As my eyes adjusted to the sudden blur, she was in front of me, an inch in front of a smoking hole left in a long dead tube. “Well,” Trellis said, flicking her eyes over to Jay. “Seems like you’ve already made your choice here, haven’t you?” The bullet had passed within an inch of … Read moreA Court For Crows (Part 18)
Her voice was sharp as a knife. Twice as dangerous. Rang through the still air like a razor. Turned and looked at her; the voice was female. She stood at my height, with a shock of pale hair tossed down her shoulders. Her hands rested on the armor of the Hand, tugging at it. Chitinous … Read moreA Court For Crows (Part 17)
Jay clicked his beak. “We’ll take most of this back with us to Prime-Nest. There’s a lot of good materials here.” “Utilitarian of you,” I muttered, turning around to face him. Maybe I could finally find a place to take off the cryo-suit. It felt like I’d been in it for days, tight as a … Read moreA Court For Crows (Part 16)
The USEC building looked less like a proud bastion of defence against humanity and more like the last refuge of a hoarder. I’d stumbled out the back, but approaching it properly, along the roads that the Crows prefered when they used roads at all, the front was something else entirely. Lines of gravestones littered the … Read moreA Court For Crows (Part 15)
Omoi’s internal alarm lit up my head, vibrating through my bones. A tiny electrical shock, gradually increasing in order to make sure I stayed up. Consciousness was still just barely there, and she chirped out that I needed to wake up, leading to another electrical shock. A few half remembered things flittered through my head. … Read moreA Court For Crows (Part 14)
Florida. He was going to Florida. The military base first, though. I could… when I was ready, I could go and retrace his steps. Try to figure out what happened. I was… I was a scientist. It’d be right if I could figure it all out. Do something for humans. Leaning back,. Jay realized I’d … Read moreA Court For Crows (Part 13)
Jay was already inspecting his rifle, looking it over for any defects or flaws, counting out bullets left. “What took you?” “Another scouting party,” Tane replied. I stared up at her. Her beak was wet with green. “They’re getting greedy if they’re pushing in this deep on Prime-Nest.” “It’s a bit unnatural,” Jay said. “I … Read moreA Court For Crows (Part 12)
“What do they want?” I asked, quiet. “You, probably,” Jay said. “Humans bring in a big bounty for the fey.. Let alone Wardens. They’ll get pissed off when they figure out that I’m here too, though. I’m mostly worthless.” I gave him a strange look. Up until then I’d assumed they meant the same thing. … Read moreA Court For Crows (Part 11)
On the bottom floor, after we’d scurried back down, my mind was mostly back. The stench of blood filled my lungs, but a simple diagnostic scan with Omoi told me it was superficial damage to the blood vessels in the dark of my nose; high blood pressure. I’d gotten lucky. Well, I’d gotten lucky in … Read moreA Court For Crows (Part 10)
Trust was six floors of stairs, running uphill until my legs ached and my heart pounded. Trust with smashing through a rusty chained door instead of taking an emergency ladder, Jay pressed up against my side to keep me supported. “You Wardens really don’t need to do a lot of running,” Jay muttered. “I suppose … Read moreA Court For Crows (Part 9)