The deck lurched as the waves rolled the ship, the choppy surf matching the tumult aboard. Every board felt flimsy and poorly set beneath Kovarlin’s claw. It was all he could do to drag himself across the damp planks, trying to find his feet, to quash the fear and doubt of death, and to rally […]
Tag: Under the Shadow of Forsaken Banners
(USFB): Twenty-Eight: The Spy
An order to follow, to track and not engage, was not in keeping with what the jackal had come to know from his master. The lives he had reaped, the dynasties ended, and other acts of skullduggery had come and gone with ease. Yet, to follow without bloodshed was a challenging task for him. At […]
(USFB): Twenty-Seven: Unreasonable
“In the lands of my fathers, the lands of the Great Syres, we tell a story of your kind and ours,” the lion spoke in heavy timbre that hushed all but the elk’s heart, “Euriphides and Domcreius, the ill-fated brethren born of the sand and born of the salt of the sea. You might guess, by […]
(USFB): Twenty-Five: Winds of Winters Past
Luck had graced the foxes more than they could ever know. That much was clear as their Northern neighbors made their way to the half-concealed entry that served as the main furrowfare to Seras. Night had swept in, and the lack of fire inspired confidence that the village was still free and clear of violence. […]
(USFB): Twenty-Four: The State of War
Returning without Ceren and Rin would have bristled Razien to the end of his wit, knowing full well what Jaium might say, but with Shah Tirasha’s allotment of warriors, he felt a touch more comfortable. If they returned to Roya when it was all over or were pushed as far east as the coastal town of […]
(USFB): Twenty-Three: Lingering in Time
Night had come by the time Pulzar returned to his typical perch. So far above the city, nearly as tall as the bell tower, it was the easiest place for him to transition between air to fur once more. Yet, despite how high either structure stood, they paled in comparison to the great tree. His […]
(USFB): Twenty-Two: Shades of Truth
The shutters murmured against an intense out-of-season wind storm that arose from nearly nowhere. However, if it had bothered Amirot, he did not let it occupy much of his mind. In his stasis, suspended in the air like so many leaves winding around the steeple, his thoughts were anywhere but in the immediate. He had […]
(USFB): Twenty-One: The Empire and The Remains
Even from the heights of the split monolith, ancient to a point in which even the most learned of scholars could not tabulate its age, the view of the ceremony was clear enough. The winds rounded about the leopard on the high ledge, his pale gray eyes unblinking against the torrent. Nothing had forced Pulzaricati to flinch […]
(USFB): Twenty: Deeper Cellars of Yesterday
A dank and mold-fettered draft wisped into the depths of the cavernous temple until it reached the desolate form of the puma. His mind danced in the void between one world and the next, trying furtively to again find purpose and strength. He clutched his digits tight to his paw pads, feeling the crusted, dried […]
(USFB): Nineteen: The Enemy Within
She owed Dulsenor an apology for cursing his name, even if she hadn’t given the comment voice. Hardly could Greshalin justify any animosity towards the puma when he hadn’t much say in the matter. The man’s lack of control among so many others whom the Yerra had bent to his will was not forgivable as […]
Trazor 