M B

“Echoes Of Time” by M B

Submitted to Contest #231

The brown-furred Jackal opened his eyes. The dim light of dawn cast light on the interior of his small quaint cabin. His new modest abode consisted of a stove, bed, table, wash basin, and a chest. It was much smaller than the rooms he used to sleep in.  The jackal's ear twitched as he could hear the steady thunder off the coastline. He pulled back the covers, revealing his toned physique. As he eased himself out of his cot, the gray patches in his fur were revealed - gray patches from scars beneath. The young male then staggered to th...

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“The Cursed Moon” by M B

Submitted to Contest #230

“Val kan-tesh el vis’nu vash ken tisu,” the vulpine mage with the burning blue eyes intoned from the pier above the team. It was Draknor who was startled the most by this. “What did he just yammer about?” Farah asked. Draknor snarled, holding his recovered sword in his claws. A mammal that knew Draconian? A mammal that knew an ancient Draconian curse, no less? Skreet grit his teeth as he ran. “Weren’t you just knocked out?” He yelled backward to the strange mage. “I told you, I recover quite quickly,” the wizard with the burnin...

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“Caligula ” by M B

Submitted to Contest #224

It was still dark when Red’s alarm went off. The jackal-like alien’s long, velvety ear twitched at the sound as she raised her head from the soft and comforting pillow, her fur matted to her face. Baring her teeth she quickly slammed a fist down on her alarm. It wheezed out one last beep before Red threw the covers back and got to her feet, still in the one nightgown she owned. Grumbling, she stretched and yawned before plodding her way to the bathroom for a shower.  After she was clean and dry she dressed in her favored attire: Sho...

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“Rage Against The Mirror ” by M B

Submitted to Contest #221

Velope adjusted the sari, skirt, and blouse she wore - the traditional feminine garb of Daedalia, a golden bellychain encircled her waist. It was a fine garment fit for the vixen princess: She looked radiant and pure... She was getting married to the love of her life: The jackal prince Larkin of Daedalia. Long had she wished for this day to come.  Velope smiled into the full length mirror she stood before. But the more she stared at the mirror, the more she began to loathe the reflection.  Mirrors. Mirrors had ruined her life.&...

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“Wine, Coffee, and Fire” by M B

Submitted to Contest #219

He was in some sort of prison cell, though something in the air told him it was not originally meant to be a prison cell.  The scent made him think of grapes or alcohol... perhaps both.  The drugged food and beverages they fed him kept him from using his full strength, at least between bouts in the arena - but it did not take away his keen senses.  The prisoner growled as he thought about how he’d ended up in this current state. He thought about his life before he was a gladiator for his captor's amusement.  He us...

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“A Secret Within A Secret” by M B

Lightning lit up the sky above Vulane as the constant rain was had now increased in volume coming down in sheets, a squall from the sea had made landfall and was releasing nature’s fury upon the strange city. Upon a hill a stately chateau house stood tall, no light burned within as the lightning flashed and illuminated the house its visage foreboding in the darkness, like an aged and rotted skull. Through the iron wrought gates three figures ran, pulling coats and cloaks close against the driving storm. Quickly they ran to the door and hu...

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“Venom-dipped Memories” by M B

Submitted to Contest #215

I still remember that day: as crystal clear as the first time I saw it happen.  I was a lad of but fourteen, slowly growing into manhood. I lived alone in a cabin with my father on the edge of the wilds. He taught me all I knew: how to live in the wilds, cook for myself, forage for food, what berries were toxic and which were not.  He also taught me to read, how to shoot, and how to throw a hatchet... Useful skills. Many times he would disappear for months on end, leaving me in the care of a trusted friend till he decided I was...

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“Not A Simple Case” by M B

Submitted to Contest #210

Skreet Snickertooth - rat private eye - almost stepped on the envelope left under his door as he began his workday. Looking to the left and right and seeing nothing but his neighbors - an accountant’s and lawyer’s office respectively - he bent down and closed his door behind him. Skreet walked over to his desk and hung up his wet raincoat, careful to not get the envelope wet. It felt very light as he flung it onto his pile of bills and notes. He turned and noticed some dust on one of the windowsills had been disturbed, but didn’t consider ...

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“Behind A Hurricane ” by M B

The RAF commander was yelling over the propellers of Captain Sphinx’s Hawker Hurricane. “You’re a what?! Turn that blasted thing off!” Sphinx leaned over into the cockpit and the propeller sputtered to a stop. Captain Sphinx was definitely not the average-looking pilot. “A captain,” the American said with a confident smile. “Surely not!” The old British RAF officer said. “Get your arse to the Commandant. You couldn’t be older than eighteen if a day!” “What? But the raid’s tomorrow!” The commander - who Sphinx knew as Tressel - ru...

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“The lab, within the lab” by M B

Submitted to Contest #207

"You're only showing me what I want to see!" Amber said, rolling her eyes as she looked around the lab. "You haven't even put away the mops and buckets!" The young meerkat pointed at the janitor rat desperately pulling the mop and bucket away. The bear general addressed the tiny female with disdain while her boss elbowed her in the ribs. "Do you even know what strings we had to pull for this?" Amber ignored her mole boss, but she sat tight while the vixen ‘tour guide’ continued. Amber knew she was a colonel of some kind at this labor...

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“The Paradox of Fog and Smoke ” by M B

Submitted to Contest #206

Night had fallen on the Fog District of Vulane... not that there was much difference between night and day there. The rain pattered against the uneven cobblestones as the sickly sweet “fog” wound its way around the uneven buildings and filled the air. In the back alleys, deranged beasts gibbered and spoke to things only they could see, their minds long gone. The wind howled through the streets carrying the noxious fumes with them.Through the enchanted streets two figures walked, their bodies bundled up against the rain and cloths coveri...

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“Hoofprints in the Dust” by M B

Submitted to Contest #204

(Warning: Contains a brief use of a racial slur used by a badguy) Alec was in pain.  His side throbbed from where he’d been slashed and his thigh was on fire from his fresh gunshot wound. He groaned and strained against the ropes binding his wrists to the post. He was sitting with his legs straight out in front of him. “You think you’re in pain now?” One of the men guarding him asked. “Just you wait, boy.” Alec scowled at him. “Don’t call me boy. Only those I actually respect get to call me that.” The man stalked closer to him...

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“A Clock, A Thief, and a Dragon” by M B

Submitted to Contest #203

Farah the ferret thief scampered down the alleyway, the shouts of her pursuers echoing behind her.  Even the best have to run for it on occasion, she thought, consoling herself.  The rain was falling in sheets as she ran, soaking through her cloak, leathers, and down into her fur.    “She went this way!” a coyote shouted.  “Ugh, these idiots are annoyingly persistent,” Farah grumbled with flattened ears. The nimble ferret kept running, cloak flapping behind her. She briefly paused as she came upon a pa...

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“The Rat and the Reptiloid ” by M B

Submitted to Contest #202

Skreet threw open the door of his ramshackle room above a rarely-visited fruit and vegetable shop on the edge of Vulane. The rent for the place was ridiculous, but it gave him more privacy than he had had staying in the inns and taverns, and privacy was a premium: An especially useful feature for a room to have when sneaking in large reptiles. “Mind your head, and - uh - horns,” the rat said as he led the reptile in.Draknor looked around and grunted. “Hurr, you live here?”Skreet’s tail twitched. “I rent it out currently. I’ve lived...

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“Disjointed Melody ” by M B

Submitted to Contest #199

The large reptiloid pulled the cloak he had found around himself. It was a bit of providence that he had found a cloak big enough to wrap himself up in among all these mammals. The rain was coming down in sheets, as it usually did in Vulane, and if he didn’t stay warm he would die very quickly.  It was providence that he had escaped from the fighting pits too: he and the black bear he had been fighting crashed through a wall into a clock shop with a startled raccoon within. He’d taken the opportunity and ran into the night.  Be...

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