Title: Yeti
Author: S J Smith
Word Count: 259
Rating: K+
Characters: A Briggs soldier, a monster.
Summary: There are monsters in the Briggs Mountains.
Disclaimer: *bows to the rising sun and Arakawa*
Warning: Present tense, 2nd person POV.
A.N.: Thanks to D. M. Evans for the first lookover.
A.N. 2: Written for the Live Journal community, fma_fic_contest, prompt 62, "quiver". The story won third place. :D
You hunch into your jacket, shivering. The cold winter breeze trickles down your spine like a spill of ice water and you wish you knew what the hell you were doing out here. Drachma doesn't move in the winter months – nothing much does: the snow, the Drachma raiders and the troops of Briggs.
The mountain fortress commands the area with its queen on her throne – but even her might hasn't been enough to curtail the raids against outposts and scouts. The men have been left behind, stripped of weapons and food – particularly food – and only speak in quavering whispers of a whirling fury appearing out of the snow before everything goes black.
The locals tell stories of giant monsters – Yeti, you remember they're called - and the men are almost starting to believe in them but the queen waves off such frivolity. You shift your weight, remembering yesterday's meeting with Armstrong and her adjutant, Miles. "Be careful," she'd said, "don't hesitate," and you know by the ice-cold stare of her blue eyes she wouldn't, that she'd gut her attacker with one sweep of her sword. You flex your fingers on the stock of your rifle, tilting your head to peer through the scope.
Nothing but white, a sheet of snow, and suddenly, it's black.
Your head jerks up in time to see a foot smash into your face. Your belly quivers and, just before you pass out, you see a cheeky grin amidst a whirl of dark hair –
- then the monster disappears back into the snow, leaving you fainting and shivering.
A.N. 3: Some of my stories have been nominated at the Dot Moon UFO awards. I'd love it if you'd head over there and check them out! I've been nominated under both pen names of S J Smith and Evil Little Dog. The link is: http: / www (dot) dotmoon (dot) net / awards / Voting is only going on for a little while longer!
- SJS