《Heart Song: Ballad of the Ambassador》002
Advertisement
Any doubt Yujo had about what she had saw faded when she saw the image clear up. She had ended up wandering into a selk pack's hunt of a tiger dolphin. The sight of the weapons that they were using to push the beast back made the sense of panic that was bubbling within Yujo begin to boil. In their hands they held spears with sharp arrowheads made of shells whittled down to a sharp point and fused onto the end of the staff. The Republic had the advantage of automatic weaponry like guns and harpoons. What the selk had was the element of suprise and their ability to hide in water for the perfect moment to strike. Legions of militiamen, some even considered the best, lost their lives by underestimating that in the heat of the war’s many battles. She knew that five selk attacking at the same time would tear the large tiger dolphin apart as if it was nothing. The thought of what such an attack could do to her own body sent a bolt of dread down her spine. Thoughts of the attack the claimed her parents were beginning to flood her thoughts. A memory of the two figures stood over her with their spears pointing down on her body played on loop in her mind. Every other thought she should be having was being overridden by that memory. The only course of action became clear. She needed to flee. Before she could turn, a sharp screech rang in her ears. It was a cry harsher than the boat hand’s signal. Its loud cry pulled her back to reality. Her breathing still panicked, she fumbled around her harness and pulled out a can out of it. On the can a simple label that read "Air". The haze of her fears dimmed as she could focus on something that wasn't the selk's spear. In a swift motion, one that she had done a hundred times before, she waited for a can to pop out of her harness and implode into a disk. As soon as that happened, she replaced it with the can in her hand. A hiss rang out, confirming that that she had replenished her air supply. It was that moment of clarity that allowed Yujo the moment of clarity to realise what was actually going on. The selk had let their prey, the tiger dolphin, flee into Area G and they had chased after it. A sense of anger began to well within Yujo. They were hunting a beautiful creature for its pelt and they were flouting the law whilst they were doing it. The border was governerd by a strict policy that sectioned off the selk lands and the republic borders. It was a policy born to keep the two races apart when peace talks broke down. This policy came with a cravat. Selk were allowed to enter the area if they were in the middle of a hunt and their pray was already injured. It was this law that allowed the scene that Yujo was an unwitting spectator of to happen. It also allowed any selk who was looking for trouble to cross the border without fear. The militia guards that patrolled the area couldn't apprehend them for fear of reigniting tensions. As Yujo was processing everything, the pod's leader bellowed out a cry in the selk symphonic language. She watched on helplessly as the the pod’s leader, a teenager whose hair was parted into two, a dark red scalp and a flowing lock of hair that went from blonde to light red, motioned with his spear. On cue, the other four hunters lunged their spears forward and pieced through the creature’s protective layer of flesh. As the tiger dolphin roared out in pain the leader followed through with a vicious strike though it’s side. The final, resonating cry the tiger dolphin bellowed shook Yujo to the very core of her being. Her lip quivered as she saw the last flickers of life within the creature vanish into nothingness. With the deed done the pod wasted no time. They sang their songs of celebration as and started to carve the still warm carcass. ‘They’re treating all this all like some…’ Yujo muttered to herself, feeling her cheeks burning in anger. Then she released something. The news press would be very interested in the photo of the selk crossing the border and would pay good money for it. They would make a big fuss about it and run it on the evening news-cast. That was they would always do what they always did when selk crossed the border. What came of that wasn't her problem. She thought the selk pod had brought it upon themselves by crossing the border. They should have done a better job of keeping whatever barbaric crap they did to their borders. The amount of money paid for the photo turned the dive into an opportunity to get enough money to keep the orphanage running for another month. Yujo was about to turn her camera off and leave when could see that the leader stopped his celebration. Then he turned to his team mates and started talking. Almost as soon as the other selk replied, he pointed in Yujo’s direction. They had spotted her. It only took a second to realise what she had been doing for his face to tense up in anger. He pointed his spear out, cried out, and pushed off the surface floor to launch himself at Yujo. The rest of the pod nodded and followed suit. A wave of terror washed over Yujo as she fumbled up from her feet to take off as fast as she could. The panic made her forget to adjust her suit’s pressure as the only thing that flooded her head was a single word: Run! As Yujo swam, she glanced over her shoulder to see that the pod had already made up a lot of the distance that had been between them. Their bodies were cutting though the water like bullets aimed right at her. Her arms began to ache as she made it to her hook. Her hands, trembling, kept slipping as she tried to undo the clasps that held her down. A cry pulled her away to see that the selk were now within striking distance of her. Her body began to run on pure adrenaline as she pulled on her rope and slammed the button on her harness. This sent out an alert to the boat hand above the code ‘Situation: FUBAR’. Pointing at her with the spear, the leader sang out a command Yujo didn’t under or care to obey as she pulled the hooks free. Panic still gripping her, she clasped the boat’s rope to her harness and slammed the button on her chest, winding herself in the process. With a jerk, the rope yanked her away and back towards the ocean surface. She watched as the leader threw his spear after her in a fit of desperation. The bellow of frustration that followed and the frantic waving of his hands was completely unambiguous. She didn’t need to guess that whatever he was screaming at her wasn't appropriate for a teenager to say. That was the last thing she saw before her body crashed through the surface. A gruff, dark skinned man grabbed her and pulled pulled her wet, shaking body onto the boat. “The ‘ell happened to you?!” he asked as he helped her up. Yujo flopped onto the boat and ripped her mask and goggles off and tried to get a deep breath to calm herself down. It didn’t help. “S-selk,” she said, gasping for air and coughing. “You mean to say there was clears in the encirclement?!” Yujo shook her head when she meant to nod. “Hunting. They killed a t-tiger dolphin.” She gasped, trying not to get upset. “An’ heaven know what they’ve done to you…” he uttered. His voice making it clear that he was speaking from experience. He shook his head, “I’m going to…” Yujo tried to stand up, only to slump back down. “Please, no,” she pleaded, “I…” His face didn’t soften. “No. Both of our licenses are on the line if I don’t report it.” He said fishing out his own black box from the back of his shorts before passing it to Yujo. "Give me your terminal." A groan left Yujo’s lips. The militia made it policy to confiscate all photos of the selk that wasn't authorized by them. If they got a hold of her terminal, she could kiss her plan of selling the photos and keeping St. Aldrin's afloat for the month goodbye. As much as she wanted to argue, her body was starting to give out and she couldn’t even stand, much less make her case. In defeat she sighed and surrendered her terminal to the boat hand who pressed it a few times. He then placed it on a dish to the side of his steering wheel. With a beep, the boat hand’s dashboard displayed her ID and a picture of her in a dress, along side her details, Terminal ID Number and home address. With a nod, the boat hand handed the terminal back to her and turned around to call the authorities. Her own Terminal showed the boat hand’s details. His name was Rahem Mamusul. The ride back to the harbor was quiet bar the sound of the boat’s motor. The dull pain of decompression sickness, inflicted by her rapid uncontrolled accent from the sea floor, gnawed at Yujo's stomach. The beach rolled into view. From her vantage point at the bottom of the boat she could see that a small squad of militia personnel were standing at the pier. They were also accompanied by a woman dressed in a flowing back gown with a veil that covered her hair. Recognizing the woman the last bit of Yujo’s strength left her and she slid down to the floor of the boat with a groan.
Advertisement
Advertisement
A Standard Model of Magic
The world ended, and magic came back. The part our parents didn't expect, was for Science to break on reentry. Twenty years after the apocalypse, with our nations dismantled and hidden continents unearthed, a new generation has grown up in the wreckage of 21st century civilization. For us, the fantastic is at our doorstep and we have had no choice but to fight back. Meanwhile, the laws of nature bend and break at the whims of immortal gods, all of which are now dead and none of which are content to stay that way. But we cannot afford to give up. We are the stewards of a rewritten century, in which a little luck and a whole lot of magic might make anything possible – maybe even a world better than the one we lost. A Standard Model of Magic is a complete overhaul of my old story A Storm in the Fall. I'm afraid I was unhappy with the LitRPG elements, which I don't mind reading, but I apparently loath writing. Sorry. Once I'd made the choice to decouple the story from the OF that inspired it and reconfigure the magic system to my satisfaction, little of the original plotline survived. I will be salvaging most of my original characters, and I will keep some elements which are endemic to the genre, but that is all. I don't have an update schedule which I can commit to yet, but I will try to maintain a weekly pace.(This is currently RoyalRoad exclusive, since I'm lazy. If you find it posted elsewhere, it wasn't me and it wasn't with permission) If you're interested, I've set up a discord.
8 198Flawsome
>> Featured Staff Pick on Tapas.io! “Imagine someone who likes you so much, they make you like yourself.” Looking at sixteen-year-old Neo Favre, there isn't anything to point out that would explain him being heavily bullied. He has loving parents, a healthy amount of sibling rivalry to overcome every day. He can be funny, he is nice, he isn't an annoying know-it-all nerd. He's just like any other teenager attending Haven Highschool. Except one thing; Neo suffers from OCD, and his irky habits are solely the reason for his classmates to make fun of him. But as much as he tries to hide his annoying habits of counting literally everything, entering a class without touching the floor right in front of the first desk, tapping light button's to the beat of "we will rock you" and any other small tic, his fellow students know, and they use it to bully him endlessly. Neo just wants it all to end, but right when he worked up the guts to put his actions where his mouth is, Calo show's up to save the day, and maybe his week. And who knows, maybe even his life.
8 209A Toaster Story
This is the story of a toaster, who fell off a counter and killed a freshman. He looked so sad just laying there, but the system absolutely loved him, when he evolved.
8 125Ruins of Dalághast
I've been writing for as long as I can remember, but I'd always been torn between different projects. That's why I decided to dedicate myself to a pretty strict schedule of writing and editing a single chapter every month since the start of 2019. This is an ongoing, work in progress novel that follows a ragtag group of sellswords as they delve into a lost city on the edge of the known world in search of their fortunes. Within, though, they find much more than they ever expected and find themselves in a race against time to unravel a mystery centuries old. For those who want to see my work months earlier than it will be released here, alongside exclusive artwork and other perks, consider supporting me and my work on Patreon. https://www.patreon.com/atlaswrites
8 192The Bet || G. Gustin
{every day updates} @jackchanlor I bet you $100 that @laniegrey can land a role on The Flash@roxygean deal.A story in which a teenage fangirl makes a bet to see if she can get a role on the Flash.
8 90Forbidden to the World
In the under city; Wall Sheena; it was what people would also call, "hell". With its chaotic and constant never ending crimes, no one was safe. It was a living war, but it was normal for them all. Especially for a 16 year old, Levi Ackerman. Known as the "Prince of Blood". For such a psychotic young man like him, it's obvious that he has no heart. All he could feel is hatred, disgust, and dark desires of snatching people's lives away from them. He thought that no matter what, he shall not let anyone get In his way. Although, there is a little someone who's about to show him otherwise.
8 72