Saturday, August 6, 4 S.E.
“Has he been a handful, Duchess?” Leonidas’ mother asked from behind him, as he was finalizing his outfit. “We did our best to teach him manners, but after everything that’s happened, I can only imagine he’s been as stubborn as his grandfather.”
“Phaw!” Ceruviel responded, waving an elegant hand. “Barely a peep...
2026-01-19 02:26:13 +0000 UTC View Post
Arcturus looked at the granite wolves ahead of them dubiously, standing still with Adam and Danica as Tylariel walked ahead of them towards the high gates that the wolves ‘guarded’.
Having concluded their business with Luthaire and now equipped with everything Arcturus needed to begin his training and growth in earnest—including the new set of armor Tylariel promised him he’d be e...
2026-01-19 01:06:35 +0000 UTC View Post
Saturday, 30 July, 4 S.E.
Artur Paendrag stood with his arms folded over his chest, cloak billowing in the embracing wind as he looked out at the ranks of humanity arrayed before him. Gwendolyn stood to his right, resplendent in her regalia, while Elijah stood at his left, adorned in his blue plate, red-and-white stripes painted across the cuirass. Ricardo was at...
2026-01-18 02:13:44 +0000 UTC View PostNot gonna type a big long thing, just a general note.
I just wrote an almost 4K chapter (wordcount, not image quality, KEKW) dealing with this, but I want it to be clear: I really welcome feedback regarding Leonidas' relationships.
Believe it or not, I am in fact not that confident at writing women, and while I have several phenomenal Author friends and Edi...
2026-01-17 16:58:30 +0000 UTC View Post
Friday, August 5, 4 S.E.
The day with Maryanne and Reginald had proceeded relatively productively after their initial meeting, and though no peace had really been made between his parents and Kairi, Leonidas felt decidedly optimistic about the encounter. While his haunted sister had never entirely opened up or fully relaxed, the dynamic of the four of them being ...
2026-01-17 16:04:57 +0000 UTC View PostFriday, August 5, 4 S.E.
Aylar stepped back from Leonidas’ charmingly emotional mother gently, keeping her hand on the woman’s arm as she commented on how beautiful the palace was. As she spoke, Aylar tracked Maryanne Paendrag's features, noting the subtle similarities between the tall-for-a-Terran woman and her son. Leonidas had clearly inherited his mother...
2026-01-17 08:59:31 +0000 UTC View Post-----
Friday, August 5, 4 S.E.
Reginald’s eyes widened as he and Maryanne followed Kairi through the gates of Dawnhaven.
He had first realized how organized the town—no, city—was when their daughter had escorted him and Maryanne across the ruined landscap...
2026-01-17 06:39:42 +0000 UTC View Post“Aetherblades are this way,” the massive Forgemaster said as he guided Arcturus past armor displays and glittering weapons to a wall of sword hilts at the back of the room. Even with his limited control over his powers, Arcturus could feel the magic surrounding these more than any of the other items within the showroom.
The first and most immediately obvious details were the ...
2026-01-17 01:45:17 +0000 UTC View Post
Arcturus stared at his hands in silence as voices washed over him, ignoring everyone while pondering Adam’s words. He was vaguely aware of plans to depart being made for their now-larger party, and of discussions about who would go where and what the new combination of people would be. All of it was muted to him, though; a dull buzz that held none of his interest. The words his friend had spo...
2026-01-17 01:33:53 +0000 UTC View PostHello folks! Quick update.
I am aware of a few lingering points of unresolved frustration in Books 1 & 2:
Leonidas' [Psionic Communication Skill]
The lack of Parents' perspective and Grandparents' military buildup POV.
[Platinum Chests]
Ceruviel's [Rebuild the Archon Order] Quest
Various character inconsistencie...
2026-01-17 01:06:07 +0000 UTC View PostThursday, August 4, 4 S.E.
Leonidas awoke the next day with a fresher perspective.
Aylar had come to see him after Synthra had eventually taken her leave, and the dinner he’d had with the Queen had been both reaffirming and romantic. There’d been no ratcheted sexual tension, given she was still grieving, and by the end of the meal, he’d been willingly...
2026-01-16 23:34:58 +0000 UTC View PostThursday, August 4, 4 S.E.
Kairi was, for the first time in a long while, faintly nervous.
She stood with her arms folded and the itch to rest her hands on her shortswords prevailing over all else, gaze locked on the approaching convoy as it crested the nearby hill. She’d chosen the location for the rendezvous carefully, situated at almost the exact midpo...
2026-01-16 10:40:42 +0000 UTC View Post
Wednesday, August 3, 4 S.E.
Leonidas lay on his bed with his arm over his eyes, staring at the velvet drapes of his four-poster bed in silent contemplation, attired in a simple black shirt and loose-fitting dark silk leggings. The events following his victory over Braedon had accelerated things in Dawnhaven with considerable vigor: no one had come out to challeng...
2026-01-16 06:19:08 +0000 UTC View PostTuesday, August 2, 4 S.E.
Leonidas stood silently as the last vestiges of [Cataclysm Overdrive] ticked down in his HUD, eyes staring up at the sky in enjoyment of its myriad colors. Braedon’s body lay at his feet, the Prince-Royal’s greatsword clasped in his hands, arms crossed over his torso in a position of repose. The crowd had gone silent when he’d arra...
2026-01-16 04:24:57 +0000 UTC View PostTuesday, August 2, 4 S.E.
Leonidas activated [Cataclysm Overdrive] the moment he felt Braedon’s focus and attention shift solely to the inevitable victory.
The world seemed to dilate the moment he did, the instant of his activation compressing into a single instant of total awareness of self. His [Cataclysm Core] screamed in his dantian, revving ...
2026-01-16 01:36:33 +0000 UTC View PostTuesday, August 2, 4 S.E.
Braedon received the first blow from the Terran Archon with a grunt, feeling his [Sunflare Core] accelerate within his dantian as the strike impacted his greatsword. The Alteran-forged steel weathered the blow without issue, stopping the Archon’s momentum dead as Braedon called on his [Marshal’s Dominion] and expanded a blue-lit fiel...
2026-01-16 01:36:14 +0000 UTC View PostTuesday, August 2, 4 S.E.
The days leading up to the Challenge were largely peaceful for Leonidas.
He spent them either training his swordplay and working to resist the comparative power of an Elite with Kairi, or in discussions with Aylar, Synthra, Bardulf, Parnym, and Kairi as well—outlining ideas and problems for their proposal to the Royal Council and...
2026-01-16 01:35:54 +0000 UTC View Post
Saturday, July 30, 4 S.E.
Xarina frowned at the manor house she stood outside, dressed in the local fashions with a purple blouse and matching dark ‘jeans’, as the clothier called them, complete with a snug black jacket and heeled black boots. Her [Spatial Storage Ring] remained equipped, and her blades firmly sheathed at her hips. A pair of footmen, as the l...
2026-01-16 01:35:29 +0000 UTC View Post
Saturday, July 30, 4 S.E.
Leonidas closed the door behind himself and Aylar thirty minutes later when they entered his rooms, shutting out the corridor behind them and the Royal Guards that had positioned themselves along the expansive hallway. A single objection from the gilded defenders had been raised about the Queen being alone with Leonidas, but in a surpris...
2026-01-16 01:35:01 +0000 UTC View PostSaturday, July 30, 4 S.E.
Leonidas watched as the last of the Lance-Masters exited the room, with the Royal Guard closing the doors behind them and leaving him, Aylar, Synthra, Ceruviel, Uriel, Bardulf, Parnym, Mithrander, and finally Kairi alone within the space.
For a long moment, nobody spoke until Ceruviel finally took the initiative.
“Are you a...
2026-01-16 00:00:06 +0000 UTC View PostSaturday, July 30, 4 S.E.
Synthra idly toyed with her nail as she sat in Ceruviel’s expansive meeting chamber, sitting in one of the high-backed chairs surrounding the rectangular table the Duchess used for important gatherings. Aylar sat at the head of the table, with Ceruviel and Uriel on either side of her, and a motley collection of individuals descending f...
2026-01-15 23:00:06 +0000 UTC View Post
Saturday, July 30, 4 S.E.
“[A succession crisis?]”
Xarina nodded tersely at the question, her lambent crimson eyes surveying the forest around her as she spoke to the Night Sister receiving her report. The other woman was her senior in service, which demanded a measure of careful respect, but they were ultimately still sisters—part of the same Society...
2026-01-15 00:00:06 +0000 UTC View PostSaturday, July 30, 4 S.E.
Leonidas idly spooned another mouthful of ice cream with a satisfied sigh, setting aside the bowl when he was done and looking over at his sister.
Kairi was busy doing the same, though in her case, she was using thick potato chips lathered in salt and snatching blobs of vanilla to devour as if it were the greatest thing man had eve...
2026-01-14 23:00:06 +0000 UTC View Post
Saturday, July 30, 4 S.E.
Ten minutes later, after an amusingly awkward exchange between Kairi, Uriel, Mithrander, Bardulf, Parnym, Aylar, Synthra, and Ceruviel—with only slight complaints from John and Sonya, who wanted to know about the Challenge—Leonidas settled himself comfortably into one of the armchairs in his apartments’ sitting room, looking across...
2026-01-14 00:00:07 +0000 UTC View Post
Saturday, July 30, 4 S.E.
Kairi rewarded Leonidas’ question with a punch to the gut.
Ceruviel barked a laugh when he doubled over in pain, and Kairi smiled in grim satisfaction, reaching up absently to wipe her eyes. She still couldn’t believe she’d cried—her second time seeing her idiot brother in five years, and she’d shed tears like sh...
2026-01-13 23:00:09 +0000 UTC View Post
Saturday, July 30, 4 S.E.
Leonidas watched Braedon leave the Throne Room with a satisfied smile, hands in his pockets, and a calm sense of certainty pervading his body. The three-day window opened some options for him, but he wasn’t too worried about whether he was able to pursue them. With his current experience at 5,212/18,000 and his total requireme...
2026-01-13 00:37:22 +0000 UTC View Post
Saturday, July 30, 4 S.E.
Braedon entered the Throne Room and found himself coming to a near-instantaneous halt after his first dozen paces inside.
First, he’d had to push through the inept simpletons that had tried to deny his passage, spouting some moronic idiocy about ‘protocol’ and ‘right to ascent’ as if his foolish sister weren’t already t...
2026-01-12 23:04:42 +0000 UTC View Post-----
Saturday, July 30, 4 S.E.
The doors to the Palace’s grand foyer shut behind their party after they entered, cutting out the still-echoing cheers from the massive crowd that had formed to follow Aylar’s march.
Leonidas let out a sigh of r...
2026-01-12 02:49:21 +0000 UTC View PostSaturday, July 30, 4 S.E.
Leonidas and Synthra marched behind Aylar into Dawnhaven’s gates ten minutes later.
The Queen-Potentiate strode along with purpose to her gait, flanked by Verity Durandal’s Lance of Dawnguard as they made their way into the bustling afternoon populace of the Prosperity Quarter.
The moment they entered, the crowd parted wi...
2026-01-12 00:38:22 +0000 UTC View Post