Tag: Fantasy

Fantasy

The Road to Dthelwyndale

~ carlbystrom@live.com ~ 3 Comments

Reading Time: 4 minutes

“Can you believe it?” Elena’s eyes flashed with glee. “It’s happening! It’s really happening!”

I smiled, trying to jump on the coattails of her enthusiasm, but I lost my footing and landed squarely on my skeptical ass. I shook my head. “This is absurd.”

“It’s only absurd if you don’t believe.” Matthew chimed, as patronizing as ever.

Matthew was the DM, or he was supposed to be. Somehow he’d transformed his role from benign dungeon dictator to a kind of messiah figure. Just-this-side-of-crazy, up to now, but he’d just stepped over that line. Continue reading “The Road to Dthelwyndale” →

A Quiet Beat

~ carlbystrom@live.com ~ 12 Comments
Reading Time: 4 minutes

“Why do I always look so squinty in these things?” I stared at my calling card. One side of my face was scrunched up. I looked like a scurvy scallywag.

“You’re always squinty.” Paolo, my go-to communications wizard, replied. Right there with support.

“Special request,” I leaned over the cluttered counter and lowered my voice, although, currently, I was the only patron in the dusty little shop. ”Can you hook me up with a sensate spell or two?”

“Those are only for the cops, Stag.” Continue reading “A Quiet Beat” →

Silhouette

~ carlbystrom@live.com ~ 12 Comments

Reading Time: 5 minutes

“You’d think I’d be used to this by now.” Davis absentmindedly addressed the plump little bird cradled in his hands. The creature squirmed. The vestigial wings, dwarfed by its nearly round body, wiggled uselessly while its legs pushed in a pulse against Davis’ cupped palms. The wide, nocturnal eyes appeared unfocused and the small, nearly round beak gasped open and closed. “I guess I’m just a softy at heart.”

Davis broke the bird’s neck with a practiced twist. Continue reading “Silhouette” →

World Views #BlogBattle

~ carlbystrom@live.com ~ 18 Comments

Reading Time: 4 minutes

“Hello girl,” Chisholm greeted the Arken’s transom. “I missed you.”

“Don’t get too flirty,” Meredith shot sideways, popping the ship’s hatch. “She’s my baby now.”

Chisholm gave her a black glare. “Perhaps a hand of cards later?”

Meredith’s eyebrows raised in mock surprise. “Do you have anything left to lose, Chisholm?”

He flashed a disgruntled smile, then sighed, surveying the area. “Looks like Davis took off with more than just my bedroll, but I’ll gladly wager the tug if we can track it down. He can’t have flown far.” Continue reading “World Views #BlogBattle” →

Ricocheted #writephoto

~ carlbystrom@live.com ~ 12 Comments

Reading Time: 4 minutes

Davis surfaced slowly. The previous day’s trauma had knocked him deep into a dreamless slumber he felt reluctant to exit. His eyelids clung together, sticky with dust from the cave, and he levered himself onto one elbow before prying them open enough to survey the cavern. Light poured from the entrance, casting his shadow across Chisholm’s empty bag.

“Good morning!” Davis shouted, relaxing and reclining again. Silence. “Hey Chiz!” He tried louder. “What’s for breakfast?!” Continue reading “Ricocheted #writephoto” →

This is Not Okay #BlogBattle

~ carlbystrom@live.com ~ 12 Comments

Reading Time: 4 minutes

“Davis?” His voiced dropped to a whisper. Davis wasn’t in the cave. “Where the hell did you go?”

Chisholm turned in a slow circle. The cylinder tucked under his arm illuminated the empty floor around him. His sleeping sack and shoulder bag had vanished along with his companion. Continue reading “This is Not Okay #BlogBattle” →

Clutch Your Buttocks and Keep Walking

~ carlbystrom@live.com ~ 9 Comments

Reading Time: 6 minutes

“So much for retirement,” Chisholm grumbled. The hum grew louder on the other side of the bay doors. “This was supposed to be a small town on the dark side of a tiny planet circling a quiet little star…” He heaved a duffel into the open rear hatch of the tug. “But no.” He scanned the bay for other vital possessions, walked to the corner and picked up two photoelectric cylinders and a tank of propane. “First, I lose my damn ship to an evil blonde ex-Marine, then I get caught in a fucking apocalypse.”

Rain began pattering on the metal roof. First just a few drops, then a few more, heavier, then the shower began in earnest. Except he knew it wasn’t rain. Continue reading “Clutch Your Buttocks and Keep Walking” →

Patterns

~ carlbystrom@live.com ~ 3 Comments

Reading Time: 4 minutes

“You peer too deep,” Azi whispered.

Brushed by her companion’s breath, goosebumps rose on Meredith’s neck and cascaded down the right side of her body. The smooth fabric of her flight suit tantalized her alerted skin, sending a shiver through her bones. Continue reading “Patterns” →

Bad Air #writephoto

~ carlbystrom@live.com ~ 14 Comments

Reading Time: 2 minutes

“Damn,” Meredith’s disappointment felt unwarranted. She’d noticed the signs even before shuttling to the surface, but they’d made the descent anyway. This wasn’t the debris of a Solar swarm. Something other than those bastard Locusts had destroyed this world.

“Not what we were looking for?” Azi chimed, their tone knowing. Continue reading “Bad Air #writephoto” →

A Pleasure to Burn #Flash Fiction

~ carlbystrom@live.com ~ 7 Comments

Reading Time: 2 minutes

She threw the token onto the pile in the center of the table.

Chisholm froze. “You serious?”

“I’m always serious,” she said, letting an amused smile curl one corner of her mouth as the eyebrow above it raised. “Even when I’m playing.”

“Especially when she’s playing,” chimed Davis. He’d folded on the previous round, his tongue, and his wisdom, loosened by whiskey. A tight player when he was sober, Davis had dropped to two gold pieces after ordering his fourth glass. “Serious like a dog star…”

Chisholm shot Davis a glance to shut him up and leaned into the light to pick up the small figurine. Continue reading “A Pleasure to Burn #Flash Fiction” →