T. A. Star

20 - Weighing the Risks

“That’s impossible,” Phoenix said, looking towards Patricia in her rising panic as she pleaded, “That is impossible, right? I didn’t give permission or sign another contract or… you know…”

“Oh, that’s an interesting idea,” High Priestess Deserin interjected thoughtfully, as if in response to a mental communication, and Phoenix felt her heart fall into her gut as the wom...

19 - Mother

Phoenix was surprised the next morning when she couldn’t open a portal to the location atop the Soul Reaper’s downed ship, where she vividly remembered both saving and condemning Paul’s life. There was no way she would ever forget that place.

When she finally relented and was able to open a portal to the nearby hill she recalled watching the Ruby Caste battle from, she soon realized that it was...

18 - Seed of Hope

“Someone, please explain why this is happening,” Phoenix mentally pleaded to her party.

“I think only the kid knows why he’s doing this, so you’d have to ask him,” Rayna responded, which didn’t really help her at the moment.

“Right now, it doesn’t matter why specifically. Only that the request has been made, and you must answer,” Dazien in...

17 - Doomed Either Way

While King’s Dream might have been placed in charge of the research expedition, many were unhappy about following the orders of a fresh Sapphire Caster despite the addition of the titles “Emissary” and “Officer” now stamped on Dazien’s adventuring license.

The gemite was normally charismatic –helped along by his Natural Talent– and laid back when talking with people, but he was mostly...

16 - A Bad Oddity

Phoenix and Dazien shared furtive glances with one another as they sensed the odd atmosphere of the room they had been “politely requested to attend” to along with Kara.

The Crystal and freshly ascended Sapphire Caster, accompanied by an Obsidian Caste champion, wasn’t the only oddity among the collection of mostly Emerald and High Sapphire Casters that were currently in a private meeting room ...

15 - Heavy is the Head

Phoenix sat on a stool against the far wall of one of the smaller ritual rooms, carefully reapplying the mana-replenishing tattoo on her thigh as Dazien was using Sapphire Caste Arcane Chalk to draw out the ritual diagram to resummon Rex. 

Uriel and Rayna were assisting him with placing the various Shards in their respective places while Saiya sat beside her, idly petting a spoiled Snowbelle laz...

14 - Your Story

Dazien blinked up at an unfamiliar ceiling. He felt groggy; like he had slept for far too long and didn’t actually achieve any rest. He slowly sat up to find himself in an unfamiliar room as well. The decor was slightly familiar though, having the same expensive wood paneling along the bottom half of the walls, white marble flooring, and a healthy dose of plant life. 

Even more familiar, howev...

13 - Who Are They to Judge

Kara pulled the two obvious introverts along the streets of the International District where the apartment they just finished cleaning out was located. Two of her tails acted like leashes around their wrists as she kept them close and made her claim of the pair of Crystal Casters and Sapphire neck warmer obvious to any onlookers.

She kept her aura as a polite sphere as well, the Obsidian Caste acting...

12 - What I Want

Phoenix followed Uriel around the small space as he grabbed more items for her to stash in her collection for easy transporting. It felt a bit… intrusive to help store the items the long-time friends kept at their home whenever they were off fighting monsters and interdimensional wars.

The single set of dishware for each of them. The worn loveseat and chair next to a low table that she did...

11 - Preserving the Presence

Phoenix wasn’t sure what to expect exactly when Kara requested to join her and Uriel to help relocate the two men –who were roommates. It seemed as good a time as any while Dazien recovered from both the soul exhaustion caused by ascending and from having his bones meticulously shattered and reforged in the process.

Kara held out a furred hand and stopped Uriel from opening the door he turned to ...

10 - Orders

“Well, that was intense,” Rayna said to her as they stepped out the front door of the Wayland estate. Snowbelle lazily flapped pure white wings as the Familiar trailed behind them before keeping watch in the air above the pair.

Saiya took her sister’s hand and agreed, “I can’t say I’m looking forward to watching him hit Emerald in a few years, despite the fact it should be a happy occasio...

9 - Growing Pains

Dazien grimaced at Kara’s warning, already knowing she wasn’t wrong. His ascension to Crystal had been one of the most traumatic experiences he had gone through which said something for both how bad it was and how few traumas he had actually experienced before, especially when he compared it to that of his party members.

Saiya and Rayna losing their entire clan as children and their previous part...

8 - Practically Untouchable

Phoenix blanched at Everin’s use of her Divine Title and begged, “Please never call me that again. I’m just their little flag that claims more territory for them, remember?”

Kara looked at her in confusion and began to ask, “What does a flag have to do with– you know what? No. I don’t need to know. I’m not bound to Scholar like this desperate idiot–”

“Hey!”

“Did ...

7 - It Was Fate

Phoenix and Dazien had returned to Paul’s side while Uriel had gone to meet with Priest Jacob who had been overseeing his –along with her own– mental health when they had the time and were in the city.

Saiya and Rayna had returned to their temporary housing in the International District but had decided to take Patricia’s latest offer to stay at the Wayland estate instead; given the fact that ...

6 - Why Her?

Kara had never questioned her faith before. Never questioned her worth in her goddess’ eyes. But this newest quest was hitting some nerves that she didn’t think she even had at Obsidian. Her entire being was basically pure magic at this point; this pinnacle of mortality that made her immortal in at least one regard.

While she might be considered young compared to other Obsidian Casters, she had s...

5 - Defeated

It was only about an hour later that Kara reappeared before Phoenix who had joined the rest of her party on the rooftop garden while waiting for word. The Obsidian Caster gave an exaggerated swish of her blonde hair and bowed as she announced dramatically, “I have defeated the enemy and rid the city of the threat imposed against the Chosen of the Champion. As my Lady has decreed, I will remain by your si...

4 - Be Better

“Kara?” Phoenix repeated in surprise before hesitantly asking, “Your last name wouldn’t happen to be Zor-El or Danvers, would it?”

“What? No, my family name is Fairweather. Why do you ask?”

“No reason,” Phoenix replied quickly. 

The blonde gave her a curious look then a request that felt more like a command, “Well, you hold tight right here in the city. Safe and s...

3 - They Will Collide

The Manufacturing District of Tulimeir was the easternmost section of the eight-pointed star design that made up the city. Currently, it was taken over by Adventurers, Ducal Guards, and volunteers to the latter that served as a temporary defensive force. The civilians had been cleared out as much as possible during the last week in the event that the Soul Reapers reached the city which seemed to be coming ...

2 - Fight While We Grieve

“I only know part of it, not everything,” Everin said and Phoenix was grateful that her pleading would finally give her something, even if it wouldn’t be a lot, “But one of the main reasons they give out Soul Marks at all is that it can spread their influence in a way that it naturally can’t.”

“Influence?” Phoenix asked in confusion, “What, like, making people believe in th...

1 - Go Back

Phoenix blinked, her eyes heavy with exhaustion and her body very much disagreeing with the idea of waking up. She grumbled and tried curling into a tighter ball and pushing herself further into the comfortable seat only for the extra warm chair she was in to rumble slightly and laughter tickled her ears as Uriel’s deep voice said, “I don’t think you can burrow deeper into my shirt without ripping it...

End of Book 3 - Character Reference

Hello everyone 👋

We made it through the t

60 - Champion

Phoenix and Uriel both stared at the goddess blankly for a moment. 

As her emotions warred within her on how exactly to respond to the deity, she finally settled on snark, "Well, you're a bit late to the party," she gestured towards the east as she added angrily, “We could have used your power a couple days ago when the fighting first started!”

“It is not for me to intervene d...

59 - The Edge

Everin groggily awoke in a strange room that he definitely had never seen before with its elegance and natural beauty of leafy plants, blooming flowers, and wood paneling along the walls. Much more expensive, welcoming, and alive than his borrowed room in the Temple of the Rebel.

At the thought of his goddess and what he had just done, he shot up straight in the bed he had been p...

58 - Into the Abyss

Phoenix was suddenly chanting in a language she had never heard before and that her translation ability seemed to struggle with.

“Soul Hope Entwine Harmony Distance…”

Words poured out of both her and Everin’s mouths as she became entangled in the magic of the advanced ritual. The runes that were floating in the air now glowed and began to move with purpo...

57 - If You Gaze

Phoenix was still holding Paul’s hand as she knelt in the slush beside him. The conversation between the Cleric and goddess had been confusing at best and deeply concerning at worst.

Scholar wanted to cage Paul’s soul? Why? How? Was it like Everin said where death would be kinder? Or was it the only chance for her to keep her dad by her side? Would it be cruel to keep him alive if it meant...

56 - Worth Falling For

Everin Starlark was never meant to be here. Never meant to be on this backwater tundra with only a single city of any interest and where nothing seemed to grow, not even the people. Never meant to become a pocket healer to a stubborn man whose historical lineage was more terrifying the more he dug into it. Never meant to be a silent shadow to a child who he now believed was being exploited by the go...

55 - The Blade of Pure Love

Phoenix had been a nervous wreck as she tried to be helpful while also paying attention to the battle her mentor was fighting in the distance. Keeping her portal available to those who were still retreating from the hastily constructed camp they were in was the best she could do while listening to Dazien give a verbal play-by-play over the mental communication ability while their party was split in ...

54 - They’ll Sing Songs

Smoke that tasted like ozone filled Paul’s magical equivalent of lungs as he dove into the roiling storm of broken enchantments and disrupted rituals mixing with the ambient mana and erupting in a violent reaction of nature. Despite not needing to breathe, Paul used the action to his advantage with each scent giving a signal of where danger might lay.

The feel of heat to his left helped him ...

53 - Trouble

“Paul, wait!” Everin shouted at him and he paused his flight in the air to glance back at the Emerald Caster trying in vain to catch up to him but he still heard the words carried on the wind, “At least let me cast my Boons on you! Anything to give you an edge against another Ruby in your state.”

“The Rebel Fox is correct,” Orebela stated in his mind, “Wayland should...