David Niemitz

Guild Mage 109

Chapter 109: Farmond Blackstone

Liv realized that she was holding her spoon halfway between her bowl and her mouth, forgotten, so she set it back in the soup.  “I have, actually,” she admitted.  “I can make a sword.  I can fling it forward, if I want to.  Honestly, I could make half a dozen swords and fling them at an enemy.  I also don’t have a problem animating a construct of ice and then sending it off to attack, but once I infuse it with that intent,...

Guild Mage 108

Chapter 108: Authority

The first few weeks at Coral Bay, with the giddy joy of new friends, evening meals at the Crab and Gull, and the pleasant distraction of Cade Talbot, now seemed to Liv like not only a dream from which she’s woken, but in fact a waste of time that bordered on irresponsible.  While she’d been drinking too much wine and giggling, her people had been attacked and killed.

From now on, Liv resolved, there would be nothing but work.  If her father and...

Guild Mage 107

Chapter 107: Spirited Debate

“Where are we headed?” Tephania asked, as the group spilled out of Blackstone Hall into the courtyard at the center of campus.  

“The landing of High Hall,” Liv answered.  “There’s plenty of room up there, and a table we can use.

Sidonie glanced over to Arjun.  “Rosamund is fine,” she said, “But we aren’t really supposed to have boys up there.”

“You can blame it on me,” Liv told her.  “I ...

Faerie Knight 154

154 - The Gate

And I say unto you, those who stand against the word of the Angelus, they are forsaken.

• The Testament of Isrāfīl

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19th Day of High Summer’s Moon, AC 297

The first pair of guards were loitering at the base of the stairs which led down to the cistern level.  In the glow of an oil lamp, their eyes were blind to where Ismet and her men crouched in the shadows, close enough to hear th...

Guild Mage 106

Chapter 106: A Voice in the Dark

The morning after the funeral, Liv rose early and dressed in the winter things stored in her rooms at Kelthelis. The parka with an outer layer of seal fur, the boots, all of it.  She didn’t intend to have much waste heat to work with.

She wasn’t quite able to leave the courtyard alone; two of House Syvä’s guards accompanied her out onto the frozen plain, out of caution.  Liv began with the clouds, few and thin as they were.  S...

Guild Mage 105

Chapter 105: May Not Feed the Wicked

It was dark by the time Liv went downstairs to join her friends, and the oil lamps had been lit.  Someone - Liv wasn’t certain who - had settled them all in a sitting room, and the girls were nestled under a mass of warm furs, all on a cushioned bench.  Arjun must have slipped out, after Auris had passed, because he’d taken a seat in a nearby chair.  There was a pot of tea on the table, and Liv poured herself a cup in so...

Guild Mage 104

Chapter 104: The Son of Celris

As soon as she was certain the waystone was active, Liv hurried back to Steria.  Keri was holding the mare’s reins, and she set her foot in the stirrup and swung up into the saddle.

“Are you certain these people are ready?” Keri asked, leaning in and lowering his voice as the blue light built around them, brighter with every passing breath.  He held an enchanted spear in his right hand, and Liv recognized the same weapon he’d used b...

First Pass of Chapters 90-103 Revisions

I've done a first pass trying to address some of people's concerns, in terms of adding development to Liv's relationship with Cade. It's a hefty chunk of chapters; while some people may want to reread it to give feedback, others might prefer a change log.

I'm interested in constructive suggestions from here!

--------------changelog-----------------

90: On the way back to High Hall, Liv observes clusters of students and couples without chaperones, who would be considered scan...

Guild Mage 103

Chapter 103: Tidings

A pounding on the door spiked through Liv’s head like an iron chisel.  Her mouth tasted foul, like a mountain squirrel had crawled inside while she slept, died, and then rotted for a week.  She rolled over onto her side, pulling the blankets over her head, to make the pounding go away, and found herself up against another person.

Another naked person.

In her bed.

Dim memories of the night before blossomed slowly, in fragments: laughing ...

Faerie Knight 153

153 - Maaz the Brave

There is nothing more valuable than knowing the ground on which you will fight; that one thing is worth a thousand men.

The Campaign Journals of General Aurelius, volume I

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19th Day of High Summer’s Moon, AC 297

If Ismet hadn’t known what to look for, she wasn’t certain she would ever have found the drainage cut.  Even with a rough idea of where it must come out, downslope of the pass, it was too dif...

Guild Mage 102

Chapter 102: Skinner

Storm eels.

Liv grimaced, already thinking through all the ways this could very quickly go wrong.  Professor Blackwood had described how they could release a shocking pulse into the water around them, strong enough to stun a human.  Once you couldn’t move, it was an easy matter for the eels to latch on with their mouths and drag you under.  If you didn’t recover use of your body before you drowned, that was it.  And even if you did, at ...

Guild Mage 101

Chapter 101: King Tide

The sea was still a somewhat surreal place for Liv: after spending nearly her entire life in the mountains that surrounded Whitehill, looking out onto a flat expanse that stretched to the horizon made it difficult for her to judge distance accurately.

The sun had risen high enough above the tree line to the west that it cast golden morning light down upon the shore, illuminating the bands of water and isolated tide pools left behind by the receding tides.&nb...

Guild Mage 100

Chapter 100: The House of Wyrms

Keri turned away from Calevis to confront the wyrm itself, while all around him people scrambled down over the tiered stone benches into the bowl of the amphitheater.  The creature’s head was massive – the size of his bedchamber at Mountain Home, perhaps – and covered in scales of mottled brown and green, the better to blend into the forest.  The eyes were cold, slitted and inhuman, yet with a cruel intelligence behind them.

The wyrm...

Faerie Knight 152

152 - Jabal Al Nusur

The officers can do their arithmetic about how many men you want to send at a wall, but what I know is this: I’d rather be the one on top of it, than the one climbing the ladder.

• The Life and Times of Legionary Titus Nasica

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19th Day of High Summer’s Moon, AC 297

Nasir al-Rashid’s reinforcements had brought scorpions.

Ismet grimaced, at a glance counting the siege engines along the...

Guild Mage 99

Chapter 99: The Hall of Ancestors

“Look, Rei,” Keri said.  “Do you see all the animals?” He held his son up with his left arm, while using his right to point at the carved tree trunks that surrounded Kelum Kedim.  Surrounding them, as far as they eye could see, were giant pillars of red cedar, shaped using a combination of tools and magic to depict the animals that populated the north.

Stern-beaked eagles, hawks, owls and falcons, with stylized wings tucked again...

Guild Mage 98

Chapter 98: Permutations

Liv and Rosamund walked over to the ballroom together, parting ways with Arjun.  It was an odd reminder that Blackstone Hall, prior to housing the college, had been the manor of a noble family.  While the dance floor wasn’t as large as the one at the royal palace in Freeport, Liv could easily imagine a dozen couples swirling about under lit chandeliers late into the evening.

Now, the room had been filled with desks and chairs arranged into rows...

Map

Here's a Sunday surprise for you! This began as rice on paper, migrated in a rough form to Inkarnate so that I could keep track of things, and has been updated and turned into an absolute work of art by Sarah Murphy, who also did our cover.

Guild Mage 97

Chapter 97: The Storm Eel

“These are the mana beasts you are most likely to encounter during a king tide,” Professor Blackwood explained, as Liv’s class gathered around a series of large sheets that had been laid out near the enchanting workshops.

Spread across the fabric were an incredible variety of dead sea life, with a single commonality: each creature had been altered by high concentrations of mana, causing it to grow to an exorbitant and unnatural size.  Liv wasn�...

Guild Mage 96

Chapter 96: Time and Tide

By the time Liv had the pie ready to bake, her hands and arms were thoroughly covered in flour.  She’d unlaced the left sleeve of her bodice and rolled back the linen shift underneath to her elbow; the bandages on her right arm would need to be changed, because there was no point in trying to clean them.

She was certain that Professor Annora would have been apoplectic at the sight of her leaning into a heavy rolling pin to spread the crusts, but in...

Faerie Knight 151

151 - Suq Alnakhil

Every oasis is precious; a small, delicate world within a vast wasteland.

• The Commentaries of Aram ibn Bashear

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16th Day of High Summer’s Moon, AC 297

Suq Alnakhil, orPalm Market, was an oasis nearly as blessed with water as that beneath the Rock of Eayn Zarqa’.  Rather than a series of interconnected ponds and springs, the settlement clung to the banks o...

AudioCodes

I have several codes, provided by Tantor, for free downloads of the audiobooks for both Faerie Knight and Graal Knight. If anyone is interested, let me know; I'd love it if people were willing to leave ratings/reviews on Audible after giving them a listen.

Edit: Looks like the codes are through a different website than audible, my fault for not reading that part.

Edit #2: The last two codes have been claimed!

Guild Mage 95

Chapter 95: An Assignment

“Observe,” Archmagus Caspian Loredan instructed, and Liv couldn’t help but lean forward in her chair.  “Aluthō ais’veh Novis perae Mae,” he incanted, the words clear and forceful, carrying easily across the library.

It was a spell that Liv had both seen and heard before, going as far back as the day she’d met Master Jurian for the first time.  A round shield of glowing blue light, striated with veins of pulsing gold, appeared in t...

Guild Mage 94

Chapter 94: Classes

After a wonderful dinner at the Crab and Gull, during which Thora and Wren assured Liv that she no longer had to worry about meals at High Hall, she wanted nothing more than to immerse herself in the hot spring beneath Castle Whitehill and clean off the sweat and dirt of the day.

Unfortunately, she would have to make do with the facilities provided at High Hall, instead.  Liv had a feeling it would not be the last time she longed for the chance to soak for...

Faerie Knight 150

150 - Auberon’s Test

There’s more than one reason the general never tried to rebuild the  damned city - who ever decided it was a good idea to build in the swamp, in the first place?  Probably a couple of poncy old senators looking at a map.

• The Life and Times of Legionary Titus Nasica

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13th Day of High Summer’s Moon, AC 297

Auberon lowered the tip of his sword, settling...

Guild Mage 93

Chapter 93: Arianell Seton

It took a bit for Professor Annora to get Celestria off the field; Arjun ended up going to help, at the healer’s request.  Liv was only vaguely aware of what was happening.  A few moments after the pressure of her opponent’s word had eased, Liv was still feeling its effects.  

She couldn’t stop fidgeting or sit still, and the only thing that seemed to bring even a slight bit of relief was snuggling up against Cade where he sat n...

Guild Mage 92

Chapter 92: Celestria Ward

Liv’s friends welcomed her back to the stands with congratulations and, in the case of Rosamund and Cade, quick hugs.  It didn’t escape her notice that Wren had arrived, at some point during the duel, but Liv had greater priorities at the moment.

“Tarts, please,” she said to Thora, and accepted the package of desserts from the Crab and Gull, placing it in her lap so that she could unwrap the cheesecloth.  The berry tarts were long since...

Guild Mage 91

Chapter 91: The Bodyguard and the Professor

Wren made her way down to the training yard while the eastern sky was only just beginning to lighten into a shade of pale, luminescent blue, rather than star-spangled black.  She gnawed on a hunk of day old bread, taken from the kitchen of High Hall, and a slice of sharp, hard cheese.  She had a wineskin full of chicken blood, as well, purchased from the butcher the evening before, once they’d gotten Liv into bed.

Jurian was ...

Guild Mage 90

Chapter 90: A Night’s Rest

By the fourth time she’d iced over her bandages, Liv could no longer deny that it was time for her to call it an evening.  Another two bottles of wine had been ordered and then consumed, and a dessert consisting of three kinds of berry tarts had been soundly demolished by the table.

“I can’t believe how casually you do that,” Rosamund said, from Liv’s left.  “Aren’t you afraid you’re going to freeze your arm off or something?&...

Guild Mage 89

Chapter 89: The Crab and Gull

Liv looked to the stands, where Thora, Wren, Arjun and Tephania were waiting for her.  Despite Professor Annora’s healing magic, her arm still throbbed painfully, and she could feel it swelling all around her elbow.  It would be very nice to sit down, and even better to be back in her room on the second floor of High Hall, so she could crawl into bed and sleep.

Instead, she walked across the practice field, to the edge of the trench Rosamu...

Faerie Knight 149

149 - Burning White

It is a mystery to me, to have found a hidden room in the deepest cellars, sealed with the emperor’s own mark.  An emperor of many generations gone, no less, when our legions first came to this wild place.  I would never have found it at all, if not for having to send workers below to repair the water damage.

• The Journal of Decimus Avitus

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13th Day of High Summer’s Moon, AC...