Bloodstone: Chapter 2.1

CHAPTER TWO

Mira and Baz didn’t speak during the long walk back to their cottage. When Hound recovered enough to fidget in Baz’s arms, she set him on his feet. He spent the remainder of the walk no more than a hand span from Mira’s side.
Upon entering their home, Mira noted the utter silence. None of [...]

Bloodstone: Chapter 1.2

CHAPTER ONE (cont’d)

“I was a fool to let you near my daughter,” Sam raged. “All the coin in the world is not enough to allow a parasite like you to…”
“Enough!”
The barked command shot through Mira’s memories to the worst day of her life. It was him, the tutor who destroyed her. She scrambled [...]

Bloodstone: Chapter 1.1

CHAPTER ONE

The little girl’s screams echoed through the village.
Mira held her hands over the child’s scorched body, searching for hope. Although the burns didn’t cover more than a quarter of Zola’s frame, they went deep. Deeper than Mira’s had reached.
“Dotherri is with Sam,” Mira’s cousin whispered. Baz settled on the floor next to her. “I [...]

The Technicals, Part 4: Conclusion

The Technicals were done returning all the absorbed beings to the Gathering.
“Give back. Give back.”
Their chant went on as they began to pull random components from their bodies. Gadgets and their associated odds and ends grew in two piles.
To everyone’s astonishment, one pile—consisting of plastic, glass, metal, and wood—turned to streams of mist. The streams [...]

The Technicals, Part 3

It was difficult, but Mouse and Wisdom waited. The Technicals drew in the rest of the Gathering until the meadow was silent, empty. If they had it right, they would be safe. No place existed for Wisdom within the Technicals’ grasping indulgence.
“Are they finished?” Mouse peeped from a fold in Wisdom’s cloak.
“Quite nearly. The area [...]

The Technicals, Part 2

There were two of them. They stood as tall as a two-story building, and each bore a humanoid resemblance, if only in shape.
The first Technical crashed into the meadow, dropping components and dragging wires in its wake. Its body was composed of computer innards, televisions, cell phones, countless other electronics, and even a car or [...]

The Technicals, Part 1

It was the Elementals who called the emergency meeting. As the eldest beings, they were minimally in charge of the process.
The Elementals were joined in a quiet meadow by representatives of the Animals, the Florals, and the youngest of the beings, the Conceptuals. Members of each group settled in to their places around a [...]