Fleet Mac Wood knew arguing with pack goats was futile. The ranger lived with three of the beasts. He told them daily not to eat his tent, not to chew his boots, and not to wander into the mountains where bigger animals—or worse things—would eat them. He corralled them. They leapt the fence. Hobbling was … More Cozy Flash: “The Problem with Pack Goats”

Grandmother sits on the floor of her ruined house wearing only her nightshirt when I find her the morning after the shockstorm. It has taken me half the night to climb to the little village at the edge of the cold, clear mountain lake, where a handful of elderly villagers stubbornly cling to their traditional … More Cozy Flash: “Iai, Iai, Mele (Listen, Listen, Child)”

The road rose ahead of Sanya and the sun was blissfully warm on her face. Birds trilled from the banks of pine trees around her. In the clear air, as the mountain path twisted, she caught glimpses of the mighty Erech river, crashing far below her through its steep-sided valley. Sanya began to sing for … More Cozy Flash: “The Price of Crossing”

On a good day, Bluet could fluff his fur out until he was wider than he was tall. Tonight an unseasonable rain had slicked him down to nothing. He kept his paws tucked in his armpits as he darted between the shelter of blooming cherry trees. The path hugged the bank of a sloshing stream, … More Cozy Flash: “Up by the Gryphon”

The girl found the little man in a meadow near the pine forest not too far from her home, where she had been picking blue cornflowers. She had seen a small glint when a passing cloud moved past the sun, and when she knelt down, there he was. At first she thought he was a … More Cozy Flash: “The Little Soldier”

We had barely started our evening song when the young woman wandered into our clearing. “You have got to be kidding me.” Elondriel lowered their flute. “That’s the third time this moon.”There were twigs in the woman’s hair. Her arms were laced with scratches where she’d pushed through the brambles. I sighed. I’d grown those … More Cozy Flash: “The Wood-Folk Do Not Want to Marry You”

Maeda made a strange sight. Robed in rough-spun ochre, she wore a conical hat of beaten copper, a symbol of her order and her rank as aspirant pilgrim. And she rode an elephantling, white as cream and garmented in beads and fool’s jewels. Despite the silliness of her and her mount’s tableau, there was a … More Cozy Flash: “The Walk of Contemplation”

When you’re the world’s greatest warrior, the prophesized destroyer of evil, the greatest and most noble hero in living memory, you get used to a certain sort of reception. Even in nameless taverns in the smallest villages, people sang songs in my honor and bought me drinks. And here in Tarren’s Rift, where all my … More Cozy Flash: “The Skycalled Will Save the World”

I couldn’t remember her face. I stood outside our cobblestone cabin. It sat nestled within a field of lavender, and the scent of magic wafted off the grey stonework—like caramelized sugar mixed with ozone. My fingers traced the carving on our front door: I.L. + S.A. The sky was heavy. Half-dry tunics still hung on … More Cozy Flash: “Memory in a Bottle”