Prompt: A story beginning with a dying character, bleeding from the mouth, and staring at the knife embedded in his heart.
His research results would likely never be published now. He couldn’t finish the experiment, couldn’t document things properly. All his valuable data would be funneled into an autopsy report. Dr. Clyde Trapp was soon to be a corpse. Continue reading
Author’s Note: This story was written live on stream with the audience bidding tokens (earned while watching) to determine the path of the story. The underlined phrases in the choice of three were the winning pathways. Stop by twitch.tv/blainearcade if you’d ever like to participate in our interactive fiction.
Tusked Hog Mask Slobbering Mantis Mask Shark-Hound Mask
For five days my body has not been my own. I don’t suspect it will ever be returned to me. Every human has a natural instinct to avoid housekeeping. I was very good at avoiding it, especially since I lived alone in a house I inherited from my parents. The living area was sanitary enough, with no visible layers of dust as long as you didn’t check between the cupboards or under the couch. Continue reading
Prompt: The first child raised by artificial intelligence goes out into the human world for the first time.
Elta was the city of the future. All the signs said so, and they weren’t liars like the signs down in the medicine district. Even in its earliest stages it promised the world’s cleanest streets, automaton public servants, and a grand subterranean clock that would keep everything on schedule for all time, provided someone occasionally went down and scraped off the rust. Continue reading
An Incremented Dragon’s Tale Inspired by the Art of SamJFraser
There was no need to count the number of paces. Their path was already trodden, ten thousand times over. Every footprint was visible, as they went deep into the dirt. Mother and daughter moved through easily enough, even in the seventh day of their journey, because their booted feet fit perfectly into the prints of old. Continue reading
Prompt – A young hero, determined to live a plain simple life, has avoided his destiny so far. Fate is getting annoyed and resorting to ever more subtle ways to trick him into heroism.
It was a part of the world that hadn’t seen rain in over four years; there was no spot better suited to clearing his mind. He lived under a shelf of rock that kept the desert heat at bay. This was his first entire week of life without interruption, which allowed him to plant a seed of hope in that massive shadow. Perhaps he could stay there forever. Continue reading
Prompt: A man wants to save his mother from evil, but must become evil to do so.
It was too dark for a proper celebration, but there was nothing proper about the Black Gala. Nearly every guest had a gloomy look on their face, even as they danced in circles across the marble floor in the grandest room the entire region had to offer. Continue reading
Prompt: An alien girl’s escape pod crash-lands on Earth; she is the crown princess of her empire and is pursued by their enemies.
The initial impact was enough to knock her out cold, which was very bad for one of her species, especially the young. She was of the Kilinitt, and their imaginations were rich, sometimes overpowering their conscious minds. Sleep was always a battle to best the flood of dreams, and getting a concussion was like those dreams breaking down the castle gates. Continue reading
Author’s Note: This story was written live on stream with the audience bidding tokens (earned while watching) to determine the path of the story. The underlined phrases in the choice of three were the winning pathways. (This story used a different format of eliminated choices.) Stop by twitch.tv/blainearcade if you’d ever like to participate in our interactive fiction.
Alfheim – Elves Svartalfheim – Dwarves Jotunheim – Giants
Vanaheim – Gods Niflheim – Ice Muspelheim – Lava
The deep purple of the rent sky went on forever. In that forever, six realms could be seen, each hanging as fruit from the world tree Yggdrasil. There had been nine before, nine for incalculable time, but they were burnt to ash now, and the others soon to follow. It was Ragnarok, the death of the tree, and the movement of all the beings in all the remaining worlds was just the death rattle of life itself. Continue reading
Prompt: A man has the power to read minds, but it’s only activated when he drinks alcohol. He wants to be a hero, but he gets derailed once he starts drinking.
Avoiding bars was supposed to be the safe thing to do if you were an alcoholic. He had done that admirably, but this was Lassie’s. Lassie’s was a somewhat casual eatery that might as well have only been open on Fridays, because that’s where ninety percent of their business lived. That was when they sold the honey mustard chicken strips and wings for half-off, which is what convinced him to go with a few friends. Continue reading
Prompt: An old but beautiful woman meets the last dragon in a canyon. The dragon moves in to kill her; what stops him?
The canyon was not difficult to find, given the plethora of dragon bones around its edges. None of them were intact; every last skull and wing had been crushed to chips or powder. The mass grave was left, undisturbed, for decades. Even though every part of a dragon was rich in magic, nobody wanted the bone chips, for they feared their use in enchantments posed a risk of bringing the beasts back. Continue reading
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