The Conciege

August Intruder- Chapter 38- David Swan

David Swan sat quietly in an interrogation room. He was the only one there, left to his thoughts.

He didn’t panic, just stared the metal table bolted to the ground. In front of him was a one-way mirror. This wasn’t his first here, and it wasn’t going to be his last.

The white lights in the room were bright, but not to the point of discomfort, and looking in front of him would show him everything about himself. His white singlet he wore now stained from being tackled to the g...

August Intruder- Chapter 37- Mr. Hitchcock

Officer Clivensky was Naymond’s officer of choice.

He was a large man with a deep tan. And by large, Melmarc didn’t mean fat or obese, he meant huge. He looked like he benched three elephants on a good day, and his uniform had enough material to sow four suits for Melmarc and have some to spare.

Naymond picked him randomly at the parking lot and had all but commandeered him away from what was supposed to be his patrole partner.

And now they were driving in his patrol veh...

(TLO) Chapter 154: Mercy

Timilehin stood at the entrance of Forlorn’s cell a behemoth of a man. With his size he covered the entire doorway.

He stepped into the room with Forlorn and came under the pale blue light, a weak facsimile of the moon’s. Under it Forlorn could make out much of his brother. It seemed his journey here had not been simple. He bore bruises and cuts. His cassock had tears and holes. One of its sleeves had been ripped hazardously from the shoulder, and he bled from a deep cut above one e...

(THOB) Chapter 155: The Story of The Shadow Child

“My thanks,” the man replied Prince Mardin from beneath his hood. “Now there was once a young boy once upon a time in the ruined cesspool of a beautiful city. He enjoyed his life within his limited confines, unknowing of the beauty of the larger spaces that existed outside his comfort zone. Then at a young age the evils of without came to disrupt his peace of within, and he found himself losing much of what he loved. Fueled only by vengeance he trudged along a life he convinced himself ...

August Intruder- Chapter 36- A Touch of Theology

“Naymond Hitcock,” Delano mused on the other side of the phone. “Never heard the name.”

Melmarc was back in his hotel room. Today was the last day of his government approved stay. If he wanted to stay any longer, he would have to pay out of pocket. It was ten thousand dollars a night, so that said everything it needed to say about him paying out of pocket.

His luggage was packed and ready to go, not that he had even unpacked it in the first place.

“Even your commun...

August Intruder- Chapter 35- The Office

“My most amazing Faker!” Naymond said with theatrical excitement as the other detectives flocked out of the room with their mentees. “You have no idea just how motivated I am to finally have a Faker in my employ.”

“He’s not in your employ,” Alfa said.

Apart from Naymond, the African girl whose name Melmarc felt bad for already forgetting, and himself, Alfa was the only one left.

Alfa walked away from the lectern and stood with them. “He’s under my ...

(THOB) Chapter 154: Beguile You

Urden came awake screaming and gasping. His cassock was soaked in sweat and a terror grasped at his heart as he cried into arms that held him with so much untainted love. But somethings were greater than others and he knew that no love or hate or indifference could triumph over the terror that held him.

“What’s wrong, father?” a voice asked.

He knew who owned it and yet couldn’t register it. Twelve lifetimes he had lived. Twice old age had found him and he had succumbed to...

(TLO) Chapter 153: Unfair

“You want me to send an Iron into the crack?!” Faust asked, flabbergasted.

Jabari nodded. “I do.”

“But the boy will die.”

“He’ll be fine. He’s stronger than you have been led to believe.”

“Led by whom?”

Jabari looked down at him. “Circumstances.”

Faust took his time to mull it over. The man was asking that he sacrifice a group of his seminarians. They had potential from the little he knew, but they remained expendable. Seth belon...

(TPOR) Chapter 180: The Gambling Brother

Kid was mumbling incoherently to himself as they walked through the small hedge in front of them. Zed had cut them a wide enough path using [Sharp] and was happy to see that the rune’s effect had gone all the way.

Each slash had cut all the way to the other side. It had probably also kept on going. He wondered if it had simply dissipated into nothingness or if something had stopped it.

Will it cut through brick? He wondered, staring forward and thinking of the houses th...

August Intruder- Chapter 34- Cerebus' Great Grand Daughter

Melmarc sat, nervous, in a wide waiting room, black envelope in hand.

Around him was the constant hustle and bustle of men in uniforms and half-dressed men and women, with clothes that either showed too much or hid almost nothing at all. Some men were dragged in with their pants hanging far too low, or wearing singlets that showed off too many tattoos.

Each time, the men walked or were dragged through glass sliding double doors, and into the building.

Not for the first time ...

(TLO) Chapter 152: Protocol

Faust walked the confines of the seminary like a wraith haunting a home. In the darkening evening there was little chance anyone would see him. By this time, the seminarians would be having their dinner.

While he wished to avoid prying eyes, he walked with a straight back and did his best to keep his weakness from his actions.

He found he’d missed the cool evening air. For the last eight months he’d confined himself to his room, drinking elixirs and potions Kyle had gotten him...

(THOB) Chapter 153: Urden- Interlude

Ezril blinked the darkness away, but he might as well have waved away the air. Unable to see, he sat up with ease. The floor was covered in grass and served as a soft bed to his rump, so much so that he hesitated to rise to his feet. But he did.

Around him was overshadowed in a familiar darkness, and when he took a step forward he frowned at the sight before him.

A rubble of stones stood before him, rising like a flight of stairs leading to the top of a grand palace. However, no p...

(TPOR) Chapter 179: Capebaras

The sun was high in the sky, a slow signal of a long morning and a coming noon. It was bright and flared with significant heat.

At least Zed thought it did. Walking beside Kid, he couldn’t feel anything in the way of temperature. Perks of being a mage, apparently.

“Do you ever get tired of it?” he asked, adjusting the weight of [Titan’s Axe] on his shoulder.

“Tired of what?” Kid asked.

“The whole thing about not being able to feel temperature.” Zed kick...

August Intruder- Chapter 33- More Important In Black

Melmarc sat in a waiting room, legs bouncing in nervousness.

He was not alone. Beside him was Ark, looking calm and casual, always able to be calm in nervous situations.

There a few more people in the room. A girl with black hair and purple highlights wearing ripped jeans and what looked like an old leather jacket. Another with glasses and dressed like the kind of girl that always took first place in class. There were four boys, each one of varying dispositions ranging from good a...

(TPOR) Chapter 178: Pack It Up

Daniel was having a bad day. Or a bad night. To be fair, he’d been having a bad everything.

He’d been interim captain for about a week and he’d already lost contact with HQ, lost a buck load of Olympian armor, lost most of his team under his command, and was practically out in the middle of nowhere. He doubted there was anyone he knew who’d experienced any beginning phase of leadership like this.

At least I didn’t have an Olympian armor fall in the wrong hands, ...

(THOB) Chapter 152: Breathe

They couldn’t afford to let the fight drag on. But if there were no wisps, how could he change its course? If Berlak evaded him at every turn, how could they turn the tide? The answer came to him as quickly as the question. There’s more you can do in the dark.

Stepping forward, he moved his hand in as he spun from the cover of Olufemi’s back to oppose Berlak. The god turned away from his attack easily, striking a closed fist against the flat of Olufemi’s Sunder.

<...

(TLO) Chapter 151: Verdict

The air was heavy. It tasked his breathing and slowed his charge. He felt death reia gather at his hand with every intention of crippling his brother. He would get a warning at best, but it would be worth it. No Iron should disrespect a silver as much as his brother had disrespected.

So he charged forth. Even as his brother moved from where he stood, blurring away from his vision, he did not stop. He would teach his brother a lesson. Only then would he be satisfied.

So as Seth slo...

August Intruder- Chapter 32- Red

Melmarc froze.

The distance of the portal was displayed above Ninra’s head. He stepped in her direction and it reduced.

127.99km…

Ninra looked at him with worried eyes. “Is everything alright?”

Melmarc took another step and it reduced.

Behind Ark, Dorthna’s attention was also turned in Ninra’s general direction. There was a small frown on his face, as if he had just noticed something annoying.

“Ignore it,” he said.

That got Ark and Mel...

(TLO) Chapter 150: Cold Steel

“You have two swords, Jabari, defend like you mean it!” Igor barked. “That you are up against a silver mage is no excuse.”

Seth grit his teeth as Forlorn slipped between his defense and cut his side. The pain flared and he staggered forward. He caught himself before he fell and swung his sword behind him. The swing forced his brother to increase the distance between them.

Forlorn had torn his cassock and scored another injury. The cut was clean and deep but Seth was more c...

(THOB) Chapter 151: A God

Ezril saw the moment the fight was decided. The climax to the torrential build up. Olufemi swung the Sunder in his left hand. A downward stroke designed to take his enemy’s head. Berlak reacted as fast as the stroke itself, his longsword striking the Sunder from Olufemi’s grip, taking away the priest’s advantage. But Ezril had seen such decisions before. Olufemi had intended it. The strike, although intended to take the man’s head, had never truly been expected to. Not a feint. A ...