[Sword and Sorceress 09] • Sword and Sorceress IX

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 (Sword And Sorceress IX) • (1992) • essay by Marion Zimmer Bradley

Slave to the Sword • (1992) • short story by Tanya Beaty

Shadows Do Not Bleed • (1992) • short story by Bruce D. Arthurs

Beastly! • (1992) • short story by Lynne Armstrong-Jones

Piper • (1992) • short story by Susan Hanniford Crowley

Stopthrust • (1992) • short story by Diana L. Paxson

Elynne Dragonchild • (1992) • short story by Phil Brucato

Freeing Souls • (1992) • short story by Lisa Deason

Blademistress • (1992) • short story by Jessie D. Eaker

Sorcerers' Gate • (1992) • short story by Patricia Duffy Novak

The Birthday Gift • (1992) • short story by Elisabeth Waters

Tangled Webs • (1992) • short story by Laura J. Underwood

Winterwood • (1992) • short story by Stephanie D. Shaver

Red Wings • (1992) • short story by Josepha Sherman

Above the Ground • (1992) • short story by Eric Haines

On a Night Like Any Other • (1992) • short story by Mark Tompkins

A Woman's Weapon • (1992) • short story by Mercedes Lackey

Behind the Waterfall • (1992) • short story by Mary Frey

Hoard • (1992) • short story by Steven Piziks

Queen of the Dead • (1992) • short story by Dorothy J. Heydt

The Flower that Does Not Wither • (1992) • short story by Dave Smeds

To Have and to Hold • (1992) • short story by Linda Gordon

The Catalyst • (1992) • short story by Lee Ann Martins

Breaking Walls • (1992) • short story by Leslie Ann Miller

The Enchanted Frog • (1992) • novelette by Cynthia L. Ward

The Price of the Gods • (1992) • short story by Roxana Pierson

Tiger's Eye • (1992) • short fiction by Syne Mitchell