A wave of sheer despair crashed down on the wyrm, and even the overflow was enough to send Zeke spiraling into brief hopelessness. It only lasted a moment before it faded away, but he knew the feelings persisted within the kobolds’ minds. They’d just been asked to abandon their mother, a crea...
2023-08-10 13:00:05 +0000 UTC View PostMira always thinks everyone is going to turn on her, and more often than not, she’s been right. And I think that’s a terrible tragedy because the entire world is not the mob of self-interest that she thinks it is. There are good people out there. She just doesn’t let he... 2023-08-09 13:00:06 +0000 UTC View Post
The golems hit first, but the giant wyrm didn’t even twitch when they landed upon his broad back. If Zeke had taken a moment to stop and think, he’d have marveled at the sheer scope of the creature. Baraziq wasn’t just enormous. His size, especially up close, was nearly in...
2023-08-08 13:00:05 +0000 UTC View PostThe city spread out before Zeke, towering above and descending far below his position at the tunnel’s exit. An arching crystalline bridge stretched out in front of him, leading to an enormous, rocky spire that stood in the center of a yawning abyss. Zeke had no idea how deep it went. Miles, may...
2023-08-07 13:00:09 +0000 UTC View PostSometimes, I wonder what would happen if Mira and I just settled down somewhere. I can’t help but think neither of us would be particularly happy. I need my projects, and she needs adventure. Without those distractions, I’m sure we’d get tired of one another pretty quic... 2023-08-06 13:00:03 +0000 UTC View Post
For a while, I thought it was love. Cy treated me like an equal. We talked. We had things in common. We were doing great, important things. But Mira was always in the back of my mind. The moment I admitted that to myself, I realized that I could never have a future with Cy. F... 2023-08-05 13:00:03 +0000 UTC View Post
“I hate this,” Zeke muttered, half under his breath, as he watched his army of former slaves march ahead of him. Thankfully, the dwarf known as the Arsenal had been more than happy to help out by providing plenty of weapons and armor, so each of the slaves were equipped. Not well, but even pa...
2023-08-04 13:00:05 +0000 UTC View Post“When?” asked a hulking ogre with a silvery collar around his thick neck. He rolled his massive shoulders and leaned back against the barracks’ wall. With a sigh that felt so forceful it might rattle the walls, he added, “Been months, elf. When’s this savior comin’?”
“Soon,...
2023-08-03 13:00:04 +0000 UTC View PostFor the longest time, I didn’t think happiness was really possible. With what was coming, everything looked so bleak. But then I saw that Nova City wasn’t really representative of the entire world. Sure, there were other places like it. Most of the biggest cities in the w... 2023-08-02 13:00:06 +0000 UTC View Post
Zeke battered the portcullis into scrap metal, and he didn’t waste any time before zeroing in on the dwarven leader. Even as the gaudily armored dwarf leaped at him, his sword raised an overhand attack, Zeke strode forward with the weight of inevitability on his side. His steps shook the ground...
2023-08-01 13:00:13 +0000 UTC View PostFire danced in the sky as the ruined stronghold crumbled all around as Zeke took a few precious minutes to rest and recover as best he could. The rapid regeneration associated with activating [Cambion’s Awakening] via demonic mana had healed his body well enough – even his ar...
2023-07-31 13:01:00 +0000 UTC View PostAlright, so, some of you might already be aware of this, but I figured I'd better mention it for those who aren't. This week, I turned my final draft of the manuscript for book five, and just as I was getting ready to move on to book six, my publisher dropped a bit of a bomb on me. Ba...
2023-07-30 18:26:24 +0000 UTC View PostCy got out of Nova City before we even returned from our delve into the spider Rift. Didn’t leave a note. No communication whatsoever. Just escaped the city and fled across the country without so much as a goodbye. I should have expected it, really. Our situation was so com... 2023-07-30 13:00:04 +0000 UTC View Post
I don’t think what happened in Nova really hit Mira until she discovered that her favorite band had been one of the casualties of the city’s destruction. Obviously, from a rational perspective, she knew. She had to have known. But it didn’t hit home until someone told h... 2023-07-29 13:00:04 +0000 UTC View Post
With corrosive mana racing through him, Zeke let out a roar of pure hate and aggression, then bounded toward the enormous dwarf. His stride quickly ate the distance, and in only an instant, his hammer found its mark in the shocked Roknag’s chest. He took it without any preparation, and the soun...
2023-07-28 13:00:06 +0000 UTC View PostThe dwarves’ panic only lasted for a few moments, but by that point, Zeke and trio of golems were among them, wreaking havoc. Even as he whipped his hammer around, destroying fortifications with every swing, the dwarven defenders recovered and mounted a counterattack. A hundred different skills...
2023-07-27 13:00:06 +0000 UTC View PostThe day we hit that Rift, we had no idea that it was going to change everything. At the time, we’d been riding high off of a few victories, and Mira was still running away from what happened in Nova City. Maybe that’s why we failed so horribly. For months, that’s what I... 2023-07-26 13:00:09 +0000 UTC View Post
“This is very uncomfortable,” said Eveline, floating beside Zeke. She’d retained her natural form, which meant that she looked like a prototypical succubus, wearing a black dress whose hem seemed to drag across the ground. “Have I mentioned that yet?”
“I’m not dropping the ski...
2023-07-25 13:00:11 +0000 UTC View PostYes. This is late. And I know I missed it last week. In my defense, I've been extremely busy trying to get Death: Genesis 5 finished and prepared for my publisher. Still, I apologize for the oversight.
So - everything's going pretty well. Death: Genesis ...
2023-07-24 20:58:00 +0000 UTC View PostIt took three days for Zeke to completely recover from the battle against the crucified dwarf. It wasn’t that he had been terribly injured. Rather, the combination of exhaustion and the effects of so much corrosive mana running through him had left him almost completely unable to function. In a...
2023-07-24 13:00:12 +0000 UTC View PostI’m not a [Cybernetic Engineer]. That much became obvious the longer I tried to learn the skill. From a rational standpoint, I understood it well enough, but I knew from the very beginning that I was missing something vital. That little spark that separated someone meant fo... 2023-07-23 13:00:03 +0000 UTC View Post
Initially, I didn’t want to go back to her. Back then, it was a toxic, unequal relationship where I fully believed that what she wanted was more important than what I needed. But the moment I saw Mira again, I knew I couldn’t resist diving back in. Not because I needed he... 2023-07-22 13:00:03 +0000 UTC View Post
As Zeke felt the weight of exhaustion weighing down on him, he reached out to his golems, only to remember that they had been completely drained during the battle and dismissed back into the lobby of the Crimson Tower. Running his hand through his sweaty hair, he looked up and saw the devastation...
2023-07-21 13:00:08 +0000 UTC View PostChains lashed at Zeke’s shoulders as he barreled forward, but he was undeterred. With his body encased in metal – or perhaps his it had become living metal – the whipping chains were little more than an annoyance. Still, he could feel a slight tug on his mana – as well as his vital energy...
2023-07-20 13:00:05 +0000 UTC View PostI’ve given a lot of thought to the question of my own identity. After Mobile, I latched onto Mira and just went along with whatever she wanted. But when we were apart, I was forced to chart my own course. I’m still not certain as to the shape my life might take, but I do ... 2023-07-19 13:00:06 +0000 UTC View Post
Zeke panicked as he felt thick, black chains squeezing his abdomen and sucking the life – no, the mana – out of him. Clawing at the chains did no good; they were far too durable for that. As far as he knew, the only thing that could destroy them was the unique blend of opposing attunements he...
2023-07-18 13:00:05 +0000 UTC View PostAs disturbing as the scenario was, Zeke wasn’t one to turn down an easy route to victory. So, he raised his hammer, and without using any of his skills, he brought it down with as much force as he could muster.
And the world screamed.
The blood on the floor surged as thousands of ha...
2023-07-17 13:01:00 +0000 UTC View PostI’m not powerful. In Earth terms, I’m a little above average. But on a galactic scale? I’m nobody. But I can overcome that. It’ll be difficult, and I have to think outside the box, but it’s possible. I have to believe it is.
Patr...
2023-07-16 13:00:03 +0000 UTC View PostMira has told me a little about what she did while we were apart, though I feel sure she’s kept the worst of it to herself. I get it. After Nova, she was broken, and no matter how much I tried, I couldn’t fix her. Because she didn’t want to be fixed. She didn’t think ... 2023-07-15 13:00:08 +0000 UTC View Post
The three golems stomped up the stairs ahead of Zeke, just as they had on most of the other floors. Only once they had emerged and remained unharmed would Zeke follow. As he did, he fiddled with the ring on his finger, wondering if it worked on slivers of a soul. On the one hand, he fully expecte...
2023-07-14 13:00:05 +0000 UTC View Post