Great-horn has risked his life and freedom to avoid killing in the Arena; now he must face a greater terror than death.
On this page, you’ll find the podcast episode trailer and the full episode.
And of course, a link to the source, the short story.
[Video description: 41 seconds. Scanned watercolor painting. Five figures stand back to back in an arena, bearing weapons like maces and swords. The view is skewed forty-five degrees from horizontal. The figures are humanoid, but bear animal features. The figure at foreground left has a deer-like head and furred skin. Foreground right is a figure with a lizard-like head and scaly skin. The three figures behind them appear in shadow. They are both looking up and both appear ready to act. Behind the two main figures is a half-open gate leading into darkness. Flanking the gate are carvings of kneeling guards. Above the gate is the carving of a humanoid face with large eyes. Blotches appearing in lines above the gate depict the crowd. Watermark of the word “storyfeather” lays over the image. Title card over the image displays “Podcast Episode” and “Genre: Fantasy” The words fade away, replaced by the story’s title. The title fades. Subtitles appear in time with music and narration at the bottom: “The sign to begin battle was given. Great-horn immediately begin to do as he had done in his other bouts. To bound away, to duck, to dodge. To let the blows bounce off his shield. To keep his horns away from his fellow fighter. But Talltooth pressed. He bore down with his bludgeon, until the shield cracked and Great-horn, fearing it would shatter, rolled away. Talltooth swiped and jabbed with his hooked hand. With one desperate leap, he managed to scrape the hook along Great-horn’s thigh. The wound was shallow, but it began to sting and burn as it was struck by the dust of the grounds.” Text box appears over image displaying the words, “Listen on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, iHeartRadio, Spotify, Stitcher, and so on. Or listen on my Podcast page at storyfeather.com.” Website URL appears at bottom left throughout and fades as the text box appears.]
Great Persidain – Storyfeather
EXCERPT:
They all watched as the one called Yellowjaws was taken to the edge of the arena. He limped from a vicious gash along his lower left leg that still seemed to be seeping blood. His long fur was matted with blood, dust, and his own thick spittle. He stopped and turned to them. He had been neither loved nor reviled. In that moment, he was—by most—envied. For as they watched, the fur fell away from his form, leaving behind pale brown skin that would certainly darken to a natural bark brown under the sun. His snout, along with the double rows of jagged yellow-orange teeth by which he was named, began to shrink. His whole head shrunk somewhat. His face and head were bare, but in time, something would grow there. Not fur, but hair.
Yellowjaws was a man again.
CREDITS
Story: “Great Persidain” Copyright © 2017 by Nila L. Patel
Episode Art: “Persidain” Copyright © 2017 by Sanjay Patel
Narration and Editing: Nila L. Patel
Music:
“Trip-Hop Lounge Abstract Background” by Digital Emotions (Intro/Outro)
Music by Nicholas Jeudy (Dark Fantasy Studio)*
“Peacefull place (seamless)”
“Dark fields (seamless)”
“Home (seamless)”
“The village (seamless)”
“Warriors (seamless)”
“Shadow forest (seamless)”
“The encounter”
“Witch hunt (seamless)”
“Eternity”
“Chimeria (seamless)”
“Ex nihilo (seamless)”
“Immortals (seamless)”
Music by Andrew Sitkov (MuzStation Game Music)*
“Lyric Voices #2”
“Percussion Loop #16 (Version 1)”
“Percussion Loop #16 (Version 2)”
Music by Albert Fernandez (Audio Alchemist, Potion Studio)*
“Battle 3 slow (loop)”
*These tracks were part of a music and sound effects bundles I purchased from Humble Bundle and sourced from GameDev Market.
Music by Nicholas Jeudy, Andrew Sitkov, and Albert Fernandez is licensed from GameDev Market
Sound effects from AudioJungle and GameDevMarket
Find more music by Digital_Emotions at audiojungle.net
Find more music by Nicholas Jeudy, Andrew Sitkov, and Albert Fernandez at gamedevmarket.net
Find more stories by Nila at storyfeather.com
JUMP INTO THE PORTAL BELOW TO EXPLORE MORE STORIES
FROM SEASON 4 (AKA YEAR 4)
THIS SEASON’S THEME IS CREATURES
Genre: Fantasy
Tags: ARENA-LORD, GRAY-SPAWN, GREAT PERSIDASIA, GREAT-HORN, PERSIDAIN, RAVEN, REDSCALE, SIDE-EYES, SPEAR-CHIN, TALLTOOTH, YELLOWJAWS
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For more podcast episodes, visit the Storyfeather Podcast page.