The Between moves. It’s impossible to see it, because all there is to see is nothing, but somehow I can feel the space shifting around me. Ripples of light appear beneath each of my footfalls, matching the shade of the Location spell, like a pathway is being built beneath us with every step. The spell tugs on my soul.
“What happens at the other side?” Zyneth asks. “When we reach i...
2024-06-10 12:00:01 +0000 UTC View PostBlack. Nothingness.
Between surrounds us, yet we still have our shape. We still have our glass, and void. The Prismatic is next to us, and the stone summoning circle is beneath our feet, but otherwise we’re alone in the dark. Like the base of the stadium was consumed by a dome of darkness.
This is different from other times we’ve been Between. We flex our hand, our bone...
2024-06-07 12:00:01 +0000 UTC View PostA hand grabs our shoulder and jerks us back as warmth floods through us. Zyneth steps around as we fall to the ground—our void swarms to catch us—a hand pressed to our chest even as he extends another toward Gillow, lightning flashing from his fingers. It flashes through us, too, stinging our void, bits of the essence hissing into black fog at the contact, but our glass is unharmed.
T...
2024-06-05 12:00:01 +0000 UTC View PostHere’s where the predator’s abilities become crucial.
The ocean tears at us and streams of null magic slice through our void, but we shield our core from the angry buffeting as we plunge into the depths.
We shield the arcana crystal, too. We’ve taken that with us, in case Gillow tries to do anything to stop us. But we’ll need all the mana we can get for this next stunt.
<... 2024-06-03 12:00:00 +0000 UTC View Post“Kanin!” Zyneth calls.
“I’m alright!” The void stretches as it lowers me to the ground. Once I step back to the unsteady floor, I let go of the handhold and retract my severed glass arm. “Well, mostly okay.”
“Everyone alive?” Gillow’s voice echoes through the loudspeaker.
Zyneth grimaces as he catches sight of my broken arm. “Yes, fortunately.”
...
2024-05-31 12:00:01 +0000 UTC View PostThe shadowy forms of Emrox emerge from the dark like a ghost. Pulses of blue constantly emit from the Prismatic, Gillow hyper paranoid of running into any null currents, many of which now ribbon through the nearby waters. Illuminated by our ship’s sapphire glow, the ruins of Emrox take on a phantasmal aura.
The three of us stand and watch in silence as a pillar fades into view ...
2024-05-29 12:00:02 +0000 UTC View PostI swirl my glass and void around me—thank god both of those came with—and desperately try not to panic. My glass touches nothing. My void senses only water around us, as far as it can reach, in any direction. There’s no sign of the Prismatic. Thick, oppressive silence presses in on me from every side. The predator’s presence swells again, alert and violent, trying to take contr...
2024-05-27 12:00:01 +0000 UTC View PostIn the ensuing days, just about everything except Gillow tries to kill us. There’s sharks the size of school buses. A swarm of flesh-eating jellyfish. Shadowy creatures that avoid the Prismatic’s spotlights, striking at us from the dark. I’m getting pretty damn good at controlling the ship’s limbs—enough so that I can keep the predator in check while operating all the mechani...
2024-05-24 12:00:03 +0000 UTC View PostDespite Gillow’s promise, the first day passes without incident. It’s impossible to tell time down here, so I use my Core Bond spell’s beaded bracelet to track the days. The beads slowly dim over the course of a full day, so I know by the time one bead is halfway dimmed it’s about night, and when it’s all the way out, the next day has begun—more or less. And speaking of beads, I’m...
2024-05-22 12:00:00 +0000 UTC View PostI stab it with my glass, but the shards break like they’re striking stone. I activate a Void Whip and infuse the void with my mana, straining against the tentacle. It doesn’t budge, however. I’m trapped.
“Kanin, wait!” I hear Zyneth through the water. “Don’t attack.”
“What?” I cry. Is he serious? I mean, not that my attacks are doing anything anyway, but what is ...
2024-05-20 12:00:01 +0000 UTC View PostThe horizon is purple and the sea dark, stars still glimmering overhead. I’ve been here for two and a half months now and I’m still not used to seeing so many stars in the sky.
It will be the last time I see such a sight.
“Damn,” I say. “That’s fucking beautiful. Shit.”
Zyneth is unimpressed. “If you’re just going to swear every other word, I’m going to tak...
2024-05-17 12:00:03 +0000 UTC View PostNoli (and Rezira, I guess),
Zyneth is helping me write this, so if anything doesn’t sound like me, you can blame him for taking liberties. Looks like I won’t be stopping back in Bluevine to say goodbye. Sorry this is the way you had to find out.
So, good news bad news. Good News: I found a way to retrieve my body. Bad News: The predator is back. Related New...
2024-05-16 12:00:01 +0000 UTC View Post“Oh, you’re not dead,” Gillow says when we step through their doors. They grin from behind the counter, showing off all their shark teeth. “Given all the exciting rumors I’ve been hearing, I didn’t think I’d see you again.”
Ignoring the barbs, I stride up to the counter and take out the crystal.
“Adayenig’s luck,” they breathe, reaching out for the crystal. “...
2024-05-15 12:00:01 +0000 UTC View PostIn some ways, the loud, bustling square reminds me of Harrowood. Even though I’m finally getting used to the sight of cat people selling their wares and pigeon-sized dragons delivering parcels overhead, everywhere I look are strange magical relics I’ve never seen before. A small, low cloud, which must be magical, hangs directly over the bazaar, providing pleasant shade and a very targeted r...
2024-05-13 12:00:02 +0000 UTC View PostOnce the predator realizes it can’t overpower me and take the arcana crystal—which, yes, it does try to do—it resumes talking to itself in its creepy mind-meld sort of way. It’s like in its time spent apart the two halves diverged, forming two slightly different identities, and now they have to get back on the same page again. It’s as eerie as it is fascinating.
The smaller, ori...
2024-05-10 12:00:01 +0000 UTC View Post“We should maintain a low profile for the next few days,” Zyneth finally says as we arrive back at our room. “Lay low. Let things settle.”
“You do not think Yedzaquib will come after us?” I ask.
Zyneth takes one last glance around the hall before closing the door after us and locking the bolt. “Not anytime soon—I’m fairly certain you blinded him.”
Oh shit. ...
2024-05-08 12:00:03 +0000 UTC View PostPeople are screaming, patrons streaming toward the exit. There are City Guards about as well, approaching the hole carved in the middle of the floor, but they jump back in surprise when we emerge. We sweep past them before they have a chance to decide if they want to detain us. Two belatedly follow, but we dive into the crowd and lose them.
This form is not exactly subtle. The second peop...
2024-05-06 12:00:01 +0000 UTC View PostThe void roars around us as we dive after him. Our magic wraps around his torso as we yank him back up onto the shelf. Triumph erupts through us. We saved him. We’re free. We marvel at this power, this body, as both are new, and both are familiar. We reach for more of ourself to pull from this pocket of Between—but the way is blocked. We block it. Irritation and relief—we tense f...
2024-05-03 12:00:02 +0000 UTC View Post“Hey!” I shout up to the fire mage as I hurry over to the wall. A quick Inspect takes me to the right spot. It’s three feet off the ground, but my void can reach it. The predator perks up as it catches scent of my plan. “Down here!”
Raz glances around for a moment before finding me. He frowns. “You are that same homunculus, aren’t you? The one I wanted to dissect.”
C...
2024-05-01 12:00:02 +0000 UTC View PostThe mage’s gaze darts around as he squints for the source of my voice. At least that means my spell is working. I try to relax, although given the spiders, magic web, and maybe-insane wizard just on the other side of the barrier who would likely not hesitate to hurt me again should he escape, I am not terribly reassured.
Unlike Ossina, Raz is conscious, the spider-helmet half melted on ...
2024-04-29 12:00:01 +0000 UTC View Post“Kanin!” Zyneth throws an arm out behind my back, grabbing my shoulder and stopping me from careening over the ledge. A spark of magic jolts from my glass to his hand and he sucks in a breath, but doesn’t falter.
Holy shit. I feel overcharged. Brittle. My hand is shaking, the void vibrating with magic. I grab my wrist to still the movement, only now noticing the magic there is… de...
2024-04-26 12:00:07 +0000 UTC View Post“Did you have a chance to scout this place at all?” Zyneth asks.
I step down the spiral staircase, cautious of any more spiders popping up. “Not much. It took a lot more time to walk around here when I was teacup sized.” But I explain what I do know: The fire-extinguisher floor is beneath us, and I traced the source of the magic circuit to at least another floor beneath that.
<... 2024-04-24 12:00:02 +0000 UTC View PostI shove the predator away with a barking laugh. Ay, there’s the rub. Let you take control? Not fucking likely. How about you just lend me your abilities? Or, better yet, I can just take them from you.
The predator growls. I can take its powers, yes, but I can’t wield them like it can. I have already seen that. I need it. I should let it take control.
I shudder in disgus...
2024-04-22 12:00:02 +0000 UTC View PostStreaks of water dribble down my glass as I breach and begin to take in my surroundings. The water in my crack also starts to leak out, once more causing a distinctly uncomfortable internal tickling sensation. I better find a way back out that doesn’t involve the plumbing system again.
The room is large and made of stone, lit by dozens of lights that are strung across the ceiling on mor...
2024-04-19 12:00:01 +0000 UTC View PostZyneth sits across the table from me, grimacing. I use my cloak to conceal my movements as I unstring my core from my neck and slip it out of the pouch. I set myself down on the table and unfold my legs from around my core, wobblily climbing to my feet. It’s only been a week since I last moved around in this form, but it already feels strange to be leaving my human-shaped body behind.
...
2024-04-17 12:00:02 +0000 UTC View PostThe predator is suspiciously quiet and cooperative the rest of the night. By the time Zyneth wakes, I’m up to 30 mana—not quite as high as it should be without the predator’s interference, but better than before. I make the quick decision not to tell Zyneth about the little armistice the predator and I worked out—especially when I was supposed to be figuring out a way to get rid of it. ...
2024-04-15 12:00:02 +0000 UTC View PostCall it a heart to heart, I say, projecting my thoughts toward the predator. It can probably hear me regardless, but I want to make sure it can’t ignore me. This conversation is not optional. Or, uh, heart to void. Whatever slimy organ you have in place of a moral compass.
Anger wafts from the predator as it attempts to retreat, but I grab the bond that ties our minds ...
2024-04-12 12:00:02 +0000 UTC View Post[Mana: 25/56]
[Predator Time Limit: 1.2 hours.]
“Okay,” I tell Zyneth when we get back to the inn. “This should be enough to Attune some of the void.”
Evening sunlight is trickling in through the window of our room, casting a long shadow across the predator’s bottle. Within, the predator is completely still: I’ve slipped up every now and then, and it managed to lee...
2024-04-10 12:00:02 +0000 UTC View PostGillow doesn’t even blink at my proposal to go to Emrox—a venture, apparently, many have made, and few have returned from. They don’t seem surprised when I suggest we use their sub. They don’t even ask about my nature, though that hungry look in their eyes tells me they’re dying to learn more. I’m not sure if it’s politeness or a certainty that they’ll eventually find out that k...
2024-04-08 12:00:12 +0000 UTC View Post“You have no idea what you’re suggesting,” Zyneth says, back on his feet. “Gillow is only out for themself. You can’t trust them.”
“I do not trust them,” I say. “But I do not need to trust them to buy their help.”
“Buy?” Zyneth repeats. “With what money?”
“It is my understanding they are interested in more than coins.”
Zyneth visibly pales...
2024-04-05 12:00:02 +0000 UTC View Post