Speculative Fiction and Poetry
Zero Education
Winter: 16 years at the Monastery, five months after first flight; Day after Coronation The sun had started to turn gold as it waned. Sunar stood at the edge of the highest courtyard in the monastery, the one called both dusk and dawn, for…As Without
Winter: 16 years at the Monastery, five months after first flight; Day after Coronation Sunar watched as Tabitha walked into the room, glanced at the datapad on the table, and rolled her eyes. He quirked a single eyebrow at her while striving to keep…Zero Snow
Winter: 16 years at the Monastery, five months after first flight; patrolling the coronation of a new Emperor. Sunar stood watch behind the crowd. The field at the base of the slopes was full of people who had come to see Emporer’s coronation on…Born Zero
Winter: 16 years at the Monastery, five months after first flight; on patrol awaiting the coronation of a new Emperor. Ice crunched underfoot as Sunar and his three friends made their way through the crowded streets. Vehicles had been banned from the town for…Cold Lesson
Winter: 16 years at the Monastery, five months after first flight Snow crunched under Sunar’s boots as he landed at the edge of the skii-resort town. He drew in a deep breath through his nose, taking in the smells of cooking food and burning…Naming Rites
Winter: 16 years at the Monastery, Spring, five seconds after first flight Quiet. Stillness. Calm. Sunar hung suspended in the water for an eternal moment, bubbles flowing around him. The exultation of his flight still sang in his bones, but his ki had settled…Dawn’s Window
Dawn’s Window Winter: 16 years at the Monastery, Spring, twenty-three months after attempting to fly The soft oranges of dawn danced through the window… the window, the one he had been afraid to approach for so long. Sunar felt a smile tug at the…Fear’s Lesson
Winter: 15 years at the Monastery, Summer, fourteen months after attempting to fly “No.” Sunar shook his head and backed away from the two chairs. Gorshun pushed him forward. “Yes!” replied Gorshun in an exasperated tone, “You are more than ready, and you know…Wing Training
Summer: 14 years at the Monastery, Summer, seven months after attempting to fly Sunar shook his head at his best friend. “I am not ready for the chair test yet, that much I’m sure of.” Gorshun rolled his eyes, and Seben huffed. Lenar took…Fear’s Caution
Summer: 14 years at the Monastery, Spring, two months after attempting to fly Sunar leaned over the windowsill from which he’d attempted to jump two months and a lifetime before. A strong breeze wafted through the window. Warm, but with a hint of changing…Teacher’s Price
Summer: 14 years at the Monestary, Spring, the day after attempting to fly Master Ikthan stood in the bedroom doorway, his cold disapproval smothering what warmth Sunar and his friends had felt. The other boys gave Sunar quick glances of sympathy and fear, nodded,…Titanic Bonds
Sunar talked with his sister for some time. For the most part he let her ramble. She had been bottling a lot of emotion while he had been unconscious, so he provided her a sounding board and let her get it all out. After…Sister’s Confidence
Summer: 14 years at the Monastery, Spring, the day after attempting to fly Sunar woke slowly, despite his best efforts. He tried to bring his mind to alertness, but found himself groggy. He lay on his stomach, and everything hurt. Was I knocked out…Mother’s Word
Mother’s Word Summer: 14 and a half years at the Monastery Sunar sat with his head against the wall and tried to process the pain. It felt like every muscle in his back, wings, and chest had caught fire. He barely registered the sound…The Day
Summer: 14 and a half years at the Monastery Sunar started awake, but managed to feign continued sleep. It only took a moment for him to find what he’d heard: his sister’s breathing. “How did you get in here without waking me, and why…Cold Curiosity
Monastery: 14 years since arrival. Winter. Sunar woke an hour before dawn, as had become his custom. The moon hid behind the frost on his window, but still illuminated sister’s first leather tail dangling over the window. She had grown too tall for it…Child’s Tail
Monastery: 14 years since Sunar’s arrival Sunar and three of his friends wandered through the monastery’s hallways, headed no where in particular, enjoying a few hours of free time between summer lessons. They were keeping a small, sand-filled ball in the air by batting…A Name
Sunar did not know how long he sat crying. He let everything wash away in the flood of tears; the pain, the childish ideals, and, finally, the pride. It seemed an eternity before the it stopped. He felt tired, as if he had performed…Dawn Tree
Sunar allowed his gaze to wander as he sat in meditation. The valley between the four peaks in shadow behind him, the plains leading to the mountain spread out before him, and Master Ikthan sat next to him. He’d tried to concentrate on pushing…Ending Denial
Sunar carried the breakfast tray into his parent’s room. He had to contain his excitement in order to keep from spilling the orange juice. Today. Today, his sister would be born. Today, he would show them all. She would be just like him,…Defiant Anticipation
Sunar moved slowly through his morning katas, keeping his motions synced with the rest of the children. They stood in the Dawn Court, moving from position to position in unison, setting their tempo by the adept’s walking staff as he tapped out a rhythm…Discovery
Sunar ran a hand down the edge of each wing, and pushed against them with his hands. He felt a tiny bit more resistance, and a little more resilience, than last week. It had been six months, an entire six months, since he’d…Flying Mind
Sunar sat, trying to concentrate on the feeling of the morning sun on his skin, rather than his sixth birthday party, while matching the breathing of Master Ikthan beside him. His friends had enjoyed the party as much as he had, for which…If Only by Fearadhach MecRaudri
If OnlyFearadhach MecRaudriShe walked up to her desk with leaden feet. To her ears each step echoed off the walls like a hammer on an anvil, deepening the pit in her stomach. If only she could do more, knew more, had fewer restraints on…True Believers by Fearadhach MecRaudri
True Believers Fearadhach MecRaudriFizzblit tried to ignore the stink of ozone from his ship’s fried controls. He found it hard to concentrate on the decrypted communications scrolling across the holo-screen his personal c&c (Comms and Computer) had projected above his wrist, thankful that he…
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Metastable Systems – speculative poetry from David Kopaska-Merkel. Available in all standard E-book formats
