Lazette Gifford's Blog, page 16

Flash Fiction #550 -- Buffy the Pirate/6

 Buffy and Serena wanted to fly ahead and warn the others not to attack, but there were a couple of problems.  First was the weather, which was getting worse. Neither of them wanted to end up in the ocean.Serena admitted a second problem, but only to herself. Her mother was the only one who might believe the story. She might not get to her fast enough to stop the others. Once they were at the

Flash Fiction #549 -- Buffy the Pirate/5

 Buffy yowled as they flew so fast that Serena feared they would overtake seagulls, and that sounded messy. She tried to shout, but it seemed as though the words slid off behind her. Buffy, of course, was ahead.They had to be getting closer, especially if the ship had sailed from Norco already. In fact, she could see something not far ahead.She put her palms together. "Disappear!"And she did.

Flash Fiction #548 -- Buffy the Pirate/4

 She arrived at the outskirts of Bay Village just before dawn the next day and quietly climbed the hill up to her mother's home. A light shined in the window, and it almost made her cry.Serena was not surprised to find her mother up and cleaning. It was almost dawn, after all. The older woman gave a quick smile when Serena opened the door and stepped in, but it faded when she looked behind her

Flash Fiction #547 -- Buffy the Pirate/3

 Serena didn't dare do more than lie on the roof and watch as the men walked away, and she couldn't follow them to learn what they were doing. Soon the two disappeared back into the city on some mission.There were few people out, so Serena had no trouble climbing back off the roof. She found a slightly covered corner and ate a little food. She would have used a little magic to warm up if she had

Flash Fiction #546 -- Buffy the Pirate/2

 Serena was so anxious to get home that she almost took off right then. How could Buffy have gone to Captain Vane?What was she doing?Serena felt alone, confused, and afraid. Buffy should have told her something about a plan -- if the cat had one that reached beyond joining the pirates ... which well might have been the draw.The cat should have talked to her about it. That annoyed Serena enough

Flash Fiction # 545 -- Buffy the Pirate/1

 The raiders were back.They had scuttled two ships in a month and took the crews to be ransomed or sold. Serena's mother lost an expensive -- and essential -- shipment of ingredients for potions. If she hadn't been so desperate, she never would have suggested Serena and her familiar, Buffy, check into things. "I worry about my shipment falling into the wrong hands," the older woman admitted. "So,

Flash Fiction #544 -- The Exile

 If I slowed down, I would look back and stop and never move on. That was what my unreasoning mind told me, so I kept going down the trail past the late autumn fields of barley.I had not expected the elders to exile me.I stopped because the rage nearly blinded me. I hadn't felt that way when I'd fought Martin when he caught Carola by her hair and kicked her. He had no right, betrothed or not.The

Flash Fiction #543: The Long Way Home/42 (END)

 They were in a carriage, and he lay on a bed of soft pillows. Eket sat beside him."Awake now. Good," Eket said. "I cannot stay. There is no telling what Aien is up to. Humans are odd creatures, you know. Fascinating. I don't understand half of why you have done what you did.""Right thing to do," Rory replied as if this made any sense. "Pyrida?""He will be a long time trapped in his nightmare and

Flash Fiction # 542 -- The Long Way Home/41

 "No," Zorian said. "I will not allow it."The words amused Rory at first. He had never heard his companion sound so pretentious before. But then the words did something else. It formed a spell that caught at the tattered edges of his thoughts and forcibly pulled him back to where he really didn't want to go.Rory put up a fight."Stop that, you fool! At least now I am stronger than you, and I will

Flash Fiction #541 -- The Long Way Home/40

 Annoyance was not the best sort of power to tap. It was almost alien to Rory, who had spent most of his life working to stay calm in the face of aggravating situations at Court and the Temple. Annoyance did not come naturally to him.Now he had to work fast to learn how to control it. Two of the threads had already attached to his legs and tried to force him to move toward Pyrida.And besides that