New Phantasma…

Love in the Time of the Serpent King by RJ Astruc

She lays her tusked head on the ground and I climb onto her back, curling my fingers around the horns of bone that jutt from her ribs. My doomed cell-mates do not stir. The deev spreads her great wings and around us the cell walls and ceiling melt away. Above us I see a hole in the palace roof and through it stars. “Come with me, Rahaeb Reyad,” says Jahazan, “and don’t look back.”

The Keeper of Promises by Abha Iyengar

Marushi, the bird, with his blue beak, yellow head and bright orange plumage, his red breast adorned with black dots that shone like live coals when the sun fell on them, watched the young fifteen year old girl, Ramlu, as she danced on the hot, deserted road.

The Fox by Richard Beland

He was a hard man, a seasoned pirate who earned every bit of his notoriety. It was always a mystery how he acquired his nickname or his peg leg. How many fell beneath his sword is unknown, nor how many hearts his dagger pierced.

Echo of the Invisible World by Shelly Li

From across the desk, Connor Richardson’s gaze darted from his father to the tall foreign being standing next to him, lingering on this ambassador for just a fleeting moment before returning his eyes to his father. So this was who his father had dedicated his career, his life to. A giant preying mantis of a being who stood gaping at him, as if he were a strange specimen in a jar.

Sasquatch by Hugh Fox

They were obviously tracking us down. Roles were reversed…and they’d wear us down before we’d ever wear them down. They were ‘home,’ after all….