elizabeth_oswald

Chapter Two hundred forty-two

As Kaz drew close, he felt the pull on his ki that told him Raff was attempting to cultivate, so he knew the other male was alive and conscious. Wondering if he had grown strong enough to prevent people from stealing his power, he stretched out a hand, and for a moment it seemed like it was going to work. Since Raff was reaching for mana, and Kaz’s ki was so dense, the other male simply wasn’t able to break it down enough to take it.

Then Kaz’s ki shifted, all moving toward Raff l...

Chapter Two hundred forty-one

After the battle, Eve once again invited Raff, Kaz, and Li to eat together with the females, but Raff quickly explained that they intended to do some more shopping before Raff’s battle. Eve actually seemed quite excited to go with them, causing Raff to simply tell her that they would be going alone. As they walked away, Kaz saw the injured look on the female’s face, and hoped that Raff hadn’t permanently damaged his chances at courting her.

“Quiet time?” Raff asked, and Kaz no...

Chapter Two hundred forty

“D’you see them?” Raff asked, looking around at the bustling crowd. They’d gotten to the stadium early today, so they could watch for the two males who had followed Kaz and Li, but so far it hadn’t helped. Humans just looked too much alike, and since the two hadn’t had a noticeable ki or mana pattern, there was nothing to look for. Kaz wasn’t even certain that they were male, and for the first time, he understood Raff’s frustration at not being able to tell male from ...

Chapter Two hundred thirty-nine (Mei)

She gnawed at the stone, and it crumbled away beneath her teeth. It was so soft compared to what she was used to, and there were so many different things mixed into it. Some of it tasted quite good, but most of it was bland or even unpleasant. Still, she went on, because if there was one thing she’d learned, it was that a burrow with only one opening was actually a trap.

Voices raised again from behind her, and she turned, her tail sweeping through the debris. Her whiskers quivered as...

Chapter Two hundred thirty-eight

<Why didn’t we stay?> Li asked grumpily as they watched more people run down the street, following the sounds of happy yelling. <I bet they’d give us food.>

Kaz glanced at her. They were no longer hiding, since they were far enough away that none of the humans who’d seen them heal Nadia’s mother were nearby. “Because otherwise we would have been there healing people until tomorrow.” At least, that’s what would have happened in a kobold tribe. Healers rarely had...

LR Chapter Five - Adventures in Babysitting

Pandy laid her head on her paws, ears raised as she stared at the door of Thaniel’s bedroom. Ever since she’d been ordered to protect the little boy, she’d found herself even more wide awake at night. Her body tensed at every rustle of curtains or creak of distant doors, and she couldn’t drift off into the sort of blank contemplation that had gotten her through the long nighttime hours before.

<Status,> she thought, for what had to be the thousandth time. And just like eve...

Chapter Two hundred thirty-seven

Eve chose to eat with Kaz, Raff, and Li, but Bella and Harper returned to their dens instead. The friendly female obviously wanted to discuss the match, so she and Raff went back and forth, talking about things that had happened while Kaz wasn’t looking. Kaz, on the other hand, spent his time talking to and feeding Li, who was still pretending to be a wyvern.

I’m sure real wyverns don’t need to be hand fed, he thought to her, sending an image of the one wyvern they’d me...

Chapter Two hundred thirty-six

They stood in the alcove for less than five minutes before the gate swung open. A voice boomed out, and Kaz recognized his own name, as well as ‘Big Bro Gravy’ and the others. Bella lifted her arms and ran through the door, bellowing a roar that would have made a dragon proud. Eve was close behind her, though her yell was more like a whoop of joy. Raff clapped Kaz on the shoulder, following after them, and then Harper sauntered through the opening, hand lifted to cover her eyes.

Dra...

Chapter Two hundred thirty-five

The ‘stadium’ was enormous. It was the single largest building Kaz had ever seen, though he suspected if he ever saw the castle up close, it would be just as big. Stretching high into the sky, it blocked the sun with its bulk, and the sound of many people came from within.

Kaz halted just outside the dense mass of humans flowing into the broad archways that led into the depths of the building, and to his credit, Raff noticed almost immediately, shoving his way backwards to reach Kaz...

Chapter Two hundred thirty-four

Everyone had forgotten about Kyla. That part of her situation didn’t bother her, but she didn’t particularly like feeling trapped. That made her fuergar, Mei’s, discovery all the more interesting, and led directly to Kyla’s current conundrum. Did she attract attention to herself in order to let one of the humans know they weren’t quite as captive as the human female, Adara, had claimed? Or did she follow her natural inclination and investigate on her own?

Looking arou...

Chapter Two hundred thirty-three

They got food and made it back to the barracks without too much more trouble. A few people were startled by Li, especially after the mysterious flaming bird that destroyed the mage college, but no one actually attempted to attack her. If anything, they seemed frightened, and hurried into buildings as she flew overhead.

The barracks were distinctly emptier than before, and the male standing guard at the door told Kaz and Raff that even more people had pulled out of the tournament after t...

iOS app fees

I just got a message from Patreon letting me know that new members will be charged an extra 30% starting in November if they join through the iOS app. The obvious answer to this is to subscribe to anyone you like through the Patreon website, and then use the app to view their content. I really don't want anyone to be tricked by this, so please know that I am not changing my prices. If you see an increased rate, it's the iOS store pulling shenanigans.

As always, thank yo...

Lucky Rabbit Chapter Four - Bunny Life

Being a pet rabbit wasn’t a bad way to live. Thaniel made sure Pandy got the best fruits and vegetables from the kitchen, which was run by a bosomy woman named Marta who thought rabbits belonged in stew, but doted on the small boy. Pandy got to hop around in the garden, though at first Thaniel would leap on her if she made any motion toward the surrounding bushes, and once or twice she was fairly certain he crushed her skull. Fortunately, that never seemed to be a lasting problem, and over ...

Chapter Two hundred thirty-two

The next time Adara turned the handle of the door, she didn’t send any mana into it, and it opened onto a small room containing the same steep, narrow staircase they had taken to reach the room below. Kaz wished he had time to experiment with the device. Was the room in which they stood like the platforms in the mosui city, carrying its passengers to a new location, or was it the room beyond that moved? Or perhaps the doorway itself was the only thing that changed?

<I...

Chapter Two hundred thirty-one

Lianhua was sitting next to Yingtao, clutching the other female’s hand in hers as she glared at the stranger, whose name was Adara. If Lianhua had been a kobold, Kaz would have expected her fur to be up and her lip lifted in a snarl. Fortunately, Adara seemed to find Lianhua’s attitude amusing, since Yingtao’s attempts to calm her had been entirely unsuccessful.

Apparently, this Adara had been injured and gone to the same healer where Yingtao was recovering. During the time both f...

Lianhua with her fan

This is a more anime-style of Lianhua, but I just couldn't resist showing her all dressed to impress 😁

Chapter Two hundred thirty

Kaz and Yingtao exited the alley, and Kaz was proud that he only glanced back at the shining bond that connected him to Li a few times. He had expected to be interested and excited to learn more about the people who lived outside the mountain, but the more time he spent with them, the more he missed his home. The outside world was beautiful, but he longed for cool darkness and quiet.

A bulky male bumped into Kaz, barely glancing down long enough to mutter a vague apology. Kaz had to res...

Chapter Two hundred twenty-nine

Ten pairs of eyes stared up into the sun, trying to pick out a scruffy orange and yellow rooster from the blazing light. One by one, they fell, instead examining the beautiful lake where an ancient serpent disguised as a small black snake had just disappeared.

At last, Raff shook his head, pulling a shirt and two short cloaks out of his storage pouch. The shirt was some indeterminate color between brown and gray, with yellowish stains on the front and beneath the arms. He handed it to h...

Chapter Two hundred twenty-eight (EDITED End Book Four)

This version of Heishe was no more than eighteen inches long, and her head was about the width of Kaz’s thumb. No hood flared behind her small skull, and when her tongue flickered out, Kaz could see curved rows of teeth, rather than the menacing fangs he’d seen before. If Kaz hadn’t been able to see the dense black ki packed into that small body, he would have said she was cute.

The little snake slithered across the ground toward them, leaving a damp trail in the grass. The humans...

LR Chapter Three - SPIN!

“-dy! Daddy!”

It was a child’s voice, and he was crying. Hiccuping sobs broke each call for his father, and Pandy wondered vaguely if he was all right. Then she realized he obviously wasn’t, and somehow that was enough to allow the distant sense of curiosity to fade away again, leaving her floating in a dim, emotionless void.

“What is it, Thaniel?” The much-deeper voice sounded almost as distracted as Pandy. “Where’s Lian?”

“He’s reading,” th...

Chapter Two hundred twenty-seven

Now that the bird was gone, at least as far as Kaz could tell, the terrible pressure of its power ceased pushing at their cores, which quickly settled back into their normal cycles. Out on what was left of the mage college, some kind of uneasy peace seemed to have been reached, and the black-robed figures were sitting in huddled groups, apparently waiting for someone to organize a rescue. No one tried the rope, which was filled with empty black cloth loops and no surviving humans.

Seein...

Chapter Two hundred twenty-six

By the time Kaz looked up from his exhausted dragon, Chi Yincang had already leaped to the highest point nearby. This was a decorative pillar that had so far resisted breaking, no doubt due to the sturdiness of the wall it was a part of. Chi Yincang pulled the rope taut, tied it off, then tied it to the next pillar as well, just in case the first gave way. This used another twenty or thirty feet of the dwindling length of the rope, but made it less likely they would lose the rope if it did co...

Chapter Two hundred twenty-five

Chi Yincang led them to an open doorway. Across the threshold lay a single limp hand, palm up, fingers gently curled and defenseless. The hand belonged to a robed human, and another of the odd mana-sticks lay on the ground beside him. His face held an expression of startlement, the glazed eyes wide.

Yingtao and Lianhua stepped over him. Kyla and Mei leaped. Li flew. Kaz enjoyed a benefit of his longer legs and went across. Jinn edged around the body, but Reina stopped, horrified and sta...

Chapter Two hundred twenty-four

Lianhua stood next to a human female with long brown hair and a serene pool of deep blue and faint black ki in her abdomen.  Lianhua, the other female, and Chi Yincang were surrounded by a shimmering dome of ki. Jinn and Reina stood outside that bubble, expressions tight.

As Kaz and Kyla entered, everyone looked in their direction. Something about the shape of the stranger’s jaw and the way her level brows lifted when she saw him was familiar, and when Chi Yincang shifted beside ...

Damn it, Covid.

I'm going to try to write. I am. And hey, I have lots of time now. Not conscious time, but...

Clearing will be FREE for 5 days!

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Chapter Two hundred twenty-three

The connection to Lianhua led up and away to their left, back behind the rune-covered wall. After a brief discussion, they all went out the door Kyla and Li had come through, since it seemed more likely that any stairs would be on the side the fallen mage had been trying to protect. For better or worse, the mage himself was beyond questioning.

Kaz carried Li, who seemed to be sleeping. Her skin was pale and beginning to split around her joints, but he knew what that meant by now. His li...

LR Chapter Two - Gacha

To Pandy’s surprise, death wasn’t dark. In fact, when she first opened her eyes, she thought she must have had some extraordinarily vivid nightmare while sleeping in a park. The first clue she had that this wasn’t true was the fact that she never slept outside. For someone with her luck, that was just asking for trouble. The second clue was the god.

He looked like her idea of a Greek god, complete with draping white toga, muscles a steroid addict would envy, and a cleft chin. Why ...

Chapter Two hundred twenty-two

Everything shook when Li swallowed the crystal that had been resting at the heart of a wall full of complex runes. Not literally, but in Kaz’s vision, everything blurred, then seemed to jump sideways while simultaneously remaining in exactly the same place. The mana that surrounded them, dense enough that he could see it even though no one was cultivating, began to disperse. As it did, the terrible feeling of being surrounded by something sick and unhealthy faded with it.

Kaz watched ...

Chapter Two hundred twenty-one (Li)

There were too many turns, and too many smells, but eventually Li managed to lead the little group back the way she’d come. She’d caught the faintest whiff of kobold in the room with the great fire, and even though it wasn’t enough to identify Kyla specifically, how many kobolds could there be in the tunnels beneath the human city?

Getting through the inferno had been… painful. Not difficult, exactly, other than when she realized that the wall of fire was deeper than she’d rea...