Kurt tried to bury the strange, cold emotion he felt. He pushed it deep beneath the thick glass that seemed to cover over almost all his emotions.
Somehow, it didn’t work.
He had seen James Robard again, the reunion he’d wished for these last weeks, much earlier than he had any right or reason to expect. The enemy he’d wanted so badly to destroy.
Now that idea seemed like a childish fantasy. When James descended on the battlefield—what was supposed to be the field of...
2023-12-05 18:39:18 +0000 UTC
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The second night began much worse for the Rodriguez camp than the first had.
Where before, they had been assaulted by an unseen menace, and a few members of the family kidnapped in the darkness, tonight their enemy was more brazen.
Strange dancing lights appeared in the dark mist that shrouded the night sky.
Ramon, Felicia, and Hector were on patrol together. They all saw the floating night lights.
“What are those?” Felicia asked, looking at Ramon as if he would ha...
2023-12-02 03:50:09 +0000 UTC
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As if from a great distance, Mina heard Cara yelling, followed by a clash of steel.
Mina had trouble focusing on anything besides the pain radiating from her abdomen. Her eyes clenched shut as she tried to assess what was happening to her body.
My baby! Are you okay?
There was a feeling in her abdomen that reminded Mina of a more intense version of period cramps. She thought she knew what that meant. Her mother had told her what to expect years ago. A very effective...
2023-12-01 03:35:33 +0000 UTC
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The sound of footsteps drew closer as Mina’s mind worked quickly to decide what they should do next.
“Hey, don’t worry,” Cara said, intruding on her thoughts. Mina turned and saw the other woman had her sword drawn and had assumed a fighting pose. “If there are enemies, I’ll protect you and your baby.” She flashed Mina a confident grin.
To think I was so annoyed at you just a minute or so ago. Mina felt slightly guilty, but she silently stepped to the side a...
2023-11-29 20:07:15 +0000 UTC
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“I hope everyone enjoys their breakfast,” DaSilva said, beaming at the Cook. “You should all thank Alba for cooking for us after this.”
“It’s really my pleasure,” Alba said evenly. “Please enjoy. I have to go and find my own team.”
“Well, if you ever want to ditch them, we could definitely use someone like you!” DaSilva said.
She gave the group a little smile and walked away.
“Isn’t it nice, all of us getting together like this?” Karen said....
2023-11-29 03:27:33 +0000 UTC
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The ground quaked once more, but it was weaker the second time.
There was a third tremor, but at that point, James knew he’d won. Those were death throes as much as they were real attempts to escape.
He burned himself out trying to break out of that tomb.
“Is he dead?” The woman in white asked. She had approached slowly, cautiously, from the edge of the battlefield. She leaned on her companion to walk.
“Give it a minute,” James said, shrugging. “We...
2023-11-27 23:25:33 +0000 UTC
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Moishe retreated into the forest. He moved as quickly as he could in the direction the former prisoners had run. Jeffrey Ross’s body lay slumped over his shoulders.
Cecilia slithered through the trees above them, keeping pace quite easily with the weight of a human body slowing Moishe down.
Ross’s breathing was shallow and ragged, his heart rate weak and slowly dropping, but as James had noted, he was still alive.
Seems like a head shot isn’t what it used to be
2023-11-25 15:46:29 +0000 UTC
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Nikolai Rostov was enjoying a wonderful dream.
The ladies were all over him, and they were not shy. Hands roamed all across the landscape of his body, and where fingers touched, lips followed. In Rostov’s dreams, all massages seemed to have happy endings.
As he anticipated an intensification of pleasure, there was a sudden piercing noise in his ear.
What the fuck?!
His eyes fluttered open, his brain struggling between the sharp noise and the temptations of t...
2023-11-23 19:13:44 +0000 UTC
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After DaSilva had departed, Yulia put away her headphones and smartphone.
“What did the Detective have to show you that I couldn’t see?” she asked.
“Pictures of remains from the killings,” Mina replied. “The killer is more monstrous than we realized before.”
Aren’t all murderers monstrous in one way or another? Yulia questioned to herself. She stared at her sister, who seemed to be lost in thought.
“Was there anything else?” Yulia ...
2023-11-22 20:00:08 +0000 UTC
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After another half hour of waiting outside, the System teleported Mina and her teammates back to their pre-challenge locations. Mina and Yulia were back in the inn.
“Let’s go back up to our room,” Mina suggested almost instantly. She smiled nervously as she spoke.
“Okay,” Yulia said. She wondered what Mina was worried about, exactly, but she didn’t ask. If Mina thought she needed to know, she would explain. Hopefully she was just being her usual careful self.
Min...
2023-11-22 03:29:34 +0000 UTC
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James closed his eyes.
His Skin Balloon had transmitted an audiovisual message to him. If he closed his eyes, he could see it like a movie in his mind.
There was a figure striding through the Rostov campground. It took James a moment to identify Officer Ross from the distant aerial perspective, but then he recognized the Officer’s profile and gait. Officer Ross ducked into the largest tent in the camp site. A few long, tense seconds passed. Then there was a gunshot.
“Wel...
2023-11-21 02:36:02 +0000 UTC
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Officer Ross checked on Leonard Robie once he was done dealing with Kassim and the others. Robie was dead, with a fresh snake bite visible on his neck.
But no snake was found nearby. In the morning, Ross had decided, he would argue for killing Moishe right away. The snake would probably continue carrying out his wishes until the Assassin was killed. Better not to have a nonhuman enemy that would be so difficult to spot on the loose somewhere near the camp.
But it wasn’t worth di...
2023-11-18 03:08:21 +0000 UTC
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“What were you doing?” Hester asked once he had returned to his body.
Impressive that she noticed so quickly that I was back. He hadn’t opened his eyes or even moved since returning.
“I was rigging things in our favor,” James said, choosing to be mysterious. “How could you tell so quickly that I was back inside my body?”
“Oh, that’s easy,” she replied modestly. “Anyone could tell, especially if they were living on your body like I am. When you...
2023-11-16 20:00:03 +0000 UTC
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DaSilva led the group from the back of the cave to its mouth in relative silence.
Their faces were all set with the same look of grim, sweaty determination.
As they reached the landing that connected the cave to the bridge, DaSilva took another look at his team. People were nervous, and hiding it poorly. Despite the heat, DaSilva heard at least one set of teeth chattering out of sheer anxiety.
He didn’t try to identify the person. There was no way to single them out for a ...
2023-11-16 05:27:39 +0000 UTC
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As the last of the team donated blood, the vase filled up to the brim.
Creepy shit, DaSilva thought. Like something I’d expect to see in a horror movie.
And then the floor behind the vase opened up. A single ripple went through the surface of the blood as the floor quietly moved. DaSilva found himself strangely apprehensive that the vase might topple over and spill crimson everywhere.
DaSilva forced himself to look away from the vase and tilted his head t...
2023-11-14 22:06:01 +0000 UTC
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“A strange story,” James said after Jeremiah Rotter finished speaking.
“But I assure you, it’s completely tr—”
“I believe you.” James cut him off. “It sounds like the Dead Marsh is quite dangerous.”
Anansi had already told him as much, so that wasn’t staggering news. Hearing more details about the threat didn’t change the nature of the mission.
“Yet you still intend to go there?” Rotter asked in disbelief. “Also, where did you get that nam...
2023-11-13 20:38:31 +0000 UTC
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The Rodriguez camp managed to forge further forward despite the marshy terrain and the unpleasant miasma that hung over it.
After Ramon’s return from scouting, the family gathered and resolved to remain together and try to hide in the swamp, rather than scattering to better evade the cultists. Almost everyone except Chava was on the same page there. Although the family members respected his pragmatic reasoning, they uniformly preferred to live or die together rather than apart.
...
2023-11-10 20:00:04 +0000 UTC
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Kurt Royersford held his teeth gritted in a grim smile.
He ignored the flailing resistance of the human gripped tightly in his arms.
“Aaaaah! Somebody help me! Guys! Where the fuck are you?!” The man screamed. He was completely unaware of what had happened to the rest of his friends who had been wandering alongside him through the mist.
Although Kurt’s emotions were less than they had been as a human, he enjoyed the man’s cries. He found himself wondering if James Ro...
2023-11-09 21:53:44 +0000 UTC
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James shook his head, irritated.
My dream was just getting to the good part, he thought. He hadn’t been able to visit anyone else’s dreams this time. It seemed everyone he knew was awake, and he’d had a problem when he tried to find Mina’s dream.
Where the dreams of people he knew in this Orientation were like flickering flames in the darkness, Mina and Yulia’s dreams seemed to be blocked off somewhere. Perhaps he needed Anansi’s help to cross the barrier betw...
2023-11-08 20:00:04 +0000 UTC
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Hopefully we don’t run into too many more of those, James thought. I don’t want to get guts all over my clothes, and they really stink.
He used Pillage, selected Stats, directed the new equipment into his bag, and then walked on.
Five minutes later, a half dozen giant centipedes burst from the sand.
James threw out two Air Strikes, used Pillage again, bagged the new gear once more, and continued on his way.
This happened ten times, at shorter and ...
2023-11-07 20:00:02 +0000 UTC
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Yulia Danailova felt nervous and excited at the same time as she approached the group.
They all looked so much more prepared than she felt. Jose Dante and his brother wore Mage and Healer robes respectively and wielded matching staves. Cara Dahlhaus wore Light Warrior armor. Detective DaSilva looked a bit like a tank in his Heavy Warrior gear. The other Warriors likewise bristled with armor and weapons. Even the other Mages and Healer of the group, despite having no armor, just look...
2023-11-06 20:00:04 +0000 UTC
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“I already told a few people that you were with me at the time that the population counter ticked down,” DaSilva said. “Still. You and the girl should stay out of sight for the rest of the day. People are angry and stressed and looking for someone to blame.”
“Yulia and I will stay here together, Detective.” It was hard to even be annoyed at DaSilva for forgetting Yulia’s name. It sounded as if he was keeping them out of some real danger. “Will we be safe if we come out f...
2023-11-04 02:12:23 +0000 UTC
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As Moishe Rose rejoined the Rodriguez camp, he found them in poor order.
Moving, yes. They had packed everything up and were on the move when he caught up to them. Rightfully afraid of the cultists and Rostov’s evil god, yes. None of the wanted to be sacrificed. But still, they were far slower and less organized, less certain, than they had been when he’d last seen them.
Perhaps the morale was slowly draining out of them. The hope.
Rumor had clearly spread among the fami...
2023-11-03 02:58:14 +0000 UTC
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James took a step forward, and Anansi raised one limb in the universal gesture for ‘wait just a second.’
“I have one more thing to pass along before you leave, James.” His long, raised limb reached out, and James saw a tiny spider resting on the tip.
“Oh, one of your children,” James said, a little uncertainly. “You did mention keeping in touch.”
“Yes,” Anansi agreed. “Hester is a descendant, and she carries man...
2023-11-01 23:16:36 +0000 UTC
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Mina woke to the sound of a knock at the door, and she felt instantly anxious.
Her eye jumped straight to the population counter, but it said: [3,395/3,397 Survivors]
Thank goodness, she thought. Only two dead.
No one had died while she slept. Yulia was still asleep beside her, lightly snoring, chest rising and falling slowly and peacefully. All was right with the world.
Then the knock came again.
This time, Mina only twitched s...
2023-11-01 01:56:08 +0000 UTC
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I'm story number 3, "The Mines of Coventry"!
I'm not that confident in this, because I don't usually write short fiction, and I've never written anything horror-adjacent before, but if any of you decide to give this your eyeballs, I hope you enjoy it!
If you like my story, I also appreciate your vote for fan favorite story.
2023-11-01 01:52:17 +0000 UTC
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“Wake up! Wake up, everyone!” Ramon shouted at the top of his lungs as he came through the camp’s perimeter.
Within seconds, the camp was filled with the loud commotion of people rousing, realizing what was going on, and shaking others.
“Is this real, Ramon?” Cliff Rogers appeared in a state of partial dress—no pants, although thankfully his boxers and sweat-stained button down shirt concealed everything important—and asked the obvious groggily.
Ramon kept hims...
2023-10-30 16:57:57 +0000 UTC
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“Is it possible to resurrect the dead? Not generally,” Anansi answered slowly.
“You’re not going to give me any more than that, huh?”
“You’re not going to use up another question to get a better answer, I suppose,” Anansi replied. James felt as if the Spider God was smirking behind his mask. “Fine. I’ll give you a freebie. Resurrection in one form or another might be possible, but only if the soul is bound to the physic...
2023-10-28 03:23:43 +0000 UTC
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“So, I have to choose between my destructive power and your more mysterious set of offerings,” James mused.
“You won’t be giving up your offensive power completely,” Anansi said. “I can’t offer you a massive power boost whenever you’re destroying something, but some of the advantages I can grant you will make you deadlier—and in a more targeted way than just blowing things up!”
“Well...
2023-10-27 01:10:25 +0000 UTC
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Ramon raced through the forest.
Every minute he saved by moving more quickly would add to his family’s chances of survival.
I don’t know how that Rose fellow thinks he’s going to do anything against the cultists, he thought. But then, it seemed more about revenge for him than anything else. Maybe he’s prepared to die for that.
Whether Moishe would actually succeed in fighting the cultists for very long or not, Ramon couldn’t afford to waste the di...
2023-10-25 21:05:02 +0000 UTC
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