Category: issue 12

The four of them clustered in a round booth at a midnight diner. Danae stirred her steaming, black-as-pitch coffee with a long, manicured fingernail.

It’s only after Cloud’s funeral that we realise none of us can remember why we followed her in the first place. No-one, that is, except for Robbie. He stowed away, he claims, and kept a clear head. The rest of us? A drink, maybe two; compelling blue eyes; and the next thing we knew, we were on the ship. Contract signed. Memories hazy. Cloud renamed us, gave us each a job, and that was it. We were crew.

When the northwestern wind blows through the island, the shutters of the grand houses on Archbishop Street rattle like the tips of snake tails. Ships moored in the harbor moan at their anchors. The ancient capital city perched on top of the weathered limestone cliffs slumbers in a deep, dreamless sleep. There’s no light, save for the frantic beacon of the lighthouse, calling from the depths of the sea sailors of lost fishing boats.

The grassfire crept towards the granary. This one was worse than most; it got so big that the whole village together could do nothing but watch. Everyone’s grain, a whole year’s worth—for eating and for selling both—was about to go up in flames.