Kaleidotrope, January 2026
In a dying world where wind-tamers have bottled nearly all the winds and left the seas in doldrums and the land in drought, a young woman who calls herself Wind-wilder travels the desert to free captive winds and return them home. She is the daughter of a notorious pirate captain known only as Captain, but she has rejected his methods of enslaving winds for profit.
Wind-wilder finds an ancient ocean storm trapped in the cesspit beneath a ruined palace. The titan wind has been imprisoned so long in filth that he has nearly lost hope and forgotten what freedom feels like. She promises to escort him home across the sea in exchange for one journey—just one—to help her reach the Far Continent where she can free more bottled winds. Unlike the wind-tamers before her, she refuses to force him into service. Instead, she helps him climb out of his prison by dangling a chain for him to pull himself up, proving that escape is possible.
As they travel toward the coast, they pass through a dying village where desperate people beg for water. Wind-wilder carries many bottled winds but refuses to sell them—they have all been promised freedom. She finds a small rain spirit in the village’s dried fountain who chooses to stay and help the villagers rather than accept rescue, asking only that Wind-wilder remember the place and bring another wind home to it someday.
The titan storm grows stronger and wilder as they approach the ocean, shedding his filth and human-like form. Crowds gather to experience real weather for the first time in years. At the port, Wind-wilder is attacked by locals who recognize her father’s flag, which she’s been using to clear her path. A man named Bas confronts her about his family’s wind, killed by her father’s crew. She convinces them she’s different—that her winds travel with her by choice, not compulsion.
Wind-wilder boards her ship with a crew she lured away from her father, people from the Far Continent who want to go home. They set sail with the titan storm as their escort rather than their captive. As they cross the ocean, they encounter her father’s ship lying in wait. He attempts to bottle the titan wind, but Wind-wilder shoots the bottle from his hand using a gun powered by a wind named Bullet who loves destruction.
They escape, and Wind-wilder releases the mountain wind who has been frantically whispering “home” throughout the journey. The freed winds multiply and intensify, building off each other in wild harmony. The ship can barely keep up with the tremendous storm they’ve created, but Wind-wilder wouldn’t have it any other way. She has chosen a different path than her father’s—not taming winds but rewilding them, keeping her promises, and helping both winds and people find their way home.
Physically, Allison Mulder resides in the Midwest, writing fantasy, science fiction, and horror. Figuratively, she exists somewhere in the Venn diagram of silly, scary, and sappy. She also has a frankly untenable number of hobbies. Her stories have appeared in Flash Fiction Online, Escape Pod, Cast of Wonders, and more. You can find them all squirreled away at allisonmulder.wordpress.com, though Allison herself is more easily found on Bluesky as @amulderwrites.bsky.social, or through her newsletter at silent-pages.ghost.io.