Kane repeated his encounter with Mordant that morning. The trio decided to stay the night at the Wockhart’s but Sati and Mr. Wockhart thought it best to leave the three alone. Sayan took them upstairs to his old rooms. “It has never been the same after the flares last year.” Sayan moaned. A ravager gave a low howl from the outside. Sayan sniggered and sat down rubbing his hands together. A stifling heat was issuing from the cealing above.Kane pulled the two closer and said, “Mordant came to visit me today” “What?” Indrani screamed. “Wicked!” Sayan said with his mouth hanging open. “Turn on your weather conditioners and I’ll tell you what happened”Indrani pulled out her comm, pressed some buttons and with a soft chime her special weather conditioner whirred somewhere above their heads. The room instantly cooled down. Indrani slumped on an armchair with Kane and Sayan on either side. “Tell me about it!”Kane told them about his trip to Effie’s home and p

A handsome three tiered concrete dome rose in the distance, blazing white in the blatant morning sun. A lawn stretched out in front where a fountain was playing in the center. Gravel crackled beneath his feet as Broot dashed towards the front door. A tiny dwarf bowed down and flung the gate opes as Broot waved his hand to enter. The hallway was large, lines of dusty portrait of look alike goblins adorned the walls, the stone floor was covered in a moth eaten carpet. A rank smell of decay hung in the air. The hallway ended and a heavy door blocked his path. He took a deep breath and turned the stone handle. The room was dark and full of dwarfs sitting at a long stone table. At the far end of the table, a goblin sat beside the central figure. A thin dwarf with pointed ears and a blue half jacket. “Broot” the dwarf said, “Come, we were waiting just for you.” Broot walked in closer and the face of the thin lean dwarf with watery blue eyes shoe through the gloom.

Kane Morgan sucked deep on the greenish smoke from the leaf cigar and leaned back on the bed. The darkness of the room pressed on in the feeble light from a lone lamp in the corner.It had been three days since he set foot outside. Efiie sat beside him on the bed. Luckily she had a virtual job. Kane found it amusing. He was the hardworking, bring-it-on kind of guy and didn’t understand how she could work wall those emotions in the soulless digital world. He offered her a puff and put his arms around her. She put out the cigar and he kissed her gently on the lips. Her mouth was sweet and he gents pulled her down on the bed. She closed her eyes and Kane felt her heart drum against his. They made love until it was time for lunch. After lunch they made love again and Kane asked, “what do you want to eat for the third meal?”She pressed against him “Just you” she said. “What will you say to your wife?”Kane had

Sati walked out of the Wockhart house and went straight to her office. She closed the door and making sure there wasn’t anyone in the hallway outside, she pulled out a piece of paper that had a code on it. She dialed the code and a wireframe three dimensional image of the 404 CONTENT NOT FOUND popped up over the comm. A deep voice answered, “I was waiting for your call”“I have news. He has moved in with her. That’s where he was for two weeks”“I told you he’s cheating on you”There was an awkward silence broken only by the static of the comm.“What should I do now?”“Listen to me. Do as I say and we might still get him.”“Get him how?” Sati screeched. Talking about separating was one thing. Being separated was other. She felt like a broken piece of furniture nobody cared about. “He has an empire and you were with him when he built it. You deserve your share. I’ll help you with the court case, but I need hard evidence. Stay at his home for a while and gathe

Fate had done Dilip no favors this morning. He'd dashed from his office into the open road. A mysterious man had walked into his office seconds ago and demanded to know all about the Pridewen’s chest. He refused. The maniac pulled out a lighting gun and aimed straight at his heart. Dilip was holding a hot grubbly root drink. He flung the glass cup straight at his face and dashed out. The curb of the walkway had stopped him mid stride and swung him hard left before falling. Dilip was suddenly stumbling off balance into the blinding sun. When he’d looked up, he was heading straight for a cluster of trees across the road. He had a weak heart and his left knee was broken years ago in a freak accident. The gift of the chest. He jumped over, brushing a loosely hung rope and dashed in. By the time he realized where it led, it was too late. Now he stood in a confined cell of trees and caught his breath. His side burned. Narrow slats of sun streamed through the openings in the grove. He