With each vacuous word the Duchess uttered, another bit of Kaori’s hope evaporated into a bitter almond scent. Was this entire planet ungraced with a family worthy of a Tisshe’s services?
Months of agonizing and futile interviews had exposed the inadequacy of the royals and bureaucrats. Today, the babbling Duchess kneeling at
Marshal Roland Chadwick pressed his nose to the desert floor and sniffed. A whiff of sulfur entered his nostrils, receded, and returned stronger. He snorted and coughed. The smell of hades wasn’t easily dismissed. But it came with the territory. Without it, he’d be out of a job.
He mounted his horse and rode,
Havok Story Podcast, Episode 19: “Into the Abyss” By A.M. Reynwood
Read it now
The carved scenes on the face of the casket looked alive, despite its intended purpose, and with it I would bury my nightmare.
The shop smelled of fresh-shaved cedar, delicate curls collecting in small drifts upon the dirt floor as I poured my pain into finishing this task.
The shop door scraped open,
“You’ve been gone so long, milady. We thought you might never come back.” Agnes smooths out my blankets, rumpled from my restless sleep. “How was your stay in the country?” She sounds nonchalant, but shoots me a covert glance.
Does she know?
Beeswax sweetens the air, and I lurch from my chair
“Alice, are you sure you properly calculated the accelerant?” Alpha set the custom incendiary at the base of the wall. “These were meant for breaching reinforced alloys. They’ll vaporize this wood.”
His AI’s smooth voice answered. “I performed a thorough study of the combustibility of wooden structures. The combustion should be appropriate
Read it now
Minotaurs are dangerous enough when they ain’t toting semi-automatics. These young bulls are looking to cause trouble, and I just want lunch.
“My gumbo’s getting cold, Quigley.”
“I don’t care about your stupid gumbo, LaFaye.”
My partner has no soul. He’s crouching behind a wooden shed with me, both of us surrounded
Read it now
“Don’t worry,” Ben whispered to himself. “Nothing bad is going to happen.”
He crept down the path beside his childhood home, breathing a heady, floral scent into his lungs. He stopped under an arbor covered with the red blooms of a climbing rose.
The backyard was packed. Dozens of relatives and friends gathered
Read it now
Sherry held the letterman jacket’s collar to her cheek and inhaled deeply. Polo cologne, her first Christmas gift to him. The herbal overtones had always reminded her of spiced cider. Like him, it brought warmth on a cold winter’s night. A hint of aloe from his shaving cream to ease the roughness of life…
Read it now
tore through the woods, paws churning up soft dirt. The smell of mud and recent rainfall filled my snout as I raced through the bracken, desperate to reach the castle. Her scent was fading quickly. Soon even my powerful senses would be useless.
But I had to keep moving. Please let me be on time.
Hot wax seared Asiya’s nostrils as she knelt before the candlemaker. She touched her face to the dirt, then lifted her gaze. “Alnisa hakim.” Wise woman. “I come to you today to ask that my candle be restored.”
Asiya held out her cupped hands, revealing a candle stump. Its thin tallow was
Read it now
The signal was weak but unmistakable: the rebel waypoint. They had made it!
Staggering through thick forest undergrowth, Sam and Tony picked up their pace as much as Sam’s mangled leg would allow. Even though Tony helped support Sam’s weight, every step sent a spear of pain shooting up his hastily bandaged leg,
Read it now
Recent Comments