He stopped counting the number of times he read over the final passage in the stolen pages. The land that floated underfoot felt as if suddenly plummeted into the void below, spinning as it spiraled out of control.
Risens had lost all track of how long had he’d spent staring at the words. Working through the cipher had been slow going, though he felt the time spend on the rest of the page was little more than a blink of his eyes in comparison. Time stopped here in the Barren but at th...
2025-11-11 01:56:22 +0000 UTC
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Thoughts, prospects and possibilities riddled Risens mind as he opened the portal back to Windwake. Without a word or another look, Mother Raven slipped through the doorway, disappearing as if she had never stood before him on the grassy plain of the peculiar floating island.
Alone at last, the crushing weight of the possibilities finally dawned on him. His gifts, the skills offered to him had continued, altering his life again within a matter of moments. His path had never strayed from...
2025-11-03 01:24:55 +0000 UTC
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Through the clear liquid, the Tears of the Under Risens could see the ravaged skin of his hands. He had succeeded in the task he’d been assigned. The Raven Talons had been heated, burning hot enough to melt the solid block. He should have felt a measure of success at the feat.
Currently it was nothing but an immoveable doubt weighing on him. At what cost had it been accomplished?
The water had quenched a surprising amount of the pain though it was still agonizing. Judging by the...
2025-10-27 01:00:01 +0000 UTC
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He’d never seen Fendri so angry. His animus for the irritating man produced little sympathy from his young mind. Why had the King’s Stewart dragged him from the comforts of his bed in the dead of night? The day’s training session had had exceedingly rough, his body, tended to by the surprisingly gentle ministrations of the fire-haired healer had taken the bite from the agony, though his body still ached.
Why was Fendri rushing him now?
Even so you...
2025-10-27 00:58:03 +0000 UTC
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The mysteries that had dominated his life to this point had been generally political in nature. Most utterly predictable as the greedy inclinations of those who always believe they deserve more than they have earned or fall into the trap that is the lure of power. The scheming, as it seemed was universal among their class.
In light of recent events Risens’s mind had been awakened to mysteries beyond his wildest imagination. A land, that if he understood correctly, could be unlocked an...
2025-10-17 10:02:08 +0000 UTC
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Risens wrenched his blade from the still body of the final creature that had attacked him. The black ooze that poured from the wound steamed as it met with the clear water of the pool. Like smoke dissipating in a stout wind, it faded into nothingness, leaving only the clean water behind.
“Do not forsake us. Wash the carrion filth from our edges.”
Gone were the sensations of abject fear, yet there was an undeniable sense of concern that colored the voices of the blades...
2025-10-17 09:56:15 +0000 UTC
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Much like traveling from Windwake to the Barren the shift was accomplished with as much discomfort as merely a blinking his eyes. The small chunk of land with the conical topped structure was small, no wider than ten meters in diameter. Entering the meager structure, one’s predisposed notions would have been prepared them to be greeted by a space of appropriate size, though Risens was rapidly learning to abandon his notions or assumptions as the Roost and now the Barren and the Under follow...
2025-10-17 09:52:38 +0000 UTC
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First iteration of the cover for Brand of the Bloodheir - Book 1.
2025-10-07 10:02:28 +0000 UTC
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Risens approached the door set into the left side of the wall that would lead him to the Under and to the unknown. There was either handle nor keyhole on the face of the door handle, just the solid decorative panel. Another part of the quest, it seemed. From just outside the door to the tumbledown structure, Mother Raven watched judgementally as he pushed against the door to no avail. His attempt was met with immediate failure as the panel didn’t budge.
He stepped back from the door, ...
2025-10-02 23:58:06 +0000 UTC
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The sensation of crossing through the portal was unlike any he felt before. Through they had been discomforting as a youth, he had grown accustomed to then over the years. The rush of wind, the disorienting spinning had become second nature. At this point, the portal that transported him to the Roost, the intense speed, the crushing void was the most disquieting. The unbearable chill was growing less offensive with every passage.
The journey to the Barren was far less jarring. As if he ...
2025-10-02 23:54:44 +0000 UTC
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Risens, let out an involuntary scream of emotion as the priceless relic he’d only just retrieved fell to the stone tile of the Raven’s Court. The casual indifference that Mother Raven had tossed the precious egg was shocking. Panic surged through his mind and body as he feared deceit.
What has he done?
What had she done?
Lunging forward he dove for the egg with his fingers outstretched to cradle it, to protect it from shattering on the rock he scraped painfully across th...
2025-10-02 23:52:08 +0000 UTC
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Risens wasted no time making his way through the city back to the Raven’s Court. Saving the girl, Aleth had delayed him, yet the timing was of little concern. The darkness of night still covered the city concealing his movements in shadows. He still had days before he would expected to give report to the castle.
He worked to keep his thoughts from straying to the reception ge would find. The only glimmer of hope that sparked in him was that he could finally bury his blades into the he...
2025-09-25 14:54:14 +0000 UTC
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Risens moved like a wraith through the streets. The sound of the solitary, drawn out cry only gave him general details of the direction. Cupping his hand to his mouth, he called for the conspiracy of ravens once more. They would aid his cause. The birds would be his eyes.
“Find her,” he hissed as the birds floated into view. With a single sharp response, they screeched as they pumped their wings, banking back into the sky. Against the blackened sky the dull yellow glow, the aura tha...
2025-09-25 14:52:53 +0000 UTC
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Her hesitation continued even as the ravens relaxed noticeably. Risens held out his opposite arm, the larger of the pair foregoing his defensive stance to flap up to his arm.
“Take it,” he whispered. “Get yourself food.”
Sluggish at first, she extended her arm as if her mind fought against the urge while her body reacted impulsively. At the last moment, her small hand darted forward snatching the coins from his palm with a speed that was startling. The waif had far more to...
2025-09-25 14:51:10 +0000 UTC
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Risen waited at in the darkness of the doorway as the pair of ravens floated down from above. Holding the door open a cack, they called a short greeting as they flapped into the chamber, coming to a stop atop the first false wall panel in the room. It had been hours since he’d seen the birds and the green aura that he’d noticed when he’d first called on the Conspiracy again outlined their bodies.
“Thank you for coming so quickly,” he whispered. It still felt strange communicat...
2025-09-19 00:31:10 +0000 UTC
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Following the jahgi smoke up the cracked windows, Risens quickly reached the end of the decorated column. He was dozens of meters from the stone below, a fall would mean certain death yet he was unconcerned with the heights. Swinging himself up he grabbed ahold of the protruding talons of the stone raven carved into the elaborate fresco before pulling himself up so that his feet found purchase on the thin border that delineated the feature. Standing flat against the wall, he was nearly eye le...
2025-09-19 00:29:32 +0000 UTC
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“Get up.”
The toe of the boot that prodded his side was anything but gentle.
Risens scrambled to his feet, struggling to hold back the moisture welling in his eyes. His hand desperately wanted to rub at the pain swelling from the welt on his arm. He resisted, it took all he had. He knew that showing weakness in the face of his teacher would only amount to a swifter beating the next time around.
He caught the dulled blade tossed at him from ...
2025-09-19 00:27:39 +0000 UTC
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Following the attention from the grounds, the patrols roving slowly along the peak of the wall abandoned their tracks, refocusing their efforts on the grove. Risens cursed his luck. The lover’s giggled as their escapades continued, ecstasy overtaking alarm.
His position was tenuous. From both directions along the wall guards combed the grounds, pinching down on his position among the safety of the small glade. Well manicured as it was there was little under growth to hide in. With the...
2025-09-07 14:09:16 +0000 UTC
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Encountering a tall grate along the lefthand wall, Risens knew he had reached his destination. The thin metal bars were spaced wide though the openings were still too thin to allow his to slip through. A narrow iron door was set into a tick metal frame in the center. He wrinkled his nose, thinking of anything beyond what he touched as he picked the lock that held it shut. The rusted metal grated screamed as it granted his passage.
Risens heart raced as the noise reverberated through the...
2025-09-07 14:07:01 +0000 UTC
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The sting of the open hand that hammered across his face forced the food from his mouth. Risens mourned as the morsel skipped across the dirty floor. He regretted the loss of the immediately. He’d never in his eleven years enjoyed the taste of food so fine.
“I’ll ask you again, how many bites of meat did I take?” Vagon growled. His hand retracted priming for its next strike.
“Three,” Risens forced the confident tone into his voice. He pushed down ...
2025-09-07 14:05:21 +0000 UTC
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Risens followed Tawny’s smile as she moved along the narrow hallway. A few meters in the area opened to a surprisingly spacious round opening. Nearly ten meters in diameter the ceiling was lofty, almost a body length above his head. The entire space was illuminated with a pale green glow that emanated from the plants growing in four orderly rows cut into the floor. Several tables limed with wide vials were set against the wall
“Sanitatem,” she whispered. “You likely know the sti...
2025-09-07 14:03:28 +0000 UTC
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The smell that crept into his nose had a mild floral hint though there was no hiding the caustic odor behind it. His return of the Shadows Shroud to his face had been rapid, yet he had been a slit second too late to prevent all the toxin from entering his lungs. His head spun as the disorientation set in. The aroma was too familiar, its potency a recent stain on him memory.
He knew the scent of the Cimmerian Calcify. His memory was fuzzy owing to the effects of the limited dose of poiso...
2025-09-07 13:59:43 +0000 UTC
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The determination that overtook the expressions of pain and fear in the assassins eyes shifted into a disturbingly feral, disjointed stare. His head jerked wildly from side to side, much like the faltering staggered motions of a failing sentinel. His lips curled up into a snarl that showed his canines as if he was a beast spreading its mouth wide for the kill.
Risens sprang back from the mans body as he felt the tremor rumble through his pinned form. Like a wave it rolled from his gut u...
2025-09-07 13:56:01 +0000 UTC
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Risens was at home in the shadows of Windwake’s alleys. He knew the twists and turns well enough to recognize the new piles of refuse and crates that had been piled in their dank, concealed corners. With his attention split between the sky above, and the obstacles in his way, he moved through the Broad toward the Springs. The solutions to a pair of his tasks in the alleys of the disparate quarter.
The birds flew independent of each other, yet it was clear that they worked in tandem. O...
2025-09-07 13:54:27 +0000 UTC
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The feeling of absolute refreshment was startling. Risens was well versed and accustomed to existing for extended periods of time either feeling the pangs of hunger or thirst. Sleep deprivations was the most frequent and seemed to be a perpetual status in his life. When one lives by the blade, being a very light sleeper was essential to surviving.
Rising to his feet now, he felt as complete as he every remembered. His belly felt full and his hydrated. His mind and body functioned ...
2025-09-01 23:42:07 +0000 UTC
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Risens contemplated his next movements as the stone ravens tracked him through the Roost. He’d contemplated remaining here, attempting anther trial, yet without extra ravens feathers, the feat would likely be futile. It was relatively trivial, yet he needed new clothing. His training had allowed him to blend into the environment of the city drawing little to no attention to himself. His tattered clothing, beyond the confined of the Broad would unfortunately draw far much attention.
Re...
2025-09-01 23:38:35 +0000 UTC
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Risens wanted nothing more than to stab out the eyes that glared at him from within the sunken eye sockets of the monstrosity. One of his arms hung limp, the other was unarmed. The talons had abandoned him and remained sealed into their sheaths. All of his skills now amounted to nothing. He could curse at the beast in the voices of any he could recollect though he could do nothing to defend himself or attempt to fight back.
Hanging upside down in the grip of the colossal beast of ice he...
2025-09-01 23:35:55 +0000 UTC
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Risens slowed to walk as the calls of the assassins repeated. Bakka and Destra, who had remained with him matched his slackened pace.
“If you task was only to end the Warlord’s life, then I release you from you duty. Your quest has been completed,” he offered. “Return to wherever it is that you hail.”
Their vision met for a moment, conveying whatever unspoken message that passed between them.
“I for one have no desire to pick a fight with the King’s Rightmaker,...
2025-09-01 23:34:02 +0000 UTC
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You are not alone.
The final words were still clear as he rolled to feet, wheeling to face the widening chamber behind him. Once again, his hands on the hilts of the Raven Talons brought no reaction. No screaming bloodlust within his mind.
He tugged gently at the blades readying them as he expected he would need them soon. The steel refused to budge in the sheaths. As hard as he pulled, they would not release themselves from their holsters. Risens cursed the blade...
2025-08-28 01:40:05 +0000 UTC
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Silence was his first recollection.
It was alarming in its utter command, not manufactured at the hands of mages but complete in its natural totality.
Pain followed, covering the entirety of his body. It was surprisingly dull as if it was merely the lingering remnant of perpetual, all-encompassing abuse.
Risens blinked open his eyes, shuddering as he let the breath out of his lungs. A cloud of dust, disturbed by the gentle breeze from his lungs floated in the darkness ...
2025-08-27 01:13:52 +0000 UTC
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