Reign of the Fiend a short story by Emily Weber  The world had become strange: a desolate place bustling with deformed creatures trying to survive in the shells of ancient cities. Peculiar new languages and communities had become commonplace. Flocks of crows, normal and mutant alike watched the everyday goings-on from the rooftops. It was no small wonder that I should be just as strange as the rest of my surroundings; only four feet tall, mutated.      Being a survivor was difficult, especially given the changed brains of the creatures that inhabited this peculiar new world. Some beings had gained extraordinary mental ability, while others