Category Archives: Winter

            My whole world hurt, a screaming, almost blinding pain.  It was pain unlike anything I’d ever experienced—save once before.             A hand squeezed my shoulder and Jacqueline’s encouraging voice faded from my ears as I looked up, expecting to … Continue reading →

            Thom’s hand spasmed around mine before he shoved me behind him, fingers untangling from mine.  I groped for my bow as his blade rasped free of its scabbard.             “Just stay behind me,” he said in a tight voice. … Continue reading →

J.T. and Jacqueline were both with Tala by the time I got there.  She had a death-grip on Phelan’s hand and he looked like he was feeling every ounce of her strength bearing down on that hand.  I tried to … Continue reading →

I swore under my breath as I ran for the tent, cursing and muttering the same thing over and over again—“It’s too early, it’s too early.” The ghost at my side eventually made an annoyed sound as I neared the … Continue reading →

“Marin!” I straightened ignoring the shakiness in my limbs as I turned away from the ward that I’d been working on.  People would be upset if they learned I was pushing myself too hard and Thom or Phelan or someone … Continue reading →

The remainder of January—all two and a half weeks—and the first week of February passed with relative peace and quiet aside from a sudden blizzard that left us trapped in the tents or our rooms for two days before it … Continue reading →

It was hours and a few dozen bruises later that the three men headed into the warmth of the forge as the winds began to pick up outside, sending snow swirling and drifting.  Their audience had grown and shrank as … Continue reading →

Tala glanced between the two, then nodded, lifting her hand and dropping it quickly.  “Lay on!” J.T. came on hard and high, almost too quickly for Thom to properly react.  He ducked to the side, J.T.’s kendo stick missing him … Continue reading →

Thom abandoned Thordin an hour later and headed up to the forge, his sketchbook tucked under one arm, whistling a tune that had been popular on the radio that summer.  He figured that J.T. and Matt would have worn each … Continue reading →