“Tracking me? Seriously? I thought you would have learnt your lesson after last time.” Kalma’s presence washes over us, freezing my body in fear. No longer is it suppressed. She lets the pressure crush down on each of us as she closes the distance with casual steps. “I do not like people ...
2024-02-01 23:35:19 +0000 UTC View PostAfter killing my first play partner, another three volunteer themselves by pouncing toward me. Now that I know controlling ethereal flame influences my separate physical flames, I can dodge by adjusting the amount my jet thrusts. Each Viisin get a ball of flames to the face.
If they w...
2024-01-31 02:59:09 +0000 UTC View PostWhile Ankor continues fighting back the Viisin, the four of us fly toward the former Forvaal as they sprint into the now undefended land of the pact nations. The lesser Viisin leave very little sign of the mercenaries they must have only recently cut through, but the odd limb or discarded weapon ...
2024-01-29 03:38:46 +0000 UTC View Post“So, how exactly are we going to meet up with those inner circle mercenaries you convinced to help us?” I ask atop Grímr’s back.
We set out as soon as Solon gave his approval of my capability. Remus, Jav, Grímr and I left without so much as a goodbye to the centzon. It’s somewhat ...
2024-01-26 00:28:48 +0000 UTC View Post“What is so important that you need me for?” I ask, unsure exactly who to direct my question.
“You can create inscriptions at will,” the riparian says. “I would much rather inscribe it onto a plate for use, but I had to give up all my usually equipment to travel here.” He slaps ...
2024-01-24 01:56:55 +0000 UTC View Post“Grímr, you look different.” Without a moment of hesitation, I’m already on top of him, inspecting the incredibly compact glowing markings that thread along his razor plumage.
He vibrates his feathers and they weave out of position, breaking the inscription and cutting the glow. When...
2024-01-22 00:12:11 +0000 UTC View Post“That was a very cute attempt; tying to get these rodents to back down.” Kalma walks out of the cloud of dust as it concentrates into the last of her skin. “I told you, didn’t I? Doesn’t matter what you say, there’s no stopping this now.”
The unsettling feeling of her voice ea...
2024-01-19 00:11:43 +0000 UTC View PostWhere has Tore run off to? If I had him by my side, this new mage wouldn’t be a problem. Tore could stop them from inflicting so many casualties. As things are, I don’t even dare approach. The air gets so much colder in the direct vicinity of the old albanic woman, that even at my hottest tem...
2024-01-17 00:49:45 +0000 UTC View PostThe Mercenary Order’s headquarters sits at the far eastern border of Meja. Right in the centre of the entire pact nations.
Well, the centre of what used to be the pact nations. Now, so much ground has been lost that the headquarters may as well be on the front line itself.
I soar th...
2024-01-14 23:57:09 +0000 UTC View PostWind whips across my body so fast it almost tears me apart. The feeling of simple air trying its hardest to smother my flames is only beaten by the intense jerk as we tear through the skies.
It’s insane how fast Tore can take us with a simple jump. Each time the earth rushes to meet us, I...
2024-01-12 00:07:41 +0000 UTC View PostEven amongst the massive, musclebound ursu, Hund is a giant. Standing above five metres tall, he is impossible to miss. Impossible to keep your eyes off. He is a terrifying existence when his attention is elsewhere. So, to have his gaze squarely on me, hand on blade, and stepping forward with suc...
2024-01-10 02:04:25 +0000 UTC View PostHund is the only solution to Kalma. He has to be.
Even after the rest of his kind became hateful to non-ursu, he had been willing to guide me on how to safely deal with the Void Fog. If not for his Void enforced desire, I’m certain he will help us. As terrifying as he is, he helped me, ex...
2024-01-08 01:05:27 +0000 UTC View PostHelplessness is a feeling I’m all too familiar with. The overwhelming difficulty of simply trying to live is something that never seems to ease.
Maybe I’ve become arrogant in my strength. I mean, I can even compete with Viisin now, so I thought it would be no issue to just burn my way t...
2024-01-05 02:06:25 +0000 UTC View PostKalma? Here? What is she doing on this side of the Alps? Isn’t she supposed to be oblivious to the mermineae escape?
Did she find out? Is that why she’s here now? But that can’t be right. She would be cutting her way through the mermineae rather than wiping out our command post if tha...
2024-01-02 23:30:02 +0000 UTC View PostI may have worried for nothing over the threat of piping.
I don’t even have to travel far before a way up shows itself. A hatch above a ladder gives me an entrance to the basement within only a few metres from where I fell into the tunnel.
As well as my body is hidden, if there’s ...
2023-12-28 23:56:28 +0000 UTC View PostThe evacuated city is about as close to ursu construction as I’ve yet seen outside New Vetus. The buildings are tall and the streets cramped. There is clearly more understanding in the art of construction by those in the pact nations than that of Joiak or Zadok, but they still don’t come clos...
2023-12-24 23:00:04 +0000 UTC View PostThe travel back to the pact nations has been far more pleasant an experience than it was on the way to New Vetus. I opted to pass over the isthmus, so there was no concern about the sea looming below. While I would have preferred having Leal by my side, I didn’t miss having to carry her.
...
2023-12-22 01:24:29 +0000 UTC View PostI clean the last ursu guards from the top of the wall. There isn’t any challenge to it. Nothing they do can slow me, so much as hurt me. A few ursu amongst the guards had swords of their own and far more enhancement than their comrades. Even these warriors might as well be tinder after my fight...
2023-12-18 02:29:59 +0000 UTC View PostSolvei had not been exaggerating.
Leal could hardly believe it. She’d assumed the moment the warden appeared, they would not be getting away alive. Solvei had simply taken his advance as if it were a game. She played with a man Leal would consider unreachable. The man had been a major pil...
2023-12-15 01:40:47 +0000 UTC View PostIt’s great to see Gerben alive, but I shouldn’t stand around talking. Leal is waiting.
I step toward the rest of the cell’s residents and the tall ursu moves to stop me. Gerben pulls him back, his eyes not leaving me.
“Move,” I demand.
The group’s eyes flick between ...
2023-12-13 00:20:16 +0000 UTC View PostThere are many more captive ursu than I could have expected.
I burn a tiny section of the wire fence away to give me just enough space to crawl through. As I slowly make my way forward, doing my best to ignore the crack of the whip and the wails of its victims, I get close enough to feel th...
2023-12-11 02:52:51 +0000 UTC View PostDespite my fears, land finally graces us after a day of flight. We land on the ledge of a tall cliff overlooking the gulf. Without wasting time, my flames burn through the surrounding flora, regaining my energy. The journey was long, but nowhere near what I’d been dreading, so I could still kee...
2023-12-08 01:41:43 +0000 UTC View PostWhile I rest my wings, the two of us talk about our lives since that fateful day. I spoke of my actions that night, and the permeating hatred toward Gloria that pushed me until I’d lost control. The Void Fog, crossing the Alps, the wars. Everything I’d been through, I told her.
Leal had...
2023-12-06 02:47:23 +0000 UTC View PostTaking off should be no problem. I’ll just blast us into the air with a jet of fire. The problem will come once I’m at speed. I can hardly keep shooting myself forward with physical flames. Doing so will exhaust me in minutes. Especially up in the air where I don’t have earth to burn and mi...
2023-12-04 02:34:54 +0000 UTC View Post“Leal?”
I can’t believe it. I’d planned to eventually go looking for her, but I’d never expected her to be here. On the other side of war.
I’m so happy to see her alive and healthy, but… why is she trapping me?
She’s older, taller than I remember. Her body now co...
2023-12-01 00:33:04 +0000 UTC View PostLeal longed to return to the times before her life collapsed. Back to when her mother had been there to hug her, and her father to play and joke. She’d welcome the isolation she’d felt if it meant she could go back before the war.
Life had been nothing but misery since Solvei killed her...
2023-11-29 03:41:21 +0000 UTC View PostI gorge on the artillery reserves. Technically, I’m not supposed to help myself, but they have so many and considering how much I’ve assisted in this war, they can hardly complain about a few missing explosive projectiles.
After Hund left without a word, the first thing I did was check ...
2023-11-27 02:20:03 +0000 UTC View PostBarely. I only barely move out of the way before the Viisin tears through the space I stood hardly a moment ago. The little flame that breaches its coating of dust disappears. Painfully. It’s like the gaze of the Forvaal, only at a far greater intensity. I can’t let it touch me.
It thro...
2023-11-24 02:19:47 +0000 UTC View PostMarching along with thousands of soldiers is a rather unique experience. Despite my short stature, I keep up rather well with the many far exceeding my height. It shows how far I’ve come since the little girl who had to ride on the back of her uncle’s wagon for half the day.
Our first b...
2023-11-24 01:20:38 +0000 UTC View PostLetty’s words remain on my mind as we walk back to the town hall turned command centre. If the Mercenary Order wants to chain me down, it would be just another on a now rather long list. Of course, I’ll never let them, but it is concerning that I can’t seem to go anywhere without something ...
2023-11-22 02:16:25 +0000 UTC View Post