"Fists up, you blockhead! Arm 'cross your face, or you'll get a sword in it," Stav bellowed, right in his ear, and Banner flinched. Jovi's sword clashed against the metal guard of his glove, and glanced off of it; Banner felt the shock of it travel up his arm and he backed up.
This had seemed like such a good idea when he was watching Lieutenant Stav spar now, well, it just didn't. He had found copies of the lieutenant's gloves from a mercenary hired by the last merchant train, and after a round or five of dicing, they were his (and most of his monthly pay was now the mercenary's). They fit Banner uncommonly well the gloves wer
"Look, all I wanna know is, why did they follow him when they knew he was gonna lead them into a trap?"
Exasperated groans met both the question and Lieutenant Stav as he opened the door into the barracks, swinging his cloak off of his shoulders. Only a few of the soldiers glanced up and nodded; the rest went back to what they had been doing before. Drinking, huddling by the fire a group were dicing, and Stav glanced into it for a moment as he made his way to the fire.
"There y'are, Stav!" This wasn't the greeting the lieutenant expected. He didn't mind that his title had been left off; the more experienced soldiers in the barracks h
The city of Kydrei had dozens of names. It was the first and foremost of the King's three Seats, the City of Bells, Dragonsport. Banner knew it best as the Soldiers' Hearth.
Though it was as far away from the border with Cordell as one could get and still have his two feet firmly on land, after every war the majority of the King's Armies came here. Although the authorities insisted that the war had come out as a draw, Eola had essentially surrendered and the two countries had come to a shaky truce -- no matter that the Eolan standing army was the best, they could not always win against a country of thrice-cursed witches and sorcerers. Every
Rocky Stride came from a long line of war heroes -- their family had men in the American Revolution and since then it was sort of a proud family tradition. Rocky was an only child, and there was never any doubt that he would proudly serve his country; he had been shunted into a military academy the second he graduated from sixth grade and joined that Marine Corps as soon as he graduated.
The slightest of deviations came when Rocky began doing more than just his civic duty. He had become as much of a superhero as someone without (valid) powers could be, and eventually his missions weren't overseas, they were stateside, tracking down his very
Annalee hadn't realized that DK and Matt had left the Gamestop until she looked up and realized that she was alone in the store with Cobi, Betten, and a bored, high school-aged employee who kept sliding sideways glances at their MUGD shirts. She swallowed nervously and put the game shakily back on the shelf. She would be okay, she told herself. Cobi and Betten were nice enough to her; even though she had this feeling they treated her as carefully as they would hold an egg.
Annalee felt awkward as she trailed out of the store behind the two boys. Sadie had bullied her into wearing a black and white skirt that was uncomfortably shorter than
Lyon could taste blood in his mouth as he was driven to his hands and knees. The lines of the chalk circle blurred in his sight, but he could tell that he had not smudged them he would be truly dead then, instead of only halfway there. His limbs trembled as The Liar's words slithered into his hearing, seeming to thicken the air around all of them until they were forced to gasp for breath.
"You are weak and pathetic," the demon in the circle sneered. "To think you could ensnare me in this circle. Al of this is the mildest of inconveniences."
Keep breathing, Lyon told himself. Focus. It can't get out.
"Of course I can get out."
The door creaked as it open, and he paused, but only for an instant. Neither wife nor child woke, and Jolim realized that they were probably used to his late homecomings now.
As always, he went to the small crib first. It had been moved to underneath the open-shuttered window, catching as much moonlight as possible because Slaine said that the baby couldn't sleep in true dark. Jolim didn't like the chill the open window brought, but Rhosyn was wrapped in more covers than he thought he possessed, and he would endure a thousand freezing nights if it made her happy.
He didn't go to bed yet. Rhosyn was an angel to look at, a fragile thing mo
Zain Starts An Epic Barfight by Kili-sah, literature
Literature
Zain Starts An Epic Barfight
The Borderlanders were not named because they lived in that evil-infested strip of land that bordered the north-northeast part of Lukima, but because they had, up until a few years ago, been the ones who defended the other lands from the monsters that lived in said lands. They had lived in the Valley of a Hundred Lakes and the Nine Towers for two centuries, paid tribute to the much larger country of Lukima that had annexed it, and forced a living from the harsh land while defending it from the occasional monster that would poke its nose outside of the Borderlands.
They were a harsh, stubborn people, about as solid as a rock, and practically
"Fists up, you blockhead! Arm 'cross your face, or you'll get a sword in it," Stav bellowed, right in his ear, and Banner flinched. Jovi's sword clashed against the metal guard of his glove, and glanced off of it; Banner felt the shock of it travel up his arm and he backed up.
This had seemed like such a good idea when he was watching Lieutenant Stav spar now, well, it just didn't. He had found copies of the lieutenant's gloves from a mercenary hired by the last merchant train, and after a round or five of dicing, they were his (and most of his monthly pay was now the mercenary's). They fit Banner uncommonly well the gloves wer
"Look, all I wanna know is, why did they follow him when they knew he was gonna lead them into a trap?"
Exasperated groans met both the question and Lieutenant Stav as he opened the door into the barracks, swinging his cloak off of his shoulders. Only a few of the soldiers glanced up and nodded; the rest went back to what they had been doing before. Drinking, huddling by the fire a group were dicing, and Stav glanced into it for a moment as he made his way to the fire.
"There y'are, Stav!" This wasn't the greeting the lieutenant expected. He didn't mind that his title had been left off; the more experienced soldiers in the barracks h
The city of Kydrei had dozens of names. It was the first and foremost of the King's three Seats, the City of Bells, Dragonsport. Banner knew it best as the Soldiers' Hearth.
Though it was as far away from the border with Cordell as one could get and still have his two feet firmly on land, after every war the majority of the King's Armies came here. Although the authorities insisted that the war had come out as a draw, Eola had essentially surrendered and the two countries had come to a shaky truce -- no matter that the Eolan standing army was the best, they could not always win against a country of thrice-cursed witches and sorcerers. Every
Rocky Stride came from a long line of war heroes -- their family had men in the American Revolution and since then it was sort of a proud family tradition. Rocky was an only child, and there was never any doubt that he would proudly serve his country; he had been shunted into a military academy the second he graduated from sixth grade and joined that Marine Corps as soon as he graduated.
The slightest of deviations came when Rocky began doing more than just his civic duty. He had become as much of a superhero as someone without (valid) powers could be, and eventually his missions weren't overseas, they were stateside, tracking down his very
Annalee hadn't realized that DK and Matt had left the Gamestop until she looked up and realized that she was alone in the store with Cobi, Betten, and a bored, high school-aged employee who kept sliding sideways glances at their MUGD shirts. She swallowed nervously and put the game shakily back on the shelf. She would be okay, she told herself. Cobi and Betten were nice enough to her; even though she had this feeling they treated her as carefully as they would hold an egg.
Annalee felt awkward as she trailed out of the store behind the two boys. Sadie had bullied her into wearing a black and white skirt that was uncomfortably shorter than
Lyon could taste blood in his mouth as he was driven to his hands and knees. The lines of the chalk circle blurred in his sight, but he could tell that he had not smudged them he would be truly dead then, instead of only halfway there. His limbs trembled as The Liar's words slithered into his hearing, seeming to thicken the air around all of them until they were forced to gasp for breath.
"You are weak and pathetic," the demon in the circle sneered. "To think you could ensnare me in this circle. Al of this is the mildest of inconveniences."
Keep breathing, Lyon told himself. Focus. It can't get out.
"Of course I can get out."
The door creaked as it open, and he paused, but only for an instant. Neither wife nor child woke, and Jolim realized that they were probably used to his late homecomings now.
As always, he went to the small crib first. It had been moved to underneath the open-shuttered window, catching as much moonlight as possible because Slaine said that the baby couldn't sleep in true dark. Jolim didn't like the chill the open window brought, but Rhosyn was wrapped in more covers than he thought he possessed, and he would endure a thousand freezing nights if it made her happy.
He didn't go to bed yet. Rhosyn was an angel to look at, a fragile thing mo
Tell 'im Ah'll be there in a moment." Jolim waved a hand in dismissal, and the young messenger bobbed his head, darting from the captain's tent and leaving the Weaponsmaster to himself.
Ah, but this had all turned out so wrong. Jolim had put in his request to leave for home as soon as the year ended. The Highlander's ten years of exile were nearly over -- he could already taste the cool, but fresh air of the steppes of the Highlands.
But then one simple training exercise had gone wrong. Now three of his students were dead. They had died in his arms for one simple, silly mistake.
If there had been a death on the other side, perhaps Jo
Beat Skimmer was leaning on the railing near the prow of the airship, the banister coming up to just above his waist as he kept his hands in his pockets, staring across the other banister and out at the night sky.
He cut an odd enough character -- as a mechanic, he was naturally dirty from the days work (the engine had had a few hiccups throughout the day and he only now managed to resolve the problem). A white tank top was stained from his job, few spots remaining even something close to white anymore. A pair of dark-colored, baggy canvas pants were covered in pockets, which were in turn stuffed with all sorts of tools a
I was tagged by the KICKIN RAD !CorsairOriginal (https://www.deviantart.com/corsairoriginal)!!!
Rules:
1. Post these rules.
2. Post 8 facts about your character.
3. Tag 8 other characters.
4. Post their names with the creators avatars.
5. No tag backs.
Tagged character is: Zain
1. Zain was born to the Lord of the Borderlands and his wife, who was a high-ranking noble in Lukima and died in childbirth. He was promptly carried, as an infant, to the capital of Lukima by the Captain of the Ontai Province Guard and spent the summers of his childhood there to grow up with the Lukiman prince.
2. Although both branches of his faily have been able to use magic, Zain has no inborn gi