Author
Daniel Ausema
The Counter Poison Pigment
For all the many hues of death Cinna faced every day, today's task began with white. Cinna spread the powder out as evenly as she could. "Careful, that's dangerous stuff," her master said. "White lead." As if she didn't know. As if she hadn't scraped it herself from the equally…
The Forgotten Treaties of Wildfire and Feathers
Mountain fires are bound by ancient promises, sealed in ash and snowpack tears. But each fire is born before the ashes, before the snowmelt bears its memories down the mountain slopes, and so each fire must be reminded. At just the right time. I watched the newborn fire from my…
The Cities Rise Up on Legs of Lead
We, the citizenry of the city Letura, form up our lines in the amber grass while our home shakes itself free of its foundations. It's real, what the old books say. Had we thought the claims of streets becoming legs some primitive misunderstanding? Had we thought the lines about…
The Mirror Merchant's Tales
By law and tradition, everyone in the city of Malshennes carried a mirror at all times. The inhabitants of the city handed their fancy mirrors down from generation to generation. Frequent traders to the city would carry extras in their mule trains to re-use each time they…
The Bridge Fugue: Variations on Emptiness
It is false that a bridge has exactly two points of contact with the world, one precisely here, and one at a specific there. At least, it is false of this bridge. The rusted girders hold an aging bridge firmly to my island. So that makes one point of contact. Clear, certain,…
Carnival Days and Days
After a day of rides and caramel corn, we were sad to leave the carnival. The jugglers, the tightropes, the half-winking games that everyone knew were cons. We wanted to con the con artists back, to win what everyone said was impossible, knowing that we never would succeed. And…
The Towers are on Strike
When the palace issued a decree to raze the old Weavers' District to make way for new buildings, the condemned houses rebelled. They held picket signs above their low roofs, and some even left their foundations to march against the decree. It was an unfortunate situation for…
The Flight of a Village in the Midst of War
We used to think the trains, half wild and skittish, would be the most difficult part of our escape. We'd seen brave Myron try to mount a train as it raced through, only to die when it threw him down onto the rails. It hurt when he fell, terribly so, but a pain we thought we…
Fall of the City
As Hevsen tied the new ladder together outside the workshop, his knot slipped on one rung, sliding over a tiny bulge in the wood. No big deal. No one who'd grown up in that city of ladders and clock towers would ever fall because of a loose rung. He finished the rest and secured…