Before I take a single step, a green blur flashes past me. In less than a blink, Kierra has Talia in her arms, holding her tightly but gently. Watching Kierra gently stroke her hair and Talia melt against her, all the horrible feelings that have been weighing on my shoulders disappear. When Alana...
2024-06-09 12:32:50 +0000 UTC View PostMy rampage ends with the setting sun.
As promised, the once magnificent city has been pulverized. Most of the damage is concentrated along my direct path, a trail of rubble that starts at the Teppin estate and stops before the western gate of the city. The rest of the destruction was caused...
2024-06-09 12:32:46 +0000 UTC View PostHer opponent drew a dagger, a strange weapon with a curved blade of a black metal that seemed to swallow the light that touched it. A dark stone was embedded at the end of its hilt, one that Kierra recognized as a null affinity stone. Something that should be beyond rare and far too prec...
2024-06-09 12:32:42 +0000 UTC View PostTo be special was a lonely thing.
As a young girl, Kierra didn’t realize how different she was. She ran, jumped, and hunted small critters with careless joy. Being a little faster and a little stronger than the other children didn’t enter her mind. The adults hardly cared at that age ei...
2024-06-09 12:32:39 +0000 UTC View PostLucas didn’t know how things had gone so bad.
“Blessed asses shitting on us.” The fact that Jacoby, the guildmaster of One For All, had loss his famously cool temperament was a bad sign. However, he couldn’t blame the man. They were perched on the same rooftop, watching the same inc...
2024-06-01 03:30:32 +0000 UTC View Post“Oh.”
The quiet exclamation was filled with more emotion than Alana had ever heard Talia use in a whole sentence, let alone a single syllable. Alana understood the sentiment. If she weren’t completely focused on the mission, on saving her sister’s life, then she might also pause to ...
2024-06-01 03:30:29 +0000 UTC View PostThe James family didn’t have a motto. Some families added words to their crests, declaring their way of life. In the north, everyone lived by the same values so such an explanation was unnecessary. If anyone wanted to know what kind of family the rulers of Victory were, they had centuries of de...
2024-06-01 03:30:26 +0000 UTC View PostAlyssa had underestimated her assignment.
Severely.
She thought, after years of Victory’s campaigns and years more as a captain of the Grand Watch, policing a group of civilians would be simple. Annoying, but simple. She couldn’t be more wrong.
Everything started fine. The H...
2024-06-01 03:30:25 +0000 UTC View PostTime’s up.
I drifted off sometime in the night but Kierra practically leaping out of bed wakes me. She pauses in the middle of dressing when she feels my eyes on her and leans over me to plant a quick but hungry kiss on my lips. “I shall go first, my love,” she whispers.
“It...
2024-05-26 04:34:49 +0000 UTC View PostDuring the second day of my three-day amnesty, the city is busy. I take note of everyone’s frantic pace as I stroll the city, planning my attack.
The Hall has taken Kierra’s warning to heart. Every street I walk on, I see at least one acolyte, easily spotted by their distinctive colorfu...
2024-05-26 04:34:46 +0000 UTC View Post“I must say, I’m very disappointed Lady James.”
Yulia wanted to spit in the arrogant man’s face but after who knew how long strapped to a chair enduring his questioning, she couldn’t muster the energy. Thankfully, the man hadn’t resorted to truly unsavory means but the constant ...
2024-05-26 04:34:43 +0000 UTC View PostGeneva didn’t care much for her current assignments.
It might be arrogant of her, and she believed that she had earned the right to be arrogant if she wanted, but she considered herself an artist. Above mundane atrocities like a small plague and a few murders. They were even outside of he...
2024-05-26 04:34:39 +0000 UTC View PostThe next morning is dark and gloomy, ominous clouds obscuring the city. A perfect match for my mood as I ride into the city. I wake to the succubi telling me that there’s been a response to the declaration of war. I hardly see Kierra as she makes her own preparations for the large fight ahead a...
2024-05-26 04:34:35 +0000 UTC View PostThings are…different since we resolved ourselves to war. No. Since we learned that Talia and Yulia were taken. The air is tense and a gloom hangs over the estate as we prepare to commit grim deeds. There’s an emptiness in my chest, a gaping hole in my emotions that swallow up everything and l...
2024-05-16 23:17:49 +0000 UTC View PostAlyssa hopped out of the carriage and slammed the door behind her before he could respond, her gait quick and filled with purpose as she marched toward the Casting Hall. The acolytes that recognized her called out as she walked past, but she could only spare them brief waves of her hands as she h...
2024-05-16 22:59:44 +0000 UTC View Post“I’m coming!” Alyssa shouted, as someone banged on her front door for what felt like the hundredth time. She snatched her cloak from the back of a chair and threw open the door, expecting to find the random member of the Hall’s staff given the unenviable task of hurrying her along to the ...
2024-05-16 22:37:12 +0000 UTC View PostIt was Lucas’ turn to stare. Then he frowned. “Given your reputation, I didn’t think you would be the type for pointless self-sacrifice.”
“Few sacrifices are pointless but that is not what I’m doing.” Talia sat on the bed, making herself as comfortable as she could in anticipa...
2024-05-16 22:15:02 +0000 UTC View PostThe hunters weren’t terrible hosts.
As their group suspected, the hunters were more interested in certain members of the family. Talia was not too far from what the kingdom would consider a master caster, having mastered all the core spells of the interrogators and possessing a coefficien...
2024-05-16 22:05:20 +0000 UTC View PostEarl didn’t have to wait all night.
A little over two hours after he found the room, there was a knocking on the door, three quick raps, two heavy pounds, and then a short drumming of nails on the wood. With profound relief, Earl rose from his chair and opened the door. Geneva waited on t...
2024-05-09 02:17:00 +0000 UTC View PostI’m in the same position when Kierra, Alana, and Little Water enter, the elf leading them as she bursts into the study. My wife is a violent person, but she isn’t an angry one. She dispatches enemies with disdain or anticipation, never faulting them for trying to kill her. She doesn’t raise...
2024-05-09 02:16:55 +0000 UTC View PostLady Lourianne Tome,
If you are reading this note, then we have successfully raided the Teppin estate. We assure you that we wish no harm to you or your family. Our intentions were to retrieve the occupants of the house peacefully. If anyone came to harm, rest assured that they...
2024-05-05 23:59:00 +0000 UTC View PostIt’s done.
My heart is heavy but numb as I look at the destruction all around me, piles of corpses mixed with rubble from the damaged building and the floor coated with blood. It didn’t take long for the hunters to break. There are quite a few survivors, those who were smart enough to c...
2024-05-05 23:58:57 +0000 UTC View PostHis lady had a reputation as a frivolously indulgent woman but in truth, Lou didn’t recklessly spend her, or more accurately her wife’s, wealth. Accustomed to a simple life, she was satisfied by simple things. She liked the comfort of wealth more than the pleasure of spending it. However, she...
2024-05-03 05:42:52 +0000 UTC View PostThe James family valued one thing, war.
It didn’t matter how smart, charming, kind, beautiful, insightful, or anything else the children of the family were if it didn’t relate to the war effort. If it didn’t improve the fort’s combat ability, it was worthless. Those who didn’t fig...
2024-05-03 05:42:49 +0000 UTC View PostAt first, Lucas thought it was a gimmick and remained on his guard, ready to cast at a moment’s notice. But the longer Gordon remained on the ground, the harder it was for him to maintain his tension. It was the shouts of the hiding lord, questioning the silence, that got him moving. Still, he ...
2024-04-29 08:14:32 +0000 UTC View PostThe estate was orderly, with no signs of violence or ransacking. That was good. It was important that the Teppin family was recovered without harm. As nobles appointed to govern Quest and its surrounding territory, they were officers of the court. Their life, death, and affairs were the business ...
2024-04-29 08:14:13 +0000 UTC View PostThree. It was a problematic number.
If it were a single mind, that would suggest a messenger. If it were a dozen or more minds, that would imply a mob, or perhaps a demonstration. Three was too specific. It implied a specific number chosen for a specific job. Those with the appropriate skil...
2024-04-25 03:02:31 +0000 UTC View Post“You missed a spot, dear.”
Fen grinned as Lord Teppin stiffened and went back over the shelf he had just finished cleaning. She had to admit, it was a fun punishment. She was a logical creature above all else, but that didn’t preclude her or any other succubi from having interests. Mo...
2024-04-25 03:02:25 +0000 UTC View PostThings had been going well for Callan. Perhaps too well. Maybe that was why he was currently crouching and crawling, trying to avoid stray spells and knives.
When he first received a summoning record from Lourianne Tome’s thrall, he only had vague ideas of power and achieving it. Contract...
2024-04-22 00:22:09 +0000 UTC View PostIt sounded good. Too good. Lane wasn’t arrogant enough to think that he could make a difference in the world. Not even a hundred or a thousand of him. He knew better, but hope was an insidious creature. No defense could keep it from slipping into the chest and inflaming the mind. His good sense...
2024-04-22 00:22:06 +0000 UTC View Post