A Good Death
Dilasa and I walk again on Sinesu, among shattered, blood-stained pieces of Sindar’s monument.
Nearby, one of the large, automated weapons sits, quiet and dark.
Part of the vision has come true
Wisten is dead and the monument gone, but the town survives with little damage, and we’ve driven away the hunters.
Shared Vision
“What did you find, Yagrin?” asks Keesha.
“The Fiklow spirits and the queen are here, trapped by artifact energy.”
“When the artifact is anywhere on Gunal, it causes them intense mental anguish.”
“Are you saying, Yagrin,” asks Keesha, “that the spirits don’t want the artifact here?”
“Where else should we put it?!”
“Commander, I know the artifact belongs here, and the queen will allow it, if that brings comfort to her children.”
“If the queen were here, Yagrin,” says Keesha, “it’s true that she would sacrifice herself for her children, but this must be an illusion.”… Read more
Shanir
Fifty suns gone.
The years run quickly, and the village changes.
So big, and filled with children.
Soon the village will split.
Villages must stay small, so everyone is known.
This is our way.
My sister, Shanir, is in both councils.
Like elder mother before her.
Elder mother left this world two suns ago, and Shanir is sick.
Her days fade.
I whisper to Shanir that we must go climbing together, become children, again.
She laughs, and then the smile turns sad, and fades.
“We lead now, Jaina,” she says.
“Our days belong to the village.”
“Who … Read more
