Amy Winters-Voss@[email protected] My *state was rage against the King of the Moon, the one who condemned me for daring to court the moon princess, Kaguya-hime. He tried to subdue me with tsunami tides. I shoot molten rock back and tethered myself to the land with boulders and trees. @[email protected] #LiminalChronicles
@[email protected] “A kodama tied to a bonsai pot? Humanity’s *avarice knows no bounds.” The ground shook so violently, it liquefied.
My hands waved frantically. “Great Mountain Spirit, until me, no kodama had the pleasure of travelling to record yokai stories!” @[email protected] #LiminalChronicles
@[email protected] The mountain’s words emerged painfully slow, rumbling like *thunder, sending quakes in every direction. “For centuries I slept, *ignored. Yet you, who won’t even set foot on the base of my vastness, dare to ask me for my tale? Cowardice!” @[email protected] #366FF #LiminalChronicles
@[email protected] The enormous peak leaned to hover over Reizei and my view from the portal. Darkness from the spirit’s shadow *heralded early *night. Its eyes glowed bright, fixed on me through the portal window my tengu friend shakily held. @[email protected] #inkmine #LiminalChronicles #TuesdayFiction
@[email protected] Reizei took to the sky for safety.
*Twilight’s soft hues were blotted out as the mountain emerged from the river, cresting higher and higher above the horizon.
My heart sank. Did our chance *vanish? All of Japan must have felt the tremors. @[email protected] #vss365 #LiminalChronicles
My voice emerged as a squeak. “Great mountain spirit, apologies for disturbing your slumber. My associate and I wish to hear your story, to save it for posterity.”
The ground rumbled violently. Reizei’s cellphone blared a *major earthquake warning. @[email protected] #LiminalChronicles
Still, the *event had been noticed. Bulbous eyes, much larger than my house, opened as if awakening from a deep sleep. The ridge blinked slowly.
Reizei waited for several moments. “Master?”
I gulped. Despite earlier rehearsals, my mind blanked. @[email protected] #LiminalChronicles
I couldn’t *feel the wind rushing by, but I could hear it. Seeing *lush forest below took my breath away. My own perspective had been limited as a ground dweller.
Reizei quietly landed across the river from the remote mountain. @[email protected] #inkmine #LiminalChronicles
@[email protected] His wings flicked open to slow his descent. My tree’s leaves flutter wildly in the gust.
“I have news! The historic society dug up an obscure reference. They say *telltale sign of the mountain’s location is that it sits directly in the river.” @[email protected] #LiminalChronicles
@[email protected] I certainly didn’t want to *tangle with it, if didn’t wish to share its story. But surely, it wouldn’t mind a single *question.
My rumination halted when Reizei returned, diving from the sky at full speed to meet me on the veranda. @[email protected] #WeirdMicro #LiminalChronicles