Misbegotten Memories

Chapter 89

His new schedule had barely been established when the third daughter returned. Volithur found himself summoned to meet with her in the room where the family council usually met. Master Zara sat between the Castellan and the Marshal, both of whom were standing. She began to speak without even looking up from the papers in front of her.

“Harridan, I regret to inform you that your wardship has been terminated. This does not reflect poorly upon you. Rather it is a matter of all wards bein...

Exclusive #4: Watch It Burn

Malachi fumbled the rune-covered spear in his hands and almost dropped it. Fortunately, Rodrick was nearby. His muscular friend jumped forward and brought down his comically large sword to chop the head off the hyena with tentacles. Both of them leaped back to avoid the splash of inky liquid and the foul mist it decomposed into. The very first rule of fighting the monsters was to beware their miasma.

“What was that, Malachi?”

“It has octopus arms!” Or at least it had. The ...

Chapter 88

The delivery of the second bottle of uncut spirits proved a good distraction. He generously allowed Khana a taste of it, which resulted in a mess on the rug and her cursing the vile beverage as an evil poison. He consumed the rest over the course of the next twenty-four hours.

Between that and cultivating chaos, he was seeing rapid progress towards level six. According to his calculations, he should be able to go from an empty soul to the peak of level five in about thirty-eight days. H...

Chapter 87

Volithur only got through half the bottle that evening before hiding it on the floor and laying down to sleep. He had a pounding headache from his smashed radius and ulna bones and the horrid substance he had been drinking. The disgusting beverage had proven its value. He barely had to work to drag energy into his soul. It automatically seeped where he wanted it to, as if it wanted to help him. Probably because it felt guilty for what it had done to his taste buds and stomach lining.

He...

Chapter 86

Khana found him not much later. Volithur hid his discomfort behind a mask of heroic stoicism.

“Did the thirty-second son do that?”

He clenched his jaw. “With one squeeze of his hand.”

“That’s terrible! When you see the Lord General, tell him –”

“I’ll tell him nothing,” Volithur interrupted. “I’m a commoner. Aramar is the son of a lord.”

“He’s a petty tyrant,” Khana muttered.

Volithur glanced towards the door to make sure it...

Chapter 85

Dorian’s spear swung hard at Volithur’s face.

Training took over and Volithur circled his arm around to trap the spear. He stepped in with a head butt, causing Dorian to flinch back. His opponent’s aura prevented any damage, but that had been a secondary goal. Volithur’s primary intention had been to claim the spear, which he managed in the exchange.

With a flurry of motion, Volithur stabbed and swung at Dorian. The boy’s aura flared brilliantly, demonstrating a complete...

Chapter 84

The morning came too quickly. Volithur suckled from chaos as he forced down a few pieces of toast for breakfast. The Marshal stopped at his table and sat wearily. “I have further news, Ward Harridan. This evening every soldier capable of fighting will leave to contest the Jinn for control of an unempowered world.”

The toast that hadn’t wanted to enter his stomach decided it wanted to escape back the way it had come. Volithur forced down the nausea. “We’re going to an unempower...

Chapter 83

Advanced class, in many ways, felt like a repeat of when Volithur first moved up to the intermediate class. In other words, he clearly demonstrated to everyone how monumentally incompetent he was.

The class of six students were led through ‘fifth limb drills’ by the Sergeant. These were energy conservative combat movements that utilized a single cable of force. There were trips, pushes, lashes, and strangles in the repertoire. Volithur lacked the fine control of his domain to reliab...

Chapter 82

The days passed quickly for Volithur, with good food, lots of private time with his wife, and a fair amount of cultivation. Though he felt he’d earned a break from his leveling efforts, there were two facts that forced him to continue his obsessive energy gathering. First, he needed to have some energy reserves when he returned to training. Following his advancement, his soul had been drained of any free energy. Sparring without any energy would be exceedingly unpleasant.

The second f...

Chapter 81

The door clanged open.

Volithur reached his feet approximately half a second later. He walked straight past Master Liam as the man bent to lift the ewer of water. “You must return to the cell, Ward… ah, never mind. I see you are due to be released.”

Standing in the cramped hall of the basement level, Volithur felt his heart flutter with excitement. The aesthetics may not be appreciably different where he was, but being on the other side of the door represented everything he ...

Chapter 80

When Volithur’s rage cooled, he began to cultivate chaos. His new conviction brought a clarity to his existence that had been lacking ever since his parents died. He was no longer the weak child who had helplessly watched their execution. With his current power level he could have eliminated the soldiers who did the deed.

Some day he would have the power to punish the leaders. That was his purpose. To grow strong enough to destroy those who had wronged him. It shamed him that he had t...

Chapter 79

The Marshal cleared his throat. “Jokes about violating the Lord General’s commands are inappropriate, Master Evan. Ward Harridan is being trained for a purpose.”

“Of course, of course,” Master Evan waved away the criticism. “I merely observed how convenient his services could be for the family. Maybe if the Lord General rejects the boy.”

A middle-aged woman with a serious expression snapped her fingers. “Enough of your foolish talk, Evan. I think we are all convinc...

Chapter 78

Eyes followed Volithur as he filled a plate with breakfast foods. He didn’t get further than picking up his spoon before the Marshal was at his side. “I need to speak with you immediately, Ward Harridan.”

Volithur resisted the urge to frown. “Can I bring my food with me?”

The Marshal lowered his voice. “That depends on who you have been acquiring your resources from. It doesn’t matter how much favor the Lord General has shown you, extorting from the family will cause...

Some character art

Chapter 77

Hector did his best to ignore Evelyn’s driving. He had passed over the keys because he wanted to concentrate on his cultivation during their trip back home from Professor Rahman’s hometown. He’d reached level three the previous day and was eager to power ahead.

The fact that his dream ended with Volithur getting to level four annoyed him. He’d gone to sleep proud to have caught up in level with his dream counterpart, then awoken to discover himself behind once more. As irrationa...

Chapter 76

The Marshal walked Volithur to the intermediate skill class for sparring. When Instructor Lisbet saw their approach, she called a halt to the action. “Class! Welcome Master Harridan back!”

“Welcome, Master Harridan!”

Volithur stood dumbfounded at the form of address. Master Harridan? Had his status really changed so drastically? Were they just messing with him because he’d been missing in action for a few weeks? The Marshal’s next words made clear exactly...

Chapter 75

The blunted tip of a practice spear came hard at his gut. Volithur used the haft of his own spear to redirect the tip. Then the butt of the Marshal’s spear spun around to clip him in the head.

Volithur defended himself with his aura, halting the attack completely. When he followed up with a stab of his own, the Marshal circled the spear butt and tapped Volithur’s weapon down and then stepped in to knock Volithur back. His aura rose in time to protect him from the worst of the strike...

Chapter 74

The lack of a gently swaying hammock caused Volithur to startle awake. He sat up in a panic, not sure where he was. The only normal beds he had slept in since his abduction had been at the academic competition and when he stayed at the militia infirmary after a beating from Master Dorian. After a moment, his memory returned.

That… was less than helpful. He remembered the Lord General’s departure and glimpsing the deepest secrets of the universe. Then being in a soft bed in the dark....

Exclusive #3: Kevin Uploads

A quick inspection proved his freshly starched uniform was in perfect condition. Kevin took a deep breath as he pulled open the door and marched inside. At ten paces out from the panel’s table he snapped to attention and raised his right hand in a crisp salute. The salute was returned and he dropped his hand. “Commodore Kevin reporting for assignment, sirs.”

The chairman of the committee tapped at the glass table, causing records to display on its surface. “Your scores are exemp...

Chapter 73

“Hector! Hector! Wake up!”

Infinite variations of chaos swam before him, transforming again and again.

“Do we call an ambulance?”

“Maybe! I don’t know what’s wrong with him!”

“I’m going to get Rahman to come in.”

“Hector!”

Chaos into cosmic energy. The truth vibrated in resonance with a deeper reality Hector saw stretching away all about him. He knew it with such certainty that he couldn’t imagine why he never understood before. ...

Chapter 72

Author's Note: Anyone who doesn't want to face a narrative cliff should consider waiting until tomorrow to read this chapter at the same time as the next one. (Special Saturday release.)

In other notes, Monday there will be exclusive content detailing the experience of a Jinn uploading their mind and leaving human biology behind -- I had a lot of fun writing this one so hopefully that translates to the reading experience. Finally, I am starting a community chat in case people want to di...

Chapter 71

Volithur sat with the retinue in a room at the very peak of the pyramid. The ceiling cap was the blue-green of copper verdigris, the sloping sides of the room were glass, and the floor was solid stone. They could look in any direction and see the estate of the Fifth Household with the city beyond its boundaries. Their seats had been provided by a dour member of the retinue called Stowaway, summoned out of nowhere as if by magic. The goblets of wine in everyone’s hands had come from the serv...

Chapter 70

Hector startled awake to the sound of Jeremy’s incessant sneezing. Evelyn growled beside him and pulled a pillow over her head.

“Important events were happening in my dream,” Hector said.

“I’m sorry you picked a hotel with so much dust,” Jeremy shot back.

“We’re not letting him into our room again,” Evelyn said.

Jeremy sneezed once more. “Are you going to pay for two rooms, Hector?”

Rather than promise anything, Hector chose to continue his ...

Chapter 69

Those two weeks seemed to take forever. Volithur cultivated like mad, trying to distract himself from the worries in his head. The soldiers joked with him about his upcoming marriage, but otherwise he heard nothing about it. No one in a position of authority said or did anything to confirm that the ceremony would still take place. Khana never came to see him in the barracks and he didn’t dare sneak into the main building in search of her.

Fortunately, he received his weekly tea powder...

Chapter 68

Volithur lost all semblance of coordination once he completed enhancement of his hamstrings. His tailbone had become permanently tucked and the fronts of his hips ached from fighting the tension. The situation made walking painful and effective fighting impossible. He took a lot of damage during weaponless combat training before Instructor Lisbet pulled him aside several days into the experience.

When she learned that the reason for his performance had to do with body enhancement and no...

Exclusive #2: Recovery's Realm

Vanessa, Sage of Recovery, sighed as the Jinn hospital monitors made the bad beeps. She squeezed the cold hand one final time, wishing the deceased a peaceful journey. The Yazata did not preach of any afterlife, but the church Vanessa attended claimed such a thing possible even if there was no scriptural support. It was a comforting belief. If only she could truly believe it.

She moved down the line in the packed ward to the next bed. The woman on this one was conscious still, her eyes ...

Chapter 67

Hector turned away from the potent blast of dog breath that greeted his return to consciousness. He scratched Jasmine behind the ear as he considered the next fumbling steps intended to save the world. They had managed to contact Professor Rahman and were going on a bit of a road trip to meet the man. That meant six hours in a car with Evelyn and Jeremy, followed by ambushing an educator who thought they wanted to talk about technology.

Pushing the self doubt from his mind, he set about...

Chapter 66

They joined a ring of onlookers at its outer rim. At the center of the ring, a man in a cook’s uniform knelt cradling several severed digits in his good hand, the other hand a bleeding mess. On the ground beside him a frail form lay still in death, a cleaver embedded in her skull so that her face wore a red mask.

Others in the crowd shared what they had seen, eager for the spotlight sharing gossip gave them.

“The cook’s assistant went crazy and sliced the cook’s hand.” ...

Chapter 65

After being seen to be chummy with Master Corey, Volithur found himself released from the extra exercise session following lunch. The Sergeant instructed him to cultivate inside the barracks at the conclusion of sparring, a command which Volithur eagerly obeyed. No one openly asked what his conversation with the noble had been about, but plenty of eyes followed his every move that day.

The next morning, the Marshal collected him after breakfast to have a meeting with the family council....

Chapter 64

As Volithur cultivated in the barracks dining hall, struggling to restore some cosmic energy to his emptied soul space, Cook’s Assistant Ava arrived for the dinner delivery. Caught up in his aura movements, Volithur barely noticed her appearance or when she set out the meal. It was only when she sat down across from him at his table that he came back to himself.

The girl wore sadness like a glove. “Everyone at the palace is talking about you.”

Volithur sighed. “I’m not s...