I twiddled my mustache. Simply because I had a mustache which was very twiddle-able. It curled in a way that laughed at gravity, without wax of any kind and no roustabout would be able to ever knock it askew.

I toweled the sweat from my brow like so many…

Orthael was quite content with the part of supporting swordsman. He stayed on her weaker side, ensuring that she could focus her attention on cutting a way through the Lesser Dead. Claws rang against steel; he used his shield more and more, less as a laye…

Empress Melinda the IV ignored the cries of the man being dragged away by two guards. So few people accepted their notice of execution with any sense of dignity these days. She should know, she had sent hundreds of men, women, and the occasional child, to…

I had a dream

Of a familiar face.

An acquaintance? A friend?

I searched for what I knew.

The face gave nothing away.

The friend said nothing.

.

At first, I pleaded,

Then I shouted.

I tried to reach out,

I couldn’t move.

.

The closer I looked

The more that…

As silently as the High Angel before it, Judgement whispered echoes of its past to Orthael. There had been many who had made similar vows in a time long before, when the Dead had arisen in such numbers that the darkness had very much threatened to overwhe…

I noticed a minute hesitation from Grace. Curious, I made eye contact.

There it was again - a blink, a crack in the normally flawless armour of the Janse-Lomberg household service. And again, as she looked away quickly. Too quickly.

"Cerian," I said, sl…

Ryle, who acting as spotter tonight, muttered something about the rising wind. He seemed utterly unconcerned about the situation. I nudged the crosshairs left.

The Minister lit his cigar and leaned on the balcony. Through the telescopic sight, I could al…

Dave’s sister answered the phone with a cheery hello.

“I’ve talked to him,” Mara said, skipping the social niceties. “He’ll get in touch with you soon.”

“And if he doesn’t?” Jo asked. Belligerence was clearly a family trait.

“If he doesn’t, then he’…

"I don't want to do this, just for the record," Janos says. His voice is whiny but not without cause.

"Don't be such a crybaby," Tharsten replies. "It just a simple prank."

"It's wrong," Janos says. "You'd hate it if someone pulled this stunt on you, an…

The glowing lights of my destination blaze fearlessly on my horizon

Clearly defined against the dawn of my new day

Glorious in their attainability

Except

I keep wasting miles

meandering down roads with no outlet

taking left turns at intersections whe…

It's difficult to grow up. Shoot, it's difficult to even figure out what that means. I suspect that the act of growing up is rooted in pain. Pain that is unfair, unique to you, callous, and solely your responsibility. From the white-hot shard of ice whose…

The alleyway was narrow and stank like shit.

Nat wasn't looking forward to meeting Seth. The animosity between them had grown lately. Perhaps her curiosity was to blame. Perhaps she asked too many questions. But he had always encouraged inquisitiveness. …

The room, if you can call it that, for it was enormous, easily the largest single chamber I'd seen down here in the dark, was a nightmare landscape of chaos. I had to shake my head and blink my eyes several times to try to rid myself of the vertigo it i…

Thunder crashed again. Martin looked up from his laptop, but could see little beyond the glow of his halogen desk lamp. Just for a moment, he had fancied that he could hear a deep rumble that was closer, something that was not the rain or thunder. Somet…

Our blades flashed in the dark, sparks of light from our lanterns flickering off our weapons. The things were all around us, attacking from the sides, the floor, even the ceiling. We stood back-to-back and warded them off -- one, two, sometimes even three…

Sir Alfred Worthington III coughed as he tightened the final screw of his new automaton. He covered his mouth with a handkerchief, catching the flecks of blood that came with each rattling bark.

The machine stood approximately 183 centimeters tall and r…

I'd write you a song

And trust me I've tried

But it never works out for me

How do I write something I don't get

~

You're rocket fuel in my veins

You're dead weight on my mind

You're a strange new beat

Seems I've got two left feet

~

Sucks to be me

But look…

To Detective Hawk, the more she examined the scene, the more she felt the whole thing was an accident, an illusion. The ink was spilled, not spilling from her body. She lay slumped, not in a defensive pose. There were no glasses of drink, no tubes for gas…

"Oh, there you are!" her booted feet clacked audibly across the shaded concrete. "I bought you a coffee."

The beverage slid roughly across the metal mesh tabletop. I eyed it warily. "I don't drink coffee."

"I know, but I do, and I figured once you warmed …

We found each other in the dark some time later. Or, rather, the semi-dark. A crack in part of the tunnel ceiling extended through the rock over our heads and let in just enough light that we didn't require our lanterns. It did little to dispel the gloom …

We set out again, following the same pathway we'd been on before. The floor beneath us continued to slope downward. The ceiling of the tunnel dropped low in places but never so much that we needed to stoop. We weren't certain where we were headed. Such wa…

You reached out your injured arm, placing your hand on my shoulder while I wrapped and bound it. You didn't even wince as I pulled the bandages tight to help slow the blood flow. One of the Healers would need to tend to the wound once we returned to the H…

At the sound of Grouse's shout Beckton turned - pivoting on both feet and dropping to one knee at once, just as an older man in a dark-grey overcoat and a somewhat incongruous German-style steel helmet came around the corner in pursuit.

The private, who…

I don't get you. I don't get me.

I should give up, as you can see.

Thanks for the friendship; thanks a lot.

I'm here, where ev'ry day's too hot.

.

Don't follow me! Don't hold me back.

My kindness changes to attack.

Please save yourself while you still…

Isn't it funny how things you do in your youth come back to bite you? What is it the New Agers call it?

Karma! That's it.

Like when you're a teenager, and you hit-and-run someone's car. Then, as an adult, some kid slams into the new car you just bought,…