Joroboros

Chapter 208: Thread the Flame

Unfortunately, the enjoyment and freedom of spreading my body as far as it would go did not last. Upon reaching the ocean and the storm it carried along, I pulled myself into my smallest form. In the body of a falcon, I shrink in on myself as much as I can while still being able to lift my spear. The only way to avoid the pouring rains is to lower how much of my fire it can touch. Of course, it’s still not perfect. Despite the water vaporising before reaching my white flames, it still drain...

Chapter 207: True Elemental

“What is it like?” Yalun asks.

That is a question I wish I could answer. In a way, I am no different to a day ago, but at the same time, I feel so intricately separate from that áed I was. It’s not like the filling feeling of having more energy within you, nor the satisfaction and confidence of being able to control fire in increasingly complex ways.

No, this change is both subtle and tremendous.

Imagine the opening of eyelids you never knew were closed. Sights and se...

[KoJ] Chapter 5: Conviction

This isn’t working.

I’ve been trying for a while now, and yet the words refuse to take shape. Any time I breathe out with the intent to make noise, all that reaches my ears is an echoing hiss. The only change I can make to my breath is to alter the speed it pushes past my fangs. That simply changes the pitch of the hiss; far from the distinct form I’d heard from the Titan.

Is this even possible?

Every sapient being can speak.

The Beyond utters, both answ...

Chapter 200: A Quick Jog

“Why would I run when I can fly?”

“Well, for one, you aren’t supposed to leave my side,” Ignatia says. “Besides, you’ll need to work on your control. What better time than now to start?”

I groan at the idea. Running isn’t exactly fast and we’re half a wasteland away from the Agglomerate. “How long will it take us to return?”

“That will depend on you.”

With cubic key in hand, Ignatia falls into a jog, clearly waiting for me to catch up. My ey...

Chapter 206: Request

As the last of my fire calms and bends to my will, I can’t help but feel strange. My body is gone. It simply doesn’t exist any longer, and yet my inner flame burns strong.

I will my fire to compress only into the white inferno around Yalun’s weeping form. Not only does it do as I want, but it moves with far less separation between thought and action. No longer does it feel like moving an arm, but each flicker is an extension of my mind. The blaze shrinks instantly.

Maybe it ...

Chapter 205: Reaching

“You want some?” I ask, motioning to the half eaten peluda.

It is obvious Yalun isn’t here with good news, so I try to distract her from whatever concerns her. I can guess rather easily what it is. A single glance to the deserts below reveals the vast storm to the southwest. It wasn’t there when I climbed the Middle Elevation, still hidden by the horizon.

The ocean spread far faster than anyone expected.

“No,” she says, barely even glancing toward the dead beast....

[KoJ] Chapter 4: Lethargy

The chill of the air hardly registers through the numb haze of my thoughts.

I lay motionless on the frost enveloped rocky ground. The feeling of my scales pressing into the jagged edges of sharp stone is unnaturally comforting. My body continues its gradual, unhurried reduction toward a more convenient size, but even as it drops to a girth thin enough to enter the spatial loop before me, I remain unmoving.

My body can continue endlessly, but somehow, I am exhausted.

Self-inf...

Chapter 204: Peluda

I throw myself to the side, boosting away just in time to avoid the massive flat foot of the creature above me. My spear swings around, slicing through scaled flesh. The wound isn’t deep, but the beast still screeches with fury.

I reorient in midair to thrust the blade directly through the upper joint of a rear leg. A combination of a thousand microbursts through my upper body, and the clear flame brimming forth from the tip of my spear carries it through flesh and bone without resist...

Chapter 203: Green Firestorm

Yalun pulled back as the green flames ripped across the island’s surface. Soon, no part of the widespread inferno was left unaffected. Their combined blaze — reaching through the haze and out of sight — taken from them.

Mirri was almost too late to separate himself from the corruptive influence as it shot up the jet of fire holding him aloft. A second later and he would have been overcome.

Despite the green flames now falling under the purview of the Anatla, they still sizzl...

[KoJ] Chapter 3: Terror

There are no discernible features on the Titan. No eyes, no ears, no skin. Nothing. It is all hidden within the void of space the being stays within… assuming that its body isn’t simply the lack of space itself.

It makes no sense how such a being can exist. How can something both hold such a presence, and have none at all?

Nothing but the lack of its being reveals it, and yet I know it is looking at me. It has no eyes, yet it glares down at me with the weight of ...

Chapter 202: Black Firestorm

Hey guys, sorry for the delay on todays chap. Work's been busy. I haven't been able to edit this chap yet, so forgive any issues. I'll get to it when i have time tomorrow.

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Things weren’t looking good.

No, that was too much of an understatement. Yalun could hardly imagine much worse circumstances than what they were facing. Maybe their emigration from the eastern lands or the Great Tragedy, but both events were simply s...

Chapter 201: Chasm

Carefully, I climb down the vertical cliff face. My hands and feet burn into the rocky surface to create handholds as I slowly make my way into the depths.

Far below, Kiko drops a hundred metres before slamming his hand into the stone, jerking to a stop. His actions are so casual that it’s obvious he’s done this a thousand times. I could probably do something similar, but between the intense gusts billowing my outfit around my body where it is loose, and the endless chasm below, it ...

[KoJ] Chapter 2: Agitation

Not too much has changed in this chapter compared to the last version besides some differing language choices and editing fixes.

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A pair of bilbies clamber over one another. The larger of the two slides its head under its sister, raising it off its paws to flounder as its snout snaps forward. The little one rolls off to the side and regains its footing before striking its claws at the larger’s ear.

A tiny squeak echoes through my cavern before the larger snaps b...

Chapter 199: Seperation

“How could they do such a thing? Don’t those old fools realise you had no other options?” Leal huffs. “Who do they think they are to stop you from returning with us?”

For the first time in a while, Leal is more concerned with complaining about the choices of the grand elders than her own marking research and theorising. Whether she has forgotten one of those grand elders has joined us on this flight, or simply doesn’t care, I don’t know.

Ignatia listens with a wry, i...

[KoJ] Chapter 1: Curiosity

Edit for Tier 1 (Cipactlteteo) Patrons: This new story will be uploaded to RoyalRoad at the beginning of September, so I've gone and unlocked the first 6 chaps. As with Young Flame, I hope to keep the number of chaps ahead the same with this series. (once it comes out, 5 chaps ahead for tier 1 and 15 for tier 2). Hopefully, there won't be any issues. Anyway, please give it a shot. :D

Okay, so this is the redone first chapter of Kin of Jörmungandr (I've decided on ...

Chapter 198: Judgement

Eighteen hours.

That’s how long it took these damn elders to finally agree to open our borders sometime in the future. I almost rise from my rug and celebrate that we are done. It’s already been day and returned to darkness again. It took ages, and the boredom almost killed me, but we are finally done.

At least, that’s what I thought before they dove into discussions on tactical operations to counter the rapid movement and surprise attack from our southern coastline. Serious...

Chapter 197: Votes

“Absolutely not!” Grand Elder Hraun exclaims, as many other elders express their opposition to Śuri’s declaration. “Our seclusion has kept the tribes safe from the eastern races for millennia. We are not about to sacrifice that for vengeful gratification.”

“That seclusion no longer provides us the same protection it once did,” Śuri says calmly, despite the immediate opposition he faces from most elders. “These attacks were not random. They were targeted and intentional...

Chapter 196: Impending

Yalun’s words send a wave of uneasiness through the surrounding flames. Each grand elder seems to find that timeline concerning, but this time they keep their outbursts between themselves. We have years, though? The way everyone is acting, you’d think the world will be destroyed tomorrow. With entire years before us, we have plenty of time to work with. Even if we can’t stop the encroaching water, it isn’t like we can’t move the tribes out of the dangerous areas.

Well, even wi...

Chapter 195: Ceremony

As the last white of moonlight disappears above, leaving only the forge’s glow to illuminate the Agglomerate, everyone falls into silence. Both the grand elders around me and the countless áed watching on from the viewing chambers above cease their chatter and movement. Only the slight whistle of wind through the glass mountain can be heard. It’s eerie, but the silence only lasts a minute.

“Before we start, I would like to address all those who have joined us today,” Hraun spea...

Chapter 194: The Conference

The days leading up to the conference were busy. I paid little attention to it when we first returned, but there were a lot more tribes gathered at the Agglomerate than when we left. The numbers had only increased after Śuri called the gathering forward.

Apparently, dozens of tribes had gathered in the deserts around the áed city in the past months, waiting for the call that the conference would go forward. And now that it had, well, the previously bare space between each glass pillar...

Chapter 193: Emergency

Śuri’s presence control education was not what I expected. When Yalun said I needed to control my pressure better — or at least I would as I grow — I pictured the unique application Tore showed off in our battle against Kalma. My thoughts couldn’t have been further than the truth.

The grand elder’s lessons have been, well, boring. Simplistic exercises of rapidly expanding my presence, then suppressing it in the same motion are pretty much the limit to his guidance once I lear...

Chapter 192: Precursor to Armageddon

The flight back to the cube ship graveyard was uneventful, which is more than welcome after the stressful sequence that led to our escape from the island.

As soon as the crippled ships of whatever lost race built that island come into sight, I abandon all restriction on my flames and engulf the closest one before Grímr can land. Śuri was rather greedy with his expenditure of my energy, and it’s left me ravenous.

Yalun whistles at the sight. “It’s one thing to feel all that...

Chapter 191: Corruption

My flames, guided by Śuri’s control, shriek back through the bridge with a deep, unsettling rumble. I do my best to hold back the heat from hurting Leal and Grímr, but the intensity is almost too much to deal with. Even with Yalun doing most of the work, Śuri’s flames are just something else.

The grand elder can use my own flames and make them so much hotter and more efficient than I could ever hope to achieve. The explosive thrust he provides is unmatched by anything I’ve expe...

Chapter 190: Window

The first thing to catch my eye upon climbing the stairs is the sloped walls wreathed in the same alteration I’ve seen everywhere else. The room is bare besides a single control panel, leaving the dome chamber as almost a window to view the flowing green mists.

With this panoramic view all around us, it feels like we’re standing in the clouds. Again, no distinct forms appear through the obfuscation, but consistently, it’s like there is something in the corner of my eye that disapp...

Chapter 189: Bridge

“Well, aint that a sight.” Śuri is the first to speak after we walk out into the massive chamber.

I know most of the island was obscured by the heavy rain and clouds, but I never thought it was large enough to hold such a space. And I thought the cube was big. With all the metal held within this island, the áed could increase their capacity all they want and never run out of resources.

“What are the chances that’s where the ranked water is?” Yalun gestures to the massi...

Chapter 188: A Mysterious Green Glow

Despite being completely cut off from the outside world, the inside of this island remains decently lit. Lines along the ceiling glow just bright enough to illuminate every corner, even through all this water.

The main hallway at the top of the stairs is wide. As large as the entrance from the bridge on the other side of the cubical entry hall. It’s obviously made to accommodate hundreds of people passing through, but with only us to fill the space, it feels empty.

Unlike the la...

Chapter 187: Entering the Island

The obscene volume of rushing liquid roars with ferocity as it charges past us, only barely curving enough for us to pass. Yalun and I hug the left wall, keeping as far from the deadly water as feasible. Śuri strides ahead of us, unconcerned.

Grímr stands the closest to the immense stream, his wings clamped to his sides as he carries Leal and her enshrouding sphere of water forward. The slightest clip of his wing into the flow almost tore the wing right off his body.

He said he ...

Chapter 186: The Ocean

As soon as the Ember Moon passes and Grímr regains full control of his body, we continue onward.

The crippled cubes we leave behind us marks the final point of safety before we tread into truly dangerous waters. Grand Elder Śuri’s reassurances help somewhat, but even his eyes flicker along the water below, searching for any sign the Titan might remain.

We are in total agreement that should there be any sign that the Titan remains, our search for the island will end immediately...

Chapter 185: Ancient Structures

With the western coast so close, the sky along the horizon is enshrouded in an overcast grey. Even without all we’ve seen that tells us the sands counteract water, the sight of the vast cloud cover dispersing into clear sky as soon as it flies over the desert leaves little doubt. It is almost like the floating water containers have hit a wall… a barrier to protect our wasteland.

The Titan Alps cut from the north, all the way to the distant southwest on the other side of the ocean. M...

Chapter 184: Back to the Sands

It was difficult to say goodbye to my elders, but I won’t be gone forever. This task of Śuri’s shouldn’t take too long, considering they need to be back before the other grand elders gather.

Elder Enya is much more clingy than I ever remember her, and telling her I was leaving had her attempting to drop everything and follow me. Cyrus put a stop to her rather quick. While sad to see me go, he was dedicated to fulfilling his penance.

Apparently, the two have been confined to...