Ander - Part 6: Subchapter 45
45 The silence was deafening. Everyone's gaze kept switching back and forth between Dorin, standing tall, his challenge hanging in the air, and Wardo, blood slowly dripping down his chin. The Chieftain reached up and wiped the gore away, leaving a...
Ander - Part 6: Subchapter 44
44 Dorin felt like a huge weight was slowly melting off his shoulders. He was never one for fancy speeches, but... he thought that one went okay. Maybe a bit long, especially after he said there wouldn't be any more speeches, but... okay. _The choice...
Ander - Part 6: Subchapter 43
43 "A few days ago, in the woods," Dorin began, feeling his heartbeat speed up inside his chest, thudding against his open palm. "I tried to kill myself." Even Wardo was taken aback by that little revelation, his furious scowl momentarily dissolving...
Ander - Part 6: Subchapter 42
42 For a moment, there was silence. Then the jeering began. Wolves scoffed and made rude hand gestures, yelling curses and foul insults. "Not this again!?" "We've waited long enough!" "If you're too scared to fight, you can go home and curl up with...
Ander - Part 6: Subchapter 41
41 Dorin wasn't ready for this, but time had run out. There would be no more stalling, no more planning, and no more hesitating. Wardo was in one of the northern watchtowers. From high up there he could look down on everyone, and force everyone down...
Ander - Part 6: Subchapter 40
40 There was chaos all around him, terrible and familiar, a gut-wrenching return to that awful night that started it all - the night of Ander's trial. There was no bonfire this time, but everything else was the same: the jostling crowds of ecstatic...
Ander - Part 6: Subchapter 39
39 "You expect me to drink this clean? You poured half a bottle in here!" "Half a bottle fer a half-dead idjit, makes perfect sense to me. Now swallow the damn thing 'fore you pass out again!" James regarded the amber liquid sloshing around inside...
Ander - Part 6: Subchapter 38
38 "Father? You awake? Helloooo? Cooey?" Jon dug his face deeper into the pillow and pretended to be asleep. "I know you're awake, Father. Sleeping Foxes don't try so hard to appear to be sleeping." "Eeeeeergh... warrayawanna?" he mumbled. There...
Ander - Part 6: Subchapter 37
37 The sun hadn't come up yet, but the eastern horizon already had a reddish tinge to it, like blood mixed with tears. Ander could feel all that time dripping through his fingers, gone forever. He paced the wall, lantern in hand, occasionally...
Ander - Part 6: Subchapter 36
36 There was a light up ahead, much too low to be a star. Were there even any stars left in the sky? Banno wasn't sure. He looked up, but the sky was black, and black, and black. There was nothing else. Did that mean the stars weren't real anymore?...
Ander - Part 6: Subchapter 35
35 "Daddy, am I too heavy?" "No, sweety. You're light as a feather." "Are you sure? I can walk for a while. I don't mind." _Don't let them see. Godsdammit, James, don't you dare let them see..._ "Daddy?" James smiled and kept going, stepping over...
Ander - Part 6: Subchapter 34
34 Mateo got dressed in the little spotlight shining in from the opening in the ceiling, a task which was much harder than normal because he kept poking his arms through holes in his shirt that weren't really arm holes at all, but the shredded...