Ander - Part 6: Subchapter 146
146 Dorin kept putting one foot in front of the other. Even though it felt like he would collapse at any second, even though it felt like his legs would buckle, even though his muscles were screaming, even though there was blood dripping down his...
Ander - Part 6: Subchapter 145
145 The breath whistled in and out of Dorin's chest as he limped across the battlefield, splashing through puddles of blood and snowmelt. Serrated walls of fire had appeared like scars upon his path, casting an otherworldly glow upon the earth. This...
Ander - Part 6: Subchapter 144
144 She could feel the vibrations of their footfalls travelling through the ground beneath her knees, could feel them going inside her chest and shaking her very heart. The pain in her back was steadily getting worse, and her swollen lips stung with...
Ander - Part 6: Subchapter 143
143 Layla had a split-second view of Hokin's maw before a heavy branch, its top half encrusted with a network of red-hot glowing cracks and crowned in flame, whispered just above the tips of her ears and caught him right between his gaping jaws,...
Ander - Part 6: Subchapter 142
142 Tio could actually feel the heat baking off of her. It wasn't the fire, and it wasn't the blood, it was her, _just her_, as if her anger had come alive. "Layla-Kai?" He looked up, seeing for the first time just what she was changing into, what...
Ander - Part 6: Subchapter 141
Every bump, every crack, every jagged ridge stood out in stark contrast against the dark grey surface, highlighted by streaks of shadow. up, and down. up... and down. turning a little with every bounce, whispering against his palm.
Ander - Part 6: Subchapter 140
140 It started with the sound. The roar of the burning tree coming down on top of them. Thick, black branches cloaked in flame slammed into her back, but before she met the ground, before she even allowed herself to feel the pain, she pulled Tio in...
Ander - Part 6: Subchapter 139
139 The pine needles were cold and prickly against her palms, wet with a mixture of ice melt and blood. Her fingers were numb. _Everything_ was numb. "Why?" she whispered to herself for the hundredth time, staring up at the wall of fire. "Why!?" She...
Ander - Part 6: Subchapter 102
102 "Come on, put your back into it, Nicky!" Bartholomew said, shovelling a heap of snow in his brother's general direction. "Sod off, Bart!" "You call that shovelling? I bet old 'Thello's grandmum could shovel better than that, and she's got a hook...
Ander - Part 6: Subchapter 101
101 The stone was heavy in Jonah's hands. He knew what he had to do with it, but... it wasn't that simple. _Yes it is, you bloody coward. You just have to put it down. So just do it and get it done. Time is ticking away._ Yeah. Just 'put it down'....
Ander - Part 6: Subchapter 100
100 Ander slowly started to rise, a loose coil of rope still dangling from his hand. It felt like he was caught in a terrible dream where everything came to pass at only half the speed, like he was stuck deep underwater and had to fight and push with...
Ander - Part 6: Subchapter 99
99 Even though she went from darkness to darkness, the transition from dreaming to waking was not seamless. There was a difference between seeing nothing but black because your eyes were covered, and seeing nothing but black because your eyes no...