VertFey

Once a young girl lived her entire life at the top of a tower; Lost in her dreams and the bits of reality that floated in the window: A feather became a phoenix friend A sprinkle of raindrops on the window ledge--a storm she but barely survived. A bare thread of song on the winds--a beloved soulmate just out of sight. That was all well and good for a child, even a young maiden. But what now? Now she is a maid, and they do not tell stories of old maids up in towers. She peers out her window to the world below To the young ranger walking silent on a mission all his own. To the philosopher unaware of the trees he passes as he teases out

  Jacob stared at the two on the log. Now what?  Yes, he still hated Alan and planned to turn him in, but he had expected Alan to eat the food himself. God knows, he could use the extra food. If not that, at least be selling it to another soldier or trading it with one of the girls who followed the camp. Giving it to a kid, and not just any but Benny who Jacob actually liked, had not crossed his mind.  By the look of it, Benny sorely needed it. He was even skinnier than the last time Jacob saw him. He’d thought they left Benny safely back at the border when their regiment had moved out into contested territory. Yet, who had moved into

Escaping the "prison" Hong Kong had locked me into wasn't very difficult; and I immediately contacted my queen. Now I was finally back on my ship, participating in this blockade, and trying to stop the bloody traitors from trading with the stuck-up, idiotic "celestial empire." I was suddenly called to assist with a blockade runner, and joined my ship to the rest of the navy. There in front was Hong Kong leading the charge, dressed like a Chinese pirate with a wooden sword. Honestly. You would have thought this was a child's game. I didn't really like the idea of fighting a child, but if China was going to send his smaller, more vulnerable pr

      "Hold it right there, whoever you are. Stand and report."        Private Jacob Bauer froze, trying to resist the urge to pull his own pistol out as well. He had had the barrel of a gun pointed at him one too many times to be comfortable in this situation. However, the voice was a commanding authority, and if he didn't want to be executed like one of the criminals he hunted, he better behave. He straightened up slowly, silently cursing his own stupidity, the stupidity of his interfering commanding officer, and the fact that his target was once again slipping away. "Private Jacob Bauer of the 212th Company, Sir," He reported as he shoul