Black Gate

An action-packed tale of a battle at sea, a desperate swordfight on wind-swept decks, and dark sorcery hidden in the depths of a strange vessel.

“Starboard,” shouted the chief, “run ‘em out!”

The gun port was thrown open and the towmen sent the cannon’s barrel through the open port. Clap gazed down the barrel and could see the hull of the other vessel just out of range riding high and asking for it. It was a ship of similar size, two decks above the waterline, each with ten ports open and guns run out even as he watched. She was flying unfamiliar colors and her paint seemed of foreign design. The trigger rope itched in his hand, begging him for release.

“As she bears and on the roll, boys,” came the command. Clap took one last aim, hoping for the mainmast, stepped aside and pulled.

Jason’s first story for us was “The Duelist,” published as part of our Black Gate Online Fiction line on September 30th, 2012. His work has also appeared in Flashing Swords magazine, Rage of the Behemoth, Magic and Mechanica, and other venues. Some of his sword & sorcery and heroic fantasy is collected in In Savage Lands and The Harsh Suns, and the first two novels chronicling the supernatural adventures of occult detective Lance Chambers, The Spear of Destiny and Cult of Death, are now available.

The complete catalog of Black Gate Online Fiction, including stories by E.E. Knight, Gregory Bierly, Mark Rigney, C.S.E. Cooney, Judith Berman, Howard Andrew Jones, Dave Gross, Harry Connolly, and others, is here.

“The Gunnerman” is a complete 5,000-word sword & sorcery tale offered at no cost.

Read the complete story here.

Naome Amryth, Priestess of the Sea, battles the inevitability of dark prophecy — and worse things — in Gregory Bierly’s heroic adventure, a sword & sorcery tale in classic pulp style.

Pink dawn was on the mountains when Naome saw the first of the flying creatures. It paid her no notice, but flew on with speed along the curve of the coastline, toward Jadh.

Suddenly the sky was filled with the thump of fell wings. The grotesque creatures were some sort of winged baboon, but not like any seen on Earth. Each was as large as a horse, and great ram horns curled down from the crown of their massive foreheads. Savage yellow fangs overhung the jaws of these demons. The baboons flew with stupid purpose, ignoring one another and Naome’s boat as they rushed toward Jadh.

It was the most terrifying vision Naome had ever beheld. Nausea overcame her as she wondered if these hellspawn were searching for her. Thousands of baboon demons croaked overhead and Naome began to sense her doom, and that of Jadh, which she knew lay at the end of their mindless journey.

The last of the croaking horrors disappeared into the south. She trembled and wept, and then reversed course, paddling hard. She knew she would be late, far too late to give warning to her father and sisters. A demon host was coming to Jadh, and it was her fault entirely.

Greg Bierly is a climatologist, professor of geography and director of the honors program at Indiana State University. This is his first fiction sale.

You can see the complete catalog of Black Gate Online Fiction, including stories by E.E. Knight, John R. Fultz, Mark Rigney, C.S.E. Cooney, Donald S. Crankshaw, Aaron Bradford Starr, Sean McLachlan, Judith Berman, Howard Andrew Jones, Harry Connolly, and Jason E. Thummel, here.

“A Princess of Jadh” is a complete 13,000-word swords & sorcery novelette offered at no cost, with original art by Rachel Patterson.

Read the complete story here.

The Blue Pilgrim, last seen in the Lords of Swords tale “That of the Pit” — which Todd McAulty said “could stand alongside the work of the masters like Robert E. Howard, Fritz Leiber, or Karl Edward Wagner” in his review in Black Gate 8 — returns in a dark tale of ancient empires, brave villagers, and sorcery most dire.

“Discern!” the village father said, approaching at a heavy, puffing run. “The Vale is accursed! The great mill-house in Lambhop Dell has been visited now! Not a soul survives.”

“Get me a horse or a pony.”

From any of the hills surrounding Lambhop Dell the mill-house looked like no great structure. Only once you went down into the Dell did you appreciate the three levels and massive stones and timbers that went into its construction. Judging from damage to door and windows, an elephant and a hauling chain and hook had been at work here.

Rumor had proved wrong in one respect, however. A boy still lived, the grandson of the miller. He’d been found hiding among the gears of the water-wheel.

“Scarecrow-man!” the boy said. “The scarecrow-man came in the fog.” After that they could get nothing from him but tears.

E.E. Knight is the author of the Vampire Earth series, which began with Way of the Wolf, and the six-volume Age of Fire books. He is a frequent blogger for Black Gate.

You can see the complete catalog of Black Gate Online Fiction, including stories by John R. Fultz, Mark Rigney, C.S.E. Cooney, Donald S. Crankshaw, Aaron Bradford Starr, Sean McLachlan, Judith Berman, Howard Andrew Jones, Harry Connolly, and Jason E. Thummel, here.

“The Terror in the Vale” is a complete 9,400-word novelette of heroic fantasy offered at no cost.

Read the complete story here.

The great playwright Artifice the Quill, who freed the city of Narr from the grip of the dread Sorcerer Kings with but a single performance in “Return of the Quill” (Black Gate 13), returns in a tale of magic, mystery, and the power of performance:

The haunted city lay sleeping at the feet of the mountains, a gray collection of antique architecture encircled by a granite wall. A monolith rose from its central plaza, crowned by a crimson orb that refracted starlight, painting the streets with bloody shadow. Pale ghosts wandered along the avenues, silver phantasms gliding through vermilion, while the living stayed locked inside their shuttered houses.

Three brightly canopied wagons descended the ancient road to Mornitetra. Artifice sat on the driver’s bench of the lead wagon. As the confining walls of the mountain pass fell behind, he looked down upon the shunned city at last. He watched spectral shapes swim through the avenues.

What would the ghosts think of his play?

John’s first first story for Black Gate was “Oblivion is the Sweetest Wine” in Black Gate 12, a classic sword-and-sorcery tale of spider-haunted towers and a terrifying secret. His contributions to our pages also include “Return of the Quill” (in BG 13) and “The Vintages of Dream” (BG 15).

His epic fantasy novel Seven Princes is available from Orbit Books. Seven Kings, the second book of the Shaper Trilogy, will be released on Jan. 15, with the concluding volume, Seven Sorcerers, coming in Jan. 2014. Read an exclusive chapter from Seven Kings here.

You can see the complete catalog of Black Gate Online Fiction, including stories by Mark Rigney, C.S.E. Cooney, Donald S. Crankshaw, Aaron Bradford Starr, Sean McLachlan, Judith Berman, Howard Andrew Jones, Harry Connolly, and Jason E. Thummel, here.

“When the Glimmer Faire Came to the City of the Lonely Eye” is a complete 6,800-word novelette of heroic fantasy offered at no cost.

Read the complete story here.