Writer's Journey

  Sweat trickled down the back of her neck and her fingers threatened to tremble, yet she remained stoic underneath the scrutinizing gaze of Ms. Avery. The sharp green eyes of her history teacher scanned her face for any hint of deception behind tacky red glasses. Only when the older woman looked away with a sigh and a nod did Kayla relax in relief. She still kept her expression the same and walked away calmly, but couldn’t help but break into a wide grin when she met the eyes of her best friend, Colby. The blonde girl had been rather tense and worried when Kayla had approached Ms. Avery, but it worked out in the end. The teacher had a rather fearsome reputation for giving no mercy to her high school students, but Kayla had always been charismatic. Everyone had a soft spot, and underneath her tough exterior the history teacher did genuinely care for her students. “Did she buy it?” Colby asked when she came closer, eager to confirm her success. Kayla nodded in response and her frien...

  Shrieks rang out among the group of young noble girls, watching in horror as the red wine stained Duchess Dumont’s beautiful cream ball gown. The sparkling crystals bedazzling the hem dripped with crimson liquid as the hall quietened, only the sound of the droplets hitting the marble floors echoing. Ever Palendine, the culprit of this incident, stood stock-still in terror among the wide-eyed gazes of the surrounding nobility. Whispers and murmurs soon broke out, all saying the same thing. How did a mere second daughter of the lowly Baron Palendine dare to sully the visage of one as high-ranking and esteemed as the Duchess? The hands of the one that had held the fallen wine glass trembled, and her fingers tightened into a fist. She hadn’t realized what had happened after she tripped, but the view she saw upon standing back up had shocked her to her core. Ever had heard many stories about lower-ranked noble families losing all their money, prestige and connections over one tiny ins...

  The sounds of yelling echoing from the alleyway were ignored by the people passing by. The sight of crimes occurring in the shadows of Byzania was a common one. Everyone had long since learnt that it was better to not interfere in things that did not involve them. But unlike what usually happened, the screams this time didn’t originate from innocent civilians being attacked by violent criminals. Well, if you asked the Byzanian police, they would say that was exactly what was happening. But Nocturne, sweating in the hot sun as he watched the events in the alley from above, would say that this was just justice being carried out. It wasn’t like the corrupt police were doing anything anyway. He admired the efficient, graceful movements of his vigilante partner Gale as she quickly knocked out the seven goons that had been in the midst of mugging and killing a young couple. In a few moments, they all lay prone on the filthy ground, and the hysterical couple fled the poorly-chosen short...

  Confident people who were unafraid of being themselves were like aliens. At least, that was what Leonard had always thought when he saw men and women who unabashedly did whatever they wanted, without any hint of self-consciousness. Unlike the other people in the subway car who were glancing at the cosplayers through the corners of their eyes and were murmuring judgingly, Leonard gazed at them with longing. He had always admired the elaborate, colourful outfits, and the creative styles of cosplayers, yet had never been able to gather the courage to try to do it himself. Their costumes were of amazing quality. Beautiful gowns with shimmering jewels, curved swords with a shiny finish, ethereal fluttering wings, and soft-looking furry ears and tails were a-plenty in this quirky group of friends. He assumed that they were all going to a convention together. Leonard couldn’t recognize which show they were portraying, but it seemed to be a sort of medieval fantasy. The costumes were so ...