Leri-fae

 Half an hour or so later, the gang left the flat by the fire exit, leaving a couple lights on and the music in their wake. They took to the rooftops, leaping and swinging themselves in a light-hearted, slightly tipsy chase across the town. In the past three years, they'd become a common enough sight. First two, then four, now six of them graced the midnight skyline of a city that still wasn't sleeping. Oscar took the lead, effortlessly drifting from point to point in long, languorous strides. Wherever he stepped – on spire, on chimney, on balcony or crenelated drainpipe – glitter sparkled in his wake. Kite, the wind wild

 Kari sat cross-legged in front of the bay window and stared out across the dark river. It was gleaming silver in the light of the full moon, tide high up against the walkway across the street. If it was a full moon. KAri wasn't too sure on that front, but it looked full enough. "Here." Ash held a ceramic cup out to Kari as xie sat down beside her. "Don't toast it all at once." "Thanks." Kari took the cup and held its warmth in her free hand as she pulled the duvet back up around her shoulders. "Hey, don't hog." Ash pulled back at the duvet. "It's a double, there's room for both of us." "Sure buddy." But she let enough slack for Ash

 Kite held a gift out to Roxy almost as soon as she'd opened the door to ver. Ve smiled innocently as ve pulled off hat and scarf and coat, revealing the tackiest jumper Roxy had ever seen underneath; bright, clashing colours and patterned flashing lights. She glanced at it, then at ver. "Buddy. C'mon. You know the rules." "Yeah, yeah. The secret gifts were easier, I know." "And cheaper, since some of us are broke-ass students!" Clara called from the couch. "Cheers to that." Oscar lifted his glass to her, grinning. Clara raised her own, and they took drinks of the cut-price mulled wine they'd found down the back of the nearest stude

Sila Amriss was going to get herself in some serious trouble one of these days. Sila sank into a seat in the underground dining hall – the building above was still in the works, going slowly, but some walls were in place now – and gazed blankly at the plate of food in front of her. The girl didn’t know where to pick her fights. It was none of her business. She might room with Amriss, might share classes, but – she wasn’t going to look out for the child. Not if she was going to be as stupid as that. “Hey.” Sila jumped as Amriss thumped into the seat beside her and started to shovel food into

 Onni skipped along the corridor, swinging the plastic bag at their side in ever increasing circles. They were dressed for the cold weather outside (wind, rain; a slight hint of sleet, for all that they were still in the autumn months) but deliciously warm after the lobby and the lift and the long corridor. As they turned the corner, they stopped to view the decorations. Plastic pumpkins, ghouls, ghosts; skeletons and bats and spiders hung from the ceiling, were pinned to the walls, were placed about the doorways to the flats. Where there weren’t displays, the walls were papered in aesthetically appropriate orange and black swathes. A

 These stacks held more information than they would ever be taught. Or – more than any other would be taught. Alger knew this, knew they were keeping back so much. He also knew where to find it. And how to use it, which was the more important part. Setting the book onto the desk, he picked the next off the shelf they were clearing. The girl he was working with flickered a quick glance up at the movement and then away again, dusting at the shelf she was working at. She’d been doing that a lot. Not half so subtle as she thought she was being. Still, if he could use that... He flicked absently through the book in his hand

 She would follow him – willingly – to the end of the world. The thought came upon her quite suddenly, almost – but not quite – out of the blue. Merla lowered her dusting cloth as she studied her fellow acolyte, slyly, trying not to let him notice. Algy had stopped working too, in the act of reshelving books on the newly dusted shelves. He was reading – or looking through – one of the books, focused intently on its contents. Dust coloured his hair grey, coating his shoulders and down his sleeves, too. She was probably just as covered, but he wore it better. Algy glanced up from the open book in hi

 The queen’s true name was said to be forgotten, purposefully lost in the mists of time. She was queen over the aerie, over the mountains of ice, and really that was all that mattered to be said of her. That wasn’t all that mattered to Kriemhild, and that was why she was perched out here, on the very precipice. Wings half plucked and bound to her sides, on the off-chance that they would still hold her weight. In retrospect, tact would have been a better companion than blithely barging in. Live and learn, she supposed. Kriemhild turned, talons scratching at stone, to face her guards. The rainbow of a score (or more) harpi

100 Word Challenge List: 1. Introduction 2. Poison 3. Abandoned 4. Crisis 5. Dream 6. Shooting Star(s) 7. Mist 8. Hopeless 9. Obsession 10. Dreamcatcher 11. Rose(s) 12. Clouds 13. Revenge 14. Insanity 15. Disappear 16. Shadow 17. Darkness 18. Illuminate 19. Dusk 20. Dawn 21. Quest 22. Thrilling 23. Pillar 24. Autumn 25. Teddy Bear 26. Snuff 27. Prism 28. Rescue 29. Broken 30. Wall(s) 31. Beautiful 32. Tonight 33. Empty 34. Festive 35. Melody 36. Purple 37. Panic Switch 38. Sanctuary 39. Spell 40. Rejection 41. Sword 42. Love 43. Yellow 44. Boogeyman 45. Downstream 46. Fire Ball 47. Challenge 48.

The storm wasn't enough to dampen the spirits of the brave knight. With his jet-black noble steed charging through the downpour, he quickly approached the top of the towering mountain. When a swarm of bats headed straight for them, the knight lazily unsheathed his sword and did away with all their wings; his horse didn't slow down for a second, nor did the knight even look at his targets. When club-wielding ogres blocked the path, the horse jumped right over them, and the knight fired his trusty crossbow from in the air. He hit the eyes of each ogre dead-on, but he didn't look back to check; their shrieks were all he needed to know his aim wa

Nobody talked about the large house on Hazel Hill. Danny wondered why. He asked his mom. "Don't go near that house," she said.   He asked his dad. "Don't talk about that house," he said.   He asked his grandpa. "Don't think about that house," he said. However, Danny was a curious boy who wasn't scared of anything. One day on his walk home from school, he decided to go inside the house. He walked through the yard, past tall rosebushes and birdbaths. He stepped on the dusty welcome mat and knocked on the door. "Come in, come in!" called a soft, excited voice. The door opened before Danny could grab the handle. Guided by his growing curiosit

On a breezy Autumn night, a little girl named Molly fled her hillside home. The poor child lost her mother to an illness when she was but seven years old. The loss sucked away her father's cheeriness, leaving only a bitter hermit. One night, her father was yelling louder than usual and throwing things louder than usual. Molly ran right out the door, leaving a teary trail spewing from her sapphire eyes as she headed towards the nearby forest. She was too upset to remember her mother's warning: "never go in the forest, for you may never come back." Molly wanted her mother to come back. She wanted her old father back; the one who tickled her, p

A stray cat is separated from her family And forced to wander through rainy streets. She encounters friendly strangers and unfriendly dogs All the while traveling every part of town, Slowly but surely feeling her hopes fade. In her darkest hour, hungry and alone, She accepts adoption from a kind stranger Who had adopted other cats as well: her own family. A child wakes up on his birthday To find his mother in endless slumber Brought about by a victorious illness. He refuses to open his presents, make a birthday wish, Or do anything else but cry. However, his father Shows him the birthday card his mother picked out. "When I'm not

Everyday And Every night I sit and think While everything else around me turns to star dust

Friday was watching the snow fall onto the bustling Harlem street below. Night had just swept across the sky, and lights were turning on; golden yellow beams from apartment windows and street lamps, illuminating the night and white snow with heavenly highlights. She was gazing and fell into deep thought, as she usually did. She tightened the warm cup of coffee around her hands when she remembered a dark incident that felt like it happened only yesterday. She closed her eyes and shook her head, hating having to relive that moment...several moments in time, where things just weren't right at all. Where things, life itself, was trying to kill he