Tag: bee

Stranger In the Dark

Glad you could join us for the next smoldering episode of Elliot’s Adventures. If you’re new here, you can catch up by returning to the beginning, and reading really fast…

Elliot 138
Image credit: TextureMax

Madam Duggla didn’t mind being led into the unknown. She didn’t mind sitting in the dark with the walls entombing her. She wasn’t even bothered by arrogant pests that forced their way through life by threatening creatures less cruel than themselves.

But when the unknown threat in the tomb-like hole smoldered in the dark, it caused her some alarm.

To be continued. . .

Previously, on Elliot’s Adventures ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Next time . . .

Toadstool Pigeon

Glad you could join us for the next cautious episode of Elliot’s Adventures. If you’re new here, you can catch up by returning to the beginning, and reading really fast…

Elliot 137
Photo credit: Alolkoy

Smugly enjoying the stupidity of her former jailer, Duggla the Crone waited beneath the red toadstool. Time passed, the rain stopped, the sun came out, and still she waited. But now she muttered, too.

“Why should I sit here like a lackey? Nobody has the right to treat me this way. I should just leave.” But curiosity held her in place until a velvety voice called her name.

“Madam Duggla! Thanks for waiting. I apologize and I beg your pardon, but I was unavoidably detained.”

She pursed her lips and squinted at the red-tinged pointy end of his curvy tail. “Things come up,” she allowed. “Who are you?”

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The New Dungeon Master

Glad you could join us for the next break-out episode of Elliot’s Adventures. If you’re new here, you can catch up by returning to the beginning, and reading really fast…

Elliot 136, Schneeengel on Deviantart
Image credit: Schneeengel on Deviantart

Madam Duggla yelled up the stairs, “What does a body have to do to get an extra blanket around here?” A late afternoon rain chilled her jail cell, aggravating her rheumatism and making her crankier than ever.

The lone guard descended the steps for the fifth time in an hour, not bothering to hide his own aggravation from the lone prisoner.

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Savoring the Bittersweet

Glad you could join us for the next catch-up episode of Elliot’s Adventures. If you’re new here, you can catch up by returning to the beginning, and reading really fast…

Elliot 135
Image credit: NatGeoWild / S.T. Ranscht
“Hey, what about King Arnie of Bog and his Knights of Service? They don’t write… they don’t call…” You, trying to remember what they were doing 50 episodes ago.

When we last saw the fine fighting forces of Bog, King Arnie was honoring Lady Connie, her family, and their neighbors for helping to win the final battle against the Marauders. Well, final for now. Together, Bog and Fen had repelled the enemy without conquering them, and no one was foolish enough to think the war was over.

So what have they been doing?

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Sliding On the Sky

Glad you could join us for the next avian episode of Elliot’s Adventures. If you’re new here, you can catch up by returning to the beginning, and reading really fast…

Elliot 134
Photo credit: halex

“Thank you,” Elliot’s pride battled with the enormity of what he’d just heard, and wisely surrendered to humility. “I will do my best — faithfully — to deserve this Name.”

First Combat Master Vladimir the Just bowed his head to Elliot the Faithful. “May your Name inspire all who meet you to trust that you will serve them well.”

The celebration of a new Naming was a raucous, thirsty affair. Elliot was certain every creature in attendance must have congratulated him in person — some many times — with a toast for success and a shot of aged nectar.

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The Granters

Glad you could join us for the next indecisive episode of Elliot’s Adventures. If you’re new here, you can catch up by returning to the beginning, and reading really fast…

Elliot 132
Photo credit: Igor Siwanowicz

Someone in the dining hall closed the door behind them. Elliot wore the dark on his back like a hooded coat, pushing himself to keep his face within the sphere of lantern light. The further they descended, the closer the walls seemed to lean in until the deepest chamber beneath the Tower of Honor opened around them with the moist aroma of fungus gently touched by fresh air.

Mushroom lights sprouted from cracks in walls that gleamed like black glass, and poked their heads up randomly from loamy patches in the floor. Non-glowing fungi, taller and woodier, stood like posts and platforms scattered over harder ground. Two of those held the room’s only other occupants. Four eyes glistened in the newly golden glow.

“This is Elliot,” the First Combat Master announced. “These are the Granters — they grant many requests, but tonight they will decide if you are a worthy recipient.”

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First Combat Master Vladimir the Just

Glad you could join us for the next actual episode of Elliot’s Adventures. If you’re new here, you can catch up by returning to the beginning, and reading really fast…

Elliot 130
Photo credit: Carlos del Pico

In the second deepest chamber beneath the Tower of Honor, an expansive room carved out of porous white stone, the residents gathered to confer, converse, and dine. Organic lighting spread cheer with its impression of sunny windows.

As the High Priestess entered, everyone — hundreds, Elliot estimated — stood. Acknowledging them with a nod, she led him to a laden table on the raised dais at one end of the hall, then turned to the waiting diners.

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Sunset Cavern

Glad you could join us for the next sunlit episode of Elliot’s Adventures. If you’re new here, you can catch up by returning to the beginning, and reading really fast…

Elliot 128
Photo credit: Learnphotography

To Elliot’s great relief, the ancient priestess’s heart did not explode. Step after step, gasp after gasp, rest after breathless rest, she made it to the top. Standing with her eyes closed in light filtered green through the trees, her shoulders heaved with each ragged inhalation.

“You’re right,” Elliot said, “it’s marvelous.” Watching her ravaged breathing, he added, “I could just stand here and soak it in for hours.”

But it took only a few minutes for the High Priestess to recover.

“What do you see here?” she asked as they followed the emerald light being pushed by the spreading carpet of approaching night.

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Tower of Honor

Glad you could join us for the next historical episode of Elliot’s Adventures. If you’re new here, you can catch up by returning to the beginning, and reading really fast…

Elliot 127
Photo credit: David Steinmann

The hallway they entered was taller, but narrower than the one Elliot had come in through. Familiar with mushroom glow and the winking flicker of fireflies, he couldn’t explain the lighting until he saw it close up. Do they wander? he wondered to himself, vowing not to sleep while he was here.

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Janesse

Glad you could join us for the next enigmatic episode of Elliot’s Adventures. If you’re new here, you can catch up by returning to the beginning, and reading really fast…

Elliot 126
Photo credit: Neil Wade

Elliot’s eyes narrowed. “How do you know my name?”

“Good news still travels to the heart of the Ancient Forest.”

“Good news?”

“Yes. We’ve been expecting you,” the High Priestess confided as she limped down the steps to hunch before him.

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