Corbin collapsed outside the dragon’s lair, acrid smoke wafting from his armor. He was getting too old for this. He’d never asked to be the gods’ favored champion. Sunlit forests spread out below him, a peaceful world unaware and unconcerned that he’d almost been eaten. Twice. Corbin drew a shuddering breath and wrenched a dragon…
I’d always watched the whaling boats going out to sea in the morning; big, asbestos-lined vessels churning through the lava, leaving a black wake behind them. My parents’ house was close enough to the beach that the shingles warped and blistered in the heat, and if you stood at the kitchen window you could see…
Between one moment and the next, she was gone. Lorleigh felt the human spirit fly through the hall—a wispy rush that was there and then gone. Released. It had come from the third room on the left. Lorleigh let the sadness rush through her. A heavy weight that would never lift again. Working around the…
Dozer and Digger eased out from the forest’s shadows, taking care not to damage the new growth. Dozer tilted its solar panels toward the sun. Its programming didn’t allow it to enjoy the afternoon’s warmth, but the increase in available power gave it something akin to satisfaction. Over the centuries, little had changed about their…
