Thrill Runners: 10 Near-Future, Fast-Paced Short Stories from LegendFiction Authors

Covert Teens on Artifact Rescue Missions around the world

Oct 02, 2025

Grace Schroepfer • Dominic de Souza • Lucas Hernandez Vallerie Armstrong • Maximilian Mirandi • Maria Pasquale Anna Pawlusiak • IMJ Wood • Trey McIntosh • Gabriella Batel

In the year 2125, the world has changed — and its past is waking up.

Across the globe, forgotten relics buried in myth and dust are pulsing with physics-defying energy. Hidden inside historical artifacts, fragments of ancient tech have been hidden in plain sight. A hidden chamber beneath the Louvre. A humming core inside a Roman sculpture pulled from the Caspian Sea. A fractured gemstone sealed inside a lost Greek plate buried in a billionaire’s private vault in the Philippine highlands.

Quantum field scanners detect them. Why are they lighting up? No one knows. No time. The race begins.

Governments deny they exist. Corporations want to weaponize them. Mercenary syndicates — warmongers — will stop at nothing to get there first.

But there’s one line of defense left. Teens.

Trained in stealth, extraction, and escape, Covert Rescue Units (CRUs) work in handpicked crews of three. Codenamed Thrill Runners, they move fast, slip through borders, and drift through the world like digital ghosts. If they get caught, no one believes they’re anything more than thrill-seeking runaways.

A secretive organization codenamed ‘Telos’ sends them their missions, designates drop points, and promises to deny responsibility if they’re caught. Sometimes they provide equipment, sometimes they don’t.

From flooded alleys in Old Bangkok to ice tunnels beneath the Mongolian tundra, every mission is a race against black-market hunters and time itself. Their objective: retrieve relics of unknown danger before they vanish forever into the shadow networks.

Every relic that disappears into enemy hands triggers another crisis — a power grid collapse in Jakarta, a rogue bioweapon leak in Istanbul, a satellite blackout over the Atlantic.

While world governments scramble to stabilize a fractured peace, warlords and syndicates don’t just want control. They want to rewrite the rules of power using tech older than civilization itself.

Missions in this Anthology

Mission Genoa Underworld by Grace Schroepfer: A washup CRU takes their last chance to stay in the game by stealing an artifact from under the noses of the Italian mafia.

Mission Guiana Basin by Lucas Hernandez: An Aztec artifact can alter brainwaves, possibly trapping the CRU team in a dream forever.

Mission Adirondack by Vallerie Armstrong: When mercenaries take a Thrill Runner hostage, they remaining team must trek the mountain ravines to recover them and the weirdly powered arrowhead.

Mission Singapore by Maximilian Mirandi: A CRU team’s heist from the Perseus Corporation goes dangerously wrong over a plant-growth accelerator.

Mission Venice by Maria Pasquale: Robin struggles to trust her own mind or reality, as she and her team race to secure an electromagnetic ring in Venice.

Mission London by Anna Pawlusiak: A CRU team is down one member as they chase down a stolen cloaking device.

Mission Ireland by IMJ Wood: A nighttime mission on the Irish coast threatens to break a CRU apart over a memory-altering artifact.

Mission Morocco by Trey McIntosh: Kaiden’s team must retrieve an astrolabe from a Moroccan casino—and dodge the cybernetic assassin.

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Bonus Missions, from LegendFiction Mentors

Mission The Line by Dominic de Souza: A simple heist from an Arabic skyscraper goes badly wrong when a team member gets shot, and the artifact stops their tech from working.

Mission 2126 by Gabriella Batel: Team members from several CRUs are tasked for a heist, and it goes off without a hitch. Suspicions are confirmed when they are ambushed, rescued, and attacked again by an operative with a time-bending artifact.

From the Founder

Most anthologies give you a theme. Thrill Runners gives you a world. My world, an near-future idea I had that mashed up my favorite stories: Mission: Impossible meets Indiana Jones by way of Tomorrowland and Debris— but seen through the adrenaline-rushed eyes of a teenage crew who aren’t waiting for permission to save the world.

Each story takes place in the same year: 2125, a world where elite teams of teens are recruited to recover ancient tech, mysterious relics, and forgotten truths scattered across the Earth.

These 10 authors joined me in this epic universe, each author creating fast-paced, international, high-tech tales. The challenge is that each CRU doesn’t have all the answers, only the mission. This leaves it up to us to cobble facts together, and wonder what’s going on under the surface.

Just as important, these stories challenge teens to be heroic, to get up, get going, get healthy, and take charge. We need a world where teens have purpose, friendship, and tasks only they can handle.

Who knows. Maybe we dream big, and this becomes the TV series we didn’t know we needed. What a thrill that would be!

Huge thanks to our Kickstarter backers who made it possible for us to support our authors, especially our Telos Exclusive backer, Kathy R, who put us clear over the edge at the ninth hour. You hero, you.

Imagine your brain had its own Netflix.

Now imagine it just dropped a new original series about artifact-chasing teens and secret societies.

That’s Thrill Runners.

Don’t stop running.

Let’s save the world.

May the lore be with you,

Dominic de Souza
LegendFiction Founder

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Meet the Authors

Grace Schroepfer: I am a teen writer with a passion for dramatic, soul-rending stories with the themes of hope and finding your true self. I love animals, martial arts, weapons, watercolor art, singing, windy days, and a good story. You will find me in my favorite little corner, typing up my latest world or, occasionally, dancing in the rain. Website: gschroepfer.substack.com

Dominic de Souza: A dad and novelist nuts about worldbuilding, helping friends find their freedom, and build a future we believe in. I’m a graduate from the Writer’s Institute for Children’s Literature, self-publish my novels because I’m impatient, serial entrepreneur because no one can stop me, and work full time in marketing and design. I am married, with a small girl and a smaller corgi. I write epic fiction for children and young adults, blog to sort my thoughts, and host podcasts to chat with cool people. LegendFiction is my passion. Website: dominicdesouza.com

Lucas Hernandez: I love writing sci-fi and fantasy. I also love hanging out with friends and playing sports, especially soccer and volleyball. I also love good movies!

Vallerie Armstrong: LegendFiction Author

Maximilian Mirandi: I am a practicing Catholic and member of the Militia of the Immaculata. I aspire to be, if it be God’s Will, a fiction writer, particularly of comic books. I have a wide range of genre interests, from sci-fi to superhero, war tales to romance. I just want to go where Mary takes me.

Maria Pasquale: A Catholic teen who has been writing for as long as she can remember. She loves all things J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, J. Austen, and L.M. Montgomery. If she isn’t buried in a book, you can find her playing violin, sewing, or wandering in the forest, on the search for an adventure. Her motto is, as said by St. Teresa of Avila, “Life is to live in such a way that we are not afraid to die.”

Anna Pawlusiak: I’m a recent college grad making my way in the world with a dream to become published someday. Currently, I’m working on the (newest) first draft of a book series I’ve been working on since I was little. I’m excited to be here to learn and grow with you all!

IMJ Wood: I am the writing and editing specialist for Extraordinary Mission, a non-profit Catholic ministry. I’m currently enrolled in a Christian, college-equivalent writing program, and it’s my dream to write stories that shine the light of Jesus and the Catholic Church into the darkness of this world.

Trey McIntosh: I’m Trovar McIntosh, aka Trey McIntosh or TDM, a freelance writer by day, and a fantasy author by passion. Received my MFA in Writing, and contemplating teaching. Goal? To be a respected black author in fantasy. Inspired by my faith, I want to craft a Christian epic fantasy inspired by The Legend of Zelda. Website: godwords.substack.com

Gabriella Batel: I’m Gabriella Batel, author of heart-in-your-throat novels, including my acclaimed debut series, a collective total of 10 years in the works, Don’t, YA thrillers with a supernatural twist! I’m also an adrenaline-craving Catholic woman with a spunky love for God and my family, plus a fiery passion for acting, movies, running, music, and all things YA fiction. And, by the way, I’m already working on the next thrill ride…. Website: gabriellabatel.com