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Discover weekly, the best short stories

Looking for a steady supply of fantasy short stories? Every week thousands of writers submit stories to our writing contest.

Fantasy Short Stories to read

Submitted by writers on Reedsy Prompts to our weekly writing contest. Though fantasy is well known for its epically long sagas, fantasy short stories can deliver all the genre’s best attractions with one punch — or, shall we say, in one fiery dragon breath?

Fantasy Short Stories – Page 2

BOOK ONE — Winter Lamb: Before the Last Grain of sand

Weekly Contest #361

BOOK ONE — Winter Lamb: Before the Last Grain of sandBOOK ONE — Winter Lamb Before the Last Grain fallsWinter settled over the barn on a long cold night, quieting the fields, the rafters, and every small creature tucked safely inside. A thin line of snow rested against the wooden walls. Wind sighed through the cracks. Near the fire, the Winter Lamb lay curled in the straw, his thick wool fluffed around him, but even that warmth could not reach the sadness tucked deep inside his heart. He was not jumping, kicking straw, nudging barrels, or ta...

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A Tale of the Lowerunders

Weekly Contest #361

His kind had always fascinated the Otherworlders. Their sages, their systems. What was it; that made the body of his kinfolk burst into pieces when they came up?Up, up; into the Otherworld?His great-grandmother was once taken up there. Drawn up from dark, unseen depths. The Otherworlders, excited at seeing the sightless creature with the jagged teeth; were shocked to their marrow when she immediately exploded. Otherworlder witchdoctors tried to explain it away. They said it was ambient pressure, yada yada yada. He had never heard about it. B...

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The Black Hole

Weekly Contest #361

The water gleams so brightly under the fierce Greek sun that my eyes squint and strain behind my sunglasses. I’ve just arrived in Crete after three flights and one harrowing bus ride. I had no plan in place except to find the beach where I now sit, a small pebbly oasis among the cliffs stretching into a calm cove. A few tourists speaking indistinguishable languages are baking on weathered lounge chairs, but my rear is firmly planted in the rocks—my two bags, my only possessions, nestled next to me. I touch the photograph in my pocket for th...

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Wardens of Legend - The Dragon, The Bear and The Shadow

Weekly Contest #361

This tale takes place in a world plagued by the spawn of the darkest plane, and by creatures once men but now beings of terrible power. Three allies, warriors of untold strength, ready themselves to face a foe unlike any the world has ever seen, save for these heroes. Torinn Rhogar, a dragonborn and the purest paragon ever descended from his race, has looked the demon prince Cryonax in the face and lived. It came at a price. Cryonax lives within Torinn now, and day by day he must fight an inner battle to keep hold of his own mind. Ulrich, so...

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Dancing in the Snowglobe

Weekly Contest #361

Dancing in the Snowglobe “You must be the prettiest girl in the world,” muttered the boy, in the sort of harsh whisper you use when you're saying a secret that you hold so close to your heart to the point where saying it out loud scares you. “You think the Snowglobe is the whole world?” she whispered back, realizing the importance the boy had poured into his words; she was being careful- or kind. “Well,” he said, readjusting his legs under him- he vaguely regretted telling her already, “yes, actually.” She put her fingers up to his face in ...

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Dream of Buried Sunlight

Weekly Contest #361

The birds didn’t sing anymore. There was nothing left for them to pick at, and if they had stayed, they would’ve joined the graveyard that was the city of Tilla.The crater in the earth was nothing but ash and ancient sorrow, something deprived of life for decades.A nameless presence took it in from the mountain outcropping. It was surreal to see a destination you had only ever read about.The hooded figure descended into the pitiful remnants like it was a long awaited home. He had envisioned this for so long, with a desperation that was close...

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Plagued Decisions

Weekly Contest #361

1. The rattle of my shackles echoes through the town square as I walk to the executioner’s block. The headsman points at me and then to the block of oak that lay across the cobbled road. It’s covered in old blood, which doesn’t bother me—a childhood of birthing lambs on my father's farm would remove squeamish tendencies from any man.I keep my eyes on his face, which is shadowed under his hood, in the hope he will sympathise and finish me in one. I’m shoved to my knees and he lines my neck up for his swing. The unnecessary weight of his fist ...

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Poison Path - a quiet horror

Weekly Contest #361

I strike to burn; the flame returns. Finding I’m lost and found whenever you’re around. I feel it coming down.Give me what I never ask for. Give me the drug you know I’m after.Connect me, and you can be the chemical.(Slow Chemical by Finger Eleven) The hut was draped in ivy like a jacket and softened by moss. Smoke curled from a crooked chimney, carrying the scent of peat and marjoram.Rowan approached along the narrow path. Twisted ash and yew trees arched overhead, almost stitching the sky closed, the late-afternoon sunlight filtering throu...

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Victoria and the Crab

Weekly Contest #361

The summer Victoria Alloretti turned sixteen, she fell in love with an Alaskan King Crab. The crab’s name was Christopher, and he was not from Alaska, nor was he kingly in any way. He washed up on Second Beach a few days before the 4th of July and when Victoria saw him, she immediately felt a yearning that had never crossed her heart until that very moment. She had been walking the beach in search of shells that resembled the letters in her name, because she was working on an art project. Instead, she came across a crab who she was sure was ...

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The last expedition

Weekly Contest #361

The Last Expedition“Summer was over, and so were we.”Those were the words carved deep into an old, weathered wooden sign standing crooked at the entrance to Whispering Woods. The wood was rough and splintered, faded gray from years of rain, snow, blazing summer sun, and bitter winters. Thick green moss crept along the edges while twisting vines wrapped themselves around the post as if nature was trying to pull it back into the forest. Tiny mushrooms poked through the damp ground below, and delicate spiderwebs shimmered with beads of morning ...

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Until Next Summer

Weekly Contest #361

I like to think I’m a perfectly ordinary boy. Ordinary boys, however, don’t speak with sprites. Or trade stories with a pooka. Or enchant people with music. Or persuade others with a few well-placed words. No, I’m not an ordinary boy. Fae-touched—that's what the villagers call me. They think the fae took an interest in me sometime after I was born, the way they sometimes take an interest in lost children, crossroads, or lonely houses at the edge of the woods. They're wrong. I’ve known the truth since I was old enough to ask why I could see ...

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How to Date a Minor Summer Deity

Weekly Contest #361

The first thing I did after becoming the internet's favorite abandoned woman was drive six hours to a town with no dependable air-conditioning.Three days earlier, Trevor had broken up with me beside a sponsored infinity pool while eleven thousand strangers watched the livestream. He'd looked into the ring light instead of my face and said, "You don't love your life, Maggie. You love having proof that someone else wants it." Then he thanked our hydration sponsor. The clip hit four million views before I made it to the airport.So. Marigold Bay...

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Closing Time

Weekly Contest #360

The door chimes jingled gently as the stranger entered the front room of the tiny shop. The owner, a witch of great power and extraordinary beauty, stood behind the centuries-old wooden counter. She glanced at the grandfather clock standing in the corner; eleven bells would sound in fifteen short minutes. “Welcome!” she said, her voice pleasantly sweet, “to The Daffodil Magic Shoppe, where we offer do-it-yourself magical solutions for non-magical people. Is there something we can help you find?” Enticed by her honeyed greeting, the man b...

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The Snake Charmer

Weekly Contest #360

The city falls into silhouette. Shadows seep through vacant streets like molasses consuming the emptiness of a jar. Azure blue burns into a conflagration of orange, dimming to deep red until the dark holds reign. While the light recedes, waking those in faraway lands, the ones who shun from the brilliance emerge and night thrives.As the sun fades, the house lights fall to mere candle flames. Twin spotlights shine their narrow beams falling still on the center of a wine red curtain. A cough emanates from amongst the sea of twitching whiskers ...

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The Things He Forgot

Weekly Contest #360

TW: Degenerative illness, grief We were just strangers.The cruelest part was that we had once been everything to each other. I was a Warrior of Veyrath, raised to carry a blade before I learned to hold a pen. Lucien was a servant. In Veyrath, people like him suffered, and people like me made sure they did. Every day, I found him in the castle halls. It was subtle, but a hint of mischief always sparkled between us. He would be adjusting the edges of the carpet. I walked past with my chin held high, sword at my side. But I couldn’t help allowi...

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