short-story
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The Scared Stones
Do you practice religion? The prayer bells of Lumenvale’s Sacred Quarter chimed across the evening mist as I knelt beside the weathered shrine, my calloused hands tracing patterns older than memory in the dust-worn stone. Forty-seven years had passed since I first entered the Monastery of Silent Depths as a wide-eyed girl seeking answers to Continue reading
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The Art of Invisible Truths
What are you good at? The crystalline chimes of Lumenvale’s evening bells echoed through the Merchant Quarter’s cobbled alleyways, their melodic resonance masking the softer sound of Adrian Nightwhisper’s boots against wet stone. He pressed himself against the shadow-draped wall of the Gilded Rose tavern, his breath steady despite the rapid pulse of anticipation that Continue reading
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The Gilded Cage
What does “having it all” mean to you? Is it attainable? The morning mist clung to Lumenvale’s Crystal Spires like silk scarves abandoned by departing spirits, and Elsbeth Ravencrest watched it dissipate from the balcony of her private study in the Magisterium’s highest tower. Her fingers traced the ornate silver chalice that held her morning Continue reading
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The Trophy Hall
Do you have any collections? The Trophy Hall The afternoon sun slanted through diamond-paned windows, casting prismatic rainbows across the polished oak floors of Gideon Blackthorn’s study. Dust motes danced in the colored light like tiny sprites, and the air itself seemed thick with stories waiting to be told. From every surface, shelf, and shadowed Continue reading
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The Heartstone Keeper
How do you balance work and home life? The workshop rang with the delicate chime of crystal meeting crystal, a sound both musical and precarious. Tharion Emberspark winced as his cutting tool slipped a fraction of a degree off its intended path, sending a hairline fracture through the heartstone he’d spent three days preparing. Not Continue reading
Chadwick Rye 