Of course it was illegal. Crash never made any plan that involved honesty, the rules, or fairness. He was out to win and he'd lie, cheat and break a hundred rules to get there.

So why was I tailing him at breakneck speeds, drifting corners, tires squeali…

They considered me old-fashioned, I knew. Quaint. Nostaligic, even. But how could I ever feel safe knowing the only barrier between me and death was a manipulated quirk of physics?

It simply wasn't possible. So I did the slow, methodical rituals of armou…

You walk up to the large picture window. You can see the big clock from here. The time reads 11:45. It's dark; nobody is out there, which is rather surprising, considering that the smoke is visible from the window where you are. Your feet feel hot and you…

A beam of blinding white light shot down from a sky thick with clouds, centering on Kym and bathing her in a gentle warmth. Under the intense brightness of the light her sweatpants and rumpled hoodie seemed to lose their color before fragmenting into piec…

Well, I’m failing at life.

I just cannot do right.

It’s a meaningless fight

I should never have tried–

I was never too bright;

Not as sharp as this knife.

It’s the end of my ride,

And it’s time to step off.

I was good for a laugh,

But my jokes have gone …

The silence stretched on, but it was a well-trodden quiet. A familiar space between us, to be relaxed into like a favourite chair.

The lamp on the floor guttered, a little, and Ryle leaned over to trim the wick. While he was so occupied, I unfolded a nea…

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…

The flames licked the boys' fleeing boots.

The small kitchen fire had spread into a mighty blaze that was threatening to consume the orphanage. The sounds of panic and alarm from the other residents were drowned out by the roar of the flames surroundi…

"Knock, knock, drow!"

Billy rapped his knuckles upon the kitchen door one day, shortly after Selura left for supplies. Hraz'Elarion had been left alone in the kitchen. Until now.

"So, this is where you've been hiding, is it?" Billy advanced menacingly…

He knows you by your many names

It's nothing new, you've stayed the same

Protection, be it shield or mask

Will be undone, it is his task

The soldier's rifle cannot aim

The maiden pure is lost to shame

The royal family line will fail

The captain's ship no …

Lyrics, licensed under Creative Commons BY-SA 3.0, by robomoon. Set to music on https://soundcloud.com/robomoon/life-looks-like-rumbling-echo-edition . Lyrics contain a derivative of "Life Is Like A Canvas ~ Another Poem For Her" by Ficly member "The Sile…

The thought of domination stayed with her as she completed her own morning rituals in the same Lux Aeterna.

It wasn't strictly necessary, of course. Magic flowed through her body as well as the breath of life did (perhaps better), inseperably braided in…

BANG!

Thump

Rylis stepped back a little as blood pooled around the person she'd just killed, looking at it with mild disgust. But this had gotten easier. The fifth time, she'd still thrown up. The 27th time, this time, she just felt a little nauseated…

Leaving the kitchen light on

Tells me that there’s dishes to wash there before going to bed

.

Turning your blinker on

Lets me know what you’ll do so I won’t panic

.

That magnetic sign on the dishwasher

Informs me whether the dishes inside it are clean or …

Casey stood there in all white, like a neon blade gleaming against the darkness of the oncoming storm. Her hair and skirt whipped about her in the great gusts of winds that battered the city with invisible fists, but she didn't move.

The thick mass of cl…

Agent Osterley took a kneeling position with a clear view on the enemy combatant she assumed as Yorck - who certainly looked the part, firing off pyromatic spells with vigour.

With care, she reached into the front pocket of her apron and withdrew a large…

I'm dancing with you, hands together, your hand on my waist, slowly turning in the room that is in a misty dream in my mind. Finally, we're dancing together. I bury my face in your shoulder and neck and kiss you, cherishing this vision. I hear violins and…

Roger had been in the cradle of the marula tree's branches for three days.

Those three days hadn't been comfortable. His body had been signalling him for the past day that it would be better off on solid ground. For now, that was unthinkable.

Nutritio…

Meditation didn't come naturally to him. Far too often, unwanted sensations and thoughts invaded his sense of peace, solidly anchoring him in the world that he was trying to escape for just a few brief moments. Something as simple as a mosquito buzzing ag…

We kept our head down over the next few days, safe in the knowledge that there was too much traffic moving through Aery Bergun for Neptune to successfully track us. I played the part of the traveller carefully, emerging from our cabin in the evenings to p…

"Ah! That stings!" Taka complained, as Keshintai attempted to clean her wounds with a damp cloth.

"I'm sorry, you were always better at this sort of stuff."

"No, I'm sorry, you're doing your best. Here, I may be able to try something." Taka meditated a …

KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!

A human would not have heard the pounding through the heavy rain, but to the keen ears of an elf, the sharp noises were easily distinguishable. Upon answering the door, Selura found not the source of the knocking, but a hastily wra…

Keneya led Taka to an empty field and bade her wait. She was gone at least twenty minutes before returning with a horse in tow. No ordinary steed, however, but an Utaku warhorse, bred and trained by the greatest Unicorn horsemasters.

"Child, when I am sa…

They say that when a door closes, a window opens. I stood so long at the closing door, pushing, shoving, finally hearing it latch, and lamenting my plight, I forgot to look for a window.

Above my head just out of reach was my escape. It wasn't until the …

"Roger, follow director."

Despite the automation inherent to the Cordova-class light carriers, there was still magic to be had in the time-honoured tradition of having a human being wave you down the rails - even if the launch sequence was fully automate…