Ch. 213 - Total Eclipse
Leo only had a few seconds to struggle with his rising panic before he heard the familiar voice. “There’s no going back after this, I’m afraid.” Even before Leo whirled around, he knew who it was.
“Jordan,” he called out, but when he turned around, the familiar mage was not w...
2025-01-27 14:59:02 +0000 UTC View PostCh. 205 - Enemies at the Gate
By the time he reached the palace steps, it was worse than he feared. There were almost no defenders left, though, in the swirling scrum of combat, it was hard to say for sure. Everyone was wearing the same uniforms.
Simon didn’t worry about that yet though. Instead, he looked ar...
2025-01-27 14:57:01 +0000 UTC View PostCh. 195 - Time Flies
The years slipped by in the service to the Alexins faster than he would have thought as Simon lost himself in the pursuits of art, teaching art, and just plain teaching. It was a mixture of experiences, and all of it happened in the beautiful city of Coramin in what felt like the blink of an eye. ...
2025-01-27 14:56:00 +0000 UTC View PostA second batch of chapters for devoted readers
2025-01-20 15:02:01 +0000 UTC View PostI'll be starting a new story sometime next mont
2025-01-20 15:01:01 +0000 UTC View PostCh. 112 - Making Magic
Though he’d taken the challenge to cover up for his own goals, Lucas thought that it would be an easy win to shove in Heisenburgle’s smug face. He was sorely mistaken. Though he made a few batches of Blue that night, that was just because he’d already started preparing reagents. Once that was d...
2025-01-20 15:00:10 +0000 UTC View PostCh. 221 - The Last Day (part 2)
Leo dove into the pit like a falling star and the foulness that reached for him from the walls burned away to ash long before it touched him. The place was a warren of nightmares, and as he fell down the hole, he saw dozens of intersecting passageways where the shadowed shapes of men and dwa...
2025-01-20 14:59:01 +0000 UTC View PostCh. 211 - A Taste of Light
They were married after the harvest, less than a year after his return. Everyone would have said that was long overdue, of course, but Leo hadn’t noticed. He’d been too busy spending time with Cynara while he worked through his complicated emotions and what he wanted versus what it was he tho...
2025-01-20 14:58:01 +0000 UTC View PostCh. 202 - Brutality
For as long as he was moving quickly, Simon stayed on the trail. After that, he made his way up the slope, sticking to the largest rocks he could. Despite the fact that they’d fired two volleys, and he’d made a big show of being hit once, they still waited an awful long time before they started to f...
2025-01-20 14:57:01 +0000 UTC View PostCh. 192 - A Reunion of Sorts
“I told the sailors not to untie you lest you…Oh,” she exclaimed in surprise as she turned around and saw him, but even that was muted as she quickly buried it beneath the expression she used for formal occasions and at court. “What’s all this then? If you could have healed yourself a...
2025-01-20 14:56:00 +0000 UTC View PostCh. 110 - The Morning After (Part 2)
“Oh?” the Prince said, raising an eyebrow. “I’ll listen to your request, but I can’t promise you anything. I consider justice in this matter to be quite a gift already.”
A backhanded, self-centered one, certainly, Lucas agreed, mentally. The Prince was doing t...
2025-01-13 15:00:12 +0000 UTC View PostCh. 219 - Free For All
Even though Tenebroum’s mortal enemy was approaching from somewhere over the horizon hours earlier than he normally would, the spirit of darkness felt no fear. Why should it? In a single stroke, it had just shattered the sky, murdered the moon, and snuffed out nearly every star. A few remained as t...
2025-01-13 14:59:01 +0000 UTC View PostCh. 209 - Primeval (Part 2)
When the Titan emerged from the hole into the depths at the center of Tenebroum’s lair, it was just part of the flood. Shadowy monstrosities raged past it in all directions. In the past, the Lich would have gone to great lengths to avoid letting its enemies encroach on its domain, but sometime...
2025-01-13 14:58:01 +0000 UTC View PostCh. 199 - A New Beginning
Later that evening, Simon was finally allowed to meet his son. Before that, though, he was given a tour of the palace he already knew reasonably well and shown the apartments he’d be living in until such time as Seyom was grown or the Queen grew dissatisfied with his performance. While he certai...
2025-01-13 14:57:01 +0000 UTC View PostCh. 189 - Shifting Paths
Simon woke up in bed, in a dark room. At first, he feared he’d returned to the cabin, but when he didn’t feel the familiar lumps in that straw mattress, he calmed down. Well, woke was perhaps not the right word. His dreams tore at him violently, and he would have sworn that he’d woken up and ...
2025-01-13 14:56:01 +0000 UTC View PostCh. 108 - Alone with the Dragoness
“Actually, before we go back to your room for a drink, I need to stop by the Prince’s study,” Lucas said, grasping at straws.
“A drink?” she laughed. “My dear boy, we’ll be doing a lot more than drinking…”
She might have protested in a way that al...
2025-01-06 15:00:09 +0000 UTC View PostCh. 217 - Something Missing
Something terrible was happening, but Jordan did not know what. He could barely even point to something specific, but that didn’t matter. What mattered were the things he couldn’t see or had glimpsed only briefly.
“But the prophecy was fulfilled, and Malkezeen is no more,” he...
2025-01-06 14:59:01 +0000 UTC View PostCh. 207 - Quenching the Forge
When all was in readiness, Tenebroum opened the floodgates and sent dozens of cubic yards a second cascading into the darkness below. In time, the river might run dry, but if that happened, thanks to its efforts to salt the river and weaken her further, the canal would not run dry until the oc...
2025-01-06 14:58:01 +0000 UTC View PostCh. 196 - Making A Mess
The first thing they did that morning was sweep with the straw brooms that had been brought for just this purpose. Bertrand had balked at that, but Simon had insisted it was a vital part of the process. It wasn’t, truthfully, but it would make what was coming next easier.
Next, they we...
2025-01-06 14:57:01 +0000 UTC View PostCh. 186 - Lay of the Land
Simon was gone before Ennis emerged from the tower, but he preferred it that way. He’d done a good deed, but there was no knowing how it would all play out from this point forward. The best of intentions could still have horrible effects, and Simon didn’t need all of those on his conscience.&n...
2025-01-06 14:56:01 +0000 UTC View PostCh. 106 - A Gala Event
Even after Lucas walked Mr. Twee out and watched his carriage depart the fortress that afternoon, the adrenaline flowed through him. It was only when that was gone, and his heart rate had come back down to normal that he decided the gambit had been worth it.
He was satisfied that the voic...
2024-12-30 15:00:23 +0000 UTC View PostCh. 215 - Among the Ashes
Krulm’venor was only slightly harder to find than the Shadow Drake had been. This was because his partial goblin nature blended in so much better with the green skins that infested the area, and his flames were so low that they weren’t much stronger than the bonfires that dotted the region.&nb...
2024-12-30 14:59:01 +0000 UTC View PostCh. 205 - A Chance Encounter
Leo planned on returning to his friends. He really did. He just had no interest in taking the direct way back to Wayward. That was both because he felt guilt for lingering so long away and fear that they might have already moved on.
He could face a horde of zombies now without blinking. H...
2024-12-30 14:58:01 +0000 UTC View PostCh. 193 - A Little Longer
“Eight years,” he sighed as he lay in his old bed, which Niko had so graciously lent to him after he’d come back. “I waited for five years only to be told to wait for another eight. Who does that?”
Part of him wanted to say fuck it and just leave, but he knew he couldn’t abandon ...
2024-12-30 14:57:01 +0000 UTC View PostCh. 183 - Something To Do
This time it wasn’t a question of where he wanted to spend his time, it was a matter of how he wanted to spend this life, and Simon spent several days considering that question. At this point his lives were stretching for decades rather than ending in weeks, so in a way, he was picking what kind...
2024-12-30 14:56:01 +0000 UTC View PostMerry Christmas everyone! Sadly, all I got you this year was words (again!) Still, please enjoy your bonus chapter in good health and holiday cheer!
Ch. 103 - Breakthrough
One ingredient at a time, Lucas prepared the latest batch of Blue. He moved a little slower than usual because of his recent brush with dea...
2024-12-23 15:00:14 +0000 UTC View PostMerry Christmas everyone! Sadly, all I got you this year was words (again!) Still, please enjoy your bonus chapter in good health and holiday cheer!
Ch. 212 - A Flickering Candle
The battle was not a quick thing.l It was fought back and forth across the meager village they’d become so proud of until tonight,...
2024-12-23 14:59:01 +0000 UTC View PostMerry Christmas everyone! Sadly, all I got you this year was words (again!) Still, please enjoy your bonus chapter in good health and holiday cheer!
Ch. 202 - Purging the Darkness (part 2)
That night was a long one for Leo. Not because of his injuries, though; they were severe. It was because of the evil dream...
2024-12-23 14:58:00 +0000 UTC View PostWell, the promised week has arrived. We will now see Simon three days a week!
...but not this week I do not deliver three chapters. No, I deliver four! Merry Christmas! Please enjoy your bonus chapter in good health and holiday cheer!
Ch. 189 - Shifting Paths
Simon woke up in bed, in a dark room. At firs...
2024-12-23 14:57:01 +0000 UTC View PostWell, the promised week has arrived. We will now see Simon three days a week!
...but not this week I do not deliver three chapters. No, I deliver four! Merry Christmas! Please enjoy your bonus chapter in good health and holiday cheer!
Ch. 179 - Digging Deeper
Simon approached his assignment with great care. He ...
2024-12-23 14:56:00 +0000 UTC View Post