Light And Shadow (Part 3 of 8)

by Erisian

Chapter 10 - Trumpet

Outside the tent where Vance slept peacefully, Yaria was setting up a tall tripod-mounted bronze spyglass. Hank and Twitch were inside with Ruyia preparing lunch from the not-as-small-as-it-looks tent’s well-stocked larder. After I’d grabbed the wrong ingredients for a third time Twitch had pushed me gently aside and taken over as Ruyia’s assistant, much to Hank’s amusement.

Hey, I never claimed to be a chef and furthermore the spices and herbs available in Hell were completely different from anything on Earth. Having spent most of my time living off hard tack from the back of a wagon it’s not my fault I didn’t know the difference between a ‘kyrish root’ and a ‘draxo leaf’. My wife had done all the cooking in our house before cancer stole her away, after that there was a lot of frozen pizzas, tuna, and sloppy joes.

And tacos. Man, I missed tacos.

The main entrance to the gym is blown off its hinges. Several guys charge into the gym tossing flash bombs and smoke grenades. Hatter and Shade were watching from their hiding spots. The two of them were wearing the specialized helmets that they used with their motorcycles.

The flash bombs and smoke didn’t bother them at all. They watched as eight men came into the gym. They were armed with rifles, wearing body armor and helmets. They watched as the men use hand signals to communicate with one another.

I was still living and working permanently as Lexie, regularly going out with Jim, and it was becoming a strain trying to avoid a physical relationship. I still had not told him that I was still a man, despite my appearance and the way I acted, and was not inclined to test him with a proposal for a gay relationship, but my life as a man was becoming a distant memory.

When she discovers her boyfriend's infidelity, a woman plans a most devious revenge.

[At a Conference Centre in Birmingham (UK)]

“Ready for your big day?” asked Garth Samson.
He was waiting to be called onto the stage to deliver the keynote speech of the conference.
Their friend, Sally Jameson had organised the event for the Foundation that Garth had set up almost a year earlier. This was their first big event since the launch of the enterprise.

Living as Lexie was now becoming normal for me, wearing skirts, dresses, and the occasional leggings or women’s trousers was just an accepted part of my daily life, and I rarely thought that I was doing anything out of the ordinary. Was this what I really wanted, to live my life like any other woman, or was I just playing at it, I really needed to seriously consider my future.

Light And Shadow (Part 2 of 8)

by Erisian

Chapter 5 - Ransacked

We found what was left of the captain lying in the corridor leading from her quarters to the main cavern. The walls gave evidence to a fierce and moving battle, deep chunks of rock had been ripped from the walls with stony fragments scattered everywhere. Her caved-in head, spine, and most of her ribcage were all that remained. They had stripped her clean: armor and boots, soul orbs and meat, all had been taken. Only bloody bones and small scraps of muscle and tendon remained.

Just like they had done to Biff outside and all the other guards.

Mantra (Malibu Comics) is looking down on the dead body of her friend and protege. As bad as that is, a historical catastrophe has just struck one of America's greatest cities. It's confusion mixed up with grief as the world looks on and wonders if it stands on the brink of war. Many lives have been lost, and Mantra is left alone as events swirl around her, wondering if she will personally survive.

Debbie walks out of the doctor's office with the twins. She was driving Jack’s Hummer while he was away. It wasn’t her type of car, but it was well armored and had several of Jack’s hidden weapons. It also had the second set of child safety seats in it as well.

She looks at the twins “well kids, you are in good health and have gotten all your shots now.”

Charlie and associates finally trace the RAAF pick-up ute but now it's matter of stopping it safely and recovering three-year-old Charlotte.

Charlie's landed safely in Oz but things go awry.

Back at home, I sat in the garden with a bottle of wine, thinking about what Jeanette and Kelvin had said about me still dressing as a woman, As I had said to Jeanette, it was just becoming automatic for me. Obviously with the breast forms still fixed in place, putting on a bra just seemed the right thing to do, and everything else just followed on from that. I still felt that my guiding spirit, whether it was something buried in my genes and sub-conscious, or whether it was a ghostly influence on me, still had work for me to do as Lexie. I was comfortable and enjoying life, and seemed to be accepted by everyone I met as a young woman.

Bra-vo.
By Angharad.

[Authors Note]
The events described in this part take place after Maxine’s trip to Devon. She had been there on a Spa retreat with her friend Delphine and Delphine’s step-daughter Gabrielle. This is all described in part 24 of 'Sixty is not that Old'.
https://bigclosetr.us/topshelf/fiction/89023/sixty-is-not-th...

Charlie goes fishing

Okay, I know I wasn’t the sharpest knife in the drawer. And, yes I know the title of this little tale is in very poor English. I’m a bit smarter now, and actually have two college degrees, but they didn’t come easily.

Back at home I felt an urge to get into my studioand do some painting. Once again my artistic muse took over and images seemed to flow from my brain to my hand and onto the canvas. I didn’t remember falling asleep or know how long for, but on waking up I felt strangely refreshed. I looked over at the easel and instead of seeing a landscape as I previously painted for my earlier work, it was just a head and shoulders image of a worried-looking young man turning to glance back over his shoulder seeing a young woman disappearing into the distance.

Light And Shadow (Part 1 of 8)

by Erisian

Chapter 1 - Duty

The most annoying thing about hunting demons is the smell. The one in front of me naturally yielded no exception.

Green ichor of a most aromatic sort spurted generously from the stumps of the several tentacles I’d just managed to shorten, the foul mess splattering the walls of ice and rock around us as well as my best (and only) cloak. The vapors assaulting my sanity were, shall we say, worse than a raw sewage overflow from a center for the treatment of Crohn’s disease. FEMA would have posted signs declaring the bespoiled canyon a superfund site before themselves evacuating in a bureaucratic rush.

Yeah, it was that bad.