When my magic was let loose, a lot happened in an instant. Bone-chilling cold surged through me, and I felt myself falling forward, void replacing the table in front of me in my mind’s eye. Someone shouted, but they sounded far off, like I was deep under water.
The last moments of sight I had before my magic was cut off were filled entirely with a familiar, golden light. Then the opening in the room’s sigil array snapped shut, slicing my shadows painfully.
In the void...
2023-06-09 01:15:04 +0000 UTC
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“Yes, Father,” Aretan said through gritted teeth.
He turned on a heel and strode out of the room, barely restraining himself from slamming the door on his way out. His glower softened when his eyes met the startled maid outside. The woman was surprisingly tall—almost as tall as Aretan was, and her features were a mixture of Navanaean and Turquoiser, with medium-dark skin and very slightly pointed ears.
Is she new? Aretan didn’t recognize her, but it had a...
2023-06-07 01:55:49 +0000 UTC
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“Stop poking around in dangerous places!” Pah! Stop making dangerous places so worthwhile to go poking around in!
-Uru Farlight, Archaeologist, Anthropologist, and Delver of Lost Histories
I was wrong to say our sire would be the only one to suffer the next few days. Phaeliisthia’s relatively harmless pranks weren’t the reason—even if Tyaniis had looked absolutely miserable stuffed into a set of gaudy clothing courtes...
2023-06-05 03:52:44 +0000 UTC
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After a stop at a secondhand clothing store that saw me walk out with a pile of men’s clothing that was still too short, we dropped everything at the Knight’s Rest to pack later. With the pass in its current condition and a very high threat of attack from demons, we opted to carry what we could, leaving the rest in storage with the Gelles Company.
This included my dress that Elena had made me back in Port Princely near the start of my long journey home, the one that Lilly h...
2023-06-03 01:48:01 +0000 UTC
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“What happens when a god is no longer worshiped? Do they cease to be, or do they continue on in darkness?”
-Uru Farlight, Archaeologist, Anthropologist, and Delver of Lost Histories
Phaeliisthia called for a break, and Kyrae and I handed her our weapons before joining Ssiina in mobbing around our sire. Even with how little time I’d spent in her presence since before I could remember, she was familiar. Ssiina had regaled u...
2023-06-02 00:29:02 +0000 UTC
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Hi everyone! I've taken a minute to spruce up the place (many of you noticed the new and improved banner).
- If you're a Sovereign Demon, then the posts you have access to are the same: all of them!
- If you are a Patron Demon, then you now have access to all the advanced chapters of Sovereign of Wrath! All at once! However, as I mentioned, the early Scales & Shadows chapters have moved to the new Emerald Demon tier (and Sovereign Demon tier).
- If you are a ...
2023-06-01 18:10:38 +0000 UTC
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“How is your wrath?” I asked Joisse once the others had retired for the night.
“A lot better,” she smiled softly. “Thanks for taking a chance on me, but…”
“But?” I raised an eyebrow.
“But… one of these days, it’s not going to work out. Someone’s going to take your trust and give you a magicked blade between the ribs in return. And they might succeed where Vivian failed.”
I wished I had a fire to stare into as I avoided Joisse’s wide, red e...
2023-05-31 01:57:00 +0000 UTC
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Tyaniis gripped the ship’s railing hard enough to dent the wood, her knuckles pale. She barely paid any attention to the gorgeously dense mangroves and their hordes of colorful birds as they slid past. Excitement over seeing her daughters warred with worry. Had she abandoned them with Phaeliisthia and shirked her duties as sire?
That such an act was no different to how distant she’d been with Ssiina turned the hssen’s stomach. Worse, she feared she’d placed Ssiina in yet another...
2023-05-29 03:53:56 +0000 UTC
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“Howling horrors” was an unfortunately apt name for the demonic monstrosities that emerged from the tree line. A hodgepodge of wolf, bear, mountain cat, various prey species, and very disturbingly humanoid features, the sight of them made my stomach turn. There must have been a dozen loping out from the tree line, and the undergrowth all around the clearing shivered and shook with who knew how many more.
“They’re just lesser demons!” Sey shouted with less con...
2023-05-27 01:48:03 +0000 UTC
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“People often ask me why I spend so much time away from the ocean. If you could explore either a vast wasteland largely devoid of sapient life, or a rich world of storied cultures and forgotten histories, which would you choose?”
—Uru Farlight, Archaeologist, Anthropologist, and Delver of Lost Histories
I picked a moonflower to stare at while I thought about what Phaeliisthia said. The book is in a human language! Wha...
2023-05-26 02:37:05 +0000 UTC
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I was informed that the training schedule had been adjusted without my input. No one visited the Gelles Company’s courtyard grounds the night prior, as concerns were levied, by those who shall remain anonymous, that such a semi-public space could give much away.
Unfortunately, Seyari and Kartania had a point. And with two of them, they knew they were harder to outvote. Really, I was over the moon with how well my fiancée was getting along with my sister. Although I ...
2023-05-24 00:42:13 +0000 UTC
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I beheld Phaeliisthia’s true form, and despite my overwhelming fear, I felt a calm settle over me.
Magnificent. Pedantic or not, no lesser word would serve to capture Phaeliisthia’s sheer presence. Not to mention her size.
I could see in an instant why she chose an elf-like form. Her massive, sharp-toothed, and lizard-like head alone was the same length as her manor’s dining table—and longer than me. Her wingspans, for she had four massive, feathered wings, could ...
2023-05-22 01:52:01 +0000 UTC
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A/N: Woah new post title format! Going forward, as S&S is released and people may join for it specifically, I need to have a more unified format. Anyway, this chapter was fun and a long time coming (a bit of a theme for Linthel) so enjoy!
My jaw hung open, and I felt like if I didn’t hold my tongue in, I’d taste the floor. “You… what?”
The room went silent enough to hear an empty quill fall from a desk. No one spoke, but...
2023-05-20 01:48:36 +0000 UTC
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This morning, the sun was fading in and out behind pale clouds, and the breeze carried a hint more water than salt. Already, I was beginning to miss the warmest months, even if Kyrae seemed ecstatic for the “cooler” season. She may be my sister, but there are some things I’ll never understand about elves. Like legs.
“I’m pleased none of you saw fit to attempt to skip your lessons today,” Zinniz said with a smile, motioning for us to join him coiling in the manor’s...
2023-05-19 00:29:40 +0000 UTC
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Even with everyone inside all at once, our room at the Knight’s Rest wouldn’t be a tight fit. Despite that, I admittedly preferred the cozy atmosphere of the small room Sey and I shared briefly in the mountain town where we had Myrna’s cart repaired.
I glanced around at the opulent furnishings and four-poster bed as I entered with Kartania and Joisse. This room certainly wasn’t bad, though. Once Seyari returned with Nelys and Taava, we’d be talking about our next plans. Withou...
2023-05-17 01:55:57 +0000 UTC
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A/N: This one's a pretty short interlude, but I hope there's some fun setting stuff in here, and a few sneaky hints as well!
Descending through thin, wispy clouds, Phaeliisthia fought against the winds of the Northern Current as the land and shining sea below came into view. Somewhere far to her left, north up the long, undulating coastline, rose the hills of the Cape of Uzin. Ess’Sylantziis lay to the east of the cape, near the edge of t...
2023-05-15 00:10:45 +0000 UTC
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Hiya folks! For the Secret Trans Writing lair's MerMay event, FlitterPuff and I have written a cute short story. If you're interested in the whole bundle of 8 stories, you can check it out here: https://itch.io/b/1837/secret-trans-writing-lair-presents-mermay
However, since you folks are super special awesome Patrons of mine, you get the full thing right here right now! There's a pdf...
2023-05-14 01:19:40 +0000 UTC
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“Hello, Miss Miller,” King Carvalon said in a slow, deliberate voice. With a wave of his hand, he dispersed the knights to leave through side doors.
In moments, we were alone in the massive throne room. I bowed, hastily. I have no idea what the procedure for this is! I should’ve asked when I had the chance!
“Rise, Miss Miller, and come closer, if you would.”
I rose and met King Carvalon’s blue eyes. His face was lean and symmetrical, with a well-defined ...
2023-05-13 03:01:00 +0000 UTC
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“Pitahaya,” Kyrae answered easily. She skipped a flat rock out into the pond in front of us, then sat back down between me and our hssen-raised sister. “Alright, Ssiina, what’s your favorite fruit?”
“Hmm… papaya, probably? I’ve had some wonderful confections made with fruits from further south, but I don’t know how much of what I liked was the fruit itself.” Ssiina leaned back and turned her head toward me, her tail tip flicking in the water. “I still don’t get h...
2023-05-12 00:43:44 +0000 UTC
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I watched as Kartania drifted off to sleep in my arms, mumbling something about an academy. My hand was a fraction of a centimeter away from her hair before I stopped myself from running my fingers through it.
I don’t want to wake her. I… also don’t know if she’d be okay with me doing this. She’s an adult now—older than I was when I died, actually.
For what must have been a few minutes, I simply sat against the wall and kept her warm. Soon, however, I realized...
2023-05-10 02:05:10 +0000 UTC
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“Breathe, Issa,” Phaeliisthia’s voice floated out of the darkness near me. Her hand, colder than I’d hoped, tethered me. “This place is no special shrine, no altar. Darkness and deep cold dwell here, as do many marvelous beauties.
I let my held breath hiss out between closed teeth and extended fangs, and realized my eyes had been shut. When I opened them, I saw the cave in shades of gray, a lone passage twisting off into the darkness ahead. Phaeliisthia’s eyes floated near m...
2023-05-08 03:26:20 +0000 UTC
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Past the threshold and into the weeping dark stone of the old fort, I crept along. Doubtless, I should have had no fear, but childhood memories hold strong sway—even ones made into young adulthood. This time, there was no Abigail to crack jokes and break the tension by jumping me around corners. Seyari was waiting somewhere outside, just beyond the gatehouse.
And so, the tension mounted, boiling and sizzling away in the corners of my mind and vision. Outside carried the bright, glinti...
2023-05-06 01:50:48 +0000 UTC
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We stayed in the secret glade until the sun started to dip across the sky, falling to one side of the waterfall. Orange started to tinge the light falling across the mangroves below, giving a surreal floating feeling to the waterfall and the cliff edge of the island.
Unfortunately, as we slid from the glade back up into the dense garden, we quickly came to an unfortunate conclusion:
“I think we’re lost,” Kyrae said.
I looked up at the shade-shifting light of late after...
2023-05-05 04:58:22 +0000 UTC
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For a short, wonderful, moment, I was an apprentice smith again. I could imagine a younger version of myself, still a demon, working the forge and finishing off tent stakes like the kind I was buying here today.
I’d never made a blade, let alone a sword. The few guided-hands lessons Bourick had given me years ago were hardly something worth considering. The things I made were simple: tent stakes and the like. Forgiving things. A rushed cooling process wouldn’t embrittle a tent stake...
2023-05-03 03:04:21 +0000 UTC
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Hi all!
As we approach the public release of Scales & Shadows, I want to take a minute to talk about tier reorganization. Let’s be honest, my Patreon is on the more expensive side, especially if you’ve no interest in Scales & Shadows. I want to remedy that, and provide better value for patrons new and old. These changes are coming at the start of June.
· The $10 Sovereign Demon tier will remain unchanged: it will continue to be the everything tier, ge...
2023-05-01 15:57:22 +0000 UTC
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I assumed six hours of sleep per night to be a lot. In a life where several days could be spent doing little to nothing, it would have been.
I quickly found that it wasn’t enough. Phaeliisthia’s teaching schedule was nonstop, even for this first week. Glyphs in the morning, history in the evening, and etiquette at every mealtime—we never truly stopped. For Ssiina and Kyrae, they also had sigil training while I had to practice even more glyphs. Not only did we have to fit ...
2023-05-01 02:15:07 +0000 UTC
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After asking around about Bourick and his smithy, I found myself walking down an uncanny street with my friends. Nelys had taken the lead, while I watched the buildings as we passed. This part of Linthel was dense—shops and homes built right up next to each other in places. Some buildings were familiar and some weren’t. The effect was similar to missing teeth, and unnerving to my once-solid memories.
Eventually, as the buildings started to thin, I saw a familiar rise of smoke over a...
2023-04-29 02:54:37 +0000 UTC
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Kyrae and I followed Phaeliisthia out to the courtyard, where the smell of flowers was strong in the air. Bird calls shattered the silence of the estate’s interior, and the soft notes of hushed conversation drifted over from a flat area of large black paving stones just beyond a massive white stone sundial wider across than I was tall.
The gnomon of the sundial was edged in gleaming gold, and that same sunlight warmed the paving stones and bled the vibrant greens and reds of the trees...
2023-04-28 02:03:07 +0000 UTC
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“Look, I know I haven’t met your sister, but ya gotta know she’s not gonna be freezin’ her tail off out here every night waitin’. Especially since you’re months early,” Taava complained through chattering teeth.
I exhaled through my nose and glanced up at the snow-laden branches framing the narrow trail we walked. “I know. But she’ll have left something. Some sign or clue or instruction.”
“And you’re just gonna follow it?”
“She...
2023-04-26 02:17:51 +0000 UTC
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I jerked awake to something yanking my arm.
“Issa!” Kyrae shouted. “We’re going to be late.”
“Go ‘way,” I loosened a little and slipped my upper body between my coils where Kyrae couldn’t get to it.
“Issa! I’m not playing around; we will be late!” Kyrae banged on my scales and I pulled tighter.
“Late for what?” I mumbled, my lower body muffling my drowsy voice.
“Our first meeting with Tutor Phaeliisthia. I want to rest too, ...
2023-04-24 03:44:00 +0000 UTC
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