《Tales from the Afterworld - short stories collection》Story 022 - DANCING LEO (fantasy)
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DANCING LEO
“You walk like a dancing lion! What’s your name, warrior?”
“People call me Leo, mother.”
He felt uneasy in the old crone’s presence. Where did she come from? What was she doing here, in the middle of the grey mountain ridge? Why did she ask his name? Why would anyone ever directly ask another person’s name? The clawed ones can hear it and tear your soul out… Leo shook his head to make the dark thought go away.
“So, you are Leo?” The crone smiled. “I am Lota the Seer, so people call me. It’s no mere coincidence that we have met, oh young warrior who walks like a dancing lion…”
“Are you lost, mother Lota? It’s a bare, evil place, no people live here…”
“Oh, yes, they don’t, they don’t. These are the lands of the Dancing Lion. Listen to Lota the Seer, son, go back before it’s too late…”
Old Lota hadn’t been allowed to finish. A golden ray of light fell upon her making the crone collapse on the hard rocky ground of the unnamed ridge. Leo kneeled before her, worried, and touched the dirty robe… only to find out that it was empty. There was no body under the rotten cloth, only bones, so ancient they crumbled to dust when a wind touched them.
Leo raised his eyes to look for the source of the golden light. That was when he saw the Dancing Lion.
Oh, he had seen lions before all right, those big shaggy cats with a bad temper, called “the kings of beasts” for some reason. But this “lion” was no lion at all; he looked way too human. His eyes were very human as well, so clever, so indifferent...
The Lion began his dance in the golden light. The warrior watched, mesmerized, unable to look away. The longer he watched, the more human the Lion became, the more he resembled Leo. The Lion copied his gait first, his dancing gait! Then the beast’s paws changed shape to resemble human hands, warrior’s hands, a bit yellowish, but otherwise totally normal. Finally, his face lost the beastly features.
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Leo watched the transformation, unable to stir. After the light had faded he faced his golden twin, no longer the Lion, but another Leo who carried a sword of his own and was clothed in yellow velvet. The twin wore no shoes and had shaggy hair, but otherwise, he looked like an ordinary human. The former Lion waved Leo goodbye and left him standing there, alone.
Leo watched him cross Vertel, a little river below the ridge, and head east, toward the farmlands.
Only after the yellow dot had disappeared from Leo’s view, he became free from the spell. He shuddered as his gaze fell to his hands, now old and wrinkled like his grandfather’s. He touched his face, he unbuttoned his shirt… Leo was old; the Dancing Lion stole his youth, ate his time, and took his future.
As the horrible despair took over Leo, he remembered that he had heard of Lota the Seer before. She was a great hero of old. But was it really she? Or was it the Dancing Lion again?
Leo knelt on the bare stone and wept, helpless and hopeless. He came to his senses only when he saw the Moon in the sky, so large and bright among the young evening stars. There was nothing in the world left for him. He could either end what was left of his life or stay there as Lota did. Who knows how many travellers she saved from the Lion before her hour had struck? Leo decided to do the same.
One thing he knew with a bitter certainty: when his time comes he would need to make someone else take his place…
(June 19, 2003)
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Warden of Time
Already on edge from a series of increasingly strange occurrences, student practitioner Juniper Lorn is not surprised to see her fears validated when the world is upended before her eyes.The literal end of the world, however, had not been on her bingo card. Finding herself one month in the past perfectly safe and sound, even less so.Faced with an insurmountable task, Juniper must now uncover the secrets of the time loop and find a way to escape and somehow save the universe in the process. //A hard progression time loop story with cultivation elements.Schedule: Wed-Fri-Sun, with occasional extra chapters.
8 206RETURN, A Dark Lord story.
Return, Synopsis In the Triangulum Galaxy, one of a number of galaxies controlled by the Empire of The DARK LORD, JENNA OF CHRISTOS finds herself on the run after she killed a patrolman. Becoming pilot on a pirate craft, several years later she and other pirates are devastated by attacks of the Imperial Legion and are now trying to regroup. Seeking funds that will help them hide out for a time, their leader THURGOD DRISTA and JENNA meet with a PROFESSOR of galactic history who gives them information, a map and an ancient artifact described as a singing stone. He tells them that this could lead them safely to a legendary treasure trove, called THE DARK LORDS HOARD, on the forbidden planet TRILLA. The hoard is supposed to belong to the ruler of the empire who vanished close to one thousand years before and is presumed to be gone. The treasure is believed to be hidden in a tunnel accessible from the planet surface but no one who has gone into the tunnel has ever come out alive or sane. Leaving the pirate hideout immediately after the meeting and avoiding a major attack by the legion, the pirates travel to the galactic rim for supplies and to leave a false trail. With them they take the PROFESSOR and ILISA, a serving girl. However CAPTAIN TRASKA the commander of a Legions task force called Detachment T, has guessed the pirates intentions and tracked them to the rim. The pirates leave on their next leg to TRILLA unaware that CAPTAIN TRASKA with his force of heavy cruisers, is already there and lying in wait for them. Allowing the pirates to land, including an unexpected second pirate ship, CAPTAIN TRASKA sends a force of troopers to capture both craft and their guards. Before they can do this, THURGOD, the PROFESSOR and others, numbering thirteen altogether and led by JENNA entered the tunnel complex. JENNA, warned by ILISA that she must be the one to hold the singing stone, carries it in the hope that it will guide her and her companions past the many dangers in the tunnel. Shortly afterward, VIS VISTRICER the Legions overall commander travels to Trilla in an armoured planetoid, a spacecraft as large as a moon. On his arrival at TRILLA, VIS VISTRICER meets with CAPTAIN TRASKA but before they can do much, they are both surprised by one of the LADIES OF THE CIRCLE who is waiting for the outcome of what is happening in the tunnels. In the tunnels, JENNA leads THURGOD and the rest of party through many dangers and tests. Four are killed in the tunnels but the rest finally come to their goal where, to their surprise, in a cavern they meet the DARK LORD who is alive and very well. He has been waiting for them so he can return to the Empire. JENNA finds out that the patrol officer is alive and that she and many others have been manipulated all this time by the DARK LORD. She also finds out that ILISA, whose real name is JURA, is a member of the CIRCLE OF LADIES and was sent to teach JENNA many years before on her home planet of Christos. The DARK LORD restores and fulfills a promise to release JURA from her service as a LADY. He next has each pirate declare their own fate and takes them to the surfaces of TRILLA. There, at their election, he executes two of the pirates while JENNA is pardoned and some have the death penalty reprieved. The rest will face the courts of the Legion. VIS VISTRICER is raised to the rank of STAR COMMANDER, the highest rank in the Legion while TRASKA becomes a COMMODORE. The DARK LORD returns to Tihab, the administrative centre of the empire. There he takes up his residence in a surprised and disconcerted imperial palace. JENNA is returned by COMMODORE TRASKA to the planet Christos where she is welcomed by the planets rulers and her family, some of whom were aware of some of what was happening.
8 253The Journey's of an uninterested person
A man, immortal yet not, never aging, never ending. A victim of deaths callous rejection, stuck in time, until the end of the world only to repeat for eternity. is given a chance, a gift to enter a new world, a new universe, an escape from the limits of his world. Knowledge is his passionno, his driveafter losing it all far too many timeswhat can a man who has seen everything do in a universe dominated by beings whose emotions are their reasons to live.what can a man who finds cruelty and kindness equally the same in his jaded view do?
8 111Fragments of Time ( A Disney Twisted Wonderland x OC story) Book I
All stories begin with "Once upon a time..."Charlotte Luchessi's a girl unlike any have seen. With a fast-thinking mind and a few skills and talents up her sleeve, nothing can take her down! But something does. A memory that had left her scarred, left her to lock away her sadness through her selflessness. As if that wasn't enough, she's mysteriously dragged into a world beyond imagination! One where she'll encounter magic and mayhem more than ever.Enter Night Raven College, a prestigious magic training school where mages alike can hone their skills to become the next generation of wizards. Under the guardianship of the Schoolmaster, Charlotte is given protection, with an unlikely ally by the name of Grim, and tasks to work around and within the school all while seeking for a way back home.But what's with the students and their abnormal behaviors? What secrets roam within these halls? And is the Headmaster, as well as a certain fae dorm leader hiding something from the student body and herself included? The answers have yet to be revealed. Before she knows it, Charlotte is caught in a web of secrets and magic, both good and bad. With something monstrous lurking in the shadows, more questions than answers popping up, and getting meddling students into shape all on her mind, Charlie is determined to get everything found out. And along her journey, she'll discover that she's a fate more entwined with this world than meets the eye. But will this unusual and surprising discovery be what gets her back home or bring unspeakable horrors to this mysteriously dangerous and haunting world? Look beyond the Mirror. Go down the Rabbit Hole. Fall under the Spell of The Twisted Wonderland.-------Based off of Aniplex/Disney Japan's "Twisted Wonderland" video game. All rights go to original creators. Artwork belongs to Yana Tobaso. Began: March 22, 2020Finished: ???Find me on tumblr at @akemiozawa. More info on my OC Charlotte there!
8 224Complete // Stiles Stilinski [3]
Brianna Hollis is finally returning to Beacon Hills after a long summer away, learning about herself and making new allies. Many thoughts running through her head as to what this year will bring.She hopes this year will finally be normal. That her and her friends will finally get a break. But what she doesn't know is what is yet to come.Creatures of the night. Scientists who worshiped the supernatural. The Dread Doctors.Hell hound. His eyes glow orange and he is impervious to flame.La Bête du Gévaudan. The Beast of Gevaudan.Oh, and there's a new guy in town. Well, new to Brianna Hollis. Not so new to Scott McCall and Stiles Stilinski.The Wild Hunt.~~~~~Third book to the "New Girl" Stiles Stilinski series.Based on season 5 & 6Disclaimer: I do not own any content/characters of Teen Wolf. All credits to the writers and creators of MTV's Teen Wolf.
8 136Highschool DXD Smash or Pass
Same rules as others (To see rules check description of To Love Ru Smash or Pass). I don't anything except idea.
8 101