The not-so-little crocodile had obviously taken well to Kybas’ concoctions. The last time Alex saw him he’d actually grown quite a bit, but now, he was at least another foot longer than at the summer games, and he was thick like a log, sleek and powerful. His scales were shiny and clean, and his gait was steady and strong as he strode along beside his goblin master.
A huge basket was strapped to his back with the scent of a buffet of mushroom dishes wafting from it.
“Hello!...
2022-09-02 21:45:41 +0000 UTC
View Post
The beach on Oreca’s Fall had been transformed in the afternoon light.
When Alex was last there, the sand was thick with the dead: most were demons, but the rest were his comrades from the Grand Battle. Generasian wizards and other competitors had stood shoulder to shoulder, fighting those demons with many paying a price that was too high to bear. Scavenging seabirds had been circling the beach after the battle, and the smell of death had hung in the air mingling with the cries of sur...
2022-09-01 21:56:34 +0000 UTC
View Post
“Hey, Alex, how’s that cake coming over there?” Thundar asked, stirring a pot of goat stew.
“About the same as the last twelve times you asked me,” Alex fired back, carefully measuring out a portion of white sugar. “It’s baking. Cakes bake when they’re put in the oven, Thundar. That takes time. You know, time? That continued sequence of existence that events occur in? And asking how it’s doing until my ears fall off won’t make one bake any ...
2022-09-01 01:09:02 +0000 UTC
View Post
“Well, ain’t that real bloody ominous,” Cedric growled, firelight reflecting off his green eyes and the silver on the morphic weapon wrapped about his hand. His fingers clinked as he tapped them together. “Too bad the bloody portal closed.”
“Yeah,” Hart said. “Would’ve liked to have seen it, considering it was our only lead.”
“Yes…” Drestra agreed, not trusting herself to say more. “That’s true.”
Dusk found the three Heroes sitting by a blazin...
2022-08-30 22:12:12 +0000 UTC
View Post
There was no mistaking that up ahead and above the tunnel floor, she could sense another source of the Traveller’s magic. Excitement rose at the thought of another pocket of the dead Saint’s power hidden deep beneath the chamber above it.
This was it.
The kind of secret she, Hart and Cedric had come to find.
“It could be a hidden portal,” she said. “Or something else concealed down here.”
“Oh by Uldar,” Peter said, his voice choking with fear. “Anothe...
2022-08-28 00:33:41 +0000 UTC
View Post
“It was the same time the Ravener came back,” Paul said, shaking his head. “Turned eighteen that very day and then—that evening—we heard that the Heroes were marked and a new Ravener cycle was starting.”
“Alex’s eighteenth birthday was the same day the Ravener came back…the day the Heroes got marked?” Drestra’s brows rose.
“Oh yeah,” Peter said. “Was a nasty coincidence, that. Glad he got out when he did. I don’t know if ya know this, but he and...
2022-08-27 01:02:06 +0000 UTC
View Post
“Is this what it’s like to be in a dungeon?” Peter whispered. “All dark and spooky like this?”
“Oooooo, spooky,” Paul whispered back in a creepy voice. He angled his lamp below his chin, giving himself a ghoulish look. “They’re coming to get you, Peter.”
“Oi, don’t even joke about that,” the other guard said, looking over his shoulder at the tunnel behind them. Beyond Drestra’s forceball light, the passage became a thick wall of endless darkness. “Las...
2022-08-26 00:57:42 +0000 UTC
View Post
“Holy Heroes, it’s good to have you back with us.” The priest bowed to Cedric, Drestra and Hart. “Though…I must say, your presence here is a little irregular.”
The holy man adjusted his spectacles and peered at the three Heroes as though they were obscured in fog. “I see you are without your entourage and the Holy Saint this evening, has something dire befallen them? As out of the way as the Traveller’s Cave is, it’s rare that news of the goings on in the wider realm r...
2022-08-24 23:33:03 +0000 UTC
View Post
“Oh, do not be such a prude, Alex!” The chancellor rolled his eyes, pouring himself a cup of pineapple juice. He waved the pitcher. “Care for a cup?”
The young wizard shook his head. “Don’t think it’d stay down right now.”
“You do have such a talent for the dramatic!” Baelin snorted in amusement, taking a long sip of his drink.
“But…you two were flirting?” Alex sounded unsettled.
“Well, I most certainly hope so!” the anci...
2022-08-23 22:09:56 +0000 UTC
View Post
To Baelin’s credit, he did not twitch, flinch or show any reaction to the demon’s words.
“Indeed, I am one and the same,” his voice was measured. “I gather you are revealing that information as a way of proposing a deal?”
“You catch on quickly, mortal,” Zonon-In said, bearing her fangs in a wide grin. “If you gave my master such trouble, then what am I to do to you?”
“And how many wizards have you entrapped with such lines and flattery, I do wonder?” ...
2022-08-20 23:47:49 +0000 UTC
View Post
“Come in,” Baelin’s voice boomed through the doors. “But mind your step.”
“Mind my step?” Alex wondered aloud. “Why do I have to mind my—”
His words faded.
Why was it so dark?
But, why could he still see like he was looking through the surface of a deep lake on a sunny day?
It was nearly pitch-black in the vast chamber, yet at the same time, it wasn’t.
He’d spent enough time in Baelin’s office to know that—even at night—it was ...
2022-08-19 23:49:09 +0000 UTC
View Post
“Hey, congratulations on third-tier spells, but uh…no offence, that’s a little light compared to ‘hey, there might be a conspiracy set up by my own god.” Thundar rubbed the side of his face, groaning like he’d aged a decade. “Also, you pissed off the biggest, nastiest demon you’ve ever seen. Like…what the hell happened, I thought you were just popping over for a quick chat with Drestra’s friend?”
“Things…got out of hand.” Alex admitted, placing plates of stea...
2022-08-19 00:26:55 +0000 UTC
View Post
Alex Roth broke through to third-tier summoning spells the very next day.
The day before had been a long, full one with revelations, feasting and new friendships formed.
When they got to the apartment that night, he and Theresa had unpacked their gear, cleaned up and collapsed into his bed, exhausted. Surprisingly, or maybe not so surprisingly, they’d laid awake even though they were dead tired, spooned together until finally falling asleep to the sound of the timekeeper in his ...
2022-08-17 23:35:51 +0000 UTC
View Post
The elder witch floated to the nearby guest table, the cauldron following like a loyal familiar. The witches had gone quiet—all settling down for the ceremony—as were Alex and his companions.
“Let it never be said,” Blodeuwedd declared with deep pride in her voice, “that Witches of Crymlyn Swamp are bereft of gratitude.” The old witch and her cauldron hovered before her guests. “For that would make us no better than those you saved our people from.”
She looked over...
2022-08-16 21:59:25 +0000 UTC
View Post
Professor Jules stepped back, giving Carey space. “What do you mean, Carey?”
The young woman wiped her tears. “I mean…Uldar left for his divine realm cycles ago. He left the holy Heroes—” She looked at Cedric and Hart. “To defeat the Ravener while he watched over Thameland from his throne. But what if we went to his divine realm? What if we met Uldar and asked him what this all means?”
Alex froze, shocked at both the simplicity of the idea, and Carey’s s...
2022-08-13 22:02:33 +0000 UTC
View Post
“This is such a wonderful place,” Carey’s eyes couldn’t stay still as the group trudged through the village. “It’s like something from bedtime fairy tales my nursemaid told when I was little.”
She looked a little brighter, gawking like a sightseer.
Professor Jules was doing the same, though she was clearly pretending she wasn’t. From the smirk on Baelin’s face, he’d noticed.
For a moment, it felt like just another ordinary day, not one with a potentially ...
2022-08-12 23:10:09 +0000 UTC
View Post
“How is Ffion?” Alex asked Drestra.
“Mmf,” came the Sage’s muffled reply.
She was turned away and held up her index finger—indicating that she needed a moment—as she chewed a morsel of food.
“Take your time.” Alex reached for another serving.
The late morning light found Alex and his companions in their tree-cottage, devouring a breakfast of mushroom soup, pickled birds’ eggs, and fish roasted in garlic butter, while Brutus darted around the table, ...
2022-08-12 01:03:50 +0000 UTC
View Post
Some would have gloated. Some might have paused for effect. Alex, however, wasted no time.
‘Stab her!’ he thought.
Before the demon could reclaim her spear—Claygon thrust its tip into Zonon-In’s side. Something tore, the demon’s scream could have shattered glass as his powered arms drove the barbed blade home, then twisted the haft. Her shriek soared through the swamp as he ground the weapon deeper. For a brief moment, she wavered, but she didn’t fall.
Black bloo...
2022-08-10 23:23:57 +0000 UTC
View Post
It overwhelmed his senses.
His ears rang and his skin crawled. White light flared in his vision. The scent of ash clung to his nostrils, the taste of it filled his mouth. Nausea boiled as his mind reeled.
‘What is this?’
‘Focus!’ The young wizard’s thoughts were scattered, frantic. ‘Get your mind back! Control your senses—’
A terrible screech erupted behind him.
Alex whirled unsteadily, finding legions of monsters pouring from the blinding white, ...
2022-08-09 22:51:02 +0000 UTC
View Post
Screams and roars filled the air as the Champion of Uldar met the cult with maximum violence.
To Drestra, though?
It was music to her ears.
The Sage dove under water and gave Angharad an enthusiastic thumbs up, letting him know that Hart was in position.
He nodded, turned to the witches waiting with him and pointed to the surface, it was time to start their ascent. By the time he turned back to Drestra, she was already gone, climbing through the water, wasting no time;...
2022-08-06 23:56:25 +0000 UTC
View Post
Zonon-In’s goading had worked better than she’d expected.
This ‘Chosen’ was tearing through the sky shadowed by the other two flying mortals, the giant clay soldier, and a horde of air elementals. Below them, walking trees were coming from the swamp, wading toward her.
The rest of their forces weren’t idle either, they had gathered in numbers and were scrambling to block her army.
It was perfect; she’d made them chase her and her horde, and like fools, they’d d...
2022-08-06 00:14:37 +0000 UTC
View Post
Screams rang out over the Skull Pits.
Armies clashed in a storm of magic and death.
In the sky above, Alex battled demons.
He weaved past the sticky tongues of green-feathered demons and dodged the barbed claws of imps; the sky was filled with screeching monsters, snapping and clawing at him. They poured from the witches’ flanks, racing past their allies and taking to the air like flocks of malevolent birds. They aimed to rip Alex, Claygon and Cedric from the sky, but the ...
2022-08-05 01:34:49 +0000 UTC
View Post
Drestra’s Orb of Air and spell of warming surrounded her as she felt her way through the murky swamp. Sounds were distorted. Visibility low. In some places, she could only see a few feet in front of her, but—as nerve wracking as that was—she was glad for it.
If she was having trouble seeing what was ahead, then the enemy would have trouble seeing her.
Soundlessly, she noted the number of strokes she had taken, and looked for the underwater markers that were pointing the way ...
2022-08-03 22:16:01 +0000 UTC
View Post
“Here they come,” Theresa whispered from the belly of the boat.
Ahead—through pines and willows—the enemy army came. Cultists—rowed like their lives depended on it—powering strange boats of bone and hide around tree trunks and through thick, sandy bogs. Each vessel carried at least ten spellcasters, some sheathed in defensive spells. There was no shortage of force shields, bows and chainmail shining over dark clothing. Other fighters gripped long spears with tips sharpened t...
2022-08-02 22:55:51 +0000 UTC
View Post
“Now?” Zonon-In demanded. “You are sure?”
“Yes, leader,” one of her higher ranked demons growled from two crocodilian snouts. Its voice was like gravel. “Sniffers find mana scent: dungeon core near.”
“Where?” The leader leaned forward, her eyes blazing.
The smaller demon cringed beneath her glare like a frightened imp. “South. One plus half mortal mile, is what sniffers say.”
“That’s close,” she turned to Osrian who had en...
2022-07-30 22:31:59 +0000 UTC
View Post
“What are your names?” the elder asked.
“Llyworn,” the young woman said, her tone distant.
“Rhodri,” the male witch spoke without emotion.
Both were now freed from their gags—but their hands and feet were still bound. They were sitting in the middle of the chamber, near the cauldron. Elder Blodeuwedd and Drestra stood before them, while Alex and the others had positioned themselves behind the Sage and the old witch.
Looking into the prisoner’s eyes, and...
2022-07-29 22:37:41 +0000 UTC
View Post
Images of the carnage he’d just seen filled Alex’s mind as he and Claygon flew back to the boat. He’d seen violent deaths before, he’d even helped cause some; Hive queens, Mana vampires, monsters in the Barrens, even demons, but this was different. Mortals and monsters dying with such violence by their own blades, and at their own claws…it was unsettling, even for someone who’d seen more than his share of violence.
‘That took…a terrifying amount of fanaticism,...
2022-07-29 00:46:31 +0000 UTC
View Post
The biggest man Llyworn had ever seen came surging from the murky depths, seized the edge of their dugout, and pulled hard, before she could even react.
The boat shifted violently to the left, groaned then capsized like a toy boat in a storm. With a strangled cry, the witches hurtled over the sides.
Llyworn plunged deep beneath the surface and into the murky depths, gasping when she hit the frigid water. What saved her from aspirating was the Orb of Air around her head, and she th...
2022-07-28 01:15:40 +0000 UTC
View Post
The seven companions hid beneath a mud covered tarp in the belly of Baelin’s boat, moving stealthily toward unknown voices.
The cloth was draped over the sides, blending with their surroundings, and if they maintained a snail’s pace, they shouldn’t draw any more attention than the low, bumpy hills they were drifting past.
“Can anyone make out what they’re sayin’?” Cedric asked, his voice barely audible.
“Something about a patrol,” Theresa whispered, cocking...
2022-07-27 01:01:34 +0000 UTC
View Post
“And look who I found!” Baelin said breezily as he reappeared in Crymlyn village.
Beside him was the familiar figure of Theresa Lu, looking ready for war. She carried an immense pack over one shoulder, and both of her great-grandfather’s blades were sheathed at her hips. In one gloved hand, was her birthday gift from Alex, a powerful bow strung with the golden string she’d won at the Games of Roal. At her side, her ferocious cerberus Brutus stood—looking fierce, immense—and ...
2022-07-23 22:38:32 +0000 UTC
View Post
