Winter Help – Chapter Seven
We were hot, we were sweaty, and we were both tired out as we broke for lunch that day. Being in the sun all morning had made the tops of Bubba's shoulders a bit sunburned even through his fur, and he radiated heat like a brick wall after sundown....
Exposure - Chapter Six
Chapter Six. "You still feel like coming over?" Dox said, uncertainly. "Sure," Jason said, unable to keep a small groan of pain from emerging as he pulled his shirt over his head, "why wouldn't I?" Dox didn't...
Worlds Apart - Chapter Ten
"Relax." "I should be telling you the same thing," Bo said, bluntly. "You look like shit." "I am...aware of that." The Kenzine wished that he could express his frustration, but to do so would have been counterproductive. Had his hair not been...
Filling the Void - Chapter Twenty-four
Lucas went through his morning routine the same way he and Victus did on any other day, but going through the motions without the other man by his side was disconcerting. He knew the moves, he could perform the duties, but without having Victus there...
Filling the Void - Chapter Twenty-four (and a half)
Sixteen hours spent riding between House Mal and the Kenzine monastery had given Victus plenty of time to think. He'd started his journey contemplating the possibility that Lucas MacKenzie would have been better off had he been left in the pits, but...
Filling the Void - Chapter Twenty-five
"No, and that's final!" With that, Negin Rudex Mal slammed the door in Victus's face. It wasn't the first time he'd done something like that. It wasn't even the fiftieth time. Victus thought the man was taking a perverse pleasure in blatantly ignoring...
Filling the Void - Chapter Twenty-One
"I'm worried about my boy." Dagen pulled a used paper napkin out of his pocket and wrung it in his hands, absentmindedly twisting it this way and that. Even though dead air was generally discouraged while on long-distance vid calls, he was glad that...
Filling the Void - Chapter Twenty-Two
From the chair in his private office, Negin Mal glared down at his personal guards from the raised platform he'd had constructed behind the desk to enhance his psychological advantage. To Mal's consternation, Victus's air of cool detachment hadn't...
Filling the Void - Chapter Twenty-three
Moving as one, the small class of young ken-shi brought their bamboo practice swords down, slashing diagonally across their chests. "Hai!" They regrouped, pulled their swords close to their centers of gravity, then pulled their free arms around in a...
Filling the Void - Chapter Twenty
Negin Mal was as perturbed as Victus had ever seen him. "Is this really necessary?" he spat, his single-minded resistance against the inevitable reminding Victus of the time he had given Master Uhlu's cat a flea bath. Leland took his attention away...
Worlds Apart - Chapter Sixteen
The first electronic map Dan passed was a shattered mess. The next one gave him directions to the medbay, but only after delivering a strongly worded suggestion that he turn back and call for assistance from the safety of his cabin. Ignoring the...
Worlds Apart - Chapter Fourteen
As always, thanks go out to TheGoldenUnicorn and JK Victus for their tireless help and friendship! Dan sucked the last of his drink through the straw with a satisfying slurp, earning a disapproving glare from of one of the matrons playing bridge at a...