Tag: Marauders

Motivation

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

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Image credit: iStock / S.T. Ranscht

Cassandra picked her way off the log, and hurried to outrun the approaching storm. The Bower was darker than night. Miranda must have covered the mushrooms so the children could sleep. Not wanting to wake them, Cassandra whispered, “Miranda?”

“Shh…” came a gentle caution from a shadowy corner. A Clark-sized giggle followed.

The Princess uncovered the light closest to the door. Clark grinned at her from the arms of a crouching, one-clawed Stinger. Miranda lay crumpled at his feet.

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What Next?

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

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Image credit: ThinkStock / S.T. Ranscht

Beyond the torchlight outside the Bower, King Arnie, Princess Cassandra, and Knights Barry and Trevor stood beside Randall’s body.

The King bowed his head. “This never should have happened.”

His legs quivering, Barry asked, “Do ya want us ta hunt dat Assassin down, yer Greatness? We can pick up da trail where he killed Randall, can’t we Trev?”

“I’m sure we can,” Trevor agreed. “Just say the word, Sir.”

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Dancing In the Dark

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

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Photo credit: Suhaib Ayaz

Beneath the Wildlands’ Hill, Commandant Marabunta sensed insistent vibrations in her sleep, and woke to bits of soil from the dormitory’s domed ceiling pelting onto her head.

“What the…?” The source was localized, stationary, and relatively small. Nothing to worry about, she concluded, but too annoying to ignore. Rousting herself from the comfort of her bed, she never even considered sending a scout.

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Shooting Star Signs

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

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Photo credit: Quetsavia

Lying awake beneath the shimmering sky long after Darwin’s family had retreated to the shadowy corners of their web, Teddy wasn’t sure he was still glad his father had gone to the war, even just overnight. It was okay for Trevor and Barry — they were Knights, not dads. They didn’t have anybody counting on them for hugs and stories and tucking in at bedtime.

I hope Daddy didn’t think he wouldn’t be brave if he stayed home, Teddy fretted to himself. I hope he knows he’s the bravest Dad in Bog — in the whole world!

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Casualties

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Image credit: SD Zoo/Aussietrev/wallup.net/S.T. Ranscht

Bog’s army had arrived in time to help push General Hai’s troops back across Fen’s border, at least for the night. Now, at the end of a day filled with conferences, bad news, and tough decisions, Queen Lilian heard the same remorse in King Arnie’s apology that she’d expressed to Vernon earlier.

“No one saw it coming, Arnie.” she said. “What’s important is that Bog’s army is here now, and Commander Torlex has taken the Arids’ Alliance Army across the northwestern corner of Fen to cut through the enemy.”

“Torlex is a cagey one,” King Arnie confided. “He’s hinted he has a secret attack plan that’s going to take the General by surprise, but only his army knows what it is.”

“Do you trust him?” Lilian asked.

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Last Flight Out

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

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Photo credit: Thomas Marent

Randall’s first flight made such an impression, he decided his flight home would be his last flight ever. He’d survived all the jostling only by tying his ankles to the cargo net and hanging on for dear life. Teddy might be enchanted because Trevor can ‘fly’, he thought, but that’s just leaping with style. When I tell him about this, he’s going to know what flying is really like.

Maybe his relief to be on the ground enhanced his senses to make Fen seem soul-sustainingly green and rich with everything that made life worth living. Or maybe it really was. He understood why the General wanted it, but the world would be a less hopeful place if the winds of war contaminated Fen’s light zephyrs with the stench of death.

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Back Channel Communications

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

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Photo credit: wisawa222

Holding up both arms, the Assassin moved into the open and stopped well away from the Prince. “As you can see, I also am un-armed. Or un-clawed, to be more precise, thanks to your dear friend Randall. You wouldn’t happen to know where he is, would you? He ran off before I could thank him properly.” Elliot said nothing. “No?” Anthony asked. “Ah well, if it’s meant to be… So, Elliot the Faithful. How good to see you again.”

Neither of them moved.

“What do you want, Anthony?”

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Philbin

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

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Photo credit: Gail Shumway

Janesse filled Prince Elliot in on the current situation in central Fen and left him in a hastily organized camp surrounded by lush greenery far enough inside the Northern border that he couldn’t hear the fighting. A young soldier named Philbin showed him to the empty command post and volunteered to answer any questions he might have.

“Why did the King send for me?” Elliot asked.

“I don’t know,” Philbin admitted. “That’s above my pay grade.”

“Are there any officers I could talk with right now?”

The soldier looked around. “I don’t see any.”

“Where is the supply distribution area?”

“It’s around here someplace,” Philbin said.

Elliot rubbed his temples. “Might I get something to eat while I wait?”

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Sergeant Bufo

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Photo credit: David Gray

“Hold on there, Jeremy!” A heavy voice rolling from a wide-mouthed toad on her way down the steps stopped him. “The prisoner stays right there. Go get the Queen’s Liaison.”

Jeremy hopped to it.

Sergeant Marina Bufo was a commanding presence. Even larger than the Crone, she filled the confined space with the illusion that Duggla had no air of her own to breathe.

“So you’ve got something to say, huh?” Sergeant Bufo asked.

“Not to you,” the Crone mumbled taking shallow, suffocated breaths.

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In Your Dreams

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

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Photo credit: tt.mop.com

Pressing her tongue firmly against the roof of her mouth, Duggla crushed the crispy-crunchy shell to savor the seeping succulence of the Assassin’s juicy guts. Devouring him satisfied so much more than just her hunger, she was almost reluctant to swallow. It was a transcendent experience. But shouts rumbling down to the dungeon broke through her dream, waking her to the dank dimness of her cell.

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