Aria jumped and slid down the roof, doing another small hop to get over the rain gutter, and landing on the soft, wet grass. She gently shook off some of the water, wet from chasing the monster through the sprinklers. Her least favorite part about fightin…

"Do you guys always have to show up with such inconvenient timing?" she asked the monster, not that it could answer or even understand her.

Aria slashed it with her axe, the monster emitting a strained cry as she made yet another gash in its side. Elect…

The wind played in her hair and gently whistled through the grass. The cool water lapped gently at her feet, a welcome reprieve after walking all the way here. The sun shone down on her, wrapping all in its warm embrace.

Faintly in the distance, she coul…

Hunter didn't know where she was. It was hard to make anything out. Impossible, really given how exceptionally dark it was. There was nothing but the cold, wet floor underneath her, almost slick from condensation. Walking around proved useless, as it se…

Beckton breathed out consciously as they approached the end of the bombe racks and risked a look back at Newkirk, who was twirling his wand restlessly. It described complex arcs of revolution and counter-revolution as it span, but gave no hint of the magi…

"- Come in, I've lost your signal. I say again, -"

I stopped when my partner put a hand on my shoulder.

"You're scaring the civilians."

I let go of the transmit button with some reluctance, suddenly aware that wide-eye stares were following my pacing o…

Pink hair again. It hadn't been pink since ... that time when ... and it all went normal again. I was normal. But not now. The dream tore through my mind, Aether burned into my skin, the skin changing, turning, petrifying. Pink hair falling. Eyes followin…

Eris stepped out of the dank cavern and into the cool night air. A gentle breeze blew past, carrying the sounds of the nearby city with it. She smiled, looking down upon the city, with all its bright lights and busy people.

Oh, if only she ever came here…

"Morning, Aralis!" The blonde girl bounced into the shop, effortlessly slipping behind the counter and slipping an apron over her head.

"You're late," the other teased.

"By like, two minutes! The shop isn't even open yet!"

"I know, I'm teasing. Jeez Kri, …

That's how I became a part of the Cold Hail Battalion (Give 'em Hail!). I was never carried into battle but I was often carried out of one. My dad, the one who accepted me, tried hard to get me transferred to an orphanage or a host family, but there was n…

Beckton stepped through the fourth row of bombe racks, trying valiantly to ignore the incessant clicking of the cryptologic machines as they crunched their way through yet another coded message. He drew from his right pocket one of the large box magazines…

The moment was bright and golden, like summer sunlight. We pulled off caps, wiping foreheads and setting wooden bats aside to sit down. There was the popping of bottle caps, toasts declared, bottles raised. We chatted animatedly, full of vigour at our suc…

I reach. I fumble. My fingers renew their acquaintance with that smooth black stone of yesteryear. I remember the knit cap, with Donald Duck on it, and gasp in wonder. How have you been, old friend, old chronicle, old heart? The rhetorical echoes send…

Silvertown ripped the empty magazine out of the Thompson, let it fall and retrieved a spare from the garter on her right leg to make the weapon ready again.

Newkirk rolled to his feet with surprising nimbleness and the two spellcasters exchanged fire ag…

As I tromp through the woods in Lincoln, I can smell the deep green and hear the crackle of burnt red pine needles. I can barely make out the path anymore. It's been decades since my last visit. I remember the taste of the frigid bottle of grape soda I al…

Newkirk frowned as another sliver of the future was revealed to him. At this point divination was merely granting him glimpses into weaknesses he was already aware of, and there was a grave temptation to cease trying. But he did not - there was still a po…

Newkirk cast a critical glance over Yorck. She had changed a great deal in the years since they had parted ways. Dark blonde hair, which had once been tied back in a messy ponytail, was now gathered in a low braid on one side. A hood partly covered her fa…

"After what?"

"After I kill you."

........................

My Roller Coaster Buddy,

The man who’d “bomb” my hair,

A man of integrity, kind and fair.

Who loved to tease,

Who was silly and always had fun,

Everyone has a favorite memory of “Brother Murphy”.

To everyone he would meet,

He’d give them a …

I'm dancing with you, hands together, your hand on my waist, slowly turning in the room that is in a misty dream in my mind. Finally, we're dancing together. I bury my face in your shoulder and neck and kiss you, cherishing this vision. I hear violins and…

Agent Osterley took a kneeling position with a clear view on the enemy combatant she assumed as Yorck - who certainly looked the part, firing off pyromatic spells with vigour.

With care, she reached into the front pocket of her apron and withdrew a large…

In mathematics, a point of inflection is a point on a curve where the concavity of the curve changes, a momentary point where the slope of the curve is equal to the slope of its tangent at that point. Points of inflection mark the transitions between upwa…

"What a pain." She pulled the scythe back out. Not a drop of blood on it, and not a mark left on his body. Not by her scythe, anyway.

Eris walked off. She'd become numb to death by now. Being there and collecting the soul was just part of the job.

A cou…

Roger had been in the cradle of the Marula tree's branches for three days. Muscles ached unevenly across the map of his back, and in knotty pockets in his thighs and arms. Below, the thick savanna grass moved in waves as if strings in a grand harp played …

I never knew what happened to them. I never remembered it when it happened. Sometimes I didn't even remember how I got there.

I could only figure it must be my fault. I was the only person left standing.

Left alive.

I was always unharmed, so I could o…