Mike Carss

Sam never expected to abandon his modest life as a blacksmith’s apprentice, yet the harrowing death of his parents leaves him no choice. When the reserved knight errant Ser Graeme proffers him a place at his side, Sam grasps at the chance for escape, despite having no clear destination. With winter closing in, they aim to reach the city of Langscott before the roads become impassable. Their journey, however, is delayed by a chance encounter: an offer of coin too tempting to refuse. The task is far beyond their expertise, but to earn a living on the road, risk often becomes a matter of routine.

Sam stared blankly into his bedroom, still reeling at his decision to leave home. It’d all happened so quickly, as though Ser Graeme had ensorcelled him into agreeing. That was ridiculous, of course. Sam had already made the decision. Graeme’s invitation only made it easier to follow through. But now, he needed to decide what was important enough to take on a journey with no set course, and managing the limited space of his saddlebags was his chief concern. The poignant truth of the situat

Nice! I'll definitely be checking this out. She has a plethora of other fantasy stories available for free on her site as well. Bonus!

Thanks very much. 🙂

I was wondering how much of a nightmare it'd be, technically speaking, to change my username? For example, if it broke existing tag links (such as @mcarss) in existing posts, I'd agree it's not worth the trouble. But if the only "downside" would be that those following me might be momentarily confused by the change, I'd consider that okay. I'd like to change it to my actual name (Mike Carss).

Another factor for higher views on chapters is comments. If a chapter garners many comments (with readers and the author coming back to reply), that will inflate the viewer count. Honestly, I'd prefer if the system counted one view per member, regardless of the number of times they visited a chapter. Yes, that would bring the numbers down significantly, but it'd also provide a truer metric. In any case, thanks for all the information, @Myr. I find this behind-the-scenes stuff very interesting. And I'm looking forward to the updated forum software being deployed. Do you have a planned time window to go live, or is it a "it's ready when it's ready" situation? I imagine there's no going back to the old software if something went catastrophically wrong, so cautiously rooting out any bugs is a prudent decision.

That's not a chapter, you maniac. That's a novella. 😆 Likewise. Most of my neighbours turn off their lights a day or two after Christmas. How dreary. Luckily, there are a few holdouts who still keep them going into this month.

After two days of flight delays and cancellations, I finally managed to make it home yesterday evening. I spent NYE going to bed at 8:30pm and sleeping for ten hours straight. I'm such a party animal. My best to everyone for 2026. 💗

It was purely for aesthetic reasons. I've played D&D for many years, but when it comes to the finer details as you've described, I'm pretty ignorant. I've learned something new today. 😄

While I've had an account here for well over a decade, I only recently started using GA in earnest when I got back into writing (2023). The community here is so active and encouraging. The upcoming changes look great (yay for site wide dark mode -- my eyes thank you). I'm also curious to see the changes coming to the story submission section of the site. I wouldn't call it difficult to use now, but there are a lot of tabs that can make it easy to miss something. Regarding suggestions, the only thing was the allowance of larger image sizes. I'd brought this up in the forum in the past, but IIRC, allowing this would've caused problems to the backend code and how the site rendered. Not sure if the upcoming updates will allow more flexibility in this regard, but please don't spend any time trying to make it work if it's just going to be a PITA. 😆 Thanks to everyone who keeps the site running: programmers, admins, and moderators. ❤️

Given my adoration of nature and trees, this one spoke to me. Lovely. 🥰🌳

Many people find the concept of total oblivion terrifying (religion exists partially for that reason), but I honestly hope that's what comes for us. Time will go on without us, and while grim to consider, it's comforting to know we won't be conscious of the fact.

Yeah, the stereotypical concepts of heaven and hell needed a makeover. 😅 Thanks!

Yup. Existential horror is a thought-provoking genre.

Yeah, I figured a few might be a little disappointed by the ambiguous ending, but this was partially inspired by Outer Limits and Twilight Zone episodes that end similarly. Glad you enjoyed it. 😊

Judging by Mitchell's experience, Elijah is stuck in that void, possibly for eternity. 😬

Nothing. Dave couldn’t think of another word to describe what he was experiencing at this moment. There was nothing to see, nothing to hear. He couldn’t even sense his body, as though his mind was drifting amid oblivion—disconnected, paralyzed. The sudden lack of any stimulus was as unnerving as it was terrifying. He wanted to scream, but didn’t know how. Then, at last, he felt something. A prickling sensation in his toes—the familiar sting of circulation returning after being restricted. I

Imprisoned in a featureless space, Dave must face what his last chilling memory suggests. Can he escape, or will he remain perpetually trapped?

An interesting thought. Are you referring to his dead squire? We'll learn more about him in part two.

Indeed. Sam's suffering has only just begun. This will playing an important role in his continuing story.

Indeterminate rivulets of seconds, minutes, and hours whiled the night away. What little rest Sam managed to catch was broken by every creak and groan of the house, or by gusts of wind rattling the window. But worse, any attempt to nod off triggered fierce nightmares. The encounter in his parents’ bedroom held his mind captive, only now, the bandit was far from human. Instead, the man was a shadow with glowing red eyes and a gruesome sneer, revealing pointed teeth. He loomed large over Sam’s pro

Your questions will be answered in time, but uncovering Graeme's secrets will not be an easy task for Sam.

Following Mr Newham’s speech, Sam said that he—himself alone—would bury his parents. Beforehand, he felt unsure he’d have the resolve to follow through, but the chief’s words had given him the strength he sought. With his jaw set firmly, he fought the reluctance to look upon his parents’ wrapped remains. The way they’d been enshrouded—hands over their chests and legs together—made them appear more like rough stone carvings. Not quite human. That helped. It took some urging, but he managed t

Pain flared in Sam’s wounded shoulder, sharpening with every thrust of his shovel into the earth. He didn’t care. It was the only thing keeping him lucid, keeping his mind on the task. There were brief periods, however, when he forgot why he was digging, only for a bloody memory to break loose and show itself. Flashes of Mum and Pa, lifeless in their bed, made him grit his teeth and dig harder. There was nothing to gain by keeping those images in his mind. They served no purpose except to cause

Absolutely. And what's worse is that he believes Graeme doesn't offer trite compliments, yet when the knight does compliment him, Sam can't accept the praise. Sure, a part of that might be embarrassment, but Graeme's words of approval seem to go in one ear, out the other. Oh Sam, you poor fool.