The True Face of Existential Dread



By

S


talbon






    

Jean-Pierre removed his tricorn hat and wiped through his straw-blond hair with a palm, making a disgusted sound in the back of his throat when he saw

As
Things Stand
Part I:
Oldtown
By
Stalbon
The young
sell-sword put a booted foot up on a rock and leaned forward to prop
an arm upon his lifted knee, staring out from the top of the hill to
the city sprawled out in the distance. It was still a good couple of
miles down the rolling fields to the gates, but the wind was coming
in strong from the sea, and washed all manner of smells up to the
small stand of trees under which he stood. There were no fields of
planted grain or milling cattle this

A Dinner Date for
Two
By
Stalbon
Straeth could
hardly believe his luck.
The black-scaled
naga reclined out in a massive sprawl on his back, dark red eyes
half-lidded, which meant that the smoothly-hewn roof of the deep cave
was somewhat hazy in his vision. That could, of course, simply be
chalked up to his torpid lethargy after such fine meals. The
forty-foot naga’s bulky length was bulged out heavily at his
stomach, where his dark, smooth bellyplates parted around the
writhing forms insid

The Naga & The Witch

By Stalbon


Larissana slithered her way along the well-beaten path in the woods slowly, not giving the appearance of hurry or haste, despite how eager she was to arrive at her destination. A small, predatory smile graced the large naga's lips as the cottage came into view beyond a bend in the path: it appeared small and quaint, and though the windows were darkened, smoke poured from the chimney set at its rear. It seemed to her a fitting hovel for a once-powerfu

Does Brass Look Good Against Green?

By Stalbon



The first thing Kanzareth heard as he came out of the blackness of unconsciousness was a great, rumbling belch. Along with the startling sound, which brought the large brass dragon fully awake in a start, came the heavy, eye-watering scent of chlorine, which meant that it must have been the green drake he'd been fighting before he'd blacked out. This was only cemented by the great smacking of lips from somewhere above and to the right, an

Ladies' Night

By Stalbon



“So,” I half-shouted over the pounding bass from the dance floor to my left and the rowdy conversations and clink of glasses around me, “what's so special about this place again?”

“That'd spoil the surprise!” cried the stocky hen I was following, having to weave my slim, furred form around the diners just to keep up with her. She stopped, tailfeathers gently flitting as she turned left, then right, before deciding on a tab

The Usual Rounds

Michael `Stalbon' Peleh


“Oooh…oooh yeah! Yea-ouch! Damn it! Ow! Get your fucking teeth out of me, you bastard! Ah!” Jedana pushed the heavy, scaled body up off of hir, feeling the wrenching pain of sharp fangs pulling out with the motion. “Damn it!” The dragoness gave a sharp kick to the male's plated underbelly that sent him rolling off of the bed, the big crocodile letting out a dangerous snarl as he clawed himself up behind the fo

The Path Less Taken

By Michael `Stalbon' Peleh


Kanalor Meadowstep rubbed his index finger along one side of his tapered chin, looking down the darkened forest path ahead of him before turning to his companion with a shake of his head. “I really suggest we find another way for your trade route to come through this area. There's no telling what might be in this forest, whether you believe the rumors or not.”

The man next to him, a tall, mustached human by the name of Jaret

It's Always the One You Don't Expect

By Stalbon


Kranthelas, or “Black Mist”, as most mortals feared him as, thought himself to be an exceptional specimen of his kind. He was not vain as many of his red-scaled cousins were, nor did he pride himself on his intelligence or wit as many of the hermetic blue dragons did. No, he simply knew that he was the best, the strongest, and the biggest black dragon around. His 38-foot body was covered in sleek obsidian scales that covered r

Life Anew

Michael `Stalbon' Peleh


22:35, November 11, 2012

“And how is everything going, Thompson?”

“Vital signs are nominal, sir.” The blonde man in the white lab coat leaned over a flashing panel, fingering through layers of readouts. “The amnion is holding and while her weight is slightly less than we had anticipated, it is still well within standard range.”

Thompson's elder nodded briskly, adjusting his glasses as he leaned his pocked and

Safari

By Stalbon


A fly buzzed its way past James Harrison's face, obscuring his vision for a moment; he did not move to swat it away. It moved on to the man at his right, a hand came up and slapped at it, disturbing the tall plains grass.

Harrison silently cursed the man's stupidity, but then he was a tourist. They did not seem to understand Africa; on the Savannah a predator withheld from all unnecessary motion. As a hunter, he considered himself among the best of the continent's

A Panther's Tale

By Stalbon


Joseph strode down the bustling hallways of the palace towards the throne room, eager to meet with his father, the king. As he approached the gilded double doors, the guardsmen straightened at his approach, one of them throwing wide the metal doors. As he stepped inside, there was a small fanfare of trumpets, accompanied by the royal courier announcing his presence.

“His Majesty, Prince Joseph!”

Ah, but that was good to hear after six long m

The Price of Boredom

By Michael Peleh


Victor Kilo, Lord of West Porias, was utterly bored.

He leaned back in his throne and sighed, brushing a lock of his silvery hair from out of the way of his deep blue eyes. `Are there no more challenges left for this old man?' he thought to himself.

Victor was a brash and impatient man. Quick to action and even quicker to anger, he had risen through the ranks of the land's army thanks to sharp swordsmanship and an equally sharp attitude that ha

A Dragon in Sheep's Clothing

Michael `Stalbon' Peleh


Nestled into a secluded and pristine valley amidst the Fornarian mountains lay the human village of Kardel. For many generations, a kindly, yet hermitic copper dragon had lived in the mountains surrounding the valley as well, providing security and wisdom beyond human years for the villagers. Though in no way beholden to the humans, and though he did not hold them in his debt either, the dragon and humans supported each other mutually