Techtiggers' Soapbox

Flash Fiction – A Game of Chess, Part 3 – A King In Check January 28, 2012

Posted by techtigger in flash fiction.
Tags: #fridayflash, flash fiction, Nox and Grimm
2 comments

Lucien had known for some time that all was not well in his home. He could feel it in the air, a subtle taint that had crept in and lay hidden deep within the ancient mansion. The main corridors were safe – his boots rang in clear tones on the cold marble floors, and the ice sculptures that hung down in crystalline cascades still sang in harmony with the voices of his people. But the echoes came back distorted, a warning as certain as an alarm bell that something, somewhere had gone terribly wrong.

He had searched everywhere, in every room from the highest attic to the lowest cellar. Every place but one.

His wife’s suite was up several flights of stairs, and overlooked the great hall.  Lucien hesitated outside the door, his heart leaden within his chest. There was no doubt now that Serenna was behind the attacks. It was only a matter of finding out why.

The wards on the door were unlocked, and a frown creased his brow as he entered. Serenna was never that careless. The room looked undisturbed, filled with all the pretty feminine things his wife kept about her; soft blankets on a rocking chair and a sewing kit beside it, flowers and perfume bottles on the dresser.  The next room held her library, and a small table where she prepared her healing crystals. Beyond that, the door to her work room was unlocked, and he could see a dim light spilling out through a gap where it had not quite been shut.

Lucien hesitated again, his instincts warning him to use caution. A smell of dried herbs and incense wafted out, along with a musty hint of rot that undercut their more delicate scent. A moment’s thought let him place the smell – moldy leaves, like those on a forest floor.

The forest kin were seldom seen, and almost never left their homes. To have one set up shop here, in the midst of all this cold stone was unheard of. And yet, twice now there had been plant based attacks in his home. He studied the doorway, but there were no obvious signs of malign enchantments.

If someone was inside and had already prepared a trap, he saw no point in making a stealthy entrance. Chill energy wrapped around him as he blew the door open.

No cries came from inside, and he strode into a room coated with frost. Smoking candles were scattered about the floor, knocked from their candelabras by the icy wind. A summoning ring was set into the floor, and in its center lay a small, twisted branch covered with casting marks. Lucien knelt beside the ring, careful not to cross it. Foul energies spilled out from the circle, uncontained in any way. He leaned over to look underneath the branch. Roots shot down into the flagstones. They had caused hairline fractures to spread out to the edges, breaking the protective ring. He stood up quickly, and turned to the small lectern behind him. Serenna’s day journal was laid out, open and unlocked, just as the door to the workroom had been.

Lucien glanced back at the branch.  His enemy was taunting him with the answers he sought. He weighed the danger against the need to know what his wife had summoned, but in the end, there was no other option.

The first entry had been made twenty one years ago, just before his wife had become pregnant with Nox.

“Three sons I have buried, their tiny bodies returned to the earth without ceremony. Luc and I did not wish to share our grief. More and more, I realize that I have failed my husband. He does not speak of it, but I know the miscarriages have affected him as much as they did me. The heart is willing, but the body is weak. A human was not meant to bear the child of an elemental.”

Lucien paused with his hand hovering over the next page. The jaws of the trap were closing. This was how the enemy would break him, then. Not with swords or spells, but with the words of his own beloved wife. They knew him too well. He had to read on. He had to know how he had lost her. The words seemed to reach out from the pages, and hold his heart in an iron grip.

“Merciful mother of God, watch over me. I am with child again, but it is too soon, too soon since my last little boy was laid to rest. I have not recovered, and I fear I will lose this baby as well. I am so cold…”

—

“I awoke this morning to find my husband asleep in the chair next to me, still holding my hand. The days pass by in a blur of agony and ice. My daughter chills my womb in her fierce struggle to live, but I cannot give her what she needs. I do not wish to see his noble line die like this, wasting away along with a wife who is unfit to bear his children. I have begged him to put me aside, to take a wife from his own people, but he will not listen. The dear, stubborn fool still holds out hope for us.”

—

“God in heaven, I have Ice in my veins. I feel it running through me, and all my world has gone cold and dark. My daughter thrives; even now I can feel her playful kicks in my belly. Luc will not say what he has done, only that I should never speak of it. I should be joyful, I will live. And yet, there is only hate in my heart. I do not know if I hate him more for this blasphemous thing he has done to save my life, or for waiting so long to try it. Our sons might have lived.”

Lucien paused there, his shoulders bowed beneath the weight of his grief. He had almost lost them both, and in desperation he had done the unthinkable. Lord Galen had banned the technique of healing with an aura graft for good reason. Lucien had been a fool to think he could make it work.  He had given Serenna a piece of himself, never thinking how traumatic it would be for her to lose a piece of her humanity in exchange. All he had cared about was keeping her and the baby alive.

He forced himself to read on. If she had lived with this for twenty one years, he could at least bear witness to the price she paid for his folly.

“Tragedy. Kyrios and Eva, killed along with their youngest son. Poor Cole, orphaned and alone, not even able to keep his own name for fear of his murderous uncle finding him. I suggested that he call himself Loki, after a spirit of fire and chaos from my home world. His plight weighs on me – how easy would it be for my own child to share his fate? I must protect Nox. Five years ago my husband delved into the heart of darkness to find a way to save us. Can I do any less?”

—

“I have found the answer. A spirit, imprisoned in the woods near the graves of my sons. She says that she was wrongfully accused of a crime. I do not entirely trust her, but she has knowledge I need. And perhaps, being a woman, she will have sympathy for what I plan to do. A mother’s instinct resides in all women.”

The rest of the journal was a slow, steady descent into madness as the spirit laid its hooks into her. Details of everything Serenna had done to their daughter was there, laid out in harsh, clinical terms. It was a miracle that Nox had survived at all. Lucien sank down into a chair that sat next to the lecturn. He let the journal dangle from his fingers, and covered his face with the other hand.

Inside the broken summoning circle, the leaves on the branch began to rustle. A mocking voice whispered, “What have we here? The Lord of Ice and Air, contemplating his many sins. Does the crown weigh heavy on your brow, oh chief of the Winter Kings?”

Lucien sat up slowly and set the book aside. “What do you want, Shadowkin?”

“Ooh, what a clever boy you are,” the voice said. “Shall we dance some more, my pretty prince? I have so enjoyed watching you chase my shadows. But oh, so sad, you never saw who cast them. You should have listened to your daughter.”

Energy flowed in from every corner of the mansion as Lucien gathered up his will for lethal strike.

“Ah, ah,” the voice chided. “I have your wife. And she, silly creature, has plans for your daughter. Can you afford to ignore her any longer?”

He did not let the energy go, holding it ready around his fists. “I assume you have demands?”

“Oh my, how deliciously forceful you are. You act so cold, but I know better. Your wife has been a treasure trove of information about you.”  When he did not respond, the voice turned petulant. “It’s no fun if you don’t play the game. Very well then, we will play it your way. Come to the blasted oak – you know the one – three days hence. Alone. Or the next time you see your dear wife, it will be across your daughter’s corpse.”

Lucien’s expression was frozen, unreadable. “I will be there.”

 

---

<–Previous   –Beginning-

This flashfic is part of an ongoing web serial, updated every week as a part of #fridayflash on twitter.  If you are new to Nox and Grimm, you can Click Here to read from the beginning.

Flash Fiction – A Game of Chess, Part 2 – Queen’s Gambit January 23, 2012

Posted by techtigger in flash fiction.
Tags: #fridayflash, flash fiction, Nox and Grimm
2 comments

The fading sunlight was reflected in a thousand pieces of shattered glass. Water dripped from ice covered upholstery as the warm evening breeze passed through the empty windows of the solarium. And in the midst of the devastation, Nox stood with her arms wrapped around herself. “I think mother just tried to kill me.”

Lucien frowned as he studied the vines that had attacked her. They were still encased in ice, held motionless by his will. “Nonsense. Your mother would never cast a spell that would harm you. Someone else must be behind this attack.”

“Oh really?” Nox said, scowling at him. “Have you forgotten that she’s the one who crippled my ability to channel the elements?”

Lucien’s frown deepened. “We have discussed this. It will take time for her to devise a way to safely remove that spell.”

“Oh, for goodness sake, open your eyes!” Nox said, gesturing angrily at the vines. “She has no time for that, but apparently she has plenty of time to find new ways to wipe me out.”

Lucien turned to give her a quelling look.  “These vines were created by a forest kindred. No human can make elemental castings, as you well know.”

“She can work with an accomplice,” Nox spat back.

The crunch of footsteps on ice caused them both to turn around, only to see the focus of their argument standing in the doorway.

“What have you done to my solarium!” Serenna said.

“I’m fine mother, thanks for asking,” Nox replied, bitterly.

Serenna ignored the comment and swept into the room on a tide of self-righteous fury. “You used technomancy to unlock the book, didn’t you?”

Nox bristled at the accusation. “It would have taken weeks to remove the locking spell using sorcery, and I still would have set off that secondary enchantment.”

Serenna jabbed her finger into Nox’s chest. “So you admit that you knew how to safely remove the lock, but you took the easy way out?”

“Don’t you dare try to blame this on me,” Nox said. “I could have been killed, you sick, evil, twisted…”

Lines of acid green energy twined around Serenna’s hands. “Watch your tongue, daughter, or I will give you a lesson you will not soon forget.” She rounded on her husband. “I blame you for this, Luc. You have indulged her whims, and now we are left with a willful, spiteful child.”

The look Lucien turned on his wife was cold, and unforgiving. “No more ‘lessons’, Serenna.”

She sneered up at him. “No more lessons. I forbid this. I command that. How easy for you to toss out orders. Well, you ordered me to train our daughter, and I will do it as I see fit.”

She shoved past him and slashed her hand downwards. The vines crumbled, and the binding on the book bubbled up and melted away, leaving only scorched pages behind. “You will read this young lady, and master every spell inside.”

A cold, sick feeling settled into the pit of Nox’s stomach as she watched her mother do the impossible; if Serenna could control the elements, then she was no longer completely human.  The truly terrifying part was imagining who could be strong enough to alter her, without her husband noticing.

Lucien must have been following the same train of thought. Nox had never seen him look so shaken. “We will discuss this later, ‘Renna,” he said. “For now, I think it is best if Nox returned to her duties.”

Serenna’s eyes narrowed.  “Of course, Luc. Don’t we always do as you command?”  She gave the room one last, scornful look. “You have a whole outpost full of Fire kindreds at your disposal, daughter. Find one to repair the glass.”

Nox and Lucien both watched in silence as Serenna left. Nox finally cleared her throat and said, “We are in deep sheep dip.”

“That is an understatement,” Lucien replied, still staring at the empty doorway. “I tell your mother everything.”

The sick feeling in Nox’s stomach turned into an icy lump as the implications of that sunk in. “Oh, crud. If someone has gotten to mother, then every one of our defenses has been compromised.”

Lucien looked sharply at her. “All of them…where is Grimmalkyn?”

“He was just here,” Nox said. She sent out a silent call through the soul-bond she shared with the guardian, but all she got in return was an echo of her own thoughts. “He’s gone!”

—–

Elsewhere in the mansion, Serenna pitted her will against the creature held within her summoning circle. “Your plan failed, Katya. I had to damage a valuable spell book to cover up the mess you made. Not to mention alienating my husband. You will not overstep your bounds again.”

The lovely forest kindred gave her a petulant look. “You asked me to distract the guardian, and I have done so. Even if your daughter calls, Grimmalkyn will not be able to answer. One wonders why I bother to do so much on your behalf, when I get so little thanks.”

“You bother because I order you to,” Serenna snapped, and hoped that it was still true. The creature had proven incredibly difficult to control. She brushed her worries aside – it would all be over soon, and then she could banish Katya to the depths of Hel. “Right now, the only thing I require of you is to keep Grimmalkyn busy while I finish the work on my daughter.”

Katya gave her a graceful curtsy. “That I will do, with pleasure.”  She turned away, but paused before disappearing. “You do realize that the lifespan of our kind is measured by the amount of the elements we control. You are about to cut your daughter’s life disastrously short.”

Serenna shrugged. “A human’s life may be extended by the use of spells. Once the taint of the elements is removed, Nox can cast the same spells I use.”

“Is she human enough to survive the cleansing?”

“I will make her so,” Serenna said.

A cruel smile crossed Katya’s face. “Very good, poppet. I always knew you had the makings of a Shadowkin.”

“Begone!” Serenna cried, but the creature only laughed as it faded away.

(to be continued!)

---

<–Previous   –Beginning-   Next->

This flashfic is part of an ongoing web serial, updated every week as a part of #fridayflash on twitter.  If you are new to Nox and Grimm, you can Click Here to read from the beginning.

Flash Fiction – A Game of Chess, Part 1 – Two Knights Defense January 13, 2012

Posted by techtigger in flash fiction.
Tags: #fridayflash, flash fiction, Nox and Grimm
6 comments

Helloooo Nox and Grimm readers!   Today we pick up the story where we left off in episode 94: Only Human

————————————————————————————-

The setting sun stretched long shadows across the floor of the solarium, and painted the walls with splashes of red and gold. The servants had long since cleared away the remains of dinner and left Nox to wait for her father, with only Grimm for company.

The hound sniffed at the small, leather bound tome lying on the table in front of Nox. The enchantments laid on it were so thick it made him sneeze.  He backed away and shook himself hard enough to send bits of his shaggy fur flying.  “Your mother is a sadist. No woman should put their child through something like this.”

A half-smile twisted the corner of Nox’s mouth. “Look on the bright side, I’ve already found a way to circumvent her ugly little lesson. That should piss her off to no end.” She carefully sat down a small glass bottle next to the book, just as a jolt of energy sizzled between the book and her hand, standing her hair on end. “Ow-Ow-OW-Dangit!” she said, shaking her stinging fingers.  “Well, at least it zaps me at regular intervals. I can work in between them.”  She took the stopper from the bottle, and drew a tiny amount of liquid into the attached eyedropper.

An acrid smell drifted up from the bottle, and Grimm backed away another step.  “What is that?”

“Acid. One drop of this should force the spells that preserve the paper from damage to kick in, and return the book to its original state.”  She looked up at the water clock on the wall, and checked how many seconds she had until the next jolt. “All right, you nasty old hag, it’s time for your little game to end.”

Nox squeezed the stopper. A single of drop of acid hit the book, and lay there shimmering in the sunlight. A wisp of smoke curled up as it started to eat into the binding. Then it exploded in a blast of green light, throwing her across the room.

Grimm just barely got behind her in time, and grunted as she thumped into his side. Nox wheezed as the air got knocked out of her.

“Are you all right?” Grimm rumbled.

She reached up to give the hound a pat on his shoulder. “Fine. Nice catch, furball.”

He let out an amused snort. “I was expecting it. You blow things up with alarming regularity.”

“I know. Just think of how dull your life would be without me around!” she said, with an impish grin. “C’mon, let’s see what’s left of the book.”

“It would be a shame if it were ruined. It looked very old.”

“Better it than me,” Nox said.  She whistled a small Air casting to clear away the cloud of fumes around it. To her surprise, the book looked entirely unharmed.  She glanced up at the clock, but the time for another jolt had already passed. “Well, what do you know, it actually worked!”

Grimm sniffed at it, and sneezed again. “Do not celebrate yet, short-stuff. It still does not smell right.”

“Layered spells? That’s new for her.”

“It is not a human spell. Look for casting marks on the book before you open it.”

Nox raised an eyebrow. “Since when do the elements make you sneeze?”

“Your mother had something to do with it,” Grimm said, still eyeing the book warily. “Anything she works on gives me fits.”

“Hold on, I think I have a set of magnifying glasses with me.” Nox rummaged through her pockets and pulled out a small pair of round, wire-rimmed glasses.  She breathed on the lenses, cleaned them with a corner of her shirt and perched them on the end of her nose.  “You’re right, these are marks for controlling plants. I don’t recognize the maker; it’s not someone from House Flora. Their style is more ornate, lots of curvy lines and curlicues.”

“Let me see,” Grimm said, and Nox held the glasses up to his eye. “The style is very old. Either your mother dug up a scholar, or she’s been rummaging around in your father’s library.”

“She can’t create elemental castings. No full human can, or so she claims.”

“She can hire someone,” Grimm said, and sneezed again.

“Ooh, careful!” Nox said, as the glasses went flying.

The instant the glasses touched the book, the casting marks on the cover flared into life. Writhing tendrils of energy burst outwards toward them, and Grimm howled, surrounding Nox in a sonic shield.  A flash of electric blue light filled the room as she added her own aura shield to bolster it. The vines slashed at their defenses with a mindless ferocity, and a sticky, corrosive sap started to ooze over their combined shield, burning holes in it.

Grimm grabbed Nox by the back of her shirt and shoved her underneath him.  “Don’t let them touch you!” he cried, grunting as one of the vines cut through the shield and burned a strip of fur off his back.  The two of them slowly edged away from the book, but the vines kept growing.  “Ice, use ice on them!”

Nox reached out in desperation for the one source that could generate enough pure elemental Ice to freeze the vines.  Down in the main hall, she could sense the brass hoops of the great Weather scope start to move, sluggish and heavy. “Please, let it work this time!” She threw her will against it, trying to find the strength to move the ancient artifact and summon the winter winds.

The weather scope turned once, twice… and stopped.

The hound shoved her into a corner, and covered her with his own body. “Try again! Drop your shield, it is draining too much energy from you.”

“Those vines will tear you to pieces!”

“I cannot die, dammit! Do it!”

Nox threw her will into it again. The weather scope shifted, stopped, started again, and lurched for a few turns. She hurled every scrap of energy she had left at it in a defiant scream…

And the winds came. The doors to the room blew off their hinges from the force of the gale that hit them. It howled into the room, and buried everything in a thick layer of ice, stopping the vines in their tracks.

Nox huddled beneath Grimm, and she could feel him shuddering from the cold and his wounds. For a brief moment, Nox thought she had actually managed to use the artifact. Then her father broke through the ice that encased them. “I knew it was too good to be true,” she sighed.

Lucien knelt beside them, worry etching deep lines in his face. “Are you all right?”

Nox nodded slowly, weary to the bones. “I’m fine. Grimm got the worst of it. Please make sure he’s okay.”

The hound faded out, but his rumbling voice still lingered in their minds. “If there is one thing you can be sure of, it is that I will endure. I just won’t be able to materialize for a while.”

Lucien helped Nox to her feet. “Who cast that spell?”

Nox looked around in wide-eyed dismay at the shattered remains of the room. “Mother. I think she just tried to kill me…”

(to be continued!)

---

<–Previous   –Beginning-   Next->

This flashfic is part of an ongoing web serial, updated every week as a part of #fridayflash on twitter.  If you are new to Nox and Grimm, you can Click Here to read from the beginning.

Ghosts of Winters Past December 23, 2011

Posted by techtigger in flash fiction.
Tags: #fridayflash, flash fiction, Nox and Grimm
2 comments

Happy Holidays everyone! It’s time for the annual Nox and Grimm holiday special!  This year I have a short story set about 3 years before the current timeline in the serial. I hope you enjoy it.  :)

-Angie

————————————————————————————

Nox sat on top of a gravestone, her feet swinging in time to the music coming down from the mansion. Every year her father, the Lord of Ice, held a Wintertide ball for all the nobles beholden to the House of Ice.  At any other time she would have been stuck inside, playing hostess until the wee hours of the morning. Not this year, however. She had put aside her fancy gown and jewelry for more practical traveling clothes.

Grimm was sprawled on the snow covered ground by her feet, eating cookies and licking colored sugar from his muzzle. His deep, rumbling voice echoed in the back of her mind. “You are out here early. What is the special occasion?”

Nox brushed a few cookie crumbs from her lap. “Oh, it’s nothing really. I just wanted to make sure you got your gift.”

The hound tilted his head a little to the side. “You did not need to miss the dancing for that. I know how much you enjoy it.”

“I wouldn’t have gotten to dance anyway. I turned eighteen this autumn,” she said, her heels still tapping against the cold stone.

“Oh, that. What an awful waste of time for you.”

“Oddly enough, mother said the same thing. Had a real row with father – Why are you endangering our only child for a pointless ritual?” Nox said, mimicking Serenna’s strident tones.

The massive hound sat up, which put his head on level with hers. “Much as it pains me to say it, I agree with her. I recognized you as Lucien’s heir years ago.”

Nox shrugged. “Unfortunately, you are not one of my ancestors. And what with me being half-human, everyone seems to feel I need to prove myself. Again. What a pain.”

Grimm let out a loud harrumph. “What makes people think your relatives have any more sense in death than they did in life? Besides, if we are using age as a measure, I am older than any of those blowhards racketing around in the mountains.”

Nox raised an eyebrow. “Wow, I knew you were old furball, but not that old!”

The hound gave an amused snort. “Back when I was young, dirt was still a new concept and all the trees had only grown knee high.”

Nox laughed and tossed him another cookie. “Well, age certainly hasn’t dulled your sense of humor.”

“When you have been around as long as I have, you learn to appreciate a good laugh,” Grimm said. He shook himself and looked up at the sky. “If you are going to get there and back while the moon is still high, you will need to get moving. I would recommend taking the river most of the way, it is frozen just past the ford.”

“I was thinking the same thing,” Nox said, and hopped down off the tombstone.  “Here, you can have the last cookie. Merry Wintertide, Grimm.”

“And to you, little one. Oh, you can tell your silly ancestors that if they do anything to cut off my supply of sweets, I shall come up there and box their ears.”

Nox whooped with laughter.  “I’ll do that!  See you in a little while, furball.”

“I will watch for your return,” the ancient guardian said, making the cookie disappear just before fading out himself.

Nox ran lightly through the graveyard, her feet barely making dents in the snow.  Half-human she might be, but she was still enough of a Winter-kin to move easily through the elements. Now if only she could convince everyone else of that…

She stopped at the river’s edge and ran a hand over the soles of her boots, forming skates out of ice. The river itself was eerily silent. She could sense the turbulent water surging below its frozen surface, but the ice was so thick it muffled the noise. The only sounds were the occasional creak of tree limbs shedding snow, and the whisper of her skates as she glided along.  The lights of the mansion soon disappeared behind her, leaving her with only the pale illumination of the moon.

Two miles passed beneath her feet before the frozen river curved around a sharp bend.  Nox whistled, and a chilly breeze curled around her, leaving ice crystals hanging in the air. The moonlight refracted through them, lighting the night more brightly. She only kept them aloft for a few moments, however, just long enough to find the path that led up to the mountain pass. There were creatures in the mountains that obeyed no laws, and would consider her a tasty dinner if she made herself too easy to track.

The path led steeply upwards, winding through tall marker stones that were covered in elemental casting marks. Some were so old that the lines were nearly worn away, and Nox paused a few times to take a closer look. A few were protective enchantments, and others kept the path clear. Most were unreadable, however, and she gave up and moved on.

Soon the path turned into stairs, and then it became little more than handholds in the rocks. Nox pulled a special set of gloves out of her pocket and tugged them on. More casting marks were embroidered on them, her own handiwork, and they gripped the slippery stone as if covered in glue. They could not add strength to her slender arms, however, and she was trembling from the effort by the time she got to the top.

A cave sat off to the side of the trail, and Nox rested by its entrance until she caught her breath.  “What were our ancestors thinking?” she grumbled. “Rock climbing is for Stone kindreds.” Eventually she got up, straightened her clothes and patted her hair into place. If she had to meet with the spirits of her ancestors, she at least wanted to make a good first impression.

The cave was filled with icicles, hanging in ranks like an inverted pipe organ. Nox reached up to flick one, and it rung like a bell. A grin split her face – how many times had her mother forbidden her to do just that, fearing that the decorative ice flows around the mansion would fall on her head?  “She’s not here now, and father said to follow my instincts.” Nox tapped a few more, filling the air with shimmering sound. “I wonder if they’re hollow? Only one way to find out.”  She took a deep breath, and sang out a pure, clear note.

A chorus of sound answered her. There were deep, resonant tones that she could feel through the soles of her feet, and flute-like harmonies swelled around her, along with high, piercing notes that filled her head.  She tried singing different notes, playing with the harmonies until she could almost get the chamber to sound like a choir in full voice.  She was just dipping down into the lower registers when a dissonant noise rattled the chamber.

Nox let the song die out, but the rumbling persisted. She cautiously poked her head out of the cave, and looked up the pass. A wall of white moved towards her, splitting around the enchanted trail. The cave, however, had no such protections, being slightly off the path.

Oh, crud,” she said, and ran full tilt into the depths of the cave. Her father could have simply frozen the avalanche in its tracks. Even a child of the winter kin could have made an ice wall to direct the snow away. Nox did not have that kind of power, however. She would be lucky if she could dig her way out afterwards. “I just had to play with the icicles, didn’t I?”

Snow poured into the cave, and she pressed herself as close to the back wall as she could get. After what seemed like an eternity, the noise stopped. Nox made her way back toward the entrance, but it was packed with a solid plug of snow.  “Brilliant. Now what?”

“You have passed the test of skill, but failed the trial of strength. So, weak little songbird, why should you be given the right to assume the throne?”

Nox spun around to find herself face to face with a ghost. She didn’t flinch, however. Grimm had snuck up on her too many times, and she was used to such tricks. “Why hello, great great great grandfather. Lughaid, isn’t it?”

Another ghost appeared. “Answer or die.”

Nox made a tutting sound. “Here now, traditions must be observed, great grandfather Lucan. My name is Nox, how do you do? Oh, hello, great grandmother Nereia. You look lovely in that shade of white.”

Nereia let out a whispery laugh. “She has courage, even if it does border on cheek. I think we should give her a chance.”

More ghosts were appearing, all of them with the black hair and blue eyes that were the hallmark of her family. They were all taller than her, however. Nox took after her mother in height, much to her endless annoyance.

One of them, who was dressed head to foot in chainmail, stepped forward and sneered. “I say she has tainted blood. Wipe her out as a lesson to Lucien. Let him stick to his own kind, and sire a proper heir.”

“Don’t you dare threaten my son, Lorcan. Or my granddaughter.  She is of the bloodline, the enchantments that bind our family hold true in her.”

“Kill her.”  “No!”  “Give her a trial.” “She has already failed!” “She is an abomination!” “What are we, barbarians?” “A half-breed should never have been born!”

Nox clenched her fists. She had heard the same sort of slurs her whole life, but hearing them from her own kin was too much. Something inside her snapped, and she yelled out, “Grimm was right! You are nothing but a pack of fools, and death has not improved you.  I ought to let him box your ears like he threatened to.”

Several of them turned toward her, surprise clear on their faces.  “You can summon Grimmalkyn?”

She glared at them. “Since the age of five.”

Lughaid returned her scowl. “You lie. No child could pay the blood price, and control the beast afterwards.”

“I didn’t use blood. The binding only requires an appropriate offering. Blood for blood to be shed, but I only wanted a bedtime story. So I brought him cookies.”

A tall, thin lady that Nox thought might be her great great great great aunt Noreen sputtered in disbelief. “Cookies?  Preposterous!”

Nox shrugged. “He has a sweet tooth. Don’t blame me if you weren’t smart enough to find the loophole in the binding spell.”

She regretted those words almost immediately, as Lughaid jumped on them. “A trick! I knew that one so weak as you could not hope to truly control the guardian. The truth comes from her own mouth. Let us end this charade, my kin!”

“End me? You and what army?” Nox said, crossing her arms.

Lughaid drew out a blade that looked like a needle of ice, long and bitterly sharp. “I need no army, weakling.”

Nox gave him a cold smile. “I think you are forgetting the fact that you are dead, and I know your names.”  She walked right up to him, and sketched a symbol on the blade that made it fall apart. “I don’t care if you don’t like me. If I were truly unfit to rule, I would step aside without a fight. But I will not let your small minded ignorance put the future of our people at risk.” She sketched another quick symbol in the air, and grabbed his now-solid tunic to yank his face down to her level. “I swear, if you ever threaten me or my father again, I will bind you so tightly you will have to beg me for enough wind to blow out a candle. Do you understand?”

“Enough, children.”

Nox shoved Lughaid away from her, and turned to face the latest arrival. The ghost was so old he could barely materialize, and she could not make out enough of his features to recognize him. Which meant she could not bind him. Even so, she drew herself up to her full 4’ 10”, and tried to look as imposing as possible.

“Be at ease, my dear. I mean you know harm,” he said, as if reading her mind.

Who knew, maybe he could, Nox thought. The shade reached an arm out, but she could not see his hand. She felt it though, the cold, bony fingers tilting her chin up.

“How strange, that one so different turned out to be even more truly an heir to our line than most. Strange days, indeed.”

Nox caught a glimpse of the other ghosts out of the corner of her eye. They had all backed away, and bowed their heads in respect. Just who was this spirit?

“I wonder if Lucien knew what a hard path he set for you, when he married your mother. Still, there can be no denying it. You are one of our own. Welcome, my many-times-over great granddaughter.”

“Um…thank you?  I’m sorry, but I don’t know your name.”

She got the vague impression that he was smiling at her. “Call me great grandfather.”

“Okay. Thank you, great grandfather. And a merry Wintertide to you.”

“Have you brought a gift, as tradition demands?”

A smile tugged at the corner of Nox’s mouth. She wasn’t sure if he was mocking her earlier comments or simply sharing in the joke, but she already liked him better than the other spirits. She decided to give him the benefit of the doubt. “I have. Here you go sir, and may it bring you memories of springtime in the mountains.”

She pulled a small pellet of ice out of her pocket. Tiny elemental casting marks were carved into it, and as she blew on it, it started to unfold. Petals flowed outwards, and feathery fronds uncurled from the center. Once it was done, she held a perfect replica of a frost flower in her hand, carved out of ice.

Behind her, one of the ghosts growled, “That is not a weapon!”

Nox looked down her nose at him. “I happen to like flowers, and tradition states that the gift should show my strengths. I fight with my wits and my knowledge instead of swinging a sword like a meat cleaver. It took skill and patience to carve the marks perfectly on so small a surface. I doubt you could do half so well.”

“She is correct. Our line does not always produce warriors, my son. Scholars and artisans have ruled as well as their more warlike kin,” the elder said, and despite the mildness of the rebuke the other ghosts flinched. “Your gift is accepted, great granddaughter.” 

He reached out to touch the flower, and lines of force flowed over it, etching new patterns. The petals changed, becoming pliant as if they were real, and took on all the colors of ice. They were black on the tips of the petals, and changed to shades of blue and white as the colors washed into the center. Veins of clear, glittering crystal spread over them in a web, and made up the fronds in the center as well.

“Go with my blessings, and may your reign be a peaceful one.” He motioned to the other ghosts. “Come. Let us announce the return of our granddaughter as the new Lady Ice.”

With a howl of wind straight from the heart of Winter, the ghosts ripped around the cave and smashed the snow out of the entrance. Nox ran after them, and found that an easy path had been carved into the snow.  All along its length her flowers bloomed, glimmering in the moonlight.

The trip back down the mountain went much more quickly, and the North Wind pushed her at breath-taking speeds along the frozen river. Nox had never moved so fast in her life, but she loved every minute of it. As she made her way off the river and up the road to the mansion, she could see more flowers festooning every door and window, and there were even some hanging from the gate to the graveyard.

Grimm was waiting just inside, and the hound gave her a deep, respectful bow. “Welcome back, Lady Ice.”

“I did it. I actually did it!” Nox said.

“I never doubted you for a moment. Go on now, hurry inside. There is a party waiting for you. Although,” he said, giving her plaintive, puppy dog eyes, “If you should happen to have any leftover sweets later…”

Nox plucked a flower and tucked it behind the hound’s furry ear. “Forget leftovers. I’m sending you out a whole feast!”

Grimm’s tail thumped the ground so hard it set up plumes of snow. “All hail the new Lady Ice!  Long may you reign!”

---

<–Previous   –Beginning– Next->

Flash Fiction – Only Human December 9, 2011

Posted by techtigger in flash fiction.
Tags: #fridayflash, flash fiction, Nox and Grimm
6 comments

Nox hated having dinner with her mother. Neither of them particularly enjoyed the others’ company, but Serenna always insisted on at least a half hour of “civilized conversation” before she would get to the point. So Nox pushed her food around her plate and made a pretense of eating, while listening to her mother’s inane small talk. At least she had convinced her to have dinner in the solarium, which was less stuffy than the other, more formal dining rooms.

The only thing that made the dinner bearable was Grimm. The hound was sprawled on the floor next to Nox, using Air castings to waft bits of meat up to his mouth. He made each piece do a loop-de-loop before gleefully snapping it up.

Serenna cast a baleful glare his way. “Is that necessary?”

Grimm tilted his head to the side. “You told Nox that you did not want me slobbering on your fine china. So I am not.”  He sent the t-bone from his steak spiraling upwards, and bit into it with a loud crunch.

Nox took a sip of wine to hide her smile behind the goblet. She cleared her throat to get her mother’s attention. “Ahem, so, Father said you wanted to talk to me about something?”

“In private,” Serenna said, still glaring at the hound.

“Grimm will hear what you have to tell me, whether he’s in the room or not. Might as well get it over with.”

That soured her mother’s expression even further.  “I intend for you to resume your studies of sorcery.”

Nox quit toying with her wine glass and put it on the table. “I thought you said I had reached my limits, and that further study was pointless.”

“You have grown since then. Your cure for the firethorn proved that you can reach beyond your current skill level, even if the methods you used were, unconventional,” Serenna said, her lips curling in distaste around that last word.

Grimm sent Nox a private thought. “She is still angry about you bastardizing her ‘pure’ sorcery with technomancy. Makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside to see her so annoyed.”

Nox worked hard to keep the smile from her face. “I’m guessing you’ve already picked out the subjects to be covered?”

Serenna inclined her head. “Of course, daughter. Who would know better than I what path your training should take?”  She pulled several small, leather bound books from the sewing basket by her chair. “You will concentrate on healing spells. You seem to have an affinity for them.”

“She is Air.  All of the Wind kindreds had the healing gift, so it is only natural,” Grimm rumbled.

Serenna gave him a scathing look. “Her healing gifts come solely from our human ancestry.”

Grimm let out a rumbling growl.  “Only because you have all but cut off her ability to channel Air. What progress have you made at removing your spell, as Lucien asked?”

“Yes, what have you been doing about that, Mother?” Nox said. Her voice was calm, but the temperature in the room dropped to match the icy chill of her gaze.

Serenna’s eyes narrowed. “When everything is prepared, you will be the first to know.”  She gathered up her sewing basket and stood up. “Your father will want to see you before you leave. I suspect he will join you here momentarily.”

They watched her go, and Grimm flattened his ears. “Why do I get the feeling she hasn’t lifted a finger to free you from that spell?”

Nox propped her elbows on the table, and rested her chin in her hands. “She was afraid of something. I could see it in her aura.”

“You don’t think we scared her off?”

“No, she was nervous before you started growling at her.” Nox thumbed through the pile of books. “Well, at least we got something useful out of this visit. I’ve seen most of these before, they shouldn’t be too hard to use. This one’s new though.” The book looked fragile, its binding cracked and the pages brittle. She ran a finger along a page, then jerked her hand back. “Ow!” she yelped, and let out a few choice words.

Grimm sat bolt upright. “Are you okay? What happened!”

“I’m fine, dangit.  I forgot she puts locking spells on the more advanced books,” Nox said, with a grimace. “Figuring out the lock gives you the key to understanding the spells inside. The fun part is, the ruddy thing is going to keep zapping me, and it’ll only get worse until I unlock it.”

Grimm let out a low, angry growl. “That woman is a menace. What if you are working on a project when you get zapped?  Technomancy is dangerous enough without a distraction like that!”

Nox looked bleak. “I guess I’ll just have to hurry up and figure it out. Damn her…”

—

Serenna hurried through the mansion to her workroom. She slammed the door shut behind her, and faced off across from the entity standing in her summoning circle. “What do you think you’re doing, Katya?  My husband is home, and Grimmalkyn sat right across from me.  They will notice the enchantment you placed on that book!”

Katya raised a delicate eyebrow. “You did not notice it until you touched the book. And even if they do sense it, they will not know the difference between that, and every other spell you place on your grimoires.”

“I use HUMAN spells!  The energies are not the same!”

“Be calm, poppet. I have not survived for millennia by being careless,” Katya said. She held out a hand and studied her nails. “It is all going as planned.”

“Not by my plans. You will end this now!” Serenna snarled and began a banishing spell.

A slow, poisonous smile crossed Katya’s face. “It is too late to stop now. The hook is set, and your daughter will have no choice but to read the book. End it now, and the backlash from the broken enchantment would be most unfortunate for her.”

Serenna stared at her in horror. “Grimmalkyn will absorb the blow.”

“Ah, yes. He would, if he felt it coming in time. But the mark I placed on him dulls the senses, remember?” Katya said. “Come now, we need not be enemies. You want to make your daughter fully human, and I want to remove the last traces of Galen’s bloodline. There is no reason we cannot both have what we want.”

Serenna’s mouth had turned dry, and her dinner sat like lead in her stomach. Somehow she must have made a mistake that allowed Katya to cast enchantments without seeking her permission. She was going to have to work with the creature, until she found a way to get it fully under her control again. She ran her tongue nervously over her lips. “All right. We will work together, but you must let me know everything you plan.”

Katya gave her a patronizing smile. “Of course, poppet.”

---

<–Previous   –Beginning– Next->

This flashfic is part of an ongoing web serial, updated every week as a part of #fridayflash on twitter.  If you are new to Nox and Grimm, you can Click Here to read from the beginning.

Flash Fiction – Friendly Fire December 2, 2011

Posted by techtigger in flash fiction.
Tags: #fridayflash, flash fiction, Nox and Grimm
2 comments

Dust motes filled the air as Nox stepped through the portal.  She pinched her nose to try and cut off an impending sneeze.  “Ahh…eeeeh… choo!  Phew, where are we, Grimm?”

“Bless you,” the hound rumbled. He looked around curiously, keeping his tail still so as not to stir up any more dust. “I am not quite sure where this is. We should have come out at the west city wall.” He lifted his nose to sniff the air, and whuffed it back out again. “It’s been sealed up a long time. The air smells musty.  We should probably open the portal again, just to let fresh air in.”

“You’re probably right,” Nox said, and ran a finger along some of the markings that were carved into the stone frame of the portal. A light breeze flowed in, stirring the dust enough to make her sneeze again.

“Cover your face,” Grimm said. He let out a low woof, and a gust of wind scoured the room clean.

“One of these days you’ll have to teach me the non-canine equivalent of those Air castings you do,” Nox said. She lifted her lantern as high as she could get it, and took stock of the newly cleaned area. The golden glow chased the shadows back into the corners, and revealed a vast, empty room built along the same lines as the rest of Zephyra. The walls were made of expertly dressed stone, and the ceiling was lost somewhere in the darkness overhead. The only difference was the lack of windows. “The Wind kindreds never built anything small, did they?”

“We used to fly as often as we walked. High ceilings and broad corridors were a necessity.” He glared down at his paws. “You have no idea how annoying it is to be constantly earth-bound.”

Nox grimaced, thinking of the spell her mother placed on her to cut off her access to Air.  “I can sympathize.”

“Have you heard anything from Serenna lately?”

“No, and I think that worries me more than when she’s right in my face. Loki said he had a talk with her after the firethorn attack, but I somehow doubt even he could charm her into leaving me alone.” Nox moved further into the room, and the light spilled over a broad set of stairs.  She cautiously moved up them, but they ended abruptly at the ceiling.  “That’s odd. There are no markings anywhere that I can see, and no lever to open it. ”

“It was probably sealed from the other side.” Grimm padded around the edge of the room. “There were more portals here, but they must have been sealed shut at the same time. The markings look like someone took a chisel to them.  I think our survey of the portal network may end here,” he said, with a gusty sigh.  “Ah well, I knew that large sections were ruined, or closed up at the end of the war with the Shadowkin. Galen wanted to keep the city from falling into enemy hands.”

Nox sat down on the bottom step and placed the lamp by her knee. “Can you point out where the portals were? Maybe we can find some references in father’s library that will tell us where they went.”

“Certainly,” Grimm said.  “There is a frame for one right behind the stairs, and another in the middle of the left-hand wall.” He paused, his ears flicking back and forth. “Nox, get off the stairway.”

She snatched up the lantern and scooted to his side. “What did you hear,” she whispered.

Grimm stared fixedly at the top of the stairs, his hackles up and teeth bared. “Footsteps. Armor clinking. Get ready to run back through that portal.”

“Not till we find out who’s poking around up there. If someone is using part of the Wind territories as a base for troops, I want to know.” She pulled a bow out of her satchel and unfolded it. A touch to the enchantments carved in the wood caused a line of force to string itself along the pulleys at either end, and bent the risers back in a wicked curve.  A crystal hung suspended along the line, and an arrow made of ice formed as she took aim.

“Here they come,” Grimm growled.

Time always seemed to defy logic when Nox found herself on the edge of battle. Everything happened in an eyeblink, and yet she was acutely aware of every action, as if it was all moving in slow motion.

The stone covering the top of the stairs ground open with a roar of effort from the men above. A blinding white light and a wave of energy filled the room, only to be met by Nox’s electric blue aura.  A blast from the depths of Winter screamed toward them, only to be deflected by the cyclone winds of Grimm’s howling defensive shield. Arrows leapt from Nox’s bow towards the shadowy figures dropping through the opening, but were shattered against their crystalline skin.

Nox blinked in shock as she realized that they were Ice kin.   She yelled, “HOLD!” at the same time as their leader.

Nox had never seen her father look so furious.

“Daughter, there are days you try my patience!”  Lucien slammed his sword into its sheath and strode over to her. “What were you thinking? Three of our allies’ Houses have been devastated by attacks using portals, and you open one up on my doorstep?”

“What do you mean your doorstep?” Nox said, her own temper rising at being dressed down in front of the men. “What are you doing moving troops around Zephyra without telling me?”

Grimm quickly moved between them. “Wait, both of you. I think I know what happened.”  Two pairs of angry blue eyes met his own placid grey. “Remember, Galen had a wife and two small children hidden away here in the north when the war started. You don’t think he would go for years without seeing them, do you?”

Nox squinted up at the bright opening overhead. “Where in Hel’s name are we then?”

“This is the undercroft of Grimmalkyn’s old mausoleum,” Lucien said. “And it very nearly became your own tomb as well. Do try to be more cautious while exploring the ruins of that city.”

Nox let out a shaky laugh. “Sorry about that. There must have been a baffle on the portal to hide its true destination. I’m sure our ancestor didn’t want anyone following him to where he had his family hidden.”

 “As long we are here, we might as well stay for a while,” Grimm said. “We were planning a visit anyway, and this will save us the trouble of riding a week to meet with you.”

Lucien nodded, but did not look pleased. “Your mother had mentioned wanting to discuss a few things with you.”

Nox winced at that. “Yeah. Sure. We can talk over dinner.”

“Don’t worry,” Grimm said, sending his thoughts to her mind alone. “I’ll be right there with you.”

She sent warm thoughts to the hound to thank him.

“Father, if you’ll give me twenty minutes I can gather up all my notes to share with you.”

Lucien crossed his arms. “Twenty minutes. We will all be waiting right here.”

Nox sighed as several of the guards spread out around the room. He wasn’t going to let go of this little gaff so easily.  Then again, with the Morning Lord using portals to invade his neighbors the caution was not unwarranted. “I’ll be right back,” she said, and hurried off through Zephyra with Grimm at her heels.

---

<–Previous   –Beginning– Next ->

This flashfic is part of an ongoing web serial, updated every week as a part of #fridayflash on twitter.  If you are new to Nox and Grimm, you can Click Here to read from the beginning.

Flash Fiction – Mirror, Mirror November 25, 2011

Posted by techtigger in flash fiction.
Tags: #fridayflash, flash fiction, Nox and Grimm
9 comments

The mansion was never silent. From the thrumming of the river that rushed beneath it, to the chatter of guards and servants in the lower halls, the building was alive, and Serenna knew all of its moods. Today, however, the sounds were muted, as if the very stones held their breath.  She sometimes wondered if the mansion was truly aware of what went on behind its walls, and whispered its secrets to its master.

A small prickle of fear ran down her spine at the thought of what Lucien would do if he discovered what kept his wife occupied in his absence.  The fear was quickly followed by anger. This was his fault. If he had not insisted on getting their daughter involved in the dangerous politics of the elemental Houses, Serenna would not have had to take such drastic measures.

She swallowed to moisten her dry mouth, and made the preparations for her summoning spell. “Never show fear,” she reminded herself. That was the first rule when dealing with the undead.  “You have done this many times. Courage, Serenna. It is for the best.” She knelt down to touch the edge of the summoning circle embedded in the floor, and activated it.

“Talking to yourself? What an odd little thing you are.”

Only a supreme effort of will kept her from jumping at the disembodied voice. The creature must have been waiting for her call.  Serenna frowned in displeasure at the entity slowly materializing in the middle of the circle. The creature wore its preferred shape – a young, auburn haired forest kindred – but nothing could hide the aura of ancient malice that surrounded it.

“I presume, by your early return, that you have failed,” Serenna said.

“Patience, my poppet,” it replied, in a sweet, cultured voice.

“I told you never to call me that,” Serenna snapped. It sounded too much like ‘puppet’ when the creature said it.

The entity cast its leaf-green eyes demurely downwards, but there was no submission in the gesture.  “My apologies, mistress. It is true, Grimmalkyn has rebuffed my first attempt to regain full control of him. But I have made some small progress.  You will now be able to adjust the course of your daughter’s life without his interference. Shall I show you?”

“You will do no physical harm to my daughter, Katya,” she said, invoking the creature’s name to bind it more closely to her will.

“Of course not, my mistress,” Katya said. A dandelion puff formed in its hand, and floated straight through the scrying mirror on the wall…

—

The night breeze blew little white dandelion puffs through the moonlight. Loki plucked one out of the air, whistling cheerfully as he rode into the valley that held the ancient waypost of the Air kindreds. Nox and Grimm had made a lot of progress in the weeks he had been away – the site looked more like a small town now than a ruins.  The supplies he had secured would take it even further, from being merely habitable to downright comfortable.  The waypost had become a rallying point for those who sought to bring justice to the Morning Lord and his New Dawn lackeys. More refugees from the occupied Storm territories were arriving every day. The House of Winds was once again becoming a beacon of hope in difficult times.

Loki waved a welcome to the ghosts of the Wind Knights who stood guard at the entrance, and led his weary horse into the stables. He was feeling a bit travel worn himself, having ridden on ahead of the supply caravan, but all of that fell away as he caught the scent of Nox’s perfume.

He smiled as Nox snuck up behind him and ran a teasing hand across his chest. She had a garland of dandelions puffs woven into her jet black hair, and an impish grin on her face.

“Hello, blue-eyes,” he said, returning the smile.

Nox slipped away before he could catch her hand. She stopped just inside an archway, looked over her shoulder and beckoned to him, her pale skin luminous in the moonlight. Loki’s grin broadened, and his pulse quickened as he gave chase.

She ran lightly ahead, always just out of reach. Loki began to laugh; she was probably channeling Air to speed her way. “That’s cheating, luv!” he said.  Fire could move fast too, however, and he put on a burst of speed.  He caught her in a courtyard that was still under construction. “No more running,” he said, and pressed his lips to hers.

Something didn’t feel right.  He looked up as he heard a choked sob from somewhere nearby. Another Nox stepped out into the moonlight, her face rapidly going from stunned disbelief, to cold anger. “Welcome back, Loki.  I’ll expect your report on the supply run in the morning,” she said, and turned to go.  The woman he had been holding pulled away from him as well.

Loki sent a wall of fire up around the courtyard. “Oh no, neither of you is leaving until we straighten this out.”

The second Nox stopped, her shoulders stiffened. “There’s nothing to talk about.  It’s perfectly natural for you to want to be with your own kind.”  She made a slashing motion with her hand to try and cut through the barrier with a blast of icy wind.

Loki strengthened the barrier. “Look here, there are two Nox’s and until I know which of you is the real one, you’re staying put.”

She looked back over her shoulder, her dark blue eyes furious. “Last I checked, I did not have red hair.”

The other Nox was still backing away, and had not said a word. Loki called up a small amount of dragon fire, and there was a sudden pain on his chest where she had touched him.  The glamour she had placed there burned away, clearing his eyes and revealing a scarlet haired Fire kin.

The fire kin gave Nox a furious look. “You are right, you filthy half-blood.  The Lord Dragon belongs with his own kind!” she said, and sent a torrent of flames at Nox.

Loki dove between them and absorbed the blast. When the fires died out, the other woman was gone. He turned to Nox. “Are you okay?” he asked, checking for any signs that she had been burned.

“Yes. I think so,” she said, shakily, not looking at him.

He reached out to cup her face in his hands, and brushed away the frozen tracks of her tears. “It was a glamour. I swear on my life, I thought she was you.”

“I saw the mark when you burned it off. It just…shook me a bit.” She blinked and visibly pulled herself together. “I guess we had better get used to that sort of hostility from your people.”

“That was too malicious, luv. I’d say our enemies had more to do with it than a jealous stranger.”

“Maybe,” she said.

——–

Serenna waved an irritated hand across the scrying mirror, not wanting to watch the rest of the sappy reunion.  “You have failed again, Katya,” she snarled.

But Katya looked triumphant. “I have succeeded!  Think! Your daughter is soul-bound to Grimmalkyn, and yet there she was, surrounded by fire and drowning in anguish, and he did not come to her side.”

Serenna gave the creature a startled look.  “What did you do?”

“The mark the imposter placed upon the boy is a subtle, but strong enchantment. It befuddles the senses and clouds the mind. I placed the very same mark on Grimmalkyn, and he has no dragon fire to remove it,” Katya said, giving Serenna another graceful curtsey.  “The way to your daughter is open.”

“Even if he cannot sense her distress, the guardian still spends most of his time at her side,” Serenna said. “You can keep him distracted?”

“Easily, mistress.”

She gave it a wary look, measuring any gains against the very real danger of it getting loose.  “You will do nothing without first seeking my permission. Do not forget, I released you from your prison, and I can put you back.”

“I never forget, poppet,” Katya said, and smiled.

---

<–Previous   –Beginning– Next->

This flashfic is part of an ongoing web serial, updated every week as a part of #fridayflash on twitter.  If you are new to Nox and Grimm, you can Click Here to read from the beginning.