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Graham Kinross

Author on Reedsy Prompts since Mar, 2021

Stories (233)
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233 Stories

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Bring Trade, Not War

Sir Danielle Longbow ground her teeth, looking back at her riders as they galloped too slowly from one battle to the next. If only she had a curaogine for all her riders instead of a herd of horses. The nameless knights in their black tabards rode behind her, driving their steeds on past exhaustion to meet the other enemy. Armed to fight monsters, they charged southeast towards an overwhelming invasion of people. Defending her homeland would mean adding guilt to the well of it buried within her. “Bring traders, not warriors,” she grunted as ...

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Pick Your Battles

“Never let the enemy chose the battlefield.” Sir Danielle Longbow murmured to herself as the enemy charged. “Come on then. You had your chance.” Foremost were the burning skeletons, running headlong into the trap.“Should we go now?” asked Sir Fao, Danielle’s surest rider.“Not until they hit the seeds. If we go now they’ll turn back. I want all of them trapped inside. This army is the little problem. I want to deal with the bigger problem.” Looking back at her army, riflemen lined up ready for the first volley, she bit her lip. Time raced alo...

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The Wrath of Gods Blows from Every Direction

Sir Danielle Longbow waited by the armoured door with a dry mouth. Queen Lilena Redwing, the first harpy, awaited. “Relax.” Lupita touched Danielle’s hand. Danielle forced a smile for her wife. “I’ve bet heavily on this.” “We both did,” said Lupita, brown hand resting on her medic’s bag. Metallic clangs reverberated as the door was unlocked from the inside. Two grey acolytes who stood on either side of the door lifted an enormous steel bar from hooks. Danielle had checked that they were armed with silver knives. “How are you feeling, Jill?” ...

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Eyrie of the Harpy Queen

Sir Danielle Longbow lowered herself from the saddle of a beast that was at once a dragon, a horse, and a tree. Shalakhir, a curaogine, was covered in purple pearlescent scales. “You cannot be here,” said a man wrapped in a cloak of furs buffeted by snowy winds that blew down Sgread mountain. A loaded crossbow hung from his left hand, ready to fire. “Should not be, perhaps,” Lupita said atop her curaogine, Djeither. “Nonetheless we are. We hunt the harpy queen. Nothing and no one will turn us away.” Lupita’s curly mane of hair sprung into th...

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Jack of Hearts

TW: brief mentions of self harmDrumming his fingers to a rhythm he had used since childhood, Jack Dancer shook his head at the screen. “It’s wrong.” He bit his lip. “The course is wrong.”“You don’t have to agree with the information, Jack. You just have to be able to repeat it when you get to the questions,” Max said in a soothing voice that wasn’t working.“But it’s wrong. It says you remove the ignition plugs to test for wear. You don’t have to on ships made by Bandersnatch, they have a viewing port so that you can inspect them with the eng...

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Holding Back Jack

TW:dead animalsJack Dancer stared at the alien machine that was older than his species while eating salted popcorn. “Can you say that again?” Silver from head to toe, the thing that had boarded the Fairweather nodded. “I one to tae que to my whole word.” “You mean you want to take me to your home world?” Jack’s burnt hand scratched his head. The door to the canteen opened with a hydraulic hiss. Wafting air meant Jack could smell his body odor on his Fairweather ship’s uniform. He tapped the weathered tool box that went everywhere with him. “...

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Bearing Bad News After Battle

TW: illness, death and grieving. Waiting drove Sir Danielle Longbow mad. Pacing between the infirmary and the dungeons she was wearing through her leather boots. Her armour clinked together on her broad shoulders as she moved. Danielle was used to the sound of her second skin. Knights injured in the fight with harpies the night before groaned in the hospital beds. They would live or die, that was one thing. Being bitten by a winged vampire was another. Walking down the granite stairs of Leonor Castle into the dungeon being used for isolation...

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Dating, Detectives, and Droids

“How do I look?”“With your eyes, Detective,” said Jacques droid with sapphire glowing eyes.“I’m not a detective anymore, Blue.”“You’ll always be a detective, Arthas. You just got a better job.” The black droid boiled the kettle for its master. “Don’t think I haven’t noticed you changing the subject,” said the Martian Security Agent. He yawned, showing teeth crafted by an artisan dentist to replace those he’d lost in the line of duty. “How do I look?”“You don’t want to know what we just thought,” said the droid in a Dublin accent, eyes g...

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Justice Will Be Served

Submitted to Contest #231

Sunrise painted the rain swept rocks of the castle gold as she poured poison into her husband’s morning whiskey. The fire of the spirit would mask the ice of the paralytic which had been crippling Lord Blackstone for months.Lady Gemma Blackstone had everything arranged for the death of her husband would be slow, deservedly so. Revenge was a dish best served cold and Algernon Blackstone liked ice in his whiskey.Gemma watched the chest of her hated husband rise and fall. His crackling breaths came in stutters. The poison had started work on hi...

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Let It Go

“To convict you of assault they have to prove you’re a wizard, so you’re going to be fine.” Billie holds my shoulder and gaze with the intent of Medusa. “You just have to stop using your powers and they have nothing.” Her smile is my get out of jail free card. I look twice, worried it’s expired. “I’m not sure I can. I’ve never gone this long without using them.” My voice shakes. I’m sweating. “What if they need to be let out? What if they overflow? I don’t want to hurt you or our daughter.” “Tina will be fine. You won’t hurt her.” She turns ...

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Jacked In

TW: swearingGrateful locals patted Jack Dancer on the shoulder everywhere he went on Copernicus. Being congratulated for murdering a spaceship full of people made him queasy but he’d tired of telling them to fuck off. Leaving his spaceship to visit a planet was bad enough. Planets didn’t move the way his body needed to, with the constant gentle vibrations of a ship gliding through the vacuum.“How much for this?” asked Max Axel.“Is he with you?” the fruit stall seller asked Jack, who nodded. “No charge for our hero’s friend. We’d be dead if n...

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Age is a Broken Promise

Submitted to Contest #225

TW: Swearing, death, suicide, superheroes Karl Cent relaxed in his plush chair surrounded by paintings. “Apex Lad, it’s a pleasure to be invited to the first public exhibition of your paintings. Can you tell me why you chose the title Age is a Broken Promise?” Knowing the camera had cut to the muscular hero, the presenter checked that his microphone was hidden properly by his collar. “I thought that was the obvious bit. Please call me Alex or Apex. The Lad bit is too dated now. That’s the problem with my life. Time is moving on but I’m st...

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A Rough Knight

TW: blood, swearing.The assassin Catherine Harper led Sir Danielle Longbow down corridors and stairs from the peaks of Afon Fos’ castle battlements into the city.“We can save her if we hurry. There’s still time,” said the royal assassin to the knight who was trailing behind.“How do you know?” Danielle cried out to the woman rushing ahead of her into the tight streets. Blackened stone topped with fresh grey granite from the mines of Leonor City loomed over them both as they ran.Wind whistled through the stones, down the alleyways. Shutters ba...

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You Don’t Know Jack

Submitted to Contest #223

TW: PTSD, swearing.Jack Dancer wept for his sins. Magnetised boots held him to the outer hull of the PD Anathema. Thanks to his efforts the deadly vacuum of space had raced into the ship with a bang.In his space suit he was safe until his oxygen ran out, waiting for his ship. The Fairweather returned at full speed. He waited for five hours. Lost in guilt, Jack hardly noticed. He clutched his toolbox to his chest.“You there, Jack?” said Captain Eliza Erdman using the radio.He took a long time to respond. “I’m here,” he replied. He half wished...

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Jack in a Box

Submitted to Contest #223

TW: Violence, death, gore, and septic tanks.“Why would we go back?” asked Jack, drinking water which had been purified from the waste of the entire crew. Far from putting him off, Jack found that funny. Others rarely shared his mirth when he pointed out the closed water system on spaceships. He was a student of life in the void. No matter how many resits it took.“Because Copernicus is starving. The Pierce Dynasty will hold the blockade until they all die or surrender!” Doctor Annie Brie yelled, holding her cup of instant coffee. “Exactl...

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