Amber Atlas Stories

Volume 3 Chapter 43 – Infiltration Force

"Haku, no, stop!" Galandir yelled as the dragon raged and spewed flames up and flapped his wings frantically.

"Protect the Princess!" guards yelled, and tried to surround Morrigan to form a protective barrier around her.

"No, something must have spooked him! I need to get to Haku," she brushed past them hurrying to the side of her friend. Guards tried to follow but were forced to stand back due to lava globules flying everywhere.

"Your Highness, it is way too dangerous!" Seo...

Volume 3 Chapter 42 – Princess on a Mission

When Morrigan woke up, she found herself in a comfortable bed in a dark room. For a second she thought that she was back home in her own bed. But as yesterday resurfaced, she sat up with a jolt and looked around. At first, it seemed like she had been alone, but she sensed another presence in the room.

"Melanos, is that you?" she asked. Second later, the stealthy demon appeared in front of her bed, kneeling before her. "Let me guess, you're supposed to stop me from going anywhere."

Volume 3 Chapter 41 – Uprising

After Morrigan left the cavern, she had expected the way back to be perilous and filled with dangers. Perhaps, more of the wisps screeching and screaming at her. But it was actually surprisingly simple. Azrael took her hand, and they went up the same staircase through which they came.

"Why did you say that you can only get out if you've been here before? It's not like there's a labyrinth. It's literally just a single path forward," Morrigan asked while Azrael gripped her hand.

"It...

Volume 3 Chapter 40 – Among Souls

Voices screamed into Morrigan's head, wailing both in pain and in happiness, in suffering and in elation. The feeling was so overwhelming, that she felt it would just tear her apart. The voices tore at her mind, tore at her soul, tore at her very being, trying to pull her apart.

"Morrigan, remember that you are the future queen of the Demon Kingdom. Do not let them overwhelm you," a voice said to her, surfacing somewhere in between the sea of screams. It must have been Azrael, but it wa...

Volume 3 Chapter 39 – Entrance to Darkness

"This is amazing! We should have just done this from the start," Morrigan spoke into Azrael's mind. Both of them had taken the form of a dragon, Morrigan's version looking like a smaller Haku while Azrael's was a larger black dragon.

"I didn't know you already knew how to transform into creatures. You couldn't do it for the longest time," Azrael replied as he sped up, trying to keep ahead of Morrigan. She had no issues increasing her speed as well, keeping up with Azra...

Volume 3 Chapter 38 – Bringing the Heat

Three days passed in an unexpected, relaxing bliss. Morrigan had wanted to remain for only two days maximum in the Lava Resort, however, at the insistence of her sisters and the Demon King himself, they remained for longer. While it certainly did wonders for her tired body, her mind grew increasingly uneasy. It felt like something big was going on but she was so far away from home and had no way of knowing.

Morrigan tried to get information out of Azrael, but after that first morning, t...

Volume 3 Chapter 37 – Lava Resort

This is heaven!

Morrigan nearly melted into the warm, bubbling water, floral notes rising from the steam. She along with both of her sisters were relaxing in what could only be described as Underworld jacuzzi. It wasn't a real jacuzzi, but rather a natural hot water spring coming out from the craggy rocks. The owners of the resort had transformed what was once a barren rock with water coming between into a wonderful, bubbly hot spring.

"Why couldn't we visit more places l...

 Volume 3 Chapter 36 – Speaking Minds

"Morri! You're finally back!" Deziara greeted Morrigan with giant tears in her eyes, gluing herself to her as soon as Galandir had put her down on the ground. "What took you so long?"

"I told you she was fine," Viana rolled her eyes, but nonetheless carefully examined Morrigan head to toe. "You do seem quite worn out."

"It took a lot of magic energy to repaint that black orb," she said sheepishly.

"But you did it! We saw. The whole chasm instantly changed!" Deziara cheered a...

Posting Schedule

So far this year the posting schedule hasn't been the same as before as many of you have probably noticed. I was sick for the longest time (more than a month) and wasn't able to write much in the meanwhile. My backlog suffered badly and I am sad to admit that currently there is basically no backlog. Unfortunately, that means that I won't be able to return to 5 chapters a week posting schedule.

From now on chapters will be posted every Tuesday, Wednesday and Sunday on RoyalRoad and for S...

Volume 3 Chapter 35 – Ritual of the Stars

Morrigan looked at the starry river and took a deep breath. It was time for her to do the ritual. She removed her boots and her jacket, leaving only her black and red dress. Carefully, she stepped towards the water, when Galandir spoke up.

"Maybe you should take off the ring and pendant as well. If this place is as sensitive to magic as Azrael says, then you should be careful. Those two items have plenty of magic in them."

Morrigan looked down at the ring and pendant. Her father's...

Volume 3 Chapter 34 – Light in the Dark

Carefully, step by step, Morrigan and Galandir navigated through the dark, led only by the increasingly dim shimmering of the dark river. Although she had grown up in a world where darkness ruled everything, it was so strong here and even she was starting to feel unnerved. The only thing that helped Morrigan to keep going was Galandir's warm hand.

"Talk about dark. It's like we're walking through an abyss," the elven boy said.

"It might not be that far from the truth," she replied...

Volume 3 Chapter 33 – Chasm of Whispering Stars

Slowly and carefully Galandir flew down into the black chasm, his ball of light being the only thing splitting the darkness apart.

"Are we sure there is a bottom to this thing?" the elven boy asked, peering down.

"I really am not sure," Morrigan replied, trying to discern anything in the darkness below. But her enhanced night vision did nothing to help her. "Fly slowly so we don't bump into anything."

"Aye, aye, Captain," Galandir smirked, and she rolled her eyes. She unders...

Volume 3 Chapter 32 – Darkness

Tired and weary, Morrigan's retinue continued their journey into the darkest parts of the Underworld. Galandir constantly used his light magic to illuminate the way, but the deeper they went, the dimmer his light seemed to become—whether it was from exhaustion, the strength of darkness, or perhaps a mix of both, Morrigan did not know. 

"How much longer until the next sacred site?" she asked Viana wearilly, who looked equally tired from the journey. Deziara was already half-dozing...

Volume 3 Chapter 31 – Mastermind

"Princess Viana! We are under attack! You must get to safety," one the guards called out, rousing Viana out of her thoughts. She and everyone else already knew that this would happen. But even so, the moment was nerve-wracking. If it had been up to her, then she would have teleported back to the Demon Castle, had the demon soldiers deal with the enemy and then resume the Princess Tour afterwards.

But it was up to Morrigan to decide their course of action. She had warned her little siste...

Volume 3 Chapter 30 – Firebulb Farm

"This place is amazing!" Galandir exclaimed in wonder, looking eagerly over the many plants that grew in the many neat rows made into the soil. The farmer demon family was giving Morrigan and her whole retinue a tour around the land.

"Thank you kindly. We work hard to grow these vegetables, but not many appreciate our efforts," Melinda said with a bittersweet smile.

"Really? But people all over the Underworld eat your vegetables, do they not? Like the blue citrus over there is a c...

Volume 3 Chapter 29 – Underworld Farm

"Princess Morrigan, we are approaching a town," Jin, Morrigan's bodyguard, called out. She jerked at the sudden noise, groggily opening her eyes. It took her considerable effort to get herself upright and respond to the guard.

"Tell Galandir to stop the light magic."

"At once, Your Highness!" he replied, and she could hear him hurry ahead on his mount.

This town is likely where our hidden enemy wanted to lead us. There'll no doubt be some sort of a trap there. But would they...

Volume 3 Chapter 28 – Lost in the Dark

The shaking of the carriage was slowly beginning to subside as they left the uneven frozen landscape behind. Much to Viana's delight it was also becoming warmed and warmer. She despised the cold. Her limbs turned stiff, her nose became runny and her cheeks got so cold that it almost felt like they burned. It was very difficult to maintain a proper image of a princess, and she found herself slipping up a few times which frustrated her to no end.

And Lord Boreas along with his pushy fathe...

I have returned... sort of

The winter vacation is over and I'm... still sick. Albeit with a different thing this time. I still need quite a lot of rest so I'm going to resume posting slowly as I recover. 2 chapters this week – one tomorrow and one on Thursday. Next week, I'll try to post 3 chapters, but we'll see how my recovery goes.

Life once again proves that you cannot reliably predict anything. Stay safe and stay healthy, everyone!

Christmas Break

Thank you everyone for sticking around and reading "Demon Queen Wants to Paint". Starting today until January 7th, I'm going on vacation and won't be posting any new chapters for a while. I hope you'll understand since December has been a rather tough month for me with my children getting sick and myself getting sick and having a difficult time recovering. With this I'm hoping to alleviate some of the burnout, let my body fully recover from the illness and also spend some time with my family....

Volume 3 Chapter 27 – Goodbye, Snowden

Morrigan longingly looked back at the Snowden mansion, wondering if she'll ever be able to return to it in order to paint its beautiful interior and garden. In the end, she never did get a chance to paint it since the fact that they had to spend two days in the Garden of Frozen Memories instead of one, already put them behind schedule. Which they were already falling behind on due to how slowly they moved through the icy terrain.

Servants were working hard, hauling the belongings back t...

Volume 3 Chapter 26 – Ring of Frozen Memories 

Azrael went over to the lotus and touched it carefully, assessing it from every angle. After a while, he gave an approving thumbs up, "The black orb is completely gone. Good job, Princess."

"That is marvelous! To think that you are able to just not create things with your magic but completely erase things from existence," Boreas said in awe and looked at Morrigan, his eyes sparkling with admiration. 

"It came out nicer than I expected," she said with a smile but felt strength...

Volume 3 Chapter 25 – Eternal Memories

"So does anyone have an idea what memory they could showcase in the icy pillar?" Morrigan asked after several minutes of intense silence. 

"I do!" Azrael said with a toothy grin. "How about that time you burned down the training grounds? That was fun! The whole Demon Castle came running to see what had happened."

"No!" All three princesses spoke up at the same time glaring at the mage.

"Burned down the training grounds?" Boreas looked at Morrigan in surprise, and she fl...

Volume 3 Chapter 24 – Cleaning the Stain

"W-What is that? It most certainly wasn't here when I last visited a few weeks ago," Boreas pointed at the black orb sitting embedded in the ground while Azrael was angrily stomping and kicking it.

"We are not sure exactly what it is, but it sucks the magic out of the area and moves it to a different place," Morrigan explained.

"A different place? Where exactly?" Boreas asked.

"We don't know that. But there was one exactly like this one in the first sacred site that I visite...

Volume 3 Chapter 23 – Garden of Frozen Memories

How did it turn out like this?

Morrigan barely suppressed a groan as she took careful steps on the icy ground. Boreas was walking to her right, occasionally extending his hand towards Morrigan to help her get over some, more slippery parts. She pointedly ignored his offers for help instead gingerly continuing her way forward.

Meanwhile on her right walked Galandir who was constantly glaring at Boreas with unhidden malice. Unlike the noble, he'd grab her hand whenever she ...

Volume 3 Chapter 22 – Ice Demons

As a human, Morrigan had lived through some pretty cold weather. After all, the winter in the place where she had lived could be quite harsh, temperatures sometimes getting as low as -30 degrees Celsius. However, that was nothing when compared to the harshness of the cold of the furthest corner of the Underworld. Morrigan had created a small thermometer using her paint magic and it showed that the current temperature outside was -37 degrees.

All three princesses and Azrael were huddled ...

Volume 3 Chapter 21 – Fire-Ice Sea

As Morrigan's journey through the Underworld continued, the scene was undergoing a change she never had expected to see. The air which had always felt the same comfortable temperature to her was becoming increasingly colder. Soon the servants got warmer clothes out, however, everyone was still shivering. Everyone besides Morrigan.

"Look at all those icicles – how they reflect the bioluminescent plants and glow as if there was a light inside them," she said to Deziara who was currently...

Volume 3 Chapter 20 – Cold Nights

For the first time in what felt like forever, Morrigan finally could get some good night's rest. She wasn't worried about enemies ambushing them during the night, or about Deziara or any of her companions being in danger or anything else. All of that could be attributed to the simple fact that Alphegor was sleeping in the room next to hers. 

While her father's arrival in Count Etheles's mansion initially made her fear that the whole tour would come to an end, everything turned out ...

Volume 3 Chapter 19 – Royal Argument

"Hello, Father," Morrigan said awkwardly while Deziara and Viana jumped to their feet and greeted Alphegor with a curtsy.

"Greetings, Your Majesty. I am most honored to have you come to my mansion," Count Etheles stepped out from his seat and bowed deeply before the King. Alphegor raised his hand, showing that it was alright from him to relax.

"I would like to say that it is a pleasure to be here today, but sadly the circumstances for my visit are less than pleasant," Alphegor's v...

Volume 3 Chapter 18 – Count's Mansion

The next few days were some of the most stressful days in Morrigan's life. Even more stressful than the time when Alphegor left Demon Castle and she ran away back to Earth. They were some way away from their next stopping point, but Deziara and Azrael were still missing. He had sent them a message saying that they'd meet up in the next town, but Morrigan was still really worried. She wished Azrael would send them another message saying that they were alright and unharmed. 

"They'll...

Christmas Break

Volume 2 of Demon Queen Wants to Paint will be complete on December 24th, so I decided that it would the best time for me to take a break and spend some quality time with family (as well as to recover from some of the burnout I've accumulated). So after Volume 2 is complete on RoyalRoad, I'll go on a two week break and return on January 7th. 

Billing will be PAUSED during this time so you will NOT be charged anything while I am on a break...