Tsaimath

DLM, Bk 5 - Ch 18

An ancient philosopher had once said that ‘homo homini lupus’, that the worst predators facing humans, were other humans. The events after the panel-discussion exemplified that principle in stark tones, as a feeding frenzy was triggered in which countless people and institutions came out and made their opinions known, ripping into participants and bystanders, oftentimes ignoring the circumstances and singling out one party to make their point.

Everyone, from progressives to conserva...

Chapter 496

Sigmir and Ylva, joined together in their Avatar-state, were an awe-inspiring sight. Their overall size wasn’t that different from Sigmir’s normal, hulking form but instead of the face I adored, their head was clearly canine in nature, covered in soft-looking, silvery-white fur, with a pair of cute ears on top. If we weren’t engaged in a fight for our lives, I would want to pet them, simply to find out if their fur was as soft as it looked and if those ears were as sensitive as Sigmir�...

Chapter 495

Crashing into the forest was a little unpleasant, our speed not lending itself to caution or avoidance. Instead, Adra and Sigmir simply barreled through, branches breaking and leaves scattering in their wake. Even I, moving in the back of our formation, got scratched up but getting under cover was vital, certainly more important than some minor discomfort.

The shrubs slowed us down, turning our frantic dash into a quick walk, as Sigmir took the lead and used her impressive strength to m...

Chapter 494

After spending a peaceful night under the stars, all of us were quite a bit more upbeat than we had been underground. Living underground might be suitable for some beings, but none of us was one of those beings. Even I, who arguably was more suited to Darkness, craved the open skies and fresh air, not the silent, oppressive weight of a mountain above me, pressing me down. It made me wonder, how would I feel within a mountain of Ice? Would it be similar to the feeling within the mountains or w...

DLM, Bk. 5, Ch 17

“Galatea, do you think there is a way to incorporate a popcorn-dispenser into my mask?” I asked, watching the chaos unfold after I had finished my remarks, with the presentation playing in the background.

It was almost hilarious, at first, Senator Murphy turned an interesting shade of white, before blushing in embarrassment, which quickly morphed into anger. His microphone, which I had graciously turned back on, managed to pick up and amplify his mumbled words, as he tried to escape...

Chapter 493

After killing the Manticore, things went downhill, fast. Mostly because we travelled for the rest of the day without really caring for the exact direction we were moving in, simply following the river and the valley it had carved downwards. The idea was to hopefully get back below the treeline, find some forest to hide in, where the Manticores couldn’t see us from above and where trees would hinder their movement if it came to a fight. Trying to return to the ancient road could wait until w...

DLM, Bk5, Ch. 16v2

• AN: Rewrite for the last chapter, there'll be another chapter on the weekend. Hopefully, this feels more invovled, compared to the original version. 

“Good evening and welcome to this forum, debating the future of Powered in Society. With us tonight are Senator Murphy, one of the authors of the Powered Registration and Recognition-Act, Ms Lopez, a senatorial candidate, running on a platform of reforming the same act, Metis, an Associate Member of t...

Chapter 492

It was easy to recognise the moment in which my curse settled within the Blood of the Manticore. Where before, its movements had been sharp, putting tremendous pressure on Sigmir, to the point that only the combined assistance from Rai, Adra and Olivia managed to keep Sigmir in one piece, suddenly, the Manticore’s movements became dull, its muscles no longer able to perform to the beast’s desire.

With the weakness coursing through the Manticore’s limbs, Sigmir was able to keep up ...

Chapter 491

“Finally.” I let out a soft sigh, even as a part of me wanted to pour out expletive after expletive. I had never thought that the burning light of the sun would ever be so welcome to me, For three days, we had followed the underground river, as it slowly made its way through the rocks, at times joining into other streams, easily doubling its volume of water. We had been forced to remain constantly vigilant against the spider-rats and whatever creature the powerful magic I had felt belonge...

DLM, Bk. 5, Ch 16

• AN: Old version, see V2 for the re-write. 

The opening remarks were nothing inspired, the moderator simply introducing the various participants in the discussion, with me being introduced as Metis, of the Powered Human Cooperation Guild without adding any additional information. Given that what little reputation I had mostly came from the Greene’s attempts to paint me a villain, I was just fine with being largely unknown. In contrast, the introduction of each...

Chapter 490

Travelling along the underground river was both a lot easier compared to travelling through the narrow tunnels we had travelled in the days before but it came with its own challenges. Just the cold, moist air was uncomfortable, somehow managing to seep into my bones despite my affinity to Ice and there were various colonies of mushrooms around that were not very fun guys. Rai was the first to start coughing, causing me to wonder if the air had managed to get to him, but when I checked with my...

Chapter 489

“Kill the lights!” I hissed, dropping down to the others, trying to land as softly as possibly. I didn’t quite succeed, but given the distances involved, I was reasonably certain the rat-spider-things wouldn’t be able to hear us. The light though, they might have already noticed that. Luckily, Olivia didn’t ask questions, instead the golden flames on her staff instantly winked out of existence, leaving us in complete darkness once more.

“What did you see?” she asked, sound...

Chapter 488

I did spend some more time exploring the area around the underground river, before pulling my tendrils back and exploring the other direction. There, it was more of the same, narrow tunnels that continued on without rhyme or reason. We might be able to find a path there, at least if we invested enough time, but it would be challenging. On the other hand, the river would reach the surface at some point, though it was just as questionable if the path it took to the surface was traversable for u...

DLM- Bk 5, Ch 15

After a few rounds of communication were exchanged between Brightstar, Senator Murphy’s office and the election-campaign of another politician, a woman by the name Lopez, we managed to schedule the event between the four of us for the last day of the event. While I would have been very much in favour of a small, private discussion, the others had pushed the idea of an open panel that allowed the public to ask questions directly, even adding an open online-stream for that purpose. Everyone w...

Chapter 487

Traversing the caverns beneath the White Mountains was a lot less fun than I had thought. Sure, we didn’t have to worry about Manticores swooping down on us from the sky to tear us to pieces, instead the dark and narrow caverns made even me feel claustrophobic, worried that I’d suddenly get stuck. I yearned for the open skies, to feel the wind on my face and see the moon and stars above. Even the darkness around me had turned stale, the refreshing fragrance of Ice fading the deeper we got...

Chapter 486

It took me a while of fiddling around until I managed to get a somewhat useful image from my magical eyes. It wasn’t detailed, or containing colour, more akin to a grainy image taken by a pin-hole camera but it was good enough to identify tunnels, simple environmental dangers and, hopefully, monsters if there were any. The range was a little short, just a few meters, but compared to fumbling my way forward in the dark, it was preferable.

After taking a break, getting some cold food an...

Chapter 485

Once we all were well and truly within the cave, I let myself relax and took in my surroundings. Or rather, I tried to, for once, not even the night vision granted to me by my elven heritage and affinity for Darkness allowed my eyes to see. Out of curiosity, I closed my eyes for a moment, only for nothing to change. But just because I couldn’t see didn’t mean I couldn’t perceive my surroundings. Infusing the darkness around me with a trace of my Astral Power gave me an idea of my surrou...

DLM, Bk 5, Ch 14

There was a question, how do you treat a male, whom you have just watched carnally enjoying himself, out in the open, with a female obviously not his wife? A female who, on a casual check on my part, was currently getting out of a car, in front of a private clinic? A private clinic that specialised in women’s health?

While feigning polite indifference regarding the conversation between Brightstar and the male, also known as Senator Murphy, I decided to get advice from the only source ...

Chapter 484

Beneath that small fissure, barely wide enough to allow my body entry, was so much more. After a few meters of that narrow crag, it widened into a proper cave, possibly created by some ancient glacier. I could almost feel the remains of Ice in the Darkness, even if my body wasn’t physically there, I thought I could taste the delicious taste of the stillness of Ice in the air. Once I reached that point, I pulled myself together, reducing the area I was perceiving, along with the amount of As...

Chapter 483

After three days of nightly skulking and hiding in small caves by day, I was about ready to try something stupid. It grated at me, in ways I couldn’t quite explain, to have the open skies denied to me. I yearned to walk beneath the stars without having to conceal myself, to let the wind play with my hair as it streamed through my fingers, maybe to climb the nearby peaks and enjoy the nigh eternal glaciers, yet, all that was impossible as long as the cursed Manticores were out there, hunting...

Chapter 482

The less said about the cave Lenore found for us, the better. It barely qualified as a cave, merely a large hole in the cliff, giving us a little shetler, but once we all were inside, it was… cozy. Very cozy, to the point that Adra and Rai essentially ended up sitting on each other, while I considered retreating into my Hallow, so that only Lenore took up space.

“Are you sure the Manticores won’t find us in here?” Sigmir asked, looking skeptically out of the narrow entrance. The...

DLM- Bk 5, Ch 13

Once more, humanity managed to confound me. After three days of conference, which I had mostly attended as a silent presence, talking little and saying even less, there finally had been an interesting presentation with panel-discussion. The topic at issue had been the use of Mental Powers in Law Enforcement, with a particular focus on less-than-lethal subdual. Or, in simple terms, how useful would the ability to simply render someone incapacitated at range, without any actual physical side-ef...

Chapter 481

It was interesting how the others instantly looked up, into the sky, the moment they left the cave. It might be a yearning for the open sky, born from being forced to hide in a cave for a couple of days, it might be a cautious reaction caused by the hostile presence above. I wasn’t certain, and didn’t want to draw attention to something so unpleasant.

Instead, I focused on my own spellwork, what I considered to be the most difficult part about our retreat. It was one thing to concea...

Chapter 480

With the time-sensitive things out of the way, my newly established family retreated into our connection a little. In some ways, it was a weird idea, a family consisting of four females, none of which were the same species, two of which not even humanoid, but at the same time, the connection between us made it feel right. My connection with Lenore was unchanged, at least to my perception, while the connection with Sigmir had a little more bandwidth, for lack of a better word, allowing me to s...

Chapter 479

“Certainly.” I agreed, while Sigmir turned to look at Olivia and Rai, who had just entered the cave through the narrowed opening. “We were just talking about it, but I’d be glad to include you.”

“I’m not sure if you’ve heard, but the Manticores found us yesterday. Sigmir insisted on staying here, until you returned and she mostly sealed off the entrance when one of the Manticores tried to get in. Which leads us to the current situation, they can’t get in without massiv...

DLM, Bk 5, Ch 12

Inside the convention-center, the earlier feeling of incongruity returned. While there were not many people around just yet, after all the actual convention had yet to start, the people who were around exhibited a rather strange contrast. On one hand, there were the costumed Powered, mostly dressed in colourful, often tight, outfits, many with capes, some even with a strange underwear-above-spandex-look that made me question the sanity of the wearers. On the other hand, there were the mundane...

Chapter 478

When I was finally able to log back into Road to Purgatory, the first ten seconds were a little weird. I could perceive my surroundings and look around, but I couldn’t move the rest of my body. Nor did it look like my companions noticed me, with Adra sitting nearby, resting against the cave-wall.

After those few seconds to orient myself, I became able to freely move, fully part of Mundus again. Instantly, I could feel Lenore, who obviously became able to feel me in turn, bombarding me...

Chapter 477

After the meeting with Chris, I considered his suggestion on my way home. If I wanted to follow the life-path that society generally deemed to be appropriate, accepting his offer and trying to make my way within an ordinary company would be the way to go. But was such a path really the path I wanted to pursue, either now or at all? Would I find happiness, or at least comfort and contendness, if I walked down that path? Or was my Road the one to Purgatory, living in a world that most people wo...

Chapter 476

After exiting the game, I just sat for a few seconds, before laughter bubbled up within me. Dying for the first time, not in some epic battle or fighting against impossible odds, but because a magical experiment gone awry. It was so strangely fitting, I could only laugh at it.

Shaking my head, I decided to do what every good scientist would do after an experiment had wholly unexpected side-effects, namely look at the data. In this case, a lot of data was lost or locked behind that count...

DLM, BK 5 Ch 11

Watching the memorial, made from the bent and scorched remains of the towers that once stood in its place brought a somber mood with it. The incident had happened before I had been born, even before my mother’s birth, but some of its consequences echoed into our presence. It reminded me that dedication was the important quality, not the presence of Powers. A small group of mundanes, armed with nothing but simple weapons and the will to lay down their lives had taken hundreds of lives, the r...