Protector

Unwanted Summons

***Chrrrrrrrrrrrrriiiiiiissssssssss***

Margaret struggled to open her eyes, let alone lift her head from the countertop. She'd somehow managed to make it out of the shower and to the kitchen without killing herself, a miracle in and of itself.

Still, deep down, she had hoped to at least be semi-finctional before interacting with anyone from work today, but with the coffee machine still sputtering away, it seemed that she had used all of her luck safely reaching her current resting place.

They could just hang up? Sometimes, they did when trying to call her before she came in.

***Chrrrrrrrrrrrrriiiiissssssssss***

...

***Chrrrrrrrrrrrrriiiiiiisssssssssss****

*Tsk*

Looking towards her clock, Margeret frowned. It was only ten forty-eight. Why was he calling her so early?

"Hello."

Without the jumpstart from her usual dose of caffeine, her tolerance was about as presant as her father, but John knew the risk of calling her when she wasn't on the clock.

"Is this Mrs. Margret Moore?"

Straitening into an upright position in an instant, her mind began to run wild after registering that she didn't recognize the monitone voice.

"What do you want?"

Pacing over to the dripping machine, Margaret poured as much as was ready into her mug and shoved the pot vaguely back in place to fill more.

While the voice may have been enough to temporarily scare her awake, that rush would only take her so far. She'd learned her lesson the last time she had fallen asleep on the phone, and it was still too fresh in her mind for her to repeat.

"You are to report to Station Seventeen within the next hour to identify one John Moore. If you do not comply, an officer will be deployed to escort you to the station in accordance with the compliance act."

Margaret opened her mouth to respond when the call was unceremoniously cut off.

"Blast it."

Station Seventeen was fifty minutes away from her apartment, but with traffic picking up soon, it was a toss-up if she could make it before they sent someone to get her.

Pocketing her phone, Margaret made a dash for her car, still holding the mug firmly in her other hand.

Heads Up, Seven Up

Share 7 lines from one of your WIPs

Thanks for the tag, @renasdoodles

I haven't reached the editing faze of my WIP yet, so you just get the unedited insanity that it is at the core.

Taking a deep breath, Owen released his hold. Maren had finally calmed down once he got her out of the water and rested.

Well calmed down in the fact that she was currently unconscious. He still had to go off into the woods to look for anything that could help fight the withdrawal symptoms.

This was fun. Thanks for the tag!

No pressure tagging: @kuebiko-writing @davycoquette +open tag

Bad Deal

Fairies causing trouble doesn't always go in their favor.

Word count: 307

Warning: some violence, implied/ referenced child death

Thanks for the prompt @flashfictionfridayofficial

“I’ll count your late husband's debt fulfilled with this. Be grateful I don’t come for the next one.”

Leona stared down at the doll in her hand, remembering the bloated swamp fly’s words more clearly than the night they’d been spoken. In her travels, she had often wondered what possible reason that foul being could have had to rip her child away before she even had the chance to hold him. A part of her had hoped that the fay just craved connection to the world like she had. That might at least have made the loss more bearable. 

“DON’T KILL ME! IT WAS MY RIGHT TO TAKE HIM, THAT WAS THE DEAL.”

A gently thump emanated from the burlap bunny, and Leona knew that connection had been the furthest thing from this insect’s mind when robbing her of the last thing she could care for. It had been foolish to suspect anything else from them, but it wasn’t too late to learn from her mistakes. 

“No, you never had any claim to my son… Theo couldn’t have children.”

The insect’s face bunched up in rage, and it shook it small fist’s in the air while screeching. 

“I WAS TRICKED? MY PRIZE WAS JUST A FAKE!?! I DEMAND…”

Frowning in disgust, Leona pierced her bident through the frustrated fay. The heartbeat in her hand fluttered as the creature’s light faded, making her chest tighten. No magic in the world could bring back a body ten years gone.

She’d been too diplomatic, listening to the advice of those who feared the old magic. Gripping her weapon tightly, Leona swore to the boiling rage in her heart that she would not make the same mistake again. Valleys would be turned to rivers, filled with their putrid blood before they came to know the despair she would bring to them. 

Stopping Time

@flashfictionfridayofficial

Prompt: FFF264 Counting Clocks

Info: Just a snippet from the villain of a project I am working on. Blood Mages are similar to vampires in that they deal with blood and are functionally immortal, but are notably a separate creature type in this story. They deal in insanity and explosive blood rather than drinking blood.

Story Warnings: Dealing with the death of a loved one and descriptions of blood/body horror. There is an image at the end that contains a dead body with detailed injuries.

Five hundred and eighty-seven clocks, only thirteen shy of another century. Passing his thumb over the face of an old model, Luis smiled at the memory of his love hurriedly rushing towards him with her prize. she'd given him one for every year they'd been together, and every time she presented it, her face would beam with an unfathomable joy, melting his heart.

From the gold chained pocket watch he kept in his breast pocket, to the towering grandfather clock in the corner of their sitting room, each device was a precious treasure that he cared for long past their intended expirations.

He'd always had a fondness for time keeping devices, but when his love started to give them as gifts, Luis had formed a bit of an obsession with them. For years he had derived great enjoyment in the constant task of winding them up, and keeping each one perfectly on time to the half second. It kept him content that he was doing something, and the constant need for routine had stopped him from going mad on more than one occasion while his partner was out hunting. In all of their time together the clocks had always been operational.

Now staring at the walls of clocks which had come to a standstill, Luis was haunted by the absence of their familiar ticking. She was gone, and with her, Luis had lost his anchor. It was a simple enough process to form another attachment, but five hundered and eighty-seven years couldn't just be ignored, especially when it had been spent with her. No, the position could only be filled by his love at this point.

Standing slowly, Luis ran a shaking hand through his hair as blood began to boil over and seep through his skin coating every inch of his body. He could feel her even now, a gentle wind resting on his shoulders keeping him from bursting at the seams. The witches would pay for their crimes and then he would be reunited with her one way or another.

"Please wait for me Love."

Skin peeled away as his form faded into the growing shadows. Luis, arbiter of his abominable race, once more, dropped the fragile veil of his sanity to hunt.

On the hunt for a new clock, Jade was attacked and killed by a group of tech witches. (It's a bit of a weird story...)

Thanks for the prompt, @flashfictionfridayofficial !

6936

Another random story based solely on the prompt. I hope you enjoy.

Warnings: Referenced Infidelity and Gaslighting

The flowers bloomed too early that spring, and an unexpected chill froze the golden buds even as they swelled with life.

Trudy stepped through frozen blades of grass, her bare feet blue from the cold. She didn't notice, couldn't feel her blood turning to ice with every step she took. 

The house behind her cast a looming shadow in the half light of morning. It had made her happy once, knowing that the old building cared for her. It cared for him more, though, concealing him protectively as he ripped her heart out over and over again. 

She had awakened twenty years ago, her power a simple enhancement of the senses, so trivial that she had been embarrassed to mention it to anyone. Too embarrassed to mention it to him. Trudy now wished that she had, he might not have brought so many mortals to their bed while she carefully tended to their garden if he had known. 

She'd done her best to ignore it at first, thrown all of her love on him, because she had loved him dearly, but with every self satisfied look cast towards her by departing mortals, a piece of Trudy’s love had been chipped away. 

"They are on quests, dear. I'm sharing my wisdom, allowing them a place to rest. I couldn't stand if these weak creatures were without guidance like your brother."

He always used her brother, always trying to make her feel like she was overreacting. It had worked before her awakening, but after she learned of his betrayal, it just made her bitterness grow.  

Stepping to the edge of the shadow, Trudy breathed deeply and stepped into the light. Her skin cracked under direct exposure. Even today, he had asked her to tend to the flowers, even today he had defiled their wedding bed. The finality of the action tipped the scales in her heart, emptying the last slivers of love from her soul.

Trudy bent down and picked a small bud, half opened and covered in frost. She'd watched this bud grow from a seedling, nurtured it through every stage of growth. It had been so full of life yesterday that she had already planned where in the house she would place it. Now, it would rest in her hair. 

With one last look towards behind her, the ice in Trudy’s veins turned to fire as a manic joy flooded every fiber of her being. Trudy had come to the property line six-thousand nine-hundred and thirty-five times before this one, but some sliver of affection had always held her at bay. 

Today, she skipped over the line gleefully. Disappearing from the home she had known for almost fifty years, with a long dead sense of wonder now burning in her chest. 

LATE NIGHT INSPIRATION

(I have no idea where this came from)

I was watching a show and just started sketching. To my dismay, the scketch sparked a new story idea into my head, but I have too many things I'm working on at the moment to give it the proper attention it needs.

Not being able to fully finish most of the stories I start has always been a problem for me and it frustrates me to no end, but I liked the art for this one, so I figured that I might as well post the sketches.

Quick plot synopsis because brains really do go off the edge when tired: the knight was about to take a bath after being on the road for three months, and the robot pirate was raiding. Just as they were about to reach their goals, both of them were abducted by aliens trying to collect data. The two of them break out of containment and meet up, deciding to put aside their differences so they can escape the alien planet.

Working on the color palate for them. But I'm not quite happy with it yet, so more work.

I went to an aquarium today and got to do a bit of sketching. Wish I could have had more time/motivation, but I'll take what I can get.

What can you tell me about Luis?

Thank you for the ask!

He’s definitely one of my favorites from this story, so I might have gone a bit overboard with the explanation...

Luis is one of the first blood mages to ever be made and serves as a kind of side antagonist in the (Bloodmage) story. His main power has to do with disrupting other blood mage’s control, but he is also able to manipulate blood into various explosive constructs as well.

Due to the unstable mental state of blood mages, he spent a good portion of his early days indiscriminately killing to try to feed the bottomless desire for blood and violence that plagues his species. After growing sick of the conflict but unable to stop himself, Luis resolved to end his suffering but found the task more difficult than he had anticipated. In his lowest point, he was confronted by a tree spirit named Jade, who he instinctively formed an attachment with, creating the first tether. A process by which a bloodmage is able to reign in their violent and bloodthirsty nature by grounding themselves with another living being. This tether does not have to be a romantic connection, but in their case, it certainly developed into one.

With his mind restored, Luis reigned in his race, instructing them on the proper methods to prevent rampant destruction and insanity. As their leader, he acts as the primary representative of blood mages on the cryptid council, a group founded to help regulate supernatural creatures. Of the other council members, he particularly dislikes the fairy king and will regularly keep a pair of brass knuckles made from high-quality iron for his inevitable clashes with the fairy king’s bodyguard (Alasdair).

After his wife is killed by tech witches, Luis informs the council of his intent to wipe out her killers. Refusing to attach himself to another tether, Luis has resolved to get his revenge by any means necessary, even if it is costing him his sanity.

Given her nature as a forest spirit, even if her body is dead, as long as part of her core remains intact there is a chance for her to be saved, but with the teck witches bent on expanding their power he is left wil little choice but to take a more aggressive stance on the matter.

They are a really cute couple, in my opinion, and I love getting to write/draw little blurbs of them being happy together, so thanks again for the ask 😊

Rose, after being cursed long ago, came to adapt to her unfortunate circumstances. While once completely wild, she has come to appreciate the finner things in life, mainly deserts.

I personally prefer her sketch design most, but the inked is a close second.