eligos

Pyrrhic II (First Draft)

There’s a lot to learn, living rough in a place like the Sanctum. It wasn’t like I could walk into a trade-post and buy supplies. Even if I wore a mask, my eyes were a dead giveaway.

What you can eat and what you can’t becomes a weekly gamble that could turn daily at any given time. Shelf life is a serious concern. Dehydrating and drying food is the best way to ensure sustainability. Conditions and weather are always up to the whim of whatever grand magical apparatus control the...

Double-Blind CH13

In the early thirties, while the rest of the world was experiencing a hard come down from the roaring twenties, an Australian Major named Meredith was given a simple task. He was to cull an invasive species plaguing local farmers in a venture later known as The Great Emu war. And he didn’t skimp on resources. Meredith brought a trained army, transported by truck, armed with machine-guns and thousands of rounds of ammunition.

Trained men with machine-guns lost to birds.

I say a...

131. Pyrrhic I (First Draft)

Lokerias shivered in the cold, stifling a cough. He had always been prone to illness, but his now threadbare apparel, along with the drastic shift in temperature between Sanctum chambers hadn’t done him any favors. He wished, not for the first time, that his genealogy had far more water mages, and far less from the earth. If they had an unlimited supply of water, at least he’d have a way to not feel hungry.

A rustling from a nearby bush caught his ear. He called out. “N...

Double-Blind CH12

The dungeon lobby was not what I expected. White marble flooring divided into squares paved a large open space penned in by glass. A receptionist’s desk, complete with a widescreen computer monitor and a rather geriatric looking qual-comm phone, stood near the front. There was a wide swathe of wall behind the desk where a corporate logo would typically stamped. But instead of a corporate logo, there was a simple symbol in oversized, iron-cast characters.

:)

Everything was almo...

130. Interlude: Thaddeus

Something dark was brewing in the heart of Uskar. It had always been a hard place, rife with rebellion and uprisings, all-but-requiring a distasteful excess of brutality to keep in line.

But this felt different. Like an old ghost come home to ruin. Chaos.

Thaddeus, the king’s spymaster, felt like he hadn’t slept in years. His job was easier once, he mused. He was a natural at it. And yes, the other races constantly had to be kept in check and never stopped bristling against ...

Double-Blind CH1-11 (Draft 2)

AN: Hi all. This is the beginning of a new pro

2022-02-01 04:16:04 +0000 UTC View Post

129. Interlude ? (Sanctum Epilogue)

129. Interlude ?

The Black Beast watched from the Celestial darkness on the happenings below. He was neither the designer of the elaborate machine, nor an actor within it. He was simply its keeper. As the many centuries rolled on, one after another, he performed his duties stalwartly and without complaint. But even he was not without desire.

Which was why when Archeon had interfered, electing to bring the boy prince back into the cycle, the Black Beast had nearly sighed. He did ...

128. Interlude: Bellarex II

“Are you certain?” Ralakos asked.

“Erdos is the only loose end.” Cairn looked so haggard in the memory that Bellarex barely recognized him. He was slumped over in Ralakos’s sitting room, staring at the fire.

“Seems rather cold, even if you do see him as your enemy.” Ralakos stirred his tea, his gaze never leaving the bedraggled prince.

Cairn put his face in his hand and laughed. The sound was harsh, cruel. “You think I want this? Any of it? And you speak of...

127. Interlude: Bellarex I

Bellarex focused on her breathing. In and out. The crowd roared as she delivered the final blow. The strike cleaved through his armor, leaving the skin beneath intact. It was an undue mercy, and she knew that. But there was no sense harming an already beaten enemy.

Her opponent, a violet infernal with moderately powerful fire magic had been goading her for weeks before the bout. Her father’s position should have reasonably insulated her from the psychological assault—the Honor Gua...

126. Sanctum XLX (First Draft)

Thoth smiled. Her mouth was still bloody. “Foolish. You know I’ll tear through that sad little host behind you, so you’re offering yourself as a noble sacrifice. I thought you’d realize that wouldn’t work by now.”

“There’s no nobility in it. And posture all you want, but I know you won’t kill them. They’re not humans, and you eventually want them on your side.”

“I think…” Thoth considered one of her daggers, “There might be a misunderstanding of how...

Corrected mistake in 124/125

Just to clear something up real quick. 

Ralakos is the High Council member who helped Cairn out during the Enclave Arc.

Morthus is the retired infernal and member of the Metamorphosis Group who lives in the Sanctum. He left the Sanctum the first time to speak to Cairn, leave his recommendation with the council, and return to the Sanctum, telling Cairn to seek him out.

I am of course, refreshing your memory because my brain made a whoopsie and decided Ralakos was Morthus...

125. Sanctum XLIX (First Draft)

Before the words left my throat, there was a crash of thunder. The gray clouds gathering at the top of the dome had finally begun to rain. Thirsty earthen paths worn down from daily foot traffic around The Heart drank deeply, light-brown turning darker as dirt became mud. Unrelenting rain drenched my hair, obscuring my vision with muted gold, until I finally swiped at it with a frown.

It was impossible to say anything uplifting in the rain. The best you could hope for was inspiring, c...

124. Sanctum XLVIII (First Draft)

I hadn’t touched the rawer, more elemental side of magic since my injury in the crossroads. The infernals discounted such methods entirely, considering them to be base and uncivilized. And they were. Breathing in the raw chaotic energy of a forest fire, followed by the actions I’d taken at the crossroads was likely more than enough to cause extensive damage to my soul, as the many specialists who observed me had made note of. Misuse of inscription magic was looked down on for a similar r...

2022-01-17 01:13:37 +0000 UTC View Post

123. Sanctum XLVII (First Draft)

Bell stared at the tunnel wall and wiped a tear out of her eye. “This is the hardest thing anyone’s ever asked me to do.”

The responsibility I was trusting her with was enormous. Something many would consider to be cruel. But it was the only way.

“You don’t have to go through with it,” I put an arm around her shoulder and pulled her to me gently. “Just tell me now, if you can’t.”

“No,” Bell shook her head. “It was my idea. I can do it.” She turned...

122. Sanctum XLVII (First Draft)

“What is this place?” Jorra asked. Even though his voice was hushed, I fought the urge to tell him to be quiet. Something about this place felt wrong. We were walking side by side in something that looked to have once been a quaint mountain town. Housing cabins and log buildings had rotted long ago, some barely standing, the rest collapsed in pieces. Fog rolled past in slow, looming waves.

“As far as Elder Veldani and I can tell, this was likely an old staging ground for the San...

121. Sanctum XLVI (First Draft)

The spark levitated above the wood, dancing around Veldani’s face. A trickle of sweat dripped down the violet skin of her forehead. I saw Maya’s jaw drop.

“That’s… it?” I asked dubiously. Veldani looked displeased with my statement, but after all the build up, it felt like something of a let down.

“There’s more that can be done with it. Significantly more. But you’re ignoring the most important part.”

“What is it burning?” Maya asked. “It...

120. Sanctum XLV (First Draft)

If it wasn’t already obvious enough that Thoth was now prioritizing hunting me, the augury shielding rings began vibrating constantly not long after we left. There was a small victory in that, but I wanted to avoid thinking too long on the mechanics of the spell itself, or whose blood she was using. After a brief discussion, we decided that trying to use augury to trick her would be a bad idea. It was far less likely she would take any bait we could think of. More realistically, she would ...

2021-12-31 23:44:30 +0000 UTC View Post

119. Sanctum XLIV (First Draft)

“Dammit” Jorra whispered.

We’d spent the better part of an hour frantically searching the area. My chest hurt, my accumulated wounds going untreated as Maya helped us search. There was no trace of a return portal, visible or otherwise. Though he was the last person I wanted to talk to, I eventually summoned Vogrin for confirmation.

The way Vogrin went about the work was a stark contrast from his usual behavior. In the time that I’d known him, the demon was unflinchingly ...

118. Sanctum XLIII (First Draft)

Before

“So, you didn’t like it then.” Thaddeus leaned against the bar three seats down from me, seeming entirely unsurprised.

“No. They simpered.”

I didn’t often keep company with him. In all honesty, I disliked him before there was even reason to. He was too smarmy, too slick. That wasn’t uncommon, amongst nobles, especially those closest to the crown. What made Thaddeus stand out was how he was entirely without ego. He seldom bragged of his accompl...

117. Sanctum XLII (First Draft)

Seeing it up close confirmed my suspicion. It wasn’t the sort of thing the Infernals used, but I’d studied it. It was some sort of complex ritual magic, not unlike augury. And there was one rule of ritual magic. You never interrupted the casting, once it had started. And if you were, by some ill hand of fate, interrupted, the consequences were always catastrophic.

Thoth was stuck.

A poignant silence grew between us. I could feel Thoth’s anger, her rage crackling, the glowi...