Fiction

Sabit’s left foot was cold. Amidst the broiling heat of the chamber and the suffocating red smoke that had displaced ever breath of air, Sabit’s left foot felt cool and dry. Her body flushed in the heat and her chest ached from the acrid burn of sobbing smoke for hours, and her throat burned raw–having … Read more

The fine silver necklace lay in the dust, just off the path that led from the dungeons to the vizier’s tower—unworn and unnoticed. I was not the first time in the hundreds of years since its creation that the necklace’s constellation of seven-pointed stars had rested on the unforgiving ground, specks of grime working their … Read more

“Sabit is at your mercy as I promised,” Regida said. She and Kehnan waited in an antechamber of the vizier of Bahteel. Even the heavy perfumes in the air could not banish the acrid tang of smoke from her cloak. “When will you take me to the healing temple you promised me, Kehnan?” The warrior … Read more

Holding her breath, Sabit strained against the chains that held her tight. The bronze cuffs dug into the flesh of her strong warrior’s hands, but would not yield to her desperate flailing. Sabit could feel the greasy curls of smoke oozing across her skin. The smoke mixed with her own sweat, forming a sticky red … Read more

Sabit’s eyes locked onto the needle-sharp point of her spear as Kehnan brandished it before her face. “Torture my body if it feeds your cruel heart, but my spirit will never submit to you!” Kehnan smiled. “You are right, Mongoose. Your spirit is as strong as it ever has been in all the years I … Read more

“I did the best I could for you,” Sabit muttered when she could get her parched throat to speak. In the dimly-lit chamber before her stood Kehnan—tall and proud, resplendent in a fine silk tunic and lush fur leggings. Behind him, several shadow-cloaked figures lingered or toiled, as was their place. “You certainly did, Mongoose!” … Read more

Sabit could not say how long she suffered, alone in the darkness—sometimes standing, sometimes hanging listlessly from her chained wrists. In time, even consciousness gave way to waking nightmares. * Sabit in the forest, her loyal bandits at her side. Nerit—his face trusting, the leech tattoo on his cheek subdued and sated. Sidi—his quick jokes … Read more

Out of the dreamless abyss of pain and silence, Sabit awoke. Her mighty arms were spread wide, shoulders burning like the embers of a fire where the weight of her body hung from them. A tingling numbness suffused her wide-spread hands past the cold, thick metal cuffs that gripped her wrists. Sabit’s legs where heavy … Read more