Chapter 14
Walking along the river made for far slower passage, even with Magnus’ help in finding paths to take that would allow him to not have to wade through bushes or clinging vines that lined the riverbank.
Casey kept with the plan, though. He followed the riverbank north, doubling back to check and look for any sign of the spindle-shaped island in either direction...
2024-12-27 09:00:03 +0000 UTC View Post
Hope you all have had a great year and are looking forward to the next. Thankfully for Desmond here, the Chloe-Krampus is gonna be a bit more gentle than the normal one might be!
2024-12-24 15:23:20 +0000 UTC View PostDays bled away and the competition that we had been preparing for was soon upon us.
I’d still not figured out a way to diplomatically ask Cariad if she’d let me touch her and see if the entropy magic would protect me from the consequences that may have very well been why she was willing to be around someone like me.
I knew I was falling into my old habits of self doubt, but it w...
2024-12-24 09:00:06 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 13
When they left Hrefna’s house a few minutes later, Maude was clearly lost in thought. Casey, rather than interrupt her line of thinking, set about taking care of his errands. While he’d recently had the chance to refresh his supplies in Oakwatch, he still visited the market to replace what he’d eaten and check for anything of value there. The number of gold hor...
2024-12-23 09:00:07 +0000 UTC View PostI gave both Cerebaton’s warning and his suggestion several days to percolate in my mind. One thing that kept slowing me down was the realization that, while I was undoubtedly interested in Cariad, I had a very full plate at the moment. Between the relationship I already had with Kassandra and Rieka, adding in the obvious interest that Shayla was showing and the bits and pieces I was seeing fr...
2024-12-21 09:00:04 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 12
Casey chatted with Arvid about inconsequential things as they walked. The two drengr in the lead would chime in on occasion, but for the most part they seemed to be content to listen to the two men talk with the occasional huff or grunt from Magnus.
It was actually rather nice to talk to someone reasonable, besides Maude. Casey didn’t quite count Magnus as re...
2024-12-20 09:00:03 +0000 UTC View Post“Liam, you have picked up what I can teach you with a sword and a mace with surprising speed.” Cerebaton’s blunt statement brought me to a halt as I reset for our next round.
It was another Tuesday night, and I had spent most of the day working through my thoughts with the different powers to take—knowing I’d need to make a decision soon—and had been looking forward to the min...
2024-12-17 09:00:05 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 11
Magnus, in his interminable style, made friends immediately with the drengr of the Oak Horde. Once Arvid got over the start of having something so big creep up on him, he immediately began to rummage in his pouch for some dried fruit to offer the big animal. When Magnus accepted the fruit with aplomb and grace, the others all crowded around to have a look.
The ...
2024-12-16 09:00:03 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 8
“I cannot linger for long right now, my child, but I want to let you know that I have never abandoned all of you. I just couldn’t rally the power to do anything like this.” Thera gestured to her ghostly self, her foxy tail flicking behind her before it narrowed slightly to match Sienna’s as a wolf tail.
“No! Do not apologize, Pack Lady. We knew you had...
2024-12-15 09:01:02 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 7
Koda chased the Crooked forces until they reached the narrow paths that lead up and out of the low valley. He swung the oversized meat cleaver that the Crooked champion had once wielded like he was beating dirty rugs with it, hacking down foes with abandon.
A rage gripped his soul. All Koda saw of these gnarled and twisted monsters was the danger that they repre...
2024-12-15 09:00:04 +0000 UTC View PostHaving spent so long struggling to get by, working in a shitty job, and having to put up with so much bullshit to make ends meet gave me a strong sense of work ethic. That translated into my need to be up relatively early each morning, being productive. Either by working on my Shape-Shifting or the Manipulate Element practice I’d been doing recently...
2024-12-14 09:00:02 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 10
Given the chaos Casey had left in his wake, he pushed himself hard to make as much distance as possible. The escape from the town had been flawless, and if he hadn’t ended up running across the trio of idiots on the road outside, it would have meant he could travel easy. But with the unknown behind him regarding whether those he’d fought had actually gotten the g...
2024-12-13 09:00:06 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 6
By the time Koda hit the edge of it, the camp was already in disarray.
The other three hunting parties had waited only moments for the group that was pursuing their fellows to exit the camp before they shoved the prepared logs and rocks over the cliff edge to crash into the tents.
Someone had even managed to get one of the large logs to land in the cooking...
2024-12-11 09:01:03 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 5
“So, what is the plan, Sienna?” the bear-featured man said once Koda and Sienna had crept back into the trees so that the other hunters could talk to them more easily.
The group crowded around, though none besides Sienna got within arm’s reach of Koda.
“I don’t think they’ve started twisting any of the captives. Probably still recovering from b...
2024-12-11 09:00:05 +0000 UTC View Post“I still can’t get over how well you handled Valda in the fight the other day!” Kassandra’s cheer was infectious as the dwarf lamia slithered along at my side, grinning happily while she swayed.
“It was just sparring,” I reminded her carefully. “If we’d been in an actual fight, I’m sure there would have been injuries all around. She spent most of Wednesday kicking my but...
2024-12-10 09:00:08 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 9
It turned out that the situation at the gate was even easier than Casey had expected. There were no guards standing watch on the inside of the gate. Instead, he heard voices from the small hut to one side of the passage, voices and the rattle of dice on wood.
They waited a few minutes for the patrols on top of the curtain wall to get far enough away, then hurrie...
2024-12-09 09:00:08 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 4
Finding the path left by the monsters wasn’t hard. They hadn’t exactly been trying to be subtle in their flight. Koda followed the road that the female hunter who had reported to Sienna came in on, then looked for signs of struggle.
The blood trail and drag marks made it easy to follow along, as well as the number of bodies having passed through the undergro...
2024-12-08 09:03:01 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 3
Sienna was an able guide and led the way deeper into the village for Koda without hesitation.
They clashed twice more with the gnarled creatures, and Koda gave as good as he got with the clawed gauntlet. He could feel something guiding him as he fought, a sensation of someone watching over his shoulder and helping slide him into the right position, directing him so ...
2024-12-08 09:02:00 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 2
Water struck his face with the sensation of pushing through a gauzy curtain. It pushed against Koda’s skin for a brief moment before parting and allowing him through. No sensation of wetness clung to him, just that gentle tugging sensation accompanied by the stronger pull of the grip on his hand.
The grip gave him a firm yank, and Koda popped through with a gasp, ...
2024-12-08 09:01:01 +0000 UTC View PostHEY ALL! So these chapters will run Sun/Wed and stay up till the 17th when I have to pull them to remain KU Compliant. Hope you all enjoy!
Chapter 1
There was something so very soothing about being out in nature. Above him, the trees spread welcoming shade as shelter from the harsh sun. It was something to relish after long days spent working outside.
The clean scen...
2024-12-08 09:00:06 +0000 UTC View PostOn the advice of the tax and finance accountant, I’d put together a basic LLC corporation to hold myself at a distance from the jewelry sales. It had just been waiting for the licenses to clear and come back that had held me up at all. From there it was as simple as setting up a Bitsy storefront, which was a pain in the ass, but I was figuring it out slowly.
I was in the middle of uploa...
2024-12-07 09:00:05 +0000 UTC View Post
HEY FOLKS! Guess what, my somewhat secret-squirrel (wolf?) project is finally going live! A more classic harem fantasy story.
The Lost Bloodline goes live 12/18 so enjoy an early Christmas present with a cute wolfgirl and more 😉
Keeping his head up and moving forward was what Koda Burke was best at. After having to emancipate himself as a teen and find his own way at a young age...
2024-12-06 16:36:33 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 8
Considering that Casey had just been thinking about how he hadn’t been bothering to bargain in the market, he felt that he’d acquitted himself fairly well when he left the Iron Duck with his purchases.
For all that it took me maybe an hour of digging to collect those truffles, and I didn’t even trade all of them to him. I think that went ...
2024-12-06 09:00:03 +0000 UTC View Post
Book 2 for Monster Girls in Space is live on Audible (over 16 hours of audio)! Enjoy folks!
It didn’t take long for Kassandra to get the door resealed and us back up into the sunlight. Since this was the second time she’d done it and had the additional help from the new girls. Shayla stuck close, refining her sketches and visual records of what she’d seen.
When everyone was out of the cave and I’d sealed up the opening once more, we all trooped back down the mountain tow...
2024-12-03 09:00:03 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 7
Finishing his meal in the common room yielded no more information for Casey, other than a continual and growing irritation with the four men that sat nearby. Their conversation had eventually devolved from planning how they would earn a place with the Bronze Fist to what they would do when they went on their first raid.
Unfortunately, having to listen to their c...
2024-12-02 09:00:18 +0000 UTC View PostThe sudden activation of the overhead lights produced a squeal of surprise from both of the new girls. Jane immediately ducked back behind me and when I glanced down to check on the mouse kin woman, I saw that she had her spell rod drawn and was warily poking it around my thigh.
A tugging sensation on my left sleeve drew my gaze over there to find that Shayla was also standing close behin...
2024-11-30 09:00:05 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 6
“Look, I know you don’t enjoy it, but this is how we are going to make it work. I need to get actual tack and a saddle for you, otherwise you are gonna stand out more. I’m sorry that it’s itchy.”
Casey’s reassurances fell on deaf ears as the elk just glared at him, its brown eyes narrowed in irritation while it refused to leave the tree line...
2024-11-29 09:00:04 +0000 UTC View PostIt was more difficult than I had expected to extract myself from the grip of the girls. Not because Shayla refused to let me go. It only took a couple of small puffs of air across her antennae to get the moth woman to roll over and instead snuggle her back into my side. Or because Rieka was too firmly wrapped around me, either.
It was because Kassandra obstinately refused to move off of m...
2024-11-26 09:00:05 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 5
Once he was done with his food, Casey focused on ensuring the meat was drying properly as well as the truffles. The delicate mushrooms required far more attention than he had expected, but Maude helped him keep an eye on them.
We want them to be dried, not cooked, Maude kept reminding him, enough that Casey had to resist the urge to r...
2024-11-25 09:00:07 +0000 UTC View Post