Getting the Omoi installed was the easiest part of the process. An anesthesiologist was procured from the ranks of the Crows of Swan House (a previous variant of their techniques involved knocking out their patient, and they had the whole of medical knowledge from dozens of hospitals to figure out my anatomy) and I slipped … Read moreA Throne For Crows (Part 18)
My brain pounded. Blood flushed through my arteries and whistled through my veins. I stepped back away from the screen. Behind me, a safety clicked off. Sweat rolled down the back of my neck. The wound in my head ached as it slipped past the back of my ears. Slowly, I turned to look at … Read moreA Throne For Crows (Part 17 and something special.)
First person; lines of hot Command Tongue lanced across the surface of my eyes, drifting like clouds over a starred scarred sky. Omoi rang of warnings. Gunshot wound to the stomach; possibly fatal without treatment. It dug in, ached through my organs, chitinous plates split wide. Ichor spilled free. The ambush hadn’t worked out. Half … Read moreA Throne For Crows (Part 16)
Tree roots had devoured most of the base. Hallways had been destroyed and consumed by oak. Tendrils of roots burrowed into side panels and emerged like questing fingers out of walls. “How does any of this have any power?” I whispered. The Regent flicked on a light switch, and a few flickering lights came on. … Read moreA Throne For Crows (Part 15)
Getting the nodule back wasn’t hard. Dean just gave me a long considering look when I asked, before placing the two of them in my hands. “Giving up on me already?” he asked. “I’m looking at alternate routes,” I said, vaguely. “Hm,” Dean said. His lab was an office covered in coms, towers, and various … Read moreA Throne For Crows (Part 14)
The Regent promised to take me there tomorrow. After all, I had to get the nodes back from Dean before I did anything else; this was going to be a one and done breach of their sacred places. In the meantime, I sampled the various cuisines that were just starting to pop up in the … Read moreA Throne For Crows (Part 13)
The antibiotics rattled in the pill bottle with each step. Tane and I waited in the elevator. The music had changed to something a bit more sweeping. Distorted lyrics. Someone was having fun with whatever software they were using to edit. More power to them, I looked forward to seeing what genres they could conjure … Read moreA Throne For Crows (Part 12)
I had too many questions about the Swan House. Ultimately, I didn’t ask many of them. Just the most pressing of them. “Do you use real knives?” “Sometimes,” the surgeon reported. “You look rather uncomfortable, Warden, are you alright?” “The Warden only has one mind,” Tane reminded, gently. “I imagine the thought of something happening … Read moreA Throne For Crows (Part 11)
The Recorder finally clicks off and Zack looks down at the small nest of birds. Silly little things. What is their naivety to the world now? The laws are coming undone. What meaningless toys he can snatch from the hands of evil are pointless in the long scheme of things. But he can remember a … Read moreA Court For Crows (What She Saw)
My nest was empty when I arrived. Which was alarming, since it meant Boss had gone somewhere else. Nevertheless, while I stared at her empty room, and the mound of bedding she’d scrounged up, Tane fluttered down behind me. “Jess!” She greeted. I turned and gave her a smile. “There you are. How’s adjusting to … Read moreA Throne For Crows (Part 10)