Stories
Fiction & Micro-FictionDeck Tremor
Captain Adriana Milosovic felt the deck tremble beneath her feet. It was subtle, barely even there at all, and yet it was enough that her senses came to high alert. She glanced around the bridge at her crew, but they were all engaged in their own tasks. No one else...
Smoke and Metal
The 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 remains in place for the moment. He dips a finger into the smoke, drawing out a long tendril of grey vapor. Then, with his other...
One 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. Affectionate. But also sad. Because he is not truly there. Only here. He...
The Peak
The wind gusted across the dusty peak, nearly knocking Zachariah off his feet. He pulled his weathered duster closer around him and pulled his hat down further over his eyes in a vain attempt to keep blowing debris out of his eyes. The townsmen had said the climb...
Metal and Smoke
He unfolds the cloth first, revealing the medallion hidden within. The face that peers back is profane and vulgar, but it is not unknown to him. It is the sigil of a creature whose existence has long thought to be past but whose influence garners followers even now....
Into the Hands of the Smoke Priest
One of the merchants produces the sigil, wrapped in cloth, from an inner pocket of his robe, and sets it in the Priest's waiting hand. The box follows immediately. Wisps of smoky vapor puff upward from the Priest's fingertips as they do so, but the merchants pretend...
Smoke Priest
The smoke merchants pace along the streets of the Market. The cowls of their grey cloaks are pulled up over their heads, obscuring their features. Everyone who comes to the Market maintains a level of anonymity, but the smoke merchants even more so. The product in...
Frost
He resists the voices, even as they wrap around him. He fights but is soon overwhelmed. There are simply too many of them. He feels them clawing at his mind, dragging at his psyche, pulling him down into unknown depths -- and suddenly he is very afraid. His head tilts...
Memories Even of Memories
He dips his finger into the smoke, and it clings to his flesh like tar, even as tatters billow up and swirl around his hand. He lifts his hand to his face once more, inhaling the smoke in one long stream. He leans back, head tilted upward, euphoria making every nerve...