Ander - Part 6: Subchapter 105
105 Jonah couldn't move, and that was good. Dean had moved, and now he was dead. Devin had moved, and now he was dead, too. Peter had moved, and guess what? He was just as dead as the others. Rufio and Eric and all their chums had moved, and now all...
Ander - Part 5: Subchapter 78
78 Something grabbed him around the neck and jerked him back. Dorin screamed and, although he would never admit it to anyone, for a second he thought it was Lana's arm around his throat, risen from the dead to exact her revenge personally. He fell...
Ander - Part 5: Subchapter 77
77 He looked at her hand for a very, very long time. They had dropped her in a ditch overgrown with bushes, and her hand was sticking out of the brambles, as if asking a kindly passer-by to help her back up. Dorin was afraid of what he would find if...
Ander - Part 5: Subchapter 75
75 There was a giant pit dug at the base of the Cora statue, at least two Wolves wide; a gaping, crumbling hole. There were wooden stakes planted all around the edge, anchoring dozens of chains that fed into the shadowy depths like spokes on a...
Ander - Part 5: Subchapter 74
74 It was the longest, most tiring journey of his life. The sun had already started to crest the mountain by the time they finally made it back home. The gate swung open with a groan, scraping the ground clear of snow. It made a shape like a pair of...
Ander - Part 5: Subchapter 81
81 Nilia's muscles ached and her lungs burned with every inhale. She was cold and tired, but the weight on her back was a constant reminder not to slow down. She could feel his blood running down her spine, the smell of it so thick and cloying she...
Ander - Part 5: Subchapter 80
80 Dorin knew something was wrong the moment he saw that column of smoke rising up from beyond the village walls. It was too thick and black to be a cooking fire, the scent too acrid. He recognised that smell. It was a smell he had breathed into his...
Ander - Part 5: Subchapter 72
72 There was no pain, no cold, no sadness. There was only peace and the smell of something sweet, carried by a warm, summer breeze. James opened his eyes. The sky was blue, but not just any blue. It was the most beautiful shade of blue he had ever...
Ander - Part 5: Subchapter 71
71 Impossible. There was no way it could be true, and yet there was no mistaking that voice. It was the same one he had listened to his entire life, telling him to clean his room and feed the chickens and haul water from the well, the same voice that...
Ander - Part 5: Subchapter 70
70 Banno stuck his hand into the snow and swept it aside, hating the feel of it against his burned palm, all slick and cold. Even the noise it made as it fell to the ground annoyed him, so muffled and soft, as if the nothingness had gotten into sound...
Ander - Part 5: Subchapter 68
68 There was no light save for the pale glow of the moon. No flicker of orange flames shining through the gaps in the trees, no beacon to guide him. He was sure they would have made a fire by now, but there was nothing, only emptiness. All the colour...
Ander - Part 5: Subchapter 43
43 It was cold. Much too cold. This wasn't normal. It wasn't supposed to be this cold. Maybe it was just naturally colder this side of the mountain, but Banno didn't think so. His presence alone should have been enough to keep it at bay. That proved...