The fabric wobbles and trembles as we slowly pull it into the Yin-Yang Realm. Or on top of it, is perhaps a better way to put it.
Regardless, it doesn’t seem to hurt Elysia, just make her uncomfortable. Like wading into a cold pool of water. In response, I slow down my crew, giving her so...
2023-08-11 08:29:38 +0000 UTC View PostBuitenkunst means 'outside art'. ^^
I'll be sleeping in a tent in the woods, taking creative workshops between the trees; it's great fun! However, since I'll have no WiFi, hardly any power, and no time to write, I'm afraid I'll be taking a mini-break from posting chapters.
Next new ch...
2023-08-11 08:29:28 +0000 UTC View Post“If you haven’t closed your eyes yet, then close ’em now,” I instruct the crew I’ve gathered on Herman’s sandy shore. “Get a firm grip on your tether—your own tether, Whiskers!”
It takes a bit more wrangling to get the deep-blue jungle cat to let go of Sal’s fie...
2023-08-07 09:43:09 +0000 UTC View PostIt takes some more discussion for us to figure out who should be doing what right now, but we get there. We decide Dave ought to be permanently stationed in Trisha’s Teahouse, so he can keep refining our plans and coordinate through her.
An unexpected boon comes to light when we ask Trish...
2023-08-04 11:37:19 +0000 UTC View PostI stare at Dave, the gears in my head whirring. “Use the Voidcannon against them? That’s a pretty bold idea. Suri, could it be done?”
Suri is silent for a moment, her conjured humanoid face considering. “It won’t be easy, but it’s not outside the realm of possibilities,...
2023-07-31 09:41:10 +0000 UTC View PostWe bid goodbye to Kirri and Koko, and move through interstitial space to Trisha’s Teahouse, ferrying over Dave, Alec, Jacob, Loudmouth, and—for convenience—Akir.
Other drones from Trisha are already present upon our arrival to take over providing Espir to our friends.
Hiveminds ...
2023-07-28 09:25:38 +0000 UTC View PostWhile Akir sets up his bar, the rest of us drag over some of Herman’s folding chairs and collect firewood from the sparse trees on the outskirts of the pocket dimension.
These are all things we could conjure, of course, but there’s something satisfying about doing it by hand. Besides, I...
2023-07-24 10:02:59 +0000 UTC View PostYes yes, I know; I only just got back from Barcelona, but ya gotta plan ahead. ;)
Barcelona was lovely, by the way, if rather hot this time of year. We saw a lot of great architecture, ate a lot of great food, and just had a fantastic time overall, despite the heat. ;)
Anyway, right n...
2023-07-21 12:37:12 +0000 UTC View PostUsing my tendrils, I drag the glittery, white crystalline spiritform of Yog through the interstitial space, until we pop out in Herman’s Haven.
And I do mean drag, as he’s not exactly done struggling, and keeps conjuring more pure-white blades to hack at my glowing purple appendages. 2023-07-21 12:35:24 +0000 UTC View Post
I'm going to Barcelona for a long weekend, and I've decided I'm not going to post while I'm there, in part also because I've been so busy with the German translation that my chapter buffer has shrunk a little. ;)
That means the next chapter will come Friday the 21st!
2023-07-10 10:24:08 +0000 UTC View PostMy awareness expands, and all of a sudden, I have limbs again, and eyes, and a sense of smell.
Plus a terrible itch in an unmentionable location.
Thankfully, the sensations are muted, like phantom limbs and senses rather than real ones, but they’re there. More importantly, ...
2023-07-10 10:20:30 +0000 UTC View PostMy Imaginary stomach sinks as Yog expertly uses a mix of regular and Inverse Gravitational Energy to smoothly float himself and Dave up to the top of the cavern, while Alec only just resurfaces in the lake below.
Damnit, he’s getting away!
I quickly spin up some Inverse Spa...
2023-07-07 08:29:19 +0000 UTC View PostWell, the title says it all, really. ^^
Go check it out here if you're interested! https://books2read.com/WhisperingCrystals4
2023-07-03 10:16:32 +0000 UTC
View Post
Gravity loses its grip on us as we’re pulled into the icy grip of the Warptunnel. Because it is, in fact, a short tunnel, as Suri explained it.
While Inverse Spatial Energy is capable of connecting two distant points in space together, it does so by bridging the gap between them with a sh...
2023-07-03 10:14:34 +0000 UTC View PostThat's German for Unnatural Laws.
In case you didn't figure it out yet, this is the announcement post for the release of the German translation of my first book! :p
Clara Ostendarp did a great job on translating it (from what I've been told; my German isn't that good :p...
2023-06-30 09:13:28 +0000 UTC View PostAs Yog has Dave casually stroll into the courtyard, walking with more swagger than I’ve ever seen him do, I almost have trouble believing how well our plan is going.
In front of us, a twosome of hosts steps into the portal, and gets whisked away to the Yin-Yang Temple in Hub Two.
...
2023-06-30 09:09:37 +0000 UTC View PostAnother Hoig stands before us, this one with an amethyst crystal planted in his forehead. Unlike the last Hoig, however, this one is a male, and moreover, huge. His form towers over us, reminding me of Hoigzilla—the female Hoig chieftain we took out in Hub Three to secure our own islan...
2023-06-26 09:53:22 +0000 UTC View PostThe days that follow pass in a flurry of preparations. Suri goes with Farouq and Alec to get his invitation sorted, and to retrieve a spare host from Farouq—a white-skinned female Hoig who goes by the name of Longlegs—that has Loudmouth wide-eyed and drooling, much to the annoyance of Bulging...
2023-06-23 09:29:09 +0000 UTC View Post“We captured one of Mara’s secret agents,” I elaborate when Trisha looks at me curiously.
The fact that I say that in front of Farouq is naturally no accident.
I carefully study his reaction. It’s hard to tell from his facetted face, but he definitely seems to startle for a mo...
2023-06-19 10:02:31 +0000 UTC View PostI exit the pocket dimension with a frown, and it’s not due to having to knock on Kaitlynn’s anti-Espir barrier and politely wait before I can leave. Honestly, I could have broken through in a second if there was an actual emergency.
Sudo being part of a secret police force doesn’t cou...
2023-06-16 09:34:46 +0000 UTC View PostFollowing Jacob’s example, Alec tosses his Darksteel staff aside, where it silently plunges into the viscous Hydrum.
I guess Sudo doesn’t care much for her equipment. Or more likely, expects Lyrack’s servants to clean up after her.
Before the weapon has even completely gone unde...
2023-06-12 07:59:39 +0000 UTC View PostThe basement—let alone Suri’s pocket dimension—did not seem like a believable stage for the promised sparring match. And frankly, it didn’t seem feasible to expect someone as paranoid as Sudo to accept entering the latter anyway.
So from the start, we decided to maximise our home-gr...
2023-06-09 10:14:08 +0000 UTC View Post“From the left!” I warn Alec. “OTHER LEFT, YOU BUMBLING—”
The bag of sand launched by Kaitlynn smacks against the back of his blindfolded head, hard enough that he ends up stumbling off the lily pad.
“Sorry!” Kaitlynn yells from a distance as Alec plunges into the Hydrum...
2023-06-05 11:07:17 +0000 UTC View Post“Ah, yes,” Suri chimes. “I took the liberty of entering your friend’s Core to remove Farouq’s Commands. I hope you don’t mind.”
I shake my head, lost for words.
“Hey Nonya,” Alec says with a hoarse chuckle. “Long time no see. I would hug you, but, well, I already t...
2023-06-02 09:52:47 +0000 UTC View PostOn the other side of Suri’s closing portal, I find a small, spherical void that’s free of gravity, bordered by dark Spatial Energy. There’s very little light coming in from outside, but that’s okay. Peilor are their own light source when they need to be.
Not that there’s much to s...
2023-05-29 09:07:04 +0000 UTC View PostGathered in Lyrack’s home cinema, the six of us—three Hoig and three floating spirits—quietly watch the commercial being projected in the Aether in front of the seats.
Dramatic music with a sound not unlike rising strings plays over a backdrop of a dark sphere, while a deep voice does...
2023-05-26 09:45:51 +0000 UTC View PostFor a couple of long, tense seconds, as Kaitlynn slows us all down to hover in front of the otter, it remains eerily silent.
The problem is immediately obvious to me: this is not something we’ve prepared for. Kaitlynn doesn’t even know this Peilor’s name, let alone how Lyrack used to ...
2023-05-22 08:56:43 +0000 UTC View PostThe wall-mounted black crystal still offers some resistance, but this time, I manage to push the jagged end of my chain through it, and into its interior.
The moment it enters, a connection snaps into place, and before I know it, a pulling force erupts from the crystal which starts to suck ...
2023-05-19 09:29:10 +0000 UTC View PostStill hovering in front of him, Kaitlynn withdraws her hand from Loudmouth’s, going pale as a sheet. “Lyrack showed you? We’re... we’re so sorry, Loudmouth.”
“You saw, and you still want to help us?” I ask softly.
Loudmouth sighs, sinking deeper into the plush c...
2023-05-15 08:41:19 +0000 UTC View PostI stare down at the lifeless yellow crystal still embedded in Loudmouth’s forehead.
At Lyrack’s corpse.
Guess his gamble of purchasing Loudmouth didn’t pay off after all. Unlucky bastard.
Anyway, this is... this is a problem.
In my defence, holding back wasn...
2023-05-12 08:29:30 +0000 UTC View Post