Lawrence Harding

Looming Disaster

“Sister Skuld?” “What is it, child?” Child. That still smarted. She might still be the youngest Norn, but Aevi still yearned to be seen as their equal. She was never going to become that in their, however, if she kept asking questions the way she did. Sometimes, though, you really had to. “What happens ifContinue reading “Looming Disaster”

Witness the Reforging

They made me to be a weapon – me and all my siblings. Then they decided they didn’t need us any more. They’re all gone now, all those who marched beside me to a war we were born for. I watched them march into the very furnaces that birthed them, at the command of ourContinue reading “Witness the Reforging”

Of Debts and Judgement

The judgement of the council was unanimous – death. There could be now other outcome for such a crime. Then the defendant spoke. Was there not a point of law, he asked in his low, steady rumble, that allowed a debt to be repaid by commuting execution to outlawry, with the customary day’s grace ofContinue reading “Of Debts and Judgement”

Consecration Consternation

“Now, where did I put the blessed thing?” muttered Brother Manatos to himself. The thing was indeed blessed – a thurible needed for the consecration ceremony that afternoon. He wandered the vestry, brow knotted in consternation. He was certain he had brought it into the church-to-be, but where in Thiaz’s name had he put it?Continue reading “Consecration Consternation”

Slipping from Legend

I was a thing of legends, once. Now, standing here, where it all began – or ended, depending on how you look at things – I realise that now I’m simply becoming a part of history. These ruins, of a one-time temple where my companions and I felled a god (a god!), are full ofContinue reading “Slipping from Legend”

The Unfortunate Meeting of Memris Progue and Herman Barnsaley

Memris Progue, Gentleman of the Circle, made the mistake of checking the contents of the jars on the shelves as he quietly entered the cellar. They were full of eyes, staring every which-way and preserved by a simple timelocking spell. That explained the state the police had found the bodies in. He shook his headContinue reading “The Unfortunate Meeting of Memris Progue and Herman Barnsaley”

A Stranger in the Tower

Garhstan was perturbed. The Hubbub was different. Not many people would have been able to tell, but he could. He would be a poor Language Keeper is his ears had not been trained to perfection. He hurried through the corridors of his tower. The walls were perfectly formed to funnel his collection’s mutterings to bestContinue reading “A Stranger in the Tower”

A Vague Venture

“What exactly,” asked Old Ferdinand slowly, “is this?” He peered at the paper, which had been plastered haphazardly on the wall of the only inn in Dandystead, and prodded it gently with his stick. Bertram puffed his chest out. He was still only a young mouse, but he was just as tall as Old FerdinandContinue reading “A Vague Venture”

A Veritable Scrooge

“A veritable Scrooge” – that was that they called him. Alastair could hardly blame them, for on the surface they were quite correct. But only on the surface. If he had truly been like the miserly skinflint of literary fame, Alastair would have heeded the ghostly warnings he had received. He had not. Instead, heContinue reading “A Veritable Scrooge”

Born of Death, Carrion Blooms

You killed us. At least, you tried to. Sometimes you succeeded. All of us were left dead or broken things. But death always brings forth new life, somehow. It suckles the soil, enriches the dirt, engorges what grows in the flesh of the earth. Death brought forth us, and now we rise. We see you,Continue reading “Born of Death, Carrion Blooms”