Recent content by Ryssa Kalayli

Through the haze of her mind, Ryssa could still hear the shock in Maze’s voice. When she said she hadn’t been involved… she found herself believing her. The Ninja stuck, though. She wouldn’t forget that for a while, though word of this couldn’t get out. The last thing she wanted was to be seen...

Whirring. It sounded distant. The voices still went on, but their words sounded like a jumbled mess. Much like the droning of politicians in late night meetings, the ones she used to stay up for. Had she fallen asleep during one? Was this all a dream? If so, she wanted to wake up, but her mind...

Ryssa couldn’t hear the man over her own screams, and she didn’t even notice him leave the room. By then, she’d started to feel lightheaded, and the pounding in her head was getting to be too much to bear. The fire burned on and on, and it felt like it would never stop. Wouldn’t it all be better...

He already had the recording? It wasn’t possible. She hadn’t said a single thing that could have helped him, and even if the footage was doctored, it would be easy to tell that it wasn’t what she’d really meant. For all she was concerned, she’d managed to get herself a small win by not giving in...

As Ryssa made her way into the Senate building, the layers of extra security didn’t escape her. It was just as well, considering the growing threat of the Killiks. No one wanted something like Ruusan to be repeated. She walked through the scanners followed by an aide, ready and looking forward...

Her captor did nothing despite her pleas. Didn’t say a word. Through the panic that was slowly ebbing away, Ryssa recognized the lack of a response meant that everything she’d said was falling on deaf ears. This wasn’t live. However, what the man said was true. People were blind. She had been...

Ryssa didn’t have much of an option except to get up as the man asked and make her way over to the chair. All of this still felt surreal, but she did manage to put one foot after another until she was in front of the seat. Setting herself down, she was once again greeted by the cold embrace of...

The rule. What rule? Her rule? The ISC’s rule? None of that mattered. In all honesty Ryssa was barely listening to what the man was saying, and she couldn’t manage a response. She was too busy trying to accept her fate, yet she still found herself unwilling to. The strange thing was, she knew...

Ryssa’s head jerked up the moment she heard another voice and saw others entering the room. They were all she could see, the hope that burned bright and was so tangible. She was saved! She began to move toward them, but suddenly felt pressure close around her throat. No! “Let— me go,” she...

Not knowing whether or not she should fear being right, Ryssa kept her eyes on that coin in the man’s hand. She was definitely not expecting him to flip it over to her, so when he did, she couldn’t help flinching as if it were some grenade that had landed in her lap. It’s just a coin...

Hope. It was a beautiful thing, but it felt so out of reach in this dark room. The man insisted she answer, his finger brushing the trigger in an obvious attempt to threaten her. She swallowed, her breath escaping her in a little sigh. “Very well.” Heads or tails? It wasn’t even worth thinking...

Ryssa shifted uncomfortably in her seat as the coin came out again. This time, the man was asking for her to call it. She had a fifty-fifty shot… but was it really? She didn’t know whether getting it wrong or right was the better option, and even then, what stopped the man from changing his...

Ryssa thought he was going to press her further— ask her more about the aide, the evidence, maybe even try to force a confession or something of the sort from her. She was at least somewhat prepared to answer those, so his next question caught her completely off guard. This time though, it...

A closer look at the datapad out of morbid curiosity did, in fact, reveal the face of one of her aides. Taplo? It made her pause for a moment. Was there some truth to this? Had he been plotting this? Ryssa looked uncertainly at the man sitting across from her. “I’m not lying.” She wasn’t...

Was this man, in all seriousness, accusing her of plotting to assassinate Governor Xiron? This was ludicrous. He accused her of lying too, and Ryssa had just about had it. If there was anything worse than being held hostage, it was the idea of her reputation being tarnished with something like...