The messenger's steed was a gryphon. It was a far cry from Wen-Silvain's huge form, and it couldn't fly near the speed of sound. By mortal standards, it was an impressive creature, strong enough to carry two small-ish people at the same time. The beast sped over the hills and across the Rim before Taylor even rea...
2026-02-13 20:00:14 +0000 UTC View Post“We’re leaving!” Lindsey grabbed her hand, and they fled. They skirted the edge of the cave, then tried to cut through a gap in the enslaved crowd. Twice, they nearly ran headlong into the arms of more slaves coming from somewhere else, and ran a drunken line to a destination only Linsey could see. There was no way to know if the Dimmik gi...
2026-02-11 20:00:11 +0000 UTC View PostMariella woke up in complete darkness. She lay on rough, hard stone. The air was thick and warm. She had a pain behind her eyes, like that time her older half-sisters convinced her to drink too much wine. Somewhere, liquid dripped periodically. The suggestion of water nearby her desperately thirsty, more...
2026-02-09 20:00:09 +0000 UTC View PostBy noon, he was peripherally aware that most of the battalion was ready to leave, taking a good portion of the healer contingent with it, but hadn't gone yet for some reason. Troops were standing around the coaches, waiting. After nearly an hour of that, the prince barged into the clinic. His hat was too tall for the humble building, and its top...
2026-02-06 20:00:08 +0000 UTC View PostCadmius arrived in a farmer's wagon, with two more behind him, all equipped with large wheels and high suspensions. Taylor dropped the screen and let themselves be seen as the wagons neared. In the mock battles, basic stealth was a requirement for healers and strong magicians. Otherwise, they could be eliminated at the outset of the engagement. ...
2026-02-04 20:00:08 +0000 UTC View PostThe bulk of the opposition's force was situated well beyond the range of a normal praxis weapon or most magicians' long-range spells. Instead of huddling up in one place or making an organized camp, they scattered themselves on the expanse of empty land between the town and the hills. From high up, Taylor could get a sense of the organization th...
2026-02-02 20:00:11 +0000 UTC View PostTaylor stood and turned toward them. "Ah, our Lady of Perpetual Annoyance. I knew the day was too peaceful to last." He was more polite to the partners and engaged them pleasantly about the wine they had brought and when the house might be open. His hands and voice did most of his emoting for him, while his face remained passive. Cecilia had sai...
2026-01-30 20:00:06 +0000 UTC View PostPrudence was uneasy at breakfast. Part of the reason was that her entire family had returned to the estate. Breakfast at Vawdrey House was served buffet-style, and the family sat themselves at three tables, like soldiers in a mixed-service barracks. Nearly everyone was in uniform, and most of them were IEF. She...
2026-01-28 20:00:06 +0000 UTC View PostThey were directed to a fast carriage for non-IEF personnel who found themselves attached to the expedition. Eterine wasn't content to have them pull over so they could board. She had to make an entrance. She claimed her motive was to enhance Mariella's stature among strangers, but the excitement burned too brightly in her eyes. She just wanted ...
2026-01-26 20:00:08 +0000 UTC View PostThey had put her in sweltering leathers with too many straps, and a fur-lined helmet that squeezed her head. According to her attendant, it was supposed to feel like that. She was supposed to be preparing for school. Instead, she was trussed up like a bird for roasting. Mariella had seen the...
2026-01-23 20:00:10 +0000 UTC View Post"Welcome to the Little Horn. Uh, you two look like you've come a long way."
"Someone," Meltissa glared at Cadmius, "wanted to take a shortcut. Please tell me you have rooms, a stable, and a bath."
"Yes, Mam." The elf receptionist glanced between them. "Two rooms?"
"Defin...
2026-01-21 20:00:06 +0000 UTC View PostCurator Meltissa Jane - Estfold/Dimmik Borderlands
They followed the tracks a full thirty hours behind the foreman and his empty train. The tracks cut along the hills, weaving back and forth, on a gradual uphill slope. They couldn't walk directly on the tracks, or they'd be spotted instantly by a patrol or when they neared...
2026-01-19 20:00:12 +0000 UTC View PostHe couldn't see his assailant, but he knew the shape of her. A long, toothy snout. Talons for fingers and toes. Skin made of jagged scales. Cruelty was written into her every aspect. She had eased up so he would know he was dying.
One mistake: that's all it took to ruin everything. He'd messed it up. The gods would begin again, starting wi...
2026-01-17 02:23:43 +0000 UTC View PostBlake, Cook, Kasper, and Chambers unpacked and cleaned while Taylor completed his survey of the grounds. They wouldn't get through the entire house, but they could make a few rooms fit for habitation. Chambers kept a running log of everything the mansion required, including minor repairs. They would call Bona from Mourne to lead the interior dec...
2026-01-16 20:00:07 +0000 UTC View PostEvery time Taylor went to sleep, Simon appeared and put him to work in the narrow crawlspace between life and death. At first, he only watched while Simon did his job. Taylor followed Death's minion like the intern that he was, watching carefully, asking questions, and learning. Simon was a decent teacher, even if...
2026-01-14 20:00:09 +0000 UTC View PostThey had to camp without fire, but that didn't mean they ate cold food. For a woman far from home, a good portable stove was a necessity if she wanted the comfort of tea or the occasional cup of warm broth to go with her nighttime reading. Meltissa's Personal Librarian 2026-01-12 20:00:06 +0000 UTC View Post
Summoning Miss Wibbles required a short song and a lot of shiny glitter, produced through non-systematized magic. Miss Wibbles didn't use to require so much ceremony when Mariella first summoned her, but then came a day when the slime delivered shocking news.
"The othe...
2026-01-09 20:00:04 +0000 UTC View PostMaestro Nelis agreed to be Taylor's watcher, along with the farm's dedicated healer. They reviewed Mensa's instructions several times over and then tried to convince him not to go through with it.
"Nobody has ever spent three hundred on one skill. You should wait until you're older," said Ne...
2026-01-07 20:00:11 +0000 UTC View Post
Erstdwerg was the first of the racial gods, and is said to have created arcs from the best of the human race, and that is why arcs are so small. Arcs are born with an outsized curiosity but their wanderings always bring them home again. It was the Arcs who preserved mortal knowledge through the Fallen Age, that time between the collapse of the g...
2026-01-07 02:03:32 +0000 UTC View PostRadegonde was a sawmill town. Logs from Rosewood in the north and mountains in the south met there to be cut into rough timber and finished lumber. Half the town was dry-houses, heated warehouses that dried wood until it was stable enough to ship.
The previous winter, Meltissa and ...
2026-01-05 20:00:09 +0000 UTC View PostWithout a word, they picked their way through the maimed bodies. The amount of blood was very modest, all things considered, and they were able to reach the ground floor without leaving bloody footprints behind them.
"Hold on." Taylor made her wait while he hammered the tiny bell at the reception counter.
"What are you do...
2026-01-02 20:00:05 +0000 UTC View PostThe day's next appointments were in Moyalwande and Okujuni. Moyalwande reminded Taylor of pictures he'd seen of Venice. Ancient, ornate buildings rose from the water in decrepit white stone, ready to be washed away by one strong wave. From a well-timed entry into a small satellite town, they boarded a fast carriage that took them directly into t...
2025-12-31 20:00:05 +0000 UTC View PostTaylor's group rode toward the mountain in a carriage, along a road he had laid down rather hastily. Ahead of them, the smooth ground switched back and forth a few times, uphill, before entering a large lava tube. His portal to the Other Place was deep inside the mountain, so they didn't need to climb the entire volcano.
"Why was the pries...
2025-12-29 20:00:08 +0000 UTC View PostThey stood around a table, seemingly in the middle of nowhere. Two elder beastkin were in attendance, members of the council that ran Rossignol province, one of them a bushkin with large eyes and strong legs, the other a graying ratkin. There was a sub-minister of diplomatic affairs from the Dorian Empi...
2025-12-26 20:00:06 +0000 UTC View PostLater that night, Taylor and Cecilia rode Tristan through the portals to return her to Vawdrey house in Celosia. The horse rippled like silk under the stars, eating up distance with improbable speed.
"You have an amazing household. You know that, right? Cook is incredible. That was the best party I've been to since Prudence's tenth birthda...
2025-12-25 12:00:10 +0000 UTC View PostWhile Kasper checked in with home through the mirror, Taylor collected his loot: the four statues and everything that spilled out from their inventory, including enough trapped souls to fill a sack.
The totems weren't exactly tiny, and he wasn't sure how they needed to be stored. That magi...
2025-12-24 20:00:06 +0000 UTC View PostThe final chapters of Alchemist will be posted on Wednesday and Thursday. (Yes, there is an epilogue chapter on Christmas.)
On Friday, we'll begin volume 5. I'm only about 25k words into that book, which is less than I usually want before posting the first chapter. I don't even have a title for the book, nor do I have a cover. But if peop...
2025-12-23 21:05:25 +0000 UTC View PostTaylor recovered his spent gems and his other materials and threw another mana crystal into his inventory, where it would gradually recharge him. He needed to leave quickly, if he could.
"Clean this up the best you can," he told Genova, "make liberal use of the baking soda, and wash with water. Don't let anyone breathe the fumes. When it's...
2025-12-22 20:00:11 +0000 UTC View PostIf magic didn't work on something directly, then it was time to try indirect effects. Taylor pulled three projectiles from his inventory, conical slugs of heavy alloy, and shot them at the monster using his modified Rock Shot. Magic propelled the slugs at near supersonic speed, but the ammunition was perfectly mundane. Taylor was greatl...
2025-12-19 19:00:06 +0000 UTC View PostWe thought ourselves untouchable when he refused our provocations. Then came the day we learned the awful truth: that we had long sheltered in the lee of his contempt.
— The Mines of Shik-Karan
It took nearly an hour to get to the portal tree. Along the way, he summoned...
2025-12-17 19:00:07 +0000 UTC View Post