JWWalters

Chapter Thirty-Nine: Anger

Chapter Thirty-Nine: Anger

Tom grit his teeth, trying to suppress the agitation boiling inside of him. Their small group was travelling directly through the Grounds, aiming to hit the exit of the western trade road where it left the Deep Green and ran onwards to Horizon, tiny ships sailing across an unending sea of pale sere brown.

Tom couldn’t believe this set ba...

Chapter Thirty-Eight: The Road Home

Chapter Thirty-Eight: The Road Home

Weary footsteps beat a soft, rhythmic tattoo on the hard packed dirt of the northern trade road. The quiet murmur of voices provided a soft harmony to the never-ending susurrus of grass in the wind. The expedition, now much reduced, limped home towards Horizon.

The expedition had continued on throughout the night, healing the woun...

Chapter Thirty-Seven: Running Battle

Chapter Thirty-Seven: Running Battle

Tom was tired. He couldn’t ever remember being so bone-weary. Not during the Reaping, when he had spent days abused by orcs and then more fleeing through a forest with only a handful of skills to his name, or during the guerilla war in the Deep, when they had spent months trekking back and forth, constantly laying ambushes and fendin...

Chapter Thirty-Six: Pursuit

Chapter Thirty-Six: Pursuit

Tom wrenched his spear from the corpse of an orc, and the brute collapsed bonelessly into the long grass. Sesame roared, and a cloud of razor sharp shards of obsidian peppered an approaching pack of winewolves even as Tom’s spear lashed out and claimed the orc’s life.

Tom wheeled Sesame around as a bar of fire flashed into the night s...

Chapter Thirty-Five: A Wing and a Prayer

Chapter Thirty-Five: A Wing and a Prayer

Tensions rose all through the next day. The expedition was surrounded by at least one hundred of the huge, savage orcs, with more filtering in. The fact that they were only keeping pace at a distance, shadowing them, was only cause for more tension.

It was unlike any previous orc behaviour, whether from the Deep, or from that...

Chapter Thirty-Four: Grinding on

Chapter Thirty-Four: Grinding on

The first week went well for the expedition. They encountered the usual problems: attacks by beasts, some interpersonal friction, a handful of injuries resulting from them, but these were expected on any foray outside of a fortress city.

They made good time, forging northwards into the Grounds. They saw no signs of orcs, though, nor ...

Chapter Thirty-Three: Vacation

Chapter Thirty-Three: Vacation

The first several days of travel were uneventful. The expedition was attacked regularly, but it was no issue for the bloody monks.

They had all trained in the Proving Grounds. They all made regular pilgrimages to far off lands, and to do so, they had to travel across the Grounds and back again. Fending off attacks while travelling with...

Chapter Thirty-Two: Details

Chapter Thirty-Two: Details

The next day, Tom and Rosa hiked back up to the monastery before dawn. In the cool mountain air, they found the expedition, mostly ready to go, waiting only on Abbess Sunrise and some senior monks in a last minute conference with Sunset.

Tom and Rosa joined Darius, who flashed them a handsome grin, and together, the three of them waited, ...

Chapter Thirty-One: Family Time

Chapter Thirty-One: Family Time

As Tom’s martial skill improved, so did his geopolitical, economic, tactical and strategic understanding. As the expedition drew closer to leaving, he found himself reminiscing on his time in the Deep, the siege, and its aftermath.

Although he had continued to improve, had uplifted several more skills, the infestation here in the Pr...

Chapter Thirty: Preparations

Chapter Thirty: Preparations

The next week was a blur of frenetic activity as the monastery prepared for the expedition. As Tom and Rosa had entered the monastery for the first time, he had noted the hustle and bustle, thinking to himself that the level of activity could not be regular.

He was correct. The monks had already been hard at work, both preparing for the ...

Chapter Twenty-Nine: Faith

Chapter Twenty-Nine: Faith

Tom tensed, expecting Lyanna to burst into immediate action, but the brawny woman simply closed her eyes and inclined her head. She intoned a steady stream of prayer under her breath.

“O Goddess, Peerless Warrior, hallowed in name and deed, strengthen my arm as yours is strong so that I may strike down those of little faith. Strengthen m...

Chapter Twenty-Eight: Gambit

Chapter Twenty-Eight: Gambit

Silence hung in the hall like an indrawn breath. For a moment, pure shock grasped everyone’s throats.

Tom smiled as a wall of sound roared and broke over him. The monks clapped and stamped so hard he could feel it in the ancient marble floor through his boots. The noise was so raucous, so overwhelming, that Tom felt his health regenera...

Chapter Twenty-Seven: Flawless

Chapter Twenty-Seven: Flawless

Monks roared with approval as the duel ended. They stamped their feet and clapped, whistling and yelling their approval.

Rosa simply stood, watching Abbess Sunrise and Abbot Sunset with an even expression. Both looked vaguely amused.

“Well,” Sunrise said when the hubbub died down. “It seems that the blood of Horizon still r...

Chapter Twenty-Six: Smoke and Mirrors

Chapter Twenty-Six: Smoke and Mirrors

“You must prove yourselves,” Abbess Sunrise said with a feline smile.

Tom shrugged. He was keen to train against the monks while he was here anyway, but he didn’t think they’d actually indulge him. He was not so keen on the implication that he and Rosa would either not be a challenge for the monks, or would lose their ne...

Chapter Twenty-Five: Sunrise and Sunset

Chapter Twenty-Five: Sunrise and Sunset

“The Monastery of the Bloody Dawn welcomes Wayrest,” the Abbess said. “We have much to discuss.”

Her voice was deep and husky, but her tone was surprisingly light. She did not smile though, and fierce intelligence lit in her hooded eyes as she appraised them minutely.

She seemed young for someone in such a powerf...

Chapter Twenty-Four: The Monastery of the Bloody Dawn

Chapter Twenty-Four: The Monastery of the Bloody Dawn

Tom took a deep breath and grasped Rosa’s hand as they made their way to the small gates at the back of Horizon.

He was nervous about the upcoming meeting, but grateful that he wouldn’t be the one doing the bulk of the negotiating. That task was for Tanya. Using her long range communication skill under Trade ...

Chapter Twenty-Three: Reunion

Chapter Twenty-Three: Reunion

Rosa slumped in her seat, arms crossed, trying her hardest to manifest the Ideal of Scowling.

“Oh, Rooosiee, you didn’t!” her sister Talia screeched.

Tom was regaling them with a story about Rosa. She had gotten overly cross with him at one point while they were fighting the guerilla war. In a temper, she had sent a bar of f...

Chapter Twenty-Two: Horizon

Chapter Twenty-Two: Horizon

It took them another half an hour to ride up the gently sloping river valley to Horizon. Tom could tell Rosa chafed at the delay, and yet they could not gallop down the road without alarming both the workers tending the fields and the guardsmen.

Soon they reached the gates of Horizon. The city had only one entry. The massive red wall that...

Chapter Twenty-One: Proven

Chapter Twenty-One: Proven

Peach light filtered softly from the dawn sky. They had woken in darkness and been on the road with the moon still crisp in the black velvet canvas above. The feet of their familiars drummed a steady beat on the road. The ever-present smell of grass hung heavy in the air as the day began to form its heat.

Anticipation lay in the lines of e...

Chapter Twenty: Parliamentary Deliberations

Chapter Twenty: Parliamentary Deliberations

“Right, then, Tom Cutter, let us get your uplift dealt with so we can go,” Rosa said.

“Are you sure?” He said, enjoying teasing them after they’d made him wait. “We could always go over yours and Darius’ again.”

Darius snorted, but Rosa was not impressed. “Do or don’t, Tom. I don’t care. I n...