It was dark outside. The candles were guttering. The two performed their nightly tithe. A drop of blood spilled into the bowl near their portal. Words murmured. Edmund's family had used a different phrase from hers. Their words collided over each other. She wasn't certain she had said …

Lilah yawned. One of the younger girls in her class giggled. “, would you care to tell us why the Oregon Country was founded.” The girl stood and tucked her hands behind her back as she recited. “The Oregon Country was created by Opal Webb. She was a savant …

label: 4 compile: 0 Anne stood at the altar. She wore the dress she'd worn earlier that day to work. Her hair was braided down her back, no longer left loose. She was a matron now. The church was austere. It had no decoration but the beams that shaped …

They sat for dinner together. The table and chairs bore the simple lines and rough edges of portal forging. It was hard to sit on. She hadn't made any cushions yet. They ate in silence but for the sound of fork on plate and the noise of human chewing …

It was dark outside. The candles were guttering. The two performed their nightly tithe. A drop of blood spilled into the bowl near their portal. Words murmured. Edmund's family had used a different phrase from hers. Their words collided over each other. She wasn't certain she had said …

This place was called the Mists of Creation, but there were no mists. Veiya stood amidst abject whiteness. Her eyes had no place to rest. Even the path behind her was closed. The only sight was of her own body. She sat, waiting. Something stung her head, like a small …

The air changed, from stale and musty, that had been passed through thousands of bodies, as Veiya stepped. It was bright and fresh. There was the taste of green in her mouth and the pressure of the water in the air on her lips. There was no sun in her …