《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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Mother of Magic
A new mother that recently hit rock bottom not long before giving birth to a child she never planned to have is whisked to a new world of magic and monsters. Her prodigious intelligence earns her a free magical skill, and though she makes great use of it, little does she know that in this new land, magic is the highest taboo imaginable, and for a good reason. She learns quickly that she will have to be the bigger monster to protect the only thing in her life worth protecting, her child, and with her particular set of skills, there's an unending tide of enemies waiting to have a piece of her. What to expect: An unforgiving madness-inducing magic system, secret identity shenanigans, biological magic and therefore body-horror, a barebones and unintrusive status screen system, a genius-intellect self-serving main character. Trigger warning Contains mentions and brief descriptions of rape. Release Schedule Weekly releases on Friday 5pm EST
8 219The Gates of Chaos Keep Opening and It's Getting Annoying.
Drade is in the wrong place at the wrong time, every time. And each time he gets caught up in a supernatural fight to the death, he walks away before things get serious."I just want to do what I came here to do. Once you've seen one magical fight that lays waste to the world but somehow manages to stay a secret to everyone, you've seen it all." -Drade
8 184The Queen of The Forest
Tales of Heros who can control the void, master magic, and kick-ass are everywhere, but where are the tales about the cute dogs who were forced to endure? Who were forced to change? Forced to become feral, wild beasts? This is the tale of a queen of beasts, The Queen of The Forest! Artemis, only days before, was relaxing in her home living a peaceful life as a dog. A life that should never end. But, life is never easy and it didn't change for her. An unfortunate accident and a couple of flashes of light later and her life has turned upside down. In a void of black and unable to see anything, to feel anything, to taste or to hear or to smell, she was scared and confused, but the warmth all around her was comforting. Now, all she was able to do was think. She thought about what happened to get her here. How long she will have to stay. Where she even was. Though she had thousands of questions floating in her head, nothing was certain for her. As a goal for myself, I'm going to try to release a chapter every two days. That does not mean I will only work on the book once every two days. I am always working on the book, thinking of a more interesting story for me to tell and for you to read. Saying all that, I hope you follow along Artemis' adventure, reborn into another world! Please rate, comment, favorite, and most importantly ENJOY!
8 181Gangs From Another World
This story takes place in a world like our own where magic and high technology rule the day. This particular world is ruled by a feline race. The race is divided up into 12 clans (like Greek city-states), with their own territories, solar systems and planets. These 12 clans answer to the original Home World for external disputes, negations, emergencies or to direct military operations only. Within the time-frame of this story, a new Emperor has recently ascended the throne, approximately a year has past since the ascension. He was the previous ruler of the Clan Ya-kith-Thar or Clan founding #3, world of the artisan cats. Unfortunately, not all residents have benefited from technological wonders. The forgotten, who were not lucky enough to be Royal born or middle class and above, experience a hard life, like those of the colonial worlds. The poorer denizens see the technological marvels from their windows, and yet experience little of it. This is the story of one such group living in the ghetto of the Capital city, written by Horus Blackburn, leader of the North-Central Gang.
8 138The Blue Kingdom
After a failed heist, young Macha finds himself sailing in the Ballerina, a ship with a mysterious crew. Together, they will have to face the demons of their past and overcome the dangers of a world ruled by mercenary gangs, lords of piracy and corrupted island states. For the reader This is planned to be a series with a weekly release.(I hope!) More or less 3k words per chapter. The set up is in a flintlock fantasy/steampunk world. YA with mild violence, no cursing and no sex content.
8 175Skinny (Cameron Dallas fanfic)
Fat. Is what I see myself as every time I look into the mirror. There's no escaping it. All I see is an over weight girl standing in front of a mirror. These thoughts have been clouding my mind ever sense I entered high school. I see all these people looking at me, judging me on everything I do. My weights never going to be good enough, not until I'm Skinny.
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