Sword & Saturday — The Sword Maker
A bit of flash fiction for your Saturday perusal (and 100% AI free)
He pulled molecules from the air, grabbing them with his thoughts, feeling their energy, shaping them as a blacksmith would shape the red hot metal pulled from his fire, hammering them with his mind as that blacksmith would hammer until the shape of the sword appeared—a shimmering thing that light passed through and that danced and moved like a mirage on the hot sun drenched sands of the Sahara.
This shimmering thing—an extension of his hand, a thing formed from his mind—sang in the air as he swung it quickly up and around, slicing the very air from which it had been made and sending fear into hearts as men’s knees weakened so that they could not run away. Those men who boasted of their might, who flexed muscle and pranced and scoffed at those of lesser being and substance and whose muscles were as airless balloons and whose sinews snapped if a sharp word were spoken—these men of might now trembled and could not run away, for the Sword Maker has fashioned with so cunning a design a blade that ran through flesh as a hot knife runs through butter too long sitting in sun’s rays.
“Spare us, O Sword Maker, for we have no challenge to your might, to this great sword that sings with your every move. We shall leave in peace and this village will see us no more.”
“Be gone then,” said the Sword Maker, swinging the air sword and making it sing.
These men of muscle and might, these men of armor and steel, on foot and on horseback, now quaked and bowed.
“We thank you, Sword Maker, for the mercy you have shown us this day and shall sing your praises around our campfires in our distant homelands.”
And so they left, these men of muscle and might, on foot and on horseback. And one among them turned his head, looking back at the Sword Maker and seeing him wielding his arm the air, and the man knew that there was no sword, that it was just an old man swinging his arm as he lay dying. The man smiled, remembering the old man’s last words, and turned back around. They were leaving this village with treasure, slaves, cattle, horses, sheep, and pigs to take home and give them glory.
As they rode off, the old man, on his back on the ground knew that his life was bleeding away and his sword drawn from the air had been naught but his old man’s fancy. The screams of other men dying and of the women and children being dragged away in servitude filled his ears as the last breath left his body.
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Hi A.C. I'm not here to comment on your stroy but to ask you if you are interested in the following submission windows. I thought the themes were the sort of thing you are good at:
Blue Planet Press: Far Futures 3 – An Anthology of Deep Space
This is a fiction anthology. “Space exploration. From the outer planets of our solar system to the edge of the Orion Spur and the even more distant Andromeda Galaxy. How will we get there? Generation ships? Faster than light engines? Dimensional warping? Wormholes? Submissions will involve space travel in some form to deep space. Stories may start or end planet-side, but the bulk of the tale must be in space. Military sci-fi is welcome.”
Deadline: 30 June 2024
Length: 6,000-10,000 words
Pay: Half a cent per word, up to $50
Details here: https://duotrope.com/duosuma/submit/space-and-time-nDoUw
and here: https://spaceandtime.net/submissions/
Spooky
This cozy horror magazine is reading on the Halloween theme, as well as unthemed horror submissions. They have detailed guidelines about the kind of stories they want, including, “Cozy horror. Fun horror. Classy horror. Dare we say, wholesome horror? … perhaps the easiest way to understand what we mean is to read stories by some of the old masters we love: Ray Bradbury, Charles Beaumont, Richard Matheson, Robert Bloch, Roald Dahl. Watch classic episodes of Thriller, The Twilight Zone, and Night Gallery. Read old horror comics. Listen to radio dramas like Suspense, Quiet, Please, and Inner Sanctum Mysteries. … In short, we’re looking to provide a space for a type of storytelling that has largely gone out of style – dark and scary, but playful and approachable with an emphasis on plot.” They also want horror haiku.
Deadline: 13 July 2024
Length: Up to 5,000 words (prefer 2,500-3,000 words) for fiction
Pay: $0.01/word
Details here: https://spooky-magazine.com/2024/05/06/the-submission-window-is-opening/
and here: https://spooky-magazine.com/submission-guidelines/
The prose was very good. I kept thinking it felt like over the top action, almost as if someone was imagining it, and the dying old man was doing just that.
Good job.