Judgement shifted in his slackening grip, causing Orthael to clench his fist with a hundred battles' worth of instinct and experience. The point dipped, causing golden droplets of fire to drip down to briefly illuminate the forest floor before disappearin…

Malika pushed forward with single-minded focus. She would complete her task, with Orthael's help or without it. It mattered not to her which way the work at hand was done.

She passed through the clearing where moments before she had just performed her ba…

"Fine." I said, throwing a hand up. "But I hope you know you're late for work now."

I blinked from physical to energy vision. Her body dissociated into colorful veins, except for the block which was a searing white. Everything looked proper, but the glar…

As silently as the High Angel before it, Judgement whispered echoes of its past to Orthael. There had been many who had made similar vows in a time long before, when the Dead had arisen in such numbers that the darkness had very much threatened to overwhe…

Malika stalked away, caring little if the Orthael followed. She had no care for her own life anymore. Everything she had ever known and cared about had been stripped from her in a single night. She cared only for her grim purpose now -- retribution upon t…

A parishioner had requested aid against the Dead. The task of returning the dead to rest was so far beyond import that it lay somewhere in the realm of the sacrosanct. Orthael inclined his head in acquiescence and summoned Judgement into his grip, though …

At last Malika leaned away from the stranger, shrugging off his embrace like a cloak. She wanted her pain, needed it in order to do what must be done. She reached down and plucked Morduth from the ground where it had fallen.

Mistress, are you alright?…

Dear Diary,

I killed a man today. At least, I think I did. I was alone in the room one minute, and the next there was a man in front of me. I'm not sure who was more surprised -- him or me. I know I was pretty shocked, but by his expression, so was h…

"Who be you," Malika whispered once more, her head leaning still against the stranger's chest. "Orthael you may be. Paladin you may be. But you be not like the others who would have come before, the others who would have seen me yet not seen me. They be c…

There was a silent explosion of glittering light that swept through the forest in a radiant blast.

Orthael was thrown aside, tumbling away in a dreadful kinematic arc. Orthael swayed but held on, enfolding the girl under ghostly wings of supernatural glo…

And three heartbeats later she was back.

"Impossible," I breathed, my voice barely audible. This shouldn't be happening. She was so weak. She shouldn't have been able to resist my attempts to banish her. And yet...

She was here. Again. In defiance, it s…

It's been raining for two days straight, and I'm afraid to go out. I've seen what those torrents do to people who venture outside. Cascades of water sweep down the street, and the rain itself is dangerous as hell. I have cabin fever. We all do. But those …

It wasn't possible. I put the block in the Vena Cava of Chakra No. 4. There should have been no energy-body link for her to be there.

I knelt beside her and arranged her body in Vitruvian fashion. She needed a scan. I lowered my hands over her until they…

Malika was suddenly overwhelmed by the cleansing intent and purity of Flame. It flowed through and over her like an all-consuming heat -- and as it did, it drew much of the pain and fury from her slight frame. She shuddered and screamed, both in relief an…

Harold skidded to a stop next to the girl, his mass and motion nearly carrying him over her. He stopped just in time, the tips of his front paws just touching the flesh of the girl's arm. She didn't react, didn't even flinch. Her eyes flickered to the mas…

With a thought, Carlotta's sword is in her hand instantly, both blades alight with yellow plasma. She feels the change in emotions of her entire entourage. The soldiers are on high alert, their weapons now locked into firing position. The scholars are onl…

Carlotta walks with her escort through the corridors of the capitol building toward the platform where her transport awaits. The people walking with her are eight soldiers, two scholars, a City emissary, and a furtive pet belonging to one of the scholars.…

"I don't want to do this, just for the record," Janos says. His voice is whiny but not without cause.

"Don't be such a crybaby," Tharsten replies. "It just a simple prank."

"It's wrong," Janos says. "You'd hate it if someone pulled this stunt on you, an…

I've never wished to act on those cruel notions

That cross my mind at times, but I've felt anger,

'Cos I've been hurt and suffered vile emotions.

At these times, wrong decisions lead to danger.

-

I have responsibilities. I can't ignore them,

Unless some n…

I feel a change is coming in my story;

My heart's blown cold, then hot, from north to west

If I am brave and honest, maybe--glory

Will manifest itself. I'll do my best,

-

Retaining bound'ries while regaining sympathy,

For my antagonist's grave burdens' w…

Fiore grabbed her sword's hilt and started silently pulling it from the sheath. She just needed to get this over with. Then she could move on.

The small fawn girl noticed her and ran over. "F-Feeor-- um... Flora! Look what I found!" She smiled and held up…

Trilla took a step back. What.. what had she just...? Her hands were shaking, her legs were threatening to give out, and she could feel an awful lump in her throat.

The smallish girl with whi-- well, she used to have white hair, now getting stained by b…

I pushed the beaded curtain aside and stepped through the front door. A little naked boy, perhaps six or seven frowned at me as I entered his home and ran through the darkened doorway behind him without saying a word. The floor was made up of interlocking…

He was here now.

Fear wrapped cold hands around my arms and slid them up to caress the back of my neck with light fingers. Not quite coinciding with his arrival, almost as an after thought, a bolt of lightning silently struck the ground where he stood, i…

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