There is a mountain in the land of Nod. Just the one. And it isn’t really that big. Just cresting past the tree line, it stands majestically because there really isn’t anything else to challenge it. An hour or two of steady hiking will let anyone reach the summit. An ordinary accomplishment, to survey the extraordinary of Nod. Cain liked the call the peak Mount Elementary. Difficult the first time, and then built into one’s

I was a teacher. Once. I was an okay teacher. That was a lifetime ago. A time of sanity, of possibility. Not like right now. Not in this world of infinite screwballs and misunderstood wonders. Where the incredible is mocked and the tarnished raised above all. This is not what I wanted. And now it is what I have. Artemis awoke in a fine bed. She sat up, scared. The night before she had been

In the middle of the Pacific, floating seventeen feet above the ocean, lays the Test. A structure three-hundred and sixty six cubit feet in length, a perfect sphere. A black substance guards from all attacks, and entry is given only to those it deems worthy. The Test appeared five years ago, and none have claimed responsibility for it. Some say it is an attack by a rogue power. Others say it is a gift, given

We were woken up with a bomb. A small one. Just enough to get our attention, and tear apart our new front door. A front door I had made, mind you, and had just gotten to fit right. The remains of some rubble, sure, but I was proud of it. I woke with a start. And stopped. A bomb? There was no way that was a bomb. We were in the middle of Gratitude. They

I stood on the front steps, and stared at the Mayor. Every urge in me told me I had to hit her. For being so deviously nice. And going behind our backs to save us and all that. I hated her. “You seem like you have had a full day,” she said. The Mayor was…beautiful was the only way to say it. Lightly tanned skin, tall, and with strong features while still being super pretty.

“You have a choice, Miss McKay.” Lien picked up the staff again. “You can try and stumble your way through your little quest. You will be quite the scourge of the riffraff. Until someone with real power is annoyed enough by your nuisance to swat you down. And then your quest is done.” She scratched the wood with her fingernail, gouging into it. I gave a cry of protest, but what could I do? “Or