Series
The Wolf Witch - 3. Oliver's Night Out
Oliver put on his jacket and walked out of his flat with two mates. They'd had a few beers, ate steak for dinner, and were eager to get out to a nightclub to meet some girls or rather that was their idea. Oliver wanted to drink and that was it.
By Denise Larkin2 years ago in Fiction
Expatrianas Histories - The Child of the Goddess
"You know mortal, I have a half human daughter." Baj was stunned into silence by this revelation. After close to five years of forced servitude, rarely did anything the Goddess say surprise him. By the end of his first year, he had come to the realization that she was basically crazy, or at least that was how she appeared from a mortal's limited perspective. He had no idea what the other Gods and Goddesses thought of her, nor did he particularly care to find out. The things she said were a mixture of facts, opinions, truths, partial truths, half-truths, lies, and bald-faced lies. Of course, Elyria always said that "Gods and Goddesses don't have opinions, because once we say something, it becomes a fact." However, Baj knew better and many of the Goddesses’ opinions’ were wildly inaccurate or patently false. Never had the Goddess mentioned a thing about any offspring, let alone the fact that apparently her daughter was half mortal. That meant that the Goddess had been impregnated by a mortal, a thing Baj did not even know was possible. Eventually he regained his composure enough, cleared his throat loudly once, then spoke "I was not aware Goddess, and of course I have many questions. May I ask some?" Having to seek permission to ask her questions irked him to no end, but he knew better than to just begin to fire them off without that formality. The Goddesses' short temper was legendary, and asking a question she viewed as impertinent was a fast track to being totally ignored in the best case, or reprimanded and punished severely in the worst. He had felt the sting of Elyria's mental punishments too many times and had no desire to experience that pain again for what he viewed as a minor if irritating annoyance. The Goddess smiled and replied "It appears my many lessons in politeness may have finally begun to sunk in. Even one with a skull as thick as yours may learn it seems." Baj grimaced at the insult but knew better than to respond in kind. The Goddess' smile widened as she had seen the desire in his eyes to strike back and was pleased that he had managed to restrain himself for once. "You may ask your questions mortal." Baj took his time, considered the many questions he wanted to ask, weighed each against the level of insult or offense they might cause the Goddess, then mentally arranged them in order of least to most offensive. He rarely had the opportunity to ask questions of the Goddess, and he did not want to waste this chance to gain valuable intelligence by saying something stupid right off the bat and ending up with nothing but a burning backside or two-day long headache for his troubles. Finally, after much thought he spoke "What is her name Goddess?" "Her given name is Kaos, but the mortals with whom she spends most of her time refer to her as Stormbringer. Perhaps you have heard her spoken of in your many travels?" Baj's mind raced as he searched his memory for anything associated with that name. He felt a twinge of something just on the edge of his mind but could not place it. The name was familiar, and he was sure he had heard it, but could not recall the details or even the context and so simply replied "No Goddess, I have not." She sensed he was shading the truth but not lying outright. If he had lied, she would have known. One of the things her bond with the human gave her was the ability to see the truth and falsity of his statements. Unfortunately, humans traded in so many half-truths and half-lies that this power was limited to outright lies or patently false misrepresentations, and, in the five years she had known him, the human Baj had only lied to her twice. This stood in great contrast to every other mortal she had ever known for whom speaking the truth seemed to be as difficult as speaking a foreign language. In this case she only knew that he had likely heard the name but possibly forgotten it or was not entirely sure about it. "That is surprising. She is quite well known among the humans of this plane. Her abilities to influence the weather are both envied and feared. Mostly they are feared for she can only bring fierce storms, winds, lightning, hail, torrential rains and the like, and her command over these storms once summoned is quite limited. She cannot control their strength or duration and therefore only uses her powers in the direst of circumstances." She paused briefly and a look of sadness crossed her face before she continued. "It is such a shame she left us when she did, before we could finish her training, before I could teach her the things she needed to know to truly master her Goddess given skills. Of course, she would always be limited by her half human blood and could never hope to reach the level of a God like Poseidon or Aegaeon, but still she could have been very powerful indeed." Suddenly her sadness turned to anger, and her voice quivered with bitterness and rage as she spat out "If only that bastard human boy she obsessed over had run away as instructed when I first confronted him. Instead, he and my daughter snuck away in the middle of the night like two thieves. I may someday forgive her for that, but I will never forgive him, and woe his fate should I ever find him. It shall make that of Sisyphus look like a great gift by comparison" Baj shuddered as he considered that threat. Pushing a large boulder uphill for all eternity was a horrific fate indeed, and he felt a moment of sadness for this human as Elyria was an expert in the art of punishment and would no doubt devise something truly terrible if she were ever to lay her hands upon him. He forced himself to close that train of thought quickly before revulsion overcame him and instead focused on the puzzling inability of the Goddess to locate this human. Considering her many powers, vast knowledge, and network of supplicants, hangers-ons, devotees, and forced servants, it seemed a stretch to think one human could evade the obviously angry Goddess for very long. However, it was a good reminder of her many limitations and of her penchant for stretching the truth. Her "vast knowledge", as she called it, was not nearly as vast as she claimed he had discovered on more than one occasion. Moreover her "network" of loyal servants was always smaller than she led him to believe and truly believed herself. But her powers could not be called into question and finding things and people (mortals) was one of the many abilities possessed by the Goddess that she had proven over and over was genuine.
By Everyday Junglist2 years ago in Fiction
Selections from the Grand Bazaar
Nia slipped out of the ceiling vent, her breath tight in her chest as she let her legs dangle over the dusty shelf. She peered down, gauging the drop, then let herself slide down. The shelf wobbled under her weight, groaning like it might collapse, but she flattened herself against it, spreading her weight. The floor stretched before her in eerie silence—an abandoned office frozen in time, its lifeless husk still clinging to echoes of past inhabitants. The Shatterdome district had long since been forsaken, its only visitors the scavengers and ghosts of its former self.
By R.R. Stephenson2 years ago in Fiction
Selections from the Grand Bazaar
A Eulogy for Pully Jenkins Pully grew up to be a Hotlung, to the surprise of no one among his family and friends. The work was good: he'd receive a commission on every questionable package someone in town needed delivered, and he'd get to see all of the city instead of just the smoke stacks and factory floor his family all called home. Every morning after he got the courier's license Pully sprang out of bed and was out with his link turned on ready to take whatever job came in first. There is a void in the community now losing a young man on his way to better things, and as such we as a community pay the price.
By R.R. Stephenson2 years ago in Fiction
The Wage Slave’s Manifesto 1. AI-Generated.
Chapter 1: The Grind: ### **Setting the Stage** The story opens in **New Corinth**, a sprawling metropolis in the **United Corporate States of America (UCSA)**. The year is **2047**, and the nation has devolved into a hyper-capitalist dystopia. Corporations have replaced governments, labor laws are nonexistent, and citizens are ranked by their **Corporate Credit Score (CCS)** — a number that determines their access to housing, healthcare, and even basic dignity.
By Ethan Cole2 years ago in Fiction
Selections from the Grand Bazaar. Content Warning.
"Stop moving it, I'm trying to get the thing to sync up!" Maria thrashed with irritation as her sister tried to wrestle the dirty headset from her head. The two girls had wandered into the Roman Stacks outside their tenement. The city spread for miles all around them, but in these piles of waste the girls were never looked at as street urchins, just residents, and they loved every second of it. The place hardly had a view of the sky when you stepped into it, its abandoned shacks and leftover garbage piled into the heavens forming towers that rivaled the Corporate buildings downtown. Vargos was an urban jewel looking at those towers, but these towers were a monument to the filth the city never cleaned, just shuffled from one area to another.
By R.R. Stephenson2 years ago in Fiction
Let's see where this goes
I angrily walked away with my shoulders slumped, accepting defeat. I left the parking lot and walked into my apartment building and stood impatiently waiting on the elevator. I was relieved when it finally opened. I got in and quickly pressed my floor number.
By Carolyn B.2 years ago in Fiction
Expatrianas Histories - What the Gods Fear
“The southern Gods live in their great temple in Tenochtitlan. Ehecat is the wind God form of the great Quetzlacoatl. He is equivalent to Zeus among the southern Gods.” It was rare for Elyria to speak to Baj almost as an equal without her normal condescending tone and attitude, but whenever she did, he listened most intently. These were the few times she said things which made sense and were genuinely important, and sometimes even wise. This discussion about the southern Gods was one such occasion and so he made careful note of everything Elyria said. He remained respectfully silent as she continued. "I once heard Zeus say. A God whose name I cannot pronounce, is a God with whom I will have no quarrel. He is a silly old fool, but he is wise in some ways, and in this he is very wise. I will never understand these southern Gods human and you should avoid them at all costs too, if you value your life that is. They are barbarians forever demanding human sacrifice. And the more terrible the death the happier they are." That had sent a shiver down Baj’s spine. To think there existed beings with which even the great Zeus was afraid to quarrel, made Baj realize just how little he knew about the powers of his universe, and just how weak mortals like himself were in comparison to the Gods. He could not help but speak up at that moment. “Do you think they will join us when Diskord comes? Will the southern Gods fight alongside us against Chaos?” Baj asked with an air of resignation which suggested he felt sure the answer would be no. “Yes human, they will join us.” Elyria answered without hesitation. “How can you be certain?” he quickly shot back. The Goddess gazed at Baj and sighed, irritated by his inability to see the answer which was so clearly right in front of his face. “Because my slow brained one, if they do not there will be no humans left for their sacrifices.” Baj had long since armored himself against any hurt that might be caused by Elyria’s many harsh and unfair criticisms of himself and humanity. In the early years of his enslavement, he would have responded in kind, but he had come to accept them as a necessary if very unfortunate aspect of the Goddess’ personality. The attack on his intelligence was mild by her standards and he did not react though he was depressed greatly as he considered the weakness of mortals when viewed against the might of the Gods. Elyria immediately sensed the change in mood through her bond with him, and enquired gently, “Why does your mood suddenly darken human?” Baj answered meekly with an air of resignation “Is there no role for us to play then? In the fight against Chaos I mean. We are so weak. If even the Gods fear DisKord what can we possibly do?” The Goddess looked at him and, in her eyes, he saw something he rarely did. He only ever saw it when she was at the peak of one of her “sermons” pontificating on the power of hope and love, the corny philosophy she espoused, the principles around which a church had been built, and to which her temple’s across Nortenous were dedicated. It was hope that he saw there, true hope, the kind only a God could reveal, and in that moment, it gave him strength and renewed his flagging spirits. He was no acolyte of her church and had been tricked into servitude. He did not believe in that “hippie dippy bullshit” as he referred to her philosophy and church, but even he could not deny the power of her message. However, never in a million years would he say that to the Goddess. Her ego needed no additional stroking given its current and seemingly ever-expanding size.
By Everyday Junglist2 years ago in Fiction
Why Must I Be Like This?
The state of the world has usually been bothersome. More-so for the grand scheme of things, that is. However, sitting in the booth of the favourite coffee shop, in the corner of the bar; hell, finding oneself in the upper floors of the beastly and overcrowded city library caught up in watching the lives of fellow people unfold deems everything else unworthy of the little aspects in life.
By Arthur Chapman2 years ago in Fiction
