Aleks Kotov

Vol 7, Chapter 25

◆ Eagle Cliff, Head of Administration Tamilla POV ◆


"My lady, the quarterly reports have arrived."

Tamilla inclined her head in acknowledgment to the aide, who carefully placed the fresh bundle of papers onto a desk already drowning in documents.

To the steady rhythm of the pendulum clock, she drew several sheets from the top of the pile.

By now, hundreds of thousands of gold pieces were circulating each month in a fragile equilibrium between the treasury and ...

Vol 7, Chapter 24

The deck of the ship was empty, yet I felt a gaze from the shadows. Flashes from the burning camp made them dance in rhythm with the fire. Even if I managed to extinguish the flames, there was no way to rid myself of the moonlight.

Closest to me was my own shadow. I shifted slightly so that it lay directly before me—it was easier to keep under control that way.

No real weapon. I couldn't very well poke uselessly into every shadow with a dagger. My only hope was…

"Don't y...

Vol 7, Chapter 23

◆ Old Camp, Night, Corporal Noah POV ◆


An empty beer keg flew out of the tent. Right after it, a soldier crawled out, his musket catching on the tent flap. His superior, who was holding a torch for him, asked hopefully:

"Well?"

"The Abyss-damned keg isn't here either, Noah. Maybe we should try searching in the new camp?"

"You think our men could fail to notice an extra keg of gunpowder? It has to be somewhere around here, I can feel it."

"We've already s...

Vol 7, Chapter 22

"When the shelling ended, they pulled me from the battlefield… but we lost most of our knights. So I would call that battle… at best, a draw," Erin finished her tale.

"You look good for someone with broken ribs."

"It's fine, I've already been to a healer. Only the arm… no luck. They never found it. Probably torn apart by the shells. I'll have to grow a new one, but… the healers have more important work right now. I can wait."

"Once, you would have preferred t...

Vol 7, Chapter 21

Half of a knight's strength is his horse. For metal mages, it made little difference whether their armor weighed twenty kilograms or a full hundred, but for the horse…

A simple horse, the kind still found in the countryside today, would snap in half if an experienced knight tried to mount it.

Centuries of selective breeding, magical manipulation, alchemy: year after year, knightly steeds became faster, stronger, more enduring. And as the horses grew capable of bearing heavier bu...

Vol 7, Chapter 20

Soot flaked off the large cast-iron cauldron, scattering across the ground.

In a second, the blackened pot, used to cook for a hundred men at once, regained its original dull gray.

I kneaded the metal in my hands, merging it with the rest. Iron ladles, officers' bowls, the rare metal spoon, all blended together into a single mass. Unfortunately, the pile was neither very large nor very high-quality. To my surprise, most of the levy had been supplied only with gruel and hardtack; o...

Vol 7, Chapter 19

◆ Frozen River, Surroundings of Renvel, Dolan POV ◆ 
​

Beneath the water, brown strands of grass writhed. Sparse, slimy, combed as if by a giant's hand, they coiled around the boot of a soldier standing knee-deep in the river.

Or rather, on what had once been the shore. Just a few steps to the side and the shallows gave way to an iceberg whose ugly bulges blocked the riverbed. Despite the cold weather, the water gnawed at it relentlessly, streams trickling here and t...

Vol 7, Chapter 18

"We cannot allow them to approach the castle and begin a siege. We must strike them on the march. Here, near the river."
The Marquise's long fingernail tapped the map, leaving a dent.

"I hope this decision is truly dictated by military necessity, and not by the fact that your own lands begin precisely there?" Count Bicon pressed his lips together.
His displeasure was understandable—his lands lay closest to Lothingham and had surely already been ravaged.

"No. If we give...

Vol 7, Chapter 17

◆ Great Desert, Battlefield, Border Fortress of the Theocracy, Necromancer POV ◆


The scorching wind howled among the dunes. It smelled of death.

Heaps of bodies surrounded the charred fortress in the middle of the sands. Chimeras, men, and mages: the desert had become their common grave, carefully shrouding their remains with a yellowish veil. Untouched by decay, dried by the blazing sun, the corpses were a true treasure for a necromancer.

The wanderer drove his bon...

Vol 7, Chapter 16

◆ Lands of Marquis Etienne, battlefield, Marquis Henri POV ◆

Almost-Third-Duke surveyed the coming battlefield from the height of griffon flight. As expected, his dear sister had decided not to hide behind the castle walls. But that was not only due to her quarrelsome nature. On the hill adjacent to the castle lay an enormous ritual circle, at least a hundred meters in diameter. Such a construct could not possibly fit within the castle walls, not to mention that it would interfere w...

Vol 7, Chapter 15

Warm hands smoothed over my uniform. Streams of heat flowed around me, carefully drying the fabric. Truth be told, the mage girl's hands were a bit too active, especially considering we weren't alone.

"Thank you, Asha, I missed you too." I smiled and patted her head. Yet she wasn't in any hurry to move her hands away, even though I was already dry.

"Ahem, so the same person who killed the Second Duke and the Third Duke is also the one who finished off the Second Prince? The nu...

Vol 7, Chapter 14

 ◆ Castle of the Third Duchy, Marquise von Klaus's and Asha's POV. ◆
​
​

Etienne's knights rose from the table, hands reaching for their swords.

"We're leaving!" he announced to his brother, his voice nervous.

So, he hadn't known. Strange. News like this should have reached him first. The Marquise turned her head toward Henri and froze. Though the Marquis was far better at controlling his emotions, he too was shaken. Could it truly be news to him as well?<...

Vol 7, Chapter 13

◆ Renvel, Ancestral Castle, Second Duke's POV. ◆

The Second Duke turned a small metal figurine of an old man thoughtfully in his hand. On closer inspection, one could see not only that the figure was the Third Duke, but also the place where he once stood.

On the faded map there was only one spot where the original colors remained: Lotingham.

"Judging by that sour face, you finally tried the wine from your great-grandfather's cellar? I told you it should've been drunk at...

Vol 7, Chapter 12

◆ River of the Third Duchy, Asha's POV. ◆


"So the Healers' Guild is like a sort of labor union?"

"It seems you haven't been listening to me at all, young man…" the elderly healer shook his head.

"No, I listened very carefully. You defend the rights of healers, you don't let the rich cut down your pay…"

"WILL YOU SHUT UP ALREADY!" came an annoyed female voice from the stern of the ship.

"Don't compare us! We're nothing alike; that's like equating a sh...

Vol 7, Chapter 11

◆ Healers' Guild of the Fourth Duchy, Asha's POV. ◆


"So, Randall sent you to recruit more healers?"

The former Count nodded with dignity.

"And the Captain wants to begin treatment as soon as possible?"

Flint also nodded.

"And you, then… are trying to squeeze more money out of them?" The girl turned to the healer.

He coughed softly into his fist.

"I suppose, since you're acquainted, I'm willing to meet you halfway and combine services. Fifty...

Small news

Well, the order was ready and I went to pick up my new glasses (which is why today’s chapter is later than usual). Got them and… guess what?

That’s right, now I’ve got a headache from them and everything looks way too sharp, simply because I’d already gotten used to the broken ones, haha.
Damn adaptation…
But don’t worry, I think in a couple of days everything will be back to normal. Maybe even sooner, since you get used to good things quickly!

Photo of the new...

Vol 7, Chapter 10

◆ Coastal Waters of the Fourth Duchy, Captain Flint's POV. ◆


The ship shuddered like a madman in convulsions. The timbers creaked, and the lower deck reeked of soot.

The captain opened his eyes, but nothing changed. This wasn't a nightmare. The whole vessel trembled as though it might come apart at any moment.

And truth be told, so did he... Like a complete wreck.

Grimacing and pressing a hand against his aching chest, the captain rose from his cot.  His ...

Vol 7, Chapter 9

◆ Poisoned Battlefield, General Til's POV. ◆ 
​
​

The green wall closed behind him.

Maybe it was the thick rubber of the suit, maybe it was the slime... but moving was difficult, as though he were wading through water.

Til swung his hand, and a chunk of greenish slime clung to his rubber glove. Quite a material piece of crap. He shook it off with disgust and carefully scanned the green haze before him. Oddly enough, his gesture hadn't thinned it out in the...

Vol 7, Chapter 8

"Two tunnels destroyed."

A belated third explosion rumbled.

"Three," Til corrected, shielding himself from the falling dirt.

"Casualties?" I asked first of all.

"No reports yet, but there shouldn't be any," he said, brushing a weed off his helmet, then added, "Unless someone bungled the explosives."

All three blasts had been set close to the our own positions. Dragging barrels deep into burning tunnels would've been madness, but the shockwaves did the job well en...

Vol 7, Chapter 7

◆ Royal Palace, Dastan the First's POV. ◆


The life of any magical world moves in a spiral. At first, it is weak. Its mages can hardly manage more than parlor tricks.

It seems like a closed circle. Mages cannot grow stronger until the world is filled with magic, but the world will not fill with magic until its mages grow stronger.

Yet the soul of the gifted produces a little mana. Each new generation inherits slightly more than the one before.

In a sense, this ...

Vol 7, Chapter 6

 ◆ Kingdom of Steel, First Prince's POV. ◆
​

Day after day, night after night, they marched forward. No rest, no sleep, no pauses. Paving their path with bodies.

With each death of the weakest, a fragment of strength returned to the rest. Their drowsy minds cleared, the knots of hunger in their stomachs eased, and their throats once again found voice to chant litanies.

The trees parted before them, beasts and monsters fled in panic.

Neither mountains nor ...

Vol 7, Chapter 5

◆ Inner Sea, King Dastan's POV. ◆

A flash lit the sky beyond the horizon, the waves glowing blood-red. The rumble caught up with the ship, filling its black sails with air as hot as from a furnace. From the distant shore a majestic pillar of steam rose heavenward, visible for many kilometers.

A magnificent sight.

The King was certain—his unreliable ally would have given much to witness it, but alas... she had an important mission in the Third Duchy. The Third Duke had...

Vol 7, Chapter 4

◆ Commonwealth, Academy Port, King Dastan the First's POV. ◆
​
​The ship under black sails entered the port near the Academy without hurry or commotion. Taking its place at the pier, it settled in and patiently awaited the port inspection.

Dockworkers cast uneasy glances at it, as if already foreseeing misfortune. Muttering Merlin's name, they tried to avoid passing near its berth.

Black was not a favored color at sea. Perhaps because items painted in it absorbed hea...

Vol 7, Chapter 3

◆ Frontline ◆

"I'm glad you were able to visit us in person, Uncle Avram…" Tamilla greeted him, though her voice faded beneath the thunder of an artillery salvo.

"Especially in a place like this," she added once the ringing in her ears subsided and the bunker's ceiling stopped showering grit.

"Oh, I've held meetings in far more dangerous places," the banker said, offering a small bow, stooping his already hunched back a bit more than usual. "May I ask, Count Condor, w...

Vol 7, Chapter 2

◆ Center of the World, Espluar, Asha's POV. ◆


The noisy revelry was distracting and made it impossible to think. She wanted to go down to the lower deck and knock everyone's heads together, but she needed to conserve her strength.

Perhaps she should go fetch some rum, just to warm herself up? The treacherous thought crept into her head, but the girl shook it off.

The gold beneath her hands melted again, reshaping itself: a piston, a wheel, a small oar,...

Vol 7, Chapter 1

◆ Center of the World, Expedition Ship, Asha's POV. ◆

The demon's creaking scream echoed through the cabin.

"You're lying. All demons lie," the captain hissed.

"Alright, fine. I'm lying, and there isn't a damned rift into oblivion right nearby! Let's say that. But we can still make a deal, can't we? We both want to get away from this non-existent rift that's right now slowly killing us all, don't we?"

"Wait, aren't you dead? I thought demons abandoned dead bodies,...

Vol 6, Chapter 25, END OF VOLUME SIX

◆ Center of the World, Espluar, Asha's POV. ◆

The darkness of the hold was barely pushed back by the bluish glow of a magical lamp swaying on the wall. It flickered and sputtered, threatening to go out at any moment.

The ship's healer checked the captain's pulse, pressed an amulet to his chest, listened to his faltering Gift, and gave an important nod.

"Classic magical exhaustion sliding into a comatose state," he announced proudly.

"We can already see he's overst...

Vol 6, Chapter 24

Snow crunched underfoot. The damp white mass clung stubbornly to my boots. Morning was cool, and the timid rays of the sun, barely piercing the overcast sky, had not yet managed to melt it.

The trophy brigades were collecting weapons, mostly axes and short spears. Crude, ugly things, covered in rust. Occasionally a flimsy chainmail shirt would turn up, which had to be pried off the remains with great effort. Nearby, bones were being pulled from the funeral pyres for later reburial. Alas...

Vol 6, Chapter 23

"He's gone, damn it!" I swore and kicked the hollow cannonball.

My toe throbbed in protest.

Just as I feared, black powder was ill-suited for this kind of ammunition. A second chance to end the war was gone, and I doubted the Duke would grant a third.

Heat shimmered over the trenches, and fires still burned in places. The scorched earth smoked, gray concrete was blackened with soot. Orderlies dragged out bodies charred pitch-black, dragonfire—truly lethal, fiercer than nap...

So, guys, big of a problem.

So, guys, big of a problem. Today I finally broke my glasses.

There’s no way to repair them, and the new ones won’t be ready anytime soon.
In theory, I can work with just one eye, but in practice it’s really difficult.
So expect a sharp drop in activity over the next week, until I can get new glasses. (Since my eyesight is different in each eye, -5 and -5.5, I can’t just buy ready-made ones, I need them custom-made, and that takes more time.)

Also, even with one e...