Iron Lung writes

CC: Chapter 55

The light of Yuwa’s warrior threw itself across the dead earth beyond Tenak village.

XJ-V and Feng-Lung watched the spectacle unfolding before them with unbelieving, unblinking eyes. The warrior’s lithe arm – a beam of shimmering light ending in a similarly charged blade – swept towards them as though with a will of its own.

The Cultivators backed up now, assuming defensive stances and employing their dual Dragontail Swipes with as much effiency as their shellshocked souls...

FG: Chapter 57

-Fort Spearclaw, Clan Red-Eye territory- 

Commander Corvaughn of House Darragut groggily woke to the reality of tight chains binding his pudgy feet and hands.

Blinking through the dirt and soot clogging his eyes, he slowly began to perceive the cracked wooden walls that encased him. He was in a small room with barely enough space to swing a rat. Before him was a simple crag of stone that looked like it had been hewed to resemble a table. He was attached to a...

FG: Chapter 56

-North Warrens, Razor Ridge-

The jagged slopes of Razor Ridge shook with cries of conquest.

Within its narrow innards, the battle for the North Warrens was quickly reaching its climax. Inch by bloody inch, the Kobold army of Skegga was pushed back by the sheer mass of teeth and steel that the riders of Marrow and Red-Eye threw at them – their screams being lost as they choked on their own blood, or that of their comrades.

A wash of crimson stained the norm...

CC: Chapter 54

Sheloth’s blade came down with another stroke of lightning rippling across its energized surface.

Upon its pristine edge, XJ-V saw death approach, his every sensor begging him to give in and accept fate. The Eagle had come for him, as he knew it would.

He did not close his eyes. If he had, he would have missed the miracle that flew through the fog and charged air above them.

In the next moment, the blade of the Xu’Jan commander was repelled. He rolled away into the ashe...

Birthdaylung

Troopers, today's my birthday. I've announced this on all places I post and on the Discord, but in case you never saw, no new chapters today. I'm taking some shore leave.

We will regroup with new chapters tomorrow that you won't wanna miss. Till then, stay frosty, stay sexy.

Peace,

FG: Chapter 55

-North Warrens, Black Gulch-

For the races of Thea, magic is a curious phenomenon.

Some say magic is derived from the Gods. It is a Gift bequeathed to only a chosen few who show devotion to a specific deity. For such weavers of magic, their powers are a product of divine ordainment – a sign that their deity looks down with favor upon them.

Another, alternate theory asserts that such magic comes not from Gods, but from belief itself. Magic, some scholars s...

CC: Chapter 53

Sheloth moved with unnatural speed, his every strike and lunge kicking up the dust of the dead village around him. In the face of such an assault, XJ-V focused. He saw the trajectory the arc of light weaved by the pale shadow’s sword made before he swung it. He saw it as he now saw more than he ever could in the Dao – glimpses of futures and Grey Potentials that were once beyond his ken were now in the realm of possibility for him. He saw his hand, charged with power, reach out and...

CC: Chapter 52

Sheloth’s blade came slashing down with the next lightning bolt that struck at the earth - and his strike was no less quick or deadly than those celestial spears that pierced the ashen battlefield around them.

XJ-V moved swiftly to counter his blows, bringing up his hands in the circular motion of the Dragontail swipe and managing to block two vertical cuts that would have sheared his head clean from his shoulders. The final horizontal slash he managed to catch between his wavering f...

FG: Chapter 54

“Skeever…you crazy son of a bitch. Literally.”

Marcus looked down at the destruction being wrought on the battlefield of Razork’s field for the second time. This time, however, the devastation of Skegga’s forces would be decisive.

This is your Ardennes Offensive, old toad, Marcus had thought as he watched the army approach. You might think this looks like a show of power. But it’s nothing more than a desperate, last-ditch attempt to both subdue your enemies and galva...

FG: Chapter 53

From his vantage point at the front of his makeshift gun-emplacement before the entrance to the East Warren tunnels, Corvaughn of House Darragut watched his enemies burn with righteous indignation.

“Take a good look, lads,” he said, sniffing the intoxicating aroma of gunpowder – the greatest gift of Stone to man – “This is what a slaughter looks like.”

His Handgunners heaved a collective “HAR!” in response, their breachers reloading their arqeubus after the next vo...

CC: Chapter 51

The Xu’Jan charged XJ-V as a unit, swords swinging, screams echoing through the thunderous cacophony of the skies above. Rain pelted off the Cog’s calm limbs and hands as he stepped forward and brought his right leg up in a fiery kick that then led into another Flaming Dervish. He felt the boys’ faces crumble at his swift strikes, each blow delivering a stunning effect on their nerves and causing them collapse – their once confident faces kissed the wet mud of the village they had jus...

FG: Chapter 52

Skegga’s army was a wave of bloodlust. Each kobold coalesced into a single, writhing organic mass, issuing a battle cry that echoed through the entire North Warrnes.

“RUN, MY CHILDREN!” the slime-clad God sang above them, flashing his spear bearing the decapitated head of the ‘Shai-Alud.’ Surely the ratmen would simply grovel at his feet when they saw it.

Skegga looked above his thundering throng of Yips and saw Razork village disappear in clouds of black smoke – the e...

CC: Chapter 50

“A Cog…”

The word turned to ash in the pale warrior’s mouth as his Xu’Jan readied their blades, each of them chanting the words of power that their Lord of Light had bequeathed unto them.

“You see?” Ori’un said playfully. “Even the stones of this earth themselves reject your Lord, bone-head.”

The commander of the Xu’Jan stood calmly, head held high to watch the machine as it crept forward to face him.

Not a single sound stirred in the village. XJ...

FG: Chapter 51

“Are you prepared, Sire?”

Marcus stood atop Fort Spearclaw’s battlements, watching the last of the Spineripper squads move into their allotted places on the battlefield that was soon to be made of the village’s plains once again. The Glumrot spearmen and Pox-Throwers had already signaled that they were ready and willing, and Skeever’s own band of swordsmen were sequestered here in the fort. Marcus had insisted that the ratman let him be – that having him and Deekius h...

CC: Chapter 49

Buffeted by torrential rain and blinded by flashes of lightning, XJ-V ran.

He didn’t stop even as Fai-Deng roared at him with a tone just as furious as the thundering heavens above.

“Cog!” he yelled in the storm. “Do not do anything stupid! Only I have the right to kill you!”

XJ-V acknowledged his shout only with a curt nod before barreling through the gates, ignoring the flabbergasted guards standing always to attention.

Outside the monastery, the pillar of ...

Discord Server

Set up a server for my work - right now its limited to Patreon only. Discord has easier ways to communicate with you guys, and a way for you to ask me questions. Hope to see you there!

https://discord.gg/6MRRceEQ

FG: Chapter 50

-East Warrens, Clan Marrow territory-

Ix scrabbled to the top of the rock ledges that afforded him a view of his primary objective.

These Eastern tunnels were far less hospitable than those of the North Warrens. The jagged rocks cut into his feet and he and his men had required great strength of both will and sharpness of eyes to see which crevices in the dark ground opened out into nothing but black abyss that stretched into the depths of the earth. It had taken them about a day�...

CC: Chapter 48

'Choice'

Within the Dao, time is as inconsequential as air.

XJ-V and Feng-Lung spent the remainder of their day in quiet contemplation, Feng reflexively petting his new robot-kitten as they dived in and out of the Dao, both wandering beside the other, trying to grasp at visions that swam before their eyes.

Yet, though their journeys were tranquil, the visions were elusive.

There were forms in the dark that crossed a barrier to tear at the light ...

FG: Chapter 49

“It will be a two-pronged assault”, Marcus was saying to his new war-council, standing at the very top-end of King Shrykul’s table. “He’ll move through Razork, cut off our Glitterpak farms, and then head South until he hits Fleapit. Meanwhile, his secondary force will cut off a potential retreat in the East by taking Gulchnavel and holding fort Greenwatch. It’s possible they might move to re-take Knifegut if Skegga’s scouts report success on the Western front. Casualties don’t...

CC: Chapter 47

Ai-Lee’s Grove seemed changed from the last time Feng-Lung had seen it. The willows shuffled their drooping branches to allow him passage back to the start of his quest, where the waters of the Qi lake shimmered, speckled with stars from the illusion of the old skies of Qing’s Empire above.

As he emerged at the lake, XJ-V was waiting for him, seated upon a jagged rock jutting out from the sands.

He really looked like the image of an old Master from the tales of Qing’s time ...

FG: Chapter 48

The grand cathedral of the Unclean One stood tall and bright amidst the dark depths of Fleapit’s underbelly. It’s clangorous chimes, otherworldly glow, and stained glass windows depicting ratman heroes throughout time stood as a testament to the empire of filth and decay that now sought to stretch across the entire North Warrens.

Two bodies wrapped in ceremonial threads belonging to their respective clans lay upon the main altar to He-Who-Festers, a great statue of their horned, man...

CC: Chapter 46

'Feng-Lung's Quest, Part II'

“What, you think I’m his keeper or something?”

Feng-Lung’s exasperation was going to simply continue today, it seemed. He had gone to the Hall of Symmachus and been met, as expected, with opposition on all sides.

First, he’d had to shrug off the odd looks the other Disciples of the Tiger had given him. Then, he’d had to out up with the attitude of Fai-Deng.

“Look, Brother,” the Tiger was saying as he ...

FG: Chapter 47

In the dreary depths of Fleapit’s dungeons, a single Yokun waited for death.

The rusted pinnacles that dug into her wrists and legs cut her flesh with every move she made to free herself. She’d learned, moments upon being interred within the sandstone walls of this tomb packed with dirt, that attempting escape through conventional means would be useless to her here. These vermin were thorough in the indignities they visited upon the other races. She had known that since she ...

CC: Chapter 45

'Feng-Lung's Quest!' (Part I)

Feng-Lung burst through the doors of Dragonpyre Hearth and immediately began his search for his Cog Brother.

XJ-V, he thought. If you have neglected your proper training because I am in a bad place…I will not forgive you!

His first stop was his friend’s room, which he found strangely vacant. There were few indications of life besides the tiny pieces of scrap metal which littered the floor.

“By the Dao!” Fe...

CC: Chapter 44

'Strange Happenings'

The next few days went by with XJ-V looking more troubled than he usually did. His Kata spars were sluggish, and Fai-Deng repeatedly showed him no mercy in the Hall of Symmachus for every time his misstepped or sent an attack flying that went wide. Mah-Jung and some of the other Disciples of the Eternal Dragon had also noticed his world-weary attitude, but saw no reason to bother the metal man with their questions.

For rumors were abou...

FG: Chapter 46

In a cold chamber where only the dimmest light of a flickering flame burned for warmth, Verulex of Clan Glumrot lay sweating, his body doing what it could to rid its host of the toxins that had addled his veins.

“By…the Unclean,” he muttered in his sleep. “May that Yokun…drown…in her…poisssssson.”

He gripped his pillow and screamed into its soft surface, cursing the day he decided to volunteer for his expedition. He had begged his King to see the Shai-Alud for hims...

FG: Chapter 45

Marcus sat silently in his chambers, his fingers drumming into the stone armrests of his chair that faced the balcony window.

Outside, there were chants being spurned on in his name. There were ratmen down there who were ready to throw their lives away just to get a look at him and to know, for certain, that he was still alive.

“They’ve pinned their whole hopes on me,” he whispered.“And yet, I’d sell them all out just to see Mari again.”

He leaned back at...

CC: Chapter 43

'Potential'

The visions that swam in the Dao before XJ-V’s eyes were now more confusing than they ever had been.

Yet, there was a clarity that existed alongside them – a clarity that came from Ori’un’s statement that what we saw within the watery gyrations of the future were not reflections of what must be, but what could be.

Grey potentials…

XJ-V saw them all in a fleeting moment of lucidity. The white clouds of the Dao opened and hur...

FG: Chapter 44

“Festicus…”

Marcus stared down at the felled rat, watching as his great furrowed head lulled and fell to the side.

“Festicus!”

“He issss being gone, Ssssire,” Verulex said behind him.

Marcus bent low and tried to rouse the great brute that had saved his life, denying that he was about to let another rat man die for him like Gatskeek had.

“Wake up, Marrow soldier!” he yelped in the creature’s vacant eyes. “There’s cavalry charges still to b...

CC: Chapter 42

Feng barreled down the increasingly dim cavern beneath Marsul as the light twirling between his fingers started to die.

His focus was entirely on following the voice that reverberated off of every wall and stalactite.

“Feng-Lung!” the voice of his mother called. “Feng!”

“I’m – I’m coming!” he cried out in response, tripping in the ice and recovering almost instantly even as every bone and muscle in his body ached and heaved with constant exertion. “I’m ...