Fiction

At the Ready

I’m a broken record lately when it comes to flash fiction. My standard intro is something along the lines of, “No long intro. Just straight to the story.”

I’d like to write a longer intro this week. Hell, I’d like to write a longer story, but I have a social engagement tonight and I’m all out of time. Such is life.

This week’s prompt is from The Prediction:

100 words maximum, excluding the title, of flash fiction or poetry using all of the three words above (‘archer’, ‘lid’, and ‘whinny’) in the genres of horror, fantasy or science fiction.

at the ready

Archers on the wall. The king’s personal guard stands ready, mounted just behind the portcullis.

In a swirl of smoke and fire, he arrives. There’s treachery in his eyes, this wayward wizard who slips in and out of shadow.

A single horse whinnies and he turns to the king’s guard. With a gesture they all drop dead.

Taking a small box from his robes, he unclasps the lid and sets it on the ground.

“Pandora sends her regards,” he says before disappearing into mist.

Later that day blood fiends are spotted in the courtyard.

The king himself is among them.