Ander - Part 5: Subchapter 77
77 He looked at her hand for a very, very long time. They had dropped her in a ditch overgrown with bushes, and her hand was sticking out of the brambles, as if asking a kindly passer-by to help her back up. Dorin was afraid of what he would find if...
Ander - Part 5: Subchapter 76
76 "Shekka, you're a real mess, and I say that with love." "Go to hell, Wardo." "From the looks of things, you beat me to it." She brandished a bloody piece of broken arrow at his face, but she was off by about three feet. Her eyes had faded to the...
Ander - Part 5: Subchapter 75
75 There was a giant pit dug at the base of the Cora statue, at least two Wolves wide; a gaping, crumbling hole. There were wooden stakes planted all around the edge, anchoring dozens of chains that fed into the shadowy depths like spokes on a...
Ander - Part 5: Subchapter 74
74 It was the longest, most tiring journey of his life. The sun had already started to crest the mountain by the time they finally made it back home. The gate swung open with a groan, scraping the ground clear of snow. It made a shape like a pair of...
Ander - Part 5: Subchapter 73
73 Everything was painful. His head, his jaw, the fingers on his right hand, but worst of all was his chest. There was something hard and heavy pressing against it, holding him down. Every time he tried to breathe, it stung him like a giant thorn. It...
Ander - Part 5: Subchapter 81
81 Nilia's muscles ached and her lungs burned with every inhale. She was cold and tired, but the weight on her back was a constant reminder not to slow down. She could feel his blood running down her spine, the smell of it so thick and cloying she...
Ander - Part 5: Subchapter 80
80 Dorin knew something was wrong the moment he saw that column of smoke rising up from beyond the village walls. It was too thick and black to be a cooking fire, the scent too acrid. He recognised that smell. It was a smell he had breathed into his...
Ander - Part 5: Subchapter 79
79 Sorrin was huffing and grunting like a bear, but that wasn't what woke Danado up. He had felt something in the depths of sleep. It wasn't a dream, just a sense of urgency. He felt like he needed to wake up, and do it right away, before it was too...
Ander - Part 5: Subchapter 72
72 There was no pain, no cold, no sadness. There was only peace and the smell of something sweet, carried by a warm, summer breeze. James opened his eyes. The sky was blue, but not just any blue. It was the most beautiful shade of blue he had ever...
Ander - Part 5: Subchapter 71
71 Impossible. There was no way it could be true, and yet there was no mistaking that voice. It was the same one he had listened to his entire life, telling him to clean his room and feed the chickens and haul water from the well, the same voice that...
Ander - Part 5: Subchapter 70
70 Banno stuck his hand into the snow and swept it aside, hating the feel of it against his burned palm, all slick and cold. Even the noise it made as it fell to the ground annoyed him, so muffled and soft, as if the nothingness had gotten into sound...
Ander - Part 5: Subchapter 68
68 There was no light save for the pale glow of the moon. No flicker of orange flames shining through the gaps in the trees, no beacon to guide him. He was sure they would have made a fire by now, but there was nothing, only emptiness. All the colour...