MarvinKnight

Spellheart 10: Chapter 35

The explosion had my ears ringing. I had to get creative with my Earth magic to stabilize the ground beneath me while letting everything else give way. The blast threw dirt and debris everywhere. I heard Dean spluttering in surprise behind me. Still, all my other allies were ready for it and were using this moment of shocked surprise to prepare their hardest-hitting offensive abilities.

I was hit hard, but I knew it was coming. I had one arm over my face and walls of earth pulled up aro...

Spellheart 10: Chapter 34

I didn’t trust the voice, which meant my first order of business was getting some facts straight. For that, I needed an expert on time travel. Fortunately, I had one who was a good friend and was already in the city.

Sam’s particular brand of magic wasn’t too useful for hammering away at the walls of The Challenger to destroy it, but he was good at repairing damage to the city. Looking back an hour when I’d been helping with repairs, we’d crossed paths several times. I would h...

Spellheart 10: Chapter 33

Nearly six hours had passed by the time I was fully healed, far longer than it normally must have taken.

I crawled out of the pod and flopped on the ground, shivering a little at the chill. Toward the end there, after the itchyness went away, I was actually starting to get comfortable in that vat of liquid.

“Mac, what’s the status of the battle?” I choked out as I coughed out some of the goopy stuff and rummaged around for a chance of clothes. Nothing was left of what I’d ...

Spellheart 10: Chapter 32

Everything was bigger aboard The Challenger, including the Mana Generator. While the one above the Hearthwood was a glowing orb the size of my chest, this one was enormous. It was as big around as the facility we launched rockets from in the Hearthwood.

But at the same time, I got the distinct impression that it wasn’t any more powerful than mine. The energies were the same, but they were far less concentrated here. What was a constant swirl of light blue light aboard The Wanderer was...

Spellheart 10: Chapter 31

The first thing I did was focus on regenerating from my injuries. I wasn’t in any shape for a real fight, but after half a minute of concentration, I was feeling human again. After that, I entered my Dimensional Storage for new clothes since what I’d been wearing had burned away.

When I stood, dressed for battle again, I took in my surroundings.

I had hoped to land in a control room so I could start flipping levers and turning dials. No such luck on that front, though. The res...

Spellheart 10: Chapter 30

It took me a moment to place the name. Louis had mentioned it before. That was the name of his ship, the special item he’d arrived to this world in, just like me.

It was also the reason he wanted The Wanderer. If he could absorb The Wanderer the way The Wanderer had absorbed the QCA, he would unlock some hidden new ability his ship would otherwise never obtain.

“And yes,” said the voice that claimed to be my future self, “before you ask, it works the other way around. If y...

Spellheart 10: Chapter 29

Putting on the earpiece was the first thing I did. I silently directed the fairy to her cupcakes as I fiddled with the buttons on the device. One of these had to activate it... there we go!

I heard something buzzing to life. I held back to wait and listen. While I was normally a talkative sort, sometimes keeping your mouth shut and ears open led to learning more.

Seconds ticked by, and I feared perhaps I hadn’t really activated the item after all. Those fears were proven unfound...

Spellheart 10: Chapter 28

Assyrus’ breakthrough to the Demigod realm was just as dramatic as Nela’s. Thankfully, our additional preparations ensured that, this time, she went through it undetected. Her aspect and concept helped, since hers was largely about skill. Once she had the concept in hand, stopping its effects was easy.

Assyrus had always been the most innately gifted of my women, except perhaps Tivana. Though, unlike Tivana, Assyrus didn’t have an entire nation supporting her advancement. She had ...

Spellheart 10: Chapter 27

“So, do you think you can get them?” I asked the Fairy of the Immortal Glade. Her feet kicked back and forth as she gazed at the images I was showing her in the locket.

After a long moment, she nodded. “Yep. But it’ll cost you.”

I straightened. Here was where she named her price. She really had me over a barrel right now. Taking away Louis and Ethan’s special items was the best way to turn the odds in my favor. My only other option was to wait until all my matriarchs h...

Spellheart 10: Chapter 26

Several steps needed to be enacted immediately to make full use of the Fairy of the Immortal Glade.

Most of the Sorcerer-level wisps had already been retrieved by the more powerful fairies in exchange for cakes, but I tested the full scope of her abilities on those that were still within the range of Mac’s scanner.

Just as I had suspected, the Fairy of the Immortal Glade had an ability set that worked much like Unearthly Movement. Only her ability to zip through ley lines wasn�...

[Spellheart 10: AI Art] Elara

Hey guys. I'm trying to make some potential art of Elara in a variety of styles. I'm thinking she might get the cover for this book. Let me know if you guys like any of these character designs! I'm trying to make something I can use as a reference to give to the cover artist.

Some of these are semi-realism, some are more cel shaded or anime style.

Spellheart 10: Chapter 25

Once confident that our enemies were digging in for the long haul, I stepped back from the walls to do the same.

The first order of business was to capitalize on our gains, and that didn’t just mean dealing with the new prisoners. Lots of people had major breakthroughs during the battle, and many others were on the verge of doing the same.

If ever there was a time to open up my coffers to my people, it was now. Mac had been keeping careful watch over the entire battle and had be...

Spellheart 10: Chapter 24

My thoughts of victory had been a little premature. The Cult of the Unblinking Eye was just getting started. I don’t think Louis expected me to deal with his Immortal Ascendant so quickly, but now that I had, he was throwing two more at me.

From the look on his face, if he had any more of these, he would have thrown them at me as well. Each required who knew how many human sacrifices to create. At least now I knew what happened to most guys who joined the Cult of the Unblinking Eye. I...

Spellheart 10: Chapter 23

Liora whispered a word. Her voice was so low and quiet not even my acute hearing could make it out. But deep in my gut, I knew the word meant fire, for that is what the world became.

I felt her will, the power of an Immortal Ascendant, stretch out to surround my fair city.

Not long ago, some of my children by Sava thought it would be nice to decorate the outside of the walls. The grass surrounding the walls was always cut short, and the trees pushed back to ensure nothing could cr...

Spellheart 10: Chapter 22

“Bold of you to come here after we’ve already slain all your pets!” I shouted up at Ethan, Louis, and their pet Immortal Ascendant. “What’s stopping me from taking my revenge here and now?”

Ethan let out a humorless chuckle as he waved a hand at Liora. “I would suggest not.”

“Your pet Immortal Ascendant won’t be enough to save you. Not here.”

Ethan smiled, this time genuinely. “Oh, we know all about those special sentry towers of yours. They’re just...

Spellheart 10: Chapter 21

“Let me take care of those Hydras,” Sam said. “They might be able to heal from ordinary wounds, but I have a few tricks up my sleeve.”

“You can take them out without making them more powerful?” I asked hopefully. Dealing with those things would be difficult with our conventional arms. The only thing I could think of was launching a few of the Hearthwood’s new nuclear weapons at them.

“When something is fated to die, its ability to heal matters little,” Sam spoke ...

Spellheart 10: Chapter 20

“We need to seal that spatial tear before something nasty comes through,” I told Dean.

“Agreed. It’s a damn good thing you’ve got three Demigods of the spatial aspect, huh?” Dean grinned, but I sensed a knot of tension on his brow.

[The new defenses are ready, Theo,] Mac said in my mind. [Shall I sound the alarm bells?]

“Not quite yet, but tell our forces to rally. If Dean and the others can seal this thing, it might be a false alarm. But I want to be ready jus...

Spellheart 10: Chapter 19

“Any of you ladies have something for Yeminel to wear?” I asked as I held the naked Demigod in my arms.

“Preferably something with fire resistance?” Yeminel asked hopefully.

Tivana eventually produced a long, flowing blue robe. Yeminel threw it on, then promptly tore the sleeves off and hiked the skirt hem up. Soon it was looking considerably more sensual than anything Tivana ever wore.

“I’ll get you a replacement at some point. I need to feel the air on my skin ...

Spellheart 10: Chapter 18

After hunting down our confiscated things and erasing any remaining evidence of our arrest, we slipped out of the station unnoticed. Normally, a group of Demigods and one homeless Sorcerer would be spotted just about anywhere. But as long as I was whipping out the mind magic I figured I might as well make us stand out a little less than well.

The denizens of the Elven Star Dominion didn’t react as much as elves of the modern era would if they saw us, and just being human normally drew...

Spellheart 10: Chapter 17

Suddenly, the walls around us felt narrow and confining. I could see the restlessness in my companion’s eyes. We’d been here too long already. No one reached Demigod by giving in to helplessness. Each of us was one word away from smashing our way out of here.

I had been calm for one reason and one reason alone. My Pocket World Passage. These cells could do nothing to hold me, and the Hearthwood was only ever a single step away. I could have escaped this cell with all my allies at an...

Spellheart 10: Chapter 16

As the Demigod-level golem’s voice boomed through the air, Valanda was the first to react. She threw her hands in the air out of reflex and started falling to her knees before the people aboard the golems even gave the orders.

“Hands where we can see them. Kneel on the ground. If you try to cast a spell or circulate a technique, we will open fire!”

“She’s right there. We’ll get back to what we were doing, officers.” Tivana jerked a thumb at Valanda.

“You thre...

Spellheart 10: Chapter 15

Edit: Ignore what was previously up here! I accidentally left my notes here and they contained spoilers!

A few hours later, we were out of the utopian shadow of the World of Sanctuary and Serenity. On any other day, I probably would have explored it more. But right now, there was a lot to do. Besides, if this project worked as well as I was hoping, pretty soon, we’d have a utopia right at home to explore.

We found our way through t...

Spellheart 10: Chapter 14

After the meeting, it was finally time to put my plans into action. Now that I had general agreement, it was time to go from ideas to action. Ethan may have gotten the other Demigods to agree to delay, but that just meant we wouldn’t be shutting down the Planetary Defense Array right away.

Nobody said anything about climbing aboard and figuring out the controls. I imagined with the resources and experience we had available here, we had the best chance we were ever going to have of get...

Spellheart 10: Chapter 13

After Tivana and I cleaned ourselves and left our rooms, we were surprised to find Elara waiting just outside.

“Hello, Miss Elara,” Tivana gave Elara a polite bow.

“Please, Elara is fine. Any companion of Theo’s is a companion of mine,” Elara said, smiling.

“How long have you been waiting outside our door?” I asked. “I hope we didn’t keep you.”

“Oh, it was fine. I wasn’t there long,” Elara replied. I sensed that she was lying, but I let the ma...

Spellheart 10: Chapter 12

The difference between walking around the courtyard greeting people with Tivana on my arm and walking around the courtyard with Elara on my arm was night and day. Everyone seemed so much more eager to say hello. There were smiles when they saw Elara, and they stepped forward to shake hands with me and introduce themselves. None of that had happened when Tivana was at my side.

Truthfully, it made me feel a little bad. Odds were Tivana’s night hadn’t improved in the slightest, whereas...

Spellheart 10: Chapter 11

“Husband?” I squeaked.

“Wait a second, Elara, is that you?” Dean asked. “You mean to say Theo is the guy you said you were married to? What? How? When!?”

He stood up from his chair in shock, stepped back, and stroked his chin in deep thought.

“I see how it is. You weren’t frozen in stasis those four hundred years, were you? While Sam and I were struggling to survive, you were seducing ladies left and right all the while!” Dean jabbed a finger in my directio...

Spellheart 10: Chapter 10

Tivana and I covered for Dean while he cut a small bottle-sized hole in a couple of watermelon-looking fruits and shoved a bottle of something that smelled pungent enough to kill anyone below the Wizard realm. The liquid drained into the fruit by the moment. No doubt anybody who took a slice of that stuff was in for a surprise. Sam stood nearby, shaking his head.

Were there laws in this world about drinking and flying? Considering how established this particular world was, I wouldn’t ...

Spellheart 10: Chapter 9

“Don’t get mad that someone messed up your stuff,” Sam chuckled. “After all, we’re not exactly home anymore, even though some parts might be familiar. You’re not Patriarch of this place.”

My eyes were locked on the area where Castle Mac should have been. There looked to be a settlement there surrounding the dungeon entrance, but not anything as complex as the Hearthwood’s main city. There was, however, a much larger settlement where Queenshold was in my world.

But ...

Spellheart 10: Chapter 8

“Dean, meet our newest Demigod,” I announced. I didn’t hide the pride in my voice.

Tivana stepped forward to join us, and the aura of her new Demigod powers wrapped around her like a cloak.

Dean’s eyes widened in genuine surprise, his usual playful demeanor giving way to a moment of sincere astonishment.

“Tivana? Is that really you?” He circled her as he drifted lazily in the air. “You’ve always had this innocent, untouched beauty about you, my darling little...

Spellheart 10: Chapter 7

The two of us were overdue for a shower. Thankfully, it hadn’t been damaged during Tivana’s breakthrough, though apparently a lot had been.

The birth of a Demigod was a rare occurrence, especially outside of a secluded space like my Cultivation Chamber or somewhere like the Primordial World. Few would be so generous as to share the energies released during their epiphany with an entire city. And of those that were, they wouldn’t want to leave themselves vulnerable.

If someon...