Sword and Sorceress IX

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WITH BLADE HONED AND SPELLS BREWED -

The defenders of the innocent and the makers of great enchantments prepare to face the many challenges of evil's forces. In all of fantasy's far-flung realms, women of power - whether trained in the ways of the warrior or in the deepest secrets of sorcery - rally against those who seek to conquer and enslave.

Join today's most visionary fantasy writers - Mercedes Lackey, Diana Paxson, Josepha Sherman, and their comrades in words - as they lead you on quests for:
shape-changers who prowl the night in search of unsuspecting prey;
a sword whose cost could prove far greater than gold;
a dragon whose magic may seem more of a curse than a blessing - and countless other adventures where one miscast spell or off-target arrow could see the forces of darkness invading all the magic's lands...

Introduction • • essay by Marion Zimmer Bradley
Slave to the Sword • • short story by Tanya Beaty
Shadows Do Not Bleed • • short story by Bruce D. Arthurs
Beastly! • • short story by Lynne Armstrong-Jones
Piper • • short story by Susan Hanniford Crowley
Stopthrust • • short story by Diana L. Paxson
Elynne Dragonchild • • short story by Phil Brucato
Freeing Souls • • short story by Lisa Deason
Blademistress • • short story by Jessie D. Eaker
Sorcerers' Gate • • short story by Patricia Duffy Novak
The Birthday Gift • • short story by Elisabeth Waters
Tangled Webs • • short story by Laura J. Underwood
Winterwood • • short story by Stephanie D. Shaver
Red Wings • • short story by Josepha Sherman
Above the Ground • • short story by Eric Haines
On a Night Like Any Other • • short story by Mark Tompkins
A Woman's Weapon • • short story by Mercedes Lackey
Behind the Waterfall • • short story by Mary Frey
Hoard • • short story by Steven Piziks
Queen of the Dead • • short story by Dorothy J. Heydt
The Flower that Does Not Wither • • short story by Dave Smeds
To Have and to Hold • • short story by Linda Gordon
The Catalyst • • short story by Lee Ann Martins
Breaking Walls • • short story by Leslie Ann Miller
The Enchanted Frog • • novelette by Cynthia L. Ward
The Price of the Gods • • short story by Roxana Pierson
Tiger's Eye • • short fiction by Syne Mitchell