The night moved quickly for the motionless Adon and Goldie.
The butterfly hardly noticed that time was passing at all. At some point, he was aware of movement, but only because Samson and the other spiderlings had approached them on the bed. Seeing the way that Adon and Goldie were wrapped in an embrace, the little spiders joined them.
Adon was aware that he was part of a strange bundle of exoskeletal embracing—but it was basically just a group hug, so he didn’t move. In his b...
2024-09-21 13:20:17 +0000 UTC
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Welcome back, Adon, Goldie sent drowsily as the butterfly settled on the bed covers beside her.
She looked up and to the right of where Adon had landed. There was a candle up there that the servant who had carried Samson back had lit—to make it easier for the butterfly to find his way back to the room later, the man had quietly explained.
It seemed the candle had succeeded in its mission.
Thank you, Goldie, Adon sent, clearly trying to use his inside voic...
2024-09-18 19:59:10 +0000 UTC
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“I am called Evangeline,” volunteered the bat representative quietly. “I won the right to be senior to my sisters by triumphing in the melee we held the day before yesterday.” She looked at James with an inscrutable expression. “By our customs, I am the strongest of our kind and therefore the leader, though of course subordinate to His Majesty.”
“Welcome, Evangeline,” James said. The bat had a subtle intensity to her that made him rethink any idea he might have had...
2024-09-18 17:00:09 +0000 UTC
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Adon’s exoskeleton expanded and contracted, broke down and re-formed, as his body sought to obey his command and reshape itself to a degree it had never attempted before.
The process of trying to use Transformation to shift to a different species was the closest that Adon had come to dismantling his own body since Evolution—in which he had actually dissolved into a semi-liquid state before forming a new body.
Rather than melting down, this transition was more of ...
2024-09-18 01:53:10 +0000 UTC
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James stared intently at the unconscious Moishe as he finished giving him the Blessing of the Fisher King.
He felt a wave of weakness flow through him at the moment that the power shifted from James’s body into Moishe’s. The Fisher King almost swooned. He was still not recovered from the events of recent days, and he felt his own failure to take his foot off the gas.
I’ll be feeling that in the morning, too, he thought.
He allowed himself to drop...
2024-09-17 22:52:53 +0000 UTC
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As the Greater Claustrian Flying Foxes hurled themselves through the air just above the flowering tree, Adon felt time almost slowing down.
The colony of bats had lunged at what must have been their top non-flight speed. But compared with the Golden Eagle or Rosslyn—or even relative to the Eagle-Owl—it was like they were leaping at him through pudding.
Adon watched them for a moment, marking each bat’s position in his mind before he took action.
With a thought, he sent...
2024-09-14 03:40:33 +0000 UTC
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The words appeared to confirm that Moishe and his remaining companion’s ordeal was over.
[Congratulations! You have cleared Dungeon: Valley of the Shadow of Death!]
[Assassin leveled up!]
It kind of sucks that he didn’t even get to be the first one to clear it, James thought. All he got was a lousy level…
“I’m so sorry you had to go through that, man,” James said.
“Thanks, James,” Moishe said. Hi...
2024-09-13 17:00:12 +0000 UTC
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The butterfly flitted through the moonlit night, his body almost glowing in the intense light of the full moon.
He danced through the sky like an autumn leaf, floating just above the palace rooftop, eyes looking out for prey. The cool night air was pleasant but barely registered with Adon fully in murder mode.
As he sought an opponent, he was every inch a monstrous predator despite his diminutive species.
He felt a little like a big game hunter, back in his old stomping grou...
2024-09-11 17:00:08 +0000 UTC
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As the memory went on, James saw that Moishe infiltrated the camp at night and managed to talk one person who was skeptical of the group’s leader—a man named Harris—into joining them.
Others preferred not to listen to the man who looked and sounded a bit like a sort of desperate desert bandit, spreading paranoia about their leader and their religion.
But Moishe came back the next night and the one after that.
He eventually peeled another member off of the group.
...
2024-09-11 15:14:07 +0000 UTC
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After the awkward conversation, Adon fluttered past Rosslyn and into the palace.
She walked off in the direction of the room where she and Adon had trained, and Adon had to decide what to do next.
He could go back to Goldie and Samson—and probably dodge questions about his chat with Rosslyn for the next ten minutes. Or he could find a way to occupy himself for a while, until the spiders had embroiled themselves in some activity of their own.
Adon decided to pay the Dessian...
2024-09-09 17:00:06 +0000 UTC
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The air hung with a pregnant pause for a moment as Adon waited for Rosslyn to respond to what he had said.
Oh, Goddess, was her first thought.
Her inner voice sounded perceptibly exasperated—or was it embarrassed? It was hard to tell. Adon had only rarely heard the Princess disturbed from a state of emotional equilibrium.
He might have imagined it, but he thought that Rosslyn’s face had acquired a slightly pink hue as she reacted to his question. Maybe it was ju...
2024-09-08 15:29:36 +0000 UTC
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“I’m not trapped anywhere,” James said. “I’m just here to get you.”
“How do you expect to get me and get out?” Moishe said.
James could not think what to say for a moment. He felt slightly confused. Did Moishe mean that he thought they were trapped in this dream? Or was this environment based on a real place Moishe had felt trapped? That seemed more likely. But what exactly was going on? And, if Moishe was unaware this was a dream, would it be too cruel to tell him...
2024-09-08 15:25:03 +0000 UTC
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Adon looked around for a moment and then thanked the Goddess that only those immediately near him were in the circle of his telepathic conversation.
He was terribly embarrassed at the way he’d just blurted out that Samson and Goldie were promising magic users. Setting aside the question of whether it was true or not, the words did not sound true coming out of his head. At least not to Adon. He thought he sounded as if he was desperate to convince them—which would have ...
2024-09-05 18:04:36 +0000 UTC
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“Thank you both,” James said. “I think that helps. I’ll start thinking about how to expand more quickly than Dominion can travel. On a slightly different subject, how’s Moishe doing?”
“That’s much simpler to answer,” Alan said, his expression grim. “No big changes. That is, his condition seems to be stable. That’s how the real doctors described it.”
“Gupta and Zirndorf?” James asked.
Alan nodded. “Rotter assigned them to help Moishe. He’s only...
2024-09-04 15:45:36 +0000 UTC
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James looked back and forth between Alan and Mitzi until he confirmed that they each looked around ten years younger.
“Congratulations on your excellent health,” he said as he reached the top of the stairs.
“Well, thank you for noticing,” Mitzi said, smiling broadly.
She looked very happy with her partially browned tresses.
James used Identify on both of them to confirm as best he could that they were the same people he knew, rather than some sort of sophistica...
2024-09-02 17:00:08 +0000 UTC
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As the toasts concluded, Adon managed to send a telepathic message to his assigned servant.
Excuse me, sir, but I would appreciate a small serving of sweet pudding, if that could be arranged, he sent.
The man looked around, slightly alarmed, until Adon added, This is the butterfly, by the way.
Then the servant seemed to breathe a sigh of relief—as if glad to discover that he was not, in fact, insane—and the mask of decorum fell over him again.
2024-09-02 16:30:36 +0000 UTC
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As soon as Adon met back up with Goldie and Samson, he told them what was going on with his Telepathy.
So, you can hear all our thoughts now? Samson asked nervously.
No, Adon sent back. I just hear bits and pieces more than what you wanted me to hear. It’s kind of complicated, and I don’t know how it works yet. I can’t control it except by deactivating Telepathy completely.
Which won’t work at dinner, Goldie finished. You ...
2024-09-01 15:00:10 +0000 UTC
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Adon explained his newly unlocked level of Telepathy to Rosslyn, attempting to do so as quickly and simultaneously thoroughly as he could.
She obligingly moved more slowly through the hallways as he went on, giving the two of them more time alone to discuss what Adon was telling her.
The butterfly felt grateful that the servants who they passed as they proceeded could not hear the telepathic messages he was sending to Rosslyn. The Princess herself seemed to see the value in discre...
2024-08-31 06:05:03 +0000 UTC
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As Mina closed the door, James opened his eyes again.
Time to sleep, he thought.
But there was a Skill he could use in his sleep.
“Hester, are you still ready to Dreamwalk with me?” James asked in a near whisper.
“I am, sir, but are you sure you’re up for this?” she said.
“Yes, why wouldn’t I be?” he replied.
Because your body is death warmed over, master, sent Roscuro in a snarky voice.
James realized h...
2024-08-31 05:17:10 +0000 UTC
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Luna burst forward, her body cutting through the brisk night air.
She could see the end of the massacre in sight—and with it, the accomplishment of her King’s wish.
Another useless prey human moved in between her and her objective, and Luna leaned in with both heads, grabbed hold of the human by the shoulders, and ripped his arms off.
The man fell to the ground, screaming and gushing blood. Luna kept running, trampling his body and leaving him for one of the younger wolv...
2024-08-30 17:18:10 +0000 UTC
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Dave and Amalia sat at their posts quietly in the slowly advancing darkness.
Luna and her wolf pack were tracking the monotheists’ movements and would let everyone else know if the group deviated too much from the expected route. It seemed unlikely, since the other ways out of the Fisher Kingdom would force them to move through either Samuel’s swamp or Ysabel’s tropical forest.
The humans—besides Damien, who had transformed into his Werewolf form—and Vampire were left be...
2024-08-29 02:44:57 +0000 UTC
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The Duke’s sons were at once less flowery and more flattering than the King had described them, Adon found.
They bowed their heads to Rosslyn at the first encounter, to which gesture she responded with an elegant curtsy.
But once they had all been introduced by the heralds and performed these gestures—Goldie and Samson made tiny bows from their pillows as well, while Adon flew in a ring around the two lords before settling back onto his pillow, a maneuver that was the King’s...
2024-08-27 14:05:20 +0000 UTC
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James sat in the bed, staring at the menagerie of creatures all around him.
There were dozens of the things, all subjugated to his Will, but he had never seen them all in one place before.
Creatures that were like balloons made of skin. Other creatures that resembled pterodactyls made of skin. And Thing from “The Addams Family.”
There was so much more he could do, he realized as he looked at his little zoo of homemade monsters. So many creative ideas popped into his head...
2024-08-25 00:26:30 +0000 UTC
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The citizenship ceremony concluded uneventfully.
James sat and soaked in the sound of dozens of voices pledging their personal loyalty to him. The experience was as flattering as ever, and he gained another level in Fisher King—and a corresponding level in Evolver Human—which made him feel slightly stronger.
It still didn’t come close to eliminating the hangover from using Curse of the Fisher King, though.
James was almost ready to dismiss the gathering and let the fre...
2024-08-25 00:24:54 +0000 UTC
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Goodness. I have not seen them since…
That was the last thought Adon overheard from Rosslyn before he cut off Telepathy again.
When did I get this additional power? he wondered.
He had not been trying to spy on his friends’ thoughts when he returned, but it seemed that without him doing much of anything, his Telepathy Adaptation had grown more powerful. Perhaps it was linked to the fact that he had consumed the Golden Eagle, strengthening his every...
2024-08-23 14:39:16 +0000 UTC
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Rosslyn walked back to the living quarters of the palace, unconscious of the fact that each of her footsteps was more of a stomp.
To observers, she gave off the feeling of an uncaged lioness hunting for prey.
Her breath came hot and heavy. Though she had cleaned herself up, her body was still burning up from the spar with Matilda, and her pulse raced. Part of that was the intensity of her physical exertion. She could still feel some of the blows she had received, and those she had...
2024-08-23 14:37:20 +0000 UTC
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“It’s so good to see you’re all right, Your Majesty,” Rotter began.
“Thank you,” James said, smiling. “I assume that isn’t why you’ve been sitting in the living room waiting for me to wake up, though. To what do I owe this pleasure?”
“Some of us discussed what happened earlier,” Rotter said, “and we agreed—”
“Who’s some of us?” James interrupted.
“The three of us standing here, sir,” said Dave firmly. “It seemed like an importa...
2024-08-20 01:27:06 +0000 UTC
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Rosslyn was dripping sweat from what felt like every inch of skin.
It is nice to know I have not weakened physically, even if my vision is not what it was.
Matilda stood opposite her, panting and almost equally covered in perspiration.
Having spent the last day and a half sparring with Sir Jaren to try and remove the rust from her skills following her coma, Rosslyn had decided to try Matilda again. She was the only person in the palace besides Rosslyn’s father who...
2024-08-20 01:24:48 +0000 UTC
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When James awakened, he felt a strange combination of sensations.
Fatigue. A combination of fatigue and muscle soreness that he had not experienced since Orientation, except in the immediate aftermath of combat.
An unpleasant cotton-like taste filled his mouth.
And the quality of the light falling across his skin told him immediately that it was mid-afternoon now. That meant he had slept for at least an hour or two. Pre-System, on the occasion that he napped, he would only r...
2024-08-17 17:00:04 +0000 UTC
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Back at the palace, Goldie and Samson were in the same room as always, engaged in the same intensive activity that had occupied almost their entire time since Adon’s departure.
Training with Mana.
Neither Goldie nor Samson seemed to be advancing as quickly as Adon had when Goldie first met him, though Goldie had avoided verbally comparing Adon’s Mana prowess to Samson’s, so as to avoid discouraging her son.
As they practiced together, though, the Mana moved through the...
2024-08-17 02:54:18 +0000 UTC
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