The Compendium: LegendFire’s Annual Anthology, 2021, Rising From Ruin: Between Misadventures

By Court Ellyn

In the premiere issue of LegendFire Critique Community’s Compendium, journey through caves inhabited by ravenous darkness, flee the burning rays of a demon sun, tumble headlong through turbulent seas and accidental misadventures in true-to-life confessions, and much more. Encounter poetry to challenge and delight, tales from a broad variety of genres, memoirs that will elicit sympathy and laughter, and ultra-shorts that can be enjoyed in under a minute.

This sampling of LegendFire’s 2020-2021 contest entries promises flights of fancy inspired by prompts sprung on the community’s writers with little warning. The resulting prose and stanzas are thought-provoking, often startling and, we hope, inspiring in return.

Contributing authors:

Patricia Denny-Purvis
Court Ellyn
Tony Glass
Joyce Lewis
Melanie Rebro
Laurel Stark
Finn Warrick
Jeffrey V. Yorio
Aidan Zingler

• Language: English
• Publisher: Court Ellyn
• Release date: Sep 27, 2021
• ISBN: 9781005238902

Court Ellyn

COURT ELLYN has been building plots and characters since she could hold a pen. What began as a love for historical fiction quickly gravitated toward the fantastical. Now she dreams of extraplanar travel and taming dragons while she leads a small critique group at legendfire.com.Her fiction has appeared in Kaleidotrope, Silver Blade, Theme of Absence, the anthologies Explorers: Beyond the Horizon and Twice Upon a Time, and a number of other publications. Her novel series, The Falcons Saga, is available at Amazon. www.courtellyn.com

Book preview

Foreword

Every dream begins somewhere. A writer’s dream begins with a word. An exhalation of breath read aloud by a caretaker at bedtime. A squiggle of ink on the page of a picture book. A single word is humble. A single word is immensely powerful. To a writer, the word is addictive.

The authors at LegendFire Critique Community gather from all over the world to hone their gift with these enigmatic little tools, these exhalations of breath, these squiggles on a page. Our members are beautifully diverse, bringing with them a broad spectrum of experience. Some have been writing for decades, others for a few weeks. A few are widely published, others have only now dared venture into the wild waters of publication.

LegendFire challenges its members with frequent contests, prompts, and rounds of critiques.

Within the Compendium you’ll find the fruits of our labors and the results of a great deal of fun.

The Contests:

Six times a year, LegendFire’s moderators spring prompts and word count limits on our members. Each contest entry is thoroughly critiqued by the other contestants and given a numerical rating that determines the top three winners. For better or worse, the year’s contest prompts have been tossed together to shape this issue’s title.

The 100 Word Weekly Challenge:

One of our longest-running and most popular activities is the 100 Word Weekly Challenge. The hosting moderator chooses a prompt, challenging our members to write a complete thought, poem, or story in exactly one hundred words. No more, no less. These ultra-shorts do not undergo critiques. Weekly winners are chosen by poll.

The Artwork:

Our members’ talents go beyond the written word. In each edition we intend to showcase a variety of visual expression inspired by the year’s themes.

Writers write because they must. There’s no cleansing this addiction from our blood. Come along with us and read our humble offerings. And why not join us? LegendFire’s door is always open. The Compendium will grow year by year, along with our membership.

For giving our publication a chance, you have our everlasting gratitude.

~Court Ellyn, 2021

Jewels of the 2021 Contests

Mership by Aidan Zingler

Cardines Temporum

Patricia Denny-Purvis

The tapestry completed, she gathers up her threads

Of russet browns and sunset golds and warmly vibrant reds.

She scans the far horizon, her sister now in sight,

And makes ready for departure; her vigil ends this night.

The last leaf on the stalwart oak relinquishes its hold,

As she snuggles in her woollen cloak against the frigid cold

Which precedes the one who travels swiftly from the Northern Lands

Bearing sprigs of mistletoe and holly in her mittened hands.

Some call her the Rime Maiden, for she brings the chill and hoar.

But to the one who waits she is Dear Sister, nothing more.

Her skin, like alabaster, is pale and truly fair.

She has strands of tinselled garland braided in her platinum hair.

The white cape trimmed with ermine sweeps along the hardened earth

Where a path of sugared shimmering remains until rebirth.

Her robe is dove-grey velvet, one shade lighter than her eyes.

In her wake, the fragrant evergreens with frost are polarized.

As the Guardians of Tomorrow spin the Hourglass of Time,

The air is perfumed heavily with scents of spruce and pine.

In a sky of midnight satin, the sequined stars appear,

While the ice-capped moon beams brightly like a silver-crusted sphere.

The fondness of the sisters' greeting in the arctic breeze

Lingers briefly like a vapor, forming icicles that freeze.

One cherished kiss between them, then the bittersweet goodbye,

As a robin in the fir tree trills his tuneful lullaby.

Winter's crystals spiral downward to melt on Autumn's face

And her plain and simple garments are adorned with wispy lace.

But the flurries swirl and thicken; it is time for her to go.

Moments later, there is nothing but her bootprints in the snow.

Contest: Poetry

Prompt: Between

Placing: 1st

* * * *

Speak the Word Into Being

Aidan Zingler

Sijav beat zir walking stick against the ground hard with each step as ze chanted, We are made of stories. The atoms of our beings, the stories of the stars that fused our atoms, our ancestry. Cedar and oak, ash and aspen - all grew in rows of three down the slope toward the river. Ze had been following the river up the slow incline toward the mountains for days now, the letter requesting aid heavy in zir right breast pocket. Another thump of zir walking stick, and Sijav breathed in deeply the crisp mountain air. Tales built on stories built on tales, each interlocking level building the pyramid higher and higher, until the world cracked and the river of words flooded our land. The chant rippled with the hint of a melody that diffused into the wind. We drank deep of the waters. The words melded to our sinews, grafted to our bones, resonated with our neurons. With these words, we are united.

Again and again, Sijav had recited these words on zir journey. Memory is fickle, but stories hold the binding of the world. This lay at the heart of the Elder’s teachings, and here in the stillness of the mountains the lessons bound more tightly.

Sijav paused in zir chant to breathe in time with zir footsteps. One beat. Two beats. Three and four. Walk the land, feel the heartbeat of the earth, and let the words flow. Is that not the tenet of their people? The song of the land caressed and careened through the valleys and mountain peaks. The land spoke even when all other sounds had ceased. That was the truth Sijav had been taught, and to learn the land, to answer all calls for help, that was the task the Elder had given.

Sijav wondered if