1deathgod

I was hollow And tied up Dancing when told Body ice cold. He found me And taught me fire Burning away the strings Destroying my prison. The fire was freedom But also pain Eating me up Hollowing me out. I walked away And looked forward Stumbling like a child Tears still fresh. I collapsed And breathed deep Taking in the ash Trying again.

I bottle beauty And stand at the corner, Gently handing it to strangers, But the strangers pass by. I bottle ugly And stand on the roof, Launching it with all my might, But they look away. I dance for them, Moving my body in rhythm, Laying my soul bare, But they ignore me. I paint for them, Splashing color on canvas, Bleeding across the white, But they judge my flaws. I write for them, Arranging words with care, Crafting an image on the page, But they mock my attempts. I sing for them, Raising my voice in melody, Opening my heart, But they cover their ears. I want to move you, But I don't know how. I whisper and coax, Or scream and cry,

We came to what seemed like a dead end, and Farel released her flame, plunging us back into darkness.  I heard a soft knocking, the code Theo and I had developed for emergencies.  More knocking followed after a brief pause, the response to indicate that all was safe.  A crack of dim light appeared in front of us as the apparent dead end swung slowly open to reveal a shirtless Theo. “I’m sorry for interrupting your meditations,” I said, quickly pushing past Farel to talk to Theo directly.  “Ustra knows.  So do the fledglings he was watching.  Maybe all of them now.” “I see.”  Theo’s eyebrows ra

Just as I feared Ustra might manage to overpower me, I saw the flash of a blade behind him.  Ustra grunted in pain as he crumpled to the floor, revealing a trembling Rordi.  He held his sword so tightly that his knuckles had turned a ghost white. I lowered my blade.  “What did you just do?” “He was going to kill you,” Rordi said, his voice surprisingly steady compared to the rest of him. “Yes, he probably was.  I’m attuned.  That’s what happens to attuned separate from the church.” The other fledglings shifted uncomfortably around us, but I kept my eyes on Rordi.  His trembling slowly relaxe

I pushed hard with my aura, forcing his aura back into his body.  He flinched, stumbling back from me.  “That hurt!” he cried.  “You’re a bad friend!” To my shock and horror his aura exploded back outward with more force than I could hold back.  The younglings who had just for a moment been free of his control were now writhing on the floor in pain from the backlash. “Stop!” I commanded, just barely able to protect myself from his raw animalistic strength. “You hurt me!” Farel dropped to the floor next to me, no longer able to hold him off on her own.  None of them screamed, but their

I signaled the attack and leapt from the shadows to bury my blade in the nearest of the goblins before swiftly yanking it free and opening the belly of the one just half a step behind him.  I was vaguely aware of Ustra’s group slipping past in the mayhem that ensued, but I paid them no mind.  The faster we cut down the raiding party, the faster we’d be able to join the rescue mission down below. The goblins did fight back, but not in the wild, bestial way I would have expected, and even in combat they made no sounds beyond labored breathing and occasional grunts of pain.  On impulse, I divided my attention slightly to reach out w

I breathe in the corruption, Feeling it spread outward from my lungs Ruining my body. My heart is rot, Eating a hole in my chest, Leaving me empty. My blood is gell, Drying up in my veins, Turning quickly to dust. My body will fail soon, Dying on the inside, Being destroyed. There was fire here, once, Murdering the world, Leaving scars. Only smoke remains, Corrupting the air I breathe, Devouring me. I slump to the side, Trying to close my eyes, Accepting the inevitable, But I don't die there.

Week 1 The ball had been Theo’s idea, of course.  I much preferred a more traditional greeting festival for new guild members where the young were given an opportunity to test themselves against older and stronger guildmates.  The fine clothing clung to my body in decidedly uncomfortable ways, restricting my movement.  And if one more fledgling tried his hand at seducing the Guildmaster’s Second, I might have to challenge them to an honor battle.  Not that I’d mind the exercise or the excuse to “accidentally” ruin this awful vest and skirt, but Theo would probably be upset that I’d ruined his ball.  At lea

There's a darkened space Inside our heads that you Can't just recognize. You're too dutiful In giving your thanks to God That you're not our kind. If we bleed for you, Will it hurt more to see us, Or will you notice? We're dying down here, But you're too high up to look Down to see us ants. If we pulled you down, You'd scream just like we once did, But would you understand? If only you could see What you've done to us before When we hadn't spoken. But we're the monsters In this story you're writing, At least, you think so. You shun our dirty Hearts because of what they do And what yours don't do. I guess that's virtue In your ey

I stared at Seth as his beautiful body cut through the water.  He was doing laps again while I timed him.  At this rate he was going to break his record tonight.  He hit the wall and I clicked the timer, disappointed to see another 59 seconds and some change, nearly the exact time he’d been getting all weekend. “How did I do?” asked Seth as he tried to catch his breath after his intense workout. “You’re consistent,” I said and offered him the stopwatch. He shrugged.  “Could be worse.” “You know you could be a professional swimmer if you wanted to, right?” “Yeah, but I don&