David White
Stories
4
Chapters
1,771
Words
1.0 K
Comments
0
Reading
5 m
-
I wondered what Sol was up to. ”I swear by the Physician, and all the gods and goddesses as my witnesses, that, according to my ability and I laid my hands in Anastasia’s, the backs of my hands pressing into her open palms. She stared into my eyes and I stared right back in hers. She was uncharacteristically serious, the somber glow of her caustic green eyes casting shadows on her black-haired features. I recited the oath of the first physician, Hippocrates. ”To hold she who taught me this art…-
92 •
-
-
I realized very quickly that my time as Gaius’ shadow had spoiled me. My conception of what a mentor - or a patron - was, had been heavily skewed by years on campaign. In the legions, every lesson was eminently applicable to the task at hand. The skills taught were concrete, readily contextualized, and though they weren’t all easily learned, the reason I needed to know them was always clear. As I invoked More importantly, why had I thought his master’s master would not be even more Greek about…
-
92 •
-
-
In the aftermath of his discourse with his eldest cousin, Myron realized something that should have been evident to him from the beginning. Actions had consequences. He’d been enlightened, that was true, but his parents didn’t see it in quite the same light that he did. For an entire week, Myron languished in his mother’s care. He wasn’t allowed to see his eldest cousin, let alone speak to him or seek his guidance, and most of his time was spent in bed recovering from his wounds. The one time he…
-
92 •
-
-
The first day after Lio left the Rosy Dawn was the longest, and the most difficult. There were tears, anguish, frustrations, and above all else a horrible fear. After that first day, they stifled their tears and hid their anguish, putting the fear for their cousin out of their minds as best they could. The second day was not easier, but it passed quicker. The third day was even quicker than that. Finally, they made it through the first week. And then, in no time at all, two. Suddenly three. It helped to…
-
92 •
-
-
The room was large but modestly furnished, barren by the standards of most made men. Its floors were polished marble, pure and unblemished by gemstone veins. What furniture that there was, a massive cypress bed frame and side tables of the same wood, was all finely kept but notable for its lack of adornment. There were no paintings, no statues or sacred treasures. It was as humble a home as any man could have. And yet, that did not change what it was. The lack of overt majesty made it no less potent. No…
-
92 •
-
-
“Tell me, Solus, what do Romans do for fun?” Selene asked, resting on her stomach in the late kyrios’ bed while I paced slowly around the room. Her legs kicked idly behind her. We had been speaking for hours while I waited for Sorea to return with news of Griffon’s survival. The Scarlet Oracle was borderline ravenous for tales of life outside of the Half-Step City. She eagerly listened to my description of the city of Rome as a Roman knew it, chiming in to contrast it with what she had been told…
-
92 •
-
-
The second rank of the Sophic Realm felt much like the first. The difference was enormous by the standards of a Civic cultivator, of course. My reservoir of pneuma - the sea of my vital soul - had deepened an outrageous amount. The saying went that one rank above was worth ten below, and though my perceptions were skewed by excessive blood loss and a staggering depletion of strength, that felt nearly in line with what I had experienced. I had also grown in a less evident way, something I couldn’t…
-
92 •
-
-
The Gold-String Guardian Names were strange things. Eleftherios. Lefteris for short. Neither name had been given to him at birth, but his mother had told him from a young age, over and over until he was old enough for the sentiment to stick, that his name was too dangerous for the world to know. That it was a secret between the two of them that had to be kept at all costs. They moved often, early on. Each place was a new home, and each home meant a new name. It was safer that way, his mother insisted.…
-
92 •
-
-
The Son of Rome “Arrogant, belligerent child,” Socrates muttered as he stalked out of the rugged chamber with its shard of tongues. “I’ll box his ears until they fall off. Split foundations. Split foundations!” For a long moment, I continued to stare at the shifting text chiseled into the man-size tablet, incomprehensible to me with both eyes open. I still felt that primordial shifting behind my eyes, in my skull, even in my tongue. But the bulk of it had slowed down when I stopped reading, and…
-
92 •
-
-
The Young Griffon What is the nature of tribulation? Back when I had leapt from the top of the eastern mountain range with Sol at my side, in the throes of my ascension to the Sophic Realm, I had experienced a moment of perfect weightlessness, freedom in the truest sense. And then, when reality had asserted itself - as it always did - my stomach had risen up into my throat, a giddy and exhilarating sensation in its own way. It was enough to put a smile on my face whenever I thought back on it. When…
-
92 •
-
- Previous 1 … 11 12 13 … 178 Next
