Ander - Part 6: Subchapter 40
40 There was chaos all around him, terrible and familiar, a gut-wrenching return to that awful night that started it all - the night of Ander's trial. There was no bonfire this time, but everything else was the same: the jostling crowds of ecstatic...
Ander - Part 6: Subchapter 39
Val, on the other hand, could only scratch her head in puzzlement as all her creations came out looking like amorphous balls of crumpled paper, a stark contrast to the neat line of animals in tim's lap.
Ander - Part 6: Subchapter 38
38 "Father? You awake? Helloooo? Cooey?" Jon dug his face deeper into the pillow and pretended to be asleep. "I know you're awake, Father. Sleeping Foxes don't try so hard to appear to be sleeping." "Eeeeeergh... warrayawanna?" he mumbled. There...
Ander - Part 6: Subchapter 37
37 The sun hadn't come up yet, but the eastern horizon already had a reddish tinge to it, like blood mixed with tears. Ander could feel all that time dripping through his fingers, gone forever. He paced the wall, lantern in hand, occasionally...
Ander - Part 6: Subchapter 36
36 There was a light up ahead, much too low to be a star. Were there even any stars left in the sky? Banno wasn't sure. He looked up, but the sky was black, and black, and black. There was nothing else. Did that mean the stars weren't real anymore?...
Ander - Part 6: Subchapter 35
35 "Daddy, am I too heavy?" "No, sweety. You're light as a feather." "Are you sure? I can walk for a while. I don't mind." _Don't let them see. Godsdammit, James, don't you dare let them see..._ "Daddy?" James smiled and kept going, stepping over...
Ander - Part 6: Subchapter 34
34 Mateo got dressed in the little spotlight shining in from the opening in the ceiling, a task which was much harder than normal because he kept poking his arms through holes in his shirt that weren't really arm holes at all, but the shredded...
Ander - Part 6: Subchapter 33
There weren't that many practicing here (maybe only forty or so), but the sounds of twanging bowstrings and arrowheads embedding themselves into slabs of wood was a nice little contrast to all the grunting and screaming of the sparring areas.
Ander - Part 6: Subchapter 32
32 "I don't remember much after that," Nilia admitted, not even sure why she was still talking. "It doesn't matter anyway. Story's over." She made to push Mateo away, but hesitated. She had worked so hard to get the damn story out, had gone through...
Ander - Part 6: Subchapter 31
31 Nilia was surprised by how easily those memories came flooding back. She had thought them buried under layers of stone, grown thick and strong over the years. Had she really done such a poor job of it? The way they were now, so fresh and painful,...
Ander - Part 6: Subchapter 30
30 She felt hot and sweaty, but she couldn't stop shivering. Pain flared up in her joints at the slightest movement. She was so tired, and yet she couldn't fall asleep, no matter how hard she tried. What little sleep she did get was broken by painful...
Ander - Part 6: Subchapter 29
29 The fire was always with her now, and that was exactly the way she saw it in her mind; a giant, red fire, burning her from the inside out. She could feel it in her throat, in her elbows and knees, even on her tongue. It hurt to move. It hurt to...