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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.

15020+ 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 813 of 1002

The Nightlark

Submitted to Contest #60

"Adrazelle, get back here!" Adrian called, reaching out to her. Adra skirted to the right, laughing, as his outstretched hand grazed her shoulder. She collapsed on the grass a few moments later, panting slightly after all of the running, looking out at the houses dotting the land below the hillside. She glanced at him as he sat down next to her, a slight smile creeping on to her face.  "You see that?" Adrian said, pointing at something off in the distance. She led her eyes to what he was gazing at so intently. "I'm going to be there s...

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HIS AND HERS

Submitted to Contest #60

Girl After I stopped hearing all the noises, I came out of my hiding spot. I looked around. My house wasn’t as destroyed as I thought it was going to be. I worked so hard to buy it and decorate it just the way I had always dreamt. Photos that had been hung were on the floor. My once white sofa now looked like it was cow-print. Ugh. It would take forever to get those stains out. I felt stupid thinking of this, when more than half of the world’s population was dead.  I carefully walked towards the door and opened it. I was not prepared ...

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The Deceiving Scene

Submitted to Contest #60

“Elizabeth, no!”But Elizabeth ran from the sacred grounds. She did not listen to her sister’s calls. She did not, because she was overtaken by a feeling avalanche. All she could think was she had to find him. She had to. She couldn’t lose him like she had lost her brother. She. Could. Not.The wind trashed her coppery loose hair, and she pushed them away as she ran, casting glances over the buildings’ ruins while people’s shouts and heart-stabbing wails cut through the air. A black demon's head crushed beneath the pile of bricks and dark vile...

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A World Of Water

Submitted to Contest #60

The year is 7020. All ice on earth has melted. The planet is officially ice free. The air became toxic, polluted with all sorts of chemicals. Over time our human lungs could no longer take in oxygen. With all the continents deep under water our bodies eventually mutated to support life below the sea that was now our world. Most of us lived in caves. The water was no longer cold in any part of the world. The government had fallen and the people were self-governing for a time. However, over time it re-established itself and things were much wo...

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A New Paradise

Submitted to Contest #60

  “Where’s your mask?”  Leonard looked at Cheryl incredulously. “Mask? Why the hell would we need those things anymore? It’s the friggin’ apocalypse.”  “Well, you don’t have to curse.”  “I didn’t curse. I said ‘friggin.’”  “All the same, you should wear one.”She looked out the jagged hole in the wall where a window had been. “The air may be tainted with lord knows what kind of germs.” He slowly turned to her and sighed. When he spoke, it was as if he were speaking to a stubborn chil...

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Lost and found

Submitted to Contest #60

It was a sunny afternoon naira woke up and found herself laying in the muds of the sea bed. Her mind tripped to rewire the old memories but she remembered nothing. She is still kind of drowsy and wants to sleep that was the only command given to her body. Yet she tried to outsmart her brain by staying awake and started recollecting the memories. Suddenly she noticed her forearm skin was dark green in color and some deep cuts in the feet that's still bleeding above the mud coatings. Yeah her memory started to expand like a fire ball but ...

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Liz and Socks

Submitted to Contest #60

When I woke up, Liz was curled into me and was clutching my arm for all it was worth. But she always did that. She was really soft and warm, and I really liked it, but I had to piss so I gently tugged my arm free and sat up. I slipped my feet into my boot-boots. I called them that because they didn’t match. I got the left one from a Macy’s in Cincinnati, the one at the Tri-County Mall, and the other from a thrift store outside of Chicago. I think it was a St. Vincent De Paul in Kankakee. The Macy’s boot used to be part of a pair, but I lost ...

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Patchouli

Submitted to Contest #61

The family room is quiet this evening. The people that once filled this room haven’t in many months now. An antique clock taunts me; its hands stop moving whenever I stare up at it. The pine woodworking was well crafted by my father before a time I can remember anymore. But I am old and gray now, antiqued much like the pine clock. I don’t move the same way, just like the struggle it faces now.  A clock that doesn’t know the time—Is it useless? Maybe it’s just bored. It’s well past midnight at this point, but the hands finally strugg...

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Cornelius

Submitted to Contest #60

Cornelius was the ugliest kid in high school. Did that stop him from kissing the "most beautiful" girl in high school? No way! In fact it's happening right now! "Hey everyone look over there"! *Present Time* I begin leaning in to the most beautiful girl. *Backstory* Her name was Olivia Shaw. Her red hair and green eyes and tan skin were striking features. Her beauty was just the tip of the iceberg, she is an NHS member, honor student, fashion designs, artist, and is the funniest girl once you get to know her. She is shy though. Almost eve...

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The Apocalypse

Submitted to Contest #60

Dear diary, It’s been 16 days since the apocalypse. I can’t overemphasize how much I miss the world before it ended. You already know this. But as the days go by, I wish for this new world to be better. I hope for better things in the future. It’s not easy but it’s all we have. Hope.  Today, I want to try new things and make more friends. Yeah, more friends cos you know I already have some. Almost everyone here in Spring Hills have been great, save for Mallory, she’s still a pain in the ass. Josh and Adam have been a blessing, always st...

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Chan Eastwood

Submitted to Contest #60

​CHAN EASTWOOD​​ The city had come up on hillock slope and down near the base was the restaurant of Chan Soft, a lovely lady with Mongolian features. Eastwood a white who rarely visited her restaurant was sipping gin and looking outside to have a glimpse of the City. Furious from above the dark clouds in vanity, enough of the fighter’s spirit, had crumbled the buildings with their raindrops. The downpour had reduced the visible to only few meters. It was seventh day of raining and everyone was convinced th...

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The remnant times

Submitted to Contest #60

" Why are we going to the backwater planet anyway, it would be easier to just use the Tiash Lukius on them," Xhuli said, covering her obsidian coloured eyes with protective lenses. We had been warned that the sun in this particular solar system wouldn't be friendly to our eyes, not that we were supposed to stay there for long. The orders were to destroy all signs of remnant life and request for the Tiash Lukius if they even dared to put up a fight. "I've seen what the Tiash Lukius could do, and being blown to pieces was not a fate I would ...

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The Soleil Gem

Submitted to Contest #60

When the explosion occurred, they fell to the floor. The walls began to shake, and the noise was louder and deeper than they had ever heard before. He shielded her body with his own, covering her mouth with his and keeping her pinned down on the floor. There was fear in her eyes, and she trembled underneath him. She could hear glass windows smashing, doors being ripped off their hinges and terrifying screams that got caught up in the wind and taken to the next world. Her dog laid down beside her, nuzzled his nose into her hand, and feebly at...

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Reklaw and Azar - The Story of a Post Apocalyptic Writer and Publisher

Submitted to Contest #60

“Hurry up, we ain’t got all day” spoke Reklaw in a hushed tone as Azar scrambled to search for a rock.  “Tryn’ my best here you old fool,” Azar retorted as the fading daylight made it difficult for him to find a rock large enough, throwable enough, to kill the hare they’d been stalking for the last few hours. Reklaw spat contemptuously, “Next time, maybe you should make more arrows before we go out on a hunt, you lazy bastard.” “Fucking old fool can’t shoot for shit and wants me to make more arrows,” Azar muttered under his breath...

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The Day the Dead Died

Submitted to Contest #60

There was a vaccine. Developed in a bunker in the middle of Montana, a bunch of surviving scientists and government officials found a way to counter the infection. And the world was saved. But Gabriella Lotus knew the truth, and she would have to take it to her grave. She was the only survivor of bunker 5624. And this is what really happened the Day the Dead Died.   August 18th was a warm sunny day with a gentle breeze. In any other circumstance it would have been the perfect the day. But that was ruined by the flesh-eating cannibals th...

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RBE | Illustrated Short Stories | 2024-06

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