eligos

64. Enclave XXXIV (First Draft)

“Come to finish the job?”

It was with that question that the air around us subtly changed. The man in red was far too professional to show any outward sign of tension, but the mess of bodyguards and personal attendants were not. Hands crept towards swords, mouths tightened, and the air in the room grew thick and heavy with mounting anticipation.

It occurred to me briefly that I could easily die there. Guemon was clearly misinformed, but his deathly condition changed the dynami...

63. Enclave XXXIII (First Draft)

I read quietly within my mother’s quarters, as I often did when she was taken with sudden bouts of the consumption we eventually came to know as Nithia’s syndrome. It hadn’t gotten serious yet, father still insisting it was nothing more than the occasional weakness of the body that had plagued her since childhood. Still, I had been practically raised on stories with protagonists who lost parents or parental figures to early tragedy, so some part of me was terrified that if I left her, e...

62. Enclave XXXII (First Draft)

“What kind of edgy adolescent crap is this? It’s a recipe for disaster, it is.” The red infernal named Garth was bulky and large, wearing a simple black apron that reflected my face. I’d opted for the establishment that Persephone had pointed me to in the past life.

“It’s what I want.”

I had done a good deal of research on this before bringing it to the inscriber. My biggest danger was no longer death. Rather, it was psychological damage. I hadn’t truly understood ...

61. Enclave XXXI (First Draft)

Again.

I heard the words, but the darkness did not flee. It gathered around me like a blanket, muffling my perception with a dull groaning buzz. I held on to the void and immersed myself in it. Strangely, it was no longer as terrifying as it once was. It felt familiar.

It felt safe.

The great black beast rose from the ebony pools, dark matter drifting off its colossal form. The feel of it had changed. Once, it had the aura of a reptile, like the dragons of decades p...

60. Enclave XXX (First Draft)

It wasn’t dissimilar from the feeling Thoth gave off. This black aura of unbelievable power. He was around six feet tall. A foot taller than me, but only literally speaking. He was clad in a gray robe. His head, shoulders, and legs could have passed for a regular human’s.

But both his arms were armored in black chitin that reflected the constant blasts of fire and electricity. Cruel black blades jutted from the elbows of the cauldrons, the fingers of his hands extending into vicio...

59. Enclave XXIX (First Draft)

I was incredibly relieved that, so far, Ralakos had not shown.

No one wanted to move first. Everyone stood across from each other, feet planted, eyes narrowed. The straining tension was insufferably thick.

Mifral, suddenly released by Persephone, shifted backwards on her heels like a leaf lightly caressed by a summer breeze.

Ephira rolled her eyes. “For Nyx’s sake, sit down before you fall down.”

Mifral did as she was told, only to pop right back up, defiant. “...

58. Enclave XXVIII

Sometimes, in the never-ending torrent of pontificating politicians and overpromising, over-literate clergy, we forget how powerful words are. A fool can say little with an entire dictionary. But sometimes, all it takes is a single word to change your entire perspective. Or in this case, a name.

Ralakos.

It’s not that I trusted him completely. I’m not convinced that I was capable of complete trust towards anyone but Maya, even then. But some part of it seemed absurd. It remi...

57. Enclave XXVII

The degree to which I’d underestimated Ephira became clear the moment I took at seat at the table. I’d thought her melodramatic and petty. She was those things, but she was also more.

I was skilled in negotiation and statecraft.

Ephira was a master.

The Chefs at the long table to my left side chopped food just a bit louder than necessary. The table was pulled slightly too far away from me to be comfortable. And I had no doubt the wobbly chair had its legs intentionally s...

56. Enclave XXVI (First Draft)

I realize, communicating this after the fact, that it probably sounds like I took an unconscionable risk revealing myself to Bellarex. She was, after all, a relatively uninvolved party. But in the short time I’d spent with her during the initial reset, I recognized in her the same sort of walled-off loneliness I knew all too well. Constantly pushed by a father figure who withheld approval and expected obedience at all cost, isolated from friends and peers, excited by the unknown and unexpe...

2021-01-22 20:21:28 +0000 UTC View Post

55. Enclave XXV (First Draft)

The broiling storm within the room lessened in intensity.

Ephira’s expression barely changed. But the palpable bloodlust she emitted slackened, and an expression of puzzlement played across her brows.

Before anyone could do anything to throw us back into chaos, I pulled an alchemical potion from my bag and threw it towards her. A flash of nerve-scalding white brighter than any sun exploded outward from the shattered bottle filling the once-dim room. My throw was intentionally ...

54. Enclave XXIV

It was tempting to call everything off at that point. I wasn’t thrilled with the idea of the operation to begin with in the hypothetical scenario it went off without a snag, and we were miles beyond that now.

Not to mention, I really didn’t like the look in Ephira’s eye. It went beyond simple animosity. She would be hunting for the thieves stupid enough to rob her friend for the rest of the reset, and it wouldn’t surprise me if she leaned on Guemon to help her do it.

If ...

53. Enclave XXIII (First Draft)

King Gil walked away from the dueling grounds. Flecks of red adorned his ascended steel armor like bloody stars.

Ashby of House Morrow lay crumpled in the dirt, whimpering, his left arm bent at an odd angle. I watched from a distance as his three sons, including my once friend, Feran, gathered around their father in a uncoordinated effort to lift the man from the ground.

On the first attempt, Ashby’s broken face came up for a moment, only to limply plant itself back into the d...

52. Enclave XXII (First Draft)

There was a loathsome image in my mind ever since Persephone had given me this job. The image of a man dressed in black sneaking about in the dead of night, skulking between houses, his heavy breath fogging dimly lit windows while he spied on oblivious couples mid-coitus. As much as I told myself I would eventually make it up to our victim—and would to some extent be doing just that by stopping the impending slaughter taking place a mere two weeks from now—it didn’t change the fact that...

51. Enclave XXI (First Draft)

“I’m going to need a minute to confer with my colleague.”

I left the building at a brisk pace with Jorra on my heels. He stopped, but I kept walking, heading towards the city center.

“Cairn—er, Sontar, where are you going?” Jorra called after me.

“We’re leaving,” I stated.

“Why?” Jorra asked.

“Because this is ridiculous and not worth our time.” The words were bitter in my mouth.

“I don’t get it.” Jorra said.

I rounded...

50. Enclave XX (First Draft)

For what must have been the hundredth time that day, I cursed Persephone’s name. I cursed her name and her entire lineage. Both sides of it. But I couldn’t just walk away. Kilvius’s contacts had said she was a solid source of information, if not a bit old school and vindictive.

I was not unfamiliar with the way these things worked, though most of my knowledge came from authored retellings rather than the real world. Of course Persephone wouldn’t trust me right away. She’d st...

49. Enclave XIX (First Draft)

I breathed the mana in, letting the surge of sensation and relief take over. I had no idea how I’d ever lived without it before. It was like finding a rock to cling to amidst a raging ocean. Then a face would bubble up from the deep, eyes slack and empty; sometimes it was Kilvius or Nethtari. Sometimes it was Tusk. The winds would pick up again, ruining the serenity and throwing the ocean of my inner-peace into chaos.

I found myself wondering how my father did it. At some point in h...

And we're back.

Hi folks. Sorry for the wait. It took a little more effort than expected to rework Enclave. I was also dealing with some personal stuff that triggered a lot of self doubt and made it hard to focus on writing. 

Anyway, the new outline is done, and I’m very happy with it. Lots of surprises and big moments in store. 

As an apology for the extended wait, I’m uploading four new chapters, all of which should be up in fifteen minutes or so. I’ll unlock an extra chap for r...

Enclave Status

I need to take a few days to re-outline enclave. It was originally slated to be about thirty chapters, but at the current pace it's looking closer to fifty, which is just too long for a single arc. So I need to figure out what I can cut and what I can keep. As tempting as it is to barrel ahead and keep pumping out chapters, I want to keep the level of quality high. I've also heard you guys on your feedback regarding Cairn's inner thought process on recent chapters, and will be editing that as...

48. Enclave XVIII (First Draft)

There wasn’t really a good way to start this. How do you tell someone their entire family is in danger? That all that stands between them and imminent destruction is a paltry few weeks? 

I thought about sneaking back in the house through the window, but what was the point?

Kilvius eyed me as I walked through the front door. “He returns.”

“And here I thought I’d have to explain to the council how our family lost the single most important guest to...

47. Enclave XVII (First Draft)

There was no way this ended well. I reached behind me discretely and checked the doorknob. Locked. Because of course it was. I reminded myself that I was not Cairn. Sontar was not terrified of these demons, had not seen the destruction, nor witnessed the decimation of Maya’s family.

It almost worked.

I approached her with practiced ease, as if my first instinct hadn’t been to run from the room. Instead, I bowed low.

“I apologize, Lady Persephone. My master is in the ...

46. Enclave XVI (Second Draft)

46. Enclave XVI

There was nothing I could do about my eyes and lack of horns. Regardless of how discretely I dressed, the eyes would give me away immediately. Thankfully, I was not the only non-infernal within the Enclave. There were a decent number of elves and dwarves—some respectable, here for trade or tourism, others, less so. But ideally, beneath the shade of my cloak and within the depths of the mask, no one would get close enough to see them.

The fingers of my left hand...

45. Enclave XV

Everything I had seen, everything that could happen—would happen if I did nothing—weighed heavy on my shoulders. It was always there, lurking above me, threatening to crush me if I stopped and really considered it.

Emotions could only hurt me here. So, I pushed them down. I withdrew within myself, still keeping up the pleasant face for Nethtari and Kilvius. When we entered the house, it was all I could do not to stare at the floor on where they died.

“Hungry, Cairn?” Kilvi...

Broken Line Breaks

Apparently, the line breaks from the software I use aren't showing up when I copy from HTML. My apologies. It's fixed for the most recent chapter and will be fixed for the others shortly. 

44. Enclave XIV (First Draft)

That moment changed me. It brought me back to the beginning. I thought that I could save them all. Everyone. But standing there, on the cliff-face, as the violet flames that consumed the enclave grew, I realized the truth. There were no safe places in the world, no civilized bastions. Every road, every town, every city, was a loaded crossbow waiting to spring. And in the crosshairs were the normal people. People just going about their day, trying to live and survive. Every time I tried to ch...

2020-12-29 21:20:58 +0000 UTC View Post

43. Enclave XIII (First Draft)

I felt the darkness call to me. Somehow, I knew, even in the addled depths of my mind, that all I had to do was breathe, and it would all be over. Just open my mouth and suck in, and I could go back to a different time. It had been so peaceful. Studying, learning magic, making new friends. The childhood I never had. The enclave was a civilized place. So different from Uskar.

Only something had happened that changed all that. Something. I couldn’t quite put my finger on it. I didn’t ...

42. Enclave XII (First Draft)

It took an embarrassingly long time to don my armor. I’d worn armor before, but there were typically around three people putting it on for me. With only Nethtari helping me, despite there being only a few pieces, it still took close to thirty minutes to get everything fitted properly and keep certain pieces from shifting around.

After fending off their nonstop stream of advice and warnings, I said my goodbyes and headed to Ralakos’s estate. Erdos saw me coming and rolled his eyes,...

41. Enclave XI (First Draft)

A wave of adrenaline washed over me. Months ago it would have left me shaking and practically useless, but the days spent training with Kastramoth had beaten that weakness out of me ruthlessly. I allowed myself to fall backwards, Bellarex’s sword passing over me harmlessly as I rolled away. Still, it would have been over in seconds had Jorra’s serrated whip not caught the training sword, yanking her off-balance and preventing a follow-up strike. Jorra failed to loosen the sword from her g...

40. Enclave X (First Draft)

I wasn’t afraid. Not at first. I don’t think I truly realized the significance of Maya’s absence. I was too caught up in the emotional aspect. The friend who had stuck by my side for the better part of a year was now gone. At the time, I wasn’t pragmatic enough to consider what exactly that would all mean should the worst come to pass.

It was with a great deal on my mind that I entered Ralakos’s estate. His man-servant, a tall infernal in fitted regal wear ushered me into th...

39. Enclave IX (First Draft)

39. Enclave IX

A pale yellow light crept in the apothecary window, confirming that I had once again stayed up all night. It wasn’t my intention. I had planned to go to bed a little after four, but after taking stock of Maya’s gift, I’d decided to give it one more shot. Casikas had cut me a great deal on the required ingredients, so I went a little overboard. As of the current moment, my gift for her included a mess of antiseptics, salves for various afflictions including frostbi...

38. Enclave VIII (First Draft)

38. Enclave VIII

I woke up, like I always did, around midnight in the room Jorra and I shared. It would be easy to blame it on the vurseng. But the truth was I had already started to expect for things to go wrong. The relative tranquility of the enclave never sat well with me. It was almost like a voice, whispering in the back of my mind, that I was too comfortable here. Reminding me that at any moment, it could all be snatched away. I drug myself out of the bed quietly and dressed, b...