eligos

Double-Blind Ch 211

Ellison looked…

I swallowed down the swell of emotion and tried to shake it off.

Kids are small. That’s obvious. But you don’t truly realize until you take responsibility for one, how slowly they grow. Maybe it wouldn’t feel so painstaking if they grew up protected in a vacuum. But they don’t. The world swirls around them, ...

Double-Blind Ch 210

The movement was blazingly fast and perfectly controlled. Only Mile’s wrist and forearm moved, his shoulder motionless, as he pulled something black and carbon from his inventory and pointed it at me.

Time slowed down.

Muzzle flare flashed three times.

It was likely only due to <Probability Cascade> tha...

Monarch - Whitefall XXI

“A purse of ten golden rods.” Alten said immediately.

Those who heard him immediately whispered among themselves, and for good reason. The price was astronomical. Enough for a massive home in the noble section of Whitefall, and a gods damned estate anywhere else. I wasn’t opposed. Even if I lost, in terms of the treasury, it wouldn�...

Double-Blind Ch 209

The trail of blood led to a small alcove beneath a rock formation reminiscent of an overpass. There it stopped, a small puddle forming on the ground but no Miles.

“Stopped here to rest? Patch himself up?” I mused.

“Or something picked him off.” Talia said. Like she was hoping it had.

Either way, it loo...

Double-Blind Ch 208

“Ordinator. No listed level. So you weren’t bullshitting. Bout time I had some luck, you’re really saving my ass here,” Maria looked up from her screen. She dusted herself off, and for the first time, she smiled.

“I help you, we both help Hastur, eventually we all end up in a better place,” I said. The words tasted like ash. 2023-02-01 23:31:48 +0000 UTC View Post

Double-Blind Ch 207

Blood everywhere. Bodies strewn across the ground, limbs and arms overlapping. Armor reduced to chunks of metal and gaping flesh. A twin blade forged of dark iron and silver edges was cast aside, familiar.

She knelt at the center, both hands poised to compress the big adventurer’s chest.His head lolled off to the side, his eyes lifeless....

Monarch - Whitefall XX

“Kick his fuckin’ head in!”

I’d heard whispers of places like this scattered throughout Topside.

They called them pits. Small, underground brawling rings where disgruntled men and women tested themselves against each other. Under my father’s reign, it was one of many outlets the common folk used to vent their frustrations. ...

Monarch Webtoon Update (And Sketches!)

Hi all,

My apologies for the lack of Monarch chapters this week. Had to do some work on the webtoon, which, as it turns out, is a little time consuming. This won’t happen often, as I’m told pre-production is the most demanding part of the process on my end, and once things are up and running I’ll be mainly proofing scripts and stampi...

Double-Blind Ch 206

One of the controlled vampires rammed a pointed hand into the back of a smaller vampire in front of him, ripping out a red chunk. It was impossible to see at this distance, but given the location it was probably a heart.

A few others carried out the order a split second later, felling twice their number.

The Nosferatu’s ruthless ef...

Double-Blind Ch 205

Hell looked a lot like California.

The towering basalt formations below were like pictures I’d seen of the Devil’s Postpile monument, only warped by nightmares and blown up to a hundred times the scale. A sprawling wasteland of hexagonal red beams bigger than redwood trees formed treacherous, uneven paths that frequently plunged downwa...

Double-Blind Ch 204

I stepped off the elevator. Compared to the beach-party atmosphere of the second floor, the atmosphere here was night and day. It was cold, and instead of vibrant tropical faire, I was treated to a wasteland of gray brick and gothic architecture with a tall ceiling, scattered with bright splashes of red.

A catacomb. How quaint.

Whate...

Double-Blind Ch 203

They know what you did, during the transposition.

You thought no one saw. That you’d just get away with it.

But now it’s over.

You think they’ll take you prisoner? No. Maybe in the old days, but we don’t live in the old days anymore.

And now—the fuck?

With the e...

Monarch - Whitefall XIX

I endured an endless litany of well-wishing, brown-nosing, and curious questions. All throughout, the table at the center of the banquet hall beckoned. I salivated, staring at the spread.

My father had pulled out all the stops. The seemingly endless table was overflowing with every fruit, meat, and wine imaginable. Maybe I’d start with t...

Double-Blind Ch 202

“You’re sure you don’t want me to come in with you?” Halima asked for what was probably the third time.

We back-trekked to the creek, just outside of the ripple. The frayed end of the rope was still hanging, abandoned, from the tree, a persisting reminder of how close we’d come. I’d waved Halima over, and was doing my best not ...

Monarch - Lillian I

The cat was dead.

Lillian crouched, careful to keep her skirts clear of the gutter as she placed the sleeve of milk aside and leaned down to get a better look. A slow sadness washed over her as she removed a canvas glove and pressed her fingers to the creature’s neck, finding nothing but damp cold.

“Damn this cold.” Lillian dro...

Double-Blind CH201

My heart raced. Fuck. Fuck. I’d all but spelled out in flashing neon that he was walking into a trap. Miles should have been able to handle it. Realistically, he should have gone in prepared with a strong team, equipped to the nines, fully aware of the potential danger.

<Matt: What happened?><...

Double-Blind CH200

We waited for the codex’s hold to take effect. Nick shivered, eyes fixed to the ground, paradoxically looking worse the more he healed.

I balanced on the precipice of doubt. As cold as it sounds, this failure was the evidence I needed. Proof that Nick was the same person, that his mind wasn’t twisted and repurposed by Hast...

Monarch - Whitefall XVIII

I made it.

Over halfway there. There was a part of me that still couldn’t believe this was actually happening, that I’d survived. That the castle—and everyone in it was alive and well.

I actually made it.

My surroundings were a blur. The nobles’s voices were a low buzz. Probably gossiping amongst the...

Monarch - Whitefall XVII

“You’re a fool.” Annette’s face was the very picture of scorn, her cheeks flaming red.

We had caught back up to the carriage quickly, and now Annette stood awkwardly in the center, gripping the hem of her silver skirts tightly.

“Does it help that I’m a delighted to see you, deliriously happy fool?” I tried.

“I...

Double-Blind CH199

I drove my knife through a grimeling’s jaw, blade parting flesh and muscle as if it I was tearing through paper.

The second the blade was occupied, two of them—distracted with… someone—immediately wheeled and charged me. I pirouetted, keeping the blade in place without driving it home, pushing the wounded grim...

Monarch - Whitefall XVI

I saw her for a flicker in time. One so brief I wasn’t confident I saw her at all. She was younger, to be certain, and the short cropped brown-hair didn’t quite gel with my memories.

My view was obscured as the carriage jostled forward, and I lost sight of her in the crowd.

“Everything alright?” Maya asked.

Double-Blind CH198

Time stopped.

My pulse drove a heavy rhythm, and the red strands from <Harrowing Anticipation> pulsed alongside it, accelerating. I read the cave like sheet music, every cavefiend a note, the path forward annotated as if clearly marked with a piece of paper. I tweaked the threads with <Probability Cascad...