Chapter 2. Here I go.
“This is your first summons, you may ask a single question at this time,” the mysterious voice told me. I tried to look around and find who was speaking to me, but my vision was blocked by a grey fog, and I felt numb all over.
“Woah, what’s going on here?” I muttered, my voice didn’t sound like my own and I still couldn’t see anything or even feel my body. Did I even actually say something, or was that just a thought?
“You have been su...
2023-07-09 16:26:26 +0000 UTC
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Chapter 1. The Headache.
Trying to open the bottle of aspirin while eating my breakfast proved to be a bad idea. The spoon slipped from my hand and plopped into the bowl, creating an impressive splash. Milk and a few colorful nuggets of vaguely fruit-flavored cereal splashed all over my shirt. Not a big deal, this kind of thing happens, but little annoyances like this are amplified when you have a headache, and today I had a whopper. To make matters worse, it was just a normal, random...
2023-07-09 16:25:38 +0000 UTC
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Intro. Unwelcomed guests.
Danny woke to someone pounding on his apartment door. A bleary-eyed glance at his phone showed that it was three in the morning, not a time that he would normally expect visitors to show up. The painful spasm in his back as he tried to move reminded Danny that he needed to stop falling asleep on the living room sofa. He had bought a bed for a reason, but never seemed to make it there when he was worn out. The pounding on the door became louder, and the door b...
2023-07-09 16:24:58 +0000 UTC
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In preparation for releasing You are Summoned on Royal Road. I've made some changes to the tiers. All of you should still have the same content/access that you had previously, but if you have any questions, feel free to message me.
My cover artist had some free time, so I had him whip up artwork for a future project called Gnome Defense.
2023-07-08 14:56:29 +0000 UTC
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Chapter 5.
“It’s early afternoon and I haven’t even started to work with my troops yet. If the attack is kicking off tomorrow night, I need to get over to them and see what they can do,” Sabine said.
“Of course, please take your leave. Oh, before you go, Collins has a contract worked up for you to officially take command of your forces,” Emmet said as he left to go do wherever it was the council leader did during the day.
“It’s all fairly standard, as someo...
2023-07-05 14:37:13 +0000 UTC
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Chapter 4.
“I admit that I didn’t think you had it in you Sabine, but I’m glad to say that I was mistaken,” Hamilcar said as his men opened the gate.
“Is there somewhere we can house my new unit?” Sabine asked.
“Aye, one of my boys is getting instructions for your new force as we speak. It looks like the last attack didn’t go as planned so there should be some space freed up in one of the tents,” Hamilcar said.
It took some time, but they were event...
2023-07-03 15:57:17 +0000 UTC
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Chapter 3.
From what Orren had told her about the city, Shamrahar was independent from any of the other, larger kingdoms and empires. To protect its neutrality, the guard of Shamrahar had to function as both police force and military. The attack that had been going on earlier was over, and the council forces were pulling back to the camp for the night. They looked exhausted and didn’t have the spirit that a victorious army would normally possess. These were men and women who were ju...
2023-06-30 14:32:07 +0000 UTC
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Chapter 2.
“No use hiding in there like a bunch of highwaymen, come on out and state your business. You don’t want me to come in there after you,” One of the armed men ordered.
“Hold on, we were just taking a breather, it’s been a long journey and we needed a rest, and a chance to figure out the lay of the land before we blundered directly into what looks like quite the battle,” Sabine said.
She waved Skrix and Orren forward as she left the cover of the brush. ...
2023-06-28 14:57:04 +0000 UTC
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Chapter 1.
“Sabine, do you think walking into a war zone is the best way to handle things?” Orren asked as they approached the city of Shamrahar.
The city was under siege and the sounds of the distant battle carried over to the trio as they traveled. There wasn’t much traffic on the road, but a few travelers had approached the city from the other direction and were all quickly intercepted by the forces besieging the city. The hapless travelers were turned away without any ...
2023-06-27 00:27:32 +0000 UTC
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Intro.
Darvick paused his approach, crouching down in the back of the alley as another city watch patrol passed by. He trusted in the darkness of the moonless night and in his abilities to keep hidden. Despite the low chance of discovery, his hand rested on the hilt of Final Notice, the short sword granted to him by his master, Uxsabai. The weapon had been one of his rewards and it had served him well. He had struck down several rival champions with it, and now, only two ...
2023-06-23 15:02:24 +0000 UTC
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We've reached the end of book 1. It's been a lot of fun for me as an author to get to play in a film universe. While many things are set in stone as far as cannon from the film series, the folks at Arrowstorm Entertainment have given me far more leeway that I could have hoped for.
The book should be released in a few months. The editing process is ongoing, and the publisher is completing the audio. We'll release audio, ebook, and print at the same time.
What's next after this?...
2023-06-12 13:18:48 +0000 UTC
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Chapter 41.
“Stand still and die,” Gublax roared as Sabine kept her distance from the monster. She tried to get inside his reach, but the orc’s oversized axe seemed to counter her every move.
Finally, she spotted an opening when Gublax overextended on a swing. Stepping forward, she hit Gublax in the elbow with her buckler, pushing his axe further away and releasing piercing damage from the sharpened edge of her shield. The buckler cut deep and was only stopped when the str...
2023-06-09 13:10:01 +0000 UTC
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Chapter 39.
“Orren, what’s your family like?” Sabine asked as they walked. Several days had passed since they left her sister’s village, and they were making good progress.
“Demanding. As soon as we are old enough, everyone is expected to train intensely to prepare for our future career. There are relatives all over the world documenting various things and bringing that knowledge back home. While I do enjoy my work, and the chance to explore, I sometimes feel that I’...
2023-06-07 14:42:06 +0000 UTC
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Thankfully, not much data was lost, but It'll take me a day or so to get everything setup and recover all my files from the cloud backup. I'll have more chapters for you on Wednesday, and a peek at my next project.
2023-06-05 13:58:59 +0000 UTC
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Chapter 37.
As they traveled, their days took on a pattern. They would walk during the night and find somewhere to hole up during most of the day so Orren and Skrix could rest. Before and after the pair slept, Sabine worked with them on their fighting skills. She had noticed before that Orren had basic skills with his crossbow, and it appeared he was equally familiar with the spear. The problem with him was that his prior instructors did things strictly by the book. His moves and stri...
2023-06-02 13:15:56 +0000 UTC
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Chapter 35.
“Oh dear, that was not my first choice,” Hamish whined.
“Quiet, I’ve got a few things to sort out,” Sabine said as new information and choices presented themselves.
Path of summons grants an expanded mana pool to your advisor. He will also pull a larger portion of any new mana you acquire. With this new mana, Hamish will be able to stay summoned for a longer period and will develop new abilities that will help you with physical tasks and comba...
2023-05-30 18:06:17 +0000 UTC
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Chapter 33.
Sabine waited to try out her new weapon abilities until the others had more rest, but she needed to try things. The new cone of effect should make crowd control much easier. When she unleashed it, Stagger slammed into several nearby mushroom stalks, the power caused them to sway and for some of the stalks to shred away. It wasn’t a whole lot of damage, but it was improving.
Pushing mana into Reckoning to use its increased range was a bit trickier. The mana wanted t...
2023-05-26 14:42:43 +0000 UTC
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Chapter 31.
“Fall before the champion of corruption and decay,” the new leader shouted as Sabine detected mana building inside her foe.
A cloud of sickly, greenish-yellow gas poured from the new leader’s body, rolling quickly over the floor of the throne room. A crossbow bolt slammed into the chest of the new leader, but he was unfazed by the damage and continued his foul magic. Sabine noticed dark mana coalesce around the bolt inside the new leader’s chest, the mana wor...
2023-05-24 16:00:45 +0000 UTC
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Chapter 29.
“You come back, but is that useless scout the only one of my people to make it out of the snag-grabber’s lair?” Gnawtooth asked.
“That’s it, but you’ll be happy to know the new leader’s army was also caught up in the slaughter. Some of them will survive, but from the sounds of things, that snag-grabber was having quite the buffet going,” Sabine said.
“Good, and all see-watch that Gnawtooth keeps his word, even to humans. Here, take this, it bu...
2023-05-22 14:16:46 +0000 UTC
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Chapter 27.
It was a good round of upgrades, and Sabine could already feel the improved strength of her body. The increased durability was a bit harder to quantify, but the next time she took a hit in battle, it would become more obvious. Another thing she took note of was her Rage of the Revenant. It had gone from once a week to once every six days. The ability was a powerhouse, but also very dangerous to activate. It was more of her last resort ability, and one that she would save f...
2023-05-19 19:06:48 +0000 UTC
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Chapter 25.
It was easy to follow the progress of the new group of verminkin from where Sabine was perched near the top of the cavern. They were moving toward the central outpost and spreading out to encircle one of the outlying work parties chopping at the giant mushrooms. Using the stalagmites as cover, the verminkin closed in on the work party unnoticed. Once the group of around twenty workers and four guards were encircled, the mounted verminkin walked into view.
A trio of g...
2023-05-17 19:17:48 +0000 UTC
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Chapter 23.
Sabine’s hand dropped to the handle of Reckoning as she stalked toward the tavern door. Anger flared as she waited for Orren to walk into the night. She wanted to kill him right then and there, but it would be better to wait until he was on the road. His death would be chalked up to a random murder, a not-too-uncommon occurrence on the roads this late at night. He looked out toward the road, then back toward the tavern, almost as if he was undecided.
“You sho...
2023-05-15 14:43:59 +0000 UTC
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Chapter 21.
Orren was relatively quiet as they made their way back to the road that would lead them to Hammerhead’s Tavern. Sabine had feared that he would pester her the entire way, but his brush with death seemed to put a damper on his enthusiasm once he had a chance to think about it. Hamish had collapsed soon after Sabine had accepted Orren into their group, his small reserve of mana finally running out. She was able to scoop his bones into the coin pouch for later use.
Wh...
2023-05-10 12:55:40 +0000 UTC
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Chapter 19.
While in the goblin cave, Sabine tried to use her Call of the Grave to summon Hamish. Her latest upgrade to the ability stated that it could be used at unmarked graves and given the number of bodies strewn about the cavern, she felt this place qualified. As she tried to activate the ability, Sabine noticed it wasn’t functioning correctly. She was getting no indication of the direction of the nearest graveyard and the ability was ignoring all the corpses around her, any o...
2023-05-05 17:32:04 +0000 UTC
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I'm making good progress on the book, so I'll post double chapters for you when I can.
Chapter 17.
Sabine settled back into her body, but before she could even open her eyes a blast of energy hit her. It was uncomfortable, but not exactly painful. The energy contained some dark mana which she tried to gather in an effort to refill her depleted reserves.
Something was wrong, and the mana felt off. While she could absorb some of it, much of the dark mana felt like it was tai...
2023-05-03 12:56:04 +0000 UTC
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Chapter 16.
A larger round room faced Sabine as she accepted the extra challenge. At first, nothing happened, but she could see three large chests on the other side of the room. Taking a step inside, she saw another of the ghost-like figures approach. It stopped in the middle of the room and slowly took physical form. The shape revealed an old foe, one that filled Sabine with rage and a bit of trepidation. It was the ogre that had killed her and destroyed the caravan.
Before it ...
2023-05-02 03:36:05 +0000 UTC
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Chapter 15.
Sabine wondered what the end would be like when she died as a revenant. Sadly, it was about the same as she had experienced with her first death. Floating in the void, she thought about the last battle and what she could have done differently. All told, there were nearly forty undead, and that didn’t count the three living attackers. She might have fought her way through the undead, but the crossbowmen were her downfall.
Maybe she could have been more cautious in h...
2023-04-28 18:48:10 +0000 UTC
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Chapter 14.
It began to get dark as Sabine walked north toward the hills where the militia had been ambushed. There were very few farms to the north because the soil became rockier and more difficult to work the closer the farmers got to the foothills. The narrow trail petered out a bit past the last farm, and she followed the path of least resistance up into the hills. Knowing militia, they would have taken the easiest path to their objective, and it wasn’t hard to follow where the...
2023-04-26 13:40:15 +0000 UTC
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Chapter 13.
A small bell rang out a friendly note as Sabine entered the shop. There wasn’t a sign on the door, it was one of those places that the locals already knew about, and the owner figured there was no need to waste his time and money on a sign. A couple of villagers were in the shop, haggling with the owner. Zillman was a rotund, middle-aged man with a friendly smile. To Sabine, Zillman’s smile seemed forced, like the man was trying to force himself to be friendly despite ...
2023-04-25 00:33:23 +0000 UTC
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Chapter 12.
As they followed the road to Golden Harvest Village, Sabine considered getting in touch with Hamish. Enough time had passed for him to reappear at another graveyard, but they were in the wilds and her Call of the Grave was only giving her faint responses. Not wanting to go out of her way for a chat with the annoying advisor, Sabine figured she would wait until they reached the village. Given the remote location of the village, it was likely to have its own graveyard or som...
2023-04-21 14:57:23 +0000 UTC
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