Ausonia, a sorceress residing in the fabled city of Alexandria, finds herself employed by an Atlantean high priest to retrieve his three valuable wards from captivity. Failure to find them means Atlantis will resume its war with the Roman Empire, and Atlantis’ ships will destroy Alexandria.  Fortunately for Ausonia, her brother Thrax has encountered an old acquaintance, once a slave but now a messiah.

 Silent except for dripping water, the thing rose from the Nile off the starboard bow. A tentacle, Thrax thought, then changed that to a worm. The flabby body was yellowish-white, like a maggot. In that moment of shocked surprise, the horse-thick body swayed above the oarsmen. A fringe of eyestalks focused on its meal. A toothless, glistening maw yawned like a flower. It struck and rose, the legs of a half-engulfed oarsman kicking violently. The creature sucked the legs inside. It began sinking into the river.

 “I got this!”

 Thrax charged. He planted his gladius between his teeth before he dove.

Read the entire story at Swords and Sorcery Magazine. You can find it in the December 2017 issue.