LONGBONES

by Mars Adler

The year is 1836.

Gwydion Mede struggles with the limits of their immortality. They've spent the last few centuries hopping from body to body, inhabiting corpses until they decay and try to make peace with their limited power. Caught in a small village in a body that suddenly gives out, they're out of options and out of time. This time, they might die for real.

Something catches whiff of their last, desperate plea for help, and offers Mede a deal that seems too good to be true and access to magic that shouldn't exist. Mede doesn't have long to decide, and this deal is better than death.

But can they chew and swallow what they bit off?

LONGBONES is a prequel 9,000 word short story to EYETOOTH, but best read after reading EYETOOTH for context. It contains content that is not suitable for anyone under 18. Please read Content Warnings before purchasing.

48 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 18, 2025

About the author

mars adler is a queer and trans author in their mid-twenties. they currently reside on the side of a mountain in Colorado with their dog, and unfortunately hold a corporeal form. they write speculative fiction with a focus on things that terrify them (absolutely everything), and morally grey queer characters. when not writing, they can be found painting, making tea, and trying to become part of the forest on hikes.

Reviews

[Hannah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mede!! A bitesize (heh) bloody little tale of Mede’s origin, as an additional morsel to EYETOOTH, and I ate every bit up…

[india :) · Rating 1 out of 5]

I didn't see the point of this. Nothing bad, just like why are you here. I was also confused. So Mede had two creators?? Like the one that made them immortal and then a second one that gave them a body? I'm not exactly sure. It totally was reminding me of Bones and All. Like as the act of totally becoming one with someone, eating every single part of them including the bones. That's what Mede had to do to create their body. Instead of becoming one with another person, they used a body to become one with themself. 'More, they think, and take another bite. They're so ravenous that they're sure they could eat the entire body like this, picking bones out again and again to devour them. They will, they realize. A body for a body, and equal trade.'

[Florence . · Rating 4 out of 5]

I fear i’m in love with a book character that gets turned on by violence and murder, please don’t tell my therapist.

[Juuu · Rating 5 out of 5]

crunch

[twinknecromancy · Rating 5 out of 5]

read eyetooth recently and I was absolutely infatuated with the character of Gwydion Mede :3! so glad to find this book on the authors page. nice descriptions of human anatomy!

[erini · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 / 5

[Rowan · Rating 4 out of 5]

i love nonbinary cannibal freak

[Jess · Rating 4 out of 5]

a ‘be carful what you wish for’ horror story with quite a vicious bite

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not even 50 pages and a vast majority of it is very bloody and yet... I love Mede so much. I don't know what that says about me, other than I am kinda obsessed with Adler's works.

[Kai Van · Rating 4 out of 5]

loved getting to see more about mede themself. if mars ever wrote more about their shenanigans prior to eyetooth, id be down for that 👀