David Swan sat quietly in an interrogation room. He was the only one there, left to his thoughts.
He didn’t panic, just stared the metal table bolted to the ground. In front of him was a one-way mirror. This wasn’t his first here, and it wasn’t going to be his last.
The white li...
2024-03-18 08:18:12 +0000 UTC View PostOfficer Clivensky was Naymond’s officer of choice.
He was a large man with a deep tan. And by large, Melmarc didn’t mean fat or obese, he meant huge. He looked like he benched three elephants on a good day, and his uniform had enough material to sow four suits for Melmarc and have some ...
2024-03-13 18:44:13 +0000 UTC View PostTimilehin stood at the entrance of Forlorn’s cell a behemoth of a man. With his size he covered the entire doorway.
He stepped into the room with Forlorn and came under the pale blue light, a weak facsimile of the moon’s. Under it Forlorn could make out much of his brother. It seemed hi...
2024-03-11 04:33:03 +0000 UTC View Post“My thanks,” the man replied Prince Mardin from beneath his hood. “Now there was once a young boy once upon a time in the ruined cesspool of a beautiful city. He enjoyed his life within his limited confines, unknowing of the beauty of the larger spaces that existed outside his comfort zone....
2024-03-11 04:26:42 +0000 UTC View Post“Naymond Hitcock,” Delano mused on the other side of the phone. “Never heard the name.”
Melmarc was back in his hotel room. Today was the last day of his government approved stay. If he wanted to stay any longer, he would have to pay out of pocket. It was ten thousand dollars a nigh...
2024-03-11 04:21:38 +0000 UTC View Post“My most amazing Faker!” Naymond said with theatrical excitement as the other detectives flocked out of the room with their mentees. “You have no idea just how motivated I am to finally have a Faker in my employ.”
“He’s not in your employ,” Alfa said.
Apart from Naymond,...
2024-03-06 06:00:30 +0000 UTC View PostUrden came awake screaming and gasping. His cassock was soaked in sweat and a terror grasped at his heart as he cried into arms that held him with so much untainted love. But somethings were greater than others and he knew that no love or hate or indifference could triumph over the terror that he...
2024-03-05 02:20:36 +0000 UTC View Post“You want me to send an Iron into the crack?!” Faust asked, flabbergasted.
Jabari nodded. “I do.”
“But the boy will die.”
“He’ll be fine. He’s stronger than you have been led to believe.”
“Led by whom?”
Jabari looked down at him. “Circumstan...
2024-03-05 02:15:39 +0000 UTC View PostKid was mumbling incoherently to himself as they walked through the small hedge in front of them. Zed had cut them a wide enough path using [Sharp] and was happy to see that the rune’s effect had gone all the way.
Each slash had cut all the way to the other side. It had probably also kept...
2024-03-05 02:08:28 +0000 UTC View PostMelmarc sat, nervous, in a wide waiting room, black envelope in hand.
Around him was the constant hustle and bustle of men in uniforms and half-dressed men and women, with clothes that either showed too much or hid almost nothing at all. Some men were dragged in with their pants hanging far...
2024-03-03 06:57:35 +0000 UTC View PostFaust walked the confines of the seminary like a wraith haunting a home. In the darkening evening there was little chance anyone would see him. By this time, the seminarians would be having their dinner.
While he wished to avoid prying eyes, he walked with a straight back and did his best t...
2024-02-28 05:48:16 +0000 UTC View PostEzril blinked the darkness away, but he might as well have waved away the air. Unable to see, he sat up with ease. The floor was covered in grass and served as a soft bed to his rump, so much so that he hesitated to rise to his feet. But he did.
Around him was overshadowed in a familiar dar...
2024-02-28 05:40:26 +0000 UTC View PostThe sun was high in the sky, a slow signal of a long morning and a coming noon. It was bright and flared with significant heat.
At least Zed thought it did. Walking beside Kid, he couldn’t feel anything in the way of temperature. Perks of being a mage, apparently.
“Do you ever get...
2024-02-28 05:36:49 +0000 UTC View PostMelmarc sat in a waiting room, legs bouncing in nervousness.
He was not alone. Beside him was Ark, looking calm and casual, always able to be calm in nervous situations.
There a few more people in the room. A girl with black hair and purple highlights wearing ripped jeans and what loo...
2024-02-28 05:27:31 +0000 UTC View PostDaniel was having a bad day. Or a bad night. To be fair, he’d been having a bad everything.
He’d been interim captain for about a week and he’d already lost contact with HQ, lost a buck load of Olympian armor, lost most of his team under his command, and was practically out in the mid...
2024-02-26 21:06:42 +0000 UTC View PostThey couldn’t afford to let the fight drag on. But if there were no wisps, how could he change its course? If Berlak evaded him at every turn, how could they turn the tide? The answer came to him as quickly as the question. There’s more you can do in the dark.
Stepping forward,...
2024-02-26 20:58:07 +0000 UTC View PostThe air was heavy. It tasked his breathing and slowed his charge. He felt death reia gather at his hand with every intention of crippling his brother. He would get a warning at best, but it would be worth it. No Iron should disrespect a silver as much as his brother had disrespected.
So he ...
2024-02-26 20:38:10 +0000 UTC View PostMelmarc froze.
The distance of the portal was displayed above Ninra’s head. He stepped in her direction and it reduced.
127.99km…
Ninra looked at him with worried eyes. “Is everything alright?”
Melmarc took another step and it reduced.
Behind Ark, Dorthna’s...
2024-02-24 23:00:05 +0000 UTC View Post“You have two swords, Jabari, defend like you mean it!” Igor barked. “That you are up against a silver mage is no excuse.”
Seth grit his teeth as Forlorn slipped between his defense and cut his side. The pain flared and he staggered forward. He caught himself before he fell and swun...
2024-02-24 06:16:46 +0000 UTC View PostEzril saw the moment the fight was decided. The climax to the torrential build up. Olufemi swung the Sunder in his left hand. A downward stroke designed to take his enemy’s head. Berlak reacted as fast as the stroke itself, his longsword striking the Sunder from Olufemi’s grip, taking away th...
2024-02-24 06:04:47 +0000 UTC View PostBent over a dead mana beast, Zed let out a deep breath.
It had been two days since they’d found the Devil lance and things had been going steady ever since. They’d left the town with the snog and no one had been the wiser.
They’d been on the road for a few days since, making the...
2024-02-24 06:01:02 +0000 UTC View PostMelmarc, Delano and Eroms were still on the stair case when the police arrived.
There was a rhythmic bang on the door, violent and persistent before someone realized it wasn’t locked, and shoved the door open.
Melmarc and his friends watched from the spot where they’d been caught ...
2024-02-21 06:24:33 +0000 UTC View Post“I feel stronger.”
Zed nodded. “I’m sure you do.”
He was trying to think. He’d always been of the opinion that he would do anything to help Shanine learn magic. He just hadn’t expected her magic to be in this category.
He tried to remember what he’d heard about b...
2024-02-21 05:22:31 +0000 UTC View Post“I swear it was just annoying hunting beside mages so weak.”
Barnabas shook his head in sympathy. “Mine weren’t so bad. It must’ve been tough, though, Forlorn.”
“I can’t say it was all bad though,” Forlorn continued. “At least they were respectful. I guess the worl...
2024-02-21 05:08:29 +0000 UTC View PostThe war raged on within the city walls, though the carnage was not as depressing within as it was without. Ezril carried himself in a full sprint, his previously perceived fatigue ebbing away at the touch of darkness as he followed where Olufemi led. Bratvi kept pace beside him and paid no obviou...
2024-02-21 04:31:18 +0000 UTC View PostThe carnage of Olufemi’s battle against Berlak seemed to stand out over the war that raged around them as Ezril fought off his two opponents. At intervals, priests and kingblades stepped in to aid him but none of the Merdendi ever interfered. It was like when he’d saved Lenaria all over again...
2024-02-19 09:00:07 +0000 UTC View PostNi Ta Nu sat with the comfort of a queen on her throne. The chair she sat on had a raised back rest that was higher than she was tall. She had gotten it from a dead world about a year ago. During her time in it she had found a particularly nasty deadbeast. A Barcudan Marsinof. It had taken her so...
2024-02-19 08:57:38 +0000 UTC View PostBehind one of many buildings Jennifer squatted, working on something that looked like a mobile phone.
She slipped the last compartment, successfully coupling the device back together. She held it up as if to some metaphorical light and let out a tired breath.
Please work, she...
2024-02-19 08:49:48 +0000 UTC View PostEroms was a Gifted?
Well, it kind of made sense in a way. Hindsight being what it was, Melmarc could see the possibility. It was very clear now. The constant eating and being offered food. The question now was how long had it been going on, and why hadn’t he and Delano connected the dots....
2024-02-13 12:16:22 +0000 UTC View PostBabajide looked like a dying husk on his chair. The only sign of life in him was in the slow and painful rise and fall of his chest. His eyes stared ahead, empty.
“Uhhh…” Zed looked from him to the others. “Are we helping the bad guy or…”
He left the sentence open ended. W...
2024-02-13 12:14:05 +0000 UTC View Post