Emily Wilson
Stories
6
Chapters
1,139
Words
357.3 K
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Reading
1 d, 5 h
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The Simurgh floated in the air, remaining in a kind of stasis, much like she’d been in when we’d approached her, but there was an entire rig of devices surrounding her. A halo, almost, studded with guns and cannons at regular intervals. The sky behind her was overcast, clouds rolling past us with the strong winds, and mingled dust and smoke slowly shifting beneath her, brown-gray. The juxtaposition was eerie, the clouds of the sky moving faster than the smoke and dust, and the Simurgh between the two,…-
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“We’re here,” I said. It was enough. All the different personalities in the Dragonfly, the… how had Tattletale put it, once upon a time? The people who weren’t inclined to play ‘cops and robbers’, who weren’t the types to follow the rules or codes, and were Because they, even with their unique and personal issues, acknowledged that this wasn’t a situation where you fucked around. Monitors switched settings without any cue from me. Showing the Simurgh from a distance away, from a…
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167 •
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“You have something in mind?” Defiant asked. “No,” I said. “But we’re dealing with problems on a massive scale. We need to look for solutions on that same scale.” “Um,” Imp said. “You just leaped from the subject of talking about the Endbringers to talking about solutions.” “Yeah,” I said. “I think we “Oh, well, of course,” Imp said. “This is doable. Something we’ve managed once in the last thirty years, taking down Endbringers.” “Shh,” Tattletale said. She…
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After seeing Tattletale’s setup with the multiple monitors and computers running in sync, the bulletin boards with pictures and cue cards tacked all over them, it was odd to see one of the world’s best tinkers sitting down with only a small laptop propped on his knee. Narwhal stood just a short distance away, leaning against a wall, a book in her hands. Her costume was skintight, but it took the form of innumerable ‘scales’ of violet-blue tinted crystal, each no larger than a fingernail. Her horn…
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167 •
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“…Man, oh man, did you ever fuck the dog, here.” I’d failed. I’d taken on the world ending threat and come up short. Why had I even expected to be able to do anything? Arrogant. But someone else responded to the accusation. “We did no such thing, Tattletale. Working with the knowledge we had, we put our best foot forward, as did the others. The fault does It was the Doctor, uncharacteristically irritated. Well, Tattletale was good at getting a rise out of people. “Do I need to repeat…
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“He returns,” Glaistig Uaine spoke in her chorus of voices. Were there less voices in there than there had been? She was dripping wet, having just ascended from beneath the water’s surface, but a spirit was attending to her, drawing the moisture forth, coiling it into wreaths and ribbons that trailed around the Faerie Queen and the other spirits. Eidolon stared out at the horizon. He could sense the shift in air pressure, see the movements in clouds and water alike. Scion wasn’t any bigger than an…
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“Run!” I screamed the word. I took my own advice. The golden light around Scion had solidified, forming a sphere. The light dropped. Others were already scrambling to get away, but there wasn’t a place to go. No portals, no place to run. The speed and size of the orb made one thing clear. The people in the center wouldn’t be able to move fast enough to make their exit. I’d been standing in the direct center, to better observe those on the other sides of the portals. I was one of those…
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The last portal closed. The Birdcage had been emptied of everyone that could reasonably be let free, and probably a handful that shouldn’t. We’d deal with that later. “No faces present that shouldn’t be?” Chevalier asked. Ingenue was standing beside him. “Every person on the list has a corresponding face in the crowd,” Defiant said, “Going by the facial recognition program.” Chevalier nodded. “With respect, I’d like to ask everyone who isn’t participating in the upcoming…
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“Emma’s dead,” I said. Sophia nodded. “Her dad told me.” Not a trace of emotion on her face. Not a flicker of a change in expression. Did she not care, or was she wearing an exceptional mask? Funny, just how easily those masks came to people. Costumes were nothing in the grand scheme of things. Cloth or kevlar, spider silk or steel. It was the false faces we wore, the layers of defenses, the lies we told ourselves, that formed the real barriers between us and the hostile world around…
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The setup was the same, but there were undeniable changes. More people, and just about everyone was showing up in force. Thirteen panels, glowing lightly to light the individual groups from behind. Each had a symbol on it, now, representing the teams. Rachel stood at the corner at the end of the hallway, her back against the panel. Her hair was a little out of sorts, and she wore her jacket with the heavy fur collar. With stray dog hairs sticking to every article of clothing, each individual hair and…
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