“Last day,” I mutter to Alana over breakfast. When Kierra and I brought the goliath down, my wife-to-be promised that we would only march for another week. What that actually translated to, accounting for breaks to fight monsters, dismantle said monsters, and to give the weaker members of the...
2023-04-18 14:39:47 +0000 UTC View PostArthur decided he hated the north.
Truthfully, he had decided so long ago, when he first reached the fort with the hunters he had infiltrated. Any sane person would have concluded the same. While the dreary sky could be excused, it even reminded him of home, there were too many other things...
2023-04-18 14:39:45 +0000 UTC View PostI follow behind Kierra as she leaps off the goliath, scanning the snow. Unfortunately, there are no tracks for her to follow. After all, the reapers don’t run. They skate. Incredibly fast. There is no sight of them and no leads to follow.
Kierra is ready to run in a random direction in ho...
2023-04-15 13:32:54 +0000 UTC View PostI raise my arm as I sprint forward, protecting my eyes, and my vision, as the projectiles aimed at us become a constant rain. Kierra slows and moves behind me, ducking so she can use me as cover. I can’t hear her but a soft palm on the small of my back tells me she’s there and urges me forwar...
2023-04-15 13:32:52 +0000 UTC View PostPast the camp, the gloom is too deep to make out my surroundings, the natural light of the moon and stars covered by thick clouds. A ‘film’ turns the dark night into a scene of gray and silver. There are no signs of these reapers but on the horizon, there is a mountain of snow that I could sw...
2023-04-13 07:49:40 +0000 UTC View PostOur formation as we move deeper into the north is vaguely triangular, the point facing the looming mountains. The base of the triangle, the frontline, contains the bulk of our forces, comprised of the Bleak Moons, the Waning Stars, and the hunters with the capacity to hold back monsters. Another ...
2023-04-12 02:56:39 +0000 UTC View Post“Oi, are they already leaving?”
“Crazy bastards.”
Our army is the last to wake, Alana deciding our troops should at least have the benefit of a good rest after sacrificing the security of the other armies. By the time our people crawl out of their bedrolls and distribute dry r...
2023-04-12 02:56:37 +0000 UTC View PostDespite everything, the army was in a good mood.
Objectively, Robert understood that they had plenty to celebrate. Despite two battles in two days, one of which was an ambush, they hadn’t suffered any casualties. No injuries even. Not even a scratch.
The monsters of the north each h...
2023-04-08 12:23:13 +0000 UTC View PostAs we walk, the ground eventually starts to slope downward rather than up and the path narrows. Our pace slows as the army is forced to squeeze together. Not by much. Thomas, who I’m guessing is the overall commander, insists we make it out of the pass before nightfall and he must be pushing th...
2023-04-08 12:23:08 +0000 UTC View PostThere’s no time to gawk. The army is swarming around the titan. By the wall of conjured earth, the tired casters suffering from mana strain are put on the shoulders of knights and carried away from the area. I vaguely hear Zach yelling orders further ahead, accompanied by a parade of footsteps....
2023-04-06 08:00:06 +0000 UTC View Post[It’s coming.]
The visual of the giant mass of snow hitting the hastily erected defenses is stunning despite the lack of sound sapping some of the impact. As I thought, the walls aren’t enough to stop the unusual attack, plenty of the stuff going over their tops. Enough that I have no d...
2023-04-04 20:39:32 +0000 UTC View PostI’m thrown away with no hesitation as Alana scrambles out of our stone dwelling. Lying on my back, I let out a huff of a laugh. I can’t blame her for rushing off. Those reflexes have been ingrained in her over several years. I, however, have a different set of reflexes. Summoners don’t run ...
2023-04-04 20:39:30 +0000 UTC View PostA measly war doesn’t stop the sun from shining. The weak light that escapes the overcast sky illuminates an orderly war camp atop pristine snow. No trace of the conflicts that transpired last night remain.
I woke many times throughout the night, my sensitive hearing and light sleeping pat...
2023-03-25 10:08:57 +0000 UTC View PostThe assault persisted for hours. It felt like hundreds of birds swooped down to claim a few light snacks. I certainly chucked several dozen into empty carts. I even had to wrestle a couple after they managed to get past the barrage of spells and wrap their talons around an unlucky hunter.
A...
2023-03-25 10:08:55 +0000 UTC View PostMarching is a boring affair. Less boring than my time traveling alongside the Squiddies along the King’s Road, but only because of the tension in the air and the hilarious reactions of the ill-prepared acolytes. I can’t feel it but according to their muttered complaints, the temperature is st...
2023-03-23 05:21:58 +0000 UTC View PostThousands of people readying to march is an incredible sight. A noisy one as well. Despite Alana’s inevitable rise to greatness, she is still a mere acolyte, an average caster, and a novice commander on her first campaign. That means she doesn’t have the prestige to be in the front and lacks ...
2023-03-21 09:18:28 +0000 UTC View Post“Why didn’t you stop me?” a very hungover Alana says while perched on the end of her bed, head in her hands. The sun has barely risen but the rest of the house is bustling with activity. Today is the day, after all.
We’ll have to get moving ourselves very soon, but for now, I’m en...
2023-03-21 09:18:22 +0000 UTC View PostA woman strolls into the room and my first thought is that she doesn’t belong amongst these warriors. She’s wearing a dress, for saints’ sake. A pretty blue one with long sleeves, a modest neckline, and several skirts. A dark brown fur hangs over shoulders and her long blond hair is tied in...
2023-03-18 09:13:34 +0000 UTC View PostThe banquet gets rowdier as the knights get a few cups of wine in them. In payment for browbeating Alana into saying she wants to marry me, I told Bell to mix two barrels of watered down Herbanacle, the same as provided to the hunters during Geneva’s selection process. Giving Howie’s drinks s...
2023-03-18 09:13:32 +0000 UTC View PostThis really isn’t my idea of a party.
When people started throwing around the word banquet, I got my hopes up. I should have known better than to expect anything from this dour place. Honestly, I feel stupid. As if they’re going to have music and dancing. I doubt they’d waste the wood...
2023-03-16 08:05:56 +0000 UTC View PostTomorrow is the fated day. In the morning, when the permanently cloudy sky brightens from black to the light gray, thousands of Victory’s knights and hundreds of hunters will march through the north gate. Their purpose, to conquer everything their eyes can see. Failing that, slaying a lot of mo...
2023-03-15 05:45:04 +0000 UTC View Post“You! You’re Lourianne Tome’s pet, aren’t you?”
The creature put a hand over her chest and bowed, her tail wrapping around her waist. “I am Geo, her contracted thrall.” She straightened up, smile turning bashful. “A shame you didn’t remember. I had hoped I left a better im...
2023-03-14 06:05:23 +0000 UTC View PostHis first impression of the giant walls of Victory was a deep, stomach-twisting dread.
The scale of it was beyond anything he had ever seen, which was especially impactful as Robert Quintana liked to think he had seen more than most. As the son of a simple guard, he had seen life from the p...
2023-03-11 08:08:44 +0000 UTC View PostI take a deep breath, reminding myself that I am about to turn a significant part of her world upside down and prepare myself for the inevitable backlash.
“The journal I read was written by an ancestor who was called upon to negotiate with the Lords of Winter. I don’t know what they tea...
2023-03-11 08:08:41 +0000 UTC View PostAlana enters the room before I can wheedle the rest of the story from my wife. She looks stressed, brows heavily furrowed and thin lips pressed tight. Ah. Suppose I did leave her to fend off her family alone. Doubtful that Kierra would be very helpful lest the tension finally escalated to blows b...
2023-03-09 05:02:18 +0000 UTC View PostThe room is empty when I arrive. A good thing. Gives me time to plan what I want to say as opposed to verbally vomiting out my discoveries. Lounging on the bed, I play with my adorable imp’s feet as I ponder the best way to explain to my wife-to-be that her family’s single-minded crusade will...
2023-03-07 10:05:21 +0000 UTC View PostSeveral hours later, I close the journal, thoughts racing.
I have to wonder if anyone in Victory has taken the time to read this work. I doubt it. This is not a bed of scholars. There is also the problem that the work is not in Common, the language used in the kingdom, but is written in one...
2023-03-07 10:05:20 +0000 UTC View PostOnce I return to the James estate, it is time for a treat. What I have been looking forward to most about our journey to the north, though I never considered it to be an option when we discussed our plans.
A long time ago, a Tome marched with the knights of Victory to face the Lords of Wint...
2023-03-04 05:37:12 +0000 UTC View PostIt’s been three days since the March. A busy three days, though not physically.
In the wake of our talk, my contrite lovers proved clingy. Their arms held me prisoner in Alana’s room, mostly atop her bed, but their need for physical intimacy couldn’t stop the flow of time. With the ca...
2023-03-04 05:37:10 +0000 UTC View PostEleanor was in a bad mood and it showed in every step. While the women of status in Victory were expected to hold themselves a certain way, they didn’t indulge in the etiquette of the capital. The north cared for appearances but it came far behind things such as strength and honor. Her stride w...
2023-03-02 06:02:57 +0000 UTC View Post