They moved as fast as they could, which wasn’t fast at all. Lanston and Sebas took turns dragging Robert after the others. Sebas didn’t have much muscle being a pampered noble, dragging him along for mere moments before complaining about his aching arms. Lanston had more endurance, being the son of a knight, but the heaviest weights he’d l...
2022-05-20 21:10:17 +0000 UTC View PostRobert dismounted first, a hand on his sword as he waited for the others to follow. He motioned for Lanston to come closer. “Any idea what it is?”
“No.” Eyes wide with curiosity, the lanky young man would have walked right up to it if Robert didn’t grab the back of his shirt. “It resembles a slime but the coloring is wrong.”<...
2022-05-18 21:18:01 +0000 UTC View PostThe initiate was a kind of slow torture for Robert Quintana. Trained by a former royal knight, being grouped with the young and mediocre casters that made up the initiates felt like an insult. A waste of his time, without a doubt. But as his teacher said, every knight had his trials to bear.
His trial approached its conclusion with the qua...
2022-05-18 21:18:00 +0000 UTC View PostOnce the mamaroons I spied coming out of the ground disappear, I transform into an ooze and moved forward. This form isn’t from this world. No way they recognize it as a threat.
In the form of a blob, I roll over to where the mamaroons emerged. I form a tentacle and transform the end of it into the shape of a spade. Then I begin to dig. ...
2022-05-16 21:01:12 +0000 UTC View PostI circle the area, looking for traces of monsters. The spotted doglike creatures have moved on but I can see their tracks and the remains of their meal. I pick up the bloody corpse of a mamaroon by the tail.
It has a long, sinuous body. Incredibly flexible. I have no problem rolling the thing into a ball. Does it even have bones?
I t...
2022-05-16 21:01:11 +0000 UTC View PostNo one ever expects death from above.
I don’t know who’s more surprised, the monster whose head I landed on or the initiates I saved. You’d think the monster but the weight of my enhanced form and momentum of the jump drove its head to the ground. I imagine it’s a little dazed.
The initiates on the other hand are looking at m...
2022-05-13 22:51:36 +0000 UTC View PostWe all take a break. Geneva heals Alana’s scrapes and bruises. Unfortunately, I don’t have to persuadeher to accept this time. Arthur magics up a couple of bowls and William fills them with water. I thought about cooking up the bird but we need to keep moving. So, the bronze terror gets dragged behind us as we keep heading for the w...
2022-05-13 22:51:33 +0000 UTC View PostA ‘film’ comes down over my eyes and the vague shadow resolves into the largest bird I’ve ever seen. A very strange bird. The thing has an extra pair of feet, two smaller talons on its upper chest. Its brown feathers have a metallic sheen to them, like polished bronze, except for the white feathers along its face. Its dark, beady eyes are ...
2022-05-13 22:51:32 +0000 UTC View PostA silence stretches between us as we catch up to the others. If left to Alana, it might drag on for the rest of the qualifier. She seems uncomfortable around me now, though she can’t keep her eyes away, sneaking little glances over her shoulder as she keeps pace with Marthe.
I let her be. Things between us got a little…tense earlier. I...
2022-05-13 22:51:30 +0000 UTC View Post“Nothing’s wrong,” she says tersely, refusing to look at me.
“Huh. I’d be inclined to believe you if you weren’t so obviously angry about something.”
“I’m not angry. My hand hurts.”
“Then let Bell heal it.”
“I don’t need healing for this tiny wound.”
This girl. “You want to be in pain...
2022-05-11 20:15:00 +0000 UTC View PostI slow down as I approach the road, quickly taking in the situation. Five people on the ground, my team all on their feet. Another guide standing further up the road, unmoving. Geneva further down the road, taking her sweet time approaching now that the festivities are over.
With no immediate need for action, I move toward Alana. She’s s...
2022-05-11 20:14:59 +0000 UTC View Post“Oi!”
A heavy hand on her shoulder jolted Alana from her thoughts. She tore her arm from Marthe’s grip and faced a scowling Arthur. “What?”
“What do you mean what? Are you blind, woman?” He raised a hand and she followed his pointing finger to a group of five crouched on the road further ahead. “We’ve got company. W...
2022-05-09 20:36:05 +0000 UTC View PostAlana sighed as Lou’s figure was swallowed by a dust cloud, a familiar pang of envy stabbing her heart. She wouldn’t consider herself vain, but she was proud of her talent. It changed the direction of her life. Changed her from a disregarded bastard to a James daughter. To a future knight.
Coming to the Grand Hall, she’d been warned ...
2022-05-09 20:36:03 +0000 UTC View PostI closely examine the tracks of the doglike monsters and sniff at the ground. I can smell several other somethings, too mixed to be a herd, all headed in the same direction. I’m hoping that means a watering hole. I’ll follow them for now. If nothing pans out, I’ll go in the opposite direction. I still have the form of a dusk hawk to search...
2022-05-09 20:36:01 +0000 UTC View PostThe Rusty Step is wholly unimpressive. Nothing but dry reddish-brown earth baking beneath a hot autumn sun. In some areas, the ground is flat as a board. In other places, the dirt is packed into small hills that provide minimum shade. Little spots of green shrubbery break up the monotonous color. Large birds circle overhead, casting darting shad...
2022-05-09 20:35:57 +0000 UTC View PostAs punishment for fighting the prince, I was temporarily drafted to the tenders and the bastards sent me to the least desired job in the Sanctuary, assisting the Temple.
Specifically, repairing the damaged ring where the lunatics wrestle with monsters, or as they say, ‘commune with their brethren’. I’m not surprised they shoved the j...
2022-04-30 19:52:23 +0000 UTC View Post“How much do you all know about the Beast Sanctuary?”
My eyes move about the carriage. Arthur is smiling to himself as he stares blankly at a wall. I don’t need Bell to tell me that he’s lost in a disgusting delusion, likely involving Geneva. Marthe is as hesitant to engage as always. Doesn’t even bother to look up. Alana pouts a...
2022-04-30 19:52:22 +0000 UTC View PostThe next day, the team gathers in front of my house, lured by the temptation of Geneva’s breakfast. We look ready for a day of trouble.
Alana is wearing her usual armor, the gray breastplate showing more dents than I remember. Gauntlets cover her forearms but that’s it, as she prefers speed over full protection. There exists metals tha...
2022-04-27 21:10:03 +0000 UTC View PostI have nothing against him for standing up to Arthur. Saints, I approve. He could have laid my teammate on his ass and I’d have bought the arrogant bastard a drink.
But the way he’s treating Alana? I could snap his neck. Who does he think he is? Why in the nine hells should she be ashamed? Is it her problem Arthur can’t cont...
2022-04-25 22:21:19 +0000 UTC View PostOnce again, I stand outside the Center Hall, staring at large signs proclaiming the team registration areas. My team is gathered around me, some more awake than others at the early hour. Alana insisted we leave early to avoid the crowd. That failed. Every initiate in the Hall must be here, likely with the same plan. Saints, the people at the fro...
2022-04-25 22:21:18 +0000 UTC View PostAn hour later, my team is gathered around my dining table. There are two empty bottles of Herbanacle between us, which for once I’m not responsible for emptying, and several empty platters of food.
It should have been a simple game. Something to get them acquainted with taking orders from Alana, get Alana used to giving orders, and deepe...
2022-04-22 19:16:27 +0000 UTC View Post“Upset you didn’t get a chance to fight?” I ask her.
She scoffs. “As if. I like hurting stupid nobles who don’t know when to shut their disgusting mouths or keep their hands to themselves. I don’t need to fight a woman capable of throwing a small mountain around like a toy.”
Her eyes move to Alana. “Or an insane woman...
2022-04-22 19:16:26 +0000 UTC View Post“As you’ve seen,” I say in a nonchalant tone as if I don’t notice their disbelief, “along with my casting abilities, I am very strong and durable. So much so that I can confidently say that without magical aide, no one in the Hall can match me in strength or speed.”
“How?” Marthe asks. “Are you even human?”
... 2022-04-20 18:15:51 +0000 UTC View PostEven I feel a little damage from that and she’s indirectly complimenting me. I hear Marthe snort in amusement, which is the final straw.
“Raahhh! Forget the stakes! We’re fighting now. You’re going to eat those words when I knock her head off her shoulders!”
“We’ll see.” Her arms come off my shoulders and I reluctantl...
2022-04-18 15:40:35 +0000 UTC View PostIf I were any less shameless than I am, I’d be too embarrassed to stand in front of my team after they no doubt heard my wife railing me. Probably felt it too. Our bed is sturdy and I know the house suffered from the frame slamming into the walls. Saints, that woman is a beast…
Ah, no. Have to focus, at least for a bit. Team. Training....
2022-04-18 15:40:31 +0000 UTC View Post“I say we grab her ourselves,” Arthur said, moving toward the stairs. “Our teammate seems to be in distress. It’s the right thing to do.”
William looked at him aghast. His eyes clearly wanted to ask, ‘Since when do you care about the right thing?’ but he defaulted to a polite tone. “It would be boorish for men to intrude on...
2022-04-15 14:54:58 +0000 UTC View PostAlana’s day started off as it always did. Habit woke her up before dawn and she fought the possessive hands of sleep to get out of bed. The room offered to her by the Hall was by no means luxurious. It had enough space for a small bed, a single dresser, and room to walk between them. Clumsy hands riffled through her dresser and changed her clo...
2022-04-15 14:54:54 +0000 UTC View PostI wake to Kierra caressing my neck with a finger. Noticing my blinking eyes, her hand grabs my chin and tilts it up so she can kiss me. “Morning~” she whispers after several long moments.
I respond by kissing her. She responds eagerly, rolling on top of me. I let her, having already taken plenty of liberties with her the previous night...
2022-04-14 01:09:26 +0000 UTC View PostIf she couldn’t hear the hiss of Lane’s spell and the deputies’ curses as they fought against what had to be a master assassin who’d disguised himself as a skinny boy, Alyssa might have been fooled by the little girl. As it was, she wasn’t taking any chances. There was no telling what was hiding in that tiny body.
And those eyes....
2022-04-12 18:04:16 +0000 UTC View PostAs soon as they arrived at the estate, Alyssa’s lax attitude disappeared. It wasn’t the scene of an accident or a spell gone wrong. It was the scene of a fight and a vicious one. The garden surrounding the house was completely scorched and she thought she could see damage to the house.
Swearing, she hopped off the driver’s bench of t...
2022-04-11 21:41:47 +0000 UTC View Post