sovereign_of_wrath

Sovereign of Wrath Ch206: Sovereign of Conceit pt.2

I jolted awake when the room’s door opened. Half buried under me, Seyari twitched then shoved me off her with surprising strength. It was enough that I tumbled over and caught her wing while my tail tripped her.

We landed in a haphazard pile on the cushions looking up at the person who’d entered.

Unfortunately for us, Utraxia herself had entered, ahead of any servants of preamble. She stood halfway through the door and was staring at us. 

Hastily, I scrambled into a...

Sovereign of Wrath Interlude: Spill It

A few very long days ago…

Joisse crunched her way through days-old snow on the road back to town, hands stuffed into her pockets despite how the woolen cap made her forehead itch. The coat she was wearing, something simple she’d borrowed from the castle, didn’t fit quite right.

The cap did though, and the gloves. Verrka’s mom had made them for her after Joisse had healed her husband. Minor damage; he’d not taken on any demonic aspects. The young demon slipped he...

Sovereign of Wrath Ch205: Sovereign of Conceit pt. 1

Did Sey and I waste time having more than a little fun?

…Probably.

I’m gonna regret this, aren’t I?

When we emerged from the… enlarged cave system, Quiraxa was waiting for us, dressed to the nines in a flowing suit. The way she’d been peering into the cave, tails up and neck tilted forward, I had a distinct impression she may have been listening.

I rubbed one hand on the back of my head, thankful for my wondrous magic armor. “So, uh, did you—”<...

Sovereign of Wrath Ch204: Breaking New Ground

“So let me get this straight,” Paula said slowly, gesturing forward with both gloved hands. “You want to start building something in the dead of winter when half the town’s burned down.” She kicked at the ground. “The fuck are we gonna get through this?”

“That’s what magic is for!” Sonia chirped back, marking off another line from her list. She tapped her chin with coal-stained fingers. “We’ll still need more nails, unless we get lucky in salvaging the wreckage.�...

Sovereign of Wrath Ch203: Penitent Soul

“And that was how I knew she was still my sister,” Kartania finished.

Gareth stared into the campfire for a long time before responding. “What does this all mean?”

Kartania tilted her head to look at his distant-eyed face. “What does what all mean? Were you even listening?”

The other paladin put his hands to the side of his head and shook it, rising up from a slouch to meet her eyes. “No, I didn’t mean… I was listening, Miss Miller. A-and I believe...

Chapter 202: An End, of Sorts

A/N: This chapter was another tough one, not to mention a heatwave with no AC and exhaustion after getting home until my body remembered not to be allergic to furry friends that were no longer there constantly. Chapters SHOULD resume normal weekly frequency soon. Chapter 201 PDF is on this post.

For a moment, I saw Abigail’s eyes reflected in Seyari. Mouth open to shout a warning as the blade came down. Envy’s dark eyes weren’t even on my wife; they were looki...

Sovereign of Wrath Ch201: Black & White

A/N: I really ought to make announcements on the Patreon! For those who don't know, I had an out-of-state wedding to attend into a long-awaited vacation. This chapter is a couple days late even with that, so my apologies! But I was struggling a bit with making it right. Anywho, pdf will be arriving the 30th or so when I have access to the right software again.

 She’ll be alright. She’ll win.

Mordwell was so close. Thirty-four yea...

Sovereign of Wrath Ch200: The World in Gray

We didn’t make it far before the ash cloud lowered visibility to nothing. Worse, it carried faint traces of mana, rendering aura sight worthless. Even the shining crimson light from my wings reflected back at me, almost blinding.

By the time I’d put my magic together to blow the ash away, a blast of wind sent me into a cartwheel.

“MORDWELL!”

I felt Seyari’s wrath through the swirling ash and followed her echoing shout. Like jolting awake from a nightmare I emerged ...

Sovereign of Wrath Ch199: Endless Jagged White pt. 2

Entering the Sovereign of Conceit’s demesne wasn’t like entering Lilly’s back in Navanaea. Instead of a progressive, soft feeling like a smothering blanket, the edge here was sharp enough to cut. A hard, invisible edge, a rapidly fading headache, and then… nothing. Looking back over my shoulder, there was not so much as a shimmer in the sky.

Before us, the last of the green had gone under a blanket of snow, kept smooth by lashing winds I had to use magic to block out.

Seya...

Sovereign of Wrath Interlude: A Day of Taava

Imagine how much more pretentious this tale’d seem if I added epigraphs!

-Taava, Bard of Great Renown and Grace

Renna and Sey were gone, Shyll was cowed into being a merely gigantic bitch, and Taava was picking up the slack. Sure, wandering the world playing in taverns and stabbing bandits (mostly, usually) in the neck had its appeal, but honest, hard work?

It sucked, hard.

Felt great after, but during. Yeah, no.

Unfortunately, Nelys wa...

Sovereign of Wrath Ch198: Endless Jagged White pt. 1

“You are more than you appear,” Quiraxa said, raising her voice just over the rushing wind.

I looked down at her in my arms; she was already looking away with her chin up. “How do you figure that?”

“Your wife appears to be a competent woman, and an angel. I did not know such a combination to be possible.”

Oh. “What about my armor?”

“It is fitting for Wrath, yes. But you look like a fresh spawn; you carry its weight like a burden.”

“...

Sovereign of Wrath Interlude: Crossed Paths

Kartania stopped in Norgath for the night. Armor stowed in saddlebags and wearing plain clothes, she’d be tougher to recognize even if she wasn’t ahead of any news. The inn she’d chosen was on the far edge of the city—and she’d ridden around to get to it.

Once before she’d been by the place on a mission, and now she’d stay the night.

Why the city? People in small towns talked to the Church and kept abreast of unusual goings-on; she’d interviewed plenty. In cities l...

Sovereign of Wrath Ch197: Not Ruthless Enough

When I got back to our shared room, Seyari had come down from her supposed-to-be-secret perch on the roof and was standing out on the balcony. Already, afternoon was turning to evening, though all the colors of the sky were hidden behind white clouds and whiter mountains. Closing the door softly, I walked over to my wife.

She spoke when I got close. “I think I might go into the city tonight.”

Caught off guard, it took me a second to respond. “…Why?”

She shrugged. �...

Sovereign of Wrath Ch196: The What If

A/N: Most of the way through this, I realized I'd said S&S on Friday and SoW on Saturday. So, a bit of a reversal (S&S tomorrow), but for those of you in time zones ahead of me (most of you), it's actually SoW on Saturday and S&S late.

The first place I checked was the sitting room where Quiraxa was staying. To my relief, she was laying calmly down across two sofas—angled so they were almost long enough for her height—drinkin...

Sovereign of Wrath Ch195: A Lead, A Risk

A/N: Sorry for the delay! I don't normally talk about life stuff that comes up, so I won't. But suffice to say, it combined with a busy two weeks of work to create a state where I just couldn't get my head into writing. But now I am very much back into things, so expect S&S soon, and regular chapters to resume on the days they ought to be on (S&S on Fridays and SoW on Saturdays).

When Quiraxa told me where the “squatters” were… I had no idea...

Sovereign of Wrath Ch194: Not Conceit(ed)

It took the better part of half an hour of standing next to her, glowering, before Shyll started cleaning the latrines. She’d absolutely left the moment I’d stopped observing, but I also didn’t care to punish myself by standing out there all evening.

So I’d returned to mine and Sey’s room to get work done. Predawn light was coloring the edges of the night sky when Seyari returned.

She landed gracefully, folded her red-feathered wings with a reverent glance back at them, ...

Sovereign of Wrath Ch193: Warmth

A/N: Made it!! Formatting fought me a little for some reason. Also, S&S out tomorrow night!

What about my title as Sovereign of Wrath?

The thought came to me soon after I left my room with Sonia. Would what I’m thinking, of restraint and care and self-reflection to avoid moving lines in the sand further and further away, actually make sense for the Sovereign of Wrath?

Would Zerix’Arranthariel behave with such ...

Sovereign of Wrath Ch192: Stay the Course

A/N: We're back! Well, we were back yesterday, but that's S&S and I know my readership rates. More chapter(s) by the weekend. Anywho, chapter below - not gonna keep you.

Seyari was out on patrol when someone knocked on my bedroom door. I put my quill down to answer it, wondering who it could be at this hour. Good thing I’m still wearing today’s clothes and not a nightgown. If it’s Taava again…

I pulled the door open just a crack...

Sovereign of Wrath Ch191: Tea with Wrath

“I thought I told them to make the doors taller.” I rubbed at my horns, then remembered I was supposed to be professional. Guests claiming to know me in Church iconography and all that.

So, I looked up and cleared my throat, stepping fully into the room. Three people were seated, all staring up at me—and I recognized one of them immediately. Inva, tall for a human, golden-haired and in shining armor I doubted was comfortable to lounge in, was seated in the center.

F...

Sovereign of Wrath Ch190: Short Doors

Training in the morning turned into administrative work by the afternoon, and close to evening, I found myself seated in Astrye’s single surviving, intact inn. Around me were townsfolk, and the circular table where I was seated had three others across from me. Ideally, Sey would be with me, but she was flying reconnaissance around the march. Nelys, Taava, and Joisse were busy with other tasks. In the sense that I thought myself an outsider still, I was facing the assembly alone.

Tonig...

Scales & Shadows Ch62: New Current

My dreams had changed.

The void was now comfort and familiarity, not ice-cold emptiness. Except for tonight. Tonight, in a vivid, lucid dream, I waded through a twisted, hazy landscape. Fires of unnatural color burned in spots, and the ash that swept the jagged, ruined valleys bore shards of blackened bone that bit at my scales.

There were no shadows, not here. No all-consuming presence drifting ever onward.

There were figures.

I crested a hill to witness a la...

Sovereign of Wrath Ch189: Suffer Not a Demon to Live

“Kartania, if you’re willing to work with me, I can get you cleared for promotion back to—”

Kartania punched the stone wall of the barracks, hard enough to split her knuckles open. “I said ‘no’, Walter.”

“You’re being unreasonable.”

“I." Bang! "Am." Bang! "Not." Bang! Each word was punctuated by another punch.

“You are. I trained you, remember?”

Kartania whipped her head up ...

Sovereign of Wrath Ch188: Near Miss

A/N: This chapter's a little on the short side, but there's another on the way tomorrow!

My stop in Linthel went relatively smoothly. Sure, I got a few looks landing outside the city, but I was making great time and the sun still wasn’t setting when I’d left. Arden, the branch head of the Gelles Company in city, had taken my message of an attack in Astrye seriously, but he’d put up some resistance to my request for mercenaries for the pass.

Particularly with regar...

Scales & Shadows Interlude 8: What's Left

Tyaniis was a firm believer in the cycle of reincarnation. Not just as a devout of Jaezotl, but on a deep, personal level. Hinssa had passed too soon, but her next life would be full—Tyaniis was certain of that. And Tyaniis hoped, fervently, that she would meet her beloved again in the next life.

Zaiia had betrayed not just Tyaniis, not just Ssyii and Lassani. More than even the Empire of Jii’Kalaga, she had betrayed Jaezotl.

Politics, bias, even a knife in the dark were all s...

Sovereign of Wrath Ch187: Shoot Second

I started up a spell that would end this fight, but I couldn’t focus with all the noise in my head. Demon Vivian fired another bolt as I dove for the floor.

Spinning, my tail batted it away and I landed with a crash, claws cutting through my boots and into the stone floor. Immediately, magic of all types assailed me, scorching, freezing, cutting. With a roar, I threw myself at the nearest envy demon, but I barely grazed them.

I whirled and tried to tear through the circle of dem...

Scales & Shadows Ch61: Sand and Sun

A/N: This one's a big'un. SoW's next chapter is mostly finished, despite hangups in a couple of areas and a rather hefty fight scene. More surprisingly, the next Scales & Shadows chapter after this one is also done. I'm planning SnS -> SoW -> SnS for the next couple days. Ideally, I'll also have another SoW chapter out around this weekend, but we'll see!

I floated through the void, formless. Gone were my arms, and gone was my tail. I fel...

Sovereign of Wrath Ch186: From the Air

“Have you ever killed someone?”

Arina’s question caught me off guard. “…You know I killed Vivian.”

“The mercenary? No, not like that.” Arina sighed, looking up from the freshly-signed aid agreement back to the portrait of her family on the wall. “I suppose what I mean is: have you ever killed someone when you weren’t fighting for your life, when you didn’t strictly need to.”

I thought back to all the people I’d killed—Dhias, what a chilling th...