A King must consider his actions... ----- Chapter 17. Iris Mirabilis looked down from the balcony at the very top of his castle, moonlight streaming down and turning the blue-gray skystone to silver. Far below, he watched a small blonde-haired figure in a private courtyard, practicing cuts and jumps and rolls, sometimes stopping to indulge in strange sequences of movements that did not immediately make sense to him. Iris raised his gaze slightly, noticed another figure, slight and swathed in shifting rainbow hues, [ Continue reading... ]
Paradigms Lost: Chapter 41
October 8, 2014 By Leave a Comment
Jason had made a rather startling discovery... ----- Chapter 41: Worries and Joys Verne and Kafan stared at the reprinted articles, while Sylvie peeked over their shoulders. "H'alate," muttered Verne. "This is most inconvenient." "Maybe not quite as bad as it seems." I said. Verne had looked like Death warmed over when he came in, but that might have been the yellow street lights. He looked a little better, here in the office, than he had yesterday. I hoped that meant he was taking it easy. "With [ Continue reading... ]
Paradigms Lost: Chapter 40
October 6, 2014 By Leave a Comment
Jason had some sleuthing to do... ----- Chapter 40: Solve One Problem, Get Two Free! I frowned at the faces on my screen. One was definitely nonhuman; Tai as he'd be if he changed. Seb's inhumanity was less obvious, though it was still there in subtle ways. The other two were how the children looked in their human guise. This was my first look at the pictures with a really clear head; after going over the details with Kafan several times, I'd wandered around my house sort of in a daze before finally going [ Continue reading... ]
Polychrome: Chapter 16
October 3, 2014 By Leave a Comment
Well, it's time for Erik to show something of what he's learned... ----- Chapter 16. "We're running out of time, I think." Iris nodded, surveying the training area with eyes that seemed to look far beyond the walls of the castle. "You have come far, and your words have convinced me that you do have some plan. In a week or two, perhaps, no more. Have you decided on what you will do when you leave?" "I'm pretty sure what I need to do. I have to cross the Deadly Desert alone, and even as a [ Continue reading... ]
Paradigms Lost: Chapter 39
October 1, 2014 By Leave a Comment
Time to stop the flashback and get back to the present... ----- Chapter 39: But Wait, There's MORE! "I wonder if I would have thought that," Verne concluded, "had I known what would come to pass." For the second time that night, I was speechless. After battling vampires and werewolves, I'd thought I was ready for anything. Even Kafan's story was, well… modern. Elias Klein had been a thoroughly twentieth-century vampire. Virigar, the Werewolf King, was at home in this world of computers and automobiles. Kafan's [ Continue reading... ]
Paradigms Lost: Chapter 38
September 29, 2014 By Leave a Comment
Aaaaand here comes the second punch of the one-two, Jason. Watch out for pieces of shattered beliefs! ----- Chapter 38: It Was an Age Undreamed Of… The Sh'ekatha, or Highest Speaker, gazed in bemused wonder at the tiny figure before him. Beneath the tangled mass of hair, filled with sticks and briar thorns, two serious, emerald-green eyes regarded him. Across the back was strapped a gigantic (for such a small traveller) sword, three feet long with a blade over five inches wide. A bright golden [ Continue reading... ]
Polychrome: Chapter 15
September 26, 2014 By Leave a Comment
As Uncle would say, "Research is IMPORTANT!" ----- Chapter 15. "… and these notes were written by the Wizard himself, not all that long before Oz fell." She placed the thick sheaf of parchment on top of the least-wobbly stack next to Erik. The mortal could-be-Hero nodded absently, absorbed in sketching some sort of diagram or chart which, she could see, had already been re-sketched, modified, parts scribbled out and redrawn, with dozens of little notations that she couldn't really [ Continue reading... ]
Paradigms Lost: Chapter 37
September 24, 2014 By Leave a Comment
So, the first big bomb had been dropped on Jason... ----- Chapter 37: Six Impossible Things Before Breakfast I rubbed my temples, trying to take this all in. "Okay, let's see if I have this straight. You are some kind of genetic experiment? And this wanted-poster stuff about you is all lies made up by the Evil Government Conspiracy?" If Kafan had been a cat, his fur would have bristled; as it was, he did a pretty good imitation by glaring at me. "I don't like your tone of [ Continue reading... ]
Paradigms Lost: Chapter 36
September 22, 2014 By Leave a Comment
And now the first of the two chapters responsible for >90% of the times the original DK was dropped in the middle.... both for the "WTF you have got to be kidding me" reason... ----- Chapter 36: Fleeing From Frankenstein He looked around and smiled, satisfied. Despite his oddities, the village accepted him. His children were growing up strong and healthy. His wife took care of them all. In a country torn by civil war all too often, this village had managed to keep itself isolated and [ Continue reading... ]
Polychrome: Chapter 14
September 19, 2014 By Leave a Comment
Time for the good guys to start moving their plans forward a bit... ----- Chapter 14. I sat down at the small table; this time it was just me, Iris Mirabilis, Nimbus, and Polychrome. "So… what's on the agenda today?" I said after a pause. "Nimbus tells me that you have… made considerable progress." The Lord of Rainbows' tone showed that there were still reservations in that assessment. "While we have many concerns, it is clear now that you have the potential and the will needed, and that – [ Continue reading... ]
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