Chapter 149: The Airaduinë
Just north of Calder’s Landing, where it met the ocean, the long river that ran east out of the interior jungles was broad, splitting into a delta that covered miles of the coast. The further inland you travelled, however, the narrower the Airaduinë River became, fed as it was by scores of smaller streams along its course.
Keri p...
2025-04-10 19:47:40 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 148: An Eel-Bone Button
By the time market day arrived, Liv had run her students through two days of duels, along with a few other choice ideas she’d had. She conjured soldiers of ice, like she had for Matthew years ago, and sent them charging. Tephenia, Alan, Milo, the girl with the frizzy blonde hair – whose name, it turned out, was Gratia – an...
2025-04-09 19:24:10 +0000 UTC View Post168 - Embers
I understand the words in my dreams, now. They are an offer. A bargain, to reclaim my birthright.
The Journal of Decimus Avitus
☀
17th Day of High Summer’s Moon, AC 297
Awash in warm sunlight, Trist lay across a slab of ancient marble in the ruins of Vellatesia. ...
2025-04-09 11:00:08 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 147: A Shared Secret
“Are you sure about that?” Liv asked Sidonie. “Isabel died when she went with me.”
“My mind has been made up since you told me what you found down there,” Sidonie said. “The corpse of a goddess? An ancient spear? A spell that’s lasted over a thousand years? I could spend years studying any on...
2025-04-08 20:56:51 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 146: Wands and Inscriptions
That afternoon, rumors spread from the town below the bluff that the sheriff of Coral Bay would conduct a public hanging on the next market day. Liv and Wren, on their way to Professor Norris’ enchanting workshops from a session of Authority training with Celestria Ward, caught fragments of it from passing knots of students movi...
2025-04-07 20:28:39 +0000 UTC View Post167 - The Battle of Lutetia IV: Dawn
It is a hateful thing, to wait for news of the battle.
Elantia, first Queen of Narvonne
☀
17th Day of High Summer’s Moon, AC 297
Clarisant set her feet, bracing herself as the ground shook and the ocean crashed down upon th...
2025-04-05 11:00:07 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 145: A Steep Price
Liv inhaled and opened her eyes to the low murmur of voices. To her surprise, her head was still in Rosamund’s lap, while Wren, Arjun, Tephania and Sidonie were clustered about the room in the chairs they’d brought in. Archmagus Jurian was slumped back in a final chair, motionless, his staff cradled against his chest and tucked i...
2025-04-04 15:06:13 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 144: Dreams of the Past
“I’m not certain I know enough about Lucanian politics to really understand what this means,” Arjun admitted that evening, once they were all gathered around the second floor landing at High Hall.
Liv had spent the afternoon tracking down Celestria Ward, and giving the girl tips on casting silently. After that, she’d tak...
2025-04-03 14:31:20 +0000 UTC View Post166 - The Battle of Lutetia III: Loray the Archer
Throwing men at a daemon is like throwing dry wood on the fire.
The Life and Times of Legionary Titus Nasica
☀
17th Day of High Summer’s Moon, AC 297
At Lady Clarisant’s words, Henry drew an arrow and fitted it to the string of his black Ieba...
2025-04-02 19:02:23 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 143: Wisps Left Behind
“Now,” Jurian said, “show me your progress with silent casting.”
Wren drew a dagger and swiped it at Liv’s neck in a single, swift motion, but Liv was ready for her, and parried with a blade of ice that formed instantly in her hand. Once the block was made, Wren immediately withdrew her dagger and sheathed it. Liv...
2025-04-02 18:59:48 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 142: Forgotten Students
After saying goodnight to Sidonie, Liv sat at the small desk in her bedchamber and unfolded the letters from Whitehill. There was one from Beatrice, and another from Julianne, which was sealed with wax.
“What’s the news, m’lady?” Thora asked, as she brushed out Liv’s hair for the night.
“Triss says ...
2025-04-01 19:44:51 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 141: Reunions
By the time Liv managed to finally make it up to the second floor of High Hall, it was well into the afternoon, and the students who had only a single class after luncheon were milling around the courtyard at the center of the campus. After a long, rainy winter, the heart of flood season at Coral Bay had quickly brought heat and sun, and the st...
2025-03-31 13:34:21 +0000 UTC View Post
What do you all think, border or no border?
2025-03-30 22:02:44 +0000 UTC View Post165 - The Battle of Lutetia II: The Lion Rampant
The fact that Narvonne’s first king was a general - the most successful commander of the age, by any reckoning - has shaped the character of our royal family ever since.
François du Lutetia, A History of Narvonne
☀
17th Day o...
2025-03-29 11:42:13 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 140: Repercussions
By the time Liv, Wren and Arjun had walked as far as the training grounds and the stables, having passed the inns and shops of Coral Bay along their way, they were noticed by students moving in between their classes for the day.
The college had been nearly empty when Liv left it a month ago, at the very beginning of spring, but...
2025-03-28 19:11:23 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 139: Shares
If she’d been at Whitehill or Coral Bay, Liv would have gotten back to running as a way to rebuild her stamina. Three weeks lying in a bed had left her weak, and it was frustrating how years of training could vanish between the moment she’d closed her eyes at the bottom of the Well, and when she’d woken on a bed in the upper levels of Akela...
2025-03-27 23:49:44 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 138: The Trap
Another evening of circulating mana, a morning meal, and a wash with a wet cloth all left Liv feeling marginally more prepared to play at politics. She would much have preferred to have Duchess Julianne there to handle something like this, but like anything else, sometimes you had to do things yourself. There was a reason the noblewoman h...
2025-03-26 21:20:34 +0000 UTC View Post164 - The Battle of Maʿīn II: The Shaking Earth
It remains a question open for debate as to which was responsible for more death: The Sun Eater, who caused a famine by stealing the light from the world; or the Plague Dancer, who spread sickness from province to province.
The Commentaries of Aram ibn Bashear
Chapter 137: Inscriptions
Liv drifted in and out of dreams, and in and out of pain.
When the pain grew too great, so that she writhed on the mattress and tore at her bandages, hands held her down and opened her mouth. The taste of whatever they put between her lips was bitter, and she tried to spit it out. Afterward, however, the pain would b...
2025-03-25 19:15:41 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 136: The Cenote
It had taken weeks to make their way north through the jungles of Varuna, using short, chopping swords to hack a path as they went. Keri had almost immediately grown to detest the heat, the heavy moisture of the air, and the constant annoyance of buzzing insects.
Airis Ka Reimis and his young son, Livari had proven surprisingly vital du...
2025-03-24 19:50:56 +0000 UTC View Post163 - The Knight and the Dragon
I hear voices, in the night. They speak to me of the gate, and how to open it, and what lies beyond.
I hope my sister returns soon.
The Journal of Decimus Avitus
☀
17th Day of High Summer’s Moon, AC 297
Trist sucked in a ...
2025-03-22 11:00:11 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 135: Torrent
Liv met Commander Jagan’s eyes without looking away. She had the sense that the slightest show of weakness, of hesitation, would invite an immediate attack. Silently, she pled with the man to just go away. The only person she’d ever deliberately killed was Karis, the Antrian, but he’d been a willing servant of Ractia. Thi...
2025-03-21 12:54:04 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 134: One Frozen Moment
“A second waystone?” Commander Jagan scoffed. “Impossible. Why would there be two at the same rift?”
“I can think of at least one good reason,” Liv said. “If I were a goddess, doing – well, whatever it is she was doing, down here – I wouldn’t want to walk up and down those stairs every time I...
2025-03-20 19:19:02 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 133: At the Bottom of the Well
The soldiers at Jagan’s side stiffened; Liv knew they couldn’t understand her words, but she hadn’t bothered to hide the anger in her tone. For the first time, she wondered whether the commander had deliberately chosen to bring men with no knowledge of Lucanian. He, General Mishra, Vivek Sharma - all of them had lea...
2025-03-19 19:12:38 +0000 UTC View Post162 - The Battle of Lutetia I: Lure
There’s nothing I like more than to catch some poor bastard with his pants down.
The Life and Times of Legionary Titus Nasica
☀
17th Day of High Summer’s Moon, AC 297
It was a comfort to be cared for again by Anais, who had not only accompanied the army to...
2025-03-19 11:00:09 +0000 UTC View Post
Still lots to do, of course, but you can get a sense of the broad strokes of color now!
2025-03-18 21:08:08 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 132: Descent
The next morning, after a quick meal, Liv and the rest of her team assembled in the corridor in front of the repaired fourth gate. A crew of labourers must have labored through the night, she realized, but a new portcullis was in place, and a set of stout doors hung on new hinges. Half a dozen armored guards stood watch there, but they mus...
2025-03-18 13:41:47 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 131: A Light in the Darkness
“Aluthet Aiveh Avia!” Liv shouted, dashing for the lip of the abyss. A shining gyrfalcon of brilliant blue mana, veined with gold, formed to her intent, and she jumped onto its back, throwing her arms around the construct’s neck.
The conjured raptor tucked its wings and dove down into the shaft. Thick, overwhelm...
2025-03-17 20:23:06 +0000 UTC View Post
Was just sent this from the publisher (yes, I asked permission to share!)
Very much looking forward to seeing the final set!
2025-03-17 13:21:12 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 130: The Abyss
By the time Liv made it back to the barracks where the journeymen had been housed — delivered first to the gates of the fortress by Vivek Sharma, and then led through the halls by a helpful guard — it was growing late. When she stepped into the room, she saw that everyone was engaged in their own preparations.
Wren sat cross legged on the...
2025-03-16 13:29:36 +0000 UTC View Post