AuthorLeftright

Chapter 12: Remembrance

The night before his nineteenth birthday, Glenny trembled with fatigue. His fingers were calloused and his arms scored with shallow cuts, his shirt was stuck to his chest and back, and his eyes were narrow. He circled his opponent who was still fresh and without a wound.

“Longer you wait, the more opportunities you give me,” the opponent said, his voice quiet and reserved.

That got to Glenny, the small digs. The constant reminder of failure, the constant reminder of h...

Chapter 11: Lost

“I’m telling you, we are lost,” Glenny said to the group.

It was well into night at this point but the group was still in the tall, grassy, soulless savannah wilds. Since their battle with the pride of lions, they had not seen a single monster besides the benign or mundane animal. Even with Glenny’s heightened senses, there simply wasn’t anything to do but aimlessly wander.

“If someone hadn’t let go of the map…” Leland teased, smirking.

“You know how I ge...

Chapter 10: Lions

“I think it’s this way,” Jude said, pointing with one hand while the other clutched the map.

“I swear, if you lead us into anotherfire ant nest, I’m going to stab you,” retorted Glenny.

Just then, a gust of wind blazed across the savannah and kicked up plenty of dry, dead grass. Trying to shield his eyes, Jude’s grip on the map slipped. The parchment took to the wind, flying off far into the distance. Glenny and Leland stared at him.

“Seriously?” 2023-03-06 21:31:44 +0000 UTC View Post

Chapter 9: New Start

The town of Liontrunk was somewhat unusual. With its main export of alchemical mana potions and transmutations plus having a population of over half adventurers raised plenty of eyebrows. Similar producing towns were far from the front lines, oftentimes renowned for great crafters and immaculate libraries.

Liontrunk’s proximity to a dungeon made the difference. Even though the Guild stopped any potential delvers from diving headlong to break the dungeon’s core, that didn’t stop ad...

Chapter 8: I Spy

“I spy something… silver,” Jude said, together with Glenny and Leland.

The boys walked alongside a nine cart caravan, plenty of mounts, and more than a few Lords of Mercantile. Together, their party walked the long and twisting dirt roads, heading through the forest of Pinefield on route to Liontrunk.

“Is it Leland?” Glenny asked.

Jude snorted. “He’s a Silver, not silver.”

It had been a long and slow last few days, but that was expected this ti...

Chapter 7: Sixty Percent

“Sixty percent?” Gilbert mused. “Whatever makes you think that?”

“Call it a mage’s intuition,” Leland replied.

“What about if I create a flame shield? Still sixty percent?”

“I don’t see why not.”

“Hmph,” Gilbert crossed his arms. “Already fine. I’ll wager that you cannot hurt me with a single spell while I have a shield active. If you win you can go on the quest.”

“That’s not fair,” Jude cried. “Did you test Lela...

Chapter 6: Guild

“So Liontrunk it is?” Jude asked, his lips smacking and his fingers covered in grease.

Both Leland and Glenny watched on with strained eyes, a raw gurgling in their stomachs. Even the adjacent tables eyed the Berserker Legacy, their meals hardly touched.

“Can you eat any cleaner?” Leland asked. “And yes, Liontrunk it is.”

Jude let out a low burp in response, getting more than a few groans. Across the room, the bard frowned and played louder, strumming hi...

Chapter 5: Presents

Lunch was simply a no go. Being covered in blood, while fun for a warrior, was not appreciated by restaurants or the common civilian. So the three boys split up, each heading home to wash up.

Leland walked by himself, the others having already split off to their own respective streets. As he walked, he thought about magic and curses, what his Gift could mean, and immediate plans for the future. While the topics were heavy and, if he was being honest, boring, he still felt a lot...

Chapter 4: Sticks and Stones

A rush of wind expelled from Leland’s grimoire as it opened automatically to the second page. The spell fracture came to his mind as he extended his hand. Knowledge and knowhow flooded his mind, his Lord’s Legacy entered the spotlight. Purple budded at the tip of his middle finger and thumb, the color sparking with lifeforce and mana.

“Fracture,” Leland whispered, snapping his fingers at the recovering wolf.

Nothing happened.

Jude and the partially invisible...

Chapter 3: Legacy of Curses

“Ah!” Leland blurted, pulling the blanket off his weary form.

He quickly threw on trousers and shoes, rushing as if he went too slow, he’d miss it. He paused, however, at the door of his family home. A quick check couldn’t hurt, right?

His grimoire appeared from the back of his hand, popping into existence already opened to the first page. There, he read the words he had been dying to see since he could remember. Even though he was not the Legacy of the Lord he ha...

Chapter 2: Dream Ceremony

Leland’s face crooked into a deep smile, one that pulled his cheeks to their highest arc. Movement quickly pulled his gaze, and he found an ebony crow staring at him with huge amethyst eyes.

It tilted its head, inspecting the human while silently conveying its unhappiness.

The crow, as small as it was, held the presence of a god. It looked at Leland with the ego of the heavens, the arrogance of a Lord. It cawed once, booming its power across the darkened landsc...

Chapter 1: Cake and Steak

The lights in the small atrium dimed, casting a long shadow across the sparce audience while isolating the stage with importance. Soon a humorously dressed man stepped from behind the curtain, along with him a trail of various breeds of dogs. Some were big, others small, but they all had one thing in common.

They did not have fur, they were not fluffy. They were radiating bright orange light, along with the heat of a boiler room, much to the displeasure of the woodgrai...

Chapter 35: Texas

The whirl of the helicopter’s rotors ripped across the midday sky, shifting clouds and announcing its presence to those below. They passed over ocean and land, rushing to west Texas with a vengeance. Within the helicopter, Dan and Aisha sat with a few other members of the newly minted Stars task force.

While the amusement of traveling across state lines nearly at the same speed as an airplane would have been a joyous adventure for Dan in a past life, now he could only think a...

Chapter 34: Home

“No, no, no,” Golden Robes shouted. “Drink from the cup, then eat the leaf. I swear sometimes you act so immature.”

Dan held off from looking at his captor, keeping his shoulders low and his attention on the platter of pain before him. While the objects were mundane and normal looking, he could feel the magical power that poured from each ingredient.

The leaf took first place, however. Its red stem and prickly edges leaked potent sap from where i...

Chapter 33: High Seas

The stench of corpses was something Dan was long used to. Whether it be animal, monster, friend, or foe, all dead carcasses smelled the same to him. The smell wasn’t quite rotten, but it wasn’t pleasant either. It tickled his nostrils, forcing upon him repressed memories of dead miners and rancid living amalgamation of flesh.

Dan’s chest squeezed at the thought of the hunks of meat he ate while within the cave, the taste dancing around his mouth like a vile aftertaste. As he walke...

Chapter 32: Agonizing Potential

Metal scraped against metal as the slacked chain between Dan’s ankles dragged against the floor. The pair of overly tightened manacles dug into his skin and Achilles heel, causing a thick pad of reddened blisters to have grown where the rubbing was the worst. Every step, every time they needed him, his world became uncomfortable.

The creek of the transport vehicle’s door gave Dan enough time to tightly close his eyes. A moment later the sack covering his head was r...

Chapter 31: Glorious

A bleak and barren landscape, lifeless except for the occasional ball of flame and its encircling balls of potential. It wasn’t quite the Void, but the coloration and sense of isolation boded ill memories for Dan. He could tell it was a dream, however. The true Void was much more… exhausting.

No, Dan knew he was dreaming and that he’d soon wake up. For the first time in what felt like a lifetime, he felt his dreams were dreams. Nightmares were one thing,...

Chapter 30: Sacrifice

At the high priest’s words, the red double gates glinted in the backdrop. Despite being held stationary by a monstrous hand of irredeemable magic, Dan found his attention shift beyond his imprisonment. The mural along the doors called to him, sung to him, depicted events that made his blood boil.

The skeletons embedded on the doors through long tarnished bronze chains, turned to look at Dan. Their dead stares caught against the morphing stone walls, refracting tightly into th...

Chapter 29: Murder

“Authorities are coining the name ‘French Quarter Flayer’ for the perpetrator of three grisly murders. While his identity is still unknown, the authorities have stated they have an eye witness to the latest of the killings.”

“The New Orleans Police Department has given us a list of recommendations for all young women looking to visit the French Quarter. ‘Keep drinking to a minimum. Always travel in groups. Do not accept unsolicited items, drinks, and or rides home f...

Chapter 28: Agonizing Present

The flames of the funeral pyre graced Dan’s cheeks in a forgotten way.

Sully was dead, his ashes scattered against the dome’s stale air. Dan sat alone watching the orange flames and pondered his existence. His guiding star was gone, his only friend dead, the man who kept him from falling to the madness. The man who taught him everything, the man who... who…

Deserved better.

The thought crushed Dan’s spirit. He sulked back, his arms wrapping around his knees in locked...

Chapter 27: Grief

By the time Dan’s hands were raw, the pile of crystals still loomed over him. It only took a glance to the high priest to redouble his efforts. The man did not look pleased, despite his famous smile. The other cultists continued to chant unintelligible words, each syllable a guttural growl or a sharp spiteful stab.

The sound grew in Dan’s mind, overcoming his senses and controlling his movements. The effect was gradual at first but slowly, his arms fluttered with determined vigor. H...

Chapter 26: Compulsory

The day started out like any other, cool, damp, and spitting with mania. Dan, like  most mornings, used his drowsy state to dull the pain of whittling away the seals that constricted his magic. The pain never truly dulled, not really at least. Being drowsy only slowed his mind into accepting that a constant burning would be his reality  for the next few minutes.

Dan wondered about the pain itself and why burning, of all things, was how he perceived it. There were occasionally ...

Chapter 25: Wither

At some point the high priest returned, quickly snatched Golden Robes, and left the mine leaving Dan and the miners stranded at the bottom of the elevator shaft.

Golden Robe’s experimentation left a poor taste other than blood in Dan’s mouth. At some point during the agonizing effects of the core regenerating potion, he bit and gnawed his lip. What remained was a crimson mess of spit and diluted saliva. He had long ago healed the self-inflicted wound, but chose to keep a portion of ...

Chapter 24: Collapse

Slippery rock after slippery rock. Sticky handful of gravel after sticky handful of gravel.

Dan pulled at the pile of stone and flesh, each motion dislodging hidden reserves from pockets within the recently reverted hard ceiling. Light kissed his hands, healing his wounds the best his exhausted core could produce. At some point, through the hasty digging, his core sputtered out its last glimmer of gold, sending the cave and Dan himself into darkness.

Behind him, sitting within his...

Chapter 23: Killer

The bright green-red lights around the camp slowly started to dim. Day was winding down, the miners finishing their tasks. Dan sighed in relief, his stomach settling into a slow mix. He and Sully sat over the camp on a cliff, watching the dying bustle like bored children on a high-rise terrace.

The older of the two was recounting his younger days, back when the camp was decently new and everyone faced backhanded brutality. Even the cultists were unmolested by the cave’s effects at the...

Chapter 22: Fish

“How’s the first day been?” Lambert asked, scooting further into the rounded corner booth.

Dan set his mug of coffee down before taking the now vacant seat. He looked to the others at the table, trying, and failing, to recall their names. He had been introduced to them at the start of the day but then they had separated rather early on for training.

“It's been good,” Dan finally said. “My feet and back hurt but otherwise,” he ended with a shrug.

A slightly bloa...

Chapter 21: Cauldron

Light: Deliverance  1.67

Light: Strife   0.81

Light: Manipulate   2.33

Light: Preservation   1.93

Light: Intensity  0.35

Blood: Bestow   0.74

With grogginess and a splitting headache, Dan read and reread his core’s values. Frankly, he was disappointed. A life or death battle should have resulte...

Chapter 20: Fruit Flies

Eyes. Eyes everywhere.

Slaves, guards, cultists, all watched Dan as he moved about the camp. The staring compounded with the artificial fear, growing the wilted terror in his heart like a budding rose. Hairy stems thick with deadly thorns shredded into him, forcing his breath to heave and shrivel.. The eyes, they were watching him, they were tracing every moment, following and looking for weaknesses.

They saw how his tattered shirt stuck to his skin with direct wetness. They saw h...

Chapter 19: Madness

“So it’s really been a year?” Dan asked, slumped against the prison that was Sully’s cell.

Sully’s upper half lay bound in pure white light, like a troupe of spiders wrapping the ultimate feast. “Indeed.”

“I don’t understand anymore,” the frail human laughed at this. “Not like I ever understood anything.”

Dan brought his knees to his chest and tucked his head between his legs. He wanted to be small, he wanted to be nothing more than an ant in that mom...

Chapter 18: Resurface

A biting force brought Dan to his feet. He stood before the hole of the camp, slaves, cultists, and guards in all. Most had their eyes closed, their bodies shaking with unending vigor. The special few who stared at him either had well-disciplined cores or were too far gone to react. That left a minority of eyes looking elsewhere, but for some reason, Dan felt like the entire world was watching him.

He adjusted, trying to filer trough his core. But his core felt like it was chained down ...