Author: vicorva

Just a pigeon

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‘It’s just a pigeon,’ said the girl. ‘Let it die.’

The boy lifted it with gentle hands. It was too weak to struggle. He could feel its heartbeat against his fingertips. ‘It just needs help, that’s all.’

He nursed it day and night. Warmed it by a lamp, cleaned its wounds. Fed it from his hand. Every day it grew stronger. And larger.

After a week, it was the size of a cat. A month, a dog. It gazed at him with adoring eyes. And one day, it would carry him into the sky.

 

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Another microfiction for Mastodon. Image by congerdesign from Pixabay, used under Pixabay License.… Read more

Blackwing Witch (Chapter 14: Welcome)

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Blackwing Witch is a work-in-progress but I wanted to share it while I work on the first draft. Please bear in mind that this is an unedited work, but hopefully you will still enjoy it! Image is a commission from ShadowDragon22.

(Beginning)

(Previous Chapter)

(Next Chapter)

 

Chapter Fourteen: Welcome

Wy drifted in a cloud of cinnamon and sage. She reached out her arms and felt feathers brush her face, as smooth and strong as silk.

Distantly, she heard her sisters’ voices. ‘May the air carry you gently,’ said Yelen, her voice low and sweet.

‘And may the fire keep your spark burning,’ said Ilvisar, high and sharp.… Read more

Moonlight Encounter

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The couple spotted the monstrously fluffy cat striding purposefully toward them across the moonlit street.

The first tapped his partner. ‘Cat!’

‘Yes, I see it.’ He sighed dramatically, but couldn’t quite hide his smile. He knelt down as the cat approached. ‘Here, kitty.’ He held out his hand.

At his movement, the cat veered away.

‘Uh … kitty?’

The cat stopped and flicked its tail. ‘Sorry,’ it yowled over its shoulder. ‘Thought you were somebody else.’

The couple looked at each other. ‘Full moon,’ said the first.

‘Must be new at it,’ said the second. ‘I haven’t shifted involuntarily in years now.’

The first leaned close and plucked at his jacket.… Read more

Freedom on land

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‘And what are the wheels for?’ she asked, flipping her tail to sun the other side.

‘They’re so that I can get around on land.’ He wrung his hands in his lap, wondering if she would question and pry and judge.

She only raised herself higher out of the water and gave the wheel a tentative squeeze.

‘On land.’ She said the words like a prayer.

With effort, he stood up and stepped aside from his chair, though the pain made him grit his teeth. ‘Why don’t you try it?’

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Another microfiction for Mastodon! Image by StockSnap from Pixabay, used under Pixabay License.… Read more

Facing the Forest

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She stilled, eyes locked with a sloth-like creature with mossy fur, claws like twisted roots, and a mushroom shell. It dangled from the tree, blinking first one bright green eye, then the other.

‘What are you?’ she asked, clutching her ragged shawl closer. She had encountered many creatures in the forest, not all of them kind.

‘What are you?’ it replied in a croaky imitation of her voice.

In spite of her fear, she leaned closer. ‘Can you talk, or just repeat?’

It tilted its head. ‘Can you talk?’

‘Are you friendly?’

It yawned, revealing pointed teeth. ‘Friendly?’

Already, she knew better than to fear something just because it might bite.… Read more

Queen’s Secret

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Alice giggled as her girlfriend pulled her into a corner of the town gardens. ‘What’s the big secret?’

Her girlfriend smiled to one side, that irresistible quirk that had first drawn her to her. ‘It’s a big adventure.’

‘Yeah, but everything’s a secret with you,’ she said, a little breathlessly.

Her girlfriend’s smile widened. ‘Am I really so mysterious?’

She was. She was laughter on the wind and a smile in moonlight. She was perfume quickly whisked away.

But when Alice said everything was a secret with her girlfriend, it was only half-teasing. There was a shadow over her sometimes.… Read more

Blackwing Witch (Chapter Thirteen: Worried)

vicorvaLeave a comment

Blackwing Witch is a work-in-progress but I wanted to share it while I work on the first draft. Please bear in mind that this is an unedited work, but hopefully you will still enjoy it! Image is a commission from ShadowDragon22.

(Beginning)

(Previous Chapter)

(Next Chapter)

 

Chapter Thirteen: Worried

She was so focused on the pain that she didn’t notice Spite until the blackwing ran her beak through her hair. She looked up and met the dragon’s luminous green eyes, now wide with worry.

‘It’s okay,’ she said. Her voice shook. She sat back with a grimace and laid a hand on the blackwing’s smooth beak.… Read more

Survivor

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The dragon landed in a flurry of snow and steam, black scales gleaming and red-seamed like hot coals.

They turned their burning eyes to the woman face-down in the snow. There were many other footprints around her, but no other humans for miles around.

They leaned forward and sniffed. No reek of death. They nudged her with their great muzzle.

The woman stirred at the touch, then scrambled to her feet.

‘I’m alive!’ she cried, drawing a dagger from her belt. ‘I survived them, and I’ll survive you too. So don’t even try it!’

The dragon considered her, small and cold, a barely-healed wound on her back and blood under her nails.… Read more

A creature of the moors

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Curled on her side in the window-seat, she gazed out at the open moors. Tears made gentle tracks down her cheeks.

Outside, the clouds gathered, dark with empathy, heavy with the weight of their care for her. When the rain fell, the grass sighed its longing.

When at last she returned, the moor would welcome her with wild winds and dramatic skies.

Perhaps then they would both be whole, and she would remember, at last, what she truly was.

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Microfiction! Image by Free-Photos from Pixabay, used under Pixabay License.… Read more

Running and Riding

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His feet were sore and blistered in his shredded shoes. His shirt was bramble-torn and leaf-stained, his trousers dirty and frayed.

The river was a mirage-like solace, too good to be true. He knelt on the bank and lowered cupped hands into the cool water.

After he had drunk his fill, he turned to see a horse, fur as dark as the blackest mud, with rushes tangled in its mane.

‘I’ve heard of you,’ said the man. ‘I won’t ride you, no matter how sore I am.’

The horse snorted and struck its hoof on the ground. ‘You think I mean to drown you.’

‘That’s what you are, isn’t it?’

‘And what are you?’ asked the horse.… Read more