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Patrick Delevante

Author on Reedsy Prompts since Nov, 2025

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25 Stories

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Before the Door Breaks

Weekly Contest #342

“They’re getting closer,” Ewan whispers. The cupboard won’t hide us forever. “Shush.” Ithtal presses a hand to Ewan’s cheek, the other still clasped around his. “We’ll be fine. We will.” He doesn’t know if he believes it, but the words come anyway. Together they’ve outrun debt collectors, pirates, city guards, bounty hunters. It’s astonishing how many people will hunt you when you’re carrying a one-of-a-kind artefact worth more than most kingdoms. Ewan’s gaze drops to the narrow floor between them. The cupboard gives them barely enough space...

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The Raven’s Sin

Weekly Contest #342

As I draw the blade closer to my father’s throat, I start to think. They say your life flashes before your eyes before death. They never say whose death. The dagger trembles in my grip. Not from fear, I tell myself. From memory. The poison is working. I see it in the stiffness of his jaw, in the way his fingers twitch against the armrest of his chair. I thought hatred would be enough. That years of it would harden me. That when the moment came, I would feel nothing. But all I can think of is how I got here. And him. … Fourteen-year-old Ella ...

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Ash on Neutral Ground

Weekly Contest #341

Why here? Wulfric didn’t ask it aloud at first. He scanned the shoreline instead. Every grain of sand, every bend in the grass, every place something might be foolish enough to hide. Old habits. Storm-drilled instincts. Being assigned to protect a Draconic Prime usually meant long days perched on mountain ledges or tucked into volcanic caves. Watching dragons come and go. Racing the occasional challenger who mistook seniority for speed, and losing interest halfway through beating them. He’d outrun elder storms, broken challengers twice his s...

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The Raven's Fortune

Weekly Contest #341

“Hold still, brother,” Gustav says, wringing out a cloth until dark water drips onto the floorboards. The room smelling of iron and burned flesh, sharp enough to sting the eyes. “Since when did you have such steady hands?” Darius groans as the needle presses into his flesh, the first of many stitches biting deep. Chomp whines softly from the side of the bed, his head down, eyes on Darius. The beast, though monstrous at times, has grown very close the family. “Hush, Chomp. Since I stopped drinking. Remember?” Gustav replies. He draws a slow ...

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The Weight He Chose

Weekly Contest #341

“My dear, why must you be so busy all the time? Surely the kingdom will go on without you for one day.” Sebastian sighs, falling back into his chair. The wood creaks as the plush lining supports him. “Mira, I don’t have time for this.” “Do you ever have time recently, hmm?” Mira steps silently to his side, brushing locks from her face, her nightgown whispering across the floor. “Come on, sweetie. You don’t want to play?” “Mira, ple—” “Shush.” She presses a finger to his lips. “You’ve been an important king all day. Now spend some time with y...

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The Long Dark Beneath the Mountain

Weekly Contest #340

The king demanded a railway line between Oakheart and Malguinem Port. The only way was through the mountains. A tunnel so deep it had never been attempted before. A straight line carved across the kingdom. When finished, it would carry goods that would make the king even richer. In the dark, and the cold, we dug. I didn’t take the job just for the money. Coin can take you far in the kingdom, but respect can take you further. The digging was long. The stone unyielding, even against the new Zayne-tech drills. We struggled. And then something h...

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The Raven’s Witness

Weekly Contest #340

“Chomp!” They always wake me. My sleep, interrupted. I sometimes wonder if the Ravens are good for me. But Miss Ella was kind to me, all those years ago. She gave me a home. No more sleeping underground in the cold. No more hunger gnawing so loudly it drowned out thought. “Yesh, Captain,” I reply. Oh. I remember this place. The basement of Miss Ella’s mansion. “Dinner time!” Uh oh. Uncle Darius sounds serious. Miss Ella is here. It’s been so long. I think. She left, and then I slept for a bit. I was very upset. Then Uncle Darius had the idea...

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A Familiar Warmth

Weekly Contest #339

“How is your promotion going? Malguinem Port is a big place,” Belle asks, taking a breath as she lowers herself into her chair. The chair is still upholstered in that old, frayed fabric. Greyed by years of use, patched over with similarly coloured cloth. Its timber frame is strong, dark wood, no doubt the most expensive part of it, whenever it was made. And the smell, soap, wool, smoke. So familiar. This place was my home for a long time. Belle was a good landlady. She got the house after her husband died in the war, but she never let it sho...

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The Raven’s Brew

Weekly Contest #339

“So, how’s the big city treating you, Gus?” Darius says, lifting his mug and breathing in the scent. “Not bad. Much smoother than on your ship,” Gustav replies with a chuckle. “Hm. You realise your repeated seasickness was mostly down to the quantity of cheap rum you drank. My cheap rum,” Darius says, amused. Gustav pauses, eyes drifting to the window as he bites at his left thumbnail. “Have you really not touched a drop?” Darius asks, taking a sip. “Ella’s letter sounded very positive.” “I—well, there were times.” A faint rattle escapes as ...

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The Artist & the Whisperer

Weekly Contest #338

Lorendale Academy, the only place that would take me. And that was after a sizable donation from my mother. The academy wasn’t bad, just grimy and old. The professors stank of salt and sweat, and the dorms weren’t much better. But still, I was worried. That place became my home. Four years in any place will do that. But there I was, sitting on a bench, waiting for my fate. “The headmaster will see you now. Adam, was it?” “Yes sir,” I replied, too quickly. All while the urge to remain perfectly still rushed through my head. I mustn’t shake. I...

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Was It Worth It?

Weekly Contest #338

You know, hanging here. Suspended a foot off the ground in a kinetic field. I keep thinking to myself: Was it worth it? … Two days ago … “Dammit, Mark! By Spiff, what happened to your eye?” “Oh, uh… I fell.” “You fell, huh?” That’s Val. My dormmate. Very astute. Or maybe my excuses are just bad. Especially when reused them over and over. “Fell into someone’s fist?” “I, uh—” “Get over here, you idiot.” She demanded. I had learned not to go against that iron will. Plus, she could afford the good medicine. Not the bargain-bin salves I grew up w...

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The Raven’s Mark

Weekly Contest #338

Ella slams the book closed, the first sound in the room since her brother’s obnoxious snoring briefly interrupted the deal. She takes a breath, passing the book to her right. Raj, the giant of a man, stands ever vigilant at her side. For a hired muscle, Ella has used him for much more. A childhood spent travelling gave him knowledge of many criminal underbellies that Ella lacked experience in. He can spot false currency at a glance and usually knows its source. But most of all, he dealt with anyone who dared scam the Raven family. Ella takes...

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Until I See You Again

Weekly Contest #337

My Dearest Oriana, They have posted me to a city called Lorsan, far south of home. I tried to get a letter penned at the end of day one, but the writer was too busy. He is an interesting lad, a wood elf too, though city-born. He speaks like most of the central elves. He says he can teach me to read and write. Hopefully, I’ll be able to write these to you myself one day. How are Alia and Sage? I worried about them much on the journey over. There are rumours that the draconic wars have made their way to the southern stretch of jungle. They say...

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Salt and Stories

Weekly Contest #337

“I came this far south looking for him. He left when I was so young. The army took him, like so many others. It became normal where I grew up. Every other family had a member conscripted. Guess we were just lucky he went south into the salt wars rather than… than…” “The wars in the archipelago weren’t any less brutal than down here. They were just reported on more.” “Still though, you’re the farmer. Everyone in the small settlements around here knows you. Told me to find you. Said you were an ex-soldier.” “Ha! What else did they tell you abo...

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Safe Passage

This war, this war has changed everything. Families and friendships broken, gone forever. Widows and orphans are commonplace now. It’s as though the world itself has stopped, society locked in the same stalemate I am forced to hold. Seven years since this deadlock began. The western front. A line of ships patrolling a stretch of sea, fifteen hundred miles long. The last line of defence between Imperia Reach and Bedlem Key. Most of what remains of the Imperial Navy, halting the advance of the Kingdom of Malguinem. Ever since the bloody fall o...

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