The Price of Wings

In the post-Reconstruction South, seventeen-year-old August Lowry exchanges his family's heirloom locket for a bicycle that promises liberation—but this transaction triggers an ancient curse. As the monstrous Sorrow Kin emerges to reclaim what was lost, August and his family confront the haunting consequences of ambition and the weight of inherited obligations. The Price of Wings is a Southern Gothic story of yearning, heritage, and the peril of confusing freedom with flight.

Jae Gilyard is a Writer/Director whose work seamlessly navigates the strange, the soulful, and everything in between. Their storytelling spans various genres—one day rooted in intimate drama, another in expansive high fantasy, and in the eerie corners of Afro-folk horror. Regardless of the form, Jae’s work remains anchored in authenticity: genuine characters, layered histories, and uncanny moments that linger long after the story concludes. They currently serve as the Griot and Culture Keeper of Stantonville, a fictional city for kinfolk; Jae has created the expansive high-fantasy realm of Black Caesar and the queer-centered dramatic experience of M is for…

Inspired by Black folklore, ancestral memory, and the weight of legacy, Jae crafts narratives that honor tradition while reimagining the boundaries of genre and storytelling.