Cajek Veilwinter

Author on Reedsy Prompts since Apr, 2022

Stories (54)

54 Stories

1025 karma pts

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“Of Pirates, Bees, and Angels” by Cajek Veilwinter

Submitted to Contest #198

The Professor of Forbidden Criminology at Vulane’s College of Elements was a hive of bees. “The Church of Tyr would have you believe that there are seven ‘Vile Vermin,’” the hive buzzed as the students sat around the enchanted tree that held it. “In truth, there are eight!” It then issued a staccato buzz in such a way as to convey a laugh. The three students who were gathered around the Tree - as familiar as they were with the more hidden elements of the world - shuddered as a few bees crawled out of the hollow and buzzed furtively on th...

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“The Caged Sphinx” by Cajek Veilwinter

Submitted to Contest #191

The golden bird alighted upon the recluse’s walking stick, its beautiful plumage - mostly gold but with colorful glass intermixed - flowing all the way to the dirt and rocks below. The scent from the trees reminded the recluse of her. Even the ever-starry sky above.He wondered where she was, now.“You cannot still be melancholy?” It asked in his mistress’s voice. The recluse stopped his daydreaming under the full blanket of space and adjusted his attention to the delicate automaton. It cocked its mechanical head as he stopped his climb.The re...

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“Clocks in the Fog” by Cajek Veilwinter

Submitted to Contest #185

Frances Whisperwheel had run to the basement of his clock shop when the ruckus began.  Two huge creatures - one a reptiloid and one a black bear - had crashed through the wall of the Fog District in what Frances assumed was some kind of bloodsport. The sound was gigantic: louder than any of the annoying fireworks from the Entertainment District that the little raccoon had heard in his years in Vulane. By the time the two had crashed through the front of his shop, Frances had estimated the loss in his head: forty thousand gold pieces...

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“Scarararcarsarjarcar” by Cajek Veilwinter

Submitted to Contest #184

I don’t remember a time when I was truly sane. Perhaps when I was very small.I woke up on that Brunsday at eleven in the morning in one of Vulane’s many opium palaces, merely four blocks from Veilwinter Temple.My turban was full of wine so, of course - not wanting to be rude - I drank it. I then touched the huge paw of the creature beside me.“Spar,” I said. “Spar, you awake?”Spar, a huge black bear in armor, lolled his head to the side - a little trickle of spittle coming out of his maw. I looked around me at the other myriad creatures splay...

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“House of the Moon” by Cajek Veilwinter

Submitted to Contest #183

I woke up with a vicious hangover. Vulane’s ‘Nightlife’ district was not a place for casual tourists... or detectives. Bleary-eyed, I looked around my temporary lodgings. I grabbed my tail: yup, still there. I must’ve barely made it through the door last night. It was still raining as I looked through the misty window. The street below was filled with performers, families, pickpockets, and - somewhere - a heinous villain. I could hear the sound of drums, fiddles, and laughter from what seemed like every direction: including from within m...

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“Unwoven Threads” by Cajek Veilwinter

Submitted to Contest #182

Danny blinked awake to the red light blinking next to his bed on the table, next to a shot glass and an alarm clock - almost in sync with a lightning flash outside: Someone had tripped his DYI home alarm system. He didn’t own a gun for various reasons, so he quietly reached for the fighting baton he kept under his bed. Creeping out of his small room and into the hallway, he saw yellow light pouring out of his dining room. Either it was someone wanting to be noticed or a trap to distract him. Doing a dodge roll into the kitchenette, he ...

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“Grandmother's Amulet” by Cajek Veilwinter

Submitted to Contest #180

Rufus sat at the long table - already decorated for the holy day with dim candles and a few pewter statues of possums laboring - and stared down at his plate of roast vegetables and nuts. He knew that this was the moment he had been waiting for: the moment he could finally share his dream with his family. He took in a breath and tapped his glass goblet. "I know you all think I'm crazy," he said, his voice trembling slightly. "But I want to be an adventurer.” There were murmurs and sighs, but Rufus continued. “I want to see the world and ...

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“Tyr's Day Party” by Cajek Veilwinter

Submitted to Contest #178

Jack tapped on the glass of his window above the snowy streets. He was mandated to attend the Holy Day festivities at his place of employment: the Imperial Library - specifically the stacks, where he was a vermin exterminator. He stood and looked at himself in the mirror. He was in his finest coat, double breasted, along with the sharp little pants with the blue stripes down them. He reached for his falsetail on a hook on the wall and attached it to his backside. It was stiff, but non-foxes rarely knew. He fluffed his headfur and made su...

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“Grounded” by Cajek Veilwinter

Submitted to Contest #169

Arachne was stomping around her room - it was the most annoyed she’d ever been. Grounded? ...On Halloween, of all nights?! She wished the house was a little smaller so that her parents - who had violated the most sacred rule of the parents of magic users - could hear her little stomps down on the first floor.  “Sid, can you believe this?” Arachne asked her fluffy pink bed in consternation, picking up her favorite pink unicorn plush from off the floor. She waited, then looked underneath. Right when Arachne was lying on the fluf...

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“The Great Train Robbery of 1398” by Cajek Veilwinter

Submitted to Contest #168

Francis looked out the train window. He was in a private First Class car: Fine trimmings along the wall, a chandelier, and full of people dressed up for Christmas Eve dinner. The place smelled like roast turkey and apple pie with whipped cream. Not his idea of a good time, but a ride on this particular train was always a special treat. The train jolted a little as it moved away from the platform as the shades who checked travel documents floated through the aisle.  He turned to see if Molly was enjoying herself, but she was lying do...

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“Soft and Sweet and Intoxicating” by Cajek Veilwinter

Submitted to Contest #165

[This story contains a scene of violence.]Frank was against the wall for sure, now - literally.“Heh, n-now now,” the charming businessman said as the knife was pressed against his neck. “Let’s not do anything ra-”A large shadow on his still-trembling body and a pool of his blood stood still for a moment, then receded into the darkness.Mr. Frank Smithers - a prominent local businessman - had been found dead in a back alley by a homeless man early Saturday morning, his throat cut with a knife. Within half an hour, two detectives from the Empir...

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“After the Storm” by Cajek Veilwinter

Submitted to Contest #161

“It is no secret that Vulane’s finances were formidable,” the little creature said in his smart suit and glasses as he stood in the glorious Palace of Peace. “I am confident in saying that Vulane has at least twenty percent of all wealth in the world stored within its various accounts, buildings, and undiscovered cave systems.” The audience in attendance gasped. When the tribunal suddenly erupted in ‘debate’ over which country could claim the fallen state of Vulane as their own, Tys’s ringed tail retracted and poofed up as he sat down. Tys...

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“Never Trust an Icosohedron” by Cajek Veilwinter

Submitted to Contest #159

“How dare you refuse me a discount, mortal!” The icosohedron yelled, nearly rattling the wooden walls of Kerrik’s damp apartment above the goldsmith. “Shh!” Kerrik said in a loud whisper. “You don’t want the neighbors to hear us, do you? Also, I’m not exactly mortal myself,” he said, pulling at his gray flesh. Kerrik’s client turned a shade of green usually reserved for the freshest lettuce. Kerrik sighed, smoothed out his new coat and tricorn hat and sat back down.  “I told you before, you folks are new. You’re not made of cotton...

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“Spaces between Mirrors” by Cajek Veilwinter

Submitted to Contest #158

Jack - known to his admirers and his mother as ‘Szal’ - sat on the applecrate in his cluttered little apartment above a lonely bookshop and leaned in to his large, ornate mirror. The young vulpine mage tried to look beyond the edges - to the left, and then to the right - his blue eyes scanning for any sign of his benefactor.  “The Museum of Transgressions is real, master!” He said to the mirror, a little too excitedly, “And, on top of that, I obtained the compass that will lead us there.” If Jack successfully stole the robes of Sava...

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“Tea Parties and Cockroach Cults” by Cajek Veilwinter

Submitted to Contest #157

Marcel crawled on his little elbows deeper into the crawlspace of the mayor’s house. “Do you see anything yet?” The mayor called down. Marcel grumbled. “Just a moment, please,” Marcel called back. There were very few jobs for possums and even fewer for possums who happened to be mages. He closed his eyes and sniffed.  Ah, there you are. He turned down an alternate tunnel - one dug by the cockroaches themselves. Got you now you little... The little vermin had dug under the mayor’s house - starting in the basement, they had du...

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Author bio

Veilwinter.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~ I write fantasies, mysteries, and horror... usually with cute anthro characters, like a fantasy medieval Zootopia, Robin Hood, or Redwall with magic! I always appreciate constructive feedback :) I'm also an editor: Let me know if you'd like me to glance at your work and give feedback (for a comment and like :D).