8th Day, Upper Fire Month, 1 CE
“Hey,” a man’s voice filtered through the leaves, “over here!”
Liam looked in the direction of the voice, craning his neck back and forth as he tried to catch a glimpse of its owner through the brush.
“
Under the light of a full moon, a swell of fog rolled into the port of Vigo, billowing over the breakwater and inundating the piers. The fog washed over the wharves and swirled into the city streets, transforming the landscape into an archipelago of apartments scattered upon a ghostly sea.
...
2023-06-22 23:08:00 +0000 UTC View PostThat was a relatively short one, at least by this series’ standards. Thank you, dear reader, for your continued interest in Valkyrie’s Shadow!
The Tiger and the Dragon was written as t...
2023-06-21 03:08:01 +0000 UTC View Post8th Day, Middle Fire Month, 1 CE
“All hail Falagrim Felhammer,” Agni’s voice carried from the dais to the far end of the great hall, “King of Khazanar!”
“Hail to the King!”
The voices of thousands of Dark Dwarves shook the air around ...
2023-06-19 05:08:03 +0000 UTC View PostIt stinks!
Florine had never been eaten before, nor had she ever entertained the notion. Now, she sat very still inside the Spawner’s mouth, praying fervently that it wouldn’t swallow her. Then again, it didn’t seem like there was anywhere to go, so being chewed was ...
2023-06-17 07:09:00 +0000 UTC View Post“Report!” A runner jogged up to the command post in the underway annexe, “We’re two hundred metres from the exit.”
“Resistance?” Falagrim asked.
“We’re fighting for the cargo hub right now. Things have slowed down drastically since the Gazers started showing up. We s...
2023-06-15 10:08:00 +0000 UTC View Post“…what are you doing?” Velgath asked.
“Escaping reality,” Florine answered.
Sitting at the end of a pier in the recently-occupied Grimmantle port, Florine held the tip of a Kraken tentacle in each hand. Boobeebee, Isoroku and the Vampire Bride stood nearby, as did Velgath, w...
2023-06-13 11:08:54 +0000 UTC View Post“Hmm…this is not very satisfying.”
Florine glanced over at Boobeebee, who was holding the boulder-like corpse of a Gazer Watcher between her forearms. The Zern hero examined the lumpy sphere with a dissatisfied tone in her voice. How she could examine anything without eyes was still s...
2023-06-11 13:08:01 +0000 UTC View PostTwo days later, the fighting still raged on. Inside his temporary-turned-somewhat-permanent command post, Uldun wondered how much longer it would take for the Gazers to reconsider their approach.
They're probably more offended than frustrated.
“Are Commanders even needed at this poi...
2023-06-09 16:08:29 +0000 UTC View Post“What’s she doing here?”
“Dunno,” Velgath shrugged. “Sightseeing.”
Sightseeing? We’re about to fight a war here!
Uldun curled his lip at the sheer ludicrousness of the Human. Even now, she was examining the corner of a nearby building as if it w...
2023-06-07 17:18:13 +0000 UTC View Post“Your definition of ‘a while longer’ is a lot different from mine.”
“I’m sorry,” Florine said. “The meeting was a bit impromptu. I didn’t know how long it would take, but I didn’t think it would take that long.”
Their progress through Hardar slowed as th...
2023-06-05 19:08:00 +0000 UTC View PostA review…
Florine stared at nothing in particular as she was whisked from Felhammer to Hardar on one of the Dark Dwarves’ Golem-powered trains. Her passenger car, as with everything else ‘Dark Dwarf’, was designed with practicality in mind while comfort was seemingly avoide...
2023-06-03 21:08:01 +0000 UTC View PostHunched over her table, Florine worked frantically on a piece of intricate needlework. There was no time. There was never enough time.
They wanted done in hours what should have taken days. Why were they so unreasonable? She mentioned as much and all they did was cut another hour off of her...
2023-06-01 23:08:02 +0000 UTC View PostFlorine squeezed through the crowded city street, looking back and forth as she tried to take in the happenings around her. Now that the fighting was over, the streets and the buildings were illuminated with an eerie blue flame that afforded her a better view of the city and its activities.
19th Day, Upper Fire Month, 1 CE
Florine stopped to frown at the walls of bones framing the main gate of Felhammer Citadel. Blood dripped from the machicolations from which the arms and legs of dead Dark Dwarves occasionally stuck out. Heavy footfalls rang in grim cadenc...
2023-05-29 01:08:00 +0000 UTC View PostOn the way to the fifth hold, Falagrim’s forces caught up to the trailing fringes of the council’s forces. They consisted of novice soldiers with poor conditioning, the injured still awaiting their turn for healing, and the clansmen who stayed behind with them. As the Undead came closer, they...
2023-05-27 03:08:01 +0000 UTC View PostA band of frost ringed the underway exit, creeping down the passage to stop a metre in front of Falagrim’s feet. It was followed by a carpet of crackling electricity that advanced no further than the previous attack. The banging of metal against metal filled the air with a deafening clamour as ...
2023-05-25 05:08:06 +0000 UTC View Post“They aren’t budging, sir.”
“They’re not supposed to budge…did someone try?”
“That bunch from Grimmantle.”
A loud tsk issued from General Haughr Darksteel. Coalition or not, it was a stupid idea to stick different clans together – especially...
2023-05-23 07:08:01 +0000 UTC View Post“But why is it falling up?”
“Is there some rule that says that it needs to fall down?”
Florine frowned as she stared up at the wall of water. According to Velgath, in addition to being over two thousand metres tall, the falls were roughly five hundred metres ...
2023-05-21 09:08:01 +0000 UTC View PostThe Realms Below weren’t flat. That’s what Florine quickly found out after they left the cavern at the end of the mines and ventured into the wilds beyond. They were always going up or down and the going usually wasn’t gentle. Caves could be so expansive that one couldn’t see from wall to...
2023-05-19 11:08:01 +0000 UTC View Post“Moving out in two minutes!”
Florine looked over her shoulder at the sound of Falagrim’s voice. She immediately regretted wasting the precious seconds spent doing so. Her eyes returned to the mural covering the wall before her, examining its details under the light of a Torch held alo...
2023-05-17 13:08:18 +0000 UTC View PostIs it truly so easy to lease Undead?
Florine knew the process inside-out, yet she was still compelled to ask the question as Falagrim Felhammer submitted his order. The Dark Dwarf, while having the various documents that she had lent to him translated, could not fill out the forms ...
2023-05-14 15:08:00 +0000 UTC View Post“Boss, something’s happening.”
Falagrim looked up from his reading, tilting his head slightly to look out of the entrance of the pavilion. The owner of the voice didn’t appear, and neither did it look like preparations were being made to receive anyone. He set down the papers in his...
2023-05-12 17:08:01 +0000 UTC View Post7th Day, Upper Fire Month, 1 CE
“Are you certain this is safe?”
“No.”
Florine glanced down at the rock beside her foot. The rock didn’t miss her look.
“The world is not a safe place,” the rock told her.
That might have been true, but it was no ...
2023-05-10 19:08:01 +0000 UTC View Post“What are you dawdling for? Do it!”
The bridgekeepers exchanged one last look with one another before nodding down at the pair of slaves standing by. Their slaves – Stone Giants that stood four times the height of their masters – ponderously swung their four-metre-long mallets in re...
2023-05-08 21:10:08 +0000 UTC View Post2nd Day, Upper Fire Month, 1 CE
The vermilion banner of the Sorcerous Kingdom snapped in the wind and Florine coughed as a cloud of dust scoured the crater in the middle of the Dale of Defiance. She retreated into the administration’s pavilion producing a ha...
2023-05-06 23:09:05 +0000 UTC View PostHow should I even report this?
Florine tapped her pen against a blank sheet of paper as she sat at the desk in front of her tent, from which an endless stream of loud snores emitted. The development of issues along the border with the Holy Kingdom of Roble was something that she ha...
2023-05-05 01:09:13 +0000 UTC View PostEh? Is that how it’s going to go?
It wasn’t as if she was tied up or anything. And what sort of hostage would smile like her? How would a Noblewoman get out here if they didn’t want to be here, anyway?
“Worry not, fair lady!” The young man in plate armour continued,...
2023-05-03 03:08:00 +0000 UTC View PostIt’s spite. It has to be…
Florine cast a sidelong glance at the pair of Dark Dwarves riding the Soul Eater next to her. The two were desperately clutching at the thing as they galloped somewhere in the neighbourhood of eighty kilometres an hour over the arid plains along the Ab...
2023-05-01 05:08:01 +0000 UTC View PostThe chime of chisels cutting into stone rose into the air over the new ‘market quarter’ in the Dale of Defiance.
Florine drew her fingers lightly over a slab of freshly-polished sandstone half her height, her gaze wandering over the yard where dozens of hunched figures worked tirelessly...
2023-04-29 07:08:01 +0000 UTC View Post