That Fateful Day (Read after Book 2 Chapter 1) (available to all tiers) - See what happened to Lathani and Kalanthia while Markus was away at the end of Book 1. Read after Book 2 Chapter 1 to avoid...
2023-09-16 11:03:38 +0000 UTC View PostI’m not in the best of positions, leaning back on my hands with a crocodile look-alike half on top of me. It’s heavy but I’ve got the advantage on land. Remembering a nature program at home and hoping that this analogue’s physiology is at least similar, I clamp my arm around its ...
2023-07-23 09:17:24 +0000 UTC View PostCareful. Caaarefuul, I say to myself as I tip the resin bowl. It’s hot, so I’d rather not spill it on my hand, but I do need to transfer the liquid so I can filter it. Right now, it’s full of detritus which won’t do anything to improve the consistency of my pitch. Drop by drop, t...
2023-07-23 09:16:35 +0000 UTC View PostWhen I realise the loud noise was just a pot exploding, I grimace. One item bites the dust. Let’s hope for not too many of those. It sure shows how keyed up I am that a noise the equivalent of a car back-firing is enough to almost give me a heart attack.
Mind you, at least I’m not the o...
2023-07-23 09:16:06 +0000 UTC View PostThe fire crackles cheerfully as I sit next to it, the tree stump I collected yesterday in front of me, a somewhat sharp flint stone in my hand. Within eyesight, but carefully being kept away from the flames, are the four cubs, happily playing together. I’m keeping an eye to make sure they don...
2023-07-23 09:15:40 +0000 UTC View PostI step carefully through the leaf litter in front of the gaping hole. My knife and mace are both in my hands and I’m tense, ready for another monster to come leaping out. Casting a glance around, I frown as I try to piece together what had happened in the instant before the spider-insect attack...
2023-07-23 09:13:56 +0000 UTC View PostRegret isn’t helpful right now so I push it away, using the split-seconds I have before it’s upon me to instead try to figure out how to stay alive. By the time it lunges at me once more, I have a basic – and risky – plan of action. Here’s hoping it’s sufficient.
Pulling my arm ...
2023-07-23 09:13:29 +0000 UTC View PostThe next morning is a bit of a repeat of yesterday. Food, stoke the fire, and then prepare for the day. This time, I’m intending on going out into the forest rather than digging a pit, so my preparations are a little different.
The main task I need to do in preparation is check my Invento...
2023-07-23 09:13:02 +0000 UTC View PostDespite being on tenterhooks for most of the morning, even after getting back to the cave area, nothing bad happens. Well, nothing outside the normal, that is. In the end I don’t make more soup since I suddenly realise that the cubs are going to need water throughout the day and my wok is the o...
2023-07-23 09:12:27 +0000 UTC View PostMy mind races quickly. We have one cub AWOL – what are the chances that Trouble is where the shriek came from? I wouldn’t take that bet. At the same time, we have two cubs here that we can’t leave on their own. I make a decision quickly.
“Bastet, you go ahead,” I tell her quietly ...
2023-07-23 09:08:28 +0000 UTC View PostThe two felines stare each other down for a long moment. Well, I say two felines, but I’m not even sure a nunda counts as one, let alone a raptorcat. Lathani is significantly bigger than the as-yet-unnamed raptorcat cub – she’s about the size of a medium-sized dog where the other cub is pro...
2023-07-23 09:07:59 +0000 UTC View PostI wake up in the dark to something breathing heavily near me. I freeze while my mind races groggily to work out the cause. The fact that it doesn’t move closer while I wake up fully is enough to calm me a little, and I relax completely when I realise exactly what the origin is. I remember havin...
2023-07-23 09:07:33 +0000 UTC View Post“Maybe you should stay here with the cubs until I’ve spoken to Kalanthia,” I say a little hesitantly, casting an apprehensive eye up the slope. I mean, I’m pretty sure this isn’t going to be an issue – Kalanthia’s been OK with Spike after all. However, a raptorcat is a diff...
2023-07-23 09:06:28 +0000 UTC View PostFirst, I need to confirm – or deny – my suspicions. As casually as I can, I turn to Bastet and ask her a question, doing my best to control the feelings and images I inadvertently send down the link.
“What happened to your pack, Bastet? You seemed too powerful to be taken down easily....
2023-07-23 09:06:02 +0000 UTC View PostI wipe sweat off my brow, my breath still coming in tired pants. Feeling low in energy, I pull out some cooked meat and munch on it, putting a little of the raw stuff in front of the cubs and offering some more to Bastet. The adult raptorcat accepts it, just as tired from her own efforts.
C...
2023-07-23 09:05:31 +0000 UTC View PostThe cubs are so cute it takes all I have not to just rush over, grab, and snuggle them into my neck while making ridiculous noises that would be better found in an anime than real life. They’re little bundles of fluff with supple feet and stubs of wings covered with the softest of down. They ha...
2023-07-23 09:05:03 +0000 UTC View PostFocusing back on the raptorcat, my distraction having lessened the pressure I was applying, I take a different approach. Honestly, this isn’t all that different from all the other negotiation and mediation I’ve done – when one angle doesn’t work, try a different one.
Do you not ...
2023-07-23 09:04:38 +0000 UTC View PostWalking through the forest is actually a pleasure. The sun and leaves make a dappled pattern on the layers of last year’s dropped leaves. My Stealth has already levelled up to Beginner four despite not getting much practice over the last few days of digging pits. The moments when it directs my ...
2023-07-23 09:04:14 +0000 UTC View PostThe next day I continue with digging my pit. After fetching water, of course. Kalanthia disappears into the forest as soon as I get back, leaving Lathani playing by my feet. I tempt her over to my work area with a bit of nicely roasted meat and then she’s happy to mess around in the dirt for a ...
2023-07-23 09:02:56 +0000 UTC View PostRegretfully walking away from Lathani, who makes an annoyed sound when I stop petting her, I head past the cave. Sorting out the firewood in my Inventory, I stack the majority of the branches up near where I’ve started digging my pit, only taking enough of the driest stuff into the cave with me...
2023-07-23 09:00:00 +0000 UTC View PostLooking up at the sky, I try to estimate the time. Having paid close attention to my Energy gain by absorption over the last few days, I’ve concluded that there must be between twenty-seven and twenty-nine hours per day. Settling on twenty-eight as the average – and also easily divisible – ...
2023-07-23 08:50:45 +0000 UTC View PostAs usual, I wake with the sun. Testing a small chunk of my potato-replacement, I look forward to the time when I’m able to eat enough of it to actually make my stomach feel like there’s something in it, rather than the emptiness which follows my ‘breakfast’ with it now. I’ve got high ho...
2023-07-23 08:44:37 +0000 UTC View PostIn my state of serenity, I start wandering down the hill towards the stream. I look at my surroundings and notice that they are ever so slightly different from before. The world around me has a myriad facets which I’ve never really paid attention to. I can see the links between different things...
2023-07-23 08:44:04 +0000 UTC View PostThe next morning, I skip testing the root Spike found a few days ago. I’ve been taking advantage of the more relatively relaxed days to start the whole testing process – and so far with decent results – but considering I was attacked yesterday by the gang of velociraptors when I didn’t ev...
2023-07-23 08:42:18 +0000 UTC View PostI stalk carefully through the forest back towards the tree. The shadows are already lengthening, but mid-afternoon here means there’s still plenty of time until night falls. I took over an hour to reach this area last time, but I wasn’t exactly moving fast, instead meandering while looking fo...
2023-07-23 08:40:24 +0000 UTC View PostKnapping flint is an exercise in frustration, I decide after the fifth time this morning the stone I’m trying to turn into an axe head splits in the wrong place and completely ruins my progress. On the positive side, I have a number of flint shards which will be useful for creating other tools ...
2023-07-23 08:39:32 +0000 UTC View PostEyeing the nasty chimera warily while backing up, I wonder how to kill it. I don’t exactly want to get anywhere near its venomous bits – because you can’t tell me that those fangs aren’t just as likely to be venomous as the tail – but my knife and mace are both close-range weap...
2023-07-23 08:37:24 +0000 UTC View PostI warned you, Binder, she snarls in my head, her telepathic voice matching the audible sounds she’s still making.
“What?” I choke out, completely confused. Warned me about what? What have I done wrong?
I warned you not to try to bind my cub! My scrambled mind t...
2023-07-23 08:36:46 +0000 UTC View Post