Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Dark Places: Rainbow Collections, #10
    Dark Places: Rainbow Collections, #10
    Dark Places: Rainbow Collections, #10
    Ebook105 pages1 hour

    Dark Places: Rainbow Collections, #10

    By Meyari McFarland

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    Dreams. War. Winter and aliens and curses.

    The Dark Places collection by Meyari McFarland will take you into the dark places we all fear to tread.

    Includes six stories sure to stay with you after you turn off the lights.

    The Haunted Half-Light

    The Blade Was Not Brass

    The Rings of Icy Mist

    The Lived Glory

    Mortal Stream of the Undead Sky

    Shifting Towers of Fire

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherMeyari McFarland
    Release dateOct 28, 2018
    ISBN9781386465454
    Dark Places: Rainbow Collections, #10
    Author

    Meyari McFarland

    Meyari McFarland has been telling stories since she was a small child. Her stories range from SF and Fantasy adventures to Romances but they always feature strong characters who do what they think is right no matter what gets in their way. Her series range from Space Opera Romance in the Drath series to Epic Fantasy in the Mages of Tindiere world. Other series include Matriarchies of Muirin, the Clockwork Rift Steampunk mysteries, and the Tales of Unification urban fantasy stories, plus many more. You can find all of her work on MDR Publishing's website at www.MDR-Publishing.com.

    Read more from Meyari Mc Farland

    Related to Dark Places

    Titles in the series (2)

    View More
    View More

    Related ebooks

    Lesbian Fiction For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      100-WORD-STORY COMPETITION Winners

      Aug 16, 2022

      We’ve been delighted by the huge response to our 100-word-story competition. The entries have flooded in thick and fast during the past few months, but while we’ve enjoyed reading every story, only a few can come out on top! You, our readers, voted t

      5 min read

    • Article

      Tuesday New Release Day: Starring Egan, Mandel, Vuong, Stuart, and More

      Apr 5, 2022

      Here’s a quick look at some notable books—new titles from Jennifer Egan, our own Emily St. John Mandel, Ocean Vuong, Douglas Stuart, and more—that are publishing this week. The post Tuesday New Release Day: Starring Egan, Mandel, Vuong, Stuart, and M

      7 min read

    • Article

      Getting Up

      Oct 15, 2022

      Getting Up
      20 min read

    • Article

      Silence and Air Raids

      Nov 25, 2022

      Silence and Air Raids
      14 min read

    • Article

      In Love And War

      Jun 10, 2021

      April 1943 - Krakow, Poland Irena was bent over her needlework, stitching the frayed seam of her skirt when she heard a single gunshot ring out. She jerked and then scowled. After four years of war, she ought to be used to it. Why, the other night a

      11 min read

    • Article

      Quantum Radio

      Feb 22, 2023

      Quantum Radio
      5 min read

    • Article

      Cricket League

      Jan 1, 2022

      It was an unusual birthday. Colorful banners blanketed the backyard. Kids chased each other through the grass. Adults talked. It all went downhill from there. My little sister was turning five. On her birthday cake, painted in frosting, was a fat, pi

      7 min read

    • Article

      Meet the Writer

      May 27, 2023

      Meet the Writer
      4 min read

    • Article

      Books

      Jul 3, 2023

      Books
      6 min read

    • Article

      Hey, Necromancer!

      Sep 18, 2018

      Hey, Necromancer!
      8 min read

    • Article

      Bird’s-eye View

      Nov 13, 2023

      Bird’s-eye View
      6 min read

    • Article

      Sweet Fantasy

      Nov 20, 2021

      Sweet Fantasy
      8 min read

    • Article

      Trent Dalton

      Oct 26, 2023

      Trent Dalton
      3 min read

    • Article

      Wayétu Moore

      Jun 15, 2018

      Lai was hidden in the middle of forests when the Vai people found it. There was evidence of earlier townsmen there, as ends of stoneware and crushed diamonds were found scattered on hilltops in the unexpected company of domestic cats. But when the Va

      29 min read

    • Article

      Book Club

      Nov 9, 2023

      Book Club
      5 min read

    • Article

      Three Poems by Rohan Chhetri

      Sep 8, 2020

      All summer the half voice lurked behind me & I played deaf for days for to live To not write about it to use my body Part the river’s flesh to operate Machinery is human too to love & for once stay awake through it all. Now it comes like the deer sle

      3 min read

    • Article

      Playing God

      Apr 10, 2023

      After Jack was abducted by the alien spaceship, and after the round vessel had vanished into the Milky Way, he found himself walking down a tubular corridor with white vibrating walls, escorted by a sinuous blonde who smiled graciously and said her n

      13 min read

    • Article

      Books

      Aug 28, 2023

      Books
      6 min read

    • Article

      April Preview: The Millions Most Anticipated (This Month)

      Apr 5, 2021

      April brings new books from Haruki Murakami, Helen Oyeyemi, Elizabeth McCracken, Kaitlyn Greenidge, and a whole lot more. The post April Preview: The Millions Most Anticipated (This Month) appeared first on The Millions.

      8 min read

    • Article

      Books

      May 15, 2023

      Books
      6 min read

    • Article

      The Trouble Gene

      Jul 1, 2020

      One clear thing about trouble—it can set you back to zero, a personal cone of silence. And reading, writing, listening allow entry into that troubled solitude; you disappear into it regardless t of the time or place you really are in, be it bed, kitc

      12 min read

    • Article

      The Glove

      Mar 4, 2024

      The Glove
      8 min read

    • Article

      Literary Paper Dolls: Franny

      May 20, 2019

      Literary Paper Dolls: Franny
      5 min read

    • Article

      Frost FAIR

      Jan 18, 2023

      Frost FAIR
      11 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for Dark Places

    0 ratings

    0 ratings0 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

      Book preview

      Dark Places - Meyari McFarland

      Dark Places

      Dark Places

      Meyari McFarland

      MDR Publishing

      Contents

      Other Books by Meyari McFarland:

      Special Offer

      Author's Note: The Haunted Half Light

      The Haunted Half-Light

      Author's Note: The Blade Was Not Brass

      The Blade Was Not Brass

      Author's Note: The Rings of Icy Mist

      The Rings of Icy Mist

      Author's Note: The Lived Glory

      The Lived Glory

      Author's Note: Mortal Stream of the Undead Sky

      Mortal Stream of the Undead Sky

      Author's Note: Shifting Towers of Fire

      Shifting Towers of Fire

      Author's Note: Transplant of War

      1. Sand

      2. Trap

      Other Books by Meyari McFarland:

      Afterword

      Author Bio

      Other Books by Meyari McFarland:

      Day Hunt on the Final Oblivion

      Day of Joy

      Immortal Sky

      A New Path

      Following the Trail

      Crafting Home

      Finding a Way

      Go Between

      Like Arrows of Fate

      Out of Disaster

      The Shores of Twilight Bay

      Coming Together

      Following the Beacon

      The Solace of Her Clan

      You can find these and many other books at www.MDR-Publishing.com. We are a small independent publisher focusing on LGBT content. Please sign up for our mailing list to get regular updates on the latest preorders and new releases and a free ebook!

      Copyright ©2018 by Mary Raichle

      Print ISBN: 978-1-64309-042-9

      Cover image

      ID 43651053 © breakermaximus | Dreamstime.com

      All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

      Requests for permission to make copies of any part of the work should be emailed to publisher@mdr-publishing.com.

      This book is also available in TPB format from all major retailers.

      Created with Vellum Created with Vellum

      This collection is dedicated to Dean Wesley Smith for reminding me to put out collections, not just short stories and books.

      Special Offer

      The rainbow has infinite shades, just as this collection covers the spectrum of fictional possibilities.

      From contemporary romances like The Shores of Twilight Bay to dark fantasy like A Lone Red Tree and out to SF futures in Child of Spring, Iridescent covers the gamut of time, space and genre

      Meyari McFarland shows her mastery in this first omnibus collection of her short fiction. Twenty-five amazing stories, all with queer characters going on adventures, solving mysteries, and falling in love are here in the first Rainbow Collection.

      And now you can get this massive collection of short queer fiction, all of it with the happy endings you love, for free!

      Sign up here for your free copy of Iridescent now!

      Author's Note: The Haunted Half Light

      It's a rare thing for me to write stories with a spooky edge to them. In general, it's not where my mind goes when I sit down to write. But every so often, my mind goes to darker places. Haunted places. Haunted dreams and worlds, magic both twisted and terrifying.

      This story was one that came from a dream I had. It started with an image and grew into so much more. Eventually, I suspect there may be a series blooming out of this one little story, just because it had such a powerful impact on me.

      The Haunted Half-Light

      Clouds billowed overhead, monstrous, dark, shot through with lightning that never struck the earth. Rain hung in sheets from the bottoms of the clouds, but it never got close to the ground, either. Kanti stared up and up, and up, heart pounding as she bit her lip. There were trees around her, black trunks scorched by fire not long gone. Ashes drifted in the air. One tiny coal floated past her eyes, lighting the darkness with the promise of another firestorm raging over the top of her.

      Her nightgown billowed in a wind she didn't feel. There was no scent of ash, no smell of distant rain. No sound of thunder rumbling constantly through the air despite the lightning. When she looked down, her feet were bare. Underneath them were coals, red and white with ash.

      It should hurt. The air should hurt her nose, her throat, her lungs. This didn't make sense.

      You're dreaming.

      Kanti turned. A woman in stained pale blue yoga pants and a sagging tank top stood next to her. The tank top barely restrained breasts so full that they would never be perky. Her eyes were the sort of green that people in books talked about, the green of new green alder leaves with sunlight pouring through them.

      Thank you, the woman said, grinning. Mostly I think my eyes are kind of weird looking in real life. Too yellow, you know? Not enough green to make them easy to look at. I'm Joyce Banks from down the block. Don't think we've ever spoken to each other before.

      Kanti blinked at her, then frowned. Had she spoken? No, she couldn't have. There were no lips on Kanti's face. No nose, either. She ran her hands over her face and shuddered to realize that all she had was a smooth blank disk with eyes. That was so very wrong.

      Dreaming, Joyce said. She reached towards Kanti but suddenly the distance between them stretched and stretch. Joyce began to shout across the growing space. You're dreaming, Kanti. This isn't real. You need to wake up or you'll get trapped in the half-light and never escape. Wake up. Wake up! Kanti, wake up!

      Kanti tumbled out of her bed, gasping and wheezing. The bedroom smelled of sweat and garlic, of too-perfumed fabric softener and the long-gone cat the previous residents had secreted into the apartment. She shuddered and rubbed her hands over her face. They came away sweaty.

      What was that? Kanti asked as she slowly pulled herself back up onto the bed. The blankets were a tangled mess, soaked through by her night terror. I don't even know a Joyce. Joyce Banks. That can't be a real name. It can't.

      But Joyce had seemed so real in the dream. The only thing that hadn't seemed real was Kanti herself. She could remember it all so perfectly when she never remembered her dreams. Fire-scorched trees, a thick coating of coals underfoot and thunderstorms overhead that gave no relief to the blasted landscape below.

      She shook her head and stood, moving into the kitchen area of her little studio apartment. Sleep wasn't going to happen, not now. Even if she'd wanted to go back to sleep, the sheets and blankets needed to be washed. Dried at least. And the laundry room would be open at… three in the morning. God, tomorrow, today was going to be horrible.

      Kanti still made tea, still curled up on her little loveseat and stared out at the maple trees outside her window. The leaves were changing from green to red and gold. Brown would come in a few days and then the branches would be bare while the ground would be carpeted by the fallen plate-sized leaves.

      When dawn came, Kanti showered. Ate. Dressed. Stripped her bed and remade it with her spare set of sheets. Tucked the still-damp sheets into the hamper to be washed later. After work.

      Her day was a series of nouns. Car. Street. Traffic. Office and timeclock and desk and

      Enjoying the preview?
      Page 1 of 1