Author Archives: kraxon

General Submissions for 2018

  December 17, 2017

SubmissionsSubmission status – Closed

Twelve stories will be published on the 1st of each month throughout 2018. Please refer to the General submission guidelines and terms of publication for further details.

Genre – Science Fiction, Fantasy or related sub genres such as supernatural, utopian and post-apocalyptic to name a few.

Note: Submissions in 2017 were predominantly Science Fiction. We would like to encourage writers to send us submissions for Fantasy or related sub genres. This is not to discourage Science Fiction authors. We are still interested in Science Fiction submissions and related sub genres.

Length – 1,000 (+/- 50) words excluding the title.

Publication dates – 1st of the month throughout 2018

Where – Please send your story to shorts.sub at kraxonpublishing.co.uk

Please see the FAQ’s for commonly asked questions.

The Twelve – Leo’s Return

  December 15, 2017 , , ,

As I picked the tiny darts out of my body, I watched Kordan, my creator, peering through the small panel into the arena. He sensed my eyes upon him and turned to meet my look. He glanced down at the darts in my hand. His expression was pained—his great creations brought so low. I nodded to him; he nodded back. Not many can say they’ve met their creator and lived to talk of it.

The head of the recently deceased Master of Games, Obbas, rolled to one side, and his tongue flopped out. Emperor Brulum examined my reaction. I smiled and gave a shrug. “Wasn’t much use without his eyes, anyway.”

The Emperor chuckled. A figure stepped forward. “You know Urran, my Lord Marshall, of course?”

“From that incident in Kookan,” I answered. “I hope my transgressions have since been forgiven, Lord Marshall?”

“Forgiven,” he answered. “But not forgotten.” He pointed at the wall and gestured I turn around. “A precaution, you understand.”

I nodded and assumed the position. His frisking skills were the same as ever—bad. When he had removed my knife and some other trinkets, he nodded to the Emperor, who then gestured that I follow him.

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Unveiled

  December 1, 2017 , ,

My daughter’s imaginary friend most likely came about because of loneliness, I surmised. It was all my fault. Nevertheless, it didn’t seem to matter too much as she played under the slide on the eighth level of Kastak Island. She laughed and chattered away. So what if her friend wasn’t really there?

We’d been living on Kastak for two months. It was a research lab for robotics and analytics that towered above the sea off the coast of England, where it had been purpose-built away from all the overcrowding. Construction was not quite finished, but I’d pleaded for the chance to start my new data job early, along with some others who were more involved in the setup side of things. My daughter and I were among the first families to arrive, though I’d been told that many more were to follow.

The balcony Dana played on was half-way up the tower. Gardens were spread across the levels, but this was the only outside space aimed at the employees’ children. It was nothing special, with only a swing, slide and climbing frame, but we treasured being alone out there – no one else seemed to enjoy the brisk outdoors so early in the mornings. Dana played, while I leaned against the balcony wall, relishing the sea breeze.

The entire complex was a refuge as much as a home. Until the note came.

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Unveiled by Helen French

  December 1, 2017

My daughter’s imaginary friend most likely came about because of loneliness, I surmised. It was all my fault. Nevertheless, it didn’t seem to matter too much as she played under the slide on the eighth level of Kastak Island. She laughed and chattered away. So what if her friend wasn’t really there?

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Eleventh Episode The Twelve – Pisces

  November 15, 2017

There was little I could do. The lion man was as good as dead. The giant spider was but feet away from him, ready to pounce, when one of the other spiders collided into it.

I shaded my eyes to see that on top of this other spider was the crab man, who held both of the spider’s pincers in his one large claw, and was now guiding the creature at will.

“My own personal monster,” the crab man shouted.

Read The Twelve – Pisces

The Twelve – Pisces

  November 15, 2017 , , ,

There was little I could do. The lion man was as good as dead. The giant spider was but feet away from him, ready to pounce, when one of the other spiders collided into it.

I shaded my eyes to see that on top of this other spider was the crab man, who held both of the spider’s pincers in his one large claw, and was now guiding the creature at will.

“My own personal monster,” the crab man shouted.

Leo signalled his thanks. The crowd, silent up to this point, gave out a loud cheer. They were cheering that the life of an Altered had been saved. I looked over at Orrin. The significance of this was not lost on him.

The spider on the receiving end of the collision gave a might roar and lowered its head, crashing into the side of the crab man’s ride, throwing him to the ground. Maheras, the centaur, scooped the crab man up onto his back to another rapturous applause from the crowd. Maheras galloped up and down in a tight pattern, throwing his forelegs into the air and neighing loudly, while the crab man held on with clenched legs, and raised his one claw in salute to the crowd. They cheered even harder. Brulum may well win the upcoming war, but he was losing this battle.

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Like & Subscribe

  November 1, 2017 , ,

And… play. Livestream is go.

Five minutes from the deadline. It’s quiet on the feed, but that’s the usual traffic this early in the game. Any people that are on are prowlers, the ones who obsess about my technique over the actual closer.

@thereathee: what model rifle is that?

@skilleez67: @thereathee it’s an S&W Dellax-77. He’s taking the shot from at least 49km. 

@punfisher118: did he adjust for wind?

@feulkllr: @punfisher118 she, and yeah she did. She’s taken trickier shots than this. 

@45yoigi gender is relative. #fluidsarepeople #equalityforfluidsnow.

Buncha nerds, geeking out about the little things. But prowlers and gun nuts justify the ad revenue alone. Gotta love ’em for that. Now if they only pledged more than the bare base donation amount. Cheapskates.

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