elizabeth_oswald

Chapter Two hundred sixty-six

The sky was almost painfully blue and bright when Kaz and the others emerged into the open. The platform had come to rest in a long, narrow room in the back of a building not unlike those the xiyi had built down below. Almost as one, the humans rushed for a door outlined by sunlight, only to stumble back when eyes that had seen only dimness for a month protested the sudden blaze of light.

“It’s the Scorched District,” Jinn said, staring out with one hand over her eye...

Chapter Two hundred sixty-five (Bella)

“I’m going to kill them,” Bella said. Over the last few hours, it had gone from a scream of fury to a simple statement of fact. Eve had laughed it off in the beginning, but even the giant barbarian wasn’t laughing now.

Harper looked around, her usually absent gaze focused for once. Rather than waiting with the other teams in the room below, they stood in the stands, trapped on one side by a pair of idiots who were as thick in the head as the waist, and on the other by a pack of ...

Chapter Two hundred sixty-four (Raff)

Raff carefully stacked another jar containing exactly one hundred of the pills the members of Squad E were concocting. He didn’t know what the things were supposed to do, but everyone inside the big warehouse was wearing a mask today, including the xiyi, so he doubted it was anything good. At least it probably wouldn’t turn them into ravening, multi-limbed monstrosities, so that was a positive.

He winced as the roaring started up again. Whatever was causing it, it had made ...

Chapter Two hundred sixty-three (Kyla)

The building where Raff should have been waiting was empty. The door was closed but unlocked, and Raff’s scent mingled with that of all the others, leading back into the cavern where the dragons rested. Kyla entered the building, looking for any sign that they had discovered Raff’s weapon or his lack of a duqiu. She found the hole Mei had chewed in the wall, hidden beneath and behind a small table that also had Raff’s scent on it.

The only smell of blood was mingled with ...

LR Chapter Ten - Game on

Captain Reedsley’s home was surprisingly nice, until Pandy remembered that he was Lord Captain Reedsley. She didn’t know what kind of lord, but whatever he was, it was good enough to have a beautiful two-story home sitting on at least a few acres of land.

There was a wall and gate - because who better than a soldier to know the world was dangerous and it was best to keep it out - and Pandy’s heart almost exploded in her chest when she actually recognized it....

Chapter Two hundred sixty-two

Battle raged around Kaz. Xiyi died, and Kaz cut rune-stones from the necks of humans one after another, barely adding to the gory trail they left behind. The gaunt males were first and easiest, the spheres sitting atop their spines, thin skin barely concealing the foreign object. In spite of his concern, it was a simple matter to close his ki around the starkly defined orbs, and the wounds hardly bled at all.

By the time he finished with these, they were through the warrio...

Chapter Two hundred sixty-one

The last building was slightly larger than the others. There were no guards left outside, and the only fighting Kaz could hear came from distant parts of the cavern. Had Chi Yincang, Yingtao, and Lianhua already killed all of the xiyi who were already here, and now they were fighting the ones who came to help? More importantly, what had the xiyi inside this building done in response to the attack?

When Kaz tried the door, it was still locked, or at least lock...

Chapter Two hundred sixty

As Reina tried to pull herself together enough to explain, Kaz looked around at the females, most of whom huddled behind beds and against the walls. A few had their fists balled up, and one even held a wooden knife that must have been carved from a piece of one of the beds, which were the only furniture.

“We’re getting you out,” he told them. “Get ready to run. We’re going to go gather the prisoners from the other two buildings, and then we’ll be back.”

None of the f...

Chapter Two hundred fifty-nine

While Snen and Li made their way back, Kaz used his own silence rune and told everyone else the bare outline of what had happened. He wasn’t sure why he didn’t tell them about Kus Ukark’s apology, but it seemed like something private. A part of the story that only the xiyi themselves should share. He did tell the humans about removing the duqiu, since it could be important that the stones could be taken out even at such a distance.

Snen had never seemed to b...

Chapter Two hundred fifty-eight

To say that everyone was surprised when they returned without Raff was an understatement. Once Kaz explained, however, everyone except Kyla and Jinn seemed to agree he’d made the right decision.

“If he has a weapon and his strength, I’m certain he’ll be well,” Lianhua said, though she didn’t look quite as certain as she tried to sound. “And we won’t leave without him. The timing simply isn’t right.”

By now, Jinn was practically twitching with frustration. “Wo...

LR Chapter Nine - One Chance

Eventually, Thaniel fell asleep, tears still staining his face. When Lian tried to move away, Thaniel partially woke, and began crying again. The same happened when anyone tried to take Pandy, which meant Lian and Captain Reedsley were forced to speak where Pandy could hear everything.

“What will happen now, Captain?” Lian asked, expression as calm as if he hadn’t just discovered he was an orphan. He was still a little pale, with red blotches high on his cheekbones, but otherwise ...

Chapter Two hundred fifty-seven

Li’s power fell around her and Kaz, making them vanish. Chi Yincang stepped up into the air, disappearing just as effectively. Mei leapt into Kyla’s arms, after which the two of them faded into the subtle shimmer of Kyla’s technique. Everyone else scattered, with Yingtao and Lianhua staying close enough to be involved if there was a fight, while the other females moved further away. This left Snen standing alone in the space just outside his hut, and for a moment the xiyi ...

Chapter Two hundred fifty-six

As soon as the rune-stone began to move, the xiyi closed its eyes, body tensed as it waited for something. Something that apparently didn’t come, because as the stone melted into bloody paste on the floor where Kaz dropped it, the bronze eyes opened again.

“What happened?” it asked, voice trembling.

Cautiously, Kaz released the reptilian being, stepping back to stand by his cousin. Kyla still held her shield, but she looked almost confused at the sudden turn of...

Chapter Two hundred fifty-five

Everyone spread out, looking through the building, and while Kaz was glad for the help, in a way he also missed being alone with his cousin, Li, and Mei. Though he was beginning to suspect that the warning Kyla’s father had given her about eating cores should, perhaps, be expanded and offered to the two four-legged members of their group as well.

As he thought this, Li gave a little snort and bit him lightly on the ear. She was clinging to his back much as she had Kyla’s, though he ...

Chapter Two hundred fifty-four

The fuergar lay half-in, half-out of a hole she’d chewed into the side of a crate. Her tail was limp, but she was still squeaking as they ran toward her. There was something very strange going on with her core. It flickered wildly between its usual white with red and gold sparks, and something like a very dark orange.

In Kaz’s experience, ki didn’t act like that unless it was drifting away, mingling and in the process of becoming mana. But Mei’s ki was still as den...

Chapter Two hundred fifty-three

While Kaz and the human females watched the people below work until they vanished into a tunnel, Chi Yincang, Kyla, Mei, and Li explored the tunnels. Kaz didn’t want to let Li go off without him, but she convinced him that this way the two groups could communicate, and she insisted she needed to be on the exploration team in case they discovered a way up to the dragons.

Not too surprisingly, Chi Yincang was unable to fit through any but the largest passages, but he was very helpful a...

LR Chapter Seven - SPIN! Redux

Loud footsteps echoed up the stairs, and Thaniel whirled, closing the door. The sound of it was too loud, and if their pursuers hadn’t known where they were before, now they did. But Thaniel was distraught and Pandy was still paralyzed, so the point was moot. They were about to be picked out like the last two M&Ms in an otherwise empty bowl.

And now she wanted M&Ms. Which she would probably never have again, because not only should rabbits not eat chocolate, but there were pro...

LR Chapter Eight - Lore check

Thaniel was snuggling Pandy so tightly that she was surprised she hadn’t lost any LF. Even if she had, she wouldn’t have cared, because she was fairly certain that the only reason she was still in one piece was because the little boy refused to let her go.

Every time Lian - whose full name, she now knew, was Killian - leaned away from his brother, he glared at Pandy. Those glares were filled with so much distrust and dislike that she all but dissolved beneath them. In ...

Chapter Two hundred fifty-two (Raff)

Even if the lizard-people were lying, and they planned to kill the humans they’d captured, it didn’t seem like they were going to do it that day. Raff continued carrying the heavy little jars, one after another, until the bell rang. Then he, along with all the other members of Squad A, trooped off to another cavern, where food was being served.

To Raff’s surprise, not only were the reptilians working together with their captives to make and serve the food, the experience was famil...

Chapter Two hundred fifty-one

Li was the best dragon. If she had ever doubted, now she knew. Because there was something wrong with the other dragons, and Li was going to fix it. If that didn’t make her the best dragon, she didn’t know what would.

Of course, first she had to figure out what was going on with all of the dragon-people, and the humans, and the strange little dog-kobolds, and Raff. Raff was hers. Not as much as Kaz, because that was impossible, but she had kept him alive, and, grudgingly, s...

Chapter Two hundred fifty

The looks of incomprehension following this outburst must have convinced the female that they had no idea what she was talking about, because she closed her mouth with a click, stepping back. Rubbing one hand over her face, she sighed.

“Get ahold of yourself, Adara,” she muttered. Looking up, she said, “Does anyone have a clue what’s going on? Because I’m supposed to be the premier information broker in the largest city in Holiander, and I’m completely lost. I feel like some...

Chapter Two hundred forty-nine

Kaz stared out over the enormous underground… Was it a city? There were buildings, but the people hurrying in and out looked harried and exhausted, not like they were looking forward to resting or spending time with their families. It was almost more akin to the hoyi nest Kaz had once found himself reluctantly infiltrating, where all of the large insects worked constantly, their lives perfectly organized but lacking in any kind of joy.

Nearly all of the figures below wer...

Chapter Two hundred forty-eight (Chi Yincang)

Chi Yincang had waited long enough. He’d listened to Li-xiao and Yingying fruitlessly attempt to interrogate the captive for a solid forty-nine minutes, and the kobolds had been gone for almost half an hour. It had been all Chi could do to maintain his composure when Kaz transformed back into his own shape. Kobolds really were adorable, perhaps especially because they, like his precious little sister, could be deadly if underestimated.

But Kaz had then performed the slowest and most a...

Chapter Two hundred forty-seven (Raff)

By the time Raff reached the stadium, he was exhausted, and his chest burned like someone ran him through with a hot knife. He’d had close calls before, but seeing pieces of his own bones on the ground really brought this one home. He was almost thirty years old. Maybe it was finally time to stop chasing after adventure and go back to his family.

The laugh sent sharp agony stabbing through him, but it felt good. The muscles he’d tensed against the ache in his side relaxed a little, ...

Chapter Two hundred forty-six

Kaz flicked a glance back at the humans, who were still trying to get more information from Doran. When he looked back at Kyla, however, she shook her head firmly. No, she didn’t want to tell them.

He was torn. On the one hand, he and Lianhua had been over this. Letting someone know what you were doing could be the only reason you survived the consequences of your actions. They needed to trust each other.

On the other hand, Kyla had already taken off without him once, and he had...

Massive LitRPG/Cultivation novel sale!

My book, Cuckoo's Lament is in this sale, and is currently FREE on Amazon. For those who haven't read it, the duology falls a few years after my first series, Legendary Farmer, and can be read by itself. Check it out! https://www.amazon.com/Cuckoos-Lament-Dream-Book-ebook/dp/B0C7XWP9NP

Fair warning: Apparently about 40 books are not, in fact, ...

Chapter Two hundred forty-five

Six faces turned toward him as the door opened, and Kaz was glad to see that they all looked better than they had when he saw them last. Adara must have provided them with some way to wash themselves, because the room smelled much better, and they all wore clean clothing.

Kyla was the first to react, jumping over the box she was sitting behind. She ran over and threw her arms around Kaz’s waist, making soft whimpering sounds more appropriate to a much younger pup. Kaz leaned down, tou...

Chapter Two hundred forty-four

In the end, Kaz left Li watching over Doran, who had fallen into a semi-conscious state. They had a feeling the human had already told them everything he knew about the dragons anyway, and Kaz desperately wished they’d been able to keep the other human, Joneh, alive. It sounded like he could have given them a lot more information.

Unfortunately, with Doran’s last statement still ringing in his ears, Kaz couldn’t convince himself it was worthwhile to continue interrogating him with...

Chapter Two hundred forty-three

Together, they managed to heave the dead body up onto the roof of one of the nearby buildings, where he would be hidden until he began to smell or scavengers came for him. Then they dressed the unconscious male in one of Raff’s clean shirts before wrapping him in Kaz’s cloak. They used the last of Kaz’s water to clean the blood from themselves and their captive, and bound the stranger’s wounds so they wouldn’t stain the shirt.

After that, Kaz and Raff each draped one of the ma...

Chapter Six - Gravity Works

Pandy and Thaniel crouched, hidden in the shadow of the tower, as strange men went through the manor. There was quite a ruckus when they discovered that Thaniel’s room was empty, and Cassie was taken inside, where they heard her calling for Thaniel. At first, it seemed the boy would go to her, but Pandy jumped into his lap, holding him down with the weight of her intention as much as her body. It seemed to work, because he stilled, and eventually the voice ceased.

To Pandy’s relief,...