Research

Research was not fun.

There were days, when Cassie found interesting passages, or when she found an entire website dedicated to the histories of skaldic passages. Mostly, research was dull and long. All she wanted was to be outside, climbing the walls of the fjords and jumping into the chilly waters below.

Unfortunately she was getting paid to research. Maybe paid was too strong of a word, she had room and board and a promise to not be sold into slavery if she completed her tasks. At first she thought it was a hyperbolic statement but then Meredith disappeared, not quietly, there had been screams and the sound of a struggle. Cassie had rushed to her friends aid but by the time she got there Meredith was already gone.

They had been tasked to find the ‘forgotten verses’. A seemingly impossible task considering the foreboding title. And yet, the more Cassie delved into the research, the more surprising results she found. There were thousands of verses that were never compiled into epics, and hundreds of text containing fragments. It could be a dizzying collection of exciting finds that needed to be pieced together.

Today though, was neither exciting nor fulfilling. It had been weeks since Cassie had found anything. They brought in a new girl yesterday, Persephone. She has to find a way to ameliorate her position.

There was a shuffling of feet at the door.

Cassie drew her dirk.

Island

Going into prison, they don’t tell you that you need a weapon. You assume the state is there to protect you from the other inmates. This is a lie.

I was caught smuggling FDA blacklisted data chips from the Netherlands. I should have been sent upstate for 2 years max. But here I am 10 months later, on a high security island prison, there are no guards, just the inmates, the facility and an AI security reef to keep us in.

I never needed a weapon before, when I was a cyber smuggler. All I needed was the code. I could write shelter, defense and attacks. Physical violence was anathema to me. That changed in the first ten minutes.

There were two of us arriving that day. I was in a state of shock from my sentencing. That, plus the noise of the helicopter left me in a bubble of isolation. I should have been paying more attention.

We were instantly accosted by large, heavily muscled men. They took everything we had of value, which wasn’t much considering, but I lost my shoes. Better than the man who arrived with me.

He didn’t want to give them anything. There was a flash of obsidian and he was dead.

The first thing I did was get a blade. It’s the key to survival.. I take better care of it than I ever did my rig before, better even than myself.

Ring

25 steps to the target.

In another life, they should have been sisters, if not best friends.

This was not that life.

20 steps.

Kafira was her name. Her hair was as white as a snow leopard’s coat, it turned when she was 24 after the accident.

When she became a weapon.

15 steps.

The target was Madame Clarissa McGilligan. She was hosting this charity gala. Usually she was surrounded by interns, journalists and body guards. Tonight there were dozens of hanger ons, fluttering around Clarissa as if she was a venial drug that they were attracted too.

10 steps.

This is where it turned into an intricate dance. Kafira needed to get close, but she could not interact with the target or even touch the target. That is why she came dressed for this mission. She wore a midnight blue dress that was embedded with gold beads.

5 steps.

All of her jewelry was ancient. Her necklace was from the 15th century, a piece that was passed down in her family. The earrings were “borrowed” from a museum. Her prize was a gold ring studded with diamonds. It was from the Chinese female pirate Ching Shih.

Half a step to the right and three steps forward.

By rubbing her pinky against the intricate ring she opened a tiny latch. With the flick of her wrist she dropped the poison into the champagne flute.  

With a smile she walked away.

Stars

Sophia was in a hurry. She’d just finished working 16 hours in the lab and she was feeling fried. She spent the 5 minute walk from her station to her her car catching up on all of her social media apps. She despised notifications.

Just outside the front doors Sophia bumped into Tiffany, who was gazing up at the night sky.

“Oh sorry, I didn’t…” Sophia began, “what are you doing?” she finished quizzically.

“Trying to be a bit more human,” Tiffany replied in a sibyllic tone.

“You are trying. . .“

“To be more human,” Tiffany finished, “I’m looking at the stars.”

Sophia glanced up, “There aren’t really any stars out, the light pollution is too bright.”

“You can see Orion’s Belt, Ursa Major, and Minor, oh and that is Venus.” Tiffany pointed out.

Sophia looked at Tiffany as if she had swallowed a goldfish before her eyes. Sophia shook her head and walked to her car thinking.

Instead of driving home Sophia drove out of the city to find the stars.

Sophia drove to the smallest town she knew, only 55,000 people, they had to have stars there. Not enough.

Four hours and 320 miles later Sophia drove up a back road into the sagebrush.

She looked up to find the sky bursting with stars, and it took her breath away.

Somehow, seeing all that vastness she found a greater purpose, she knew what it meant to be human.

Goddess Coffee

Fildas briskly walked over to her friends table that they were occupying, and quickly slipped into her seat clutching her large coffee mug between her hands. As she sat down she took a sip and sighed in satisfaction.

“Oh goodness Fildas, you shouldn’t drink that much coffee, it isn’t good for you.” Pakhet said with a shake of her head.

Fildas smiled wickedly, “It’s not coffee Pakhet, it’s an Irish Hot Chocolate.”

Pinga snorted into her Chia, “So part whiskey, part chocolate then.”

All three women laughed.

“Did the two of you consider what I asked you last time?” Pakhet asked her friends.

“Despite your outlandish blandishments, I don’t think I will be joining you in destroying your patron city.” Pinga said with a laugh.

Fildas joined in, “Come now Pinga, it’s only been a few hundred years since she asked, the least we could do is think about it.”

“Hey!,” Pakhet exclaimed, “I haven’t asked about it in over a thousand years! No, I was talking about the aerial silks class that I thought we should all take.” She sipped her Turkish coffee in mock annoyance.

“Seems a little mundane for a goddess, don’t you think?” Fildas said.

“Says the woman wearing jeans and an off the rack “vintage” t-shirt” Pakhet replied. “It’s time for something new.”

“I say we should try it,” Pinga added, “Then I can practice my descending target shooting.”

“Sounds like a plan.” Fildas laughed.

Sanguine

She opened her eyes and blinked. She looked about her and wondered at why everything was sanguine.

Everything felt too real. Maybe she was not real enough. She tried to interact with her surroundings but she passed through.

Then the drums started. She felt them thrumming deep in her soul. She smiled, this was war.

She took a good look at what was around her, a military camp deep in the throws of pre battle build up. Nervous men were tightening down leather jerkins, or polishing shields. War axes and blades were settled onto belts.

She walked through the camp taking note. She quickly picked the cowards out first, usually they were alone, but there was a knot of ten who she knew would cause a lethal break in the line. She saw the men who were here out of determined fear, she knew they wouldn’t be strong enough for what was to come.

She felt the men who were full of passion, eager for a fight, eager to prove themselves, and eager to die for their country, she would remember them. One man above the rest stood out to her, he was empty. Empty of fear, of passion, empty of worry and empty of uncertainty. She smiled, this man would do great things.

She approached him, he was bowed over his blade, praying?  She wrapped her arms around him, feeling his power, she smiled. He would be granted access.

Tag

We don’t play tag where I’m from.

6 years ago, it was the dead of winter. We had snow that was taller than houses. This made our homes very snug, but it also changed the entire landscape of our world.

As children we decided to use this to our advantage. We turned the obfuscated snow into new landmarks, we dug trenches, and created perfect hiding holes.

It was perfect for playing tag.

In general, winter is the time of the year where we are stuck indoors because of the miserable biting cold, it then becomes our time to create and make new things for our home, repair tools and keep records. This year was different.

The snow was such a great insulator that the winter became a mild playground to run around in. As children we were not content to sit and obediently complete tasks our mothers gave to us. We wanted to run and play. So we did.

Every moment the sun was above the horizon we were playing. Then that fateful day happened.

We were playing near the quarry, but every child who was there that day swears we were not that close.

Katherine was running away from Steven, a funny red head who had a crush on her. Katherine was the fastest runner in our village. No one knows what made her stop on the crest of a snow bank.

But when Steven touched her, she fell.