Metal and Smoke
This entry is part 11 of 11 in the series Market of the MacabreHe unfolds the cloth first, revealing the medallion hidden within. The face that peers back is profane and vulgar, but it is not unknown...
View ArticleOne Side of the Looking Glass
He can see her there, standing just on the other side of the glass. She’s next to him, of course, there but not here. He can reach out with a hand and touch her shoulder. She smiles at him. Warm....
View ArticleSmoke and Metal
This entry is part 12 of 12 in the series Market of the MacabreThe Priest lifts the lid away from the box and sets it to the side. The smoke inside the box swirls before him like an angry storm but...
View ArticleQuoth the Raven
I laid on my back on the forest floor, the deadfall beneath me striving vainly to push me closer to the sky. Perched above me a black raven rested on a branch, peering intently down at me, just as it...
View ArticleInto the Dark
The Watchers tell me you departed some time ago, that you walked into the tunnel by yourself armed with nothing but your pack, walking stick, and a lantern. An incredible risk, if you ask me, given...
View ArticleSharing the Dark
We found each other in the dark some time later. Or, rather, the semi-dark. A crack in part of the tunnel ceiling extended through the rock over our heads and let in just enough light that we didn’t...
View ArticleTraversing the Dark
We traveled like that for some time. Talking. Sharing. Laughing. It was always a joy to travel with you, and it was no less so this time. And as we walked, we noticed the ground beneath our feet begin...
View ArticlePiercing the Dark
Our blades flashed in the dark, sparks of light from our lanterns flickering off our weapons. The things were all around us, attacking from the sides, the floor, even the ceiling. We stood back-to-back...
View ArticleComfort in the Dark
You reached out your injured arm, placing your hand on my shoulder while I wrapped and bound it. You didn’t even wince as I pulled the bandages tight to help slow the blood flow. One of the Healers...
View ArticleDescending into the Dark
We set out again, following the same pathway we’d been on before. The floor beneath us continued to slope downward. The ceiling of the tunnel dropped low in places but never so much that we needed to...
View ArticleDiscernment in the Darkness
The floor leveled out and opened up into a cavernous space. We held our lanterns aloft, as high above our heads as we could manage, but even so there was not enough light to chase away the inky...
View ArticleWounded in the Dark
We spotted dozens of other traps as we progressed, avoiding each with ease. They were not well hidden, seeming to be laid more as an annoyance than as to be any genuine threat. And yet we took no...
View ArticleAid in the Dark
You were at my side in an instant, an angel of light and beauty so magnificent that even now I cannot put it to words. You fell to your knees and cradled my head in your lap. I barely heard the slight...
View ArticleCompanions in the Dark
We traveled again, the tunnel growing narrower and wider at sporadic intervals. At times we were able to walk side-by-side. At others we were forced to move one behind the other, and when we did, we...
View ArticleDanger in the Dark
At some point the redolent scent of moisture reached our noses, clinging to the air around us. Soon, it became apparent why. We reached a section of tunnel that was damp and cool, moist with...
View ArticleDance in the Dark
We moved lightly through the corridor, which eventually opened up in a larger space, pocked with deep pools of the evil liquid. We paused, scanning the room, then looked to each other. Without a word,...
View ArticleBeautiful Triumph
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....
View ArticleChase in the Dark
I ran through the tunnels, following the sounds of your laughter as they bounced off the walls around me. The shape of the tunnels played tricks on my ears — every time I thought I was close to...
View ArticlePathways in the Dark
The room, if you can call it that, for it was enormous, easily the largest single chamber I’d seen down here in the dark, was a nightmare landscape of chaos. I had to shake my head and blink my eyes...
View ArticleGrim Purpose
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...
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