Chapter 22
Soiree Preparations
“I can’t believe he won,” I said to my reflection, “and with a Mythic up for ante. A Mythic.” The mirror I was looking into was gilded in gold – part of the Colosseum’s furnished rooms for competitors – and the cr...
2023-12-23 21:15:00 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 21
Fortune’s Little Tricks
“Thank the Twins,” Basil huffed as we arrived at platform 4. “You haven’t missed it. Get up there.”
I wiped the sweat from my brow, tried to slow my breath, and went for the sta...
2023-12-20 03:02:24 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 20
Time to Trade
Help this ill-mannered urchin? Ridiculous. Preposterous. I couldn’t believe he had the gall to ask after how callously he had treated me during our previous interaction.
“I don’t make the same mistake twice,” I told him c...
2023-12-16 20:18:47 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 19
Defensive Positions
When I reached Esmi and Warrick, I gave my fiancee a nod of greeting, a full inch deeper than was necessary between us. “It is surely through the kindness of Fortune that I’m blessed to see you again so soon, Esmi. How did you fare in...
2023-12-12 20:03:36 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 18
The Refiner’s Fire
I followed the black-robed Tender, an unfamiliar feeling bubbling inside of me. It was part anxiety, part fear, and part suspicion… but it was mostly hope. He’d said something about elevating me, and I was pretty sure he meant upgrad...
2023-12-09 18:46:50 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 17
Tender
I was on my third plate of food when someone sat down next to me. I tensed and put one arm down wide around my plate while the other hand kept shoveling the well-sauced chunks of pork and rice into my face. If some asshole tried to take my food they w...
2023-12-05 21:34:20 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 16
Winning Isn’t Everything
I almost cried out in physical pain to see one of my Headsman cards destroyed, barely registering the other two I lost as they vanished alongside the first, a Carrion Condor and my other Protection Spell.
“Three damage to B...
2023-12-02 19:38:15 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 15
The Losers’ Bracket
Lily Whoever-She-Was waited for me on platform 9, perfectly poised and stern as a shopkeep. She wasn’t as richly dressed as that earnest weirdo Basil, but her people obviously had some money. Her dress was a deep green wool that...
2023-11-28 19:17:03 +0000 UTC View PostPRE-CHAPTER NOTE: Chapters 11 and 12 have been slightly changed to reflect a minor retcon. The Dueling Dome now also allows duelists to focus in to see a card aura that can tell them how many cards their opponent has remaining in their Mind Home.
Chapter 14
The Tro...
2023-11-25 17:46:32 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 13
In or Out
I hurried through the tunnel leading under the Coliseum stands, my eyes fixed on the light ahead like it would save me. My right hand kept reaching up to clutch my heart without me meaning to. It didn’t make sense; my spell lived in my Mind Home,...
2023-11-21 23:07:00 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 12
Dreams
As it often did, having my Condor in play let me breathe a touch easier. Not just because my Assassin dying would now serve a larger purpose but because the Condor had a wonderful healthpool for defense. I cared about that fact deeply at the moment, b...
2023-11-18 20:10:02 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 11
No Such Thing as Fair
I frantically scanned the long page that the bored functionary had pressed into my hand and tried to ignore the odd flapping of the page he’d pinned to the back of my shirt. It had an oversized “27” painted on it, which I could on...
2023-11-14 22:04:04 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 10
Today’s the Day
By the time I joined my family for an early breakfast I had slept perhaps an hour in total, a few snatches here and there when my eyes could no longer focus on the crabbed script of the Fire card textbook, and none of it by choice.
As...
2023-11-11 18:53:42 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 9
Rock and a Card Place
My running feet took me back toward the Merchant District, where I could see a smear of greasy smoke rising over the rooftops. Not there. They’ll have the fire brigade and the city watch crawl...
2023-11-07 23:48:04 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 8
Jokes Should Be Funny
My feet started burning the second I crossed the threshold. I bit down on my tongue and threw myself forward. I knew right where the card was supposed to be. Every step forward felt like holes being burned straight up through to my foot ...
2023-11-04 16:43:31 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 7
A Bad Idea
Life on the streets had not made me good at complex planning. My usual way of solving things was to hit them and take their money, but barging back into the tailor’s card shop would just get me beaten and thrown in jail. I’d heard bad stories a...
2023-11-04 16:41:57 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 6
Cards by Candlelight
After collecting my wayward Headsman – who had ended up in the pantry of all places – I spent the rest of the evening pondering the Water cards my family had and whether or not I should reconfigure my deck list. The grimoire ...
2023-11-04 16:40:17 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 5
Precious
Skop kept a tight hand on my elbow all the way to Hook Street. His grip was hard and he wasn’t shy about using it. My fingers were tingling, but any time I tried to jerk away, he pinched even tighter and yanked me back like a rich man’s pet wyver...
2023-11-04 16:38:52 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 4
To Be Entertained
True to form Randel decided to race me, and it was a boon from Fortune that he chose to; I wished to reach Esmi with all possible haste and I didn’t have a clue which drawing room or courtyard my other brother Gale had chosen to receive he...
2023-11-04 16:36:57 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 3
Fighting the Future
“If you can’t beat me, you have no hope in the Rising Stars Tournament, Basil. It’s a fact, my boy, simple as sunshine.”
I had expected Tipfin to say as much in our final day of practice duels, but still, the words s...
2023-11-04 16:35:27 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 2
Big Man
It wasn’t until I had already started sprinting toward them that I caught a good glimpse of their faces, and that was almost enough to stop me in my tracks. The fat fellow on the right was Skop, and the taller, stronger one was actually a massive fr...
2023-11-04 16:23:51 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 1
An Empty Heart
The old man was dying, and I wasn’t going to budge until he kicked it. Seeing folks crawl off to hack out their last was common enough here in the Lows, but I’d never spied one that had a pint-sized Earth troll to carry them like this fello...
2023-11-04 16:21:17 +0000 UTC View PostLet's get this ball rolling! I can't wait for you all to read these stories.
2023-11-01 18:41:52 +0000 UTC View Post
