Now that the Woodblades were officially a tribe again, and the Magmablades’ hidden den was no longer hidden, several of the pups Kyla knew were gone, while others had come from the main den. These had never really had a den-mother before, and while the older pups were doing their best to help them, they had a lot of catching up to do. When Kyla snuck off to the side and summoned her power, Si...
2025-01-08 01:23:15 +0000 UTC View PostIf you were a character in Broken Knife, and you met someone who could answer questions about Qiangde, his court, the making of the kobolds, etc, what questions would you ask? Not that I'm saying such a person exists, or that they would answer any such questions (that's a big ask) but if you could. What gaps need filling?
Assume you won't get many questions, so make it count. (NO...
2025-01-07 02:50:31 +0000 UTC View Post“-and then she went into the Luzhijia!” Kyla finished, looking from Lianhua to Yingtao. They were standing in the human hut, with no one else around, but as soon as Kyla started talking, both females became serious, and Lianhua drew something on her hand.
Yingtao’s calm mask was back in place, so she only gave a thoughtful frown, but Lianhua shook her head. “Luzhijia<...
2025-01-07 02:43:56 +0000 UTC View PostChapter Twenty-three -
As soon as Pandy hit the ground - or rather the shrubbery - her wings vanished, which was exactly what happened in the game. Wings of Glory was a spell that took a lot of Stamina, and lasted only until the next time Clara landed. Because it was so Stamina-intensive, Pandy usually only used it if she chose to ‘Go for help’ when Kaden was injured, and if she...
2025-01-05 23:18:51 +0000 UTC View PostKyla lay on her side, staring as Mei licked her first pup, cleaning away the fluids and other things that coated its skin. It was barely larger than Kyla’s thumb, its dark eyes visible beneath fragile eyelids, and its ears and tail were barely more than nubs. The little creature was also completely hairless, so Kyla couldn’t tell what kind of metals it had taken in during its time in Mei’...
2025-01-03 22:12:19 +0000 UTC View PostAs with most of the other ‘secret’ doors Kaz had found, this one was decorated with a map. It focused on the mid-levels, and for the first time, he was able to pick out the rune for the number seven, carved from stone and painted in a rich, deep red. Not terribly surprisingly, the sevens marked the levels he’d just passed through, though he was startled to see that the level containing th...
2025-01-03 02:15:45 +0000 UTC View PostThe voice sounded like a whole tribe howling at once, with an odd echo as the last tone faded away. Kaz froze as it entered his mind, but Li was already moving, dipping her shoulder as she pushed against his back.
<Get on,> she said, <or I’ll pick you up and carry you away in my claws.>
Kaz had no doubt she would do exactly that, but the one thing they hadn’t account...
2025-01-01 23:05:01 +0000 UTC View PostThey checked all seven arms of the cavern, finding dragon skeletons down three of them. There were broken eggshells in several of the egg alcoves, though always in the first hundred or so down a new cavern. They didn’t find any sign of dead hatchlings, so perhaps those eggs simply crumbled after years of neglect?
All evidence supported Kaz’s guess that the dragons - or had it been the...
2025-01-01 04:15:36 +0000 UTC View PostThe pit was deep, and with the unknown binyi-thing possibly at the bottom of it, Kaz and Li didn’t dare fly down quickly. Instead, Li glided as much as possible, flying in tight circles by making minute adjustments of her wings, then flapping a few times to drop as far as they could see in Kaz’s ki-light.
This was only possible because she didn’t quite grow to her largest s...
2024-12-30 23:02:07 +0000 UTC View PostStill working on those images, but I'm using this one on Royal Road to try to get more people interested in Lucky Rabbit, so you get it first!
As soon as the front door opened, Pandy could hear the subdued murmur of many voices coming from the dining room. This room was usually only used for dinner, with breakfast, lunch, or tea taken in the conservatory or outside in the garden. Geraldine clasped Thaniel’s hand and pulled him along after her, with Miss Cupcakes running along behind and Pandy still clutched in Thaniel’s other arm....
2024-12-30 05:36:16 +0000 UTC View PostThey were out of paints and charcoal, and the wall was less than half done. Still, it was enough to see the outline of several winged xiyi figures, and bring out details of the rectangles behind them, which were easily recognizable once they had depth and color.
“So the hoyi didn’t create the alcoves where they keep the eggs,” Kaz said, using his finger t...
2024-12-28 01:23:44 +0000 UTC View PostWhen I first write these chapters, I really am focused on getting the story down. I won't say it's like a fully-fleshed outline, because it's definitely more than that, but there's a lot going on, and I want to make sure the story doesn't get derailed. (Which is a shockingly easy thing to have happen.)
As a result, sometimes I miss the actual character's reactions (lik...
2024-12-27 19:59:48 +0000 UTC View PostThere were a surprising number of rooms in the first two towers, so it took a while to explore. In the process, Kaz realized that someone had indeed lived here, or at least planned to do so. Most of the towers were taken up with small rooms containing carved stone beds that were more like those humans used than the piles of furs kobolds used when they got the chance. There were also ‘tables...
2024-12-26 23:02:41 +0000 UTC View PostThere were so many kobolds crammed into the cavern that Kyla couldn’t even count them all, and every one of them was looking at her. Well, that might have been a bit of an exaggeration, but not much of one, and while Kyla used to think everyone paying attention to her would be a good thing, now she wasn’t so sure.
She had just finished her howl, telling them about the journey to Cliff...
2024-12-25 02:10:25 +0000 UTC View PostThe howl was about to begin, and Kyla’s stomach felt like she’d swallowed a dozen jiyun grubs without chewing. Not only was this the first howl she’d ever attended that was for her, but Ija had solemnly informed her that this was also the first full howl which would include both the old Magmablades and the new Woodblades. Worse, many of these new Woodblades had been...
2024-12-24 03:37:03 +0000 UTC View Post
The next week passed with no sign of Lian’s return. Thaniel asked about his brother every day at breakfast, but the answer was always a soft, understanding smile and the words, “You’ll be the first to know when we hear anything.” Soon enough, he only seemed to ask out of a sense of duty, not because he actually expected his brother to return in time for his birthday.
Thaniel and G...
2024-12-23 01:22:58 +0000 UTC View Post“The Dragon?” Kaz repeated, while Li turned her gaze on the core before them with sudden interest.
Heishe sighed, nudging the silent core with her nose almost as if she expected it to wake and speak to her. It didn’t, of course, but she curled around the remnants of its resting place almost protectively.
<loong was my sister,> Heishe murmured. <one of the eldest. she ...
2024-12-20 23:13:25 +0000 UTC View PostThe wall twisted, but unlike the other hidden doors Kaz had found in the mountain, this one carried the floor with it as well. Stone ground against stone as what seemed like half the cavern dropped into a pit, making Li dig her claws into Kaz’s shoulder as she instinctively flapped her wings, trying to lift them both back up. Kaz glanced down, and the bright lights of formerly quiescent ki-cr...
2024-12-20 00:27:45 +0000 UTC View PostStuck on gift ideas? Skip the socks and give the gift of a subscription to The Broken Knife (and maybe even Lucky Rabbit!)—where stories come to life, and your loved one gets exclusive content (and your cool factor skyrockets). Plus, it's way better than that fruitcake you've had stashed in your closet for a year.
<Those are hoyi?> Li asked, staring at the horde of insects scurrying through the cavern below. They stood on the stairs that led into the hoyi nest, and from there into the mines. Kaz had told Li that the largest ki-crystals were found here, and she’d insisted they see if there was a way to gather some without the hoyi knowing they were there.
A dozen puppies ran in circles beneath Li, barking and leaping up toward her dangling tail-tip. This was particularly amusing because not all of them were kobolds, and the tiny round-pups rolled and tumbled like fluffy toys.
Over the last day or so, Kaz had learned quite a bit about these new little creatures. Like the adults, their flat hands and long claws weren’t good at fine movemen...
2024-12-18 02:08:06 +0000 UTC View PostKyla stared at Ija, and for the first time in a long time, she didn’t know what to say. Usually, she was ready with a story or, better yet, a distraction, but there was no talking her way out of this. She had left the mountain without telling anyone where she was going or why, and though they knew her well enough to guess, guesses weren’t knowledge.
Before spending these last few week...
2024-12-17 07:48:21 +0000 UTC View Post<Minor Heal. Minor Heal. Minor Heal. Min->
Casting of Minor Heal successful. 5.26% experience gained towards next level.
You have no Mana. Using Life Force instead.
Healed Pandora for 2 LF.
Minor Heal triggered the instant Pandy set a paw inside the library. As far as she was concerned, that was enough to confirm t...
2024-12-16 06:14:33 +0000 UTC View PostMei lay in the little nest her Monster had made for her. She could feel her young move in her belly, and somehow knew that they would be born in only a few more days. That would be good, because she was tired of carrying them around. She was meant to be graceful and silent, and now she laid in her nest, allowing the Monsters to bring her food. It was not her favorite time, though even Silent Mo...
2024-12-14 05:07:10 +0000 UTC View PostKaz and Li had been slowly slinking closer and closer to the door for at least half an hour. Or, if Kaz’s mental time-keeping was correct, a minimum of three days. The people in the room didn’t even need him any more, not now that they had gotten past the bit with all the yelling. Husede were far more emotional than Kaz had realized, and he longed to be elsewhere by the time t...
2024-12-13 07:01:25 +0000 UTC View Post“Are you still there?” Dax asked quietly as a large husede male stepped toward the pedestal. Several other people had been waiting for this platform, but Dax had insisted upon having it ‘to himself’ so that no one would bump into or step on Kaz and Li. This had made the group of mostly husede mutter among themselves, but they’d yielded and now waited impati...
2024-12-12 05:10:54 +0000 UTC View PostKaz hadn’t offered his name, any more than Dugo had, but obviously his blue fur had given him away. He wasn’t sure he liked having strangers know who he was, but it did explain why Dugo had been so willing to guide Kaz to this hidden place. If the other kobolds really did believe Kaz had slain Zhangwo, then they might feel… Honestly, he wasn’t certain. It would be like meeting a kobold ...
2024-12-11 06:07:16 +0000 UTC View PostThe bright lights of the yumi fields shone down as Kaz allowed his wet paws to dry naturally, rather than using red ki to hurry the process along. He and Li had spent the last hour or so slowly wandering through the fields, watching as gatherers cut down the stalks and pulled thick roots from the shallow water. Most of them were kobolds, but there were a few husede a...
2024-12-09 22:34:30 +0000 UTC View Post