Malika fled the village, passing scores of Lesser Dead as she did. Not one approached her, whether in fear of the destruction she had wrought just moments before or because they no longer deemed her a threat she didn't know.

Nor did she care. Her shoulde…

Devin hungered for conversation. That didn't happen much when he was around people. He tended to be the quiet sort and when he did say something it was usually the wrong thing. Two days out with nothing but a couple of dozen head of cattle as company and …

She walks through a crowded plaza, a beacon of sultry beauty. She is temptation incarnate, a temptress with but one goal. She moves slowly, exulting in the wandering eyes of the men and not a few of the women. Many crave her. Others hate her. Still more c…

The Lesser Dead in all their varieties watched as the swordmaiden passed, followed a moment later by the holy man, now made impotent by their master. They allowed both to escape unscathed. Indeed many still held the swordmaiden in fear, for the way she ha…

An adolescent boy, nude but for a spotlessly white loincloth. Great feathered wings sprout from his shoulder blades, so perfectly clean and glorious that anyone who saw them would be instantly blinded. But of course there are none who can.

He stands in t…

She walks down the street in a red dress. Her long, black hair, emerald eyes, and pale skin catch me, even from across the street. How is it that no one else notices her?

She turns her head, looking directly at me. A smile, a wink, and I'm frozen in plac…

Orthael rocked backwards, groping blindly for the presence of the All-Consumer, but he found naught but dreadful nothingness. He was alone, he could not live with his mere humanity, and the night seemed dark and deep and filled with terrors he could not f…

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…

Malika took the creature's arms in two quick strokes, toying with the monster in an almost vindictive manner. Then she followed it up with a blindingly fast sweep, lopping the deathless' head from its shoulders, banishing it back to Ashmar. She could affo…

There was a still silence. Orthael exhaled with a still patience, keeping Varenniel's presence with the same careful grip he used with Judgement: firm yet loose, secure without being crushing. It was exhilarating, to wield power that was beyond men.

Eno…

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…

October 14

Day five that Brent has woken up ravenous and exhausted. Officially it's day five. It's been at least five days since I noticed a pattern and decided to track it's course. I'm not surprised that he's exhausted. He told me about his dreams and …

It's been raining for two days straight. No matter what I do I can't see how to stop what I started. Honestly, it's hard to see anything through the wall of water beyond my window. The house across the street was little more than a looming blur and the st…

Moments later, Malika stepped from the forest and stopped at the top of the hill looking down over her village. She could see fires burned throughout the town, set not by the deathless' attack but rather remnants of household hearths and ovens left unatte…

The light cleared, and Malika was momentarily blind. Then, she looked to Orthael, uncomprehending, only to see the wizened old man looking confused and unsettled. His sword had been extinguished completely, and he stood as one who had just been betrayed.

…

This was the moment. Orthael reached out and connected with Varenniel's presence as if clasping the forearm of an old friend before drawing them into an embrace. The High Angel's power was a steady and comforting warmth, assuring him that the Flame had al…

He is a tiny man. Under four feet tiny. Balding pate. Small eyes. Round, tortoiseshell glasses. Tattered brown suit. Nothing to look at, certainly, not that anyone is looking.

He glides through the crowd, clearing a path without word or gesture. People m…

A child. Barely out of diapers. He stands stock still on the busy sidewalk as hundreds of grown-ups walk quickly past him.

The child stoops, plucking a key from a crack in the sidewalk, even though the crack isn't nearly large enough to accommodate such …

Toria walked into the classroom and sat down at her desk with her usual grace. No one so much as glanced at her. That was fine. She didn't mind. She just sat quietly with all the others as the teacher talked. She took notes, and made tiny doodles in the m…

Malika pushed forward into the village, her blade a blur of blue, flaming fury. It took several moments for the Lesser Dead to notice her, but as she cut them down, they flocked to her in greater numbers.

They never had a chance.

Each and every deathles…

The darkness ahead grew, looming over Malika like a physical presence. She couldn't see it, but she knew it was there all the same. She rushed toward to it blindly, cutting down any and all of the Lesser Dead who dared cross her path. Morduth burned hot w…

Empress Melinda the IV ignored the cries of the man being dragged away by two guards. So few people accepted their notice of execution with any sense of dignity these days. She should know, she had sent hundreds of men, women, and the occasional child, to…

Story is marked as mature

Malika felt no joy at the destruction she had wrought, only a grim satisfaction. She had spent enough of her anger to bring it back under control, and in the process she had cleared much of the surrounding forest of the evil that had once lived here. It w…

They approached the other side of the clearing and it was Orthael's turn to rein in a jolt of shock. Shrouded in his sole focus on the Fire, he had held only a loose grip on the details of a martial engagement. Instinct and Judgement, rather than consciou…