4 – Female Power
It is little known by humans that the male dragon is much smaller than the female and that only the female has the ability to scorch the earth and its victims.
3 – Duplicitous Queen
Queen Cartimandua and her army had returned to the City of York and the troops were camping outside of the city walls. Her Roman protectors were making haste in their retreat from their colony of Britanniae.
2 – Elven
Tanyl was tall, even for an Elf and his poise and beauty were legend. Like most of the Elven his skin was fair, eyes blue and hair blond; in Tanyl’s case he wore it to his shoulders and he tied the front strands behind his head with a coarse leather twine.
1 – Fend for Yourselves
“The affairs of man are not of my concern,” said Lord Alaric.
“They will impact The Veils,” said the demon Albert and he sniffed.
It was a habit of the High Priest and it further irritated the tetchy Alaric.
“Stop sniffing,” he snapped and the air sparkled from his power.
The candle’s life was sixteen hours, precisely.
It was near midnight, start of the leap day, the allotted time. She placed the candle on its holder.
Midnight, ignite the wick, for five minutes, exactly.
‘Population set to reach 20 billion this year’ was the headline of the Tribune, followed by a statement from the World Federation about the increase in production that would maintain the standard of living. ‘Irrespective of the effect on the planet’ was the response of the Science Guild that was widely ignored. Science had been ridiculed during the rise of the Global Federation except where it supported their aims; some scientists valued their position within government and relinquished the search for truth that science demanded.