MERRILL LIANE POWELL
Selected Works
A selection of my favorite short stories that I've written
The Bladesmaster (2021)
A hermit known as "The Bladesmaster" is approached by a haughty nobleman seeking to be his apprentice. (2.5k words)
“Fine, that’s your choice.” The Bladesmaster shrugged and turned away from the nobleman. “I won’t be teaching you in that case.”
“...I’ll pay you 200 gold a month.”
The Bladesmaster spun back around on his heels to face the nobleman once more, a smile now on his face. “Let us commence the training.”
DO NOT ENTER (2021)
A mysterious robot is found in a junkyard, and is made to live with a family of mechanics. (9.3k words)
It could tell that parts of it were being opened. Fiddled with. Adjusted. Things being taken out, put in. It couldn’t feel any of this. But its diagnostic software picked up the various changes that man was making as he worked. Several warnings flared up in its system. Unregistered modifications, unknown variable altered, part not found… its system was interpreting this an attack, and it probably was. But what could it do?”
Fangs, Feasts, Smiles (2022)
A vampire brings his human friend to a family gathering. (3.5k words)
“And my! Who do we have here!” The Count was now looking at Alan. “Vinci my boy, it’s rude to bring your own food to The Feast as a guest, you know!” The Count gave a hearty chuckle, with no one else joining.
"Dad!” Vinci bared his fangs and hissed, causing Alan to flinch. “I told you not to make those kinds of jokes!”
Nobody, in Particular (2023)
A shy, withdrawn girl summons a ghost, with disastrous consequences. (9.6k words)
"The key to summoning an entity of any sort is “desire”. The desire of the summoner to bring forth the entity, and the entity’s desire to be summoned. Both desires need be true, else the ritual fail entirely.
I pray for whoever wields this tome, that their endeavors bear the fruit of success, where mine never could."