Anya the Doll

Anya kept a room to her own on the side of the city closest to the forests and farms. She had a window in her home, something the size of a painting like the kind they kept in the lobby downstairs. The glass frequently seemed fogged, or dusty, and Anya found herself dabbing at the spots of dust with a moistened towel, fretting over the detail that no one but her would ever see.

Fallen Vagrant - (fanfic)

She stops by the door, notes the pressure plate with caution. The hard light keeping the room sealed is gone, and she peers in around the corner until she sees the vagrant’s body. It’s not in good shape. Not decomposed, not quite, the way bacteria shies away from the corridors keeps her guessing as to the age of most things within.

Scholar's Knowledge

“What happened here?” Belka asked, as the man started along the table toward Belka and Kellja.

“What is happening,” he said, “is not over.” He started to trot, facing Belka as he came around the side of the table, lifting up his mace.

Disappointed, Belka swung to parry with her halberd, and as her halberd’s axehead struck the mace, a white flare overwhelmed Belka’s eyes. She cried out in alarm as her ears began to ring, and a moment later stumbled backward into a chair, tumbling onto her side. She heard another swing and a crack, and then turned herself over.

The Lords' Scholars

They crept along narrower tunnels. “These passages are older,” Kellja said, almost to herself. She held a torch forward, half tilted toward the dark ahead of them. “There are more memories here than elsewhere. The Scholars say it is more conducive to thought, to be in the presence of it.”

“Have you often spoken with Scholars?” Belka asked.

Guilt-Ridden Cavaliers

Belka faced the two cavaliers, halberd leveled. One wore a helmet and the other had a mad look in his eyes. Both were sullen, and their armor was spattered with blood. “Throw down your swords!” Belka called, gripping her halberd. She found she was shaking, to be subject to their maddened attention. Dust floated in the dark blue air of the fortress hallway.

The helmeted cavalier lurched forward with a swing, and Belka swatted his blade aside with the flat of the axehead. He stumbled, nearly falling, as the second cavalier approached. “And should we let another one through?” The helmetless cavalier called hoarsely to his fellow.

“I need to be through,” Belka said. “I’m not with the madfolk outside, I’m—”

The helmetless cavalier leapt toward her, and on instinct, she cut him down. Her axehead lodged in his side, and with a grunt he fell to his side. A line of blood trickled and stained the carpet on the granite floor as she wrenched the blade free.

The helmeted cavalier, still disarmed, ripped off her helmet—for it was a woman, and not a man as Belka had thought—and ran toward the body of her fellow cavalier. “Athalu!” She cried.

Belka stepped backward, uneasy.

Bell Reliquary

Dark clouds gathered along the horizon, and the wind kicked up against Robin’s jacket. She thrust her fists into her pockets as she walked against the wind. An overgrown cornfield rustled under the wind on the left and right, framing the road as it obscured whatever might be lurking there.

Ava strode past Robin, and lifted her hand toward a house on a hill, at the edge of the road. “There, we’ll find a reliquary suitable for a night’s rest.”

Nodding, Robin quickened her pace to match Ava’s, shadowing the fluttering of Ava’s cloak and dress.

Evening redness matched the clouds and took the diminishing half of the sky as they hurried to the house on the hill. And as they drew closer, the house seemed to grow. With no trees or brush around its lawn, there had been little to reckon its size to from a distance. Only, as they stepped up onto the concrete sidewalk that led to the mansion’s front doors, did they understand its size.

Weeds choked the yard, in uneven squares and rectangles where gardens might have been. Robin examined them for awhile, trying to recognize the different plants for useful herbs.

Ava stood by the door for a moment, half cracking it to look inside. “This home can be made safe,” Ava said, waving for Robin to come closer, to slip inside. And as Robin passed into the home, Ava finished, “We’ll need something to take place for your father’s eidolon. A reliquary.”