Saturday, August 6, 4 S.E.
“Has he been a handful, Duchess?” Leonidas’ mother asked from behind him, as he was finalizing his outfit. “We did our best to teach him manners, but after everything that’s happened, I can only imagine he’s been as stubborn as his grandfather.”
“Phaw!” Ceruviel responded, waving an elegant hand. “Barely a peep, truthfully. He complains now and then when I hit him, but for the most part, he has been a model s...
2026-01-19 02:26:13 +0000 UTC
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Arcturus looked at the granite wolves ahead of them dubiously, standing still with Adam and Danica as Tylariel walked ahead of them towards the high gates that the wolves ‘guarded’.
Having concluded their business with Luthaire and now equipped with everything Arcturus needed to begin his training and growth in earnest—including the new set of armor Tylariel promised him he’d be expected to reimburse her for—as an Apprentice Archon, the next and most crucial step was to make s...
2026-01-19 01:06:35 +0000 UTC
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Saturday, 30 July, 4 S.E.
Artur Paendrag stood with his arms folded over his chest, cloak billowing in the embracing wind as he looked out at the ranks of humanity arrayed before him. Gwendolyn stood to his right, resplendent in her regalia, while Elijah stood at his left, adorned in his blue plate, red-and-white stripes painted across the cuirass. Ricardo was attending to last-minute logistics, and Collette was organizing the triage arrangements, leaving the t...
2026-01-18 02:13:44 +0000 UTC
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Not gonna type a big long thing, just a general note.
I just wrote an almost 4K chapter (wordcount, not image quality, KEKW) dealing with this, but I want it to be clear: I really welcome feedback regarding Leonidas' relationships.
Believe it or not, I am in fact not that confident at writing women, and while I have several phenomenal Author friends and Editors that are women, my general fear trends toward stereotyping accidentally, or portraying...
2026-01-17 16:58:30 +0000 UTC
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Friday, August 5, 4 S.E.
The day with Maryanne and Reginald had proceeded relatively productively after their initial meeting, and though no peace had really been made between his parents and Kairi, Leonidas felt decidedly optimistic about the encounter. While his haunted sister had never entirely opened up or fully relaxed, the dynamic of the four of them being back together—blended with Aylar’s easy charisma—had made their discourse pass with surprising...
2026-01-17 16:04:57 +0000 UTC
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Friday, August 5, 4 S.E.
Aylar stepped back from Leonidas’ charmingly emotional mother gently, keeping her hand on the woman’s arm as she commented on how beautiful the palace was. As she spoke, Aylar tracked Maryanne Paendrag's features, noting the subtle similarities between the tall-for-a-Terran woman and her son. Leonidas had clearly inherited his mother’s sharp features and elegant nose, but that was about as far as the similarities went.
Kairi...
2026-01-17 08:59:31 +0000 UTC
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This Chapter frustrated me for about 6 hours. Feedback highly appreciated.
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Friday, August 5, 4 S.E.
Reginald’s eyes widened as he and Maryanne followed Kairi through the gates of Dawnhaven.
He had first realized how organized the town—no, city—was when their daughter had escorted him and Maryanne across the ruined landscape of Michigan, and he’d witnessed the daunting professionalism of the Royal Army in action. He’d...
2026-01-17 06:39:42 +0000 UTC
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“Aetherblades are this way,” the massive Forgemaster said as he guided Arcturus past armor displays and glittering weapons to a wall of sword hilts at the back of the room. Even with his limited control over his powers, Arcturus could feel the magic surrounding these more than any of the other items within the showroom.
The first and most immediately obvious details were the love and care with which each hilt was crafted. Precious jewels sat in every pommel, and though many...
2026-01-17 01:45:17 +0000 UTC
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Arcturus stared at his hands in silence as voices washed over him, ignoring everyone while pondering Adam’s words. He was vaguely aware of plans to depart being made for their now-larger party, and of discussions about who would go where and what the new combination of people would be. All of it was muted to him, though; a dull buzz that held none of his interest. The words his friend had spoken kept rattling around in his head unceasingly.
“Amélie is our enemy, Arc...
2026-01-17 01:33:53 +0000 UTC
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Hello folks! Quick update.
I am aware of a few lingering points of unresolved frustration in Books 1 & 2:
Leonidas' [Psionic Communication Skill]
The lack of Parents' perspective and Grandparents' military buildup POV.
[Platinum Chests]
Ceruviel's [Rebuild the Archon Order] Quest
Various character inconsistencies
I'll likely address these either with retroactive edits during second drafting, on...
2026-01-17 01:06:07 +0000 UTC
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Thursday, August 4, 4 S.E.
Leonidas awoke the next day with a fresher perspective.
Aylar had come to see him after Synthra had eventually taken her leave, and the dinner he’d had with the Queen had been both reaffirming and romantic. There’d been no ratcheted sexual tension, given she was still grieving, and by the end of the meal, he’d been willingly holding her while she quietly wept into his shoulder over the self-created death of her only siblin...
2026-01-16 23:34:58 +0000 UTC
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Thursday, August 4, 4 S.E.
Kairi was, for the first time in a long while, faintly nervous.
She stood with her arms folded and the itch to rest her hands on her shortswords prevailing over all else, gaze locked on the approaching convoy as it crested the nearby hill. She’d chosen the location for the rendezvous carefully, situated at almost the exact midpoint between what had been Michigan and New York State, intersecting in the middle of what been
2026-01-16 10:40:42 +0000 UTC
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Wednesday, August 3, 4 S.E.
Leonidas lay on his bed with his arm over his eyes, staring at the velvet drapes of his four-poster bed in silent contemplation, attired in a simple black shirt and loose-fitting dark silk leggings. The events following his victory over Braedon had accelerated things in Dawnhaven with considerable vigor: no one had come out to challenge Aylar’s ascension as of yet, even a day after Braedon’s defeat, and the Queen-Potentiate had a...
2026-01-16 06:19:08 +0000 UTC
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Tuesday, August 2, 4 S.E.
Leonidas stood silently as the last vestiges of [Cataclysm Overdrive] ticked down in his HUD, eyes staring up at the sky in enjoyment of its myriad colors. Braedon’s body lay at his feet, the Prince-Royal’s greatsword clasped in his hands, arms crossed over his torso in a position of repose. The crowd had gone silent when he’d arranged Braedon that way, falling into a murmur of confusion at his actions, though he’d ignored them...
2026-01-16 04:24:57 +0000 UTC
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Tuesday, August 2, 4 S.E.
Leonidas activated [Cataclysm Overdrive] the moment he felt Braedon’s focus and attention shift solely to the inevitable victory.
The world seemed to dilate the moment he did, the instant of his activation compressing into a single instant of total awareness of self. His [Cataclysm Core] screamed in his dantian, revving like a car engine injected with liquid nitrous oxide. Power thrummed through his veins as if he’d ...
2026-01-16 01:36:33 +0000 UTC
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Tuesday, August 2, 4 S.E.
Braedon received the first blow from the Terran Archon with a grunt, feeling his [Sunflare Core] accelerate within his dantian as the strike impacted his greatsword. The Alteran-forged steel weathered the blow without issue, stopping the Archon’s momentum dead as Braedon called on his [Marshal’s Dominion] and expanded a blue-lit field of power, claiming the territory within fifty meters of himself within a circle of radiant azure.<...
2026-01-16 01:36:14 +0000 UTC
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Tuesday, August 2, 4 S.E.
The days leading up to the Challenge were largely peaceful for Leonidas.
He spent them either training his swordplay and working to resist the comparative power of an Elite with Kairi, or in discussions with Aylar, Synthra, Bardulf, Parnym, and Kairi as well—outlining ideas and problems for their proposal to the Royal Council and the edict of reformation it would entail. The most amusing development out of this, for Leonidas, w...
2026-01-16 01:35:54 +0000 UTC
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Saturday, July 30, 4 S.E.
Xarina frowned at the manor house she stood outside, dressed in the local fashions with a purple blouse and matching dark ‘jeans’, as the clothier called them, complete with a snug black jacket and heeled black boots. Her [Spatial Storage Ring] remained equipped, and her blades firmly sheathed at her hips. A pair of footmen, as the lightlanders called them, had greeted her at the gate and asked her to wait while one of them validat...
2026-01-16 01:35:29 +0000 UTC
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Saturday, July 30, 4 S.E.
Leonidas closed the door behind himself and Aylar thirty minutes later when they entered his rooms, shutting out the corridor behind them and the Royal Guards that had positioned themselves along the expansive hallway. A single objection from the gilded defenders had been raised about the Queen being alone with Leonidas, but in a surprise turn of events, both Mernyn and Leona had scathingly shut down the interjection, leaving ...
2026-01-16 01:35:01 +0000 UTC
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2026-01-16 01:20:26 +0000 UTC
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Saturday, July 30, 4 S.E.
Leonidas watched as the last of the Lance-Masters exited the room, with the Royal Guard closing the doors behind them and leaving him, Aylar, Synthra, Ceruviel, Uriel, Bardulf, Parnym, Mithrander, and finally Kairi alone within the space.
For a long moment, nobody spoke until Ceruviel finally took the initiative.
“Are you absolutely fucking mad?” she demanded flatly.
Leonidas winced at her tone and sighed quietly ...
2026-01-16 00:00:06 +0000 UTC
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Saturday, July 30, 4 S.E.
Synthra idly toyed with her nail as she sat in Ceruviel’s expansive meeting chamber, sitting in one of the high-backed chairs surrounding the rectangular table the Duchess used for important gatherings. Aylar sat at the head of the table, with Ceruviel and Uriel on either side of her, and a motley collection of individuals descending from there.
Mithrander was immediately beside the Duchess, with Synthra somehow opposite the el...
2026-01-15 23:00:06 +0000 UTC
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Saturday, July 30, 4 S.E.
“[A succession crisis?]”
Xarina nodded tersely at the question, her lambent crimson eyes surveying the forest around her as she spoke to the Night Sister receiving her report. The other woman was her senior in service, which demanded a measure of careful respect, but they were ultimately still sisters—part of the same Society, the same Blades of Nocturne.
“[This is fascinating news, sister,]” the other woman, Yari...
2026-01-15 00:00:06 +0000 UTC
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Saturday, July 30, 4 S.E.
Leonidas idly spooned another mouthful of ice cream with a satisfied sigh, setting aside the bowl when he was done and looking over at his sister.
Kairi was busy doing the same, though in her case, she was using thick potato chips lathered in salt and snatching blobs of vanilla to devour as if it were the greatest thing man had ever invented.
Leonidas shook his head and rose, idly cracking his back when he did.
“I...
2026-01-14 23:00:06 +0000 UTC
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Saturday, July 30, 4 S.E.
Ten minutes later, after an amusingly awkward exchange between Kairi, Uriel, Mithrander, Bardulf, Parnym, Aylar, Synthra, and Ceruviel—with only slight complaints from John and Sonya, who wanted to know about the Challenge—Leonidas settled himself comfortably into one of the armchairs in his apartments’ sitting room, looking across at his auburn-haired, tattooed sister as she casually prowled his bookshelves.
Kairi had chan...
2026-01-14 00:00:07 +0000 UTC
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Saturday, July 30, 4 S.E.
Kairi rewarded Leonidas’ question with a punch to the gut.
Ceruviel barked a laugh when he doubled over in pain, and Kairi smiled in grim satisfaction, reaching up absently to wipe her eyes. She still couldn’t believe she’d cried—her second time seeing her idiot brother in five years, and she’d shed tears like she was sixteen again, and he’d just come home following a semester away.
A flare of warm affe...
2026-01-13 23:00:09 +0000 UTC
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Saturday, July 30, 4 S.E.
Leonidas watched Braedon leave the Throne Room with a satisfied smile, hands in his pockets, and a calm sense of certainty pervading his body. The three-day window opened some options for him, but he wasn’t too worried about whether he was able to pursue them. With his current experience at 5,212/18,000 and his total requirement looming at close to 32,000 just to reach level twenty and Adept rank, he didn’t see a way for h...
2026-01-13 00:37:22 +0000 UTC
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Saturday, July 30, 4 S.E.
Braedon entered the Throne Room and found himself coming to a near-instantaneous halt after his first dozen paces inside.
First, he’d had to push through the inept simpletons that had tried to deny his passage, spouting some moronic idiocy about ‘protocol’ and ‘right to ascent’ as if his foolish sister weren’t already trying to snatch his Divines-given birthright from under him, and then he had to restrain himself fro...
2026-01-12 23:04:42 +0000 UTC
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I know I said no more than 2 a day, but it felt cruel to keep this from you guys. Enjoy!
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Saturday, July 30, 4 S.E.
The doors to the Palace’s grand foyer shut behind their party after they entered, cutting out the still-echoing cheers from the massive crowd that had formed to follow Aylar’s march.
Leonidas let out a sigh of relief when they did, and glanced down at Synthra, who also appeared markedly more at ease now that t...
2026-01-12 02:49:21 +0000 UTC
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Saturday, July 30, 4 S.E.
Leonidas and Synthra marched behind Aylar into Dawnhaven’s gates ten minutes later.
The Queen-Potentiate strode along with purpose to her gait, flanked by Verity Durandal’s Lance of Dawnguard as they made their way into the bustling afternoon populace of the Prosperity Quarter.
The moment they entered, the crowd parted with a ripple of shock, and more than a few of the Alterans present goggled at the sight. The posture,...
2026-01-12 00:38:22 +0000 UTC
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