It’s head twisted to the side, a faint, almost untraceable burst of mana had just erupted. It squeezed its new fingers and toes, clinching them with the fascination of a newborn kitten waiting to feed. A sound was present, giggling. Diabolical and unrestrained, it sprinted off toward the burst.
Luckily for it, the burst was in the direction it was already heading.
That only made it laugh more.
----------
“Good show, Leals!” Jude said, clapping his hands.
...
2024-01-26 03:22:26 +0000 UTC
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Leland read his newest contracts aloud.
Cursed contract of the Lord of Vitality:
Use: For the duration of the contract, access to the spell, Imbue life, is granted. Only usable once per hour.
Return: Nothing.
Imbue Life:
Type: Spell (Mist)
Rank: Equivalent to Harbinger Halo’s rank
Imbue life.
<...
2024-01-25 03:15:51 +0000 UTC
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To say that obtaining a Heartgem was painful was an understatement. In the moments before Leland was cast into the Void, the Mending Flame Lord operated.
She started by flicking out her finger, a bead of power forming like sweat along the tip. Long sharpened nails stylized the bead, providing a backdrop of terror along with astonishment.
Leland stared at her finger, the warmest, coziest wave of elation filling his body. Mentally, he knew that if she wanted to, th...
2024-01-24 21:15:19 +0000 UTC
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That night after camp was set up, Leland decided it was time.
“Lord of Vitality, I humbly wish to strike a contract with you.”
After traversing the Void for a minute or two, he appeared, his boots instantly becoming soaked. He didn’t sigh or mutter anything, but Leland did wonder why things like this keep happening. Just one time he wished for a Lord’s domain to be something normal... well, he supposed the Lord of Magic’s was nice.
Why can’t th...
2024-01-22 20:25:34 +0000 UTC
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With Leland’s sudden reappearance, the group took a small break. Luckily, for the boys at least, there was a perfectly good boulder to sit on. For Gelo, on the other hand, she much preferred to lounge in the grass.
“I’d say another half-day until we make it to the Tear, or at least, the area the Tear is affecting,” Glenny announced, holding a map Aunty P had given them. “From the looks of it, the actual Tear is out in the wilds somewhere.”
“How do you know t...
2024-01-20 22:52:09 +0000 UTC
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**SECOND CHAPTER UPLOADED TODAY WARNING!!!!
Four days later, as the boys and Gelo continued through the wilderness to the first of the two Tears, Leland felt something stir inside his Legacy.
“Hold up guys,” he said, pulling out his grimoire. Opening the newest page, he found an updated contract.
Cursed contract of the Lord of Magic (Renewed):
Use: Gain access to the spell Dual Mind Resonance.
Dual Mi...
2024-01-19 03:26:08 +0000 UTC
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“How was the watch?” Jude asked upon waking. He rubbed his eyes, a small tear coming out. Not a moment later, he was kicked back, guitar in hand and strumming along.
“Three dead. A Witch appeared.”
He stared at Leland, the last chord played echoing into the early morning sunrise. “You okay?”
With a shrug, the Legacy of Curses pulled his shirt down a bit, showing off the Lord of Souls, or rather, his necklace. Where the item was previously empty, and thus...
2024-01-18 19:54:44 +0000 UTC
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On watch and with the others asleep, Leland toiled about, looking much more interested with the forest than he actually was. Were there monsters in these woods? Creatures with teeth the size of forearms? Yes and yes. But he wasn’t afraid of them, he hadn’t been afraid of the usual monsters in a long while by this point.
With the true monsters he’d faced, the small fries just didn’t cut it.
But still, watching the forest was an important job. If a monster ...
2024-01-17 03:09:15 +0000 UTC
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“Are humans normally this… fearful?” Gelo asked as they walked through the streets of Frostford.
They had already finished shopping and were heading toward the gate to leave, but the walk was slow going. Not because there were hazards or many people stopping them to talk, but because Gelo gawked at most everything.
Buildings? The only buildings she had seen was the ice castle within the dungeon, so every change in architecture made her stare. A fountain playfully sh...
2024-01-15 05:12:29 +0000 UTC
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Gelo’s step into the outside world wasn’t her first by any means. Many times, over the months, she exited her dungeon home and explored the secluded island. She never strayed far, not since the day she met Jude and the others. She shivered at the thought of the poachers who attempted to take her pelt.
But now? Now, she wasn’t just leaving home to explore. No, she was leaving it for good. She stared long and hard at the dungeon entrance, her paws waterlogged within the pool of sere...
2024-01-13 05:54:45 +0000 UTC
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It took an hour for Gelo’s tears to stop and that was only after Jude equated what was happening to birds.
“See, young fledgling, there is a time for everyone to leave the nest.” He pulled the cub in close, sitting with her head across his lap. “And while your mother dove ventured to a new, difficult to obtain, nest, that doesn’t mean you were abandoned. A fledgling has to take flight, to find her own nest. To find her own flock, even.”
Glenny and Leland...
2024-01-11 20:44:54 +0000 UTC
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“Leland.”
He turned, finding Floe’s imposing figure toward the back of the cave. She was laying down in such a way that only her head was front and center. But that didn’t stop her body from radiating cold. They stared at each other, a nervous thread of air wafting between them.
“Tell me about the Lords you’ve met,” she whispered before her eyes returned to the other end of the cave.
Leland followed her gaze, finding Jude and Jude Two playing music. Jude’s fi...
2024-01-09 19:15:12 +0000 UTC
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Hey just wanted to let everyone know that book 1 is up on Amazon!
I couldn't have done it without any of you, so thank you to the bottom of my heart!
You all have supported more than I could ever have asked. Thank you so much!
2024-01-08 03:12:50 +0000 UTC
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“Okay,” Leland announced once he returned to his friends. They reacted as they had been doing previously, the passage of time he had been missing was negligible to them. “The Lord of Beasts is a massive buffalo. I feel that is important to note.”
Jude’s eyes lit up at that. “A Guardian Spirit Beast?” he said, interesting the bears as well.
“Yes,” Leland said, removing his grimoire from his Legacy tattoo. “And I secured you a blessing from him as my contract.”...
2024-01-08 03:08:36 +0000 UTC
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Leland didn’t see what he expected to see when he entered the Beast Lord’s domain. Expecting dung-piles and musky fur, he envisioned a tapestry of pelts and hordes of animals. Grazing land as far the eye could see, with animals filling every inch. Maybe even some predators hiding among the shadows, waiting for opportunities to pick off the stragglers.
Instead, Leland arrived at a circle of flat stone and weeds. Cracks meandered around and through the flooring, giving way to struggli...
2024-01-05 19:38:29 +0000 UTC
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“Hello!” Jude yelled into the snowy flat wasteland that was the first section of Floe and Gelo’s dungeon. “Anyone home!?”
At one end of the wasteland was the worm zone, a collection of the dungeon’s first boss, a massive worm. Frozen like stalks of corn or sprouting trees, the worms died as they lived, lunging from the dirt like a shark breaching the water’s surface. Countless of these worms laid in the graveyard reaching for the sky, each killed by th...
2024-01-03 21:43:58 +0000 UTC
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There was a specific step among the hundreds leading toward the castle where space became hard. It was midway up, just before the second landing but well after the first. This one step, was, by far and away, the first of many protections that secured the royals in case of an attack. Unassuming and unmarked, the step looked just like any of the others. Stone, chiseled, perfectly flat and unwrapped.
Which Legacy of the Mason created it, no one knew. But those who understood the intricacie...
2024-01-01 22:59:52 +0000 UTC
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Waiting for his girlfriend, Leland mulled over countless decisions. An idea hung in his mind, a way to gain more from his contracts. But first, he needed to organize. He opened his grimoire and got to reading.
Name: Leland Silver
Legacy: Curses
Archetype: Apprentice of the Curse Lord
Specialization: Pact
Overall Rank: 3
Fracture:
Type...
2024-01-01 03:24:07 +0000 UTC
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AUTHOR NOTE: I'm excited to announce Curselock is finally coming to amazon/kindle! Launches Jan 6th! https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CR84N943
---------------
A day after the party, the boys sat with their parents in a quiet, dusty inn.
“And that’s our plan,” Leland said, finishing up the explanations. “Well, it’s the plan for after we deal with Gelo and Floe.”
Why he was tas...
2023-12-31 03:10:44 +0000 UTC
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Leland, Jude, and Glenny didn’t know most of the people at the party. Some left fuzzy impressions in their mind, maybe they met when the boys were kids? Or maybe all of the stories their parents told them over the years solidified images of these people. The Inquisitor with a hook for a hand? Yeah, all three boys knew of him, his personality, and how he used to be a pirate. But none had actually met the man.
Regardless, they were shuffled into the tavern, handed mugs of mead, and sent...
2023-12-29 06:04:29 +0000 UTC
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Situated within the bony remains of a dead Lord, the capital city of the Palemarrow Kingdom didn’t come off as dour. Instead, Ivory Reach hatched charm and mystique. Around every corner was something new, behind every shop-sign was a hardworking owner and a prompt story. Hardships, opportunity, and community.
Haunted finger bones laid in the backdrop to city parks, rib bones rested silently overhead, covering the city in thick shadows. Amidst the hustle and bustle of open-air markets ...
2023-12-26 18:13:28 +0000 UTC
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“So the gist of the contract is that I have to contact three other Lords and ask them to stop interfering with the Lord of Magic’s Legacies’ work. In exchange, I will get two brains.”
“Any three Lords?” Jude asked.
Leland blinked in surprise. That was actually a good question. He wanted to say “no,” as he and the Lord of Magic did discuss which three… but did the contract actually state which three? Not that Leland would actively work against the spirit ...
2023-12-24 20:06:38 +0000 UTC
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The Lord of Magic’s domain stretched as far as the eye could see. Black boards, each caked with chalk and sprawled with runes, glyphs, and enchantments. Magical circles gave way to summoned beasts, each bound by elemental might as if the Planes themselves were right here in this very room. Beakers and vials filled the shelves and tables, each bubbling away or ticking out of sync with seconds or minutes.
Leland took a few steps, only for his eye to be caught by something shiny. He stud...
2023-12-23 02:56:22 +0000 UTC
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“Are you sure about this?” Queen Sybil Palemarrow asked her boyfriend.
“Why wouldn’t I be? This isn’t a problem,” Leland Silver replied to his girlfriend.
To the side, Jude Brown coughed. “Famous last words.”
“Totally,” added Glenny Red. “Famous last words.”
Leland caught his friend's gaze, intentionally glancing up at his snow-white and streaky red hair. “Shut it, dandruff.”
Completely unfazed Glenny replied in the voice of an event a...
2023-12-20 21:57:02 +0000 UTC
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A moment stretched into eternity. It wobbled and flowed, dancing like exploding fireworks under captivating pressure. It was a bit messy, but otherwise embarrassing and all too short. Still, the joy that radiated lit up the room long after Leland and Sybil separated.
Leland couldn’t see it, but his lips had brightened a tad, a slight smear of lipstick the cause. Sybil, however, could see it, although she didn’t feel like mentioning it.
It would be her mark for all oth...
2023-12-13 20:42:45 +0000 UTC
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In the field hospital housing most of the city’s wounded soldiers, along the back wall was a row of beds labeled “stable.” While the stink of death and the rush of healers made the place feel closer to a morgue than a place of respite, the same could not be said for the patients.
They, despite mostly being injured, were smiling.
They had won, the battle was over, the enemies were slain. Many had died, that was very true, but no more would fall. The rush of the hospital would...
2023-12-11 19:21:31 +0000 UTC
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The silence following Ashford’s death lasted only seconds before cheering started. With a growing murmur, the crowd that spilled from one of Spencer’s portals erupted. Helmets and gloves were thrown into the air, the guard uniform suddenly becoming optional. Whistles sounded from people with fingers in their mouths, hollering came from the rest. Swords were lovingly holstered, magic died in the hands of the caster.
It was, by all accounts, a celebration. It wasn’t every day a noto...
2023-12-09 03:02:23 +0000 UTC
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Isobel paused her flight to stare.
Ashford’s power had stopped her, and the others, from progressing forward to assist Leland. As if she was wading through a swamp made of lava from her shoulders down, she couldn’t walk, run, or fly in the direction of the troublesome boy. She, like the others, was stuck on the ground twiddling her thumbs until the darkness came.
Having seen a similar all-consuming void from Leland’s parasitic weapon, she had an idea ...
2023-12-06 20:10:22 +0000 UTC
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From the tattoo on Leland’s back, a white halo of shimmering metal and utter darkness peeled. He silently floated out and away from his host, like a kite against a breezy day. Growing in size, Lodestar slowly rotated, a ring ever moving, a portal ever opened. A story then appeared, a tale of sheer power and limitless scope.
It radiated from the darkness within Lodestar, teasing just a hint of what was to come. Both Leland and Ashford stared at the parasitic weapon, but each f...
2023-12-04 19:13:41 +0000 UTC
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Sybil dreamed of broken bones and a lineage of mothers.
“Break a bone, it hardens as it heals,” one mother said.
“But that’s painful,” another said. “Drinking milk is the better option.”
“Always the worrywart,” a third mother said. “You wouldn’t let me out of my room until I was seven!”
Second mother bristled at that, the thought of something so safe used as a weapon! “I resent that sentiment. You were a fragile child—”
“Yes,...
2023-12-02 23:17:47 +0000 UTC
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