rough stuff -- Kveta the Kelvish Girl 3

They arrived in Tyere earlier than Mira had said -- mid afternoon -- and before they’d realized they’d reached it. The thick patches of brush and vines grew dense, and the springy grassy ground grew tough and hollow sounding. A wooden walkway seemed to emerge as they continued, and the rotting sides of houses appeared from the overgrowth.

“You said there were spiders here,” Mira whispered, as they came upon a street less completely choked by the vegetation, enough to reveal the fronts of the houses along it.

“There... should be spiders,” Kveta said, trying to recall the campfire rumors.

Mira stopped in front of a door, the wooden frame cracked and almost twisted. “But, no webs,” she said, gesturing around them before trying the doorknob. When the door remained shut, she leveled her sword and pierced the gap between the door and the frame, where the lock held the door in place. She thrust, caving the contraption, leaving it locked but detached from the door, and opening the door. Mira stepped through.

Holding her breath, her rifle tight in her hands, Kveta followed Mira.

rough stuff -- Kveta the Kelvish Girl 2

Kveta followed in Mira’s footsteps as they traveled along the river. Mosquitos and gnats filled the air, though Kveta found it no longer bothered her after so many days spent in the Wash. Every hour they walked, Kveta felt they’d walked a hundred kilometers from Risto. A hundred kilometers further from her family.

Mira stopped them on a flat slab of dark granite beside the river. Kveta sat, facing the gently flowing water. When Mira sat next to her, Mira had taken off her armor, leaving on a surprisingly civilian jacket and khakis underneath. The image of those that took zamarkite emblazoned in Kveta’s mind made little room for any commonness, and yet Kveta realized Mira had likely been as her, once. Barefoot, Mira dangled her feet into the water.

Clearing her throat, Kveta asked, “Are you a long way from home?”

Mira nodded. “Twice as many leagues as from here to Lun.”

rough stuff -- Kveta the Kelvish Girl

Kveta cowered underneath the branch as the beast stalked overhead. It was as alike a dragon as she had ever seen, like those in the books at the library in Ristor, scaly and fork tongued. Though it walked with a limp, its body was the size of carriage, and its teeth jutted out as long as swords. She clutched her rifle tight to herself, shaking.

And then, a snap near to her. A flash of steel and the beast roared, staggering as it turned to face the new aggressor. Kveta caught only glimpses of the huntress, her armor black and red, her sword nearly as tall as she was. The huntress flashed the blade as though to dazzle the beast and then held it up at shoulder’s height.

Howling, the beast charged, swinging its forelimbs, alternating with each step.

The huntress stood her ground until she leapt up. Kveta could see little else than a spray of the beast’s sour green blood, coloring the air as the huntress landed on the neck. Though the beast’s head had been cleaved in two, from nose to skull, the huntress planted her sword just under the base of the beast’s skull, and twisted her blade.

A Prologue for a Quest - Commission

The courtyard stretched back from the house a few hundred yards. Taika and Laika sat, hunched in their furs near the far end, while Father Jarvinem sat off to the side. They were far enough out that the warmth pumped up from the underground vents couldn’t well reach them, and so their breath frosted in the air.

Echoes of Old Kingdoms - 00

Still burdened with a headache, her stomach uneasy, Belka stumbled out into the harsh morning light. “What?” She asked, blinking. “Who?” Someone had been knocking.

A pair of soldiers with sheathed swords and the royal insignia painted on their breastplates stood on the landing outside of her apartment. “Are you Belka…?” Trying to read her last name from the sheet of paper in his left hand.

“Yeah, that’s me.”

“You are hereby placed under arrest,” the leftmost soldier said.