Time to Orbit: Unknown

<<First .......... <Prev .......... [Archive] .......... [Glossary] .......... Next> I needed immediate medical attention. Our darling captain needed it more. But neither of us would be getting it right now, because first I had to convince everyone not to kill her, including herself. This would be the hardest story I’d ever told in the Game … Continue reading 17: A Game of Truth

First ---- Previous ---- Glossary ---- Archive ---- Next Three days after Smon starts riding in the cart, Bette’s old legs begin to fail her, and she caves to her childrens’ fussing and gets in a cart herself. Having two of their group riding slows them down significantly; not only is the weight significant and … Continue reading 25: Red Water Rush

<<First .......... <Prev .......... [Archive] .......... [Glossary] .......... Next> Most of the nest had taken defensive positions underground, and the few atil that were aboveground were on lookout at the shore, hiding themselves under little mounds of sand with their eyes on the water awaiting the approaching army. Without the soldiers to spare for proper … Continue reading 16: Fight For Flight

First ---- Previous ---- Glossary ---- Archive ---- Next Tyk wakes the next morning early and restless. Everyone’s still asleep. The pale stars visible through the burrow opening wake her properly, although she’d rather doze back off – there’s something disconcerting about sleeping so close to the surface, without several tunnels and chambers between her … Continue reading 24: Backup Plans

<<First .......... <Prev .......... [Archive] .......... [Glossary] .......... Next> Careful to stay far away enough to avoid being bitten, I looked up at the fruits on Morlin’s tree. They were vaguely luminous in the rapidly fading daylight, casting a slight red glow through the bone-white branches and onto the black rotting plant material around the … Continue reading 15: Time to Move

First ---- Previous ---- Glossary ---- Archive ---- Next In a caravan, the carts are usually ordered from lightest to heaviest, to help prevent carts getting bogged down or stuck. Which means that as they set off, Tyk finds herself in the lead, with her mother all the way at the back and the entire … Continue reading 23: On The Road

<<First .......... <Prev .......... [Archive] .......... [Glossary] .......... Next> “What the fuck is that?!” I exclaimed, in English, which of course nobody understood. The amalgamation screeched and clicked back in what I was pretty sure was aljik, which I didn’t understand. And to complete the trio, the drakes started making a lot of very emphatic … Continue reading 14: Spectre

First ---- Previous ---- Glossary ---- Archive ---- Next One of the older diggers, Maiza, comes to find Tyk while she’s on soil clearing duty in one of the peripheral tunnels. “Hey, Tyk. You can understand the skyborn visitor, right?” “About two thirds of what she says, yeah.” “Two thirds?” “Sometimes she talks about rocks … Continue reading 22: Nailing It

<<First .......... <Prev .......... [Archive] .......... [Glossary] .......... Next> I knew we were getting near the centre of the labyrinth when the trees started to thin out. And I mean that literally – there weren’t less trees, they were just noticeably thinner, the thick bark black and peeling and clearly rotten underneath, the branches dead … Continue reading 13: Maze Invaders

First ---- Previous ---- Glossary ---- Archive ---- Next “What in there?” Smon asks as she and Tyk walk away from the burrow. “Just a fight,” Tyk says. She inspects her leg; exoskeleton and joint are intact, Ayan hadn’t split or torn anything. There’s barely even a mark. “For Bette?” “Yeah.” Tyk considers not explaining, … Continue reading 21: Star Children