Five Stars: Five Outstanding Tales from the early days of Stupefying Stories by Aaron Starr, Guy Stewart, Rebecca Roland, David Landrum, Ryan Jones

within you. But I think I won’t.”
    There were no words that could convey the depth of my hatred and anger, and so I remained silent. I struggled against the magic holding me in place, but did not know how to focus my worm’s power against her. The creature thrashed inside me. Fever flushed my face and neck. I shifted, letting the cloak and tunic slip just enough to reveal the worm’s hook.
    The witch’s eyes widened at the sight. “I thought you lied.” She raised both hands, her fingers curled into claws. The magic barrier around me shifted and began to press at my arm. She wanted me to pull my worm free. “You were a fool to bring the worm here.”
    I fought the magic, not wanting her to guess that she did exactly as I wished. Sweat broke out along my forehead. The force of the witch’s magic moved my hand ever closer to the hook, and then my fingers closed around it.
    I pulled, ripping the worm free. It felt as though I ripped out my own entrails from the gaping wound in my shoulder. The worm, bloody, wriggled in my grasp and snapped its teeth, reduced to a deathly gray again.
    The witch grabbed my wrist and yanked my hand—and the worm—to her. “No witch has ever had the opportunity to control two worms.” Her pupils dilated as she took in the sight of it, as if watching a lover.
    The creature clamped its teeth on the witch’s belly. The magic holding me back was suddenly gone. I let go of the worm and stumbled away.
    The witch’s worm uncoiled itself from around her shoulders and shuddered. It darted around her waist, down one leg and up, down to the fingers of one hand.
    My worm’s skin, meanwhile, began to shimmer as it burrowed eagerly into the witch’s flesh.
    Her face crinkled in pain, and she doubled over. “What is this?” she gasped. She grabbed my worm’s tail and tried to pull, but it flicked itself free. Then it roamed inside her, a shimmering outline marking its passage. “Get it out of me!”
    I said, “The plague that rides my blood now rides in you.”
    Her eyes rolled back. She fell to her knees and let out a piercing scream.
    The guards dismounted, all of them drawing swords. Their horses snorted and pranced away. The guards rushed towards us, then paused, their gazes turning from the witch to me and back to her.
    The captain of the guard came to his senses first. He pointed to several men. “Take her to the castle and see that the healer tends to her immediately. The rest of you, we’re taking him,” he said as he pointed his sword at me.
    The witch raised a trembling hand. The guards hesitated again. Then my sword jumped from the cobblestones and flew through the air toward her, slicing her head from her body.
    She crumpled in a heap as her head rolled, and blood pooled around her.
    Both worms emerged from her neck. Covered in her blood, they crawled away.
    “Don’t let them touch you,” I said to the guards. “They carry the plague that killed my people, and her.”
    The guards scrambled back, letting the worms slither down the cobblestone street, leaving a blood trail behind. One of the men turned and retched.
    I spoke to the captain of the guard. “I’m infected as well. Give me a horse and I will leave this place, and let your people be.” He hurried to obey.
    It was time to go home.
    ¤
    The sun rose on burnt buildings and ash-covered streets. From one pile of ash, a sharp bone stuck out.
    This was my kingdom, this ash, this bone. But a living man cannot rule a kingdom of the dead. I sat in the ash, sending flurries of it dancing in the air. My hands found the crown atop my head, and pulled it free.
     
     

     
     

 
    Rebecca Roland  lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where she writes primarily fantasy and horror. Her short fiction has appeared in  Everyday Fiction, Uncle John’s Flush Fiction  and in  Stupefying Stories , and she is a graduate of the Odyssey Writing Workshop. When she’s not writing, she’s usually spending time with her family,