The memories had been hidden deep in the recesses of his mind for many years. The trauma was buried. Then, one night, he dreamt of a great tumble of jagged rocks raining down upon him. As one slammed into his head, he woke up with a start. The sensory detail—he could taste the dust—and the consistency in the images, told him the nightmare was more than his imagination. It was something he had truly lived through. But he put the recovered memory aside. He’d been living well enough with his family and need not revisit the forgotten past.
He remembered nothing of his life before dragging his...
Alasdair Brontez grunted as he pushed against his opponents arm, some bald jerk who challenged him to an arm wrestling duel. It was obvious by the jealous glint in his blue eyes that he was angry a pretty white-haired Elf girl had complimented Alasdair's biceps in his sleeveless tank top. So Alasdair agreed to the match if the winner gets fifty credits.
Might as well make a little money before I head to my next work assignment.
All the thieves and hoodlums in the shadowy, half-lit room cheered around them. They had...
The steam bikes gave their last hiss as they coasted to a stop, their engines clicking like cooling kettles. What had once been a fortress—now a hollowed-out carcass of stone and rust—offered just enough shelter from the biting wind. A few broken archways stood like crooked teeth, catching the dying light of the sun.
Rennie swung a leg over his bike and patted the satchel at his side, where the clockwork heart gave off the faintest tick. No one else seemed to hear it. Or maybe they pretended not to.
“We camp here,” Jiàn said, scanning the crumbling battlements with a soldier’s caution...
Physical appearance:
Tall and sharply built, Locke carries himself with the measured grace of a man who has learned how to command a room without ever raising his voice. His dark hair is streaked with silver, usually combed back with an almost military neatness. Pale eyes (gray, nearly colorless) scan and calculate more than they rest. His clothes are functional but elegant: fitted coats, dark waistcoats, precise gloves to hide...
