: as a dragon, Dane would die too if he consumes the life force of one with no will to live. In an effort to make her suitable, Dane forges a bond he never wanted. Now he must face an ancient enemy in his weakened state, and make the ultimate decision: Kill to retain his immortal dragon form, losing the woman he loves in the process... or face a powerful foe as a weakened mortal. Views: 771
A descendant of Ceres, goddess of the harvest, was dumped a year ago by her fiance. Bad idea, be careful around a goddess! Now he wants to reconcile but nothing is simple where goddesses are concerned. Or is it?This short story was the inspiration for the novel Earth Legend. In it, a descendant of Ceres, goddess of the harvest, was dumped by her fiance. Not a good idea if your fiancee is a goddess! Now, a year later, he wants to reconcile but nothing is simple where goddesses are concerned. Or is it? Views: 770
Isis' goals for the future included things like attending and graduating college. However, becoming a monster wasn't part of the plan. Isis and her boyfriend, David, are on the brink of a horrible transformation and they are eager to stop it. Together, they set out on a quest to Greece to find Isis' biological father—the only person that may be able to help them. Their journey comes to an abrupt stop before it even begins when Isis falls ill, and Eros, David's best friend, arrives in Athens, unannounced and curious…with a plan of his own.
The hunt for her father leads Isis on the turbulent path of deceit, death, and demons as she anticipates the dawning of the beast that stirs inside her. Views: 770
In a world where an industrial revolution is powered by magic, Tyen, a student of archaeology, unearths a sentient book called Vella. Once a young sorcerer-bookbinder, Vella was transformed into a useful tool by one of the greatest sorcerers of history. Since then she has been collecting information, including a vital clue to the disaster Tyen's world faces.
Elsewhere, in a land ruled by the priests, Rielle the dyer's daughter has been taught that to use magic is to steal from the Angels. Yet she knows she has a talent for it, and that there is a corrupter in the city willing to teach her how to use it - should she dare to risk the Angels' wrath.
But not everything is as Tyen and Rielle have been raised to believe. Not the nature of magic, nor the laws of their lands.
Not even the people they trust. Views: 770
When Kayla embarks on a drive from Washington to Texas, she is just doing her job. When the black 1967 Impala starts showing up at every turn, she starts to think it might be more than coincidence. When the mysterious driver leaves her a note, she is engulfed in a race for her life. Red Snow is an urban retelling of a classic fairy tale. A short story.When Kayla embarks on a drive from Washington to Texas, she is just doing her job. When the black 1967 Impala starts showing up at every turn, she starts to think it might be more than coincidence. When the mysterious driver leaves her a note, she is engulfed in a race for her life. Kayla is tasked with defeating vampires, werewolves and evil witches that threaten to destroy her happiness and her very life! Will she get her happily ever after, or will she fall victim to the evil that courses through her veins? Red Snow is an urban retelling of a classic fairy tale. A short story. Views: 770
Chad is a wagon master and he thinks he is a coward. He still manages to deliver supplies to the frontline, rescue wounded, befriend the young Princess Asmara and inspire respect in his enemies. A story from Harrhein, set five hundred years ago in a fictional world, of a different sort of soldier.Chad is a soldier - but not your normal soldier who is good with weapons and kills enemies. Chad is one of the 80% of soldiers that we ignore, part of the support staff who keeps men on the front line. He is a transport soldier, getting supplies to the soldiers at the front. His weapon is his wagon and horses, and his wars still take him to the frontline. He thinks he is a coward, yet he exhibits incredible bravery by simply doing his job in the face of enemy action. This is the story of his life, little chapters of it, from resupplying a fort to rescuing wounded. A man who can inspire respect in his enemies without fighting. He is a different soldier, and though this story is fantasy set in Harrhein, it equates to a time in our world perhaps five hundred years ago. I was inspired to write it by a friend of mine, whose uncle died and he discovered the uncle had been in the Royal Corps of Transport yet he knew nothing about his life. I do not pretend that Chad's life in any way reflects that of the real Chad, nor that Paul is as uncaring as Nephew Paul, but I hope I have managed to show the very different courage of the unsung heroes of an army. I was a soldier, and I remember how we looked down on the comfortable life of the truck drivers, secretly envious, and I could never show the type of courage they showed so frequently. Keeping on doing your job in highly dangerous situations. Leaving your personal defence to others. That last is the key to why I cannot comprehend their courage. Gentlemen and scoundrels of the Transport Corps of All Armies, I salute you. Views: 770
Billions of people. Gone.The White House has been engulfed by the shadow of a mysterious ship. Days go by, and the Visitors make no contact, until one day, they leave. Suddenly the Earth goes still. Billions of people disappear at once. There's no trace as to where the vast population has gone.After an alien ship appeared in the United States, panic ensues. But almost as puzzling as its arrival, is when it suddenly leaves. Taking almost the entire population with it.Billions of people. Gone. That's the world seventeen year old Charlie Freeman lives in. The only person he knows of that's left is his cousin Alex. Until the two of them find Sarah.She tells them of survivors in Washington D.C., so they head down there from the ghost town of Boston. It was supposed to be an easy drive. But that all changed when the alien creatures that had been lurking in the shadows come to light. Charlie is about to find out that he's not alone. He's the minority Views: 770
