Posts Tagged ‘revenge’

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Cast of Wonders 448: The Oak Knowers (Staff Picks 2020)

Previously published as Cast of Wonders episodes 403 & 404.

Content warning for language/profanity. This story contains in-character usage of the N-word and the F-word.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 54:30 — 50.4MB)

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The Oak Knowers

by Wesley Jenkins

When the moon sits high, and our parents have passed out for sure, we gather in the grove to do our business.

We never call it magic. Magic is something magicians do, pulling rabbits out of hats. I guess witches turn princes into toads and sorcerers cruise from kingdom to kingdom, toppling regimes and screwing everything in sight, but we have never been so outrageous. For one thing, we believe in rules.

(Continue Reading…)

episode art 420

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Cast of Wonders 420: Devil’s Bridge

Originally published in 2014 in Fearsome Magics, the second New Solaris Book of Fantasy, edited by Jonathan Strahan (Rebellion Books)

Violence; Harm to animals.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 28:21 — 26.5MB)

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Devil’s Bridge

by Frances Hardinge

“That man.” Lauren peered across the street, eyes narrowed. “He was outside school when we came out. I think he’s following us.” (Continue Reading…)

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Cast of Wonders 407: Little Wonders 24: Dogs and Monsters

Cast of Wonders 407: Little Wonders 24: Dogs and Monsters is a Cast of Wonders original.

Harm to animals.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 15:27 — 14.6MB)

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Show Notes

Good Girl was first performed as part of Escape Artists Live at PodUK 2020, and released on the EA patreon feed.

Good Girl

by Maria Haskins

Wawa waits in the woods, tongue lolling, ears drooping. She waits in the fern-covered gully beside the dried-up creek. Every now and then she tries to lie down, but then there’ll be a rustle in the trees, the sound of snapping twigs, of scuttling claws, and she’s up again.

But no one comes.

Wawa waits. She would howl, would bark, but Wawa is a good girl. A good dog.

(Continue Reading…)

Oak KNowers

Genres: ,

Cast of Wonders 404: The Oak Knowers (Part 2 of 2)

Cast of Wonders 404: The Oak Knowers (Part 2 of 2) is a Cast of Wonders original.

Content warning for language/profanity. This two-part story contains in-character usage of the N-word and the F-word.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 35:00 — 32.5MB)

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The Oak Knowers (Part 2)

by Wesley Jenkins

“I don’t know how to find someone like this,” says Priscilla, loudly, over the sudden swell of midnight noise.

“I do,” says Renia, strolling confidently to the edge of the pit and kneeling. Silently we join her. It’s not a message she sends, more like a scent, something more primal than emotion. We always know when she is calling us. Only Jamian, still manning the circle’s rim, remains standing. Renia looks up suddenly, straight into my eyes. I’m surprised to see fear on her face, though I know we all feel it, but there is also certainty. “The killer. I can feel him.”

(Continue Reading…)

Oak KNowers

Genres: ,

Cast of Wonders 403: The Oak Knowers (Part 1 of 2)

Cast of Wonders 403: The Oak Knowers (Part 1 of 2) is a Cast of Wonders original.

Content warning for language/profanity. This two-part story contains in-character usage of the N-word and the F-word.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 32:10 — 29.9MB)

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The Oak Knowers (Part 1)

by Wesley Jenkins

When the moon sits high, and our parents have passed out for sure, we gather in the grove to do our business.

We never call it magic. Magic is something magicians do, pulling rabbits out of hats. I guess witches turn princes into toads and sorcerers cruise from kingdom to kingdom, toppling regimes and screwing everything in sight, but we have never been so outrageous. For one thing, we believe in rules.

(Continue Reading…)

Genres: ,

Cast of Wonders 397: Wordslinger, Wordwreaker (Staff Picks 2019)

Originally appeared in Cast of Wonders Episode 354 (Artemis Rising 5), March 28, 2019.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 39:14 — 36.4MB)

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Wordslinger, Wordwreaker

by Amanda Helms

The wordslinger first came into Lasthope on the back of a scarab the size of a large pony, during the worst flaying-wind storm in a generation.

Mind, we didn’t know then that she was a wordslinger, or even that she was a she. I didn’t witness it direct, but later one of our regulars told me of her, all bundled up in hat and gloves and too-big cloak, on account of them winds, you see. She climbed off her scarab with the stiffness of someone too long in the saddle. But like any rider worth her salt, she saw to her mount afore she came into the saloon, which is where I first saw her myself.

(Continue Reading…)

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Cast of Wonders 387: The Rose Sisterhood

Cast of Wonders 387: The Rose Sisterhood is a Cast of Wonders original.

Abusive relationships. Murder.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 21:24 — 20.1MB)

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The Rose Sisterhood

by Susan Taitel

My Sisters and I await the next girl. She will be beautiful. We always are. We hope she’ll be the one to break the curse, that she will have the wherewithal to see our master as he truly is. To succeed where we all failed.

We do not know when she will arrive. We hope it will be soon. It is not good for our master to go too long without a companion. We Sisters are not company.

As we wait, I try to console our newest Sister. It was only a flinch. I assure her she still has a role to play. There are clothes to mend, meals to prepare, and roses to prune. She won’t be comforted yet — her bones are too fresh. I know she will adjust to her new station in time. We all do.

(Continue Reading…)

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Cast of Wonders 354: Wordslinger, Wordwreaker (Artemis Rising 5)

Cast of Wonders 354: Wordslinger, Wordwreaker (Artemis Rising 5) is a Cast of Wonders original.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 38:22 — 35.6MB)

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Wordslinger, Wordwreaker

by Amanda Helms

The wordslinger first came into Lasthope on the back of a scarab the size of a large pony, during the worst flaying-wind storm in a generation.

Mind, we didn’t know then that she was a wordslinger, or even that she was a she. I didn’t witness it direct, but later one of our regulars told me of her, all bundled up in hat and gloves and too-big cloak, on account of them winds, you see. She climbed off her scarab with the stiffness of someone too long in the saddle. But like any rider worth her salt, she saw to her mount afore she came into the saloon, which is where I first saw her myself.

Me and Ruby were on a break, letting my babe Arlie grab at and occasionally suck on the tassels of our gowns. Spurs jangling, the wordslinger ambled to the bar as she pulled back her cloak–she had two canteens slung on her belt, one on each side–then, slowly removed her hat and, slower yet, peeled off her gloves. Waiting to see if anyone’d comment on her color, I reckon, for the raggedy leather of her attire was just a few shades lighter than her own skin.

(Continue Reading…)