Queen Dana of Highwinds the Elf Kingdom inside the Empire has a problem. One that she cannot fix personally. The problem is with a small minority of her population. A problem that has been brought to her attention by the half elf son of a problematic Duke. What is a Queen to do? She calls on help from a friend. The question now is does she realize what she is letting loose on her kingdom?

One day in mid-December, a few days after Meredith came home from UNC Chapel Hill for Christmas, I was taking a break at work and hanging out with Genevieve and Terri for a few minutes. Genevieve was a kind of beetle-bee hybrid, with a bee’s striped fuzzy underbelly and a beetle’s elytra over her wings, and a slightly human-ish face. Terri was a big mushroom with a face and arms and four small feet, apparently based on a fantasy creature from a story she liked, “though the ones in the book are a lot smaller,” she said. I was in one of my more outre dragon-like bodies, slender with silver scales and four smaller wings more like a butterfly or moth than a bat.

I knew very early on that I wasnt like the other boys, I just felt different, I acted different then them. They wanted to wrestle, or play in the mud and I wanted to color pictures of princesses. I would spend hours coloring all the pretty dresses, and long hair, outlining there make up. I would feel jelious of the princesses in my coloring books. They were so soft and pretty, they had curves. I really wanted that. I wanted to be like them.

Part Nine

Sutter threw the bow rope to the deck crew of the submarine. Reynard tossed them the stern rope. The sailors held the small boat steady against the sub's hull while the commando team scampered aboard.

Once on the wet foredeck of the sub the commandos were quietly but enthusiastically welcomed by the crew. They were surprised when their rum runner boat was also pulled aboard, and maneuvered onto the cradle and back into the hangar.

Chapter 2

They spent the day going through the case files. Susan had told them to keep things to themselves. Monday they would discuss the cases and see where they would go next. When she got home, she found Mervyn having a cup of tea in the kitchen.

“Hello, darling, how was the trip?”

Chapter 11

“We should go to London,” Grace said after a while.

Greg didn’t move, but said, “We’re descending right now. We’re almost there.”

Grace sighed and turned to look at him. “Look. I know it was tough seeing what happened to Gracie, but we’ve got a job to do here.”

La’an stared unseeingly at the screen. In her mind, she was back in Toronto, while her heart was ripped out by the Romulan, Sera.

Chapter 13

Allan grinned. “That’s my girl. Make sure you take something to help you sleep tonight and tomorrow will be a good day. I’ll arrange for a nanny to come to the house this afternoon to look after Ali, to give you a little bit of free time.”

The Disappeared
A Short Story
By Maryanne Peters

Quinn was off work. Injured in the line of duty they call it. Shot himself in the foot in the locker room. I like Quinn but he can be a klutz.

They paired me for a week or two with Gayle. Gayle is a lesbian, but you cannot deny that she is good at her job. She is just not the cheeriest soul on the planet. It makes you wonder if lesbian sex can really be that satisfying. But people’s private life is their own. I make no judgments.

I was a teenage girl pop star.

“Hey now, it’s all right buddy.” Riley said as I was smudging my face into her chest. As I pulled back from the embrace I looked up into Riley’s comforting blue eyes and steady myself once again.

“I’m starting to feel that this might be a little more than a poorly planned ruse to participate in a dota tournament. Just know that I will always be there for you, my little friend. Jason or Emily, whatever floats your boat”

She ended her uplifting words with a little wink. But honestly, I had no idea how to respond.