The night before his nineteenth birthday, Glenny trembled with fatigue. His fingers were calloused and his arms scored with shallow cuts, his shirt was stuck to his chest and back, and his eyes were narrow. He circled his opponent who was still fresh and without a wound.
“Longer you wait, the more opportunities you give me,” the opponent said, his voice quiet and reserved.
That ...
2023-03-06 21:33:55 +0000 UTC View Post“I’m telling you, we are lost,” Glenny said to the group.
It was well into night at this point but the group was still in the tall, grassy, soulless savannah wilds. Since their battle with the pride of lions, they had not seen a single monster besides the benign or mundane animal. Even with Glenny’s heightened senses, there simply wasn’t anything to do but aimlessly wander.
<... 2023-03-06 21:33:01 +0000 UTC View Post“I think it’s this way,” Jude said, pointing with one hand while the other clutched the map.
“I swear, if you lead us into anotherfire ant nest, I’m going to stab you,” retorted Glenny.
Just then, a gust of wind blazed across the savannah and kicked up plenty of dry, dead grass. Trying to shield his eyes, Jude’s grip on the map slipped. The parchment took to t...
2023-03-06 21:31:44 +0000 UTC View PostThe town of Liontrunk was somewhat unusual. With its main export of alchemical mana potions and transmutations plus having a population of over half adventurers raised plenty of eyebrows. Similar producing towns were far from the front lines, oftentimes renowned for great crafters and immaculate libraries.
Liontrunk’s proximity to a dungeon made the difference. Even though the Guild sto...
2023-03-06 21:30:52 +0000 UTC View Post“I spy something… silver,” Jude said, together with Glenny and Leland.
The boys walked alongside a nine cart caravan, plenty of mounts, and more than a few Lords of Mercantile. Together, their party walked the long and twisting dirt roads, heading through the forest of Pinefield on route to Liontrunk.
“Is it Leland?” Glenny asked.
Jude snorted. “He’s a Silver...
2023-03-06 21:29:38 +0000 UTC View Post“Sixty percent?” Gilbert mused. “Whatever makes you think that?”
“Call it a mage’s intuition,” Leland replied.
“What about if I create a flame shield? Still sixty percent?”
“I don’t see why not.”
“Hmph,” Gilbert crossed his arms. “Already fine. I’ll wager that you cannot hurt me with a single spell while I have a shield active. If...
2023-03-06 21:28:37 +0000 UTC View Post“So Liontrunk it is?” Jude asked, his lips smacking and his fingers covered in grease.
Both Leland and Glenny watched on with strained eyes, a raw gurgling in their stomachs. Even the adjacent tables eyed the Berserker Legacy, their meals hardly touched.
“Can you eat any cleaner?” Leland asked. “And yes, Liontrunk it is.”
Jude let out a low burp in respons...
2023-03-06 21:27:18 +0000 UTC View PostLunch was simply a no go. Being covered in blood, while fun for a warrior, was not appreciated by restaurants or the common civilian. So the three boys split up, each heading home to wash up.
Leland walked by himself, the others having already split off to their own respective streets. As he walked, he thought about magic and curses, what his Gift could mean, and immediate plans ...
2023-03-06 21:26:14 +0000 UTC View PostA rush of wind expelled from Leland’s grimoire as it opened automatically to the second page. The spell fracture came to his mind as he extended his hand. Knowledge and knowhow flooded his mind, his Lord’s Legacy entered the spotlight. Purple budded at the tip of his middle finger and thumb, the color sparking with lifeforce and mana.
“Fracture,” Leland whispered, snappin...
2023-03-06 21:24:54 +0000 UTC View Post“Ah!” Leland blurted, pulling the blanket off his weary form.
He quickly threw on trousers and shoes, rushing as if he went too slow, he’d miss it. He paused, however, at the door of his family home. A quick check couldn’t hurt, right?
His grimoire appeared from the back of his hand, popping into existence already opened to the first page. There, he read the words h...
2023-03-06 21:22:54 +0000 UTC View PostLeland’s face crooked into a deep smile, one that pulled his cheeks to their highest arc. Movement quickly pulled his gaze, and he found an ebony crow staring at him with huge amethyst eyes.
It tilted its head, inspecting the human while silently conveying its unhappiness.
The crow, as small as it was, held the presence of a god. It looked at Leland with the ego of the heavens, th...
2023-03-06 21:21:26 +0000 UTC View PostThe lights in the small atrium dimed, casting a long shadow across the sparce audience while isolating the stage with importance. Soon a humorously dressed man stepped from behind the curtain, along with him a trail of various breeds of dogs. Some were big, others small, but they all had one thing in common.
They did not have fur, they were not fluffy. They were radiatin...
2023-03-06 21:20:11 +0000 UTC View PostThe whirl of the helicopter’s rotors ripped across the midday sky, shifting clouds and announcing its presence to those below. They passed over ocean and land, rushing to west Texas with a vengeance. Within the helicopter, Dan and Aisha sat with a few other members of the newly minted Stars task force.
While the amusement of traveling across state lines nearly at the same speed...
2023-01-23 20:14:03 +0000 UTC View Post“No, no, no,” Golden Robes shouted. “Drink from the cup, then eat the leaf. I swear sometimes you act so immature.”
Dan held off from looking at his captor, keeping his shoulders low and his attention on the platter of pain before him. While the objects were mundane and normal looking, he could feel the magical power that poured from each ingredient.
... 2023-01-23 20:11:54 +0000 UTC View PostThe stench of corpses was something Dan was long used to. Whether it be animal, monster, friend, or foe, all dead carcasses smelled the same to him. The smell wasn’t quite rotten, but it wasn’t pleasant either. It tickled his nostrils, forcing upon him repressed memories of dead miners and rancid living amalgamation of flesh.
Dan’s chest squeezed at the thought of the hunks of meat ...
2023-01-21 05:02:31 +0000 UTC View PostMetal scraped against metal as the slacked chain between Dan’s ankles dragged against the floor. The pair of overly tightened manacles dug into his skin and Achilles heel, causing a thick pad of reddened blisters to have grown where the rubbing was the worst. Every step, every time they needed him, his world became uncomfortable.
The creek of the transport vehicle’s ...
2023-01-16 07:31:12 +0000 UTC View PostA bleak and barren landscape, lifeless except for the occasional ball of flame and its encircling balls of potential. It wasn’t quite the Void, but the coloration and sense of isolation boded ill memories for Dan. He could tell it was a dream, however. The true Void was much more… exhausting.
No, Dan knew he was dreaming and that he’d soon wake up. For the first ti...
2023-01-12 02:39:37 +0000 UTC View PostAt the high priest’s words, the red double gates glinted in the backdrop. Despite being held stationary by a monstrous hand of irredeemable magic, Dan found his attention shift beyond his imprisonment. The mural along the doors called to him, sung to him, depicted events that made his blood boil.
The skeletons embedded on the doors through long tarnished bronze chains, turned t...
2023-01-12 02:28:35 +0000 UTC View Post“Authorities are coining the name ‘French Quarter Flayer’ for the perpetrator of three grisly murders. While his identity is still unknown, the authorities have stated they have an eye witness to the latest of the killings.”
“The New Orleans Police Department has given us a list of recommendations for all young women looking to visit the French Quarter. ‘Keep drinking...
2023-01-09 05:39:57 +0000 UTC View PostThe flames of the funeral pyre graced Dan’s cheeks in a forgotten way.
Sully was dead, his ashes scattered against the dome’s stale air. Dan sat alone watching the orange flames and pondered his existence. His guiding star was gone, his only friend dead, the man who kept him from falling to the madness. The man who taught him everything, the man who... who…
Deserved better. 2023-01-06 05:25:52 +0000 UTC View Post
By the time Dan’s hands were raw, the pile of crystals still loomed over him. It only took a glance to the high priest to redouble his efforts. The man did not look pleased, despite his famous smile. The other cultists continued to chant unintelligible words, each syllable a guttural growl or a sharp spiteful stab.
The sound grew in Dan’s mind, overcoming his senses and controlling hi...
2023-01-03 05:15:01 +0000 UTC View PostThe day started out like any other, cool, damp, and spitting with mania. Dan, like most mornings, used his drowsy state to dull the pain of whittling away the seals that constricted his magic. The pain never truly dulled, not really at least. Being drowsy only slowed his mind into accepting that a constant burning would be his reality for the next few minutes.
Dan wondered abo...
2022-12-31 07:43:39 +0000 UTC View PostAt some point the high priest returned, quickly snatched Golden Robes, and left the mine leaving Dan and the miners stranded at the bottom of the elevator shaft.
Golden Robe’s experimentation left a poor taste other than blood in Dan’s mouth. At some point during the agonizing effects of the core regenerating potion, he bit and gnawed his lip. What remained was a crimson mess of spit ...
2022-12-27 20:55:04 +0000 UTC View PostSlippery rock after slippery rock. Sticky handful of gravel after sticky handful of gravel.
Dan pulled at the pile of stone and flesh, each motion dislodging hidden reserves from pockets within the recently reverted hard ceiling. Light kissed his hands, healing his wounds the best his exhausted core could produce. At some point, through the hasty digging, his core sputtered out its last g...
2022-12-27 20:50:19 +0000 UTC View PostThe bright green-red lights around the camp slowly started to dim. Day was winding down, the miners finishing their tasks. Dan sighed in relief, his stomach settling into a slow mix. He and Sully sat over the camp on a cliff, watching the dying bustle like bored children on a high-rise terrace.
The older of the two was recounting his younger days, back when the camp was decently new and e...
2022-12-23 19:16:45 +0000 UTC View Post“How’s the first day been?” Lambert asked, scooting further into the rounded corner booth.
Dan set his mug of coffee down before taking the now vacant seat. He looked to the others at the table, trying, and failing, to recall their names. He had been introduced to them at the start of the day but then they had separated rather early on for training.
“It's been good,” Dan f...
2022-12-20 04:55:03 +0000 UTC View PostWith grogginess and a splitting headache, Dan read and ...
2022-12-20 04:42:13 +0000 UTC View PostEyes. Eyes everywhere.
Slaves, guards, cultists, all watched Dan as he moved about the camp. The staring compounded with the artificial fear, growing the wilted terror in his heart like a budding rose. Hairy stems thick with deadly thorns shredded into him, forcing his breath to heave and shrivel.. The eyes, they were watching him, they were tracing every moment, following and looking for...
2022-12-19 06:53:06 +0000 UTC View Post“So it’s really been a year?” Dan asked, slumped against the prison that was Sully’s cell.
Sully’s upper half lay bound in pure white light, like a troupe of spiders wrapping the ultimate feast. “Indeed.”
“I don’t understand anymore,” the frail human laughed at this. “Not like I ever understood anything.”
Dan brought his knees to his chest and tucked hi...
2022-12-19 06:50:02 +0000 UTC View PostA biting force brought Dan to his feet. He stood before the hole of the camp, slaves, cultists, and guards in all. Most had their eyes closed, their bodies shaking with unending vigor. The special few who stared at him either had well-disciplined cores or were too far gone to react. That left a minority of eyes looking elsewhere, but for some reason, Dan felt like the entire world was watching ...
2022-12-19 06:47:35 +0000 UTC View Post