Author Archives: Lawrence Harding

  Lawrence Harding   “Don’t use that mug.”                 Sarah’s eyes narrowed as she hesitated, her fingers just about to grip the handle. “Why?”                 “Because you shouldn’t use that mug, that’s all,” replied Laura, matter-of-factly, as she finished preparing the coffee. Sarah just scowled and shrugged.                              “It’s just a mug,” she said, and took itContinue reading “A Cool, But Useless, Mug”

Lawrence Harding Aleyn Rojér, master thief, had got lucky again.                 Not  that any of the purse-lifters and highway chancers who sometimes managed to sniff him out would believe it. They all wanted to know what the secret was behind his legend – the legend that was whispered in smoky dens and backwater inns forContinue reading “A Thief’s Blessed Luck”

Lawrence Harding                 “You’re certain there was nothing else in the room?” asked Kaldan.                 Inspector Pieler eyed his opposite number carefully as he prodded around the crime scene. He hated having to call the wizards in. Not that he had anything against them, though. Fine people, fine people when they weren’t setting things onContinue reading “The Trouble With Windows”

Lawrence Harding Cerbonius looked around to check no one was looking before removing the bottle from the chest. The chest was one of the latest of many, sent by merchants to the Count d’Hengue in the hope of earning his favour, and thus cheaper rates in his city. This one contained very few items thatContinue reading “A Fated Glimpse”

Lawrence Harding Far to the north, atop a mountain that towered above all others in the kingdom, stood a stele. A slab as broad as a man and twice as high, every inch of its surface was carved. Its frozen surface was a matter of record, a list of all those heroes who had diedContinue reading “Remembrance in Ice”

Lawrence Harding In the caves beneath the surface, those who were wise venerated the Helix. It stood on a plinth of obsidian at the centre of a vast cavern. The cavern was always bright with flame, from bonfires and torches that were ranged along the quartz-veined walls and kept burning in perpetuity, for fear ofContinue reading “For the Helix”

 Lawrence Harding            “No. No. No. The answer is no.”             Kryxan sat down on the stone altar made to him countless generations ago and folded his arms. If he were a toddler it may have been endearing, but he wasn’t. He was the Spirit of Garanos, the genius loci that watched over the valleyContinue reading “An Inconvenient Spell”

Lawrence Harding The Royal Menagerie of Vran was a sight to behold, the jewel in the crown of the great palace of Viaslagad. Its marble walls held a honeycomb of enclosures, in which beasts of every hue and stripe from across the world roamed for the delight of the House of Vran. Those lucky fewContinue reading “The King’s Favourites”