WiP - Another 366 Days of Flash Fiction: Risky Business

 Exploring worlds a long way from my own possibilities - flash fiction is where I go to play.

Risky Business

The scent of the roses hung like curtains of burgundy around us, heavy drapes of a honeyed velvet richness it sat like chocolate on our tongues. Breathing became a meal of overpowering sweetness. It cloyed on our tongues saturating our lungs in candy. It was like drowning in syrup, too strong, but never strong enough.

Toward dusk honeysuckle and violets added their own blends, and we marched on, forcing one foot in front of the other.

“Are we there, yet?” Carlie asked, and I lifted my head, peering through the pollen’s shimmer toward where the trail led.

The arch had grown to a gateway, and our approach had been noticed. Already, the great wooden barriers were being swung open, men and women in gleaming armor waving for us to hurry.

“We can make it if we run,” I told her, and around us the team broke into a shambling run.

The honeyed depths of the Orion’s Chasm held a wealth of seed and spore, but it held predators, too…and the creatures that claimed it as their own were hyperactive in its defense. We had a small window to enter and leave through…and it was nearly done.

Carlie and I brought up the rear, holding our fear in check as we shepherded the gatherers inside, and not objecting when the gatekeepers seized our arms and dragged us through seconds before the gates slammed shut.

“Was it worth it?” I asked, indicating the tables where the gather was being collected and sorted.

The gatekeeper holding onto my arm glanced at the sorters, listening to the reply over his comms. The smile he turned to Carlie and I was beatific.

“One more take like that will put the expedition in the black.”

The gates rang with the impact of several armored bodies and I jumped.

The gatekeeper’s smile faded.

“Take any more risks like that,” he added, “And the captain will ground you, gratitude or not.”