Joshua Stavick

Elspar Stories

  • Of Depth and Deception (Chapter 1)

    Of Depth and Deception (Chapter 1)

    Skehl fixed his eyes on those two distant glows, fleeing into the ocean’s black night. His heart fluttered. At last, this sham of a “hunt” was nearing its end. 

  • Of Depth and Deception (Chapter 2)

    Of Depth and Deception (Chapter 2)

    A few hours later, Skehl trailed after his sister as they descended into the Belly, the trench’s deepest, narrowest depth. And a graveyard. 

  • Of Depth and Deception (Chapter 3)

    Of Depth and Deception (Chapter 3)

    After two long weeks riding various westerly currents through uninspiring stretches of open ocean, Rader arrived at last before the Aghata Trench — not to the usual glamor and pomp that greeted him, but to the quiet puzzlement of two mere Skaltressian Trenchguards, utterly dumbstruck by his arrival.

  • The Lies We Tell (An Elspar Story)

    The Lies We Tell (An Elspar Story)

    Sodden with rain and swinging a basket stuffed with wet-shrooms, you return to me. Long ears twitching in a whispering wind. “Such a mad storm,” I tease, my feathers rustling as I rise from beside the fire.

  • When Gods Feel (An Elspar Story)

    When Gods Feel (An Elspar Story)

    It was a vicious summer-storm night when he swam from home. Not alone. He carried the voices with him, prowling through his mind like an invasive species — wild and sharp of bite. Soon to overwhelm him…  Had overwhelmed him…

  • The Weight of Expectations (An Elspar Story)

    The Weight of Expectations (An Elspar Story)

    White orbs, oblong—and not an option. Yet their soft shimmer calls to me. Captivates. I lean closer, my nose nearly brushing their seafoam-fragile shells. And for a breath, I am weightless…

  • Rising Arrogance (An Elspar Story)

    Rising Arrogance (An Elspar Story)

    This was Oming’s moment—like every moment was. To win. He tore through the kelp-forest like a comet through the night, pulsating and alive with lifelight.