A Shattered Soul
22 Nov 2011 Leave a Comment
in Crossover, Excerpt, National Museum Tags: Gregory-M
“It’s grateful I am that ya said you’d help me out with this, Erik,” Gregory said.
Alaric shook his head. He watched as the workmen moved the large mirror towards the cart. It was beautiful, a piece of art on its own. “I just don’t understand why you’d want to be rid of it,” he said, glancing over at Gregory.
Shaking his head, Gregory shrugged. “I don’t care for it,” he said, his voice soft. “There’s naught more to it than that, I can assure ya.”
Nodding, Alaric looked back towards the workmen, just as one of them misstepped. What happened next was, while predictable, completely unavoidable. The man overbalanced, nearly falling. In order to catch himself, he let go of his end of the mirror. The end he’d been holding crashed into the ground. Alaric winced at the sound of shattering glass.
“Well,” he said, “I guess that takes care of that.” Smiling wanly, he turned back to Gregory. Chagrine turned to shock when he saw that the man was collapsed on the ground.
“Gregory,” he said, dropping to his knees. He touched Gregory’s neck. The pulse was still there, but it was weak. What had happened? The mirror broke… Alaric felt the color drain from his face.
Standing, he called, “Gather up all the pieces you can find. Pack it all up together and bring it to the National Museum.”
The workmen looked confused at the order, but they didn’t argue. Instead, they did exactly as he directed them. After all, it was very few people indeed who would argue with one of the nobles.
The Faerie Ring
13 Nov 2011 Leave a Comment
in Crossover, Excerpt, National Museum Tags: Gregory-M
One of my favorite characters to torment…
Gregory yawned deeply and stretched. For a moment, he lay in bed and enjoyed the peaceful quiet of the early morning. The birds were singing in the trees outside his window. Trudy was murmuring softly in her sleep. He was nearly back to sleep when he heard the child begin crying.
Sitting up, Gregory rubbed the last bits of sleep from his eyes and padded over to the little girl’s bed. She was sitting up, frowning at him. “What’s that look for?” he asked, smiling. When he reached out to pick her up, Trudy shrieked and then bit him.
For a moment, Gregory was stunned. Then, he looked down at the mark. The little girl had broken his skin with her teeth. However, what struck Gregory most was that the mark wasn’t one that he’d normally expect from the teeth of a two year old girl. It looked more like an animal bite, one made from sharp teeth.
“Trudy?” he said, his voice faint.
The little girl hissed at him. Then, she was on her feet and careening into the next room. Gregory blinked and then followed her. He peered into the room and saw that she was hiding under the kitchen table. A low growl reached his ears.
Shaking his head, Gregory sighed. The child looked like Trudy, but there was no way this was his sweet little girl. Even in her foulest mood, Trudy didn’t hiss and growl. Even if she might be prone to do so or was feeling out of sorts enough that she might, his baby girl didn’t have a mouth full of pointed teeth or slanted catlike eyes.
Waiting In Darkness, Part 5
22 Jun 2011 Leave a Comment
in Agency Business, Mini-story, National Museum, Team Alpha Tags: Chris, Connor, Gregory-M, Hollis, Jewel
When they arrived on the scene, they could see that a group of monsters that numbered somewhere near a couple dozen had Chris and Jewel surrounded. Chris was holding them at bay with a shield, but Connor knew there was only so long he could keep that up.
Waiting In Darkness, Part 4
21 Jun 2011 Leave a Comment
in Agency Business, Mini-story, National Museum, Team Alpha Tags: Connor, Gregory-M, Hollis
“Each team has a mage of some sort,” Gregory said, his voice soft. He glanced back at Connor and frowned. “Our team has two. Would that just be chance?”
“Not likely,” Connor said, shaking his head. He sighed and leaned back against the wall of the alley they were hiding in at the moment. Giving Gregory a smirk, he said, “Chris is rather protective of me. He worked with my brother a couple years ago and, being twins, expects that we’re rather alike.”
Waiting In Darkness, Part 3
20 Jun 2011 Leave a Comment
in Agency Business, Mini-story, National Museum, Team Alpha Tags: Chris, Connor, Gregory-M, Harmony, Hollis, Jewel, Llewellyn
Connor breathed a sigh of relief when he pulled into the garage underneath the Agency tower. He parked his car in its usual space and got out. He locked the vehicle up, all while chewing on his lip nervously. What was going on? Some sort of spell, Chris had said, and he’d mentioned attacks.
Suppressing a shiver, Connor head towards the elevator that would bring him up to the floor where he worked. Hopefully, Chris could explain it to him when he got there. He walked briskly, with his head down, focusing on the task of getting to the elevator.
Waiting In Darkness, Part 2
19 Jun 2011 Leave a Comment
in Agency Business, Mini-story, National Museum, Team Alpha Tags: Chris, Connor, Gregory-M
When Connor stepped outside, the city was as dark as night. His brows furrowed and he looked at his watch. It was only twenty minutes to eleven. “Why is it so dark?” he murmured.
Shaking his head, Connor started down the street towards the lot where he’d parked earlier that morning. His frown deepened when he noticed that the attendant wasn’t in the booth. He knew the lot wasn’t attended at night, but it was the middle of the day – in spite of how dark it was.
Open-mouthed
23 Feb 2011 Leave a Comment
in Mini-story, National Museum, Team Alpha Tags: Chris, Connor, Gregory-M, Jewel
Connor leapt into action. He threw several glyphs towards the monsters. Each one exploded on impact. The few that were left standing, turned away from their would-be victims. He smiled faintly and fell back several feet.
As soon as they were in position, Gregory activated his spell. The monsters seized as the lightning swept through their bodies. Then, they dropped to the ground. “Nice,” Gregory said, smirking.
Connor nodded and looked over at Chris and Jewel. “Y’all all right?” he asked, blinking.
Chris stared at him for a moment. Jewel chuckled and reached over to touch his chin. As he shut his mouth, she grinned. “Thanks for the rescue, Connie.”
I am seeing ghosts in everything I do.
04 Feb 2011 Leave a Comment
in Mini-story, National Museum Tags: Gregory-M, Oliver, Peter
Gregory stood on the high stone wall. The skirt of the frilly white gown that Ackerley had forced him to wear swirled around his ankles. He knew what he must look like: white hair, white dress, blood red eyes. From the way Oliver was staring at him, it was like he was looking at a ghost.
He’d come there with one goal in mind. Ackerley’s orders were clear: get the folia of dark spells that Oliver was transporting from the east warehouse and come back. Torsten’s orders were clearer: don’t let anything stand in the way of your success in this mission.
Sighing, Gregory awakened his staff. Then, he slowly drew the blade. “Hand it over, Ashley,” he growled, intentionally using Oliver’s surname. “Don’t make me kill ya and don’t think I won’t if you stand in my way.”
“I can’t just let you have this folio,” Oliver said, awakening his own staff. A soft rattling could be heard from it as it awakened.
Scowling, Gregory leapt at his former comrade. It reminded him of a battle against Starke and Glenmoore, where he’d done the same thing. Except, then, he’d been leaping off a wall to come to Oliver’s defense. The change haunted Gregory, causing him to falter at the last moment.
It was a costly error. Oliver swung his staff upward. As he did so, the rattling intensified, filling Gregory with fear. Even as he shrank back, he knew it was a spell. He gasped when someone caught him from behind. His staff clattered to the ground; then an arm was around his throat.
Gregory had enough time to realize that it was Peter who was choking him. Then, he blacked out and the ghosts of his past vanished.
Waking from a Nightmare
02 Feb 2011 Leave a Comment
in Mini-story, National Museum Tags: Gregory-M
Gregory was dreaming, he knew it was a dream because of the way things would change so abruptly, however, that didn’t make the dream any less frightening. His heart was pounding and his breath was coming in sobbing gasps as he ran down the long dark passage.
Torsten was right behind him. The man was walking, his staff held out in one hand, ready to strike. Even though he was walking, Gregory couldn’t seem to escape him.
Suddenly, hands caught Gregory around by his arms. He gasped and looked up, into Ackerley’s face. The brows furrowed and he said, “You are mine!”
“No,” Gregory gasped, waking suddenly. Trembling, he sat up. He was sitting in the middle of a large bed. The covers were soft and warm, not the cold satin from Ackerley’s room or the coarse cotton from the room at the museum.
The room was sparse, with simple furnishings. Beside the bed, there was a low nightstand, with a clock. A desk and chair stood at the wall to his left. The far wall had a cabinet and a wall unit with books and a stereo. There were two doors, one leading to a balcony and the other, presumably, to the rest of the building. Actually, except for how new everything was, it reminded Gregory of his flat.
He shivered and looked around again. “Where am I?” he said, blinking.
You gotta tip on the tightrope
28 Jan 2011 Leave a Comment
in Mini-story, National Museum Tags: Ackerley, Gregory-M
Gregory knew it was a dangerous game he was playing. He didn’t doubt that Ackerley would know if he tried to get a message to his old comrades. However, at the same time, he couldn’t let them go on thinking of him as a traitor.
That’s what gave him the idea. He had no idea if it would work or not. However, he had to try. He took his chance when Ackerley had him capture Dr. Upvalley. While Ackerley was distracted by laying his curse, he slipped a note into the doctor’s pocket. He didn’t think about it and that was important. He needed to act without thinking. Ackerley could hear his thoughts, after all.
As they returned to Ackerley’s home Gregory’s thoughts were of his former apprentice – who they’d just fought. Was it possible he’d gotten even stronger in the last couple years? Somehow, that wouldn’t have surprised Gregory in the least.
“Gregory,” Ackerley said, his voice soft. “You realize, of course, that your former apprentice might have cost us dearly just now.”
Gregory sidestepped out of Ackerley’s reach. “Ya got yer curse was laid,” he said, shrugging. True, they hadn’t gotten the book, which was their secondary goal. “I’ll get the book when they’re distracted in cleaning up that mess the curse is sure ta cause.”
Ackerley frowned. “Very well,” he said, partially mollified. Then, he said, “Why the self-satisfied smirking, Gregory?”
“Why, Lord Ackerley,” Gregory said, giving him a mocking bow, “ain’t it the right of any master in the craft to take a little pride in their students’ progress?” He chuckled softly and slipped out of the room. Yes, it was a dangerous game, but, somehow, that made it all the more exciting to play.
