Completely silent, the faceless, acid-dripping beast above me prepares another spray of caustic fluid. I know I’ve been trying not to panic again so soon but holy shit I’m on an alien planet and it’s trying to kill me and eat me I’m going to die. This acid sloth thing is twenty pounds of nope in a ten pound sack and ...
2021-07-18 06:03:42 +0000 UTC View PostWelcome to the first chapter of my new story, Hive Minds Give Good Hugs. Thank you so much for your patronage. Vigor Mortis's update schedule will not change. Enjoy!
“SAIL!”
Flailing like a beached fish, I tear myself out from under the covers and scramble over to my alarm clock, s...
2021-07-18 05:59:55 +0000 UTC View Post“Woo-hoo!”
I can’t help but whoop out a cheer as I leap up above the branches, power flowing through my body feeling like a warm fire after a rainstorm. A bone-deep chill leaks out of me, replaced more and more by the beautiful strength in my limbs. The core of my soul churns out energy as I fall back to the grou...
2021-07-16 19:54:03 +0000 UTC View Post“Ready to go, Lark?” August asks, smiling my way. I nod, reaching up to grasp his outstretched hand as we walk together.
I gave into hunger and hunted last night. But… I didn’t hunt humans. I never sought a target, never followed someone home. I almost did, but flashes of memory stopped me dead in my tracks ...
2021-07-14 17:45:41 +0000 UTC View PostAnother screech shakes the forest as I watch a torn-off chunk of Mateo's soul disappear down the vrothizo's gullet. With him and Netta dead, our ability to strike back at the flying monster is next to nil. Orville is still unconscious, and from my brief glimpse at the monster's absurdly tough hide, I don't know if he would be able to hurt it wit...
2021-07-12 20:03:11 +0000 UTC View Post"There you two are!"
Norah runs our way as soon as Penelope and I enter the guild hall, giving us a friendly wave.
"Everyone else is with the boss already! It looks like our mission this time is going to be real big."
"Of course it's big," Penelope scoffs. "Every mission is going to be big with a third of the guild dead."...
2021-07-09 23:56:40 +0000 UTC View PostMy eyes… are blue?
“How are the pupils?” I ask immediately.
"Pupils?" Penelope mutters, pulling my face in closer. "They seem normal… perhaps slightly vertically ovoid, but not enough that anyone will notice. Why? What do you know about this?"
"My soul is a big blue eye with a vertical slit pupil," I explain. "So if my ...
2021-07-07 22:10:59 +0000 UTC View PostBreathe in, breathe out. I've heard it before, as a mantra to assist focus. There is apparently something about breathing that really seems to help people with that. Perhaps it's the intentional stepping away from the distractions of the world to focus entirely on one's self, particularly the aspects which are so commonly taken for granted. Some...
2021-07-05 20:31:11 +0000 UTC View Post"Rowan?" I call out. "Hey, Rowan?"
I scowl, looking over the battlefield where I recently fought Capita. Six corpses lie in the road, a shallow crater behind them where Capita's implosion spell annihilated part of the ground. There's no sign of Rowan around, but that means I don't feel his soul hanging around either so he's probably not de...
2021-07-02 16:46:42 +0000 UTC View Post“I thought you weren’t supposed to play with me.”
For a couple days, the Sharif avoided me. Not on purpose, I don’t think. The larger human with him, known as ‘Nana’ would always pull him away. Not a huge problem, I suppose. Playing is fun but I have other things that I need to do as well. Stuff like learning human facial...
2021-06-30 19:50:10 +0000 UTC View PostI manage to land my attack before Capita can teleport away, but she doesn’t just stand there and take it. She dodges and I miss her heart, instead planting my spear into her shoulder. Glancing off bone, it carves the blood and muscle above her left arm. The shard in my spear drinks deep, pulling pieces from her poorly-cobbled soul and em...
2021-06-28 19:19:25 +0000 UTC View PostSomeone's hand is in my hair.
It's an oddly nostalgic sensation. When weather gets bad, especially rain, sometimes all you can do is huddle up close to everyone you even kind of trust and hope that the collective pile of body heat will stop you from dying of cold through the night. On the mornings after, sometimes you get all sorts of body...
2021-06-25 18:41:48 +0000 UTC View Post"Wait, what?" I ask, staring incredulously. "A god?"
"Mana comes from the Mistwatcher," Margarette clarifies. "And only the Mistwatcher. Creating mana isn't possible for mortals like us."
“Superstitious bullshit,” Penelope argues, looking irritated. “It’s true that no one knows any method of creating mana, but that’s ...
2021-06-23 23:03:59 +0000 UTC View Post
This is a super neat thing that Tsuu put together after finishing my cover art: a time lapse of all the steps in the design process! I hope you all enjoy!
2021-06-23 21:50:45 +0000 UTC View PostI have been amassing art commissions lately, and as a thank-you to the wonderful people that have been sitting in my $10 and up tier even though they don't have to, I'll be releasing commissioned art to them early. It will all eventually be public for everyone, but I thought it would be a neat treat for them. I've also added a $20 ti...
2021-06-23 20:18:05 +0000 UTC View Post
Here's my first batch of treats for everyone! Thank you so much to all of you in the $10 and up range, I look forward to finding more ways to reward your generosity.
The lovely artist of these works is Tsuu, who you may also recognize from my story's cover. Thanks, Tsuu!
2021-06-23 20:11:04 +0000 UTC View PostAgony dances through my entire body, a screaming pain reaching from scalp to toe. Pure and raw, there is nothing but me and the torture. Yet still, my body moves. My voice speaks clearly, and my hands continue their purpose. I do not flinch. Retreating within myself, I am simply content with the reassurance that the parts of me which actually ma...
2021-06-21 22:12:08 +0000 UTC View PostI feel it before I reach the exflow tunnel, and my fists clench so hard I nearly bleed myself with my nails. The revenant I made out of Grig’s son, that fucking murderer, is still functional after I told the damn thing to kill itself.
With tendril-strengthened arms I practically throw the cover to the sewer entrance open, jumping down wi...
2021-06-18 23:18:52 +0000 UTC View PostI don't think that I’ll ever get used to being the center of attention.
Whenever people look at me, my instinct is to assume that something is wrong. Growing up on the streets, you quickly learn that most attention is dangerous. Kids out here can get abused, kidnapped, or worse without provocation. Until I am very sure that someone...
2021-06-16 22:34:32 +0000 UTC View PostWith my wrist injury and such, I will be taking today off to heal. The good news: I have a working speech-to-text program I can use to continue writing. The break I'll be taking on Patreon updates will therefore be shorter than the RR update break, while I make up for the missed chapters on here. When exactly those chapters wil...
2021-06-09 19:13:40 +0000 UTC View Post“What is a festival?” I ask the August.
I’ve been living with the old man (it turns out that’s why he’s wrinkly, that means a human is old) for a few days now. I’ve been very careful about it, and I haven’t bitten him even once.
After all, he’s kept every promise that he’s made. ...So far.
He doesn...
2021-06-07 20:13:31 +0000 UTC View PostRegarding Friday's chapter: I've somehow managed to fuck up my wrist. There's a good chance I will simply have to skip tomorrow's chapter as I recover. I'll keep you all posted. I apologize for the delay.
A barrier of tree and vine stands before me, a hundred feet tall. There’s a certai...
2021-06-03 23:08:42 +0000 UTC View PostWednesday the 2nd's chapter (i.e., tomorrow's) will either be very late that day or come out Thursday. I've spent the last 36 hours in a moving car or frustratingly non-moving airplane, and so haven't had the ability to write. Apologies for the delay!
2021-06-02 00:37:31 +0000 UTC View PostSurprise! Early chapter. I'll be driving all day tomorrow so you get this one before I go to bed. Enjoy!
“Miss Vita?” a calm voice asks. “Miss Vita, you’ve stopped walking.”
I glance up at Lord Erebus’s face, blinking in shock. Right, yeah, I was leading him to… a place I ...
2021-05-31 03:04:23 +0000 UTC View PostI don’t know how long I kneel there, holding my sister’s corpse. I haven’t just failed to repay my debt. I got my family killed. Is a more inexcusable failure even possible? I should have killed them sooner. I should have killed those child-abusing bastards the moment I saw them. Damn it. ...
2021-05-28 23:44:44 +0000 UTC View PostReturning to the streets without armor on is both extremely familiar and extremely weird. I never noticed how comfortable I got with people fearing me. Fear is the right word for it, too: people in full expedition gear don’t exactly frequent our part of town, and rarely do people wander around here as heavily armed as I do without ...
2021-05-26 18:50:29 +0000 UTC View Post“Well,” Norah announces loudly, “fuck that whole mission three times up the ass.”
I glance up at her with a raised eyebrow.
“What?”
Skyhope is finally in sight, which more or less marks the end of our half-successful mission. Claretta sleeps fitfully on Bently’s shoulder and Penelope once again walk...
2021-05-19 18:18:12 +0000 UTC View PostI forgot to mention last post, so I'll mention it here: I'll be taking a vacation break this weekend. This Friday and next Monday, there will be no chapter. Normal MWF releases will resume from then on out.
Humans. Humans everywhere. It’s terrifying.
I don’t think I’d normally...
2021-05-18 01:53:32 +0000 UTC View Post...Did you think I was joking? Anyway, sorry for the kind-of delay. Are these sorts of posts annoying, or helpful?
2021-05-17 19:44:39 +0000 UTC View Post“Claretta! Claretta!”
I scream as loudly as I can, barely choking the name out between sobs. My blood drips on the earth and I know I have to run, I have to go eat something or I’ll die… but Claretta! They’re taking my Claretta! They’re taking her, and she’s helping them, and...
2021-05-14 18:28:31 +0000 UTC View Post