“So be it,” I respond, finally. “Fantastic!” Corporal Level extends his hand to me and I shake it. Afterward, he picks up a paper from the stack on his left and says, “Vong, Rakatha, Twitch, Ralith, and Anes—the one I got to replace you for this patrol—are due back in a week’s time. I’m afraid I don’t have anything around… Read more →
“The War Chief is biding his time,” I say. “I would offer warning that the valley’s food stores are in danger on multiple fronts. First, planting came late since many farms had to rebuild. This means crops will be smaller than usual. Second, the weather is threatening to turn and the region may find itself in an early winter without… Read more →
The hours pass invisibly and it is only when I keep finding myself struggling to see what I am doing that I peel myself back from the intensely focused work and discover that I am sitting in my darkened room without a lamp lit, concentrating to the point of headache to try to see each brush stroke. I am nearly… Read more →
The shop has a bell on the door, which rings when I push it open. The shop owner—a short, balding human with a mustache that looks like a woolly caterpillar—quickly comes from the back room with a smile on his face to greet his new customer. He doesn’t stop smiling when he sees me, but the genuine mirth falls out… Read more →