When I was almost five, my Aunt Evelyn discovered that my birthday falls on International Talk like a Pirate Day. “ARRRRRRH,” Aunt Ev brandished a hooked hand and waited until I looked up from my cupcake. “This be the tale… Continue Reading
The plan suddenly made sense. “So… I’m bait?” I asked. I stood, shoulders slouched, hands in pockets, engulfed by the shadows of five colossal warriors in our lantern-lit war-tent. “No, you’re not bait,” Alruc said. “You’re our vanguard!” He threw… Continue Reading
Of the thousands rushing down Riwdin’s streets, I was the only one headed for the city center. I pressed close to shuddering walls and waited for lulls to ease forward. Necessity propelled me; I clung to patience. Dust from shattered… Continue Reading
It’s hard to see the pawn shop unless you need it. You must’ve gone past the shop a hundred times before, but it’s only today that you really see it there, hunched in the shadow of the tall buildings like… Continue Reading
The vitrifiers position me on the table, the striated steel cold against my skin. An acrid scent lingers in the tiled room, a vestige of a thousand other treatments. “You have had surgery.” Minister Krasell casts his eyes over my… Continue Reading
We leave our parents before break of day. There are tears, there are hugs, there are goodbyes. We will never see them again. We climb the Face of God all morning, the stair switching back again and again. The clefts… Continue Reading
Ten spiraling stone steps led down to the dungeon. I dashed down them, the flames of the wall sconces wavering with the wind of my passage. Although I still held my sword at the ready, I found no one left… Continue Reading
My breath fogged the window as we passed Ogden Street. There was no First Street, but after the overpass, there’d be a Second and a Third. I’d ridden this loop many times over the years. It usually bore fruit. The… Continue Reading
Frieda reached down and grasped another stalk of white yarrow. She broke the stem and, with a sidelong glance at Erik, placed it with the others in the wicker basket. “You don’t have to pretend,” she said. “I know why… Continue Reading
Dear Sorah, Be brave and be strong. You have not been forgotten. Memorize these words like you memorized The Fifty Chronicles of Humanity in primary school. Recite them each time you lose your way. They traveled great distances and changed… Continue Reading