The rest of our journey was thankfully without incident, and when dawn broke on my seventh day in the sector, the jagged mountain cliffs that bordered the western side of the valley came into sight.
Today was the last day of my Pact with Erebus, and while some of my...
2022-05-03 03:01:00 +0000 UTC View PostI made it safely away from the Howler camp without being detected.
While I made my way back to the wolves, my mind picked at the unexpected turn of events. That Stayne and Talon had been talking worried me. Would they compare stories and uncover the web of lies I ...
2022-05-02 03:06:00 +0000 UTC View PostDay Six. Night.
I found myself alone when I next opened my eyes.
It couldn’t be too late—I trusted Duggar to do as he said—but time was short. I’d lost an entire day to the trial, more than I’d planned, and if I wanted to escape...
2022-05-02 03:01:00 +0000 UTC View PostIn the wake of the envoy’s disappearance, two Game alerts buzzed for my attention.
You have been allocated a new task: Find the last Wolf Envoy. Your objective is to locate Ceruvax, the only remaining envoy of House Wolf. By your target’s own words, he is presently trapped in on...
2022-04-28 08:07:39 +0000 UTC View PostThe woman was only the first of many.
Dozens of other fallen scions followed in her wake. Some were as gracious as her in defeat, willingly offering their essence. Others fought to the bitter end, railing at me until they were entirely depleted of their energy and forcibly consumed by the w...
2022-04-28 08:05:54 +0000 UTC View PostThe arena changed again.
The magma drained away and the pits filled with solid stone again. More importantly, a door appeared on the opposite facing wall.
I made my way towards it, then paused. My golem form was many times too large to fit through. I grunted in dissatisfaction. I ...
2022-04-27 03:05:01 +0000 UTC View PostIgnoring the Game message, I leaned heavily against the wall beside my defeated foe and took stock of the damage to myself.
Warning! Your health is at 40% and will not recover without healing.
“Wow,” I murmured softly. I was more hurt than expected, especially con...
2022-04-27 03:00:02 +0000 UTC View PostA flurry of Game messages accompanied my entrance into the cabin. Halting in the doorway, I took a moment to peruse them.
Congratulations Michael! You have completed the second test, the Mind’s Reach. You have gained experience and reached level 70.
You are ...
2022-04-26 03:05:01 +0000 UTC View PostYour task: Pass the First Trial has been updated. Revised objective: Reach the log cabin on the far side of the water to complete the second test.
Dismissing the Game update, I surveyed the scene in front of me. I’d been right, I saw.
The cabin door exited on a smal...
2022-04-26 03:00:01 +0000 UTC View PostYou have inflicted irreparable nerve damage to a level 26 burrower. A burrower is brain dead. You have killed a burrower.
Multiple strikes later, the burrower finally died. Its head drooped, and its body sagged, but wrapped around the tree, the creature remained anchored in...
2022-04-25 03:05:01 +0000 UTC View PostAt first, I tried simply passing through the door as any incorporeal being would.
But despite my ghostly appearance, my spirit form had substance and met with resistance when it came in contact with the wood’s surface. I sighed and, turning the handle, I opened the door as I would’ve or...
2022-04-25 03:00:02 +0000 UTC View PostIyra rose to her feet.
“I want him dead,” the goddess began without preamble. Her voice reverberated across the chamber that served the god council, echoing her fury.
The gazes of the other gods swung her way. Iyra’s own gaze remained locked on Auriel. ...
2022-04-22 16:19:24 +0000 UTC View PostI landed on my feet, without fuss and without experiencing the transition at all.
One moment, I had been in the cave. The next, I was elsewhere. Behind me, the portal receded and then vanished entirely.
Before turning my attention outwards, I considered myself. I remained a being of p...
2022-04-21 03:05:00 +0000 UTC View PostDay Five. Night.
At my words, I felt excitement ripple through the minds of the others. My response was the one they’d been both hoping for—and dreading.
“Tell me what I must do,” I said in the small silence that had fallen.
Sulan was the first to speak. “To begin ...
2022-04-21 03:00:02 +0000 UTC View PostDay Five. Night.
“For starters, you can seat yourself,” Suva said.
Mutely, I sat down cross-legged on the cold hard ground as instructed. Now that I had decided to comply with whatever the council was about, I saw no reason to drag this out any longer tha...
2022-04-20 07:11:24 +0000 UTC View Post“Hello, Duggar,” I called back. My gaze drifted down the height of the cliff separating us. “How do I get up there?”
“We will guide you,” he replied.
We?
“We,” Duggar repeated, sounding amused.
My mouth dr...
2022-04-20 04:00:03 +0000 UTC View PostWith ebonheart in one hand and the heavy leather satchel in the other, I hurried through the Tartan barracks, speaking to no one and ignoring the inquisitive stares directed at the black blade.
Once on the empty village streets again, I removed my secondary shor...
2022-04-19 04:05:01 +0000 UTC View Post“You did what?” Talon whispered, staring at me from only a few inches away.
How had he moved so fast? The captain seemed unconcerned by my clenched fists wrapped around the hilts of my swords, and I had to remind myself we were in the safe zone
<... 2022-04-19 04:00:02 +0000 UTC View PostThe tavern was packed, more crowded than I had ever seen it before. Standing in the doorway, I scanned the room from under my lowered hood. No one had looked up at my entrance. They were all too consumed in their own discussions.
The topic on everyone’s lips...
2022-04-18 04:05:00 +0000 UTC View PostThe door to the chamber opened so quietly that I almost failed to hear it.
My head jerked upwards to see the Howler shaman and a squad of guards appear. My gaze slid from Hyek to the soldiers at his back. They looked tense.
I rose slowly to my feet, bare...
2022-04-18 04:00:03 +0000 UTC View PostTurning back towards the spider, I cast charm. It was the only thing I could think of trying. It was that—or flee.
Strands of energy extended from me to the creature, and where my blades had failed in their attacks, my mind spell did not. Finding purchase in...
2022-04-14 04:05:01 +0000 UTC View PostWorca has cast summon giant stygian spider.
My mouth dropped open in shock. Bloody hell, what now? Images of the spider Saben had transformed into flashed through my mind.
I can’t face something like that, Not on my own. 2022-04-14 04:00:02 +0000 UTC View Post
Hi people,
If you haven't realized it yet, this is the Patreon of Rohan M. Vider and Tom Elliot. I will regularly post early chapters from both names here, however due to the challenges of writing three series simultaneously (2022-04-13 04:32:56 +0000 UTC View Post
The shaman’s hurried exit was part of the plan, of course.
The fire was real, too, and would give Hyek deniability for what was to come next. Before creeping back into the chamber, I spent a moment further listening to the two mages.
“Damn, I don’t...
2022-04-13 04:05:00 +0000 UTC View PostTwo obvious choices lay before me: fulfill Mariga’s task or Talon’s.
The druid wanted the Howlers forced into a bloody war with the Red Rats, while the captain wished to secure their allegiance for Tartar. Of the two envoys, I trusted Talon more, and if ...
2022-04-13 04:00:03 +0000 UTC View PostI waited ten minutes before exiting the tavern myself. It was not that I feared Forsyth and his gang, but I could do without them dogging my heels as I went about my business.
I hadn’t planned on leaving the safe zone so soon again, but matters were moving...
2022-04-12 14:56:23 +0000 UTC View Post“Excellent,” Mariga said, her body swaying in what I interpreted as pleasure. “Place your hand in mine, and I will form the Pact between us.”
I did as she bade, gingerly setting my gloved hand atop her scaled palm.
A Game message opened in my m...
2022-04-12 04:22:54 +0000 UTC View PostDay Five. Dawn.
Not wanting to linger—or be caught out by my half-truths—I left the Tartan barracks soon after the captain and I finalized the terms of our second Pact.
Pausing outside the barracks, I considered my next move. There was still much to do, and my pla...
2022-04-11 04:12:57 +0000 UTC View PostDay Five. Dawn.
An array of emotions flickered across the captain’s face as he read Stayne’s orders. First confusion, then anger, and finally satisfaction.
“Well done, Michael,” Talon said, reaching out to take the note. “I don’t know how you did it, but t...
2022-04-11 04:11:40 +0000 UTC View Post