Yeoldebard

The apocalypse was the best thing that ever happened to Braden Cavendish. Waking up with a blinking light in his eye and the words of gods in his ears — ha! Gods! As if! — it took Braden only a minute to dive into this strange new reality. Numbers sprouted before his eyes, his whole life summed up by six attributes. Strength — 12 Dexterity — 10 Constitution — 11 Intelligence — 12 Wisdom — 9 Charisma — 14 Impossible! He was below average in [Wisdom]? Braden was just as wise as any

He had to admit it: The second time was just as amazing as the first. Sakis pulled off Mason with a lewd plop. They remained where they were, tucked in the aspen grove, well out of sight of the campground proper. Quietly panting, breath fogging his glasses, Mason stared down at the satyr kneeling before him. Sakis gazed back longingly… longing for what? He’d just sucked Mason dry. What more could he want? “What?” Mason grumbled. “You have more to give-” “The gods accepted my offering.” H

Their trek began with a siren. Mason gripped Wishbone’s leash tightly as a pair of officers stepped out of their patrol car. With his cane stowed away, with Wishbone vestless, why were they stopping for- His glasses! Peeling the offending spectacles off, Mason tucked them into his pocket. The world hazed around him, forcing Mason to blink harshly. Black hair turned brown, sunglasses became soulless eyes. “Excuse me sir. Have you been experiencing any strange visions lately?” He blinked

Morning greeted Mason with a wet tongue. Groaning, he reached up and patted Wishbone’s head. His face was covered in slobber, and Mason sighed as he sat up in the darkness. A sleeve wiped away the rapidly cooling drool. Dragged from dark dreams, it took Mason a moment to comprehend his current situation. Still homeless… but with two grand to his name… taken off a dead man’s body. It wasn’t the first corpse he’d looted. He doubted it would be the last. Andrea… Jessie… and now Michael. He’d done

They had lost their first game. When Leo returned to the rink, shivering after the heat of Howling Canes, he felt Ayisarra’s eyes burning into him, though he couldn’t see her yet. “Leo! We have half an hour before game two!” Cora called, hurrying toward him. “I hope you had a good lunch, because shit’s about to hit the fan.” What- oh. Ayisarra was storming toward them. Shit. “YOU SHOULD HAVE BEEN HERE!” He didn’t even try to reach for his tablet. Ayisarra was so pissed she was speaking h

Mason bit back a yelp, leaping to his feet. Beside him, a man stood, tall, bright, with a small goatee that somehow didn’t make him look stupid. Curly brown hair swept across his head, and hazel eyes observed Mason with a mixture of curiosity and mischievous mirth. A tight grey shirt showed off a lean, muscular torso, contrasting with baggy blue jeans. Greek lettering stenciled neatly across his shirt, with a stylised donkey set in the middle. Wishbone sniffed around the stranger. He didn’t se

The apocalypse was the best thing that ever happened to Mason Hill. When his dreams were interrupted by a strange voice, he thought he’d finally died. The cold streets of Reno had claimed many a friend that winter; what was one more body to the pile? There was no regret… well, that wasn’t true. What would happen to Wishbone if he died? “The gods have grown weary of your world. Rather than being destroyed, they offer a more entertaining mercy. The downtrodden, the homeless, the disabled, will

When the gods are bored, the world becomes their playground. For Mason Hill, deific whims turn his world upside down. What is a disabled homeless man to do when the world is ending around him?

Jeisa spliced a pair of wires together, tweezing them into a careful lattice. He tucked the resulting strand into the synth’s throat, combining it with several other wires. Over the past couple of weeks, the group had succeeded in moulding a head, giving their project a face. Cervidae face, naturally. Jeisa had argued in favour of a Faro face, only to be shot down because “Faro don’t like physical contact. Why would they want a synth built for physical contact?”. “Testing vocal module in three

He still wasn’t ready to forgive the tiger. Leo refused to sleep in the same bed as Jeisa. It hurt, knowing that he could hold Jeisa, that he could sleep with someone again, but denying himself on the principle of the matter. He couldn't give in. He couldn't let Jeisa think it was alright to kidnap people and sell them as trophy wives. The tiger had shown remorse for what he did to Leo and Devin, but that was probably just another manipulation on his part. What was real? What was just Jeisa tryi

Leo didn’t return home until nearly four in the afternoon. In that time, Jeisa had made Devin a snack, cleaned the house, and finished all the laundry, all while nodding along to Devin’s babbling about his day with Cai. At least, Jeisa assumed it was about Devin’s day — he still couldn’t understand the kit. Devin was trying though. Occasionally Jeisa would hear “More please” or “I am tired”. “If you’re tired, you should take a nap,” Jeisa said, dodging Devin as he carried a basket of clothes t

Cosy warmth enveloped him. Devin pressed against Leo, and Leo reached out, stroking his head. Coarse hair slipped through his fingers- “Daddy?” Leo’s eyes shot open. Devin’s voice hadn’t come from beside him. He let out a muffled curse, scrambling away from Jeisa. Caught up in the comforter, Leo extricated himself painfully, nearly hitting his head on the wall. “What?” Jeisa jolted awake. Wide green eyes stared at Leo. Jeisa groaned. “Aw fuck. Don’t worry, we didn’t-” Leo clamped his h

He was not good with kits. Jeisa didn’t know why that was so surprising — he’d been practically raised by a Lidikrys for Blue Fox’s sake! Parenting skills did not come with the territory. But with Devin and Cai bouncing around after dinner, chasing each other around and around, Jeisa was at his wit’s end. At least Rhiannon seemed more interested in reading a book than joining her brother in a game of tag, and Erin was in her room, studying for a test in… Jeisa wasn’t sure what. Positive reinfo

“Up! Ten! Up! Eleven! Up! Twelve! And down we go!” Furry red hands rested under the bar, carefully lowering it as Leo blew out a heavy breath. His arms were killing him after only two sets, and Cora said this was a light load. He’d seen her remove several weights from the bar after she’d finished, adding insult to injury. How could a female lift more than him? And why was he so sore after so few sets? He still had two more to go! Leo stood up reluctantly, letting Cora take his place on the b

Jeisa poked his head through a door. The room beyond teemed with tools and wires, all messily sprawled in no pattern Jeisa could recognise. A group of Cervidae sat around a table covered in drawings of what looked like a processing chip. Five sets of eyes stared back at Jeisa, and he cleared his throat nervously. “Is this the Robotics Club?” “This is the Synth Club,” a tawny doe sniffed indignantly. “Robotics imply an unequal relationship between synth-” “Yes, this is the Robotics Club,” a