Patricia Wilson
Stories
10
Chapters
3,347
Words
163.4 K
Comments
0
Reading
13 h, 37 m
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The lights were out; the room was dim. Etenesh was lying in bed in rather new-looking pajamas. Truth suddenly felt very “bedclothes” conscious. He usually slept in boxers. He didn’t own any pajamas. But what could he do? Run away, obviously. Say, “Sorry, not tonight, no pajamas, try me again tomorrow, when I definitely will have acquired some.” Say nothing and just vanish into the world, drifting like the ghost he was. Watching the rest of the world join him in death. What would Dad do? His…-
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They didn’t talk much after that. Truth didn’t know if he said the wrong thing or not. He probably did, but… it was hard to be “Tommy Wells” right now. It was usually freeing to be “Tommy Wells” in that he wasn’t carrying all the things that “Truth Medici” was carrying, but he didn’t want to have to lie. To make up things about himself. Part of it was he really liked Etenesh and Jember. Even Merkovah, beardy weirdo that he was, had grown on him. Liking them was part of it. A bigger…
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“Please, wait a moment, Teacher.” Merkovah looked inquisitively at Truth, who pointed at the Talisman. The old monster glanced at it, then glared at it. Stroked his beard in irritation as he continued glaring. Truth wracked his brain, trying to remember where he had seen it before. The Slums generally. Yes, but no. The Ghūl, generally. Yes, very yes, but again, no. This didn’t feel anything like his rough patron, or the Ghūl themselves, for that matter. Alright, after he broke through. Nothing on…
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Truth had a lot to think about while standing guard in front of the conference room. When he “subtly” pointed out that sticking one guard in front of a room as your security protocol is “less than fully optimal,” he got a scathing look from Merkovah. It seems that all the angels, demons, and spirits flitting through the city weren’t just for show. The security envelope was seven layers deep and extended even into other layers of reality. Tommy Wells, the handsome bodyguard, was there to make the…
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Etenesh held Truth until the shaking stopped, then a little longer. She let him go with a sigh. “Am I a bad person for feeling glad you need me? I don’t like being the one who needs comforting,” she asked. “I don’t know. I don’t think so.” Truth tried to smile and managed to twitch his cheek. He sat next to her quietly. He knew, in a dull sort of way, that he should talk about why he was in this state, but he just couldn’t bring himself to do it. He simply couldn’t summon the emotional…
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Merkovah informed Truth that there would be extensive meetings in the temple today, and he would be needed for important Standing Around duty on the other side of the door from the meeting. Truth duly dressed in the provided pseudo-military set of clothes, wore his The one added wrinkle, an unpleasant grit of annoyance, was that Etenesh and Jember did not seem to understand that chatting to him was Not OK. They pointed out that the hallway was practically empty, and it was very boring staring at a blank…
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Truth’s first impression of Xandre, the famed capital of Ancient Siphios, the birthplace of art, magic, philosophy, city of supreme culture and sophisticated pleasures, Xandre, Gem of the World, was a half-shuttered huddle of discount clothing stores and brickmakers. It was not a great introduction. Just inside the exurban shopping belt were the small homes in their teeming thousands. Little flat-roofed boxes laid out side by side, each with a tiny strip of garden out front. Densely clustered, with wide…
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Etenesh eventually fell quiet, just curling up on herself. Jember sat next to his cousin, hip to hip, and put a comforting arm around her. Truth just sat there, feeling useless. It was Merkovah who managed to pull them out of their solitary silences. “When I was younger, the land of Siphios was alive. I mean that in a way you youngsters probably don’t understand- I mean that God had imbued every pebble, every blade of grass, every gust of wind, with meaning. With the potential of undergoing its own…
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Truth fell into the sky, a tiny speck gazing in terror at the awesome beings that filled the void between stars. Even the stars were monstrous, glorious things- a chariot pulled by an unspeakable chimera, whipped on by a naked woman with an owl’s head. A being with the head of a hawk, holding a burning sword astride a wolf. A bird, larger than a city, larger than a continent, made entirely of fire and the memory of a mother’s warmth he had never known. Some instinct pulled his eyes to one side. There…
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Truth woke in darkness. He knew it was dark, but his eyes could see perfectly well with the dim light through the window. Ever since he crawled out of the well, the shadows held no terrors for him. He was holding the angelic sword- why? Rapid banging on the door. Truth silently rolled out of bed and walked over to the door, raising the sword chest high. Ready to lunge, stabbing through the door and into whoever was outside. “Mr. Wells, quickly! We must be up and moving!” Merkovah. Truth removed the…
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