Michael Clark

New Chapters for Sedgewick

TR 390,391 and BoG 481,482 Available in Sedgewick

Tunnel Rat Chapter 399

This chapter was going to go up on Thursday, but took longer to write and leads into more things. Chapter 400 will be up tomorrow or Sunday. Obviously, we have more loot and some Milo decisions to work through.

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Milo leaned back on a bed of pillows and watched the activity going on around him. Between the demands on his body from healing and Gendifur's painkillers, he was happy to sit and nap. Things had beco...

Butcher of Gadobhra Chapter 490

The minions at the sausage factory were on their toes and ready to get to work as soon as Ozzy got in the door. Minions survive by knowing when a boss is coming, always keeping a lookout. This was one of the rare occasions when Blinky was awake while keeping watch. He saw Ozzy moving toward the factory, limping and covered in bruises. He swung across a small rope to a hanging chain, dropped to the floor, and raced to where the other two were sleeping in their new beds. They'd been delighted w...

Tunnel Rat Chapter 398

The path back was quicker for Hecate, able to take long strides that brought her again to the crossroads of the ancient dwarven city. She was at Milo's side after that, hoping that she was in time to talk with him before he was pushed into a decision that he might regret. To her surprise, he was awake and sitting with a book in his hands, reading to two large ratkin children wearing pink frilly dresses. In front of them, each had a basket filled with nuts, bolts, metal scraps, and a shiny sil...

TR 388,389 and BoG 479,480 Available

Now that the new single-story tiers are up, I'm going to do things a little differently for this Tier. At the start of the week I'll move two chapters of each story to the Butcher of Sedgewick Tier and send an announcement like this one, letting you know.

Fewer announcements to you guys, and a little easier for me doing updates just once a week, cutting 12 edits to 4.

When on Sundays? Whenever I get out of bed, feed the dog, and get coffee. Should be around ten, might be as lat...

Butcher of Gadobhra Chapter 489

I am deserted by everyone but my faithful dog, Auggie. He got my attention the first hour and then there was nothing to do but write another chapter.
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"Oh god, are we done? The ground is so comfy, I just want to lay here." The Butcher was lying face down in the churned mud of the corral, covered in welts and bruises, and not wanting to move.

Ben laughed, and Rolly assured Ozzy that the fight was over. "Oh, it's over all right. I don't...

Butcher of Gadobhra Chapter 488

Any smart mercenary wants to observe the battlefield before a battle starts. Marceline was no exception. 'Meet the Butcher at the corral at midnight.' was not something most people would feel comfortable with. Marcy, doubly so. She wasn't scared, just wary. She'd been in far worse spots while growing up on the streets and running with the local gangs. At twelve, she'd joined her first gang, mainly to be out of the house and away from her stepfather. By thirteen she was running that g...

Tunnel Rat Chapter 397

Time for a little world-building. Pun intended.

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Hecate had found out early in their relationship that Hephaestus that he was one of her favorite gods. He never bothered her, and never asked for favors. In fact, he outright ignored her existence. She loved him for that and wished more of the gods would do the same. After the frantic early days of their imprisonment and into the early days of building their own reality, she had been fo...

Butcher of Gadobhra Chapter 487

Once again, Vice President Vernon Throckmorton arrived in Sedgewick dressed in a pair of burlap pants and a matching shirt. He turned quickly, scowling as he looked for the two idiot minions that had become the bane of his mornings. Ricardo was there waiting for him and Marceline. She looked him over, perusing his updated character sheet.
"Damn, they really did get you to level 5. A few hundred more and you'll be ready to move up a Tier. But first, I think you've earned some breakfast." 2025-03-17 20:08:07 +0000 UTC View Post

Tunnel Rat Chapter 396

Hecate had barely sat down by Milo, cloaked and hidden, when a large female ratkin came to check on him. She looked around, then scowled and spoke softly.

"I know that you're here. Quit sneaking around right now and show yourself, or there will be hell to pay. We aren't playing silly hide-and-seek games. No one gets to yell Surprise. There are hurt people here, sleeping quietly, and I will not see them disturbed."

The healer was so earnest and truthful in what she said that Heca...

Butcher of Gadobhra Chapter 486

Vernon woke up with the dawn, a mechanical rooster call playing loudly in the speakers placed in each bedroom. Typically, he ignored it by putting a pillow over his head, but today, he managed to get up, stumble to the shower, and catch a little of the hot water. The hot water tank was linked to all of the guest bathrooms, and if you weren't quick, you would be enjoying an ice-cold shower. Throwing on his overalls and white T-shirt with the ranch logo, he was almost ready to go when Ricardo c...

New Patreon Tiers

I've been working on the Patreon Tiers the last couple of days and have added two new tiers that cost 5.00 each for 20 chapters ahead. Many people indicated they liked that and were only reading one story or the other.

Patreon recently added the Free Tier for people to follow stories. That was the idea for the Minion Tier. I have unpublished it. If you are in that Tier, thank you for your support. It's always appreciated. You can stay or leave as you choose.

I am working on a n...

Tunnel Rat Chapter 395

In a dark, abandoned city, a brave lizard was carrying out an important mission. Georgie roamed the ancient city until he found a spot where seven roads came together at a circular courtyard. Flickering crystals cast shadows, but he heard nothing around him. Taking a deep breath, he began to bark, using the language of the friends he had met briefly. They'd told him they had good ears. He hoped that was true. His barks and howls echoed through the city and beyond, calling for help.

Hel...

Butcher of Gadobhra Chapter 485

"Having fun yet, Mr. Vernon? We can get closer to the big one if you want a better look, or should we get a little further away from it? Looks like she's about to breathe out that acidic cloud again."

Vernon was alternating between screaming in terror and screaming angrily at the two idiots who misconstrued all of his orders. "What?! NO!"

"Don't get further away? Sure thing, Mr. Vernon, hope the wheelbarrow holds up. We lost a pillow when we ran through the acid mist last time. ...

Butcher of Gadobhra Chapter 484

Ben and Rolly listened as Ozzy and Suzette explained the problems they faced in getting Vernon ready for Billy's plan and to get him out of town.
The Butcher ticked off the challenges on his fingers. "He has a bunch of bad conditions, and he's old, which doubles the negative effects. He's slow and can barely wobble fast enough to catch a fat rabbit. He can only use a light mace, no armor, and no shield. His skills are crap because the system picked them as he did stuff. It's going to be da...

Tunnel Rat Chapter 394

There was no signal to begin the battle, and no orders were given. As the Chimara moved from the throne room into the large courtyard and they got a better look at the monster, every gun began to fire. The Chimera was made from the corpses of dozens of creatures, with parts attached with little regard. Copperhead tails flailed in the are with cave bear head attached to the ends. A large reptile had donated six stumpy legs that strained to move it, with smaller legs, some mechanical, pushing f...

Tunnel Rat Chapter 393

Preparations began in earnest for hunting the Chimera. While he had a wealth of information about the city, little more could be gained from talking to Carver, who had purposefully avoided the creature the few times it moved around the city or sent swarms of other creatures out hunting. Carver had spent the early years of his long seclusion making stone coffins for each person slain and entombing their bones and belongings in the crypts. After that, he disposed of rubble, repaired buildings, ...

Tunnel Rat Chapter 392

The statue simply stood where it was, unmoving and not speaking further. Milo examined it carefully, sure this was the statue he'd seen standing in the water fountain. He stepped closer to it and said, "Is that the name of this city? Finditurpetram?"

The statue looked down at him, its carefully sculpted head moving, the rough stone body staying still. Even the eyelids and face of the statue moved realistically, "Bring forth the Heir to Finditurpetram." Nothing else Mil...

Tunnel Rat Chapter 391

With the incentives of curiosity, frustration, and aged whiskey, it did not take long for the Deep Rock Engineers to construct a bridge across the chasm. Bridging small fissures and leveling out the caverns they drilled into was a daily job. First, a temporary bridge section only two feet wide was constructed and slowly moved forward over the abyss. A cable running from the end of the section to a pulley embedded in the roof of the tunnel gave the dwarves a way to keep the end from sagging. A...

Butcher of Gadobhra Chapter 483

Layla looked at Diego and said deferentially, "As loyal nobles who take their responsibilities to the Empire seriously, of course, we are open to considering requests from His Imperial Highness." Billy nodded his head, eyes downcast.

Smyth wondered if he had approached his mission in the wrong way. With such cooperation a possibility, perhaps he should have...

"For the right price, of course." The Baron and Baroness sipped their wine, leaned back in their chairs, and smiled.
...

Butcher of Gadobhra Chapter 482

Still not kicking this flu, but sleeping now. Too much, about 18 hours a day. But I managed to write for three hours. Might be some oddities in here, I'm a little loopy.
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Smythe's mind was unsettled as he turned over the horses to a smiling groom outside the inn. He had come to Sedgewick with a plan in mind, but his careful strategy was becoming threadbare around the edges. He had high hopes that Inquisitor Diego would be able to give him the inform...

Butcher of Gadobhra Chapter 481

Smythe sat at the small wooden table, his following the interesting whorls of the wood and how the woodcarver had delicately added their own touches to create a lovely duet. Each of the chairs and tables of the small teahouse was different but with the same quality. And all were carved of apple wood from the same tree. That bit of information had been given to him by the proprietor, an aging woman named Bess. She had served them tea and left them to talk, needing to warm herself at the small ...

Tunnel Rat Chapter 390

Sort of sick, sort of needing very badly to write. I started this chapter and wrote for 5 hours. Felt good. Might be a bit rough.
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"Fire in the Hole!"

Ruby Energy seared a path fifty feet in front of Milo and entered the mine tunnel dug by two adolescent Heroes in training. It was over in a second and Milo and Clawhammer advanced on the seven-by-seven-foot shaft dug by the girls.

It had been a tremendous effort on their part, swinging their new pic...

Tunnel Rat Volume 2 is out!

If you can spare a moment, a review/rating on Amazon would be greatly appreciated. And if you have KU, every page you flip through with a re-read sends me a sliver of copper. But it adds up.

Milo's adventures in the World of Genesis continue, and so does the mayhem he leaves in his wake.

Was it his fault that the big explosion he caused woke something up, and it's heading for Shadowport for a city-sized snack? Luckily he has a band of crazed dwarven engineers to help him t...

Tunnel Rat Chapter 389

Somewhat better. Fought a high fever all night, then slept most of the day and could eat again. Feeling good enough to write. Hopefully, that's the end of this.
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Master Clawhammer looked at his assembled crew and pointed to a large stack of books and tools, "And this is why you always clean out a furnace before smelting a new batch of metal. You never know what might be inside from the last batch. And I'd say that based on the evidence, that is es...

Lacking Energy, in so many ways. Back soon as the lights come back on

Small delay in uploading. I have a Milo chapter almost ready to go and two more plotted, and a few Butcher yards thought out. Lights have been out for two days, and ETA is 1:30 am (which they said yesterday as well)
Sitting in a dark house, with no heat, in the winter, with the flu...no fun.
Hopefully power will come on and warmth and being able to write will help me feel better. Borrowing a computer at work on the way to get take out to do updates. My daughter and I stared at each ot...

Butcher of Gadobhra Chapter 480

Sick with the flu for two days, and tomorrow isn't looking good. Getting a little writing done. Sometimes it's a choice of being miserable in bed or miserable at the computer. I'm not going to post to RR today, but I did manage to finish this chapter about a very confused tax collector.
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Ben recognized the Envoy from the Emperor as soon as his party arrived by teleporter. He found two things to be interesting: That they didn't go directly to Gadobh...

Butcher of Gadobhra Chapter 479

Rolly had never had a time sense that lined up with normal hours. That had only gotten worse when he became a Shepherd in Genesis. Pregnant animals didn't give birth on a schedule and he would answer the call to attend difficult deliveries of a three-headed calf or sextuplet sedge beasts. It didn't surprise Suzette, Granya, or Betty to find him waiting for breakfast at four a.m. or even to have started baking the muffins and bread for them. Ben, Suzette, and Ozzy were also used to him knockin...

Stubbing on Royal Road

I wanted to put out a reminder about Tunnel Rat Volume 2 coming out on the 19th from Amazon and Audible: This means the chapters in the second volume will be coming down from Royal Road a few days before that. KU doesn't allow me to keep them up, and KU is what pays the bills. It will be at least 3 months until Volume 3 goes to KU.

Butcher of Gadobhra will be coming out in July. Loads of time and the early chapters are all rewritten and getting checked over for errors by my wife.
<...

Tunnel Rat 388

Milo had been tired and injured when he'd first seen the eyes. He didn't know what they were, but he knew they were more than magical items or parts of a corrupted copperhead.
The snake had been composed of the original copper body with added mechanical parts, all of which were rotting away under the effects of the corruption. The scarabs and other creatures were similar. If it had only been snakes and scarabs, he might not seen that two different things were going on. The first was the ad...