greyknight7

                    Chapter Four: Nightmares     "Time to get up, Ellie," it was her mother's voice and soft touch of a hand gently shaking her shoulder to rouse her. The sun was streaming in from the window, beautiful day already started. Amdora was sitting at the table eating breakfast when Elanore walked in, groggy from just waking. She sat beside her sister as her mother brought her plate of eggs over. Her father could be heard chopping wood outside their little cottage near the tree line of the woods. Her mother sat with a cup of tea, watching her daughters eat.     "What do you girls have planned for today?" she asked.     Amdora

                    Chapter 4: The Plan     "I'm not sure this is a good idea," spoke Kumiko.     "You didn't think that when we were in your office," replied Denor from below.     "That was before I got up here," Kumiko called down. She was hanging onto a pipe designed to transport filtered water throughout the ship. They were in an engineering room where maintenance repairs could be done to the systems running through the vessel. Kumiko was on her way to an access hatch near the ceiling which would allow her to get at the security grid and some basic life support systems.     "You're almost there, Doc," Denor shouted up. His shoulde

                    Chapter Three: Old Trail, New Scent     The drunkard's friend answered for him, his speech quick:     "Hareth is at Ograd, his fortress at the base Mt. Relyi on the Gromre side." Elanore set the drunkard back on his stool, putting away her knife. She turned and walked briskly to the stairs. She went to her room, packed some travelling supplies, and went to King Hroth's room.     "What brings you to my chambers so late in the night?" asked Hroth.     "I have a personal matter to attend to, milord."     Hroth looked her over, "I see you're leaving tonight."     "Yes, milord."     "Very well," Hroth shrugged. "Y

                    Chapter 3: Safety Now, Beat Down Later     The plasma bolt spewed out from the pistol and hit one of the poachers right between the eyes, bringing him down in a second. Kumiko, without flinching, crossed the hallway to Denor who had crawled to cover in a doorway. The whole way there she never hesitated to send more plasma bolts to the poachers at the other end of the hall. They didn't stand a chance if they tried to advance towards Kumiko and Denor.     "Where'd a science officer learn to shoot like that?" asked Denor when Kumiko knelt to inspect his shoulder.     "I learned to shoot a long time ago to impress a boy,

                    Chapter Two: The Conversation     The journey through the Pass of Oga was entirely uneventful, much to the relief of the knights and King Hroth. Elanore, on the other hand, did not like having absolutely no distractions from the nightmares that have troubled her for most her life. On these kinds of journeys she rarely slept.     Now they were riding into the village of Amberu, a quaint little village just on the other side of the Isha mountain range. The Isha Mountains marked the border of Imradus and the kingdom of Gromre, were King Fys rules. The end of the journey would be at Castle Paelia, where the two kings would

                    Chapter 2: Maybe They're Here For a Hug?     Blinding light met everyone's eyes as the cannon blast splashed across the forward shields. Alarms blared about critical damage to the shields as Captain Jones scrambled to regain his balance. Lieutenant Denor and Chief Science Officer Kumiko did the same as the ship turned in space, attempting to put some distance between them and the poacher vessel.     "Reroute some power to the shields now!" commanded the Captain.     "Kumiko, I'd get secure if I were you. This isn't going to be a smooth ride," spoke Denor. Before Kumiko could respond another cannon blast hit the Stel

                    Chapter 1: A Deep Breath      Stop. Take a breath, steady nerves, look to the path. The tracks in the snow veer right, a sharp turn to the left, over a log and straight through some underbrush poking up in the snow. Her breath is a mist in the brisk morning air as she steadies her breathing. The deer was close now, closer than it was before she had left the camp. Her bow was tucked away with her quiver and sword across her back allowing her to use her hands to balance as she ran, jumped and scramble