David Niemitz

Guild Mage 321

Chapter 321: Only in Dreams

Wren was very much hoping, somewhat selfishly, that once Liv and Sidonie figured out how to move or build a waystone, the very first was put down at Clear Water Cenote.  While she couldn’t claim to understand the particulars herself, and had spent a significant amount of time prior to the Freeport trip out scouting rifts on the western coast of Varuna, she’d been present for enough conversation to gather that it wasn’t going to be accomplished quic...

Guild Mage 320

Chapter 320: Logistics

Though it chafed at Liv to admit it, Ghveris was right.  Even if she hurried things along as much as possible, there was no way they would be getting to Godsgrave in two days, or three, or even a week – not unless she wanted to simply take the waystone to the outpost at the dam, conjure a few birds from coherent mana, and fly herself and her friends to the rift.

But she’d seen how taking only four people to Godsgrave had worked out for Jurian and fo...

Guild Mage 319

Chapter 319: Dreamstones

When Wren came hurrying back, she had her bow slung over her shoulder, along with a quiver of arrows, and was carrying both halves of a paired dreamstone.  Liv was fairly certain that she’d kept close track of just how many sets Master Grenfell had made – one had been for him to communicate with his brother, Isaac, during the leadup to the war against Lucania.  That set had been useless for months, until Caspian Loredan had returned Isaac’s seize...

Guild Mage 318

Chapter 318: Dry Season

The following morning, Liv accepted Caspian’s invitation to eat at the high table, with all the professors, at Blackstone Hall.  To her surprise and delight, she was served personally by Lambert, who’d cooked her meals during the entirety of her stay at High Hall.

“Local eggs tossed with cheese and reef crab meat; smoked bacon, sourced from wild boars that roam the shoals near Chestnut Hollow; and sweetbread made from Elden flour, with sea salt f...

Guild Mage 317

Chapter 317: Interdiction 

Liv reached across the table, accepting the folded sheet of parchment from Caspian Loredan.  She stood up and walked over to the portable desk that Thora had made certain to bring for her, where she opened a drawer and withdrew a small knife kept for just this purpose, which she used to break the red wax seal.

The incantation, and accompanying notes, were all written in the archmage’s own hand – Liv had seen it often enough, on a slate in c...

Guild Mage 316

Chapter 316: Ghvere

Liv did her best to ignore the weight of so many gazes, all focused on her, at the middle of the training field.  The girl who’d scrubbed chamber pots in the dark at Castle Whitehill would have crumbled under so many eyes.  Even now, she didn’t think that she would ever quite be comfortable as the center of attention.  It was easier when she was angry, like she’d been at the Hall of Ancestors, or when letting the great council of Lucania have a p...

Guild Mage 315

Chapter 315: Master

Liv had had an extensive conversation with Sidonie, Arjun, and Elder Aira about precisely what research to present to the professors at Coral Bay.  Between their trips to the ring - which was really more Triss and Matthew’s project than Liv’s, at this point - and her journeys into the Well of Bones, the Tomb of Celris, the Garden of Thorns, and smaller rifts, such as the eagle’s nest in the mountains or the rift with the nightmare crystal in Varuna, she’...

Guild Mage 314

Chapter 314: Shell

“Through a series of somewhat unlikely coincidences,” Professor Norris said, in between grunts of effort as he used half a dozen mana-construct tools to disassemble Ghveris’s armored plating, “I rather expect that I am not the foremost expert on Antrian construction in all of Lucania.”

“Likely all of Isvara,” Liv corrected him, from where she’d perched in one of the beat up old chairs that could be found lying around the workshop.  They’d ...

Guild Mage 313

Chapter 313: Alumna

After the explosive opening of the great council, things settled down somewhat - though, upon Liv’s reflection, it would have been difficult for the proceedings to escalate any further without breaking into some sort of violence.

Duke Falkenrath gave his report on what had been found at the burned guildhall, though it would have been more accurate to say he relayed what he’d discovered by questioning the dead with his word of power.  He was able to con...

Guild Mage 312

Chapter 312: Eastgate Court

Liv woke from a nightmare about her body flying apart, every inch of her puffing into a dozen snowflakes, each of which was caught by the wind and scattered across half a continent.  She had tried to pull herself together, but it was like trying to scoop water from the river using only her hands, and the more she grasped, the less control she had.

She threw her blankets back in the pre-dawn darkness, swung her legs out, and rose from her bed to lig...

Guild Mage 311

Happy Friday! I hope that everyone who celebrates the holiday had a wonderful thanksgiving. Next week we'll be back to the full five chapters :)

Chapter 311: Whiteout

When he saw Liv’s stasis bubble collapse, Keri felt a surge of panic so strong that it seemed his entire body dropped through the stone floor.  He’d already sent two of her personal guards to run and fetch healers from the chirurgeons guild, but it would take them time to arrive.  It would be difficul...

Guild Mage 310

Chapter 310: Martensite

While Wren was used to working on her own, or at least in small teams of scouts, she had to admit that Duke Thomas Falkenrath got things moving quickly and efficiently.  He gathered a knot of knights about him with hardly more than a glance as they stormed through the crowded reception, Wren and Ghveris following just behind him.  Footmen carrying trays of wine or oysters on ice dove out of their path just as quickly as young noblewomen in their gowns, ...

Guild Mage 309

I know I've said this on RR and mentioned it on Discord, but it occured to me that since I'm not in the habit of writing notes on every Patreon chapter, I may not have said it here. I'll be taking Thursday off to do Thanksgiving stuff with my family, so no chapter on that day. I hope everyone who celebrates has a wonderful holiday.

Chapter 309: Veiketis

Liv’s eyes flicked to the open windows, through which the cool autumn air whistled in off the bay.  While she herself di...

Guild Mage 308

Chapter 308: The Princess in the Tower  

“Liv –” Tephania broke in, clearly about to defend the man she was intending to marry, but Thurston put a hand on her arm, bringing her to a halt.

“No, Teph,” he said, his tone gentle.  “She’s right.”  Thurston Falkenrath met Liv’s eyes without flinching.  “I could tell you that my family and the Summersetts have been close for generations, while they were our vassals; I could talk to you about h...

Guild Mage 307

Chapter 307: Petitioners

“You were rather hard on him,” Blaise observed, once the council of regents had returned to the reception.

“That Duke Richard seemed like he couldn’t get out of here fast enough,” Miina added, from the ambassador’s side.

“That might have something to do with how she nearly took his limbs off when they fought,” Kaija observed.

“I didn’t enjoy doing it,” Liv said, not feeling their good humor.  Archmagus Loredon had, in...

Guild Mage 306

Chapter 306: Betrayed with a Kiss

Wren was already in the air by the time Liv and the others came out the door of Acton House and piled into the carriages.  She wasn’t specifically watching them, and she hadn’t wanted Kaija, Ghveris or the rest to count on her in the event something happened, but she did think keeping an eye on how people in the city streets reacted to their passage might be a good place to start.  If someone began obviously following the procession, Wren ...

Guild Mage 305

Chapter 305: The Council of Regents

“The first time I came here, Matthew escorted me,” Liv murmured.  She was nestled up against Keri, the two of them having shifted to share her bench during the course of the ride.  “Julianne and Henry had just told me that they wanted to adopt me, and then they dressed me up in the fanciest dress I’d ever worn and sent me to a tea party to spy for them.  That was the first time I met Triss, Sidonie, and Milisant.”

Though...

Guild Mage 304

Chapter 304: Invitations 

The morning after arriving in Freeport, Liv joined her cousin Miina for practice down on the beach.  Kaija and three of her guards patrolled around them, and it occurred to Liv that if Baron Henry’s Whitehill guards had been this fastidious about her safety, she would probably never have met Cade in the first place.  But then, she hadn’t even been an adopted daughter, then – only an apprentice with a bit of talent.

Miina reached down ...

Guild Mage 303

Chapter 303: The Seed

The royal palace of Moristaim had never been built with the intention of housing prisoners, no matter how exalted their status in the kingdom of Lucania.  It had only actually been completed in the eleven-hundred and fourteenth year after Miriam’s rebellion began, during the reign of Millie’s great, great grandfather, Roland the first.

Before that, House Loredon had ruled from the Seastone Tower, raised a thousand years earlier on a headland of rock ...

Guild Mage 302

Chapter 302: Array

Liv couldn’t help grin at how Rei had his face pressed up against the glass windows of the carriage; the boy was up on his knees, perched atop the cushioned bench.  Had it really been – Liv had to do the math – nine years ago that she’d first come to the city, with Master Grenfell there to explain everything they rolled by?

“The bay is enormous,” Liv explained, reaching back into her memory to try to dredge up what her old teacher had told her o...

Guild Mage 301

Chapter 301: The Rebel Queen

In the dim light just before dawn, on the day chosen for departure, Wren slipped through the quiet halls of the keep atop Bald Peak, passing from one circle of light through the darkness to the next, each cast by a brazier set in turn along the inner walls of the corridors.  Each brazier was filled with glowing charcoal, sprinkled with sage, which flavored the smoke with a clean, earthy scent.

The rooms in the first floor of the keep were all jumb...

Book 5 Cover Art

What do you all think? Also, I had to make a name swap in chapters 298-299, as I realized I'd mixed up a Crosbie brother.

Guild Mage 300

Chapter 300: Family

Most of the preparations for the trip to Lucania’s capital weren’t Keri’s concern, or his responsibility.  Kaija and Liv’s personal guard would handle security, while Basil, Liv’s steward, would travel ahead with a small group of staff to prepare for their arrival.  A message had already been sent to Blaise Crosbie, the ambassador that Keri had chosen and who Liv had later approved, and no doubt he was already making arrangements for banquets, mas...

Guild Mage 299

Chapter 299: Masks and Blades

“Baroness Grenfell will be choosing a location to establish a new port for us, Captain Athearn,” Liv explained, waving her hand to indicate the map spread out across the table.  “I asked you here to assist her in making that choice.  You’ve brought the nautical charts I requested?”

Coram Athearn nodded and stepped forward, removing the leather cap from the tubular case tucked under his arm.  “Every inlet, bay, or cove along ...

Guild Mage 298

And so we begin volume eight! I'm back and forth between two titles, for this one. I don't think either one's a spoiler, given the setup from last book, so let me know what you think:

Godsgrave, or Archmage?

Chapter 298: What Harvest Brings

The sun rising over the eastern mountains painted the curtain walls atop Bald Peak in shades of gold, pink and orange.  Below the bare rock of the peak, stands of yellow-leafed aspen, interspersed with yellow pines, rustled in th...

Guild Mage 297

Chapter 297: Breaking

With the acceptance of the Red Shield Tribe into the alliance, and the exile of Juhani, Liv fought to suppress a rising sense of excitement and confidence.  All of the work she’d done before the voting even began was showing now, in a powerful voting block that was carrying through the things she wanted – no, needed – to happen.

But after the disaster of the conclave at Coral Bay, Liv couldn’t escape the lingering, gnawing doubt that at any momen...

Guild Mage 296

Chapter 296: Knife Fighting

Väina tär Väinis was on her feet before the swell of noise had subsided, but she managed to hold herself back from speaking until Elder Raija had granted her permission with a nod.

“This is nothing but a transparent attempt to gather more votes for her own faction,” the older woman said, her face twisted in what Liv was coming to realize was a perpetual scowl.  “She isn’t even being subtle about the timing.  If we permit this, we�...

Guild Mage 295

Chapter 295: The Council of the Alliance

There was a contrast between the two conclaves of the Mages Guild which Liv had attended, and the meeting of the Eld at the Hall of the Ancestors.  At first, she found it difficult to put into words; but accompanying Keri and Calm Waters to the grove where the children were left to play made it more clear.

Blossom and Rei scampered off, immediately scrambling over the time-worn tree trunks and boulders that had been artfully arranged i...

Guild Mage 294

Chapter 294: Choosing

“Let me out!” Liv screamed, spinning around in the darkness and the mist.  

The God-Eating Queen crumbled away, leaving Liv alone with only the frozen statues of her lovers, and then, one by one, those shattered, as well.  Cade’s form crumbled first, splitting with an audible crack and then falling to the ground in a mixture of larger chunks and frozen dust.  Rose fell apart next, and then Keri, leaving Liv to look down at the pieces...

Guild Mage 293

Chapter 293: Shields in the North

The necessity of moving the entire tribe – including both the very young and the very old – forced the Red Shields to first travel overland, to where, at Soaring Eagle’s command, they had first concealed their canoes along the northern bank of the Airaduinë.  Hunters ranged ahead, behind, and to the flanks, whether in the form of bats or jungle predators.  In this way they not only provided warning of impending danger, but also provided...