Tip of the Spear
**Chapter Four: Tip of the Spear** Oderan tapped his fingers impatiently against his leg, staring out the side of his carriage and gazing at the neutral region of Aleya. _What is taking so long_? It felt like they'd been sitting here for hours now....
White Noise
_Beep_. _Beep_. _Beep_. That was the first thing Lars heard. Hearing seemed to be his only sense right now. His eyes seemed to be open, but everything in front of him was a blur of greys and whites. Beep. He could hear beeping, but had no idea where...
Quiet Violence
Brady's earliest memory is of a fur his age being hit by a truck, just outside his home window. He was five years old. He wasn't really mature enough to grasp the idea of death in an intellectual sense, but he knew enough to know it was bad. That day...
Black Meridian 12: Mystic Horizon
**12: Mystic Horizon** The circus's circadian rhythm changed significantly during performance weeks, as Fletcher learned. They performed six nights out of seven per week, and the show usually finished an hour or two after midnight. The day after,...
Black Meridian 11: Yellow Eyes
**11: Yellow Eyes** "My daddy killed thirty-three people w'this gun. Four 'a them he just beat to death, after running outta ammo he spent killing their friends." The Baron Mason Fulbright said, fingering a large copper-plated revolver. The thing was...
Black Meridian 10: Midnight Meridian
**[Part Two: Performance}** **10: Midnight Meridian** Until he saw it with his own two eyes, Fletcher hadn't fully grasped what Meridian meant by 'auxiliary show'. He saw now it was some kind of circus prelude, but the one time he'd had a chance to...
Black Meridian 14: Stage Persona
**14: Stage Persona** Blood on his paws. Blood in his ears. His mouth, nose, clothes, so much blood. Justin's eyes watered as he ran through the cold night air, rogue twigs ripping at his face and shoulders as he sprinted by, pumping his little arms...
Black Meridian 18: Running on Fumes
**18**** : Running on Fumes** "You should have let me go with them." The burly tiger said for the third time, crossing her arms. Merissa Meridian clucked in reply, shaking her head and flicking the reins. They'd repaired the busted wheel about an...
Black Meridian 17: The Calm Before
**17: The Calm Before** Narem hefted the knife in his paw, feeling the weight. He held it by the tip, studying the blade. Wicked sharp, matte black, narrow, the grip just blunt metal, no rubber, like a sliver of infinity. They belonged to Aloysius,...
Black Meridian 16: To The Gallows
**16: To The Gallows** Thume trudged forward through the muck, inwardly cursing Bantam and it's poorly maintained thoroughfare. "I'll be glad to be rid of this stupid town, tell you what." He muttered. To his left, Dopesmoker and Ursula nodded in...
Black Meridian 15: Psychic Eyes
**15: Psychic Eyes** Dopesmoker rose from his bed with a mechanical groan. Mornings were always difficult for him, but cold, seven-degree mornings like this were especially bad. His joints sung choirs of protest as he clambered out of bed, wrapping...
Black Meridian 22: Jack in the Box
**22: Jack in the Box** "We'll just have to go without her." Meridian tsked, shuffling back and forth in place, a clipboard in claw, marking off circus tasks. "Damn it Nobu, couldn't you have picked a better bloody time to screw up?" The leopard...