It started with a long, drawn out howl. It was a piercing sound, cutting through some of the steel forged by the officers that dotted the walls.
Kaius drew his blade, feeling the roiling charge of his mana locked inside of Drakthar. He would need it soon.
The wolf’s c...
2026-01-17 21:00:11 +0000 UTC View PostBacklit by the setting sun, Kaius stared out at the Frontier from Deadacre’s wall. It was soaked in soft amber, shadows lengthening by the minute as night fast approached.
He cared little for the tapestry of colours, and only slightly more for the constant nervous shuffling of the guards ...
2026-01-15 21:49:23 +0000 UTC View PostSlumping in his chair, Kaius pulled up his notifications. He might have been exhausted from hours of constant combat, and he still felt a little frazzled from his direct brush with death, but that changed little.
There was an army outside of the city. As much as they had been told to rest, ...
2026-01-14 21:43:47 +0000 UTC View PostSoaked to the bone in the blood of beasts, Kaius trudged down the stairs of Deadacre’s wall.
Arc’theros was leading the way, somehow even more drenched than the rest of them. The man was a living maul — his every movement had pulped the creatures that had the dire misfo...
2026-01-13 21:29:01 +0000 UTC View PostA/N: Soz for the short delay, had to go trawling through documents to find all of my formatting for notifications lol
A teeming black cloud surged across the sky, racing towards the Pegleg. Kaius could have almost mistaken the flowing blob as a flock of starlings — if...
Surrounded by the dying cries of beasts, Kaius’s pillars started to flare.
Every minute of their battle was more chaotic than the last. It was only by dint of their overwhelming strength, the speed of their flight, and the mindless aggression of their opponents that they survived.&n...
2026-01-12 01:04:43 +0000 UTC View PostThe beasts were tireless. Rabid in their fury, they ignored the slaughter that fell on them, uncaring of the twisted and broken forms of their fellows that were left littering the frontier.
Without a moment to rest, Kaius was in constant motion. No matter how much stronger he was, forcing t...
2026-01-11 03:43:02 +0000 UTC View PostIt only took twenty minutes before the cracks started to show.
Kaius moved like a whirlwind, surrounded by a heaving carpet of fur, scale and carapace. His hand slipped from his hilt, the burning light of Stormlash surrounding his hand as thunder cracked through the Frontier....
2026-01-09 00:22:53 +0000 UTC View PostThe second Kaius had rejoined the front line, he was looking for his next target.
Only a handful remained of the two dozen or so beasts that had been harassing the villagers. Two wolf-like creatures kept a loping gate as they sprinted through the long grass — circling wide in an att...
2026-01-07 21:30:02 +0000 UTC View PostA/N: Minor schedule update: gonna push chapters back by 1 hour to 10:30am NZT in service of trying to sleep more.
Also soz for the late chapter, some mates from aus are staying for a few days and we were up late catching up
An arrow descended like the heavens themsel...
2026-01-06 21:56:37 +0000 UTC View Post
B1 and B2 covers fully done, woop woop! Just need to finalise my title for B3. I've been thinking about 'Crucible', since even with rewrites it will be a core defining feature of the book, but it also feels a little spoilery. 'Trials of Rebirth' works, but doesn't feel quite right. Give me your t...
2026-01-05 21:47:46 +0000 UTC View PostAfternoon sun streamed into the siege tower that had been erected near the eastern gate. Even with the pleasant warmth and the view of the frontier, it was hard to enjoy the peace when Kaius felt like an alchemist had set up shop in his bones. He had far too much energy, and nothing to do with it...
2026-01-05 20:40:05 +0000 UTC View PostWhat a year! My first rotation around the sun as a full time writer, and it was a pretty good one! A few bumps along the road, but I think a few teething pains are to be expected.
First, my break. It was good, and very much needed. I spent time with friends and family, played a good bit of...
A/N: I return, rested, rejuvinated, and ready to scratch my forehead as I desperately try to write more concisely! In honour of my constant failure at that, have a chapter that's 50% longer than I intended it to be!
I saw Mammal did a bit of a 'year in retrospective', so I might do...
A/N: 3/3, more notes on immediate holiday schedule at the end of the chap
The frontier seemed endless from atop Deadacre’s western wall. While the land surrounding the city wasn’t perfectly flat, there were no great hills or mountains for days in any direction. Hard-pac...
2025-12-30 16:25:21 +0000 UTC View PostA/N: 2/3
Ianmus gripped the letter in his hands, its edges crumpling.
It was a simple thing — rough-cut and crudely processed, with a tan tint that suggested it hadn’t been through a bleaching wash. An everyday, run-of-the-mill product like he might expect a simpl...
2025-12-30 16:17:31 +0000 UTC View PostA/N: 1/3 - I meant to post these like 12 hours ago. Games happened, then it was 4 am woops
Kaius sat at a restaurant table right at the edge of their outside seating. He’d had to shuffle it away a little further still to make room for Porkchop, but none of the st...
2025-12-30 16:16:36 +0000 UTC View PostA/N: 3/3. Also, having a head cold over christmas in meltworthy weather sucks
“I need you up there with me,” Rieker said.
Kaius blinked. Rotten roots, the guildmaster really wasn’t one to mince words.
“You what?” Kaius replied, surprised.
<... 2025-12-24 03:49:10 +0000 UTC View PostA/N: 2/3
Stepping back onto the streets of Deadacre, Kaius was returned to a smog of tension and fear.
Thankfully, the veteran runewrights he had been asked to assist had corrected their estimations, and were in the middle of a full tune-up of the city’s defences. ...
2025-12-24 03:47:30 +0000 UTC View PostA/N: Posting three chapters for yesterday, today, and tomorrow. 1/3
Standing deep in the bowels of the governor’s manor, Kaius locked eyes with the grey-bearded runewrights. While he could have taken the outburst as rude, he wasn’t enough of a fool to do so — no matt...
A/N: Second chapter of the day
The governor’s manor, it seemed, was far more than just what was visible above ground. While its foundations were built into a slight rise that gave the large stone building a view of the surrounding city, they descended far deeper than ...
Kaius kept a brisk pace that was slower than he was used to. Every second step, his weight caused his prosthetic to slip into the soft loam of the governor’s garden.
“Are we close?” Kaius asked, keeping his left hand on Porkchop’s flank just in case he tripped.
“Yeah. The gr...
2025-12-22 03:31:42 +0000 UTC View PostHave discovered that my current beta reader document of 90 chapters + comments hard crashes my laptop -- home pc supercomputer has allowed bad habits to pile up lmao. Gonna borrow my stepdads desktop to trim it to a non-crashing size and make some edits, but might take a couple hours
2025-12-22 02:32:45 +0000 UTC View PostGotten a little caught up in holiday business so haven’t had a chance to hop on my laptop and edit a chapter today
Also Sydney is approximately the same temperature as the surface of the sun and my brain is Swiss cheese
2025-12-21 04:36:30 +0000 UTC View PostKaius sat in the governor’s private garden, resting his back against a large tree. Porkchop was with him, and the sun was shining bright, filtering through the green leaves above to bless him with a gentle summer’s warmth.
The place was undeniably beautiful — a walled-in open stretch ...
2025-12-18 20:35:43 +0000 UTC View PostSurrounded by Deadacre’s leadership, Kaius tried to consider how they could ready the city’s defenders for the coming battle.
The city Delve was the obvious option, but it had problems. There was a limitation on how many could reasonably populate the biome it entered into. Plus, with ho...
2025-12-18 00:54:38 +0000 UTC View PostA/N: Bonus for the chapter I missed on the weekend
The governor's manor was an old thing, and centuries of history lurked in its high, vaulted beams. In some senses, it was as old as the city – though not in its current iteration. Apparently, it had once been a l...
2025-12-16 23:28:12 +0000 UTC View PostRo paced at the head of the meeting room, like the frenetic pace of her footfalls could browbeat the very world into submission.
What had happened to Bronwyn and his team, and what had Ro so worried, poisoned every extra moment. It soured into a tangled knot of anticipation that left the so...
2025-12-16 20:37:05 +0000 UTC View PostDamp bricks formed a low arch as mould, fungus and unknown slime spread, feasting on the detritus present in the sewer. Pitch black, he could only see with his Darkvision, the tunnel rendered in flat shades of grey that washed away all sense of depth.
Kaius scrunched his nose, ball...
2025-12-15 20:46:49 +0000 UTC View PostThe grasslands rushed past with an indistinct green smear. Every desperate pounding step was another stone's weight of exhaustion upon his back. His bones ached, his muscles burned. His lungs felt like he'd been inhaling glass dust.
Yet despite the sting of sweat in his eyes, and the throbb...
2025-12-14 21:05:26 +0000 UTC View Post