Panting, he noticed Zoe’s body, limp in my arms. “What happened to her?”

“It burned.”

“What do you mean, it burned?”

“Exactly what I said. It … burned.”

“No, but I asked about Zoe, and you said—”

“I know what I said.”

“But what you said makes no sense! What do you mean? What happened to Zoe?”

“She’ll be fine. She might feel dizzy afterwards. Make sure she gets plenty to drink. Try to cool her down, though I’d avoid iced drinks for a while.”

He stared at me like I had just explained to him the entirety of Chapter 20 of his Linear Algebra textbook. “Okay, but what happened to her?”

I sighed. “Her soul burned.”

“What?”

“She … she’s a … I don’t know. I guess in your terms, you could say she’s a ‘Dragon’ or something of the sort? Child of the flame. I don’t know much about her kind. I thought they were just a legend. Though, I suppose they might consider my kind a legend as well. Anyway, she’s just a fledgling. Barely aware of what she is, if at all. Certainly couldn’t control it. It got out of hand, and it knocked her unconscious. Like I said, she’ll be fine. Just let her rest.”

Kellan nodded and scooped Zoe out of my arms. Where I had princess-carried her, he just slung her over his shoulder like a sack. I suppose he thought I had said all that I could. I suppose, in a way, I did. But not because I was forbidden from saying any more. I didn’t know how. Or maybe I just couldn’t bring myself to say it. Because the force that had knocked Zoe out had also touched me, and now, I was left with a feeling I barely recognized, one I hadn’t felt for ages, perhaps millennia, certainly a great many lifetimes ago. Because while her soul burned, it unfroze a bit of my own soul, a soul that had frozen so long ago that it had forgotten what it felt like to melt, to be free.

Me, an engineer: ok, but do the requirements want merman to take priority over werewolf when he's in the water at night during a full moon? Actually, assign a priority value to each. Because I don't know if he turns into a merman on the hottest day, in the water.

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Nitroglycerin is an explosive because it has oxygen and fuel in the same molecule. Benzoyl peroxide is another fuel/oxidizer mix and is also explosive, even though it doesn't cause migraines.

Very good! Would love to read more!!

Club Urban Night. Although society was starting to accept non-humans after their existence was finally revealed to the public, few places went out of their way to welcome and cater to them. But while many feared the unknown, there would always be those who were enticed by that which was mysterious and exotic. If I had to pick a side, I’d be a part of the former, and yet here I was, letting my more outgoing friend drag me to a club for non-humans.

…Well, I can’t say I was completely against the idea. The fantasy of spending the night with a charming vampire or a ferocious yet passionate werewolf made me gulp just as hard as any healthy young woman. But I still had my doubts.

“Omagawd, Sadie. I think I went to middle school with that merman. Hold my drink, I’m going to pop over to say hi.”

It’s been ten minutes since my friend—the only person I knew here—said that and she’s still laughing it up with some strangers by the pool. I’ve been sitting on a barstool waffling over whether I should awkwardly force my way into their conversation or awkwardly wait for her to return. Just as I was maybe possibly going to make a decision, I noticed someone trotting up to me.

“Come here often?” asked a centaur. The tone he used implied that he knew I didn’t.

I warily shook my head and in response he chuckled and smoothly took the seat beside me. Obviously, he didn’t sit in it but with his large equine body standing there, no one else was going to be using that bar stool.

“Sorry, you just looked a bit lost, so I figured I’d come over and chat you up.”

Implying he’s doing me a favor by hitting on me… This guy is a player.

I took a closer look at the centaur and had mixed feelings. He had a sort of rugged Nordic charm with his tousled blonde hair and muscular upper body. That alone would normally be enough of a reason to let him “chat me up,” but my issue was with the lower half. I came here looking for something exotic, but a horse was maybe a bit too wild.

We spoke back and forth for a while, and I was giving him some clear signs of rejection. I knew he noticed but this conversation just wasn’t ending. I didn’t want to just shoot him down, since I was genuinely grateful that he came over to talk to me, but maybe it was time to rip the band aid off.

“Look it’s been nice talking to you but…”

“It’s the horse body, isn’t it?”

“Whaa…? No, Bjorn, I just feel like we’re not really connecting, you know?”

…So much for ripping the band aid off. Ugh, why am I like this?

The centaur gave me a suspicious look. “Then you’d feel the same way if I turned into a vampire?”

“You can do that?” I asked a little too eagerly.

“When it’s night I turn into a vampire. Midnight just passed but I was holding back the transformation because I didn’t want to spook you. Anyways, here goes…”

A curtain of darkness suddenly enveloped Bjorn. It vanished as quickly as it came, shattering like glass. I gathered my courage to look at the freshly vampirified Bjorn… and promptly heaved a massive sigh.

“Are you screwing with me?”

“No? What are you talking about?”

It sounded like Bjorn didn’t understand what I meant but how could he not? The only thing that had changed was the length of his canines and the cape that had materialized on his back. As for his lower half, well…

“You’re still a centaur.”

“I’m a vampire now. When a human transforms into a vamp, you don’t call them ‘human vampires’ now do you?”

“Ok that was interesting and all, but I think we’re done here.”

I made to stand but the “vampire” frantically blocked me with his arm. “Wait, wait, wait. That one doesn’t do it, huh? No problem. Bartender! Get the picture!”

The bartender—some sort of squid man—rolled his large googly eyes and held up an incredibly realistic painting of the moon. Immediately, Bjorn groaned and grew fur all over his body. Even his horse half transformed… into a wolf’s lower body.

“How about this?” he growled, spreading his paws to show off his furry yet still clearly muscular chest. I shook my head reflexively and he sighed.

“Ok, wait right there.”

The next thing I knew I was watching a werecentaur cannonball into a pool. I chuckled a little when my friend and her entourage were bowled over by the resulting wave, but when Bjorn came back up, I couldn’t laugh anymore.

“What do you think?”

I teetered over to the pool to make sure my eyes weren’t deceiving me. Sea horse. Not a kelpie or a horse with fins, but an actual honest-to-god sea horse. Of course, that was just his lower half. Bjorn’s upper body had webbed hands and patches of scales but was otherwise human.

But more than his appearance, I was struck by the fact that he had just caused a huge scene, but his eyes were fixed on me. He was waiting anxiously for my opinion as if it was the only thing that mattered. I pressed my fingers together as I fought back a blush.

“I think this can work.”

“Really?”

“Yea, I… Ah!”

Bjorn lunged forward and pulled me into the water. I hugged him to keep my head above water, but I didn’t break away once I’d got my bearings. Interestingly, the water didn’t soak into my clothes. That must have been Bjorn using some kind of merman power.

“That’s great. I can turn into a dragon and a yeti as well, but those are more difficult.”

“Hmm? Dragon? I wouldn’t mind a dragon.”

“…We’ll have to wait until summer.”

The next day, I found myself sitting in a Starbucks with my friend who’d abandoned me. We were both a little hungover, but it was our conversation that was giving me a headache.

“So, you slept with a seahorse.”

“He’s a dragon… sometimes.”

“Uh-huh.”

“I don’t know. He tried so many things that I got worn down.”

“Oldest trick in the book. That guy’s a real player.”

“Dammit, I know.”

“—He’s not pregnant, right? You know… being a seahorse and all.”

For the first time in my life, I did a genuine spit take.

One extraordinarily embarrassing phone call later—during which I confirmed that I was not the father—I decided to stick to normal bars for the time being.

"You are banned from this realm, abomination. I demand you leave at once by order of He Who is Most High," the angel-pigeon demanded of the disguised horror.

"Listen, errand boy, I didn't listen to "God" when he told me I couldn't come into his realm that mom gave to him for his birthday and I'm sure as shit not going to be ordered about by one of his little sycophants. Piss off," the eldritch one dismissed the angel-pigeon summarily and went back to playing Flappy Bird on his (or its?) phone. The angel-pigeon was having none of it.

"I am the Archangel Michael! Saint Michael the Taxiarch! He who threw Lucifer from heaven! I will have respect from one who is not of this world and has befouled it with your invasion, Francis!" Pigeon-Michael huffed. It was rather unintimidating as he was just a small pigeon. It would have made Francis the Elder God smirk except he hated being called Francis. He much preferred Frank.

Frank glared for a moment before deftly putting away his phone. This would not stand. Then, like Darth Vader before him, Frank the Elder God held out his hand and telekinetically and spiritually choked the shit out of Michael.

"You little winged rat! I will-"

"Franky! Sorry I'm late, love, traffic was awful," a young woman, clearly out of breath said as she ran up and hugged her boyfriend Frank, the eldritch monstrosity. This distracted him enough to lose his grip on the Archangel Michael who hastily flew off.

"That little vermin got away!" Frank moped. The woman looked confused.

"Were you having a staring contest with a pigeon?"

"It's a long story but that winged rat is my little brother's pet. I hate those things," Frank told his girlfriend. It was all true but he didn't elaborate all of the details for fear of driving his mortal girlfriend to madness. But hey, just one of the hassles of dating, right?

That is the best first sentence for a prompt I have seen so far

"Explain yourself. Or tell me a really good story. I'm not sure I'd be able to tell the difference here."

"For the last time, during the day I'm a centaur, at night I'm a vampire, at the full moon I'm a werewolf, when I'm in water I'm a merman, during the hottest day I'm a dragon and at the coldest night I'm a yeti."

I stared at him blankly.

"That makes no sense," I finally concluded.

"I'll admit, it is quite convoluted, but it is what it is," he shrugged and took another sip of his coffee.

"So- I mean like- how?" I sputtered out.

"See, I was born a werewolf. Pureblood, both my parents were lycans. Due to a rare genetic mutation, I have rather remarkable regenerative abilities so when I was bitten by a vampire at 17, I became partially vampire. Every night, to be specific, except the full moon, where the lycanthropy trumps it," he said matter-of-factly.

"This wouldn't be the first time a werewolf got bit by a vampire. It doesn't match. You'd die."

"I did."

I stared at him silently. "Then how are you here?!" I yelled out.

"I got better."

I, once again, stared daggers.

"See, I was dead for quite a while but when the full moon came around, my remarkable regenerative abilities kicked in and I lived once more."

"Right," I said and rubbed my brow, trying to understand the mess. "And the merman part?"

"I was just having a nice evening dip under the full moon, and, well, got bitten by a merman."

"But- mermen don't bite people! They don't eat meat, they don't-"

"Yeah, but this one was really high. He thought I was seaweed because my fur was so wet. Lucky I was a werewolf at the time - my remarkable regenerative abilities allowed me to live through the transformation once again."

"The centaur part?"

"Did you know that horses can bite really hard? Well I do. And it's a really dominant mutation for some reason. Spend most of my time as one, just horsing around" he chuckled, much to my annoyance.

"But... there's no way a dragon bit you. I don't care how much you can heal, there's no surviving that!"

"You're right. I, uh... well, it's a bit embarrassing, but..." he looked down at his feet.

"Well?"

"I bit a dragon."

Oh for fucks sake, I thought.

"See, when I ingested his blood, that was enough. Normally this would kill me, but my-"

"If you say 'remarkable regenerative abilities' one more goddamn time I'll put them to the test," I hissed.

"Uh, well..." he nervously said, "I just survived it. With so many mutations in my body, that one only kicks in during extremely hot weather. Rare around these parts, unlike that bloody yeti part."

"And that happened when..." I started cautiously, dreading the answer that I already expected.

"Funny thing, this. I was skiing with my partner and before you know it, I skied into a nearby treeline and a yeti just - poof, runs out and bites straight through my ribcage."

"He crushed your ribcage? And you survived?" I asked. He opened his mouth but said no words, only looking at me expectantly.

I sighed very loudly and put my hand over my face. "Go on," I said.

"See, my remarkable regenerative abilities..."

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You are getting a feeling that your friend my be a murderer, and you might be his next target.

First of all I'm glad you tried the prompt.

I also like how you made your knight stoic and bold and ebjpyable to read.

You're a really good writter, I hope I reach your level someday and I really enjoyed this.

P.S. Poor Bart, mans got such poor luck

> It makes you miss it when it’s gone and leaves you wanting more just to get a taste of that adrenaline high again. > >Yeah, I know it kinda sadistic but I’m a sadistic gal.

I think you meant "masochistic". Sadistic means you like inflicting pain. Masochistic means you like recieving pain.

Thank you so much! Its a creative prompt and Im glad I saw it!

“I don't care how much it costs. Just get it done!”

“And … why exactly do you want this man dead so badly?”

“Assassins don’t ask questions! Just take my money and do the job!”

She crossed her arms and leaned back in her chair. “I’m a freelancer. I always ask questions. Why the hell should I take this request?” She lifted her chin up a bit. Just a bit. “Convince me.”

​

Sorry this one's super short! I latched onto the assassin idea but couldn't think of who she might be hired to kill, so I'll have to leave the rest of this conversation for a later time.

This reminds me of The Halfblood Chronicles! Migraines were a side-effect of using too much magic. It was one of the things I loved so much about it, because I have had chronic migraine since I was a child. So I pretended that I was using magic subconsciously and that's why I was getting migraines. 😆

Because you don't proofread before hitting "send".

Nice Intro, please continue when you can

When I'd moved to Florida, I'd known that the state was prone to hurricanes.

One day I had the radio turned on, reading a book while my cat, Chappy, cuddled up on the couch seat next to me. Even though I was half listening, I could still make out the words,

"Tropical Storm Tobias is not expected to make significant impact in Tampa Bay, becoming a Category one at it's worst."

Sighing, I pull my laptop onto me, logging in to view more about the storm. Every source said the same thing. May strengthen into a category one, if even. Should only be a category one. Minimal preparations needed. Chappy begins to Meow at me, wanting food. I go into the kitchen to get his food, realizing we're out. Slightly annoyed I have to make the journey out to Walmart right before a storm, despite it's small size. I say goodbye to Chappy, driving out into the town. On the way I pass the Waffle House, noticing something that almost made me stop driving in my tracks.

The Waffle House was closed.

On the rest of the drive to the store, I worry a lot. It's a small storm, why of all places is the waffle house closed? Everything else is open, except the Chick-fil-a, because it was a Sunday. I Quickly buy the food and stop in the Waffle House parking lot, Checking inside. Looking in the window, I notice the manager hurrying inside a room, quickly shutting the door behind him. I call my friend, Akira, who lives up north in the Lutz area.
"Dude, we're in trouble."
"What?" He answers, confused. Is he cooking? I hear boiling water in the background.
"The Waffle House is closed!" I yell, opening the car door, "I went to Walmart to get cat food and I saw the closed sign on the way!"
"No way, you're insane." He says in disbelief, " 'S only supposed to be a category one."
"Check your local one, bet they're closed too."
It takes a minute as he asks the Alexa in the back if his local location is open. "The Waffle House on (___) is currently closed, but it's 12-"
"No way. We gotta go now. All them are closed." He says, continuing to make whatever he was making.
"Meet at my house, we have to get out of here."

Akira hangs up. I get home and open the door, quickly feeding the cat.

4 hours later, me and Akira are flying down I-75, trying to get out of the state. Chappy isn't bothered, shut in his crate with a blanket on the floor in front of the seat, originally on the crate. I notice the sky ahead of me turning a deep green color, not even something seen during a Tornado. A screech, louder then any howling winds, Akira shouts for me too drive faster, but I can't. Then suddenly we speed past a sign.

Welcome to Ohio.

That doesn't make sense. We were just going past Ocala and Gainesville a minute ago. Suddenly the car runs out of gas, causing us to slowly come to a stop. Two planes howl down the road behind us. Spirit and Ryan Air. We're so done for. The sky suddenly turns a Deep, Blood Red. I flee into the woods, holding my cat. As an unkown creature approaches, I think to myself.

No wonder Waffle House was closed...

"Damn it." It's never really been easy. It's rarely fun. But god, if you don't know where you stand with number, you don't know anything.

I call in with the men on the ground, "what do we see Winters?" He's an undergraduate, barely out of Calc I. I don't even know if he's seen an epsilon/delta proof yet.

"Seems contained to the Integers sir. Subsector Z. Section Q seems like it could go at any second but R seems stable."

If something was wrong with Z it would affect Q. Everybody knew that. Most people think Q is way bigger than Z. It isn't. it just feels like more is happening.

"Ok, Winters this is what you're going to do," I kept talking into my radio as I stood up. I was getting my jacket.

"Keep everything positive if you can. Once people start thinking negative they'll try to find the root cause. Then it gets complicated."

"Yes sir!"

"And close a ring around Z. It should be closed under addition and multiplication."

"Sir, if there's a riot what should we do?"

"Open it up to Q."

"Sir?"

The kid wouldn't understand. Not yet. But I had to let him know.

"If we can open this thing to Q we'll be able to keep it contained. You can set up a field, get more units."

"Sir?"

"We'll be able to divide the whole space. We can calm it down from there. Once that's done, then we can find the identity of the bastard whose behind all this."

"Who could it be sir?"

I chuckled, there were two choses. It didn't add up if 0 was behind this.

"One choice, Winters. One."

Excellent, I am very honored. Really enjoyed your perspective!

More please

Then you find out they're Ghost/Dark pokemon. :D

"I don't care how much it costs, just get it done!"