It turns out Harrowood shuts the city gates at night. Probably not a bad idea, what with nightbanes prowling the nearby mountain range.
It’s also rather inconvenient for me to slip out of the city after dusk and return before dawn, giving the predator enough time—and space—to go on it...
2024-11-17 13:00:04 +0000 UTC View PostWe gather around Beryl’s bedside. There’s no sign of injury. Her bloody clothes have been replaced, and all the cuts and bruises she sustained from the Jorrians healed. But she’s never looked so old to me before, and she rests there with her eyes closed, breathing slowly, despite being awak...
2024-11-16 13:00:04 +0000 UTC View PostThe man appears to be about my age, somewhere in his early twenties. He’s definitely not a dhampyr, as his skin is a shade of dark brown instead of gray. His black hair is woven into dozens of tight braids, which are tied back with a gold ribbon, and he’s wearing a matching pair of round, gol...
2024-11-15 13:00:12 +0000 UTC View PostI stop outside Mirzayael’s chambers. Her door is closed, and I’ve never actually been inside before. Funny that I only now realize how it’s always her coming to visit me in my lab—or the throne room, or Ollie’s chamber, or anywhere else I might be investigating. I should have gone to he...
2024-11-14 13:00:16 +0000 UTC View Post“Sanity level?” I repeat. “What the hell does that mean?”
“You have to do it,” Hans says. “Whatever she’s telling you, if you don’t, it’ll only get worse.”
“What will get worse?” But even as I ask, I can feel a distant buzzing in the back of my head. An...
2024-11-13 13:00:10 +0000 UTC View PostAgainst better judgment, I crack my eyes open. The stone room is lit with a soft yellow light, but even that sends lances of pain shooting through my skull. I squeeze my eyes shut once more and groan.
I’m alive. But how? And where am I now? Did the Jorrians take me?
I make to lift a...
2024-11-12 13:00:06 +0000 UTC View PostDespite half the vines being blown away, more spine-covered limbs are already crawling toward me. At this rate, I’m going to be plant food.
“Crap.” I try to roll over onto my hands and knees—easier said than done with a giant shield strapped to your arm and a huge hole stabbed...
2024-11-11 13:00:10 +0000 UTC View Post“Closed?” I repeat, staring at the sign. “What does that mean?”
Zyneth frowns at the door. “It means it does not appear to be open.”
I wish I had eyes so I could give him a flat look. “What does that mean for you?”
“That depends on if Vardi really isn...
2024-11-10 13:00:03 +0000 UTC View PostThe fighting breaks out in an instant, and by the time I’ve even registered this fact, it’s too late to stop it.
Arrows fly toward us, and the guard Zakaiya steps forward, raising a hand. A web of light appears before us, catching the arrows. Mirzayael charges forward the next ins...
2024-11-09 13:00:05 +0000 UTC View PostAs I kick the shield, I belatedly realize I did so with my injured foot. The worst consequence to this should have been that it just kinda hurt and was a little stupid and unnecessary. Instead, it’s much worse.
The glowing red lights engraved in the shield whip out when I kick it, l...
2024-11-08 13:00:07 +0000 UTC View PostMirzayael leaves to gather her guards as Beryl, Nek, Hetlanir, and I head for the tunnel to the surface. Dizzi and the other non-combatants stay behind, but no one objects to me accompanying the leaders. I can practically feel the tension in the air around us, winding tighter with every passing m...
2024-11-07 13:00:04 +0000 UTC View PostSand and chips of dried clay explode upward as the monster erupts from the earth. Long, spindly vines of cacti crawl from the opening like feelers on an insect.
Okay, so, looks like Hans might not have been totally off his rocker afterall. If I could hear the approach of a giant, undergroun...
2024-11-06 13:00:08 +0000 UTC View PostThe mess hall is a roar of voices. The entire population of the underground is packed into one extravagant and sprawling hall. I’d even opened up the back wall to allow Ollie access, though he only pokes his head and forepaws through the opening to share the meal. On Beryl’s insistence, the g...
2024-11-05 13:00:08 +0000 UTC View PostA wave crashes over my head as I open my mouth to yell for my brother. It hits me like a punch to the jaw, and I’m sent reeling, spinning beneath the waves, bubbles crackling in my ears as I flail for the surface. I come up and gasp in a lungful of air, then hack and cough as saltwater splashes...
2024-11-04 13:00:12 +0000 UTC View PostI step off the dock and onto dirt.
Actual, real dirt.
“Finally.”
Zyneth pauses beside me. “You can say that again.” He takes in a deep breath, then winces.
“Not as refreshing as you were hoping?” I ask, amused.
“It smells fairly strongly of dead fish,...
2024-11-03 13:00:05 +0000 UTC View PostThe halls of the palace are warm and humid, thick with the rich aroma of a dozen brewing cauldrons of stew. Beryl and Hetlanir are coordinating a feast for when the last of the newcomers arrive. Nek says the best way to forge bonds is over a hot meal, and I tend to think he’s right.
“...but when spring arrived, something miraculous happened,” I recite, scratching the scales on Ollie’s head. He heaves a contented sigh, curling tighter around his pile of found treasures. The newcomers have only added fuel to that fire, as it’s become a tradition for each new member of ...
2024-10-31 12:00:07 +0000 UTC View PostLike frost from a long winter finally melting in the spring, life begins to bloom in Fyreneth’s Fortress. Over the next week two groups arrive from the lost colony and begin to make new homes within the palace. Suddenly the vast cavern, previously silent save for the occasional drippings of con...
2024-10-29 12:00:06 +0000 UTC View PostNoli is bouncing from foot to foot in excitement. Zyneth nervously fiddles with his sheath, watching me intently, and even Rezira seems curious. The predator doesn’t know what’s going on.
I, for one, am really uncertain about this.
“I am really uncertain about this,” I say. 2024-10-27 12:00:03 +0000 UTC View Post
Nek is so excited to show off the palace that he speaks more than I do.
“And here is where we’ve relocated the dracids,” he says as we pass a large hall from which a warm breeze wafts like the opening of a furnace. “Now that the cold no longer sends them into brumination, we...
2024-10-26 12:00:06 +0000 UTC View Post“The clouds?” I ask. “What do you mean?”
“THEY’RE FLYING,” Ollie says. “WITH WINGS!”
I might have guessed that last part.
“THERE’S A WHOLE FLOCK OF THEM. THEY LOOK LIKE YOU,” he adds.
“Harpie...
2024-10-24 12:00:05 +0000 UTC View PostI've been toying with the idea of Kanin giving the predator a name, but I'd love to hear your input! Calling the predator "the predator" over the next five books might get a little old. But would it feel weird to change now, since we're already two books in and you're used to it?
I encoura...
2024-10-23 00:03:44 +0000 UTC View PostThe migration doesn’t happen overnight. In fact, it takes a bit of convincing from Nek, Mirzayael, and the guards for people to even risk venturing their first trip out to the Catacombs. Centuries of stagnation carry a weighty momentum.
But the sight of the Catacombs—no, Fyreneth...
2024-10-22 12:00:11 +0000 UTC View Post
Hello everyone! I hope you enjoyed A Little Salty :) Needless to say, we'll be seeing more of these characters in the future.
I recently finished the first draft of Nyte in Shining Armor, and am currently editing the book. I anticipate starting to post it here i...
2024-10-21 12:00:11 +0000 UTC View PostZyneth holds my vial in his left hand, craned over me with a concentrated frown. In his right he holds an ink-tipped paint brush, which he brings down to paint over my surface in giant strokes.
Okay, giant is relative. But when I’m not tucked into my body like this, I feel smaller and mor...
2024-10-20 12:00:05 +0000 UTC View PostTiny flecks of molten sodium fling in every direction, and several pinpricks of pain suddenly sear through my hands, raised in defense.
[4 points of Fire damage sustained. Damage reduced. You have resistance to Fire type damage.]
“Blazing Abyss!” Nek cries. Rei and Zakaiya, ...
2024-10-19 12:00:06 +0000 UTC View PostShirasil feigned mild curiosity as the gods blinked into the room, one at a time, answering Widengra’s emergency summons. The God of War paced angrily about the central pedestal, while others hung back, eyes averted and whispering amongst themselves in an attempt to avoid drawing the god’s at...
2024-10-18 12:00:02 +0000 UTC View Post“Bad news,” Beryl says, glancing from the pot she’s stirring to the Jorrian symbol we place at her side. She tosses some herbs into the stew and a bubble pops, splashing drops of liquid across the metal plate. “Bad omen. Where did you find this?”
Mirzayael relays the details of th...
2024-10-17 12:00:05 +0000 UTC View PostThe storage room is subdued as healers tend to everyone’s wounds. The same healers who were happy to stand by and watch as we slaughtered each other in the stadium. I guess it’s different when it’s your friends and family who are fighting for their lives.
Hypocrites.
...
2024-10-16 12:00:02 +0000 UTC View PostFire explodes down the hall.
[Mana: 231/250] Echo reports, the numbers rapidly depleting. I dismiss the visual notification, and focus on the fight. I pour more mana into the attack, ice evaporating from the walls of the tunnel as the wolf vanishes behind the torrent of my flames. The...
2024-10-15 12:00:07 +0000 UTC View Post