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Haunted House 55: Turn About

Jul13

First: A story featuring a male keeper and a female Kept.
🌳

Neil, the slave-guard that wanted to buy his own slave headed into the barn while the slaver (and, unseen, Mélanie) watched and listened. 

It took only a moment, a surprisingly short moment, for the shouting to start.  Jasper?  No, none of those voices were familiar.  She moved closer, listening until she heard Neil shout in panic. 

Good. She smiled a little bit.  It might not be stinging bugs in his pants, but it was probably just about what he deserved. 

The slaver looked between the barn and his nice warm house.  She could almost see the gears turning in his head. Safe house, profits, safe house, profits. Continue reading →

Running in the Bear Empire 50: Inn

Jul12

First: Running in the Bear Empire
Previous:49: Lies
Next: 51: Lady
🐻

Carrone kept sending little looks her way. 

Deline wasn’t quite sure what it meant, and she didn’t quite want to stop and ask, either. 

They’d gone from being two people dodging bounty hunters to being an entire entourage, the wounded on wagons with their healers, the rest trudging along through mountains that were clearly no more familiar to them than they were to Carrone. 

They had no privacy and no time to talk, but, on the other hand, they weren’t very worried about being attacked.  Not with Ranger Learone and Lord Eigeran having decided that they were Deline’s personal bodyguards. Not with their surviving able-bodied soldiers stalking along as if they were an invading force led by Deline. Continue reading →

Spoils of War 14 – Dirty, Rotten…

Jul10

First: Spoils of War I: Surrender

Author’s note: oops.  Please check http://www.lynthornealder.com/2019/07/03/frenemies/ first and pretend I posted these in the right order.  Thanks!

Aran pressed his back against Nikol’s as they made, sideways, for the exit. There were strange giant rat-creatures coming out of everywhere – almost literally everywhere; they seemed to have some sort of camouflage power.  The horses had fled. The cats were by their ankles, attacking their share of rat-things with glee. 

“They really – really don’t like rats,” Aran panted.  “Shit, fuck, ow.”

“Almost there.”  Nikol couldn’t do a Working right now without it sending blinding pain through her head, but she could still swing a sword.  And she did, sweeping it through seven of the things in one long go.  Continue reading →

Hidden Mall 75: Backstage

Jul8

“Shit, shit-shit-shit, shitty shit shit,” Abby muttered, although she knew that wasn’t going to do any good. “Shit, there’s a demon out there, how do we get – oh!”  She grabbed at hands and flailed at her friends and pulled them back past the pastel tops and the clever sayings and the jeans with the stretch panels to the door marked “employees only.”

“Why is there even stuff in here?” she whispered. “Why do we have stuff in a dead mall?”

That wasn’t the issue, though.  She got them into the back room as the steps got way too close and counted, one, two, three, herself.  “You’re the right Liv- Olivias – right? I didn’t leave one of mine behind?”

“I’m ‘Via.”

“Olly here.” Continue reading →

Running in the Bear Empire 49: Lies

Jul6

First: Running in the Bear Empire
Previous:48: War
Next: 50: Inn
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Deline raised her eyebrows at this interloper.  “Pardon me, Lord Eigeran. I must have misheard you.”

“Was I speaking to you, prisoner?”

“Sir.”  Ranger Learone cleared her throat.  “The Claw of the Bear is not a prisoner.  I and the soldiers here are.”

“And your commander?” His body language suggested he was either intentionally ignoring Deline to slight her or he was unaware of what a Claw of the Bear could do. 

“He died of his own doing, sir.  He upset the prisoner Teshone, who fell on him.” Continue reading →

Spoils of War 13: Enemies

Jul3

First: Spoils of War I: Surrender

Nikol peered over at Aran.  He was looking her way. Feeling her out?  

“You could,” she agreed slowly.  “Pretty sure I haven’t given you an order about that.”

“Not many orders, actually,” he agreed.  He sounded cautiously agreeable. “I bet there’s a catch.  This stupid thing has way too many catches.”

“There is.  Everything I’ve heard says it’ll make you more and more miserable the longer you’re away from me.  You could do it, but eventually you’d end up finding your way back. And then you’d have to deal with guilt and, well, if I wanted to punish you for it.”

“You don’t strike me as the punishing sort.”  He almost made it a question.   Continue reading →

Hidden Mall 74: Progress

Jul1

The next two days went so smoothly Abby was beginning to believe that things could just, well go smoothly.

They would travel to a Mall, talk to it (if it would still listen or could still listen, which some of them simply couldn’t), and, if they were lucky, get an affirmative answer.

They cleaned out two fountains, did some really nerve-wracking window-washing (the inside roof of a food court), dripped three drops of blood each into a circle, did some intense and obstacle-course-based mall-walking, and fought some wild dogs.  They also filled out surveys, gave out their phone number, and wrapped presents for a couple hours. Continue reading →

Haunted House 54: Wasps

Jun29

First: A story featuring a male keeper and a female Kept.
🌳

One guard was heading for the slave factor’s house; the other was heading for Mélanie’s distraction.

Mélanie trailed back from the stalking slaver-guard enough to whisper a Working that would shake the grasses and make a lot of noise in  a slowly retreating stream and then one that would throw her own voice all over the place. Then she followed Neil into the house to the side of the slave pens, swallowing the bile in her throat.  She hated this place, even if she’d never been in it.

He let himself in — probably not fae; she wouldn’t give someone like this an open invite to her house if she had him in her employ, but humans weren’t limited by thresholds the way the fae were — and headed upstairs.  She waited on the porch, since she couldn’t go into the guy’s house without an invitation, and focused on making the noise outside the gate distract Neil’s partner.

The slave factor came down the stairs several minutes later and out the door, trailed by Neil and a slave.  The factor was buttoning his pants; the slave was wearing a blanket as a sort of wrap, a collar, and a nervous expression. Continue reading →

Running in the Bear Empire 48: War

Jun28

First: Running in the Bear Empire
Previous:47: You Will Die
Next: 49: Lies
🐻

Deline considered their prisoners, the wounded, the dead, and those in between. “Who of you who’ve surrender have medical training?”

One person cautiously raised their hand.

“Carrone?”

“Just basic field stuff.”

“Okay. So. If you have surrendered, you are now under the care and aegis of the crown of the Bear. You belong to the Bear until your trial. I am going to put you to work seeing how many people we can save, do you understand?”

Two of them nodded, including the one with medical training. Continue reading →