The Peninsula

The Fiction and Poetry Archive of Liana Mir and scribblemyname

First / Most

May
06
This entry is part 7 of 9 in the series Counting Coup

“Count me in.” Bridge leans forward.

Ice Queen swaps the coin in his hand for a jar of tea. “First kill?”

“Ah. I don’t remember that.”

“Most memorable then,” Arc substitutes with hard eyes. They count them all, adding them up like stones on their backs, in the backs of their minds.

Most memorable was “Saving Augment from that Baganechi over his back.”

Augment scowls, doubtless displeased at the reminder of being thrown from his horse at the caravan, at the old fashioned blade coming down for the kill. “It wasn’t even a planned raid.”

Planned by them.

Bridge drinks.

Chapter, Daily Ficlet 2019, Drabble Series, Kingdoms and Thorn, Original Fiction , , , , , , 0 Comment

Comfort

May
06
This entry is part 2 of 9 in the series Counting Coup

It’s not Wolf’s job to comfort her team. It’s her job to take care of them and protect them, which means making sure they continue to do the things they do, no matter how terrible.

But when Ice Queen sits down quiet and somber against the wall of the training area, Wolf goes and sits beside her. Sometimes they say nothing, and she ends up feeling frustrated at her inability to break that emotional wall.

Sometimes, Ice Queen tilts her head and stares with coldly glittering eyes. “Three hundred eighteen.”

Unverified kills. Counting coup.

Wolf counters, “Five hundred ten saved.”

Chapter, Daily Ficlet 2019, Drabble Series, Kingdoms and Thorn, Original Fiction , , , 0 Comment

Cold

May
06
This entry is part 1 of 9 in the series Counting Coup

She feels all cold inside. They call her Ice Queen, and there are times when the name truly fits, when they bring down their rules and their punishments and she stares back at them with icy uncaring defiance of a kind they can’t do much with.

But most of the time, she feels aflame with all she wants and all the viciousness she can bring to bear on a mission.

Right now, she’s just razed an encampment to the ground in service of the mission. Right now, she feels cold, like a wind blows through her.

She reports. “It’s done.”

Chapter, Daily Ficlet 2019, Drabble Series, Kingdoms and Thorn, Original Fiction , , 0 Comment

Where Is

Apr
18

She comes in out of the cold, night shadows like wings trailing in her wake, and drops to a crouch beside the fire.

They make room for her, these Baganechi raiders, recognizing the leather bands around her arms, the tattoo encircling her wrist, the icy blonde hair and blue eyes of one of their most infamous members.

“Cherinagos,” one says and hands her the cup.

She drinks with a nod of gratitude. To share in the spoils one has not taken is an honor.

“You are home,” says another.

But she laughs at this, this wandering raider. “Where is home?”

Daily Ficlet 2019, Drabble, Kingdoms and Thorn, Original Fiction , , , 0 Comment

For Lorden

Jan
07

This is what keeps you alive. You breathe in the stale, bloodstained air—the smell of iron and sweat—and you press down with even pressure on her wound as you listen to her shallow breaths. You can already see the fever in her glazed eyes and flushed face. It doesn’t matter if you can’t actually smell the infection yet.

(more…)

Daily Ficlet 2019, Kingdoms and Thorn, One-Shot, Original Fiction , , , , , , , 0 Comment

Breaking Points

Jan
07

There were moments when all anyone could think about was the blood on their hands, their fallen team members—something not quite family but beyond mere friends—and their own willingness to go bloody themselves again.

(more…)

Daily Ficlet 2019, Ficlet, Kingdoms and Thorn, Original Fiction , , , , , , 0 Comment

On Watch

Aug
02

She’s standing there, arms still coated in silver, bare of the charcoal grey bands she’s often formed of the substance. No blood on her body, but there’s sweat in the hair that’s come loose from her braid. It’s not a good sign.

(more…)

Ficlet, Kingdoms and Thorn, Original Fiction , , , 0 Comment