Lidarion: Page 30

The Fog was just as thick in the morning. But the rest of the port’s population was up and moving with what little sunlight made it through the fog. Brooke and Trent woke before the others to make their way through the shops available in the port to purchase everything they might need for a long overland trip.

By the time they were done shopping they needed to rent a cart and horse to get everything back to the INN. They arrived at the Inn with their fresh supplies and found everyone else awake and nearly finished with breakfast. They ate quickly and joined the others to divvy up the supplies.

Trent had no way of knowing what time it was but he felt like it was late morning by the time they had returned the horse and cart and made their way inland out of the port town. Haruff was at the front of the line leading the way. “So, what’s the deal with the fog?” He asked.

Haruff explained as he led the group. “Legends mostly. There must be a real reason for it but no one I’ve ever talked to has ever been able to agree on what it is.” He said.

Squints was intrigued. “What do the legends say?” He asked.

Haruff shrugged. “Most elves believe some variation of the fog coming from some place deep in the forested heart of the continent. A long forgotten wound in the earth where the fog, thicker than any steam pours from a lava vent that will never close, and that the cloud will ever increase until they find and close the vent themselves or the world is covered in the escaped soul of the planet.” He explained.

They walked in silence through the fog for a while until Lisa spoke up. “So, not a very relaxed people I’ll bet.” She said.

Haruff snorted. “If your home had been swallowed by an unnatural fog over the course of a generation would you be?” He asked.

Trent chimed in. “So you don’t have any idea where you’re going do you?” He asked as brook glared at him through the haze.

Haruff sighed. “The blind are leading the blind Trent," He waved his hand, gesturing to the fog that surrounded them.  "May as well get used to it my friend.” He said keeping his slow but steady pace. 

Melody and Harmony: Page 4

Foster knew his survival depended on one thing, getting out of the back alley run he was stuck in. He sub-vocalized for a route back to safe territory and after a split second a green neon line drew an escape route. He followed the directions without question. The line directed him to the fire escape ladder that led up to a third floor balcony. He thumbed one of the buttons on his wrist control and his board elongated, straps shot out of the base and held the board halves to his feet. He scrambled on top of a trash bin and the wheels of his board flipped up to the top side so he could climb the ladder without getting them stuck.

The guards stopped and clambered over each other to be the first up the ladder after Foster. When he got the third floor balcony he unzipped a small pouch on the inside of his jacket sleeve and dropped a press button one inch wide by half inch tall by half inch thick explosive. It bounced off the ladder and fell into the open trash bin. The guards looked down in confusion and the explosive went off rocking the trash bin into the ladder knocking two of the guards off the ladder and one the rest into the alley.

Foster checked to see where the green line was leading him. He followed the balcony around the corner of the building and when he reached the end of the balcony the line went straight down. He looked over the edge and saw the road the line was leading him too. He was technically in the higher class slums, the hill he was looking down on was a road that led to the black market district. Hundreds upon hundreds of illegal businesses that no one cared about because the black market economy got more real business done for more of the population than the above ground consumer economy did. The hill was massive. Gravity alone would give him more speed on his board than his the on board engine could ever pump out. The only thing that worried him was what he would need to do to control that speed. Certain death behind him and very possible death below him. He considered his options for the eternity between two heartbeats and in the silence between songs, he jumped.

He thumbed the board control and it had returned to skating form by the time he hit the hill. He crouched low and focused on his balance and prayed that no people or cars came down the cross streets. The neon of the black market shops blurred by him in a multi colored light speed blur of electricity that he had only ever seen before on drugs. The green line was razor straight as he continued to pick up speed. He thumbed a control on his glove and checked the rear facing cameras on his bag. He saw that three of the guards had made the leap and were crouched into the suicide run maybe a hundred feet behind him.

The hill dove under an overpass and in the blink of an eye he was out of the black market district. The city opened up into an area that had never really recovered after the last of the great quakes. Foster saw that he was coming to a massive bridge that had fallen away in the middle. He also knew that there was no amount of speed he could have reached that would get him over the gap the green line had been leading him too. The guards cleared the black market district. Foster followed the green line.

He hit the bridge and it curved up a little arcing over the now dry river bed. He said a prayer to the Gods of Techno and pressed the button to expel the tiny accelerant canister to give him the last little bit of speed from the board. A split second later he was skating on thin air.

He pressed a button on his glove and front strap of his board let go of his foot and the back part of the board shot the front half like a grappling hook at the far side of the bridge. The board hit hard the wheels opened up and drilled into the road hard. The back part of the board quickly reeled Foster toward the other side as he began to lose altitude.

He checked his backpack camera again and saw the three guards guards had slowed to a stop at the very edge of the broken bridge. Foster pulled another explosive from his coat sleeve and threw it into the air behind him. It exploded and a pattern of fireworks created a skull and cross bones in neon blues and greens. The lead guard turned away from the symbol and the other two followed him to find a safe way across the river bed.

Spoonerville: Page 2

Denielle knew almost everything there was to know about her trip, she knew that she was landing at SeaTac airport. A name that literally meant “We are in between Seattle and Tacoma and couldn’t think of a better name”. She knew that Starbucks had originated in the State but most ‘true’ coffee drinkers considered it at best a last resort.  She knew the kind of car she was driving, the fact that I-5 freeway went north and south, west of that was water, east of it was mountains. She knew she would be taking her white Camry on a Ferry in order to drive another two and a half hours where she would arrive at the legendary town of Spoonerville.

The drive itself was really quite beautiful. Denielle had lived in Chicago for all but her college years and the way everyone built their homes and towns into the wilderness really spoke to her. Still there weren’t many places on earth that remained interesting after 2.5 hours of driving, the trees were beautiful but they were just trees.

The “Welcome to Spoonerville” sign was the first thing she saw and she pulled over immediately. She knew the sign they had made for the movie was actually smaller and less impressive than the real welcome sign for the town, a fact enjoyed by many of the Spoonerds. Taking your photo at the REAL “Welcome to Spoonerville” sign was considered a rite of passage for most of them.

She parked the car on the side of the road about fifty feet away from the sign, grabbed her cellphone and made her way to the sign. The movie sign was held up by two smallish wooden posts and was about five or six feet off the ground, and about five feet wide and four feet high. The real sign was maybe four feet off the ground, easily ten feet wide and ten feet high lit by lamps at night. She walked up to the sign and tried to find the right selfie angle to catch it and her in the same shot, which wouldn’t have been a problem if Quentin hadn’t been such a bastard. She took several pictures before she had one she was happy with.

She pulled up Facebook without thinking and the app let her know that she had no cell signal and no wifi in range. She sighed heavily and shoved her phone in her hoodie pocket and made her way back to the car. She’d post the selfie once she stopped for lunch. She got back into her car and saw the road sign letting her know that Quora beach was only nine miles away. Something in her mind liked the idea of seeing the ocean and that lunch could wait. She checked the clock on her phone and it was earlier than she thought, she had made good time.  She could feel the devil on her shoulder telling her that she never did anything impulsive and to live a little, the town would be there in an hour and she could have lunch just as easily then.

She started the car, threw it into reverse and turned right to head for the beach where the characters went surfing in the books.

Shades of Justice: Page 34

The Shades appeared in the command center. Dante was carrying Sonya’s unconscious body and her abdomen was a mess of torn fabric, and dripping blood. “Spark Sonya’s hurt bad, what do we do?” Kelly shouted.

“Initiate emergency medical systems.” Spark commanded the base. A Platform rose out of the ground for Dante to set Sonya on. Once she was on the bed a holographic overlay of her physiology appeared just above her. They could see her already slowing and erratic heartbeat, getting weaker. An appendage emerged from the side of the medical platform and the metal casing opened to reveal a laser. Which aimed at Sonya’s wound and began to fire short bursts of energy. As it worked faster and faster to close her wound her heart beat got slower until it flat lined. Kelly buried her face into Warrens shoulder.

Gordon kicked the bed. “DO SOMETHING!” He shouted in futility.

w

Another appendage came out of the platform, its head rose barely above Sonya’s chest and the head quickly split into two haves and gave off pulses that made the heart monitor pulse for a beat and then flat line again. After six attempts the arm closed up and returned to the platform.

Dante ran over to Lumarion’s wall. “If there’s anything you can do, do it now. One of us basically saved your life, if you can, it’s time to return the favor.” He demanded.

Spark blinked a few times. “What I can do is forbidden for my race to do, it goes against the  na -“

“I DON’T FUCKING CARE!” Dante exploded. “DO IT NOW!” He punched the already cracked wall and cracked it worse, shredding the gloves of his suit and cutting the skin of his knuckles. 

Sparks light became brighter. “Whatever you say boss.” He blinked, before exiting the wall and in near instant beam of light shot straight into Sonya’s chest.

She raised up like she was possessed. Her eyes and mouth opened and pure white light poured from them light explosive fissures. She began to claw at her stomach and Gordon grabbed her wrists to keep her from damaging her newly repaired wound. Spark shot back to the broken wall and went dark.

Dante ran over to Sonya and she hugged him with all the energy she had left and she began to bawl hysterically. Dante looked at the wall as she cried. “Thank you.” He said.

The wall lit up slowly. “Swear to me that the five of you will NEVER mention this to Lumarion when we get him back.” Spark demanded.

Blood and Profit: Page 57

The flight to the testing facility was quiet. Mew couldn’t figure out why seeing the ring work would in any way make her more capable of helping them figure out how to get either of the last two controls to work but the entire colony was depending on the ring to get away from the wave. For a split second she was worried that the whole thing may have been a trap to interrogate her privately concerning Rusty, Toll, and the lost station but she couldn’t figure out what there was to gain by pumping her for information and decided fairly quickly that they must just be really lost in relation to the ring controls.

About an hour into the flight she had gotten bored with staring out the window. “Do either of you know who I’ll be working with?” She asked.

The skinny one put the cruiser on auto pilot and turned his chair around. “Once the aliens arrived and the senate became aware of the situation they tasked the Department of Satellite Design and Maintenance with regaining access to the ring.” He explained.

Mew nodded. “If there’s an entire department working on this, what do they need me for?” She asked.

The skinny one smiled sadly. “D.S.D.M consists of three people. Cordon, the head of the department and seventy four year old brains of D.S.D.M. His recently graduated assistant Brent, and Lucy their administrative manager.” He listed them off.

Mew was a little stunned. “Three people? D.S.D.M consists of three people?” She asked in shock.

The skinny one nodded. “You’re the fourth.” He said with a smile, turning his chair back around.

The cruiser cleared the mountain range it was flying over and they were greeted to the sight of the Colony’s capitol city. Mew had seen it from space often and never got tired of it, but as a civilian pilot planeside she had never gotten permission to fly this low and enjoyed the unique view of the oldest and most spectacular city on the planet.

They moved into standard transit lanes and made their way through the city, passing everything of interest quickly. They reached the far side of the city where the grand and fashionable architecture gave way to the boring simple utility of the industrial districts.

D.S.D.M was housed in an unassuming squat windowless building with a simple black and white sign to identify that the giant warehouse was something more than a storage facility. The skinny one landed the cruiser in the parking lot and Mew’s door opened automatically.

When they had left her father’s home it had been a beautiful sunny day, the weather in the capitol was heavy dark clouds that threatened to rain at any moment. As they made their way to the only door in the nearest side of the building a crack of thunder made them scamper a little quicker to avoid the coming rain.

The fat one shoved the door open roughly, the skinny one snuck inside just behind him and he turned to hold the door open for Mew. She stepped inside to familiar music. It was a recording of a band that Toll listened to incessantly. At first she didn’t mind his obsession but as time passed she did everything in her power to try and get him to play other music, none of it worked.

The music was being played over the intercom system throughout the entire building. They reached the end of the entrance hallway and the skinny one stepped up and held the door to the actual lab open for Mew.

She stepped through in time to see an old man in a worn and grungy white lab coat coast by on his rolling office chair. “No, we have nothing new to share with the senate. We’re still trying to figure out how to get the console to interface with any equipment we have that's even remotely functional.” The old man said as he spun and then kicked himself back the way he came.

The fat one huffed in annoyance. “It doesn’t look like you’re doing much of anything.” He accused.

The old man’s chair slowed, he rotated himself and kicked off again lifting a hand in the air and pointing to a bank of computers where his two assistants were working. One of the machines chimed and a robotic voice interrupted the rock band on the site wide sound system. “Integration test one hundred and twenty six unsuccessful.” The voice finished its sentence and the music faded back in.

The Doctor stopped his chair in front of the trio and sat up straight. “Like I said, nothing new to report.” He pointed to Mew. “Who’s she?” He asked.

Lidarion: Page 29

Haruff bowed once everyone had stepped onto the dock. “As I said, my name is Haruff, and we have much to discuss and further to travel in order to reach the library.” He turned inland.

Lisa stepped forward to stop him. “How did you channel my husband’s spirit?” She asked hopefully.

Haruff turned back and smiled sadly. “Even if he could have told me I wouldn’t have been able to explain it. Madam. I may have found peace of mind when I lost my eyesight but I was a warrior by trade and matters of the soul are beyond me.” He turned back around. Lisa nodded sadly as she and the rest of the group followed Haruff in to town.

Haruff led them to a small Inn. Once they were in the building Haruff sat in a chair at the table closest to the fire place. A young elven boy ran up the stairs and after a few moments came back down with a full cloth sack. He brought it to Haruff and placed the bag on the table. Haruff reached into a pocket on his robes and unveiled a small coin that he put in the boy’s hands. The boy ran back upstairs with a smile on his face.

 “What’s in the bag?” Squints asked as Haruff felt along the bag for the sting holding the bag closed. He found and pulled the large knot.

Once the bag was opened he pulled out a large leather bound book. “This, is for Lisa.” He started.

Lisa reached out and took the book from him. “What’s in it?” She asked.

Haruff shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t know. I’m blind, and he didn’t tell me.” He smiled, reaching back into the bag. He pulled out a piece of rolled parchment. “Squint’s here is the map of the library. You’ll need it once we get there to locate the book.” He explained.

Trent interrupted. “If your blind how are you going to guide us to the Library?” He asked.

Haruff smiled. “Another question I cannot answer. All I know is that the only person on this planet that can get you to the library is me. I’ve never been there and I have no map of my own, but Brandon sacrificed a lot to make sure the contents of this bag reached you and that I was able to meet you here, and he told me that It was my destiny to lead you to the library.” He answered.

Trent scoffed. “It’s your destiny to lead us to a place you’ve never been and don’t know the location of?” He questioned.

Lisa loudly closed her book. “Trent I don’t know how to explain it but he’s telling the truth, he’s absolutely who he says he is and I am fully convinced that Brandon sent him.” She said with complete sincerity.

Brooke looked at the cover of the book but couldn’t make sense of the symbol on the front. “Lisa what book is that?” She asked.

Lisa lovingly rand her hand down the spine of the volume. “It’s Brandon’s war journal.” He wrote it for me in the sprit realm. He gave to Haruff and it is unquestionably authentic.” She said with a determined smile. “If you cannot trust Haruff, then trust me. We’ve had a long journey and it is just beginning. I’m going to get some sleep. I suggest the rest of you do the same.” She stood up with the book under her arm. And headed for the stairs.

Melody and Harmony: Page 3

Foster hit the outer airlock door hard. It budged just enough to let him know he could force it open with some effort. Effort he was willing to give at the moment. As he shoved the outer airlock open the inner airlock was being forced open as well. He got the door open enough to slide through, it clamped shut on his bag and had to yank it roughly past the door. He turned and ran into a waiting club guest. His eyes hadn’t gotten used to the fading sunlight and he dropped his sunglasses over his eyes which reset his headphones and restarted his music. The person he had run into was the contact that he was supposed to meet in the first place. He grabbed the guy’s jacket. “Give me the package!” He shouted in his face.

The guy panicked, he looked from Foster to the outer airlock door reopening, then back to Foster just in time to catch a fist to the face. The contact hit the ground unconscious and Foster quickly fleeced him for a small brown package pulled from an inner pocket on his jacket. Yelling from inside the airlock alerted Foster to the fact that it was time for him to go.

Foster pulled his minimized board off his bag, thumbed a button on his board control and by the time his board hit the street it was full size. He hopped and pushed the drive stick forward, taking off like a shot. By the time the club’s guards made it past the door he was half a block down the street. The club guards ran after him and in midstride rollerblade wheels popped out of their shoes and they rolled up on Foster in a six man mob.

The woman in the suit emerged from the airlock and looked down at Fosters contact who was coming back to consciousness. The woman knelt down and the first thing the contact saw was her poisonous eyes glaring at him. “What was in the package?” She asked with barely contained rage in her voice.

Fosters glasses showed him a rear view of the guards catching up to him. Each was wielding carbon fiber batons that were outfitted at the tips with any number of horrible customizations, be it electrified tips, or blades that came a quarter inch out of the baton and were several inches long. He gripped a gray plaststeel handle on the bottom of his jacket and pulled, revealing a strip of inch and a half wide that went ridged as it hit the open air. Once the cloth was completely removed he had a functional short sword.

The first guard reached him and Foster turned around completely to block the guard’s baton strike with his sword. In no time at all Foster is practically surrounded by rollerblading guards trying to stop him. Unable to fight all six guards He takes his board off autopilot with another button press on his glove control and rather than trying to fight the guards he uses the terrain of the alleys they are racing through to gain distance and single out the guards as much as possible for attacks. Its tiring work, and while the guards aren’t very good skaters or very good fighters, the cramped quarters of the alley way allow the guards to get cheap shots in on Foster more often than he would have liked. When he took a baton to his temple he realized there was no way he was going to win the fight and needed to escape the guards, of which none had dropped back even though almost all of them were bleeding profusely.

Spoonerville: Page 1

Denille had been a massive fan of the Blood Night series since the first book was published over ten years ago. She had signed copies of Blood Night, Blood Night: Hunt, and Blood Night: Lust. She would have a signed copy of Blood Night: Love, but the author, Geraldine Moore had unfortunately canceled her appearance at the national fan convention, BN:SF ’15. It hadn’t bothered her at the time however because Blood Night: Spoons and Forks was where she Met Quentin Todd. While he wasn’t a fan of the series his little sister was and he had taken her to every BNSF since it began in ’07.

She and Quentin hit it off almost instantly. They lived in the same city and had a natural chemistry that made her feel good. They moved in together just after BN:SF’ 16, and she found him in bed with her best friend the first night of BN:SF’ 17. He had had a ‘cold’ which he was going to try and sleep off so he could join her and his sister for day two. She had dropped his sister at his parents place and come home early because his sister wasn’t feeling well either and discovered his highly questionable cold fighting method.

Newly single, and free of a best friend Denille decided to take a trip she had been dreaming of since the first time she read Moore’s wonderfully quaint descriptions of Spoonerville. She had plenty of vacation accrued at work and had a savings account she had been building up just for this trip, which she had fully planned out every single detail of within thirty six hours of leaving BN:SF ’11. It was her first BN:SF and while she had loved the books, she had never considered herself a super fan until that year. Her trip notebook was buried in a box she came across on the weekend that Quentin had come to collect the last of his things. She was so entranced re-reading her own plans that she hadn’t even heard him try to talk her into reconsidering ending the relationship as she shut the door in his face.

She had printed out menus of the restaurants the characters ate at, practically memorized the layout of the motel they stayed in at one point in the story when Carol’s father’s home was burned down by an aggressive lone werewolf looking to get revenge on the tribe for forcing him out. She had bought a map of the area and cut Spoonerville out and marked the real life locations of every store, every landmark, and every character home that actually existed, and in the decade since the novels were released, there were more ‘real life’ locations than there had ever been before, and she was going to visit every, single, one.

She had had it planned for years, but Denille was finally ready for the vacation she had been dreaming about, to be come the best memories of her entire life. 

Shades of Justice: Chapter 33

Tokyo was a shattered flaming mess. Technarious was firing jets of flame from his hands and turning the city into a funeral pyre. Blinding light trying to get back on its feet as it crawled awkwardly out the rubble that used to be an entire city block of sky scrapers.

Inside Blinding Light’s command center the shades were in bad shape. Technarious was facing away from them and was about let loose another jet of flame from his left hand on the as yet untouched Port of Tokyo. The four of them reacted together instantly. Blinding Light shot forward and locked Technarious up in a hold that forced his hands high into the sky. They shoved a knee up into Technarious’ back and pushed the entire weight of the mecha forward knocking Technarious off his feet and into the shallow water of the port.

They braced for Technarious’ counter attack but none came. They turned his head but the lights in his eyes were dark. Dante pushed a button on his console to check on Sonya. Kelly and The others got Blinding Light back to his feet. “Sonya, did you disable the power supply? That was great timing.” There was nothing on the line but silence. “Sonya?” He asked again.

The communication channel was taken over by Raptarus. “Oh, well done Shades! But I only see four of you. Where oh were could Grayscale be? Hopefully she gets back soon, because in ten seconds Technarious will shrink back to his normal size and she won’t want to miss that!” He laughed until the channel closed cutting him off.

Dante stood up. “Blinding Light transport me to Sonya’s location.” He commanded.

“That action is not,” The computer started.

“NOW!” Dante shouted. He teleported

The room with the power supply was filled with smoke and warped debris. He saw Sonya through the smoke and grabbed her by her shoulders. The power supply room was already starting to shrink. “Transport now!” he shouted as they disappeared just before the room crushed them.

They reappeared back in the command center and Dante set Sonya in her Chair. Kelly immediately saw the blood on Dante’s arm where he had held Sonya. They say Technarious through the viewscreen as he returned to normal size.

Blinding light reached into the water and cradled Technarious in its right hand and lifted him out of the water. Then in a flash of light Blinding Light was gone.

Blood and Profit: Chapter 56

Mew loved her mother but she was always closer to her father. Her brother had their mother’s passion for social work and activism. Mew loved her father’s stories, she had read all his books half a dozen times by the time she graduated high school.

She knew her father had high hopes that she would become a writer herself, but she didn’t have the same passion for writing that she did for reading. By the time she was two years into her post high school education she really didn’t have a passion for anything the way the rest of her family did.

It wasn’t until she took a low orbit trip for a college class where she saw her home from space for the first time with her own eyes that she knew she was going to work in space somehow. She switched majors and went straight into the flight academy, got her assignment and while she could have taken almost any job available she chose to work on the satellite repair and recycling station. So while she kept in touch, she hadn’t been home much in the last ten years.

So she and her father had a lot to catch up on, more accurately she had a lot to tell him about and he mostly talked about his most recent book, how the house was holding up, and the fact that he was thinking about getting a pet, an idea he was now very serious about considering the status of the planet. Their conversation lasted for days. They talked about her mother, her childhood, she walked her father through the night that Rusty and Toll went through the ring and everything that happened after that. They talked about his life growing up and he told her for the tenth time how he met her mother and how they fell in love. They had all the conversations they had missed over the last decade and they tried to have as many as they could before something took her away again.

That something turned out to be representatives from the senate. They arrived ten days after Eamon left. There were two of them. One short and rail thin, the other taller but equally as wide. Mew saw the insignia on the thin one’s briefcase and let them into the house.

“How can I help you gentlemen?” She asked as she led them to the dining room table.

The thin one spoke first. “The senate has voted to take all ships that wish to leave the planet through the ring.” Mew sat on the far side of the table and wave at two empty chairs for her guests. They sat and the thin one continued. “After a little investigation it appears that your friends deleted almost all the information we had on the ring and its control system.” The thin one placed the briefcase on the table and opened it. He pulled out a file folder and handed it to Mew. She found it filled with a picture of the ring control, a single picture that labeled each button on the case and four pictures that showed basic menu layouts.

She looked up from the photos. “And you’re here because?” She asked.

The wider gentlemen finally spoke. “You worked with the escapee’s for nearly a year. Did you know anything about what they were planning, or do you know if they had any backups for the information they destroyed?” He asked.

She shook her head. “If they had any backups that they didn’t take with them they would have been on the station and that’s inside their collective consciousness stuff.” She said.

The gentlemen nodded. “We have a team working on the two controls we have left, but they are both very old, and the senate formally requests that you accompany us back to the location where they are working and oversee and test their work. We need to access the ring as soon as possible and you are the last living person that has seen it work.

Mew wanted to tell them to leave but she looked up at her father who was standing in the kitchen. He was all smiles and mouthed “go” at her.

She sighed heavily and nodded her consent. “Let me pack some stuff.” She said.

Lidarion: Chapter 28

The trip to Cela’an was uneventful until the very last day. The man in the crow’s nest called down early in the morning to warn of cloud bank It was impossibly thick and completely immobile. They changed their course to sail west of the fog bank and saw no end to it. Sailing into it was their only course. They slowed, drastically as their visibility wasn’t much further than a ship length or two. They had every potential to get lost and with no knowledge of how big the fog bank was they could come out of it anywhere, if they ever came out of it at all. It took a few hours but the crew began to whisper about the unnaturalness of what they had come across and the fate of the ship. The unease amongst the sailors grew until Dean had to forbid talk of the mystical nature of the fog and their impending doom.

By nightfall they had no come to the end of the bank nor found anything of note. They were destined to ride out the night and most likely get even more lost along the way. Dean himself took the wheel, figuring if they were to doom themselves to death then it should be by the Captain’s hand. Though they tried, neither sailor no passenger went to sleep easy.

He didn’t know when it was, the fog blocked all light from the stars and moon. But not too long into the night two yellow lights appeared. The man in the crow’s nest spotted them and called down. Dean acknowledged and steered steady for the only marked they had. As they got closer He saw that they were positively massive torches set into the side of an impressive cliff face. The further they traveled the more Torch lights appeared, leading like a trail. Dean steered she ship to follow the line until the lights got larger and brighter, and they passed a sign set into the cliff, written first in the flowering script of elvish and then in common below. “Welcome to Blind Man’s Bay.” The sign was as large, or larger than the Womamel, and inset into the cliff side and advertised to everyone within a maximum of five hundred yards.

Dean commanded a deckhand to wake their passengers, and by the time they arrived at his side they could just make out the furthest edges of Blind Man’s Bay. “How do we let them know we mean to dock?” Trent asked.

Dean pointed to another sign at the edge of visibility, there were smaller torch lights on it, and the sign cleared up as they came closer. ‘This way to port’ The sign said. He looked at Trent. “I don’t think they see many visitors.” He replied.

They followed the sign, and the two after it until Dean had steered the ship into dock and the hands had tied it down.

Trent and the others surveyed the foggy port area they could see. “Well Squints. I don’t know where we are, but you gave Dean the information he needed to get us here, so thanks for that.” He said with a smile.

Squints made a rude gesture and made his way toward the walkway that the hands had just placed between the ship and the dock. He stopped midway down the plank when a shadow appeared at the edge of the fog and was clearly making its way toward the edge of the boat. The creature was huge, it’s footsteps vibrated through the wooden dock. Squints thought better of disembarking and walked back onto the ship. He made his way to his viewing box and stepped up on top of it to see over the side of the boat.

He finally saw what the others saw. A minotaur, a large blind humanoid looking buffalo covered in shaman’s blankets, and a cloth blindfold over his eyes. He had a tree trunk strapped to his back and a large branch in one hand he used as a staff. He stopped just short of the ship and turned to face the vessel. “Ladies and gentlemen form the legendary kingdom of Lidarion. I am Haruff, of Cliffside and I am here to take you to the Library of forgotten secrets.” He completed his introduction and awkwardly bowed.

Trent’s jaw was on the floor. Squints gave him a smug smile. “Keep doubting me, see what happens.”

Trent pointed at Haruff. “Oh come on! There’s absolutely no way you knew he was here!” The others ignored him as they disembarked the boat. “Wait? How did he know we were coming? We’re just going to trust this, this –“

“Haruff.” The minotaur said again.” A smile on his face.

Trent pointed at Haruff. “How do we know we can trust you?” He yelled.

Haruff pulled a small clay trinket out of a pocket and broke it. He turned and looked directly at Trent. Even though he was blind, and could not see through the cloth over his eyes he looked straight at Trent and in Brandon’s voice he said. “Trent, you’ve got a job to do, so get your butt off the boat and do it.” Haruff closed his mouth and dropped the broken trinket.

Trent shook his head. “Now that’s just down right unsettling.” He said as he made his way toward the gang plank. 

Melody and Harmony: Chapter 2

Once the airlock door closed behind him, Foster lifted the shades of his headphones and turned the dial on the left ear of his phones until it switched from blue to green. His music gave way to a song playing in the club. He couldn’t make out much of what lied in the darkness beyond the dance floor but the dance floor was packed with people. Every dancer had lights wired into their clothing that built patterns of light in time with the music. The more dancers synced to the same song the more insane the patterns became. So while there were probably two hundred dancers on the floor, each person using their bodies and an expression of faith, the patterns of light and color united them, a visual prayer to gods they could only hear on the dance floor.

The DJ was all the way on the far side of the dance floor, standing on a stage against the wall. He was lit from below by tiny blue spotlights. He wore a white leather trench coat. In the back of his coat he had white spot lights that were aimed at the wall making it look like he had grand wings of light, like and angel. Thick wires protruded from the shoulders and neck of his coat. They led to the clubs speakers and sound systems. His face was obscured by a Neon white armored mask that covered his nose and mouth and wrapped around his neck. He had a separate pair of impossibly neon white sunglasses that completely covered his eyes. Even if he could have seen his face.

Foster would have had no clue who the DJ was. He took a seat at a small table and was immediately greeted by the waitress, her outfit would have been plain if it had not been augmented by sound reactive lighting. Her dress danced for her even when she could not. The volume of the music in the club required her eyes to speak for her, she gave a welcoming smile and Foster nodded, she nodded back and gave a tiny curtsey before sure left him alone again.

Foster sat and watched the dancers and listened to the music, until a more formally dressed associate arrived at his table. He saw her mouth moving but heard only the music. He reached up and turned his left ear dial from green to red, causing the music of the club to fade away and leaving only the voice of the woman in the plain black suit.

She slowly pulled the chair in front of her out so she could sit. “You are new here.” She said taking her seat.

Foster nodded trying to look calm. “Just came in for a drink.” He replied.

She nodded. “We have many fine beverages.” She gave a fake, predatory smile.

Foster nodded slowly. “I am grateful for the hospitality.” He thanked her carefully.

She waved his thanks off. “Not at all, The shadow Church is one of the finest clubs in all of Melody.” Her gaze sharpened. “Most people don’t even know how to find it.” She smiled but it was a warning.

Foster’s eyes darted around the club, over the dancers praying to music he could no longer hear, trying to spot the guards in the crowd. “I was following directions given to me by a friend.” He said not looking back to the woman.

The waitress returned with a drink on a tray. She delicately picked up the drink and carefully bent over to set it on Fosters table. Foster looked at his drink and then back to the woman in the suit. She smiled. “You must be blessed to have such knowledgeable friends.” She complimented him, and gestured to his drink.

He didn’t break her gaze. “Yeah, I’m a lucky guy all right.” He sighed.

As if he had a spasm Foster kicked the table at the woman in the suit. The drink splashed on arms of her suit jacket as she brought them up to protect her face. Foster scrambled for the airlock door which had just let other guests in and was slowly closing.

The woman took off her suit jacket carefully as the arms were smoking intensely. Guards from the club moved to her side. “I want his head!” She shouted.

Foster barely made it through the inner airlock as the door closed with a thud.

Spoonerville: Teaser

Humans have short memories, each generation forgetting the horrors of the one before it. Over time they learned to compensate with stories and songs, writing and presenting, recording their past, reaching as far back as possible to define the things that sit just beyond the edges of human existence. The things we fear are older than our oldest memories, and the land we share with those things is older than us all.

There was nothing hip, cool, or new about the town of Spoonerville. It was a little logging town bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean, the north, east, and most of the south by National park land which included a massive dormant volcano. The rest of the south was a native reservation so small most folks never would have known it was there.

But folks knew about the native reservation, and the national forests, and the ocean, and the volcano. 

Spoonerville was the very real town where a very fake paranormal romance took place in a very popular book series, read by a very large number of girls and surprisingly large number of women.

The book talked about the area but the author had never been there. She discovered the town by throwing requirements into Google and uncovering the disturbingly boring town. She imagined werewolves and vampires living secret lives among the humans and falling in love with disturbingly ordinary girls who turned out to be disturbingly spectacular at everything they did, from moping to being vampires.

The author never knew what she had uncovered, the balance she had upset. She had no real respect for the underlying legends she filled her narratives with and never gave the attention the town got a second thought.

Thousands of people flocked to Spoonerville every year, expecting to see Oceanside, the nearby city where the movies were filmed. Most were upset that while the books did not over exaggerate the town the story was set in, it did not under exaggerate the town either. There were no almost famous hole in the wall restaurants, or trendy coffee shops, or cool teen hangouts. Spoonerville is, was, and always had been a logging town and nothing more. 

And so the diehard fans came to get their selfies taken in front of the Spoonerville sign and many even ventured out to the beaches the characters visited in the novels, only to discover that Quora beach was not the kind of place anyone who wished to live, would ever willingly surf.

Rodney Edgars’ family had ancient roots in Spoonerville. Roots his mother and father never wanted him to know about. Which is why they had never visited, never called, and never talked about the town. If it weren’t for the car accident that killed Rodney’s parents the summer before his junior year of high school, he probably would never have known Spoonerville ever actually existed.

But once the state shipped him off to live with his grandmother, Spoonerville became a very real place. The quirky towns folk became real, the annoying tourists became real, the native tribe became real, the beach with the angry ocean became real, the songs the ocean sang when the tide wasn’t raging became real, the laughter from something just behind the furthest trees became real, and deep in the woods, somewhere under the ancient volcano, the timeless hunger became real.

And Rodney Edgars learned that when terrors older than human memory are real, they see humans serving only one purpose, and it isn’t romantic.

Beginning September 20^th, take a tour of a little town where traditions are upheld, nature is respected, and everything closes at dusk for a damn good reason.

Welcome to Spoonerville.

Shades of Justice: Chapter 32

Sonya looked down the shaft again. She looked up for anything she might be able to use to climb down the shaft with. She saw a metal loop protruding from wall but had nothing to repel down with. “Computer, suit thing?” She said out loud.

The readout in her visor responded. [GRAYSCALE ONLINE] it flashed.

Technarious rocked violently and she held tightly onto the wall. “I need a way to repel about a hundred feet” She requested.

There was a pause as the suit went through the available options. [CALL FOR SCALING ARM] The visor flashed.

Sonya held out her left hand. “Scaling arm!” she commanded.

A reasonably sized gadget with a clasping hook at the end of it appeared around her left arm. She reached up and clasped the hook onto the loop above her. She looked down one more time and took a deep breath. “Here goes nothing.” She lept over the edge and the hook held her weight. Even with Technarious moving chaotically fighting Blinding Light she only bounced around a little as she walked backwards down the shaft as quickly as she dared.

She got to the bottom of the shaft and stepped into the next hallway. “How do I get this off my arm.” She asked her suit.

[COMMAND: RELEASE] The visor instructed.

She looked down at her arm. “Release” She commanded and the contraption opened like shuttle bay doors and dropped off her arm. Hung for a second in the air and then disappeared. She turned and ran the last little bit of hallway until she came to the room where the power core and the backup energy systems for Technarious were.

The room was filled with neon blinking lights, cords that had blue light running through them, and the main power cell which was a giant red monolith in the middle of the room.

Her visor showed her where the backup power was and once she had destroyed the connectors to all three Technarious began to shudder violently.

She was thrown against the wall but kept her eyes on the red monolith power supply. She made her way up the now slight incline to reach the power supply. She tried to lift it out of its slot but it would not budge. “Guys I can’t get the power supply out of its socket!” She updated the rest of the shades.

There was silence for a second before she Heard Kelly’s voice. “You have to destroy it Sonya. We’re getting killed up here and the city is in ruins!” she said over explosions and static.

Sonya groaned. “I’m sorry Technarious. Comedy and Tragedy!” She commanded her weapons into her hands.

Blood and Profit: Chapter 55

Kepi had not yet been to the forest. She set in motion the requests for supplies and transports and grabbed a shuttle to the forest. She was excited to see the alien forest, and the giant ship tree they were growing.

When she arrived she was disappointed to find that most of the forest was covered by the darkness that Eamon had told her about. She landed her shuttle next Eamon’s and was greeted by two Starseeds. They summoned vines from the canopy above which carried them to the tree ships clearing.

Eamon had had incredible success teaching the Starseeds the purpose of and how to make books. They had already needed them as it was clear they had been forced to cut back the collective consciousness away from the shiptree’s clearing. When the vines set Kepi and her companions down at the edge of the clearing her jaw hit the floor.

The ship tree had grown an incredible amount in such a short time. It now easily dwarfed the rest of the forest and was taking up more than half of the clearing. She found Eamon and Rootan working on books that were in different stages of assembly. Other Starseeds were filling completed books with the knowledge they could not afford to loose. They already had a large bookshelf full of completed volumes.

Kepi was stunned. “How have you gotten so many done?” She asked in awe.

Eamon turned and stood to embrace her. “Kepi! Time flies I could have sworn we only spoke a few moments ago.” He looked at the books they had completed. “The Starseeds don’t sleep and once I showed Rootan how to make a book they all took to the process like addicted bibliophiles. They haven’t stopped building or writing since.” He said with a great smile. “How goes the council meetings?” He asked.

Kepi smiled. “Better than I would have hoped.” She grabbed his hand and they began to walk together. “They aren’t stupid people. You just never learned to talk to them the way they liked to be talked to. Once they saw reason the vote was a simple matter.” She explained.

He patted her arm in excitement. “You were always more cut out for that work than I was.” He complimented.

She nodded. “Perhaps, but there are more than a few ways for a person to be useful and there is no shame in it not being through public service.” She pardoned him. “All the districts are going to start gathering supplies and ships in the next twenty four hours.” She explained.

He nodded. “Not a moment too soon, and possible too little to late” He said with a furrowed brow.

She shook her head. “What will be, will be.” She said looking up beyond the canopy in a second of silent prayer. “Will you be coming back to the capitol or staying here a while longer?” She asked him.

He stopped walking and she stopped with him. “I am making sure these people don’t lose everything because they came to help us. What in the capitol could possibly be important enough to take me away from this?” He asked.

She smiled sadly. “I’ll contact your sister and father and make sure their ready to leave then.” She looked back to the clearing behind them. “Can you even ride in that thing with them?” She asked.

He laughed. “Humans to their ships, Starseeds to theirs. I want to be left here for a while, not left behind.” He said with a smile. “Come on, let me introduce you to Rootan.” He pulled her back to the edge of the clearing where the Starseeds were working on books.

Lidarion: Chapter 27

The Womamel was just short of a week at sea and Squints had yet to leave the top deck. He ate, drank, and slept as close to the open water as he could get. On the sixth day Trent found him watching the wake as they passed through the water. Squints was standing on a box so he was tall enough to see over the side. Trent smiled as he leaned on the rear railing of the ship. “I still cannot believe how quickly you took to the sea.” He commented.

Squints didn’t take his eyes off the turmoil in the water behind them. “It’s like a part of me I never knew existed. Just waiting to be set free.” He sounded hopeful and renewed.

Trent nodded. “I’m glad someone is getting something positive out of this at least. We’re not likely to have such good fortune every step of the way.” Trent sighed.

Squints looked at his friend. “Each of us knows what’s at stake. We all have our own reasons for doing this. And contrary to what ever fantasy is rolling around your little pea brain.” He ruffled Trent’s hair and Trent shoved him back playfully. “It’s not out of some sense of misguided loyalty for you.” He assured.

Trent nodded. “I know that everyone has their reasons.” He started. “But none of this would have happened if I had just settled things with the king thirteen years ago.” He said.

Squints looked to the starboard side where on the edge of the horizon you could just barely make out the eastern most Gnomish islands. “Look, one of those is my ancestral home.” He said. “Before I stepped foot on this thing I had less than no desire to ever find out where my family came from or what they left behind when they came to Lidarion.” He watched the horizon in silence for a moment. “You left for thirteen years. And everything that happened while you were gone could have been stopped multiple times.” Squints looked back at the ships wake. “The only thing you could have done back then was love her in the privacy of night and die a little more every day once she was married off to the prince of another house.” Squints sighed. “Personally where we are now is a situation far better suited for the talents we’ve come to possess.” He smiled.

Trent looked at the water but did not see the same majesty that Squints clearly did. All he saw was the swirling churn of counter currents crashing into each other and bubbling to the surface before they faded away back into the glass like uniformity of the rest of the ocean. “I hope that fate has as high a regard for our plans and skills as you do.” Trent pretended to pray. “But that’s not why I came up here.” He switched gears suddenly. “With all the excitement I never got a chance to ask you what is supposed to be in this book that were going to collect.” He asked.

Squints shrugged his shoulders. “All the book I found said was where the book that mentioned the sigils was located.” He admitted.

Trent tried not to look surprised. “Located on the continent, located in the building, located on the shelf between this book and that book? Where is this thing? I can read, what the hell did we just sail across the world to get Squints?” He was getting excited.

Squints held up his hands. “Relax I  have the name of the book we’re looking for, and where in the library to look for it.” He assured.

Trent nodded. “Ok and where on the continent is the library?” he asked.

Squints smiled awkwardly. “We’re traveling with royal gold, I’m sure when we dock it’ll be a simple matter to find someone who knows where the library is and take us there.” Trent was so mad he was turning red in the face. Squints hopped off his box. “Oh what? Like you were going to suggest we not go and let those people die? It’s more than nothing to go on so keep your pants on!” He shouted as Trent chased him into the hold.

Melody and Harmony: Chapter 1

Four miles an hour. That’s how fast Foster liked to set the engine on his skateboard when he rode down the Harmony’s sidewalks. He loved the beat his wheels pounded out every time he went over the divots in in-between the concrete slabs. With his headphones on he couldn’t hear them but he felt the CLUNK-CLUNK of each one as he rolled over them and it pulled the music from his ears all the way down to his feet.

He lived a few miles beyond the electric blue environmental shield that protected the wealthy Melody’s inner city, he had never been under the shield and had never given it much thought. He was a fringer, just as his parents, and their parents, and their parents before. He loved the feeling of the unfiltered sun on his back as he rode through the unshielded slums of Melody. He wasn’t worried about cancer, or sunburns, everyone’s clothes had protective UV layers built into them and like all but the poorest of the fingers he never went outside with uncovered skin and always in the early morning or late evening just before sunset.

It was evening shift change now. Foster didn’t look anyone in the eyes as they were either leaving or starting work. He knew in his heart that he was never going to be one of the wage slaves, trading his life for slightly less than his family needed to survive. He had grown up listening to his father talk about that life and now as a young adult he feared it greatly.

He rode into a street side marketplace. Hundreds of carts were loaded with questionable food, second hand electronics, and scraps of clothing. He rode through the shoppers, leaving ripples in the waves of people he passed by. The band of his over ear headphones were sunglasses dark enough to hide his eyes from everyone who tried to catch his attention.

He slipped out of the market as quickly as he had entered it and turned down an alley. He stopped his board next to a large sky blue steel door. The color had not always been sky blue. The years of sun had caused it to fade from a much more remarkable blue. He picked his skateboard up off the dirty alleyway and held it in his left hand. He knocked three times on the faded blue sky door with his right hand.

It felt like the door was never going to open, which is what alerted him to the fact that he was beginning to get nervous. He took a deep breath and tried to steady his nerves, but when the door opened slowly his heart beat kicked up a notch.

The automated door creaked and screeched as it opened up to him presenting an airlock lit by neon white light. The walls were white and completely bare. He stepped into the airlock and noticed the giant one way mirror on the wall. The outer airlock door closed behind him.

In the upper corner by the outer airlock door there was a speaker that had been spray painted white. “Stow your board.” It squawked.

Foster looked into the one way mirror for a second and then slowly slid his back pack off his shoulders. The backpack was covered with cloth patches that were styled to resemble pieces of an old pirate treasure map. He released the clips of two straps on the back of his bag and pressed a button on his wrist control. The board folded up until the wheels nearly touched each other. He took the folded up board and held it to the bag with the straps he clipped back in place.

With his bag back on his shoulders he stood back up and looked back into the one way mirror.

The inner door of the airlock opened much faster and much quieter. A song came through the inner airlock door and Foster could feel the beat in his chest. He pressed a button on his wrist command and his music in his headphones gave way to the music of the club as he stepped inside. 

University of Console Heroics: The End

Finals were over. The quad is filled with students enjoying the onset of summer. Sanders and Bannister exit the Hall of 2D studies together. Bannister is carrying a small box of trinkets from his office. Sanders stops and turns around to look back at the building. Bannister copies him. “So, you aren’t going to miss this? Not even a little?” Sanders asked.

Bannister shook his head. “Maybe someday down the line. But right now I feel like I’m being reborn.” He explained as he turned away from the building.

Sanders nodded. And continued walking with Bannister. “Oh, thanks for keeping me in the class.” He said spotting his friends sitting under Thompson’s big tree further down the quad.

Bannister nodded. “It’s didn’t seem fair to let you screw yourself over.” He admitted.

Sanders nodded. “You’re going to be at dad’s tonight for dinner?” He confirmed. Bannister nodded and Sanders took a step towards the tree. “I’ll see you later then.” He waved as he took off toward the tree. Joining Cynthia, Foster, and Thompson.

Thompson kicked at Foster with a barefoot. “Well Foster, you made it to the end of your first semester of college. How do you feel?” He asked.

Foster sighed. “A bit like I’m witnessing the end of the world.” He admitted.

“Ok explain.” Sanders demanded.

Foster shrugged. “It’s never going to be like this again. Next semester will be infinitely different than this one.”

Thompson nodded. “And yet, creepily enough, almost exactly the same.” He confirmed.

Foster pulled his knees up to his chin and used them to rest his head. “It’s like we build the same sand castle at low tide just to see what changes from version to version.” He sighed again.

Cynthia rolled her eyes. “Could you two just be happy for one moment?” She asked.

Clay, Faith, and Lacey joined the circle, sitting in the shade of the tree. “Evidence shows they are both capable.” Clay replied.

Sanders shook his head. “Yeah but chicks dig moody guys.” He joked.

Cynthia noticed Lacey’s outfit. “Oh my god I love your shirt, did you get that at Forever Ten Two?” She asked.

Lacey nodded. “I did. We should go shopping soon.” She offered.

Cynthia smiled. “That would be awesome.” She confirmed

Porter walked up with four drinks in a carrier. Clay looked up at him shielding his eyes from the sun. “Which of those is coffee?” He asked.

Faith slapped his shoulder. “They are all coffee dork.” She said.

Porter shook his head. “No, these two are epic poems.” He said as he handed the girls their drinks. “These two, are coffee.” He said as Clay reached up to grab his drink. They clinked their cheap paper cups together.

Lacey puts her cup down and sees a very nice car parking in the distance. She slaps faith’s shoulder. “That’s it, that’s the car the lady from nationals drove. I want one of those so bad, It’s my dream car.” She said wishfully.

Porter’s ears perked up and he took note of the car she was pointing out. “Color preference?” He asked.

She seemed taken aback for a second. “Um, in a perfect world? They come in a shade called Midnight Lust. IT’s like a little darker than blood red.” She explained as Porter nodded.

Foster kicked at the empty drink carrier with his shoe. “Thanks for brining drinks only for yourselves, definitely feeling the love over here.” He playfully complained.

Clay held up his coffee as if he were toasting Foster. “S’what friends are for noob. Letting you know where you’re wanted.” He said as Foster playfully flipped him off.

They spent the rest of the day visiting together under that tree. Trying to make the last of the semester last as long as possible before they all went back to their homes, their ‘normal’ lives. Their separate worlds, it was easy work, spending time together, making the most of every moment at the University of Console Heroics.