Temple_GD_

5.49

“I can hear something,” I stopped crawling. Deen accidentally headbutted my butt. I clamped the urge to kick back like a spooked horse. “Shhh, quiet down a bit,” I hissed at Deen.

There it was again—smatterings of what sounded like gunfire. I could hear better if I turned into Blanchette, but then I couldn’t talk if I did. A muffled explosion, and then it was silent again. I resumed digging, intentionally shoveling dirt back at Deen.

Deen said, “We must be—bleargh!...

Erind and Deen Fanart (Made by Eri)

Eri made this along with the other fanart over at Discord, but I forgot to upload this here too. This is about Deen's conflicted emotions helping Erind kill the frat guys. 

5.48

Such a bossy bitch, I growled. Disturbing my meal. Just because Deen could see the future didn’t mean everyone had to bend to her will. Makes me want to not move. That’d teach her. I continued munching parasite monsters.

Stronger explosions. More quaking. Rocks and dust falling. A few parasite monsters remained; most had scattered. An annoying blonde pest yelling in my ear. She pulled on my fur to get my attention. Itchy, itchy, itchy.

My meal was already rui...

ADGIT Ch. 1

Yesterday was the last sunrise the ivory bulwarks of Aderenthyn Citadel beheld, for today, the Blighted Multitude lined the horizon to the east and continued the night. After thousands of years standing resolute, the fortress built by the ancient Gaolyans, the seat of divine kings long gone, home of the dragons thereafter, would soon fall—either by the deluge of otherworldly shadows, leaving not one aileh-laced stone block on another, or by the kindling of the aileh heart ...

A Dragon Gnawing Its Tail (Announcement)

Very rough (and tentative) summary: Hiero awakens five hundred years after his alleged death. Legends speak of the victory over the Blighted Multitude. But legends couldn’t be further from the truth. From a world of war, he awakens in a world of peace. Does he still have a place in it? Follow him and several people in discovering that as the ancient hero awakens, the ancient evil also does. And the stories might be wrong which is which.

When I started my writing journey, I had no idea...

5.47

Itchy, itchy, fucking itchy! I growled, scratching my arm. A tiny missile exploded and slapped my left cheek. Never mind that or the stream of lead the metal cockroaches pissed at me. Vanessa’s stupid gnats gnawing on my arm were the most annoying!

Gnawing on my arm and in my arm.

Those raisins were easy to spot in my sea of fur—there was a tiny bald spot around each one. They sheared off my crimson hair with their piranha-like teeth before trying to penetrat...

Erind/Deen - 5.19.5

“Forgot a towel for my hair,” I muttered, looking at the mirror. A pissed-off Erind stared back. Deen asked to borrow a second towel earlier, and I should’ve remembered to take another for my use. So much for being a strong and independent woman—I couldn’t even make sure my condo had everything prepared for a stayover.

I combed away the strands sticking to my face. I gathered my hair and coiled it, balancing the waterlogged stack on top of my head and holding it in place with ...

5.46 - Black Spade/Vanessa

Black Spade

Plan A, B, C, up to Z, continuing to the Sumerian cuneiforms, Black Spade had a plan for every plausible eventuality, including their base coming under attack. But he never imagined a giant doggy mascot showing up out of thin air like his pesky relatives when his wealthy father died. How was he supposed to consider this improbable scenario? What plan could he pull out of his bag of tricks to save their base that March Hare entrusted to him?

To make mat...

Erind/Deen - 5.19.4

Amber Deen Leska

Amber Deen rushed to the side of the frosted glass upon hearing Erind's rough cough. “Are you okay, Erind?” Deen opened the shower door about an inch before Erind forcefully pulled it back shut. Fortunately, Deen let go of the latch in time, or it would’ve broken with two of them tugging it. “What’s going—?”

“I’m fine!” Erind replied. She coughed a couple of times more. “Stupid water got into my mouth while”—sh...

Deen Fanart (Made by Eri)

Another art made by Eri over at Discord, this time, it's when Deen tried shoveling for a workout. 

5.45

The rain of bullets barely reached the threshold of a mosquito bite; it felt like actual rain massaging my face. Couldn’t even make me bleed. Bring out the strong prey for me to eat! Adumbrae! Augmented humans! I advanced down the corridor toward the squad of Tea Party men positioned on the other end, snarling my displeasure at their pathetic efforts to stop me. Ordinary people were not worth the energy to chew.

Bullets couldn’t do the job, so grenades came. The metal pinec...

Erind Fanart (Made by Eri)

Over at Discord, Eri made a few fanart of REND. They're great. I'll also post them here so those who don't frequent Discord can see. Here's Erind heating up ice cream to melt it quick. 

5.44

“Stop fighting!” I held my hands up, standing between two factions. “Stop!”

Imani, Tesh, and Kiera were on my right. The couple pleaded with me to stay. Imani silently lurked behind them. I wasn’t sure what Imani’s deal was. She only mentioned that Jubjub, supposedly the Dario of their group, was trying to delay the monsters coming here. Nothing else after that.

Random people I hadn’t seen before were on my left—survivors who wanted to throw me out of the room for ...

Erind/Deen - 5.19.3

Breakfast… something sweet… sweet smell… cotton candy… “Cotton candy?” I groaned, awakened by the out-of-place sweet smell, my stomach slightly rumbling. Everything suddenly became bright, the light piercing through my eyelids. I opened my eyes a slit and saw whiteness. Fluffy whiteness. Opening my eyes further, I realized it was Deen wrapped in a towel, tiptoeing away. “Deen!”

She looked over her shoulder. “Oh, you’re awake? I muted the TV because I saw you...

5.43

Vanessa Minnows

“I got your mom away from the man guarding her,” Vanessa Minnows said, rapidly blinking. Each time she opened her eyes, the view changed—peering through grates, peeking from behind a box, perched on top of a stack of crates, moving at floor level—she tracked the journey of Erind’s mother through the Tea Party base.

If Erind’s mom went the wrong way, a mouth familiar was there, snapping its powerful jaws and scaring her back to the right...

5.42

Eudora (Euphonia)

“Senior Technology Manager Niyam,” Euphonia said, emphasizing each word of the trembling man’s title. “Are you sure you don’t recognize me?” She gripped the edge of the metal table with the mechanical hands growing out of her back, effortlessly crunching its surface as part of the show, staring into his teary eyes with her own bionic eyeballs. She made them glow red for an extra intimidation factor as she hissed, “You’ve risen to such a...

Erind/Deen - 5.19.2

“Welcome to the Hartwell homey hideout.” I flipped on the lights and entered a spacious two-bedroom unit. The stale smell of a room closed off for a couple of months filled my nose, making me feel at ease knowing I could find peace and solace in my humble abode with no one to bother me.

“I finally get to visit a friend’s house,” Deen said in an overly cheerful tone. You’d think she was on a luxury getaway. She dragged her luggage, pretending to have a hard time pulling the h...

5.41

Friend?

Was Vanessa doing the same bit as Finlay? She didn’t seem like the type to bullshit like that asshole—oh, a fun play on words.

“Speaking of friends, where’s the blonde woman with you?” Vanessa’s tone was calm and amiable, and her face was relaxed with a slight smile. Totally not what I expected from someone I betrayed and barbecued.

“We split up in case this is a trap.” Hardly moving my eye, I scanned the room for the familiar that l...

Erind/Deen - 5.19.1

(Author’s Notes: This is labeled as 5.19.1, but this is part before 5.19 (the last leg of the journey to Vegas) and during it. I think next chapter we can move on to the condo.)

“Why did you have to do it so hard?” I massaged my stomach while watching the flames crawl out of the creaky store. The wind fanned the fire, causing them to grow strong quickly. Burning dead bodies—funny that this was the second time I had done it.

“We’re about to leave, and you’r...

5.40

Despite being Ms. Save the Hostages, Deen stepped back into the office and aimed her gun at the eyeball. She projected a sense of disgust I didn’t share. How many eyeballs had I stabbed? More than one, for sure. And eyeballs moving on their own? Nothing I hadn’t seen before—I’d met an Adumbrae who could control eyeballs, though a bit weird to encounter similar abilities.

“Don’t waste bullets. It’s harmless.” I nudged the gun’s barrel to the side. A nice feeling one-upp...

5.39

The Tea Party goon and the clay man headed in our direction, stopping when they found the corpses. The actual human squatted to check his dead friends while the clay man stared at the ceiling, seemingly examining the broad streaks of black.

Finlay could hear and see through his clay puppets. If I wasn’t mistaken, he could also teleport to their bodies —that was how he came to help Auron the time I fought them as Erind.

“Tell me what they’re doing.” I slid down out of sig...

5.38

(Hello there!) I yelled in Praying Man’s head. (Are you still awake?)

No response, not even a stray thought.

I punched his head twice more for good measure. I would’ve continued, but the flesh around his head had thickened like a helmet of callus. I stood up and retreated as if it was getting dangerous, but continued to pump power into his body.

Veins bulged and pressed against his thinning skin, his muscles expanding rapidly. He was becoming larger and...

Erind/Deen - 5.18.5

Deen’s so fucking tall, I ranted in my head as I rubbed her back with the towel. The strong scent of alcohol irritated me. Makes me want to chop her legs until we’re the same height.

She had bunched up her matted blonde hair and held it in front of her body so I’d have an easier time cleaning her back. Like what she did to me, she also unhooked her bra, holding it across her chest to cover herself. I remembered she had bought sports bras to hide the artificial Co...

5.37

A severed lion's head flew, spraying blood in a beautiful arc as it rotated once in mid-air before dropping to the ground. The death of Lion Ass was badass enough to be the finale of the boss fight in a movie. Real life should have a slow-motion button for times like these.

It reminded me of that pool hair flip thing that became trendy a couple of years ago—a long-haired woman would toss her head back, whipping her hair and the water in an arc as she emerged out of a pool. Th...

5.36

Where the fuck is that idiot Deen?

As if the world was paying attention to my question, it gave me an answer. Lion Ass forced himself into one of the rooms, destroying the door frame and walls to fit through its entrance. There was only one reason why he'd go in there—Deen.

Wouldn't it have been better if she continued running down the hallway instead of getting herself cornered inside an enclosed space? Her Guardian Angel must be cooking something up. But I couldn't se...

Erind/Deen 5.18.4

Amber Deen Leska

She's so delicate, Deen thought as she wiped Erind's narrow back.

The harsh light from her phone, contrasting with the oppressive darkness, made her best friend’s skin look eerie. Erind often joked that she might be a vampire because of her pale skin, and Deen could see that now. But rather than creepy or anything like that, Deen thought it had a beautiful fragility.

Like a porcelain doll, was what always came to mind whe...

5.35 - Amber Deen Leska

Amber Deen Leska

I’m going to stay and fight! Amber Deen mentally shot back at Gabe.

Her Guardian Angel had been blaring nonstop at her to escape. It only yelled when there was an extreme emergency; given its tone, Deen knew that her death was a possible future.

All the more reason she shouldn’t run. For if she, a superhuman with future-seeing powers, was in grave danger, what chance did the others have? Erind was sick and fainted; the other thr...

5.34

Those ungrateful little shits, I internally raged as the crowd of people packed in the corridor surged away in panic, screaming and trampling each other.

The ones who stayed were Deen with my Erind body, Imani’s group, and, surprisingly, Tesh and Kiera.

I get it...Todd, my trusty puppet, ripping apart unconscious humans infected with parasites before they could transform was a nasty sight. Fine, it was downright terrifying and vomit-inducing to an aver...

Erind/Deen - 5.18.3

After loosening the crusted blood on my arm with rubbing alcohol, Deen wiped it with a different towel she had wet with water from the jug. It was lucky that she brought a ton of towels, which were very fluffy and probably expensive. Too bad we'd have to burn them all later.

I sense that Deen will drag me along to buy new towels.

The rubbing alcohol felt cool, minty, and fresh on my skin. It replaced the disgusting ickiness of the blood. And it was also fighting back the ...

5.33 - Black Spade

Black Spade

"The police are such comedians, aren't they?" Black Spade said to Josh walking beside him. "They want us to release a few hostages as a sign of goodwill?" He dramatically raised his arms, making sure that the ends of his magenta tailcoat swished as he yelled at the concrete ceiling. "We're the bad guys here! What part of that is hard to understand? If we had an ounce of goodwill inside us, we wouldn’t be doing this at all!"

"Sir, uh, I think..." Josh...