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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.

14990+ 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 794 of 1000

Welded Armour

Submitted to Contest #62

From the moment light broke through my thin, damp eyelids, I was told I would kill a great evil. My father, so sure of himself that I would grow strong enough to lead an army, that not only would I be willed enough to lift the sword, but brave enough to drive it through evil’s heart myself. He celebrated the night I was born, found in the morning with his face buried deep in the hay of pigs. A fight over coin, coin that was for our food, spent on women who preferred their patrons more sober than he. An old man not strong enough to handle his...

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The Seed

Submitted to Contest #62

The sound of distant gunfire rang beyond my view just like the days that came before. I searched the cold morning sky for signs that life had somehow miraculously turned into something I could stomach. The breeze hit my ankles as the mechanical whirring, whispered like a roaring tiger. My hair tangled and matted not having seen a comb or brush in what seemed like a lifetime. These things all sound like the beginning of a story, but really, they are the thoughts of a person who has no future or at least not one that is to be believed...

6 likes 3 comments 3
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Wildcard

Submitted to Contest #62

DISCLAIMER: I know and understand nothing about poker or cards, so take none of this as true lol The Queen of Hearts is losing. As she loses, she is dying. And even in death, she has her signature glare and red lipstick, never missing a beat no matter the circumstances.  The glare is on me now as I scurry round the table to add hot water to the waiting china cup, carefully plopping in two spoons of sugar and, as discreetly as I can, the powdered medication. I don’t stir, she hates for me to do that. I lift the tray cautiously&...

8 likes 0 comments 0
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The Dragon's Prophecy: A Bride of the Dragon Prince short story

Submitted to Contest #62

A thousand years ago a prince was born of mixed race. His father, Silanox, was a dragon and his mother, Toki, was both human and a mage. Silanox paraded him around with joy, for he was the product of the love he had for his wife, a love that he believed and hoped his son would find in his future. He stopped in front of a prophetess of the mages for a reading of that future, as he knew to be customary when a mage’s child was born. “Shall my son have many blessings in his life or struggles to overcome?” he asked, not expecting any other answe...

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Why me?

Submitted to Contest #62

Since when I was young I was trained as future Luna and trained to defeat myself and my pack. I’m the best fighter of the pack and I fight against human and wolf form. My dad is the Alpha of our pack and obviously my mother is the Luna. I have a brother, Sam, he is two years older than me and he is the future Alpha of the pack. My future was written - my dad always told me- you’ll do great things Sara. I’m sure about it. You are a fantastic daughter. I always have had these words in my mind, but more the time passed more I loosed trust betwe...

7 likes 1 comment 1
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Sunny Shores Duck Retreat!

Submitted to Contest #63

(Write a story from the perspective of a bird migrating for the winter.)They tell you eat eat eat. You must eat enough to sustain yourself for a very long flight. Of course you know there can and will be stops along the way, as you move south and food is still available but you must guard against storms, headwinds and other unforeseen factors.So here I am, Daniel the Mallard drake, swimming along the shore feeling quite buff and fit . My weight is optimum for a long trip and I regularly take off and land, circling the pon...

32 likes 9 comments 9
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Jane Oculos

Submitted to Contest #62

I never knew I could feel so many jitters in my body just at the sight of a girl. Jane Oculos. She was a beauty and I could understand why I was mesmerized. Thank God my mother had forced me to sign up for this camp. I got off the bus, one foot after the other, and landed on the bare soil just outside the camp’s wooden reception office. The midmorning sun was soothing and draining at the same time. There’s always something about it that feels so good but in the long run, you notice that it makes you feel lazy. The tall trees all around us se...

8 likes 0 comments 0
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The Nightmares Had Just Begun

Submitted to Contest #62

“Happy birthday Highness.”A smile stretched across my face. I should’ve known he’d be the first one to think to look for me here. “Oh, hush. Don’t remind me,” I opened my eyes, shading my face with my hand and peering up at his face looking down on me. “I came out here to forget about all that nonsense.”It was springtime and life was perfect. Well, not quite perfect. The fact remained that I was one year older, one year closer…..“This time next year……”“Oh, hush,” he complained, laying down in the grass beside me. “Don’t remind...

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I Didn't Mean to Kill Her

Submitted to Contest #62

I walk through the passageway of... a house. I blink. Where am I?Who am I?I look down, doing a quick assessment. Sex: Male. Height: Maybe about six feet?I seemed to be a holding a bag. I open it. Groceries. Cheese, a couple of tomatoes, some lettuce... I lean to the doorway in front of me, and shiver as I feel the cold metal. Then I touch it. The cold attacks me again. Wait. What just happened?I pull my hand back, and try again. A less severe cold tingles my fingers before I touch it again. And then I feel ...

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Author

Submitted to Contest #62

In the darkest corner of the old library sat a book, forgotten about centuries ago. Its crumbling spine barely kept the brittle pages contained inside, and the dust lay on the cover like a blanket. But this was no ordinary book, for it contained the secrets of the past and wishes for the future and it sat waiting for its new author to discover it and fulfill a prophecy as old as the dawn of time.  Ella peered around the corner of the last bookshelf and wrinkled her nose at the dust and cobwebs she found gathering in the corner. For ye...

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Chronophobia: The Fear of (Outliving) Time

Submitted to Contest #62

Chronophobia: The Fear of (Outliving) Time Black. A shade so dark that not only does it seem to suck all light but also it radiates nothingness. A vast space of grinning hunger, with only one life form in it. A human. The void is a strange place, and it puzzles me.  Of course, being the first demon in existence to ever enter it has its own implications. Positive, I can tell my hoards and masters all about it. Negative, I’ve no idea how to make it out of here. Neutral – and the strangest by far – I’m not sure that I want to.  ...

10 likes 2 comments 2
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Who Taught the Honeybee to Dance?

Submitted to Contest #62

The cabin was eerily quiet despite how crowded it was, but this was typical for divinings. The silence seemed to seep in through the big bay windows as if the stillness of space muffled anything that anyone might want to say. But the truth is, they didn’t want to say anything. They were there to bear witness. They just wanted to see if maybe this would be the historic divining. The last one. There was a quiet, religious reverence to the room as Ludwig approached the sphere which sat elevated near the captain’s station. No one looked directly...

11 likes 5 comments 5
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Wiccan Sisters

Submitted to Contest #63

By the time I stepped outside, the leaves were on fire. "Rat! Rat! Rat!" I exclaimed. I ran to the side of the house and grabbed the water hose to put out the fire I had started in the backyard. When I put it out, I looked at the pile of slushy, wet ash that used to be a small tree. I then heard laughter behind me. I turned to see my sister, Crystal, who was seven years older than me, leaning up against the door frame with her arms folded."Mom's going to be pissed at you, Tabitha. She just planted that tree," Crystal said."Well, I didn't mea...

14 likes 2 comments 2
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Festival of Tribute

Submitted to Contest #63

By the time Caotegan stepped outside, the leaves were on fire. Not actual fire, mind you; the color of fire. The fall had arrived seemingly overnight and brought with it a changing of the colors of the valley. Where before the valley was carpeted in hues of green treetops, now those same treetops had an orange covering to them. The changing of the season brought cooler weather as well. Summer was fine, but Caotegan enjoyed the cooler weather. This also brought about the Festival of Tribute, where vendors far and wide would venture to Thunder...

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DISILLUSIONED

Submitted to Contest #62

He plunged in. It was warmer than the atmosphere surrounding it. After laps and laps of swimming he got out, shook himself like a rabid dog on a rainy day and wore his torn shorts. After all a towel was not a necessity in skinny dipping. He walked slowly towards the shanty looking flats. The building was almost expiring. Mosses and funny looking weeds had surrounded the walls and even some of the windows. "Come in." Said a sleepy voice after his numerous knocks. He entered the office. The inside looked better than the outside. "So how can ...

7 likes 1 comment 1
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RBE | Illustrated Short Stories | 2024-06

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