James Pyles's Blog, page 194
August 12, 2017
Cowboys and Sorcerers, Part One
The 21st Story in the Adventures of the Ambrosial Dragon: A Children’s Fantasy Series 6,000 years ago in Bronze Age China, Bingwen Lóng, a dragon disguised as a man, Yao Jin, a sorceress and sword wielder, and Xia Jiuzhou, an eight-year-old boy whose real name is Landon, stand on a ridge overlooking the mystical and […]
August 10, 2017
Turn and Face the Change
Two days before he took his first trip through the time gate, Major John Kelgarries had a hush-hush meeting at Operation Retrograde with Antoine R. Barnes, Head of the Temporal Mechanics division, the last word in temporal field operations and perhaps the one person in the operation who actually understood the Forerunner time map. It […]
August 9, 2017
The Moaning Stone
“We’ve hiked three days to get here, Jason. Are you sure it’s worth it?” “According to the old library book it should be.” Jason and Jill climbed down the heavily wooded gully. “Should be around…there. The moaning rock.” “Just a big rock, Jason.” Then they heard the moan. “I don’t like this Jason. Let’s go […]
August 7, 2017
Shuǐmǔ
“Bai. don’t give up now. She must be nearby. I can feel it.” “We’ve pedaled long enough my brother Heng. It’s a hoax.” “No. If we find her, we’ll be rich.” “There is no ‘her’, Heng. We are being manipulated by a wealthy eccentric.” “Send 68 pairs of contestants on tandem bicycles to search for […]
August 6, 2017
Tomorrow or Yesterday?
Major John Kelgarres had been the military commander of Operation Retrograde for over five years but in all that time, he’d never gone through a gate. Not until today. “Are you sure your presence is really required John. After all, we know our job.” “It’s not you Gordon. I’m Walter Byrd’s C.O. I’m responsible for […]
Visiting Home
The young reporter stood at one end of a torn up sidewalk in the heart of his home town. The place was going through growing pains again as city workers discovered it was worth a longer commute from rural towns in exchange for affordable housing, a lower crime rate, and cleaner air. There were times […]
The Tombs of Petra
Nadia tried to hide her tears as she witnessed the scene. “Oh, Abdus. Look at what they’ve done. How could they?” Only a few of the other tourists in their party viewing the Nabatean Theater at Petra noticed the finely dressed Arab woman burying her face in presumably her husband’s chest. They hadn’t the faintest […]
August 5, 2017
The Palace of Heaven, Part Two
The 20th Story in the Adventures of the Ambrosial Dragon: A Children’s Fantasy Series Bingwen Lóng rose majestically on brilliant wings high into the Palace of Heaven ready to confront his foe. At the last second, Xian, the Royal Shadow Dragon, and the golden dragon’s arch-foe, dodged and swooped slow over the floor of the […]
Loose Nuts and Bolts
“So that’s where I left you.” He addressed the pristine pieces of metal on the kitchen table. Sunder Paz had been assigned some DIY problems by Dr. Reuven as a test of his reasoning abilities as well as how he functioned independently. He had been performing a routine maintenance task when he was distracted by […]
August 4, 2017
The Time Trap
At what used to be Folsom base in a hidden canyon in 21st century Arizona, four men and two women walked through the time gate temporal field and disappeared. Kelgarries said a silent prayer. His long wait for their return began…or so he thought. Ashe, Murdock, Zheutlin, Huỳnh, Fox, and Romanovich stepped through the other […]
