davidmusk

Web of Dreams - Closing Notes

Well, this officially wraps up Book 2 in this series!

At just 95k words, this is the shortest novel I’ve ever written. (Book 1: Web of Secrets was 120k words, and all three Aeonica books were well over 100k words.)

Web of Dreams always had a lot going against it though, so I didn’t want it to overstay its welcome. First of all is the setting. As a fellow reader, I know how annoying it is when characters go on a “side adventure” that’s not their real destination. Not to m...

Web of Dreams - Epilogue: Revenge

Valeria Antano strolled down the dock and stepped into the aluminum fishing boat. It rocked beneath her weight, but soon leveled out as she lowered herself onto the cushioned vinyl seat.

Valeria was no stranger to nighttime meetings like this. Of course, she was a Master now, and she spent more time behind a desk than out in the field. Still, there were some tasks she couldn’t trust to anyone. Not even her most loyal Fangs.

No one could know about this meeting, especially not he...

Web of Dreams - Chapter 40: Safe and Sound

Akari wandered the airship’s fancy white hallways, too anxious to sleep another minute.

“Don’t worry,” Elend had said as they boarded. “We’re all safe now.”

“Heard that before,” she muttered. “There’s still time for another shipwreck.”

“Vaslana and Espiria are best friends,” he said with an easy shrug. “Even if we crash here, the worst is still behind us.”

Adrenaline had kept her going all night, but she’d fallen asleep the second her ...

Web of Dreams - Chapter 39: Change

Elend stepped out of the captain's chamber and followed his wife down the airship's pristine white corridor.

He'd sworn to leave Creta as soon as possible, and his oath had compelled him to pass that onto Irina when she landed. Fortunately, they'd needed time to refuel the ship's gravity mana, and that was out of Elend's control. So he’d spent his last hour cleaning up the mess and getting the casualty reports.

Kyzar and Valdez had both survived the bottle, but Elend had spotted...

Web of Dreams - Chapter 38: True Power

The battlefield snapped into stillness, like a television being unplugged. Until now, the shouts and explosions had been a constant rhythm in the background. Akari had even gotten used to the shaking floor and rattling windows. Now the silence was almost deafening.

What the hell happened? She tried to speak, but her lips wouldn’t budge. Even her brain slowed down as if she had to wade through molasses to form each thought. Her friends were frozen too, and so were the surround...

Web of Dreams - Chapter 37: Down Without a Fight

Akari opened her eyes and found Relia and Kalden hovering over her. She glanced from side to side, expecting to see the rubble from the broken hotel. But this building looked untouched from the battle. Sunlight streamed in through the windows, and a jungle of potted plants lined the balcony outside. She seemed to be laying on a stiff leather sofa, while her friends sat on the wooden coffee table nearby.

How long? She tried to talk, but her throat was too dry.

“Here.” ...

Web of Dreams - Chapter 36: Soul Oaths

“Alright,” Lena announced to everyone in the throne room. “I’m ready.”

Elend drew in a deep breath, and the Dragonlord strode over to the wooden table. They’d waited all night as she finished bonding the last crystal. Now, the first rays of sunlight shone over Tureko’s skyline, shrouded by clouds of rising smoke.

Curious that Antano would push the Ethersmith so hard in this final stretch—almost as if he were in a hurry. Perhaps this battle between the Grevandi and ...

Web of Dreams - Chapter 35: A Real Mana Artist

Akari sprang forward, starting the fight with a sweeping blow.

“Always make the first move,” Kalden had said in her first combat lesson. “Unless you’re confident your opponent will mess up. Then you might as well let him.”

Confidence was a distant dream in this fight. Zakiel was an Artisan—twice her size, with several years more experience. He had every advantage, and her bag of tricks was empty. Grenades or guns wouldn’t scratch his skin, and there...

Web of Dreams - Chapter 34: Worse Than Dying

Akari huddled in her hiding place as the battle waged below. Kalden, Relia, and the others battled a dragon named Zakiel. She’d tried getting down there, but more Grevandi patrolled this floor—all Apprentices. They’d picked off the Unmarked one by one until she was the last one standing.

Her mana watch also showed 0/73. Otherwise, she could just copy Kalden’s trick and get to the floor below.

Then what? Join the fight? Even with full mana, she couldn’t ...

Web of Dreams - Chapter 33: Just a Game

Relia shot a glance at the nearest hallway. If she ran now, she could probably make it without getting burned. Unfortunately, Kalden stood on Kyzar’s opposite side, farther from the door.

“You shouldn’t be here,” Kyzar said to the other Artisan. “This is between the Unmarked and the Grevandi.”

Zakiel nodded once as he sauntered inside the lobby. Well, it was more of a courtyard now, since the night sky was visible above their heads. “I don’t care for your war, cous...

Web of Dreams - Chapter 32: Forged in War

Kalden shot pure mana behind him as he fell, and the blast propelled him toward another piece of exposed floor. Pain shot through his legs when he hit the ground, and his momentum carried him straight through another wall. He fell face-first on the carpeted floor, and wood and concrete crashed down from the ceiling above. He gritted his teeth as they slammed into his back, hard enough to shatter his bones.

“Kalden?” Akari called down. Her voice sounded more distant than he’d expec...

Web of Dreams - Chapter 31: A Perfect Blade

Kalden and Akari left their room when the earthquakes started. They took their time for the first few minutes. He gathered their remaining potions in his pack while she rose from the bed on shaky feet, fumbling with her glasses and helmet.

Then the lights went dark, and the earthquakes grew more violent. The television toppled over from the dresser, landing glass-side down on the carpet. The lamps came next, and the window broke into a web of cracks. He’d half expected backup power to...

Web of Dream - Chapter 30: House of Cards

“Run!” Relia shouted to anyone who would listen. No sooner had the words left her mouth than she flooded her legs with mana and leapt for the hotel’s front door. She might be the strongest Apprentice here, but one technique from that Artisan would split her like a fish.

The others ignored her warning, and the fire ripped through their shields and armor. One man erupted in flames while others slammed into the building like flung dolls.

One soldier almost hit Relia as he spun ...

Aeonica: The Lost Redeemer is Now Published!

Hey everyone,

I thought I wouldn't be able to publish the first Aeonica book until May this year, but my proofreader got back to me a few days early (shout out to Fabled Planet!) I compiled the final ebook Monday night, and Amazon accepted it yesterday!

Aeonica: The Lost Redeemer Ebook

I also scheduled the ebook for a free promotion, so you should definitely take advantage of that if you can. I've ...

Web of Dreams - Chapter 29: The Front Lines

“Akari!” Someone shook her by the shoulder, and she snapped her eyes open. Sweat covered her body, and her chest rose and fell with rapid breaths. Her Mana Arts were gone. Her memories were gone. And—

But no, she felt the power in her channels, flowing as fast as her beating heart. She felt the memories too, from Last Haven to Arkala to Creta.

Akari lifted her wrist and glanced at her mana watch.

73/73. Silver. Exactly where she’d been before.

Still, s...

Web of Dreams - Chapter 28: A Moonless Night

The blasts grew louder outside, and Akari followed her friends down the hallway. Relia planned to wait for the Fangs downstairs, while Akari and Kalden struck from the balconies above, putting pressure on the enemy shields as they advanced through the streets.

The lights flickered as they walked, leaving eerie shadows on the plaster walls. Talek. They were lucky Irina Darklight had found them before they lost power.

How had Elend not mentioned his wife was a hacker? And h...

Web of Dreams - Chapter 27: Preparations

Akari’s fingers flew across the keyboard as she traveled the dark web. Kyzar had lent them a laptop just like he’d promised, along with a hotel room to prepare for the upcoming battle.

And of course, that hotel sat right in the enemy’s path.

Explosions echoed from outside as the Grevandi drew closer, gaining ground on the bridge between the two territories. The Unmarked stalled their progress with barriers, but that wouldn’t last for long. They only had to hold out long en...

Web of Dreams - Chapter 26: Action

Their escorts led them through an old department store in the Western Docks District. Kalden walked in silence with the others, still stunned by the memories that flooded his mind.

They didn’t all come at once—that would be like trying to see every star in the sky. Instead, they hit him in waves, all triggered by his surroundings. A row of palm trees grew on the curb, and he remembered vacationing with his family in Vaslana. The store itself reminded him of a hundred others he’d v...

Web of Dreams - Chapter 25: Death Artist

Mana flowed like a river from Relia’s upraised hand, and she strained against the rising flames.

Can’t … hold … on.

Her technique failed a second later, and her head struck the asphalt road as she fell. That potion had let her focus through her pain, but now it returned in full force. Her vision grew dark around the edges as she stared up at the sky, watching it fill with clouds of black smoke. Even the enemy’s Missiles echoed faintly in her ears.

Kalden�...

Web of Dreams - Chapter 24: Intermediate Alchemy

Akari clutched the base of the pot as they tore through the alleyway. Missiles struck the back windows, and the van shook from the impact. Nothing had broken yet, but those protection sigils wouldn’t last long.

“Hang on!” Hector repeated. They left the alley a second later, taking a sharp right and spinning into the evening traffic. Akari and Kalden slid across the floor, but they didn’t let go of the pot.

Kalden kept stirring with his head down, using his other hand to ad...

New Worldbuilding Article: Mana Artist Ranks

Hey everyone,

I just put together a new worldbuilding article that covers all the known Mana Artist ranks from Bronze all the way to Mystic:

https://davidmusk.com/worlds/web-of-secrets/mana-artist-ranks

These have all been mentioned in the story so far, but this is the first time I’ve assigned a minimum mana count for each one. (The article is also written from Kalden’s ...

Web of Dreams - Chapter 23: A Worthy Goal

Kalden sat in his alchemy lab, putting the final touches on Relia’s pill. He’d already refined the herbs, which was arguably the hardest part of the process. Now, those sat in the refrigerator, waiting for the final two reagents.

The lantre and helocite had to bond at fifty-five degrees over three hours. A few degrees higher and the lantre would dissolve. Colder, and the helocite would solidify. Fortunately, the Unmarked had several alchemy-grade thermometers in the lab. Kalden had ...

Web of Dreams - Chapter 22: The Deal

Dreams assaulted Akari while she slept—one after the other in rapid succession.

But no … this couldn’t be sleep. Those soldiers had knocked her out with a steel rod to the face. Unconscious people didn’t dream, did they? Still, some part of her seemed desperate for these visions. Maybe it was her soul, or maybe it was the Construct Elend had placed inside her.

Time’s running out, she realized.

Akari couldn’t normally sense Elend’s Construct. But now sh...

Web of Dream - Chapter 21: A Merciless World

Relia followed her friends from the street into the hotel lobby. The air conditioning seemed to blast them from all sides, and it felt amazing after all that time in the tropical heat. Dragons didn’t normally believe in air conditioning, but they’d made an exception here. Probably because of all the foreigners.

How did she know this hotel was dragon-owned? The decor, of course. Golden chandeliers hung from the high-vaulted ceilings while golden fountains shot water against a backdro...

Web of Dreams - Chapter 20: The First Move

Akari trained alone for the first part of the morning. As usual, she started with a quick warmup, followed by a series of combat stances, punches, and kicks.

She knew the proper forms from her dreams, but it wasn't exactly like riding a bike. Dream Akari had fought with deadly precision, but recreating those moves felt like fighting while drunk. Akari had never been drunk, but that was the best comparison she had. Her mind knew what to do, but her body struggled to keep up.

Her fi...

Web of Dreams - Chapter 19: Space and Time

Dream Akari stomped out of the dueling ring, ignoring the crowd with their satisfied grins. Before today, she'd been the best Foundation duelist in Last Haven. Now, her reign was over. This duel with Kalden Trengsen hadn't been ranked, but she'd have to face him again. When she did, she had no counter to his blade mana.

Her combat suit clung to her as she walked, and her chest rose and fell with rapid breaths. She'd lost duels before, but those had all been against older students. Stude...

Web of Dreams - Chapter 18: Shardbreaker

Kalden opened the glass door to the alchemy lab, ushering the others inside. The room wasn't half as nice as his labs back home, but it had all the essentials. A dozen basic stations filled the floor, with a row of refrigerators along the back wall. Beyond that were more specialized rooms that housed the furnaces and compressors.

Bits of broken glass snapped beneath Kalden's boots, and he resisted the urge to grab a broom. Mr. Kosho would have made the whole class stay late if they'd le...

Web of Dreams - Chapter 17: Ruthless

“She’s an Unmarked,” the boy muttered the last word like a curse.

Relia lowered her head, letting a curtain of red hair cover her pale face.

Another of the Cadrian boys knelt down and tried to brush the curtain aside.

Hell no, Akari thought. A crowd had already gathered around, but no one else had heard his accusation. Best to keep it that way. They’d passed a few Apprentices on the lower deck, and she and Relia might never escape if this turned int...

Worldbuilding Article: The Difference Between Mana Artists and Aeons

Hey everyone! I've had multiple people ask me for a better comparison between Aeons and Mana Artists, so I threw together a quick worldbuilding article this morning. Reading this is completely optional depending on how many details you like to know. (Honestly, you don't need to know much about Aeons to understand the Web of Secrets series at this point.) 

But for those of you who like to dive deeper, I hope you find it interesting!

2022-02-19 16:02:08 +0000 UTC View Post

Web of Dreams - Chapter 16: Smuggling

"You sure about this?" Kalden asked the shopkeeper. "It smells like lunch meat."

The man shrugged. "It's fine, shoko. That's how soulshine smells."

"No," Kalden set down the bottle on the counter. "That's how exinleaf smells when you let it oxidize for a week. And you see that color change? Light exposure reduces the potency by half. That's why we use amber bottles."

Akari listened with half-an-ear as she strolled through the aisles, taking in the rows of potions, pills, and...