Argentorum

Devil's Foundry 2: Chapter 45

Chapter 45: Rel Aid

The castle dropped away beneath them. For a moment, it felt as though the rope would split Relia in half and send her giblets raining down to the ground below, but her stats proved high enough, and a moment later the pain eased, leaving Relia to soar over the roofs and towers of Silverwall.

She gasped for breath. A hail of arrows followed them, and Rel frantically slashed one from the air, but the rest fell short.

She was treated to the s...

Devil's Foundry 2: Chapter 44

Chapter 44: Power Trip

My hand caught the first blade and I laughed. “Fools!” I shoved him back, inhaling deeply. “I am—” The world spun around me, my vision swimming.

But for some reason I felt like I could run a marathon.

He pulled back. I clenched my hand around the blade. No, I was monologuing, stop moving. I snorted, slamming my foot down on the parapet. “BE STILL.”

He froze, glowing sword still clasped in his hand.

“That’s...

Devil's Foundry 2: Chapter 43

Chapter 43: Don’t Knock it Till You Try It

“You’re sure?” I asked the mirror.

My skywhale gave a mournful hum. In the mirror’s surface, I saw the tower we currently stood within. The demon circled above, lower to the ground than usual, but still high enough to be well out of sight.

Besides which, the guards had their hands full at the moment. The streets of the inner city were packed with panicked throngs of people. It looked like Dum had done his ...

Devil's Foundry 2: Chapter 42

Chapter 42: Onwards and Upwards

I stilled at the news of Ishanti’s betrayal.

Across the room, Rel looked completely poleaxed, like someone had broken her legs off and she was just waiting for gravity to catch up and slam her into the ground.

I was, in a word, furious.

“Dee,” I said. “Muster the militia, and get everyone inside the walls, they kicked off the monster stampede.”

His eyes widened.

I continued. “You and Llen are in c...

Be Thou My Good: Chapter 14

Chapter 14: Grin and Bear It

Between Archer and Hunter, we were always going to stop and dress the kill.

I sighed as Indrani—that is: Archer—cheerily spit-roasted one of the bear’s haunches over a roaring fire. A musky smell filled the air, which both of the more nature-adjacent Named paid no mind to. Hunter sat on the opposite side of the fire pit as Archer, gamely scraping the hide with a borrowed knife.

On the one hand, he was no longer tied up, and...

Devil's Foundry 2: Chapter 41

Chapter 41: Riot Out of Luck

We busted out of the ground at a sprint.

The darkness of the tunnel gave way to complete chaos, shouting, screams, and more dust in the air than in the underground tunnel, surprisingly, but I digress.

“This way!” Electra shouted.

We darted from the smoke and dust into the open air, and a glimmering row of guardsmen materialized right in front of us.

“Out of the way!” I pushed my armor harder. Ducking ...

Devil's Foundry 2: Chapter 40

Chapter 40: Rise of the Wretched Mole People

“First, can we like, move away from…” Electra pointed at Arlo’s corpse. “Y’know.”

I rolled my eyes. “We need to see how far the tunnel goes anyway.”

Electra tossed her little ball of light. It didn’t go very far. “Um.”

“Well.” I sighed. “I guess that answers that question.” I turned to the other three people in the tunnel. When the light hovered back over, however, I ...

Be Thou My Good: Chapter 13

Chapter 13: Just Luck

“Well, to be fair, your boss basically threatened my life.” I purposely didn’t call Black her ‘father’, because I wanted some plausible deniability when I pulled that card out later.

Catherine folded her arms. “What, so just because Black clears you, you think you can go riding off into the sunset while I’m in the middle of a campaign?”

I smiled, pulling myself onto the horse I’d be riding off with in a few mi...

Devil's Foundry 2: Chapter 39

Chapter 39: Friends Like These

When in mortal peril, chaos is your ally and there is no time for doubt.

I had just enough time to identify Dum’s massive silhouette falling from the hole in the ceiling. “Get ‘em!” I roared. My demons charged, and the first still surprised fell beneath a wave of claws and teeth. “Looks like you’re stuck in here with me, Arlo!”

“Don’t just stand there, lackwits!” Arlo flicked his wrist.

I ducked as a t...

Be Thou My Good: Chapter 12

See previous chapters HERE 

Edited by: MJGH, GrimeTide, and Death_Of_The_Artist

Chapter 12: The Devil You Don’t

My first meeting with the Black Knight was as efficient as you’d expect from a man of his reputation.

Shorter than me by a head and a half, the man once known as Amadeus of the Green Stretch...

Devil's Foundry 2: Chapter 38

Chapter 38: Rel Look

Rel hauled herself from the tunnel with a gasp. Her fingers grasped weakly at the muddy floor of the building, stumbling away from the flooded hole beneath the wall. Her sodden clothes dripped icy cold water on the ground.

She shivered, walking back over to the tunnel just in time for a massive hand to stick out of water, waving frantically.

“Shit!” Rel grabbed Dum’s hand, pulling hard. He almost pulled her back into the water. The...

Devil's Foundry 2: Chapter 37

Chapter 37: Back and There Again

It’d been three days since I’d last spoken with Rel, and getting the Mirror Nest set up was the only thing that had gone well in that time.

“Were we followed?”

Electra glanced away from the window. Rain trickled through the narrow gap in the shutters, wetting her cheek. “Doesn’t look like it, but…”

I grimaced. “We don’t have any detection methods.”

“Yeah, tell me about it.” Electra turned...

Devil's Foundry 2: Chapter 36

Chapter 36: Reliant

Rel watched Dee leave with the mirror.

Her arms hung heavy and listless at her sides. She wanted desperately to reach out, but Lady Via wasn’t here to touch; she was only a reflection on a looking glass.

Dream Sequence moaned and whined in the back of Rel’s head, tying itself in knots. I-I-I don’t like this…

Rel said the first words that came to her mind. “Can we take the city instead?”

Ishanti and Dum tur...

Devil's Foundry 2: Chapter 35

Chapter 35: A Call Away

“First time doing a video conference since the pandemic.” I tapped the mirror once; the small screen wasn’t made for this.

Electra laughed, leaning over my shoulder to get a better view of the mirror. “Used to have a call every Tuesday.”

“God, don’t remind me.”

“My Lady?” Rel’s face peeked in from out of frame. “What is the ‘video conference’?” Her voice was partially blocked out by the sound of rai...

Like every other content creator, I'm sick

Title is the announcement.

Last week, I got sick quite suddenly. Originally thought it was the flu, but then I took a rapid covid test at the urging of a friend and it turns out I have the coronavirus! Yay me! 

Sarcasm aside, please don't worry too much about me, my symptoms are towards the mild side and I am vaccinated and boosted. I expect to make a full recovery, it's just for the time being I find writing, or focusing on doing much of anything, to be a very tiring endeavo...

Devil's Foundry 2: Chapter 34

Chapter 34: Deals in the Dark

Maria shoved the criminal against the smooth wood of the table.

She took no small pleasure in paying back the discomfort of weeks of chasing after shadows, wetting her blade with the blood of demons and criminals alike. It was always a triumph to bring the wicked to justice, but Maria would be lying if she said that this one wasn’t a personal victory as well.

“I’ve brought the petty gang leader.” She leaned forw...

Devil's Foundry 2: Chapter 33

Chapter 33: Rain Parade

I put the sheaf of stolen parchment bearing the design of my ‘call center’ into one of the few remaining coffins and closed the lid. “Thought I told you boys to get out of here days ago.”

Dee shrugged, pulling the large wooden box back into the wagon. “We had to finish sellin’ our stuff, Boss.”

“Sure you did.” I rolled my eyes. “That’s why there are exactly two coffins left?”

“Kept those actually,” he...

Devil's Foundry 2: Chapter 32

Chapter 32: The Best Laid Plans

“Go! Go! Go!”

I jumped from the rooftop, Electra half a step behind.

I crashed into the <Head Cracker> feet first, servos whining as my legs hit the ground. I rolled, coming to a stop in front of another member of the Tarnished. My hand came up, pressing against his grieved shin as he tried to get a sword out of his sheath.

“Demon-itize!” Black tendrils of magic raced into him. He screamed for half a beat. ...

Be Thou My Good: Chapter 11

Chapter 11: The Devil You Know

Cat’s scream cut through the clash of steel, rising over the shouts of the dying and already dead. “Where were you?!” she shouted again.

I coughed, half bent over as I tried to get my breath back. A mailed hand grabbed me under the shoulder and yanked me upright. The pain lanced through my arm, but it didn’t feel like a full break. A fracture, hopefully.

The battlefield came into focus in flashes. We stood on the walls ...

Devil's Foundry 2: Chapter 31

Chapter 31: Cross Purposes

The moment the sun set we slipped out from under the pilfered tarp.

“We have two objectives,” I said. The damp air swallowed my voice as it tried to slip between the surrounding tomb stones. “Disrupt our enemies’ operations, and set them against each other in the process.”

“Okay, uh.” Electra pushed herself upright a beat after me. “I know this is important and all, but I’m pretty curious where you came up with th...

Be Thou My Good: Chapter 10

This chapter was edited by: MJGH, GrimeTide, and Death_Of_The_Artist

Catch up on the story thus far Here! 

Chapter Ten: The People and The Players

“Who am I?” I asked.

Across from me, the young woman stood. She looked like a stereotypical bard, lute and wineskin peeking out from behind a tattered motley cloak. That wasn’t ...

November Announcement!

This isn't really an announcement. I'm just letting everyone know that I'm about to go wild this NaNoWriMo. 

My heart and soul are now devoted to Devil's Foundry. My purpose, finish book two by the end of the year. 

Buck up, buttercups.

Devil's Foundry 2: Chapter 30

Chapter 30: Relegate

“Unfortunately, events are falling out faster than anticipated.”

Despite the early hour, Mistress Via’s face was still shrouded in darkness. Only the light from her own communication mirror lit up the curve of her lips and the sharp lines of her cheek bones. Rel still didn’t quite grasp the concept of the mirrors, the wonder of captured light. It remained yet another miracle.

In the back of Rel’s head, her <Dream Seq...