Daniel Thompson
Stories
13
Chapters
4,688
Words
1.4 M
Comments
0
Reading
4 d, 20 h
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I shifted on my feet next to the dark pool. I was at the very bottom of the castle I’d begun to consider home. Far below the first floor, past the twisting caves and natural passages, and in the cavern where Luciana said I’d been born into this world. It wasn't the nicest place. The cavern was deep and long, with a ceiling covered in stalactites, some so long they reached the ground and turned into columns. Small monsters with large, distended stomachs, filled with glowing juices, flitted across the…-
98 •
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The priest leads us past the columns at the front and into the rearmost part of the building. The back wall is covered in bas-reliefs, images of forests and people gardening and playing. It looks very peaceful, if bland. Mom has better taste in interior decor, I think, though maybe she can be convinced to try some imagery that isn’t so dark and broody. Mom is big into the whole gothic style. The temple very much isn’t. It’s all wide corridors and white tiles, perfectly clean and sparkling. The…
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98 •
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I adjust one of my butterbutts so it’s more in line with the others. Felix and I have cleared out some of the leaves and the topmost layer of dirt on a patch of the forest. I have room to work with now. All of my little friends are laid out in more or less neat rows. It’s hard to get them to line up, especially since they’re not all identical to begin with. I have about two dozen butterbutts, three shinies--those are the smart little beetles that can transmit messages to Monsters. Next to those are…
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98 •
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“This is it,” I say as I walk up to the edge of the tar pit. The pit isn’t all that big, not like the huge ones back home where no one’s ever tried to reduce their size. This one’s maybe a pace across at the widest, and it’s shaped like a rough-edged teardrop. The black ooze shifts slowly, like a slow-motion video of the surface of boiling water. There’s motion, but a lot of it’s hard to spot, especially since there’s a layer of fallen leaves and branches over the top of the pit. If…
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98 •
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I leaned forwards onto my desk, eyes blinking the slow blink of someone right on the edge of sleep, but who was too focused to give in to actual sleep. I’d sleep later. There was reading to do now. I had a book before me, as was usual. It was an ancient text written by the Dark Goddess herself. Once, a long time ago, the Dark Goddess had had more human followers, and she had penned a few guides for them to use the more complex parts of her own element. I didn’t know what happened to the followers,…
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98 •
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The next morning is an exciting one. I have to scramble to put my cloak on while Felix distracts Esme at the door. It’s only when I’m entirely covered that I notice the raven monster resting with its head tucked under a wing on Felix’s nightstand. I dive across the room, grab the bird, and flick it under the covers fast enough that its protesting squawk is drowned out by the blankets. “What was that?” Esme asks. “Nothing,” Felix and I say. Felix backs up, letting Esme into the room. She…
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98 •
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I settle down on the edge of one of the two beds in the guest bedroom. The mattress isn’t super soft, and the cloth covering the bed is on the scratchier side of things. Still, it’s better than nothing. I can’t exactly complain. Felix slumps onto her bed with a happy sigh, arms and legs splayed out every which way. “Comfy,” she says. I guess it is better than sleeping on the ground again. “Yeah,” I agree. I remove my cloak at long last, and then get rid of my outfit until I’m only in my…
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Esme’s morning has been, in a word, surprising, which is pretty great. She’s storing so much surprise that some of it is leaking out. Already her blouse and skirt are clinging to her with the static she’s giving off, and she knows her hair looks even nuttier than usual. “This is it!” she says with a wide sweeping gesture to the building before her. It’s not the prettiest, she knows. The roof has a few shingles that are missing, and there’s rust from the gutters that’s leaked down onto the…
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“You’re grounded.” I looked up. I had to blink a few times, since I was in the middle of reading something, and my eyes had to readjust. “I’m what?” I asked. I was in the library with Luciana again. I’d finished my training for the day, and had taken my bath to get rid of the sweat and bruises. Now was the period where I’d sit down and read until lunch, after which I’d sit down and read until supper, then I’d sit down and read until bedtime. It was going to be a very busy day. I also…
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The waitress arrives, a nondescript girl with an uninteresting class and an expression that clearly conveys how bored she is with her work. I order some tea, and then a few pastries from the menu. Nothing too expensive, but plenty of them. I’ve seen how much Felix eats. “What do you like to drink?” I ask Felix. “Juice?” she tries. It doesn’t take long for Esme to place her own order, and soon enough the three of us are alone again as the waitress leaves to get our things. Esme leans forward.…
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