Omnixius

DKP 4-14 The Hearts of lies

Tavis was nervous as they traveled down the dusty lane. Ayawa rode beside him in silence, casting glares at Jessivel, who rode to her left.  He looked like a man full of anger and confusion and said little once the march began.  

It took them an hour to convince the women of Ulustrah to stay with the column. It took another hour to convince them to ride double on the horses. Now they moved with the priests of Astikar riding in two columns, followed by the southe...

DKP 4-13 to seek the truth

The wind blew across the plains as priests of Astikar on horses surrounded them.  

“Jessivel,” Tavis said in shock.

“We’re not going with you to Calathen!” Ayawa stated defiantly as Jessivel leaned over in his saddle. His long dark hair framed a firm face set with angry eyes that studied them both.

“No, you’re not,” Jessivel replied. “You are taking me to Gersius.”

“Never!” Ayawa spat.  

Jessivel took a deep br...

2-25 pizza at last

Heather took a deep breath to smell spices in the air.  The trip into the village of Bronberg took longer than expected and forced Frank and Quinny to take another potion. Thankfully Grettah brewed a bunch of each, and they had no trouble continuing.    

The town was a wonder of stone and wooden buildings that created a colorful canvas of variation. The main road was even more fascinating. It was cut into the earth itself so that once you went down the...

DKP 4-12 A spark.

They stood in the sparing ring setup beside the camp. Lilly sat on a crate in her blue dress as Mingfe stood by scowling. A dozen others from the various groups watched from the sidelines as the two crossed blades.

Gersius raised his weapon and faced off against Thayle. She smiled and cut in with a simple but effective slash that he diverted. He tried a quick cut to follow it, but her shield was already in the way.  

“You don’t like shields,” Thayle said...

2-24 So that's how it works.

Heather watched as Grettah tapped at a glass as the solution began to turn a soft red. They harvested all the moss they could fit into the jar and brought back extra in Heather's basket. Devlina looked shocked to see they had so much and eagerly handed over a bottle of what looked like a metallic ink.   

“So, the spirit didn't bother your friends then?” Devlina asked.  

Heather smiled as she thought about Breanne, who was hiding outside invisibly...

HTN 2-23 The guardian of the moss

Heather relayed what Devlina said and how she needed grave moss. Frank and Quinny laughed to think of how much they could easily get at home. They agreed that making the trip home was too long and decided to find the graveyard. They followed Devlina's directions and walked down an empty road surrounded by tall pines and rocky fields.  

“She said it was haunted?” Frank asked.

“That's what she said,” Heather replied. “She is hoping the ghost won't bot...

DKP 4-11 A magical secret.

Lilly landed in her private ring and settled low so the others could climb down. It was already late into the night, so Lengwin excused himself and hurried away. Thayle waited for Lilly to change forms and then helped her into a robe for the short walk to the bedroom. Gersius waited just outside the landing ring. It had only one entrance, and this was aligned with the back entrance of the meeting tent. This way, the guards at the back door could also watch her landing ring. He l...

HTN 2-22 A bargain

Heather felt quite proud of herself as they walked into the forest beside the stream. The land here was stony and covered with a carpet of needles from the pines that towered overhead. Ferns grew in large clumps breaking up the otherwise earthy colors. The air carried with it a sort of moist earthy smell that Heather found pleasing.   

The stream flowed with crystal clear water that was no more than a foot deep. It was a wide stony basin, and the water made a ge...

HTN 2-21 You lied to me.

“It sorta looks like a lion,” Quinny said as the beast stalked into the room.  

It had the body of a lion with powerful arms and claws. However, it had the tail of a scorpion and the wings a dragon. Its head was large and fanged with the thick mane of a lion. However, its face resembled that of a man.  

“What is that called?” Heather asked.

“How should I know,” Frank said as they all crouched down on the skull pile.  

“Can...

HTN 2-20 The Meezels

“It's a lit cave, at least,” Frank said as he stepped into the entrance.  “You won't need magical sight.”  

“What are all those bones of?” Quinny said as she crept up beside him. “They don’t look humanoid.”

“Goats, or other small animals,” he said.

“Why are their no skulls?” Heather asked.  

They looked around at the piles, and sure enough, not a skull could be seen.  

“That is strange,” Frank s...

DKP 4-10 The power of truth

Gersius squeezed her hand to reassure her. He suspected this might be where Rachel had gone. It would also explain why Rachel was so adverse to Thayle stepping in and taking over. This was a woman who had the blessings of her king. She held a high station both inside and outside the Order of Ulustrah. She must have found it difficult to be outshined by Thayle, particularly since Thayle wore a mark.  

“Be still,” Gersius sent over the bind as he felt Thayle's rage...

HTN 2-19 The Sherrif

Heather looked up to see a small being about four feet tall with short dark hair. He had a set of curled rams horns on his head and hooves like Grettah. He wore shiny metal plates and held a crossbow in his hands.   

“It’s one of those things Dixie is,” Heather said.  

“You monsters are not welcome in Goatrah lands!” the tiny voice cried.

“Goatrah lands?” Heather asked.

The armored man nodded. “We are the Goatrah, and th...

HTN 2-18 A new chance

A growl from Heather's stomach greeted the morning light. She stretched and scratched at her sides as she got up from where she slept against a rock. Frank and Quinny were standing not ten feet away, talking about something she couldn’t quite hear. They had their backs to them and hadn’t noticed she was awake yet.

Grettah was awake and poking through her backpack. She looked up at the noise Heather made and raised an eyebrow.

“Are you hungry?”

“How...

DKP 4-9 A Lady and the King

The hours of the night slipped by as they practiced. Gersius made some progress growing in ability to Thayle's amazement. He could now hold an aura for about thirty seconds and could block them out altogether for a little longer.  

While she congratulated him on his progress, he was still angry at how little control he had. The road ahead required a man who could lead. Not one who had to run and hide from everyone he saw.   

With but a touch of Thayl...

HTN 2-17 You can't always run.

The creature stood nine feet tall with a single jet black horn on it's head. It had two angry eyes that were nearly all black and a mouth full of spiked teeth. Its body was covered with short gray hair that looked oily and matted. It's hands ended in razor-tipped fingers that made Franks look small by comparison.  

“Please tell me that’s a player,” Heather groaned.

“Players can’t be rock trolls,” Frank said.

“They can’t be dragons or gia...

HTN 2-16 Madame Grettah

They walked briskly across the grasslands as they watched for danger. Frank led the way with Heather at his side and her skeletons directly behind. The skeletons carried the group's gear, and one of them now wore the sunbonnet.  

Quinny and Grettah brought up the rear as the party made its way vaguely northeast.  

For nearly four hours, they tried to guess what made dwarven pizza 'dwarven.'  Frank thought maybe the dough would be made with beer....

HTN 2-15 For Pizza

Heather tapped her fingers on the table as Frank paced the room of the tower. Quinny leaned against the wall, impassively watching the display.  

“He said it was two days northeast,” Heather stated.  

“That’s a little more than twice the distance to Moon’s town,” Frank pointed out.

“This town has pizza,” Heather pointed out. “The risk is obviously worth it.”

Quinny laughed from her place on the wall and nodded her agreeme...

Flying on Lilly

So I like to listen to soothing music while I write and I was looking for something new when I stumbled on this. I saw the video playing and thought, "That is exactly how imagine flying on Lilly at night is!" Remember the scene near the end of Book 2 where she takes them up above the clouds for the first time at night. The world melts away and becomes rolling clouds below and stars in a black sky above. This is the image I was trying to capture.

HTN 2-14 A handsome fellow

“Stupid skeletons,” Heather grumbled as she settled into her bath. It had taken her nearly two hours to wipe up the water. Thankfully it seemed to run directly to the stairs and down. This left the third level only slightly wet, and the second level virtually dry. The ground floor was soaked, and it had run down into her lower room, turning it into mud. Finally, she was able to settle into the tub and let out a deep sigh.   

Below her just inside her front d...

DKP 4-8 Blinded by love

Thayle gave her forces no time to heal. She ordered them assembled an hour later for practice and drilled them vigorously. Afterward, she told them they were welcome to come talk to her. She would answer any questions they had about Ulustrah or the road ahead.

She planned to set a tent aside to meet with them, but first, there was another to talk to. She walked out of the camp to the dragon that hated her.  

Shadros lay curled in a ball with his back to the ca...

HTN 2-13 Why is this normal?

Heather stood by the side of the fallen woman and let out a sigh. She felt terrible that Grettah had died again, but the world and the way it worked was beginning to wear on her. She knew that Grettah would respawn and come back with all new equipment to try again. This concept made her think as she knelt beside the body.  

“So, the world must be flooded with the items players start with,” Heather said as she picked up the fallen woman's backpack. “Every time s...

DKP 4-7 A question of Faith

Thayle shook her head as Gersius struggled to look at her. She stood ten paces away from him at about the range an average person can begin to detect auras. From this range, her aura would be fainter, but only just so. Somehow he had the sight of a woman with years of training and focus. She estimated he could probably see auras out to twenty. The only way to help him now was to get his eyes adjusted to the brightness until he could learn to tune it out. To do this, he had to lo...

HTN - 2-12 A hunter in the trees

Heather clutched her scythe as she walked through the gate of the graveyard into the darkness of the forest. Frank looked around through the trees, and Quinny hunched low and listened. Behind them walked the bone knight, making a clicking noise as he moved.  

“You're sure that wasn't a wolf?” Heather asked.  

“It sounded like one,” Frank said.

“I have heard the wolves howl a dozen times now. They aren’t that loud,” Quinny replied.

HTN - 2-11 Flower Power

“Why is your tower covered in vines and flowers?” Frank demanded.

Heather smiled and dragged a tow on the ground.  

“Because I think it looks good,” she said.

“This is a graveyard!” he cried. “You’re making it look like a flower shop.”

“It's just a few flowers,” she insisted, hoping he wasn't really mad. She saw his eye twitch, and his hands curl into fists as he struggled to articulate his feelings.  

“I think...

HTN 2-10 Home again

Frank bit down on the neck of the guardian but was quickly wrapped in vines and hurled down. Quinny held on a little longer using her sword to cut through the tendrils. She managed to land a vicious stab but as hammered by a ball of vines. She staggered back from the blow as a second hammer took her off her feet.

Frank tore free and went to resume the attack when he saw the smaller plant creatures running at them with barbed spears in hand.  

“Quinny, look b...

DKP 4-6 The light of love

Gersius stood in the meeting tent, looking up at the missing roof. It was outside in the field being mended by the women of Ulustrah. Thankfully many of the silent women had a lot of experience in mending clothing and volunteered for the task. Lilly asked incessantly if they could mend her dress, but Thayle finally convinced her the dress was too badly torn.   

Gersius thought of those tears going down Lilly's cheek and felt shame for it. He felt guilty that the...

HTN 2-9 A dark book

“So this is a necromancer's tower,” Quinny said. “Just like Heather's.”

“How can we be sure this is a necromancer,” Heather said as she cleared her head. “The amulet proves nothing.”

“It fits the theme of a necromancer, and it explains the skeletons in the basement,” Frank said.

“I’m a necromancer,” Heather pointed out as she held her arms out to draw attention to her yellow dress and bonnet. “I don’t wear skulls.”

Fra...

HTN 2-8 Somethings wrong

The cave was slick with water that trickled down the gently sloping tunnel. The air smelled earthy with a slight touch of damp.  Thirty feet in, the tunnel reached a level slightly round chamber where the water collected in a shallow pool. There was a tunnel to the left that was a split in the stone barely wide enough for Frank to fit down.

“I guess we go that way?” Heather said as she looked down the narrow passage.

Frank sniffed the air and looked around...

HTN 2-7 A pretty dress

“Let's go adventuring!” Frank cried as they ran across the grasslands.   

“Will you let it go!” Heather yelled.

“That thing bit one of your skeletons on two!” Quinny cried.

“Thank goodness we had them, or it would have gone straight for one of us,” Frank said.  

“I thought you two didn’t mind dying?”  Heather gasped.

“We still lose a little experience from it even with your stone,” he said. “Not t...

I never posted Book 4chaper 2 of the dragon knight?

Am I crazy or is there no chapter 2 for book 4. I certainly can't see it. I am going to go ahead and post that now and figure out how I lost my mind.

NM, I found it. I didn't tag with DKP or with the tags below. I fixed both and now I am not as crazy as I thought.