Domr

Bloodsworn Ch. 29

29.

Erak had a moment to look at the monster that the lancers rode. Insectile with emerald green carapaces, six legs ending with capped steel spikes that dug into the stone boulevard like it was cheese. The round head was eyeless and had a pair of waving antennae that twitched and shifted with every second. Mandibles clacked, coated in blood and with scraps of flesh dangling. 

The Gnull Riders lowered their lances, forming a wall of death as the ho...

Bloodsworn Ch. 28

28.

Essence stormed his body, a fire that etched his veins and burnt his soul. Power thick as ambrosia and with the strength of a mountain. His heart was made of ice and filled with electricity and his eyes were ready to burst as the pressure threatened to overwhelm him. 

Blood red energy caked his spear and as his lunge crossed the room, fear entered the Empryrean’s eyes for the first time. It struck out with its double bit axe, trying to divert...

Bloodsworn Ch. 27

27.

A pug ugly man stuck his head out of the tank’s hatch, a halo of chestnut brown hair cut tight to his scalp. The center of his head was sunburned and flaking, dead skin pulling back from his bright red scalp. A five o’clock shadow darkened his jowls, black rings beneath his bloodshot blue eyes as he met Erak’s gaze.

“Fucking giant’s ass, you’re huge. I can’t see shit through this new fucking port, I’m going to ride up top and you’r...

Bloodsworn ch. 26

26.

Sammus and Foy were beside the broken gates, the interior hallway broken and shattered from the battle, gaping open like a sore on the wall. A pair of tanks sat there, massive and broad, the red light of fires reflecting off their silver carapaces. A thick tube emerged from the center of the squat vehicles, brutal and utilitarian. Soldiers were clustering up behind the vehicles, armed with casters and blades.

“Erak! Good work on sealing...

Bloodsworn Ch. 25

25.

The sword swung back and forth, swishing through the air as the demon built momentum. Its long arms and strong wrists kept the blade a veritable blur of gray steel as the blade formed a mirage of afterimages in front of the demon. A hint of a melody, chaotic and jarring, formed in the afterimages. Erak snorted in contempt. A waste of effort. 

He charged, steps short and sure as he kept his shield covering his body. The moment he entered its ran...

Book 3 Ch. 28

28.

Nestled among the burnt trunks of blackened trees and scarred landscape was a doorway. Santi breathed deeply, appreciating the thick layer of mana, the drifting tides of it as it was pulled in and filled the area. It was like wading through a warm sea, the pressure in the air a pleasing presence. 

The doorway was cut into the side of the hill, a gaping void that was filled with the dazzle of stars. The frame of the large doorway was made of a g...

Bloodsworn Ch. 24

24.

“BREACH!” Foy’s voice boomed like a war drum across the courtyard, everyone stopping as they stared at the flesh golems slowly inching their way through the gates. Erak turned and saw heads pivoting further down the wall where a smoldering hole was spitting plumes of toxic yellow smoke. 

Demons threw human corpses down, their bodies striking the ground limply. Waves of their hellfire caster fire rained down on the defenders, men and women...

Bloodsworn Ch. 23

23.

It wasn’t a living, thinking thing. A war golem shaped of flesh, muscles and sinews straining tightly over the top a metal frame and powered by infernal means. It was strong and brutal and knew not pain or fear. His every blow did naught but cause more blood to flow over the stone ground and it continued to swing its mighty arms about like a drunkard. 

A drunkard who fought in a simplistic pattern. Erak was a trained and thinking thing and he...

Bloodsworn Ch. 22

22.

“Here it comes!” Sammus yelled as the air around the gates burned hot and bright. The thin metal gate’s bars began to glow, within moments turning white hot. Chains snapped taunt and the gates were pulled inward, yanking open a hole that they were hoping to lure the demonic horde into. 

Erak shuffled from foot to foot as hundreds of casters focused on the hole in the wall. There were several retrofitted vehicles ready to be shoved into th...

Book 3 Ch. 27 Talking with the Enemy

27.

Santi and Tank left right before dawn. Heading down and out of the town and toward the edge where Duncan and his two followers were supposed to be waiting. The predawn darkness shielding little from Santi’s advanced stats. Tank was yawning, his pack strapped tight to his back and his maul on his hip. 

They had stayed up late, planning out contingencies and talking their way through what Duncan and the others could do to them in the dungeon. S...

Bloodsworn Ch. 21

21.

“This is where we allow them to breach,” Prince Sammus had a cluster of officers around him. His lean form made a fitting image of royal heroism, his black uniform trim and his boots gleaming while his lacquered sword case glinted in what hazy light pierced the veil of ash above them.

The cluster of officers around him nodded and took notes. A wall of junior officers were waiting behind them ready to actually carry out their orders. The section ...

Bloodsworn Ch. 20

20. 

Erak didn’t shake his hand, instead signed to him. The prince stopped instantly, folding his slim fingers behind his back as he watched Erak’s fingers with rapt attention.

“I am Erak, sworn Shield of Queen Victoria. I have been entrusted with her will and sigil and granted all powers so forth,” and with that, Erak pulled the little ring out and showed it to the Prince. The Prince didn’t touch it, but looked at it closely, murmuring u...

Bloodsworn Ch. 19

19.

“Close those doors! Captain Lee, get your men into the walls!” More orders and more chaos as hands pried Nevia away from him and led him to the side. 

“By the Cold God’s frosted nuts look at the size of him!” Erak grimaced at the epithet. The Cold One was something not evoked lightly, but these thin blooded Southerners knew little enough to take its name so lightly.

“Shut the fuck up Horvath. Captain Nellis is on her way. Sir,...

Bloodsworn Ch. 18

18.

Erak Bloodsworn lvl. 9

Strength: 33

Vigor: 21

Durability: 21 

Perception: 18

Processing: 15 

Erak let the flow of power rob him of his mind for a moment as he waited for everyone to get ready for the sprint to come. Rutledge had swiftly deposited the energy core to Julius, telling the man that she h...

Bloodsworn Ch. 17

17.

Erak stared at the next cannon and the crew. There was no golem being crafted from the dead flesh of humans here. Five Infernal Soldiers and a single Blood Mage were all who manned the weapons emplacement. Erak arrived as the last drops of blood dripped onto the collection tray, rolling down a trough as runes flared to life along the cannon's barrel. 

The two soldiers tossed the dead man to the s...

Bk 3 Ch. 26 Dungeon Run Prep

26.

A/N: I'll be taking off the last week of November, the last week through first two week of January on ROYAL ROAD. I WILL CONTINUE POSTING HERE!

Santi left the others behind as he started to work his way up and into the dry brush and hills. The prickly plants around tugged at his pants, leaving burrs in the hem and in his socks as he kept moving up. The hill was nude, bare of any vegetation aside from scrub as he kept climbing. 

It had taken thre...

Bloodsworn Ch. 16

16.

In a half destroyed building, seven Infernal Soldiers stood about with spears standing upright, looking on from a shattered wall. They stood with careless ease behind the scant cover as the return fire from the Armory slowly faded away, weapon emplacement after weapon emplacement falling silent.

A mass of metal and corpses lay against the back of the building. A frame vaguely humanoid, but with four arms, and covered in glisten...

Bloodsworn Ch. 15

15.

Erak stilled his fast beating heart as he walked out of the shadows to stand before them. The rest of his party crowded right behind him and he heard their gasps of shock as they stared down the nine figures jogging across bodies and stone without a care. Genderless in their thick armor and furs, they looked like spirits of wrath drug out of the ancient histories.

Erak lifted his spear in greeting and waited as the leading figure slowed. A giant ham...

Bloodsworn Ch. 14

14.

Erak 

Bloodsworn lvl. 8

Strength: 30

Vigor: 20

Durability: 20

Perception: 23 

Processing: 15 

The burst in power was relatively small, but the improvement was still welcome. He was growing weary of squinting all the time in the dim spaces. While the increase in perception...

Ch. 13

13.

The luminescent water exploded in a flurry of scales, teeth and fury. Erak stabbed it as it flew towards him. The spear tore through the slippery scales like tissue paper and Erak lifted the five foot long primordial looking eel up to show everyone. The little monster had a thick, powerful tail that had propelled it. A long snout, gray-brown thin scales, long arms with yellow talons on thin fingers. It spasmed once powerfully, nearly shaking itself free b...

Bloodsworn Ch. 12

12.

Erak stomped down and was rewarded with a  slurry of brain and bone as the undead popped like a grape. They were weak but veritably endless, a horde without fear or pain, absorbing the strength of the Erak and his escorts without complaint. 

Twisted heaps of ruined flesh and bone, brunt and shattered from casters and knives and rods of heavy metal. Still they kept coming. Scores if not hundreds, filling the basement in their silent fury, o...

Bk 3 Ch. 25 Cleaning House

25.

So few were left. The majority of the reinforcements Santi had called for had been injured or killed and the majority of the survivors had escorted Frank’s and Zeke’s people back to Homebase. Santi’s team, plus his Mom, Torin, and Yessi and her golems. Rayleigh had four fighters left, all Acolytes in the low thirties. Frank, Maya, and Zeke had all come with them, not having been asked but told. Their own evolution coming soon enough.

They had ...

Bloodsworn Ch. 11

11.

The backdoor was blocked. Gregor had been right in that it was an oversized door. He had been right that it was used for loading too. Boxes and shipments of supplies were scattered about with little rhyme or reason. Corpses were stacked around the backdoor like cordwood, blood still wet and dripping off them to the floor. They were a mix of Adjudicators, Justices, and office staff, all stacked with little care or thought. 

The crowd following h...

Bloodsworn Ch. 10

10.

Erak met the corrupted creature’s charge. His shield rose and caught the powerful blow of the pieced together sword. Metal rang and Erak grinned as his body shook from the power in the justicar’s blow. Erak punched it in the face, crushing the nose and blacking an eye. It flew back, slamming into a cage and fell to a knee. 

It looked up and its mouth gaped open, fire burning free like a dragon’s breath. Heat and corruption spilled over Er...

Bloodsworn Ch. 9

9.

The doors leading into the holding cells had changed. Erak ran his fingers over the thick, iron wrought door, certain that the original door had been wood. Gregor, the Adjudicator, stepped through the crowd, apologizing for every stepped on foot or jostled soldier. His voice loud in the dark hall, the only sound other than the heavy breathing of fearful men.

“My lord, this door has changed.” Erak turned and looked down to where he assumed Gregor ...

Bloodsworn Ch. 8 Hall of Justice pt 1

8.

The Hall of Justice had broken down doors, shattered splinters of wood strewn about the entrance. A corpse lay draped over a metal rail, the black robes of a Justice wet with blood as her bloodless face peered up sightlessly toward the smoke choked skies. Erak walked past the Justice and into the dark halls, Nevia and her platoon lagging behind as the two professors, Adjudicators, and commissar fell behind. 

Erak didn’t wait for them to rally ...

Bk. 3 Ch. 24 Accessing the Pillar

24.

A/N: That's the end of the Pillar arc. Definitely going to need to work this around in future edits.

Santi stared up at the pillar in the midday light. He watched as the seconds counted down the last few seconds as the pillar unlocked and he could fully utilize it. The stench was truly becoming something else, the hundreds of corpses littering the perimeter of the town had a phenomenal stench that had Santi wrinkling his nose. 

Frank and Zeke’...

Bloodsworn Ch. 7

7.

Erak’s world dissolved into screeching metal and snapping teeth. Hot, humid breath washed over his face as he was forced back. He caught the first spear strike with his shield and used his own spear to force the second attacking spear off vector. The rapier came close, striking at the place where his shoulder plates met his neck. Erak jerked his head to the side and the needlepoint tip scraped enamel off his armor and slid past him as Erak kicked the wea...

Bloodsworn Ch. 6

6.

Moments passed as Erak retreated away from the intersection. Lieutenant Nevia’s platoon moved up to secure it without alerting the Infernal Soldiers down the street. Julius stuck to Erak’s side like his shadow, the two men going to where the bonespitter lay in a deflated sack. Rutledge was kneeling on the hard stone, her wrinkled hands prying at the monster’s leathery skin. 

“Professor Rutledge, Erak hasn’t used a...

BloodSworn Ch. 5

5.

Erak turned the corner and jerked his head back as the side of the building erupted in a spray of stone splinters. A forearm long, yellowing bone spear exploded in a wave of razor sharp shrapnel, pinging off his armor. The half dozen Adjudicators behind him weren’t as lucky, their thin uniforms offering no protection. Shrieks of pain resounded, echoing off the canyon-like alley way they had been herded into. 

Erak spun around the...