#diimm

   Grubby hands outstretched towards the stranger--- fingers curled to accept a gift, any gift. There was no moon scent to signify a hunter, but the Beggar’s senses tingled with curious layers of cinder and cinnamon; reminiscent of the wafts of incense after a HUNT. There was no eye contact to be made, the man’s head wrapped in bandages. His posture tilted at an awkward angle. An ear was pointed at the stranger’s feet.

“He comes to bedsides, icy bridges, battlefronts, and crumbling ridges.”

There is dust on his boots, on his hands. There is dust in the space in his teeth.

“When he comes, he comes alone.”

There is a tradition, it is old as time: words are replaced and marred, burned new, shaped like the darkness burning. They are troves, tight taunt little spaces, that keep their nature inside.

They are riddles.

THE QUEEN OF THURINGIA stood before her mirror, like she did every day when the sun was setting and the light was golden and her skin glowed in the light, doors locked and bolted so she may enjoy this alone. For most sorceresses, the mirror had fallen out of fashion with the invention of the more reliable megascopes, but mirrors never lied, and Basina found the old ways were more often the better.                 Basina sung softly, nothing in particular but lilting sound rolling off her tongue as she examined her reflection, idly toying with one of her long braids with her hands. She knew she would never age after having taken Ortolan’s formula as a young sorceress, though the fear of growing old had never left her. Yet her beauty was never tarnished, and her reflection never changed, until she saw the man in the mirror. She looked behind her, nobody there but the growing dark, but in the mirror...something darker still.

music meme || @lidojed

    okay, so for sad bug-man I couldn’t pick just one. so I offer this without comment.     Now on to the ‘proper’ song.

IronspyI didn't hear you coming from behind.Yes, I'm afraid to turn around,To watch you point and whisper like a child.SomeoneStop my hands from shakingIron in my spine's conducting lightningRaging anger,Yeah, you've never been truly mine,But if you were, yes, if you were, I wouldn't want you anyway.Please leave -- stay...I promise I'll try harder now.You've made the cut, and stayed to watch it bleed,Just making sure, your secret stays with me...

      IRONSPY by Splashdown