Tag: Hive

The General Threat

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

Elliot 141
Photo credit: Michael Tweddle

Vernon became more agitated as his friends tried to ease his distress.

“You don’t have to worry about Spike,” Elliot assured him, “he’s dead.”

“Do you mean D’Arc, Vernon?” Cassandra asked. “We thought you must have defeated him. Did he get away?”

“No, but I would have been done for if he hadn’t insisted on chasing me down,” Vernon admitted. “I was lucky enough to lead him into a web. He won’t be back.”

“Then I don’t understand,” Elliot said. “Why do you think rebels are coming?”

Continue reading “The General Threat”

Home Again

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

Elliot 140
Photo credit: Katia Dickenson

Joseph landed in the field where Fen’s troops had assembled what seemed to Elliot like an age ago. Queen Lilian waited for them.

“Welcome home,” she smiled. “I trust your flight was uneventful, Joseph?” Continue reading “Home Again”

Uncertain Night

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

Elliot 122
Photo credit: Harry Finder

“Leave us,“ Queen Lilian instructed her entourage as she entered the bower. Clifton followed her, laying the semi-conscious Vernon on the moss mat Cassandra had prepared. The mushrooms were just beginning to glow.

“He’s worse?” Cassandra sponged cool water onto his forehead.

Continue reading “Uncertain Night”

Clifton

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

Photo credit: Mark Berkery
“What’s our Hero been doing all this time?” I’m glad you asked.

Elliot hadn’t eaten or slept since Cassandra disappeared more than two days ago. His infinite pacing traced a twisted, shiny slime path across the bower’s floor.

No one had heard from Vernon. His replacement, a pleasant enough nephew of Queen Lilian, unmotivated by anything except the promise of his next meal, apparently thought this new assignment was a vacation.

“Hey, Elliot, give the floor a break. Let’s go get a drink. It’s almost dinner time — wouldn’t it be nice to prime our taste buds with a little nectar first?”

Continue reading “Clifton”

Honor-Bound

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

Elliot 087
Photo credit: William H.

Vernon turned to Cassandra. “Princess, you must be strong. Think of Elliot. I swear we will bring you home.”

“That’s so sweet,” Spike gushed, “isn’t it, Cassie? Still, you’ve gotta wonder why old Elli isn’t here himself. Hm. Maybe he’s smarter than he looked.”

Continue reading “Honor-Bound”

Spike’s Messenger

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

Elliot 081, Eucharitid wasp
Photo credit: Rundstedt B. Rovillos

With that image fresh in his mind, Elliot easily resisted the Bols de Mort. He pushed headlong through the malodorous meadow to arrive at the Hive at the tail end of twilight.

Vernon, Liaison to Queen Lilian the Undisputed Monarch of Fen, notified the Queen the instant Elliot returned. She met him in the bower moments later.

“Your Magnificence, one of Spike’s rebels has taken Cassandra. He knows she’s King Arnie’s daughter. I’m afraid I’ve put her in grave danger.” Continue reading “Spike’s Messenger”

Marcel Pierre Clouseau

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

Elliot 078
Photo credit: Igor Siwanowicz

“Cassandra!… Cassandra! Can you hear me? Where are you? Are you all right?… Cassandra!” Elliot charged over the mossy ground, first in one direction, then in another, frantically calling as the shadows stretched deeper into the woods and the eastern sky darkened to cobalt.

“Cassandra…” his hoarseness whispered away to nothing as he slumped to the ground and wept.

“Excusé moi?” a smoky voice rasped, “I cannot help but wondair eef you are een need of some kind of asseestance.”

Continue reading “Marcel Pierre Clouseau”

Benito

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

Elliot 061
Photo credit: Jason M. Hogle

Now it’s Vernon’s turn.

~~~

Buoyed by the verdant glow, Vernon’s voice drew them into Fen’s past. “Since Fen’s beginning, its people have been free. Each citizen may pursue education, bond with whomever they love, and aspire to any job regardless of their ancestry. Even in the Hive, where everyone is born a Royal, they are free to leave for love or other occupations.

“Young adults wishing to serve the Queen hoped to be called to join the Suns of Glory. In times of peace, they worked to keep it; in times of war they fought to win it back. Princess Lilian and her closest friend, the accomplished and beguiling Persephone, received the Call.

“Princess Lilian was betrothed to a devoted young soldier of the Hive, but Persephone resisted the pursuit of many hopeful suitors. Only the Princess knew Persephone’s heart: ‘I’ll know my love when I find him, but I know I won’t find him in Fen.’

Continue reading “Benito”

Reign Clouds Gather

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

Elliot 058
Photo credit: Joel Sartore

“Elliot! Elliot where are you?” Cassandra’s voice enticed him from his shell, the slow extension of his eyes preceding the wary exposure of his throat. The troops had passed, but the shock of their ferocious faces still tingled.

“I’m here!” he called, returning the way he’d come to find his love and Queen Lilian searching through the grass for him.

“Your Magnificence, where are the Suns of Glory?” he asked, “I was hoping to see them.”

Continue reading “Reign Clouds Gather”

Queen Lilian

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

Elliot 055
Photo credit: Mark Berkery

Bowing so low her nose touched the ground, Duggla the Crone’s show of respect bordered on the obsequious. “You summoned me, your Greatness? How may this humble old woman serve her King?”

Rolling his eyes, King Arnie dismissed Duggla’s escort and waited. When the crone straightened up to look at him, she wore a lopsided, snarky grin.

“Madam Duggla, the Kingdom has further need of your assistance.”

“What is it now?” she sneered. “It’s almost sunset. I need my sleep.”

Continue reading “Queen Lilian”