Excalibur’s Prelude

by Dave Ring

Emrys and Fatou le Fay had been practicing their lines in this damn cave for hours.  Their first mission: find the stone, swap the swords, get out.

“Stop fussing with the hilt, Fatou.”

“It doesn’t look right.”

“No one’s going to notice.  They’re going to be busy laughing at me for saying thee instead of thou.”

A brutal gust of wind snuffed out the candles.

Something growled in the darkness.

“Was that your stomach?” Emrys asked.

Fatou drew her sword.  “No.”

The beast pounced on Emrys.  The transponder crystal shattered beneath her.

“Shit.”

Getting out just got a lot harder.

Dave Ring

Dave Ring is the chair of the OutWrite LGBTQ Book Festival in Washington, DC. He has stories featured or forthcoming in GlitterShip, The Disconnect, and A Punk Rock Future. He is the editor of Broken Metropolis: Queer Tales of a City That Never Was from Mason Jar Press. More info at www.dave-ring.com. Follow him on Twitter at @slickhop.