Yesteryear Fiction

Old Laws
By Amanda Firefox


“What’s this?” Bugge folded neatly as he bent over, picked up the odd bronze and silver chain that glinted on the floor. “Looks like we aren’t the first ones to come this way.”

“What is it? Aranhya asked, dancing tip-toe to his side and grinning full on, the colors in her hair bright, curious.

“Janglebits.” Bugge exhaled tiredly, held the chain up, inspected it carefully. “Definitely Dwomish, pre-dynastic. Hmmm.”

Aranhya glanced around the cave, walls like brown crystal glass catching the light of her colors oddly, refracting them back and forth, sending them bouncing through tiny, glossy passages that disappeared off and out of sight. Lips pursed, hand tapping tick-tock motions across her cheek.

“Do you think the Mind realizes we’re here?”

“Oh, probably.” Bugge shrugged, pushed the janglebit into one grubby pocket. He looked up slowly, grinned. “I think it likes your colors, Aranhya. Most Auralarans who travel the Ways are so bright that the Mind can’t appreciate their colors without burning out synapses in the process. It’s sad that more of your people don’t journey into the Intermension when they are as young as you.”

“Fajah always said that there were reasons why the old laws existed.” Aranhya said absently, reaching out and touching the crystal, watching as it withdrew from her gentle caress.

“Yes, there are always reasons for the old laws.” Bugge sighed. “I just hope that bringing you into the flux of the Intermension doesn’t turn out to be more dangerous than meeting the Jannusi head on would have been.”


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A Note from the Author: I never expected the Aranhya and Bugge tales to really go anywhere initially, but I found myself so attracted to these characters that I decided to keep writing their stories, out of sequence of course.

Amanda Firefox is a fiery little blue-eyed brunette who spends as much time at the beach as she can manage. She doesn't write much, but when she writes, it's almost always about her favorite subject: boys.