Day Seven. Dawn.
The rest of our journey was thankfully without incident, and when dawn broke on my seventh day in the sector, the jagged mountain cliffs that bordered the western side of the valley came into sight.
Today was the last day of my Pact with Erebus, and while some of my urgency to escape had dissipated, I still wanted to leave the sector quickly.
“I can smell the beast,” Duggar said, hackles raised. “She is up there now.”
I glan...
2022-05-03 03:01:00 +0000 UTC
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Day Six. Midnight.
I made it safely away from the Howler camp without being detected.
While I made my way back to the wolves, my mind picked at the unexpected turn of events. That Stayne and Talon had been talking worried me. Would they compare stories and uncover the web of lies I had woven? And if so, could I expect imminent pursuit? Damnation! Hurrying my steps, I raced to rejoin my waiting companions.
A hostile entity has detected you! You are no longe...
2022-05-02 03:06:00 +0000 UTC
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Setting Matters Right
Day Six. Night.
I found myself alone when I next opened my eyes.
It couldn’t be too late—I trusted Duggar to do as he said—but time was short. I’d lost an entire day to the trial, more than I’d planned, and if I wanted to escape the sector, I needed to get going. First though, I had to attend to my body’s needs.
Sitting up gingerly, I took stock of myself. The debilitating weakness in my limbs was gone, and my body f...
2022-05-02 03:01:00 +0000 UTC
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In the wake of the envoy’s disappearance, two Game alerts buzzed for my attention.
You have been allocated a new task: Find the last Wolf Envoy. Your objective is to locate Ceruvax, the only remaining envoy of House Wolf. By your target’s own words, he is presently trapped in one of the Nexus’ many dungeons. Find him to learn more about the way of the wolf.
You have been allocated a new task: Stay True to Wolf. Your objective is to acquire a mana-bas...
2022-04-28 08:07:39 +0000 UTC
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The woman was only the first of many.
Dozens of other fallen scions followed in her wake. Some were as gracious as her in defeat, willingly offering their essence. Others fought to the bitter end, railing at me until they were entirely depleted of their energy and forcibly consumed by the wolf heralds.
With every infusion, I felt my awareness expand until my mind thrummed with energy. Some of the scions were deadlier than others, and many times—early on especially—I teetered o...
2022-04-28 08:05:54 +0000 UTC
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The arena changed again.
The magma drained away and the pits filled with solid stone again. More importantly, a door appeared on the opposite facing wall.
I made my way towards it, then paused. My golem form was many times too large to fit through. I grunted in dissatisfaction. I guess I will have to leave it behind. In response to the thought, my spirit broke free from the metal body sheltering me.
You have de-possessed an iron golem.
In my m...
2022-04-27 03:05:01 +0000 UTC
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Ignoring the Game message, I leaned heavily against the wall beside my defeated foe and took stock of the damage to myself.
Warning! Your health is at 40% and will not recover without healing.
“Wow,” I murmured softly. I was more hurt than expected, especially considering I felt nothing, no sense of unease nor damage from my torso or neck.
But then, a construct doesn’t feel pain, does it?
Gingerly, I ran metal fingers over the wounds the...
2022-04-27 03:00:02 +0000 UTC
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A flurry of Game messages accompanied my entrance into the cabin. Halting in the doorway, I took a moment to peruse them.
Congratulations Michael! You have completed the second test, the Mind’s Reach. You have gained experience and reached level 70.
You are now a rank 7 player. For achieving rank 7, you have been awarded 1 additional attribute point.
Your telepathy has increased to level 46. Your telekinesis has increased to 43.
2022-04-26 03:05:01 +0000 UTC
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Your task: Pass the First Trial has been updated. Revised objective: Reach the log cabin on the far side of the water to complete the second test.
Dismissing the Game update, I surveyed the scene in front of me. I’d been right, I saw.
The cabin door exited on a small wooden platform that was low enough for the lake’s waters to lap over its edges. To my left and right, the lake disappeared into the horizon. The opposite shore—and the next cabin—though, were...
2022-04-26 03:00:01 +0000 UTC
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You have inflicted irreparable nerve damage to a level 26 burrower. A burrower is brain dead. You have killed a burrower.
Multiple strikes later, the burrower finally died. Its head drooped, and its body sagged, but wrapped around the tree, the creature remained anchored in place.
Sadly, the burrower’s fate did not deter its fellows, and they kept climbing. There were too many to kill before they reached me, but I didn’t let that deter me.
Picking out an...
2022-04-25 03:05:01 +0000 UTC
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At first, I tried simply passing through the door as any incorporeal being would.
But despite my ghostly appearance, my spirit form had substance and met with resistance when it came in contact with the wood’s surface. I sighed and, turning the handle, I opened the door as I would’ve ordinarily.
Exiting the cabin, I found myself on an elevated platform. More properly, the building was a treehouse built in the upper branches of a tall redwood that rose a few dozen yards off the...
2022-04-25 03:00:02 +0000 UTC
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2022-04-23 14:32:50 +0000 UTC
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19 Novo 2603 AB
Iyra rose to her feet.
“I want him dead,” the goddess began without preamble. Her voice reverberated across the chamber that served the god council, echoing her fury.
The gazes of the other gods swung her way. Iyra’s own gaze remained locked on Auriel. “You will deliver him into my champions’ hands. Today.”
The ‘or else,’ remained unvoiced, but none of the other gods failed to mark it. They remained silent while they watched the drama ...
2022-04-22 16:19:24 +0000 UTC
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I landed on my feet, without fuss and without experiencing the transition at all.
One moment, I had been in the cave. The next, I was elsewhere. Behind me, the portal receded and then vanished entirely.
Before turning my attention outwards, I considered myself. I remained a being of pure spirit and without body. Still, my ghostly limbs responded to my commands in the same manner as my real ones did, and for now, that sufficed. Pivoting about in a slow circle, I took in my surround...
2022-04-21 03:05:00 +0000 UTC
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Day Five. Night.
At my words, I felt excitement ripple through the minds of the others. My response was the one they’d been both hoping for—and dreading.
“Tell me what I must do,” I said in the small silence that had fallen.
Sulan was the first to speak. “To begin with,” she began in a more animated voice than I’d yet heard her use, “your Wolf bloodline must be fully awakened.”
“Left to its own devices, your blood would eventua...
2022-04-21 03:00:02 +0000 UTC
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Day Five. Night.
“For starters, you can seat yourself,” Suva said.
Mutely, I sat down cross-legged on the cold hard ground as instructed. Now that I had decided to comply with whatever the council was about, I saw no reason to drag this out any longer than it needed to be.
The quicker I get this done, the quicker I can leave, I thought, refusing to contemplate the possibility of needing to fight my way out.
“Tell us everythi...
2022-04-20 07:11:24 +0000 UTC
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Day Five. Night.
“Hello, Duggar,” I called back. My gaze drifted down the height of the cliff separating us. “How do I get up there?”
“We will guide you,” he replied.
We?
“We,” Duggar repeated, sounding amused.
My mouth dropped open. I hadn’t projected the last thought, and I was sure the dire wolf alpha had just read my mind. How did he do that?
“There is much we can do that will surprise you,...
2022-04-20 04:00:03 +0000 UTC
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Day Five. Afternoon.
With ebonheart in one hand and the heavy leather satchel in the other, I hurried through the Tartan barracks, speaking to no one and ignoring the inquisitive stares directed at the black blade.
Once on the empty village streets again, I removed my secondary shortsword from its sheath and replaced it with ebonheart.
The captain’s gift, no matter what he said, was priceless and left me feeling uncomfortable. I hadn’t betrayed Talon’s trust, not pre...
2022-04-19 04:05:01 +0000 UTC
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Day Five. Afternoon.
“You did what?” Talon whispered, staring at me from only a few inches away.
How had he moved so fast? The captain seemed unconcerned by my clenched fists wrapped around the hilts of my swords, and I had to remind myself we were in the safe zone
“You asked me to secure the tribe’s loyalty,” I said, not backing away from the captain’s frosty glare. “This was the only way how. Hyek has assured me that if your soldiers join the Howle...
2022-04-19 04:00:02 +0000 UTC
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Day Five. Mid-Morning.
The tavern was packed, more crowded than I had ever seen it before. Standing in the doorway, I scanned the room from under my lowered hood. No one had looked up at my entrance. They were all too consumed in their own discussions.
The topic on everyone’s lips, of course, was the Howlers.
The reason for the goblins sealing the village’s gates had become common knowledge, and speculation was rife amongst the players about why Ishita’s sworn had co...
2022-04-18 04:05:00 +0000 UTC
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Day Five. Mid-Morning.
The door to the chamber opened so quietly that I almost failed to hear it.
My head jerked upwards to see the Howler shaman and a squad of guards appear. My gaze slid from Hyek to the soldiers at his back. They looked tense.
I rose slowly to my feet, bare blades in hand and showing no sign of being intimidated by the shaman’s show of force. “You’ve been observing all this time?” I asked casually. The goblin’s reentry was too well-timed to be...
2022-04-18 04:00:03 +0000 UTC
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Day Five. Mid-Morning.
Turning back towards the spider, I cast charm. It was the only thing I could think of trying. It was that—or flee.
Strands of energy extended from me to the creature, and where my blades had failed in their attacks, my mind spell did not. Finding purchase in the creature’s consciousness, psi leashed it to my will.
A giant stygian spider has failed a mental resistance check! You have charmed your target for 10 seconds.
A few...
2022-04-14 04:05:01 +0000 UTC
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Day Five. Mid-Morning.
Worca has cast summon giant stygian spider.
My mouth dropped open in shock. Bloody hell, what now? Images of the spider Saben had transformed into flashed through my mind.
I can’t face something like that, Not on my own.
Heart in mouth, I watched the emerging shape. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Worca with her hands on her knees and gasping for breath. Whatever she had summoned, it had taken a lot out o...
2022-04-14 04:00:02 +0000 UTC
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Hi people,
If you haven't realized it yet, this is the Patreon of Rohan M. Vider and Tom Elliot. I will regularly post early chapters from both names here, however due to the challenges of writing three series simultaneously (Dragon Mage, Gods' Game, and 2022-04-13 04:32:56 +0000 UTC
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Day Five. Mid-Morning.
The shaman’s hurried exit was part of the plan, of course.
The fire was real, too, and would give Hyek deniability for what was to come next. Before creeping back into the chamber, I spent a moment further listening to the two mages.
“Damn, I don’t think he bought it,” Ishan said, stating the obvious.
Worca blew out a frustrated breath. “This has not occurred by happenchance. Someone is working against us.”
“Forsyth wa...
2022-04-13 04:05:00 +0000 UTC
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Day Five. Early Morning.
Two obvious choices lay before me: fulfill Mariga’s task or Talon’s.
The druid wanted the Howlers forced into a bloody war with the Red Rats, while the captain wished to secure their allegiance for Tartar. Of the two envoys, I trusted Talon more, and if the choice I faced was one between the pair, then my decision would have been simple.
But in truth, my loyalty belonged to neither envoy.
It was only to the dire wolves that I was truly be...
2022-04-13 04:00:03 +0000 UTC
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Day Five. Early Morning.
I waited ten minutes before exiting the tavern myself. It was not that I feared Forsyth and his gang, but I could do without them dogging my heels as I went about my business.
I hadn’t planned on leaving the safe zone so soon again, but matters were moving quicker than I’d anticipated, and I could not risk delaying.
Somehow Forsyth already knew enough to suspect me of being involved with the killings in the Howler fort. If I gave Ishita’s swo...
2022-04-12 14:56:23 +0000 UTC
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Day Five. Early Morning.
“Excellent,” Mariga said, her body swaying in what I interpreted as pleasure. “Place your hand in mine, and I will form the Pact between us.”
I did as she bade, gingerly setting my gloved hand atop her scaled palm.
A Game message opened in my mind.
Initiating a Pact between the Envoy known as Mariga, acting on behalf of an unknown Power, and the player, Michael…
I squinted at the somewhat surprising wording of...
2022-04-12 04:22:54 +0000 UTC
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Day Five. Dawn.
Not wanting to linger—or be caught out by my half-truths—I left the Tartan barracks soon after the captain and I finalized the terms of our second Pact.
Pausing outside the barracks, I considered my next move. There was still much to do, and my plans were in flux. I’d not learned as much as I wished during my visit with the captain, and much of what I had learned was confusing.
But as disheartening as it had been to find out about the s...
2022-04-11 04:12:57 +0000 UTC
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Day Five. Dawn.
An array of emotions flickered across the captain’s face as he read Stayne’s orders. First confusion, then anger, and finally satisfaction.
“Well done, Michael,” Talon said, reaching out to take the note. “I don’t know how you did it, but this is exactly what my master needs.”
I placed my own hand on the note, blocking him. “Not so fast,” I said. “We must discuss the matter of the price before I can hand this over to you....
2022-04-11 04:11:40 +0000 UTC
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