A BEAT to a PULP SHORT STORY ---------------------------------------------------- Having narrowly survived a raging fire, the warrior, Bryle, finds himself caught in a labyrinth of treacherous caverns. It isn't by accident. An eyeless sorcerer has summoned Bryle. He wants the barbarian to retrieve a talisman that will stop a demon of unfathomable power. To do so, Bryle must first face the challenges of the sorcerer's maze: flooded tunnels, poisoned traps, and a monstrous beast that can heal its own wounds. The sorcerer promises the barbarian his freedom if he succeeds. But can Bryle trust the word of such a being? Can he trust anything other than the sword in his hand? Charles Allen Gramlich is no stranger to the sword and sorcery genre as the author of the "Talera" fantasy trilogy and the short story collection Bitter Steel. Continuing the Veridical Dreams series, Gramlich's heroic fantasy short story MAGE, MAZE, DEMON follows on the heels of the anthology The Lizard's Ardent Uniform & Other Stories and the novella Treasure of Ice and Fire.Includes two bonus short stories: "The Lizard's Ardent Uniform" from Veridical Dreams Volume I and "Babylon Heist" from the Kyler Knightly and Damon Cole series offshoot.