Keep

It awakens. It cannot remember what it is. It cannot recall how long it has slept. Yet it knows a trespasser has breached the defenses of this frozen keep, the most ancient structure known to a land held prisoner by winter, buried in ever-snow. The creature and its impish minions are ready for the hero, be he a warrior prince, a fabled mage, or a priest determined to cleanse the evil of the keep from this beleaguered land. The true question is whether the guardian is prepared to defend itself from someone who is less than he appears.Keep is a fantasy short story of 6,700 words, or roughly 20 pages. Margo Lerwill nests in a windowless cubicle in a dark government hive, furtively scribbling out plans for the destruction of civilization disguised as harmless urban fantasy. Epic fantasy alternate weekends in months containing the letter 'r'. She enjoys Caravaggio paintings, South Park humor, and movies where the monsters stay dead at the end. Her work has previously appeared in Leading Edge, Deep Magic, and numerous local and regional periodicals no one has ever heard of.