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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.

14970+ 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 731 of 998

A Story of Ten Seconds

Submitted to Contest #74

Austin's au gratin potato salad and sauteed green beans couldn't be more perfect. The rose and candlelight set up on the dining room table couldn't be more perfect. The moonlight that peers through the windows couldn't be more perfect. That's when the front door flies off the hinges coupled with our screams and a handgun and a bullet for two bodies. This happens in ten seconds time and all I wish for is a fresh ten seconds.  Austin's au gratin potato salad and sauteed green beans appear starched to perfection. The rose and candlelight...

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Ufe.

Submitted to Contest #74

Ufemilion Jakling was falling. Now, this wasn't meant in the figurative sense. It wasn't like he was falling in love, or into despair, or anything quite so dramatic or profound. No, not that. Mere moments before, Ufe had been hanging off the eaves of the tallest tower on the most prominent building in the City of Bronze. He'd been holding a squirming halfling criminal in one hand and gripping tightly to the ledge with the other. But then the pint-sized crook had pulled a device from his jacket that he'd purchased from Ufe's dearest frie...

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Caged

Submitted to Contest #74

7 November 1854 I grow increasingly weary of our arduous passage aboard the Penelope. Despite having resupplied two fortnights previous at the Cape of Good Hope, we have all but exhausted our food stores, save the salted meat, which, being as yielding as a hunk of shoe leather, is unsatisfying to say the least. On a more favorable note, it has not rained for quite some days. On this night, like most others, I prefer my solitary place on the rear of the weather deck, pondering the vastness of life in the dark waters of the slow moving sea. ...

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The Transmutation Tale

Submitted to Contest #73

Intense heat permeated the air. Beads of sweat pooled atop Andrea's brow. He winced when they stung his eyes and muddied his vision. Though he must not lose focus.Towering furnaces and vents lined the smeltery. The walls were made of dark stones, while the pieces of machinery were made of dark grey metal. It was a gloomy place, lit only by the orange light of molten ores.Despite the spaciousness of the facility, Andrea felt claustrophobic. He gripped his shovel, scooping gravels of malachite into the furnace. With his shorter limbs, it was a...

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The Crystal

Submitted to Contest #73

"Present time!” Grandma announced.“Yay!” I said and sat down on the floor.“Here you go, Megan,” Grandma said, grabbed a big present off the floor, and handed me it. “I thought you might need this.”“Thank you,” I said and tore the wrapping paper off frantically. “It’s a blender.”“I figure you needed a new one after that squirrel ran in and knocked the old one off, shattering it.”“Well, thank you… you gave new meaning to the season of giving.”“This one is for you.”“Thank you.” Keith opened his gift, wearing his Rick and Morty Christm...

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Samantha's Suitors

Submitted to Contest #73

On the outside, Samantha didn't look like the type of girl who would date multiple guys at once. Let alone someone who would be juggling five relationships at the same time. Each of the five guys was in love with her. Each had a quality she had sought out. Each one possessed a little something that she needed. On this night, Samantha knew that each of her boyfriends were planning to declare their love. She had long ago decided which one she'd choose. Now all she had to do was sever ties with the other four... Samantha's relationship with e...

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Twelve days of nightmare

Submitted to Contest #73

People say "do what you love and you'll never work another day". Unless you're a backup dancer and have been on holiday tour for the entire month of December. Then you'll be hurting even at the thought of moving your body from the floor that you fell onto to the bed. Every once in a while you'll look back to your brothers wedding and your uncles advice to became an accountant "hours are good, pay is good and accountants are always gonna be needed, go for an accountant". But being a backup dancer is the dream that is worth fulfilling.&nb...

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The Wish

Submitted to Contest #73

The forest was beautiful for this Christmas Eve. Evergreens were frosted with new snow and bare branches sparkled with a thin layer of ice. Ariruth, decorating her front door, heard muted rustles of creatures foraging in the leaves and whispers of birds fluttering from tree to tree. Her preparations for the Wish party were almost finished. She continued the annual celebration just as her dear, departed parents had taught her. The tradition began centuries ago when a Fairy king desired a distinctive Christmas Eve celebration for his subject...

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The Tunnel of Secrets

H B

Submitted to Contest #74

Acer    I was just an ordinary guy working at an underpaying job at a pizza place. That is until now. Now I have no idea where I am.       It all happened in a couple seconds starting back from when my new work friend, Cole asked for me to get ketchup. “Hey Acer can you go and get me some ketchup. I didn’t know why they needed ketchup for pizza, but I’m not judging.” Cole had asked while trying to put a pizza in a box and miserably failing at it. “Sure no problem.” “It’s in the back of t...

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Fifth Time's the Charm/Patience Rewarded.

Submitted to Contest #73

Join me, the horrific, fractured voice of the demon Regaelyon moaned in the back of her mind. Your body harbors potential beyond anything this world has ever seen. Power and life eternal can be yours! All you must do is renounce your false deities, accept the demonic essence that resides within your blood."Fyndralie, sweet goddess of love, I call upon your succor once more," Sarauthedes Silvreign mumbled. Her head was bowed as she knelt in the ray of glorious white light beaming out from the heart of the statue of the Deific Lover....

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Change of Heart

Submitted to Contest #73

By the night of Christmas Eve, Miska had been proposed to five times. And as the clock struck twelve that night, Miska clutched her empty wine glass and watched Jack, whom she believed to be the love of her life, ease his battered blue ford truck down the street, until it was swallowed by the gently falling snow. She waited for a moment — held her breath, though for what, she could not say, and finally. finally, drew her blinds against the night. Then she turned to her empty house, which, in Jack’s absence, seemed to swell with silence,...

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The Sunbird Cage

Submitted to Contest #73

Charo Hendrix awoke with a groan. She slammed down on her blaring alarm clock—a whining, syncopated melody. Neon light poured through polyester curtains, painting the cramped bedroom in fluorescent shadows. Charo sighed. Time to rise from the ashes. “Beepo,” she said, still tangled in her sheets. “Start coffee, please, and thanks.” “Of course, ma’am,” said the apartment AI in a posh tenor—a new setting she downloaded from the manufacturer. From bed, Charo could hear the coffee machine grind to life in the kitchen—which made sense becau...

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“Float Like a Butterfly…”

Submitted to Contest #73

Okay, after much thought, I have a decision. I will be a competitor and represent my country at the Olympic Games in Paris in July and August 2024. I turn the pages of my diary and put my pen through the days that I will not be available for anything else. Then I add a few days at the end - I love Paris!  I am the sixteenth Earl of Denver, a direct descendant of Lord Peter Wimsey. I am number 32 in line for the throne. Don’t laugh - anything can happen and propel me to the front. A plague, for instance. Say it originated in some ...

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The Hanging

Submitted to Contest #74

10. A crowd has gathered in the early morn. I can see their faces even in the dim lighting, illuminated only by the moon shining overhead. Stars are still scattered across the sky- watching, just as the mob does. They've all gathered here for me. For the end of my show. My brilliant act of life, finally to be snuffed out. I can't say I didn't expect it.  9. I raise my eyes to the heavens- a place I will never be. The rope around my neck is tight, a constant pressure, heavy around my neck like an ornate necklace. Oh, how I long for...

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Leroy and the Legend of Luckividious Lightningrod

Submitted to Contest #74

Leroy grew up being so superstitious that he avoided black cats altogether, never walked under ladders, wouldn't consider opening an umbrella in the house or hanging a horseshoe upside down. He wouldn't think of uttering the word "Macbeth" or saying "good luck" to someone in the theatre. He often crossed his fingers, always stayed home on Friday the 13th, avoided elevators that went to the 13th floor, and threw salt over his left shoulder whenever he went into the kitchen. And if he found a penny on the ground, he made sure it was ...

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RBE | Illustrated Short Stories | 2024-06

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