Zach Gilkey

Sizzle Blue lightning arcs across the sky. Bang Thunder against the void.

Air bites at the trees scattered at the base of a great stone spire. Sizzle-pop

Flashes rake the dreadful giant— a monolith rising from the forest, deep purples and sparks spilling from the window.

Curved lines carved in red— runes to snare the unaware, a song of invitation carried far.

SSSSzzzzzz Bright yellow this time— the leaves crunching with charge. Boom The tower struck… or merely a conduit.

The birds turn away when they hear the buzz— but not quick enough to avoid the forcefield’s snap.

Approaching the ramp, skeletons litter the ground. Among the corpses, not a gravestone is found.

A grand door, not of wood but of flesh and bone. What manner of being makes such a threshold its own?

A voice calls from within— “Dear friend, you are never alone.” “Nope,” I reply. “This is a necromancer’s home.”