The salt spray tasted like regret on Alure’s lips. Years adrift hadn’t strengthened bone, only honed edges. They traced the glyphs carved into the driftwood, fingers thin as spider silk. The wood warmed under their touch, not from sun, but…
The chipped ceramic of the mug warmed Leo’s palms, a pathetic comfort. Below, the city breathed a bruised purple, a constant twilight born of stacked hab-blocks and light-dampening polymers. He hadn’t spoken to his sister, Clara, in seventy-two cycles. Seventy-two…
The chipped rune pulsed beneath Elara’s palm, a throb against the cold stone of the watchtower. Dust motes danced in the lone shaft of sunlight slicing through the gloom. It hadn’t sparked in centuries, not since the last Runeweaver… vanished.…
The chipped Formica of the diner booth felt gritty under Leo’s elbows. He stabbed a french fry with enough force it nearly bounced off the plate. Across from him, Maya traced the rim of her water glass, her knuckles white.…
Elka traced the brittle edge of the parchment. Dust motes danced in the single shaft of light slicing the gloom of the archive. Each fragment felt less like paper, more like sun-warmed bone. She wasn’t *searching* for anything specific, not…
In the verdant hollows of Elderglow Forest, where mushrooms tower like ancient monoliths and dewdrops glisten like enchanted orbs, the tiny gnomes of Glimmerwick led lives of quiet industry. These pint-sized folk, no taller than a squirrel’s whisker, were renowned…