Lazette Gifford's Blog, page 17

Flash Fiction #540 -- The Long Way Home/39

 It was one thing to know Pyrida had gone mad, but another to be pulled into the nightmare with him. It was as if the magical blow to the top of the head had opened the door to somewhere else -- a dark, forbidding place. The essence of Pyrida stood there like a black stone with arms, reaching to pull him in and destroy him."Rory!" Zorian yelled somewhere close by -- and yet in another universe. "

Flash Fiction #539 -- The Long Way Home/38

 They headed straight for the docks, rushing through Aien's bailey and past her tower as fast as possible, though Rory still felt as though the world moved in strange ways by the time they were out of the area.The others were yelling, and he thought they even spoke to him. Maybe he had sense enough to trust them and agree with whatever they said. Just continuing to move with them proved difficult

Flash Fiction #538 -- The Long Way Home/37

 The noise came again from outside the window.  Rory saw something flash in the distance, down by the docks."Tell me what I need to know to solve this trouble.""Pyrida is going to try to reclaim his status from you.  Don't count on Eket stepping in, even if it was his idea.  Eket, Aien, and all the other gods have expected us to deal with our own problems and even the ones they create.""What can

Flash Fiction # 537 -- The Long Way Home/36

 Rory didn't ask about currents and old ones, as much as he wanted to drag answers out of his two strange companions. He would probably get better answers from Zorian and Greenal, anyway.Rory glanced back at the two and found them quite attentive. Beyond them, though, everyone else had gone still and silent -- too much so. He thought his two companions, the two gods, and himself, were caught in a

Flash Fiction #536 -- The Long Way Home/35

 (I got tired of the other picture.)Zorian frantically went back to work. Rory held the dragon's head, but he was aware of another power coming their way. Then yet another, and this one not from far away.The two powers somehow reached them at the same time. They collided over the castle with an explosion that shook everything and likely destroyed lesser buildings. And then it did it again, as

Flash Fiction #535 -- The Long Way Home/34

 Rory took one step forward. He could hear the wind growing now that Zorian turned his attention to it. There hadn't even been time to find something relevant.  A book fell off a shelf and hit his foot."Ow!""I didn't do that," Zorian said. He looked at the book with more dread than hope."I didn't feel any magic," Rory replied and nudged the book with his foot."No human magic."Rory looked back at

Flash Fiction #534 -- The Long Way Home/33

 No, that could not be right. Rory said nothing, and he even kept himself from shaking his head. However, the idea that Kellic would go along with this to save some woman from losing the throne --"Come on, Rory," Zorian said. He caught Roridan by the arm and started to pull him away. Others were speaking, and he stopped. "No, I am going with him --""I don't need a guard," Rory protested.Zorian

Flash Fiction #533 -- The Long Way Home/32

 Silence held in the room, and no one dared say anything, even after their initial reaction to the statement. The Queen and general looked at each other and nodded in agreement to something neither of them said.Queen Intensia looked out at the crowd of locals as if they were the ones she had to speak to and not her own people. Finally, her notice turned to Jamison and his wife, and she gave a

Flash Fiction #532 -- The Long Way Home/31

 Rory could sense the magic all around them as they crossed the wide bailey and skirted a tall but apparently deserted square tower.  Most people would have thought it so, but Rory felt so much magic emanating from the stone and wood that it made it difficult for him to breathe, let alone walk.Zorian caught hold of Rory and swung him up over his shoulder like a bag of grain.  He tried to protest,

Flash Fiction # 531 -- The Long Way Home/30

 Rory moved up the steps, Zorian on one side and Andora on the other.  Prince Palkin walked between the two generals and didn't look thrilled to be on show right now.  Rory suspected this was not the place Palkin wanted to be.  Neither did he.And more so when each step upward to the next brought him the conviction that there was magic in that next bailey.  A considerable amount of it.Rory looked