A Silvergate story (Chapter 8/11) - Truce
I woke up with the Manachar account over my face. I put it aside. It pulled my owner away from his slumber as well. I was lying halfway over him. One of his black scaly arms held my waist. I pushed it away. I pushed the blankets away. I pushed away...
A Silvergate story (Chapter 7/11) - Everyday
In the center of the palace courtyard, at the base of the stairs, a disused fountain dreamt of former glories. The Fair King had never liked it; it was too wasteful for his tastes. There was no nearby source of water to supply it, so a complex system...
Hinterland
It was a long, winding path of beaten earth, twisting around and between the grassy hills that rose beyond the immensity of the plains enclosing the capital city. Behind me, I couldn't see the walls, but a tiny little speck of the Quiet Palace's...
Wolfhair: Hero
_Pure hatred. He couldn't remember who he was, but he knew the feeling didn't belong to him; he merely witnessed it from the inside. He was stuck with it. It festered violently, oozing black agony while images of a familiar battlefield seen from above...
A Silvergate story (Chapter 3/11) - Kingdom
Morning came as a surprise. So strong was my impression of impending apocalypse that I hadn't imagined daytime would ever return, but it did. I first heard the sound of chains, but it barely entered my consciousness until I felt myself being lowered....
A Silvergate story (Chapter 9/11) - Belonging
I allowed events to unfold. I had to act as if I knew nothing of the assassin. I decided to make that the policy in my mind as well. It granted me a special satisfaction to watch Red dive me while lunging with his staff. I repressed my laughter. Didn't...
A Silvergate story (Chapter 6/11) - Choices
I emerged from the lukewarm liquid. I rubbed the bar of animal fat soap in the fur of my right arm, just as I'd done for my left arm and my chest. The bath was a good distraction; it prevented me from thinking about the Silvergate too much. It'd been...
A Silvergate story (Chapter 4/11) - Loyalty
The Outsider walked away toward his throne, and I remained, sullied, in the center of the room. Minutes later, a servant began to invite Southern lords, one by one, to swear homage to their new king. They came in from the entrance hall, richly dressed,...
Wolfhair: Verity
At his altitude, on top of the White Wall, Nercur felt the wind howling through the crenellations. It blew through his black fur, bending the tips of his ears and making him shiver. He blinked multiple times to protect his eyes from the freezing bite,...
A Silvergate story (Chapter 5/11) - Silvergate
The atmosphere within the Quiet Palace changed at the onset of the third day. Most of the barbarians had their orders. The Northwestern army disappeared to rebuild the fortifications or patrol the streets, and their chiefs with them. The Quiet Palace...
A Silvergate story (Chapter 10/11) - Drowned
-- Here he comes. Meleth nudged my hip with his elbow, and I stood to attention. The living relic advanced at a slow, crumbling pace. Every five minutes or so, a cloud would grant us a few moments of shade. The rest of the time, I had to endure the...
The Legend of Derris
The legend of Derris began on a day that, to him, seemed rather ordinary. The sand burned the pads of his heavy paws, but the large and usually vigorous wolf couldn't muster the energy to care. On hot blinding days like these, it seemed that the...