Story: The Morrigan

Here's another story that just didn't make it for an anthology.  Since I wrote it for a specific book, I don't feel like shopping it around for others, in an attempt to get it sold.  I'll leave it here to be enjoyed.

Sketch: Bhaale

A sketch I did for my friend of his character.  He's a blind fighter; eyes are all coated in some cursed material.  Doesn't stop him from being a bad ass warrior.

Bhaale here also has two brothers I'm gonna try.  Though one is a big hulk of a man, so I don't know how that will go.

Inception

Went to see it tonight.  I was expecting some awesomeness, because Christopher Nolan is great.

OMG!!!!!!!!!!

It's brilliant.  It's great.  It's probably the best Nolan movie to date.

And it's so mind blowing in its complex simplicity.  I know, what a paradox, but it's true.  You can just watch the movie, and enjoy it on a visual level, or you can dig and explain as deep as you want.  The movie loses nothing if you do either.

There is a lot of room to take it beyond if you wish.  LOTS of room.  We came up with four or five different interpretations just in the first fifteen minutes of being out of the movie.  All of them viable, none of them too far fetched from the presentation.

Great god damn movie.  I LOVE it.  And I can't wait to see what Christopher Nolan does next.

Though, I have to watch Following now.  It's the only movie of his I haven't seen so far.

Story: Blood of My Enemies

This was a story I wrote for a heroic, swords clashing anthology.  It didn't get in.  I was told the ending was cliche.

After you read this, can you think of any different ending for a viking?

Saturday updates

Pill Hill Press has a bunch of open anthologies right now.  I submitted a story for the Fem Fangs anthology, and I got in.  Woot!  I'm so excited.  The fresh feeling of getting accepted is making me bobbleheaded again.

Look for that in late October.

We're also raising a great-tailed grackle.  She fell out of her tree in my friend's backyard, so we're just keeping her until she's able to take care of herself.  Then we'll take her to the park with the duck pond, and the other grackles, and the lack of cats.  She's precious.

As sad as it is to not be writing Morgan anymore, I've been able to give much more effort to my Nomycha WIP.  It's looking to be my first self-published piece.  Just don't know when I'll have it completely done.  I'm approaching 2/3 done.

I love the new Starcraft trailer.  It's so very cinematic.  Would make a great movie.  Unfortunately I have to wait for it all to be out before I can go through the story.  Battlenet just doesn't have that strong an appeal to me.

Morgan Chronicles

"Morgan, I'm sorry."  Rhaelgyr stood nearby in elven form.  I stared down into a small crater, lost, numb, unable to think.

An hour ago, Steven had been here.  In another realm, sure, but this was the last place I'd seen him.  He'd looked at me, he'd told me he loved me, and he'd sacrificed himself anyway.

He was gone.  Even if he were alive, he was locked away.  Neither Rhaelgyr nor myself could sense the pocket dimension.  Like it had never existed.

But this world was saved.  A crater and some scorched crops were a tiny price.  Insignificant in the light of how bad it could have been.  In a year, no one would know.  The humans would forget and move on.

No one would remember that Steven had even been here.

I sobbed, and the dragon closed the gap to take me into his arms.  The dragon held me close, cradling me as I collapsed.  He said nothing, but there was nothing to say.  Rhaelgyr's presence offered condolences enough.

Crying wouldn't bring Steven back, but it would offer me some relief.  Tears for the past I couldn't remember.  Tears for the future that would never be.  Tears that he'd searched for me, only to die when he'd found me.

Rhaelgyr stroked my hair, holding me close, letting me cry myself out.  When they finally tapered off, he kissed the side of my head.  "He did it for you," the dragon whispered.  "Not the humans.  Just for you."

I sniffled, and managed a smile.  For all my need not to be selfish, it warmed me to know his love was real.

"Let's go," I whispered, looking up at midnight blue eyes.

"Where to, my lady?"  Rhaelgyr ran hands through my hair.

"Anywhere happy.  Without adventure."  The dragon took me away, and I didn't fight him this time.

The end

Predators and Grown Ups

Saw Predators last Sunday.  I damn well bloody LOVED it.  But you're talking to a girl who loves AvP in all its cheesy gloriousness, no matter how bad it was.  So I was going to love it, and enjoy it, and will certainly buy it when it's on disk.

The story and premise were very awesome.  Cinematography, pacing, creature design, all awesome.  The call backs to the original movies made me giggle with glee.  My roommate leaned over at one point and whispered "Is the soundtrack from Scooby Doo?"  But within two bars I'd recognized the original themes, and it suddenly made sense to him.  Music trying too hard, in scenes that didn't need heavy suspense.

I cannot express how much I loved this movie.

On the other end of the spectrum is Grown Ups.  I thought it looked kinda meh, but my friend told me she liked it, so I thought I'd give it a try.

It was pretty lame, and really just went along with a by-formula story.  Little monster kids, and hen-pecking wives, and lots of stereotypes, and a great moral ending.  Yay!

Except some of those formulas really bother me.  Like the parents wondering why their kids are monsters, when it's totally the parents fault.  And Sandler letting the hick win in the end, because he was such a small town loser that was the only thing he and his little hick family had to be happy about.

Those kinds of behavior just highlight the decline of society.  Boooo!

Morgan Chronicles

Rhaelgyr continued to boost me with his own energy, taking some of the strain off me.  I drew a deep breath, vision returning.

Everything was a mess.  The sky was covered in storms, heavy and pendulous, laced with purple lightning.  Winds shrieked with inhuman voices.  The ground heaved and pulsed with unholy life.

Steven stood amongst his beasts, weary and bleeding.  He stared through the gap, wisps of Between and torn walls coming between us.  "How's it?" he asked in a cheerful voice.  He still didn't realize there was any danger.

I panted, slumping in the dragon paw.  "Bad.  The dimension's about to collapse.  It's going to take your whole planet with it."  I was impressed at my ability to form complete sentences.

Steven's elation fell, and he frowned sharply.  "Really?"

~She's not lying,~ Rhaelgyr filled in when I couldn't speak.  The earth shook, tremors rattling my soul.  ~She's trying to save everyone else.~

The Chaos Lord stepped toward the cracks, coming against the stasis wall.  "I can't get out."

I knew he couldn't get out.  The stasis shields I was upholding were too strong, too restrictive.  Letting them go would spell doom for this planet.  Maybe even the entire solar system.

Unless I repaired the walls, Steven had to stay locked away to save everyone else.

My silence told him everything.  His power rose, mirroring my shields, forming a bubble within a bubble.  "Let go.  Get out of there."

"No," I said, voice cracking in disbelief.  "I can fix this, and you can leave then.  Just hold on."

He shook his head.  "You can't feel it from my side.  It's done, Morgan."  The Chaos Lord chuckled, hanging his head.  "I've condemned everyone."

"No you haven't."  I struggled in Rhaelgyr's claw, trying to get closer.  The dragon wouldn't release me, and I whined with effort.  "We'll fix it.  We'll make it better."

Steven sighed, leaning against our shields.  I felt his hands on my face, got a wave of his sorrow, and I started crying.  "I wish that were true, babe.  But you know it's not."

I sobbed and screamed, shields faltering as my focus faded.  The ground shook, the air rumbled, and electricity crackled all around us.  Rhaelgyr drew his wings closer, sheltering us as scalding rain fell.  "No, the wall can be put back."

"No, they can't."  I couldn't recall Steven ever being this solemn.

"Besedie did it.  He made that realm."  Rhaelgyr didn't let me go, even clamped down to keep me in place.  "We can do it too."

"There isn't time."  Rocks rose, circling the cracks.  A vortex of power gathered around the damaged walls, hungry for destruction.  "I can't fix it, but I can close it."

"No!"  I denied his actions, denied his judgment.  It could be fixed, and Steven wouldn't have to sacrifice himself.

Because I wasn't ready to lose a friend for a planet of humans.

"Rhaelgyr, get her out of here."

The dragon rumbled, spreading his wings.  I shrieked, trying to break free as he carried me away.  I couldn't drop my shields to teleport away.  All I could do was watch as Rhaelgyr bore me off.

Steven smiled, holding my gaze as he shrank.  "I love you."  Then he was out of sight.

Morgan Chronicles

Swearing, I tensed, trying to protect the stasis shields.  They needed to stay up, needed to remain intact to keep the realm in place.  Rhaelgyr came through, the dimensional walls rippling at his passage, disturbing my work.

The cracks widened.

Humans screamed, both at the dragon and the gaping wound in the sky.  Rhaelgyr growled, wings flared, hovering just behind me.  ~What in all the bloody hells is that?~

I could barely finish the link, could barely form the thoughts to speak to him.  ~A dimension's falling apart.~  My vision dimmed, my grip on the stasis faltering.

Rhaelgyr gave a cry as the crack widened.  The ground trembled here, people screaming from farther away.  Wind screamed, tearing at trees and crops.  The dragon landed behind me, forepaws on either side, creating a shelter against the physical tumult.  ~What can I do for you?~  The link between us pulsed.

~Don't know.~  Holding slipping walls and incoming destruction was harder than gathering raging energy.  ~Must stop it.~

Rumbling, bowing his head to blow hot breath across me, Rhaelgyr joined his power to mine.  The stasis field was bolstered, holding temporarily, but the damage was done.

Walls were going to tear.

My body felt like it was going to tear with it.  Heart raced, lungs pumped like bellows, and head throbbed.  Physical senses were retreating in, attempting to protect me.  As vision dimmer, I beheld my father and my friend fighting.

Besedie was wounded, blood pouring down his side, face blanched.  Swarmed by Chaos beasts, he barely remained standing as power lanced Steven.  Both of them were on their last legs, fading, dying.  It didn't seem likely either would survive even if the dimension weren't collapsing.

Beasts swarmed over Besedie, pulling him down.  I couldn't tell if he were dead or not, but his shields suddenly disappeared.  I gasped, nearly collapsing under the pressure of holding the realm all by myself.

Rhaelgyr supported me mentally, physically bracing me with a heavy claw.  ~We've got to go.  This place is done for.~

I moaned, shaking my head, nearly blind, unable to hear the screams of the terrified humans or the dying world.  ~We've got to save them~

~Morgan-~

I cut him off, done with being selfish.  All the people in the hamlet had suffered because of me.  I wouldn't make the rest of this world suffer because of me.  Unable to form the words, I passed my intentions to the dragon.

~You're a difficult woman.~  He sighed and held me closer.

~You could leave,~ I mumbled.  The strain was becoming worse.  Of course, the weight of an entire world was on my shoulders.

Rhaelgyr chuckled, and I gasped as some of the weight lifted me.  ~I don't want to leave you.~  A welling of love crossed the link, and I smiled.

At least if I failed, I wouldn't be alone.

Morgan is coming to an end

Three more episodes.  Tuesday the 20th shall be the final post. 

Then I'll have to find something else to post.  I'll think of something.

I'm already thinking about posting some of my short stories here.

How awesome is my bird

Wednesday was D&D night, so our friend Mark was over.  Aleister is wary of new people, and though Mark has been over many times, my bird still isn't on friends level with him.

We're all eating creamsicles, and Aleister has a thing for popsicle sticks.  They're fun to break up and slowly chew.

Mark finishes his, and I suggest he give his stick to the bird, especially since they're sitting right next to each other.  Aleister gets excited and edgy at the same time; he wants the stick, but it's from a non-friend.  So he takes the stick in his foot, but won't take it in his beak.  He's holding it, pinning his little eyes, and just waiting for Mark to let go.

Soon as Mark lets go, Aleister throws the stick to the ground.

Roommate picks up the stick, gives it to Aleister, who then settles down to chew it up.  My friend got punked by a bird.  And Aleister did it to him again later, though not as drawn out.  Just immediately threw it down.

I love my birdy.

Morgan Chronicles

I didn't give myself time to dwell.  I stepped through dangerously unstable walls, entering the main dimension.  Vertigo drove me to my knees, and I thought I was going to pass out.

A wave of spiritual screams brought me back to myself.  Kneeling, I looked around, trying to get my bearings.

An angry wound dominated the area before me.  Blue sky, green crops, distant mountains, and a lush forest were distorted by the warps and cracks of the pocket realm.  Animals fled, but humans let their curiosity bring them closer.  They gathered at the edge of the field, in awe of the display.

None of them realized how dangerous this was.  Didn't seem like any of them cared.  One would think mortals would have a greater sense of self preservation.

The cracks spread with a squealing sound.  Sunlight dimmer, and a chill wind blasted out.  People gasped, pulling back, finally becoming aware of the danger.

I frowned, seeing the translucent figures of Besedie and Steven in the clearing.  The walls were growing even thinner.  Time was of the essence, and I didn't know where to start my plan from.

It suddenly seemed laughable that I was going to lock them away.

Pushing the doubts away, I prepared myself.  I could do this.  I woulc do this, and save this world.  My father had somehow created the pocket realm, so I could do the same.  The concept was sound; I just needed to find a way to enact it.

Humans started screaming, and I ignored them.  I needed to focus, needed to get a good grasp on the situation.  Letting my senses expand, I sought the edges of the pocket.  Once I had its scope, I could try to figure out how weak it was, how immediate the danger was.

As new energy buffeted me, I guessed the danger was imminent.

Besedie's stasis still held, and that was the only thing keeping that realm together.  Having pulled apart his shield recently, I was ready to make my own, and reinforce the walls.  Taming the energy would take extreme effort, but it could buy time to close it off entirely.

Pulling in the power was like trying to grab a raging river.  It kept ripping out of my control, taking personal energy with it.  Shivering, I started slower.  Gather a few strands of energy at a time.  Amounts I could handle, that wouldn't be able to escape.

It worked.  Energy came easier as I drank it in.  The taming affect was exponential; within a few heartbeats, I had control of everything I needed.  Working quickly but thoroughly, I erected a shield.

Relief flooded me when my stasis field joined Besedie.  The tears in the walls were still there, but the merging was held in place.  It wasn't going to complete and come crashing down.

Unless someone stepped through dimensional walls.  Like the approaching dragon.

Morgan Chronicles

I grew with my senses, expanding beyond the fight, beyond the hamlet, even beyond the dimension.  A pocket realm of a larger dimension, this little town was stuck in time, lifeless and forgotten.  Surely a byproduct of my father's rage.

Outside this little pocket we battled in lay the rest of the human planet.  The whole world we'd run, full of mortals, and wild animals, and all the myriad life forms on a planet.

pausing, letting myself take them in, I wondered at how content they seemed.  They felt no worries about the universe, or the affairs of the Immortals.  They had their families, and their working lives, and that was all they needed.  For the briefest moment, I envied them.

Until I saw the cracks in the sky.  Sharp and jagged, they pulsed with dark light.

My heart sank.  The fight between Besedie and Steven was damaging the dimensional walls.  Magic bled into the living world, threatening the existence of everyone on it.  As if I didn't have enough reason to stop them

Returning to my body, I was amazed by what I found.  Abject destruction didn't begin to describe it.  Smoking ruins lay beside spears of crystal.  Platforms of earth hung in the air, rotating in place as they slowly shattered.  Sunlight lanced through clouds of dirt and debris.

And still they raged.

Steven swooped and dived, laughing as he bombarded my father with attacks.  Besedie stood in the middle of the lane, eyes closed, his entire body rigid as he riposted each of the Chaos Lord's bursts.

It was obvious the dimensional walls were ripping.  Putrid cracks filled the sky here, and translucent figures moved through the clearing.  Temperature fluctuated, and wind whistled without disturbing anything.

If they joined the main dimension, they'd destroy the entire planet.

Pulling all the energy into myself wouldn't help; it was too disturbed by their actions for that.  The energy was so torn up, I doubted I could even use it for myself.

The ground trembled and split.  More debris rose, and chunks of the earth began floating free.  Gravity was losing its hold, becoming meaningless.

Neither of them noticed.  they were in a battle to the death, focused only on each other.  If this realm collapsed, they'd probably still be fighting.

The best way to stop them might be to do just that.

My heart sank, and I knew that needed to be done.  I'd have to lock them here, cut off the realm from the rest of the dimension.

But could I really sacrifice Steven for a bunch of humans?

Literotica

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Morgan Chronicles

Tension hummed in the air.  I stared at my father, and he glared back.  Steven stood to one side, amused.  None of us looked ready to break.

Power pulsed, gathering at my fingertips.  Flows of magic brought me awareness of Steven and Besedie.  I shared every nervous tic with them, every twitch of muscle, every need to get this done.

I would love for this to be over with.  Fighting my father wasn't exactly the catharsis and closure I'd been looking for.  He shifted, trying to reestablish his shields, giving me little choice.  I didn't want to, but this fight would be the end.

Besedie kept feeding magic into his shields, and I started draining it.  My nervous system swelled with the influx, making me restless.  Somehow, I kept still, giving my father no sign of what I was doing.

~Give me some of that,~ Steven whispered, grinning and twitching, drawing Besedie's attention his way.  ~I'll try and keep him distracted.~

We forged a link, the Chaos Lord greedily taking energy from me.  I gasped, staggering briefly, and Besedie stared at me.  Steven laughed, pulling new creatures from the aether, giving them form with the magic he took from me.

The creations were unable to move, touched by Besedie's magic.  He held them still, making them choose one form, and I was unable to keep the magic away from him.  Four stone dogs surrounded Besedie, staring at Steven.

The battle was about to start over.

Steven yelled, darting back, waves of color washing over the dogs, mutating them.  Stone became flesh, each element attacking the other, the dogs fighting their own bodies.  More Chaos beasts were summoned, and Steven cackled in joy.

I trembled, caught between the two.  Steven still drew on me, and Besedie had managed to reverse my pull.  Now, he took energy from me.  Natural energy filled me, attempting to top me off, but it wasn't coming fast enough.

Between the two of them, they were going to drain me dry.

Ignoring their skirmish, I focused on breaking free.  How unfortunate that what I'd done as an attempt to step them had turned against me.  They were at each other's throats again, with me fueling it.

I became like rock, stable and solid.  I became like water, flowing and free.  I was air, light, dark, heat, cold.  I was everything and nothing.

The fighters didn't care about me.  They hardly noticed as I pulled away.  Magic flew as they fought, but it no longer came from me.  Both drew from their environment, and each other's attacks.  They'd keep fighting on, even if I left the area.

But not if I stopped things properly.