Dahlia's Feast

The massive trollgre kept young Dahlia hidden beneath the folds of his black trench coat as he brought her deep into the warehouse district of the ancient human city.

Bulbous yellow eyes leered from the shadows, clawed feet scuttling out of the way as he passed, thumping heavily along, giving them fair warning of his approach. The trollgre was strong, with a rocklike exterior thicker than any of his kind; but if these hungries caught sight of the girl he carried, adrenaline would overcome them, transforming their scrawny frames into a force to be reckoned with. In sufficient numbers, they could overpower even a trollgre, emerging en masse from the dark to tear his charge to pieces in this narrow street, and there would be little he could do about it.

Such a thing would not please his employers. They had hired him to escort young Dahlia straight to them, and he did not wish lose his head over the little human. The Elders were not known for their forgiveness...

The latest issue of Aoife's Kiss includes my story "Dahlia's Feast," and I can't wait to see it in print. This story chronologically follows "While She Sleeps, Mountains Tremble," which appeared in last year's Triangulation anthology, even though "Dahlia's Feast" was written first. So, it's a sequel of sorts, with another prequel, "Stone for Brains," forthcoming from The Fifth Di this summer. I guess these stories could be classified as urban fantasy, but there's also some science fiction involved, making the genre tough to pigeonhole. (Walmart would not be happy.) That's why I like to use the speculative fiction blanket; it covers just about everything I write. 
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