Bruce_Sentar

AO 4 Ch 41

Chapter 41

Maribelle had said she could use both elements of the serpent sphere at once, but Emlyn was still shocked.

A mage-forged struck Emlyn and she was as hard as bluesteel, the blade only chipping off a small fleck of her kingdom blues before she struck with the speed and power of lightning. Only, it was more because she was still heavy from the earth magic.

She blew the mage-forged’s arm apart with the swing and then shattered his torso before sendi...

AO 4 Ch 40

Chapter 40

“It has to be taken back.” I stated without an ounce of room to do anything else. “That fort is the backdoor into our kingdom. Saving the kingdom aside, the Garrish forces would roll right through half our country. If you think they are turning our soldiers into mage-forged, then the horrors of fighting the farmers from every village here to the capital is the reality if we don’t take it back as soon as possible.”

I felt strongly about what I ...

AO 4 Ch 39

Chapter 39

Melida stumbled, only for Finley to catch her and throw her over his shoulder.

“We can’t stop.” He said, the anchor was panting in the freezing air.

The cold was only getting worse the deeper into the mountain range they moved.

“Are you sure your anchor knows his way around these mountains?” Faith huffed, two anchors carrying her on a stretcher they’d made after their flight from the fortress.

“You could have one of your ...

AO 4 Ch 38

Chapter 38

I sat on Cyam as the supply train rolled out of The Capital amid the sunrise. We had hurried out before most of the revelers from last night’s ball woke from their stupor. The drinks had really flowed well last night. Not to mention Aurelia’s father had snuck in two kegs to the ball.

A man after my own heart. I bet he knew how to smuggle a battle axe in better than Emlyn.

The supply train trundled along into the forest road.

Emlyn and Au...

AO 4 Ch 37

Chapter 37

The carriage melted away as I arrived back at the quiet Aldis Manor with Aurelia.

“Ard.” Sienna kissed my cheek. “Good luck.”

“I’m sure you can defeat a manticore.” Emlyn kissed my other cheek.

“Remember they are tricky.” Zuri kissed me on the lips and stepped back.

Selina just gave me a wave and walked off with Sienna while the anchor rubbed her stomach.

I cleared my throat and turned back to a blushing Aurelia...

AO 4 Ch 36

Chapter 36

“Arden.” A woman nearly fell into my arms. “I’m so happy to get this dance.” She giggled and blushed.

“The Strathmoores are always a valued ally.” I answered diplomatically as I took her hand as the music picked up.

Dancing was easier now, and I enjoyed it despite groaning every time Emlyn insisted I keep up my practice. Thankfully she made it fun enough that I never turned her down.

Though, I couldn’t dance the way Maribelle...

AO 4 Ch 35

Chapter 35

Melida fidgeted nervously waiting for the letter that would determine the fate of the kingdom to arrive.

“Lay down.” Brusset patted the bed he had been warming up.

“Can’t.” Melida peered out the window, looking down at the road leading to the fort. “This is too important. I can sleep later.”

“You won’t be able to act on anything until morning.” Brusset said the reasonable thing, as usual.

However, her mind wasn’t ...

AO 4 Ch 34

Chapter 34

I straightened my suit. “It’s fine. We’ll just hide it under your dress.” I glanced at Emlyn, whose face held zero humor.

“How the fuck am I supposed to hide this under my dress?” She lifted the battle axe while gesturing at her tight dress.

Zuri had certainly been on the cutting edge of fashion at the last event.

It seemed that the new fashion for ladies was no longer the poofy shoulders. It had moved to these dresses that hugge...

AO 4 Ch 33

Chapter 33

I stood on the roof watching the battle between my mother and Carmilla with a new appreciation for my mother’s magic. I might not be able to mimic what she was doing.

“See? She’s terrifying.” Emlyn said from the side.

“No. I could do that if I had half the time she’d trained.” I crossed my arms, refusing to admit defeat in this matter. Though, I had watched some incredibly powerful magic so far. There was a lot I wanted to practice.<...

AO 4 Ch 32

Chapter 32

“I can’t believe he’s already acting as if he’s running the Enclave.” My grandfather was fuming when I stepped down to join the rest of my house.

“Keep calm and move forward.” My mother was the very definition of collected, sitting in her chair with her hands folded in her lap. “Let her challengers come forth.”

Carmilla jumped from her father’s throne and wings made of swords of light fanned out from her back and seemed to stre...

AO 4 Ch 31

Chapter 31

“I thought he wasn’t arriving until tomorrow.” I said as I shuffled behind my grandfather and my mother.

“Keep quiet. Right now we just want to pay our respects and leave.” Anadonis gave me a grim smile. “Do not use magic.”

Our anchors had to stay in the  front lobby.

I watched as all of the noble mages moved as a group through a long hall. Every five feet stood an anchor with a weapon on their back or hip.

If the ki...

AO 4 Ch 30

Chapter 30

I walked through the market. Brightly colored tarps hung from each stall to get attention while people pushed their way through and children ran underfoot. It was loud enough that I could talk privately without concern for being overheard.

“Thanks for helping me get out. Since yesterday, the Estate has been stifling.” Vivi held my arm. She had claimed the closeness was necessary or we would get separated.

I thought she just wanted to hang onto...

AO 4 Ch 29

Chapter 29

I had explained what I could of my accidental use and purposeful use of soul magic, as well as my interactions with the goddess to Aurelia’s Uncle Silver.

The old man documented everything I had said, and I was now a little suspicious that it was so that he could kill me if I ever became such a monster as he feared.

At the same time, I really didn’t want to get on the bad side of this man and dutifully answered all of his questions.

Mari...

AO 4 Ch 28

Chapter 28

After a night of Maribelle going absolutely wild while I chased her down and pinned her in the basement storage closet for the night, I finally fell asleep.

But rather than dream, I found myself drawn into Soulgard by something.

“Oh. Ard.” Emlyn wandered around the castle. “It’s going to be one of those dreams.”

“What kind is that?” I raised an eyebrow. This wasn’t a dream, but it seemed that Emlyn wasn’t awar...

AO 4 Ch 27

Chapter 27

I sat sprawled in a lounge chair while Maribelle fed me crackers and cheese.

Zuri walked in a moment later and raised an eyebrow. “Having fun?”

“A ton of fun. Being important is great, right Maribelle?” I asked her.

“I want to make sure you have energy for tonight.” She answered honestly and stuffed another cracker with cheese into my mouth.

“Exactly.” I said around the snack and sat up before she silenced me in other w...

AO 4 Ch 26

Chapter 26

Eva glanced back at the two bartering at the counter.

“That seems expensive. Are you sure we couldn’t do it for five?” Vivi twirled her blonde hair and the pretty merchant haggled as she leaned on the counter.

The shopkeeper had unfortunately left his son at the counter and the man couldn’t pull his eyes off Vivi. “Sure.”

“Great.” Vivi stopped leaning forward and bounced on her feet. “It’ll go on House Aldis, purchased by...

AO 4 Ch 25

Chapter 25

I sat by the fire with hot coco in my hands as Maribelle put another fur over me.

“You should have just used magic to get home faster.” Emlyn crossed her arms.

“No, dammit. I said we were walking, and I wasn’t going back on that.” I shivered and spilled a little of the hot liquid on my face as I brought it back to my lips.

“So stubborn. I’m going to… to… ugh!” She threw her hands up in the air and stormed off.

After...

AO 4 Ch 24

Chapter 24

I walked into the administration building, keeping from gawking like the first time. This time I walked straight up to the desk like I was an old hand. “I have a mage assessment.”

The clerk at the front desk blinked. She had a line of sight to where I’d melted away the carriage made of magic and more than a few people found a reason to enter behind me and eavesdrop. “Sorry, mage assessment?” She snapped out of her shock.

“Yes. I’m no...

AO 4 Ch 23

Chapter 23

I had washed up and just sat down for breakfast in the dining hall.

The space was still set up for the party, but I didn’t blame the staff. During one of our breaks the night before, it was easy to hear that people were still getting drunk at the manor well into the night.

The area was at least cleaned. I had expected it to smell like wine turned to vinegar.

Maribelle came rushing out with a stack of pancakes and a small bowl of sausages. ...

AO 4 Ch 22

Chapter 22

“She should be in your room by now.” Emlyn wiggled her eyebrows.

“Wonderful.” I hurried into the manor and up the stairs, letting the din of the crowd fade as I started to undo the top few buttons of my jacket.

“Are you okay?” Zuri kept up with me.

“Claire did something.” I wiggled my fingers. “Life magic that… well, it made me incredibly pent up.”

“Oh. You should get her to teach you that.” Emlyn wasn’t tak...

AO 4 Ch 21

Chapter 21

“This is wonderful wine.” Flour took a long drink from his glass. “Do you know where it’s from?”

“Not a clue,” I shrugged. We were seated. I had Sienna on my left and Flour on my right. Claire was on the other side of Sienna and had finally stopped glaring at Flour for taking that seat.

The hall was rapidly filling with more dinner guests to the point that I was worried that we’d run out of space. Then I saw that many of the anchor...

AO 4 Ch 20

Chapter 20

“Are we really doing this?” Emlyn peeked over the lip of the roof on Aldis Manor.

We had all come to the roof, even in our fancy dinner outfits.

“Afraid of heights?” I teased her.

“Afraid of you making me go splat.” Emlyn squinted.

“You’ve ridden on his ice platforms more than a few times.” Aurelia reminded her as she stepped onto the sheet of ice I made on the roof.

“Yeah, Em. You’ve done it a thousand time...

AO 4 Ch 19

Chapter 19

Sienna had on a dress in Aldis blue with matching high heels that she must have weaseled out of Berni before we had left, because I hadn’t seen them before.

The drop necklace that settled where her breasts were pressed together was very eye-catching as we walked back to the Aldis Estate.

“I need to get dressed too.” Emlyn caught me staring. “Hopefully I can find something that’s not completely wrinkled from the travel.”

“Don’...

AO 4 Ch 18

Chapter 18

Selina met Emlyn, Zuri and I at the entrance after only a minute. “This way.” She turned on her heels and marched back into the Graystone castle before we could even greet her. “I’m glad you came.”

“Oh?” I was surprised. “Is Sienna in trouble?”

“Not exactly, but you get to see a side you wouldn’t normally.” Selina paused at a wall and scowled. “Ard, could you remove this wall? Hardest part about living in this place witho...

AO 4 Ch 17

Chapter 17

I managed to get a shower and a nap without interruption. A moment to myself had been nice, but now I wanted to check in on our guests and make sure everyone was situated.

“All settled in?” I poked my head in the doorway to find Eva alone.

“Yes. Thank you.” She nodded towards me. “I’m afraid I’ll have to rely on your hospitality quite heavily. My ability to roam the city is limited.”

That was an understatement, especially now...

AO 4 Ch 16

Chapter 16

The rest of the journey to Thyrendor was uneventful. Though, I could feel the tension in everyone as we rolled up to the city gates.

None of the anchors had survived for questioning; it wasn’t easy to detain one alive. However, my mother and I were of the same opinion that the operation stank of Carmilla.

I couldn’t think of anyone else who could create that small army of anchors and want to send them to kill her and capture me.

If they�...

AO 4 Ch 15

Chapter 15

“One’s still alive.” Uncle Valken held up a female anchor by her head and then frowned. “Never mind, it seems she has expired.” He tossed her into the crimson snow.

I ignored everything else for the moment as I rushed over to Vivi. I picked her limp form up and checked under her nose with a finger.

She was still breathing.

Exploding the anchor’s head hadn’t seriously harmed her, but the force of it seemed to have knocked her ou...

AO 4 Ch 14

Chapter 14

The carriage was rolling out of the town. I watched as houses passed by and the snowy landscape emerged from the jungle of wooden structures. The horses were making quick work even in the snow and the town faded behind us.

“So…” Emlyn drew the word out as we bumped along only a few minutes on the road before she broke her silence. “Viviana is it?”

I sighed knowing this was coming. “I told you about the merchant and his pretty daughter....

AO 4 Ch 13

Chapter 13

I woke up the next morning and yawned, finding myself alone. Maribelle must have already gotten up because her spot on the bed was cold and the room had been picked up. She had a certain way of exhausting me.

Slipping out of bed and getting dressed to hit the road again, I opened the door to an argument in the hall of the inn.

“— don’t think you understand the situation. You’ve missed the quota again.” A noble, I was guessing based on th...

AO 4 Ch 12

Chapter 12

Aurelia refused to look at me as I sat in the local inn, but I was quite happy with myself.

I had a stone seat and a bench in front of me, and a beautiful stone archway over me where I had scorched ‘Free Healing’ on with fantastic flourish.

“Okay. I’m sorry. It was a joke. As you can see, I did not open a kissing booth.” I reached out for her and to my surprise she took my hand only to pull herself into my seat.

I made it a little ...