portal fantasy – Page 3

stronghold

In the story books I read at home, the captured maiden was always blindfolded or asleep and never knew where her captors took her until

embrace

They wrapped me in branches, bark as rough as stale bread, and carried me kicking and screaming, still invisible

stew

The first salamander I accidentally stepped on squelched and blood dribbled out and I hurried on. The second I stepped on

Hunger of the things

I tried to avoid getting near the trees, but the further we walked, the closer they got and I wasn’t about to go back to the demon door

Silence of the things

Eyes watched us from the sparse trees, belonging to bodies too still to distinguish from the dappled shadows

out the door

I am grateful for Simone burning my hair off so it didn’t end up as stone, I am grateful for my sea god genes so only

Bruises and Balms

Never trust a gift from a demon, even an old teacher, cuz they’ll do silly things like that, not realizing your head can’t hold up a demon’s weight crawling into space.