The swinging gate transformed. First, two broad arms uncurled from within the wooden slats. They stretched past us and scooped Riddy and me into a crushing bear hug. Then, when I was still seeing stars from our heads knocking together the wood grain took …

Just one more choice and destiny is yours. The universe whispered like she might hear.

When Kimber emerged from the employee lounge she was wearing her apron stocked with straws, stirrers and napkins. She got too many looks with her hair down, but bett…

Power hummed through Rahmi's veins. Each pull of the thread brought a fresh surge of energy that threatened to break her concentration.

This time, she told herself. This time, she would not fail. This time, she swore it, and she would swear it again and a…

She had a flicker of sadness as her ship pulled away from Lorentz Station.

She didn't pay it much mind though as the adventure ahead was far greater than anything she could have imagined: A posting on the USS Elena Pitjeva. It was the first Orion class s…

The evening was clear and cool, a magnificent end to a warm autumn day. We leaned against white-painted porch rails to watch the sunset. Ma joined us for one, grimaced good-naturedly at the burn, and told us not to stay out too late before disappearing ba…

She was the kind of person who could spend all day talking about her makeup to a camera. After all, it was much easier than talking to a real, live human about... well... anything.

She could imagine that she was just sending the video out into a void. A …

I was supposed to feed the wallabies.

Oh, I remembered about an hour later.

It was a slight the wallabies would not forget nor forgive.

I'm convinced they keep a list in their head of each person or creature that slights them in the smallest of degrees…

Silvertown watched Mornington snap open one of the new standard-issue collapsible aluminium wands. He held it against the ulnar vein in Newkirk's wrist and closed his eyes; she felt him send an exploratory pulse of magic into the dying magician's bloodstr…

Beckton applied pressure to the wound through Newkirk's wadded-up coat, leaning in and using both hands. His attempts were met with no success, even after Silvertown joined him.

A noise came from behind, a rhythmic thump of boots against a wooden floor. …

Far away. In another room, in another place.

On a map table surrounded by officers and staff, a painted wooden figure that looked remarkably like Silvertown - down to the sparkle of her dress - took on a sudden lifelikeness. It waved for attention, spok…

He was tired. He'd read the same sentence four times and he was still stumbling across the words like he'd never seen them before. He instantly dismissed the absurd thought that the book was rewriting itself as he read it.

Inserting the bookmark, he cl…

There was blood everywhere. The wizard's shirt and jacket were soaked through and one blood-red stain was spreading across his coat. Beckton was covered in it, as was the floor, but he drew a pocket knife and started cutting at fabric. It wasn't hard to f…

He liked the knife; it was his favourite. A Wusthof chef's knife, he'd bought it online and it hadn't been cheap. He liked it's shape, the fit of the handle, the grind on the long cutting edge.

He liked the way the knife cut.

He liked the way the knife pe…

Tap tap tap tap tap tap.

The pink girl darted across the rooftop, jumping gaps and dodging arrows, crystals, rocks, and all manner of magical projectiles.

"Talu, wait up!" The little weasel-like creature followed after her, much slower on its short litt…

Grafham Road; left into Cable Street.

The sun was sinking. The flow of people on the street ebbed as people sought warmth and the company of their families.

Tessa drifted onward, the sound of cracking pavement filling her head with every step she took. …

"Mum, you're on the TV!" Sally yelled into the kitchen as she stared, rapt, at the screen which showed a rapid-fire sequence of her mother as a teenage hero, obliterating huge monsters with her magical pink laserbeams.

In the next room, Tessa slumped int…

Celesta let out a breath and tossed the shovel aside. The hole was deep enough now.

She walked back to the wooden cart, and lifted a large crystal out of it. "Here we go."

She gently placed it in the hole, then pressed on it a little more firmly, making …

She sighed. Exhausted. Exasperated. Emotionally drained. More than a little demoralized.

And yet. All this and yet she was alive. She was both physically and mentally here. Not absent. Not somewhere else.

She was capable of listening. Of feeling.

Or at…

"You're afraid of me."

"Afraid? Afraid? No, I'm not afraid of you. I pity you. Pity that you sold the best parts of yourself for power. Pity that you lived eight more meaningless years. Pity that your family will never know what happened to you. My famil…

Her family. Her friends. The reasons she hadn't given up yet. They'd all be hurt if she didn't succeed.

Or worse.

She had to.

She pulled on her magic and focused.

...

She'd done it, sure, but it took her too long to figure it out. She couldn't br…

"Hero. Hope for us all."

Funny. She didn't feel much like one anymore. Nor did she have any hope for herself.

Not after everything she'd done.

"Not your fault."

But it was. Like a lie of omission, it was her fault for inaction.

"Uncontrollable. Dange…

"I guess your bounty wouldn't be so high if you were easy to catch." A fiery arrow erupted from her hand to catch the girl.

"Like you even have a chance!" She daintly jumped up, dodging the arrow. "Ha! Lets see how much you like my wand!" She hurriedly s…

They emerged into darkness punctuated only by headlights and gunfire. Night vis added laser sights and muzzle flare to the confusion.

Mountbatten kept moving, running into the trees. Fisher waved to him, already having set up a small firing position - h…

More and more werewolves jumped from the forest whilst the convoy slowed, but the men in Mountbatten's vehicle had their own trouble to worry about. The two on the roof were trying to pry their way in. The armour held against multiple blows, though it bow…

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