Frozen at the sound of Soren’s voice, Rylan failed to react in time as the young Thistlethorn scion pulled something off his head, revealing a thick glowband with a generous piece of glowmetal, and took two swift steps to get in Rylan’s face.
Gritting his teeth, Rylan straightened his spine and looked his former friend in the eyes. “Let me pass, Soren. There’s no stopping me this time.”
“Think about what you’re doing here, Ryles,” Soren said, the shadows playing ov...
2024-02-16 10:32:00 +0000 UTC
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Upon hearing the captain’s booming voice from outside, Zahra practically flew out of the closet.
“Loukas, key!” she hissed, holding out a hand as she rushed towards Rylan.
The young guard tossed it over. She caught it even as she sank down in front of Rylan, gesturing at him to hurry up and present his ankle.
Rylan got down on one knee as well, hastily pulled up the leg of his britches to expose the metal band. He practically held his breath as she inserted the key and...
2024-02-09 13:51:28 +0000 UTC
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Even in the dim light from the hallway, there was no way Rylan wouldn’t recognise his best friend. He smiled as her barely visible eyes crinkled happily at his voice. Before he could do much more than whisper her name, however, her hand appeared before the narrow slit, beckoning him closer.
Rylan quickly obliged, kneeling down in front of the door.
“Is it really true, Ry? Did you actually do it?!” Zahra whispered excitedly.
Rylan grinned. “That’s Thar Ry t...
2024-02-02 10:47:12 +0000 UTC
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As Rylan’s hands quested blindly over the rough, cold stone floor in search of the message canister, he internally cursed Loukas for his impatience. Thankfully, the cooler was small, and it didn’t take long for his finger to stumble across the small bamboo tube.
He returned to his previous position, seated cross-legged against the wall, with his prize in hand, and no idea what to do with it.
There were rules to the cooler. One of them was no light.
Holding the c...
2024-01-26 14:17:29 +0000 UTC
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As usual when he entered the parlour, the smells of leather and pine momentarily transported Soren to the distant past.
When they were little, he, Rylan, and Zahra used to hang out here a lot during the colder of the six seasons; especially Tempis, the storm season, and Tenebris, the dark season. They would drink warm tea sweetened with sugarcane and play board and card games while huddled up beneath a blanket draped around a little table. His father or grandmother would come by once in...
2024-01-19 14:09:59 +0000 UTC
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Rylan groggily rubbed his eyes and sat up, the world spinning around him. His surroundings were pitch-black, and for a moment he wondered where he was.
Then the rancid smell of the bamboo bucket hit him, and he suddenly knew his exact location.
I’m in the cooler?! What the fog—
The events from before came to Rylan in a rush. He’d been working in the kitchen, Seth had been pissing him off, and there was this fly...
His eyes widened, not that it h...
2024-01-12 11:38:11 +0000 UTC
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The moment the library’s door clicked shut behind Rylan, Soren carefully placed down the book he’d taken from his best friend, and let out a quiet groan, taking a moment to rub his eyes with the palms of his hands.
So, it was as he’d feared. Rylan didblame him, and probably had been avoiding him. Great. Just fogging great.
And of course, as usual, Soren didn’t have time to do anything about it. He had expectations to meet, responsibilities to uphold.
<...
2024-01-05 10:56:17 +0000 UTC
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Pre-chapter note:
I mentioned I'd be making some updates to the story last time, and they've now been implemented!
It mostly concerns the first two chapters and the main two changes are:
1. The story now starts on the anniversary of the day Rylan was found, which may or may not be his birthday. This means he now knows for sure that he's of age in the eyes of Ethereon (the new name for the System) and eligible to acquire Skills....
2023-12-29 14:09:56 +0000 UTC
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Rylan’s heart practically jumped out of his chest as the lock clicked open. In stunned disbelief, he watched the handle go down. A soft gasp from the other side of the library caused him to lock eyes with Zahra before she quickly ducked behind a shelf.
The only upside to his position right next to the door was that it opened towards him, providing him a crucial moment’s reprieve. As the door swung open, he crouched down as quickly and quietly as he could, then ducked under ...
2023-12-22 13:32:02 +0000 UTC
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Rylan’s stomach twisted and roiled as he snuck down to the basement of the servants’ quarters. Zahra was right in front of him, a coil of rope hidden beneath the once-white apron she wore over her livery.
“This is crazy,” Zahra whispered to him the second he reached the bottom. “I must be foggy in the head...” She was wringing her hands, practically bouncing on the balls of her feet, but there was an infectious giddiness in her darting eyes.
“You definit...
2023-12-15 14:16:20 +0000 UTC
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“Do I really want to know how long it’ll take to clear your debt? Sure,” Seth replied easily. “Why? Is it going to be some big, shocking—”
“Twenty-three years, at the current rate.”
Seth swore as he nearly fumbled his bamboo crate. “What?!”
“My pay covers housing, food, and clothing first,” Rylan intoned, carefully keeping his voice steady. “What’s left to be subtracted from my debt isn’t all that much.”
Right now, he was making two silv...
2023-12-08 11:14:00 +0000 UTC
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Chapter 1: A Fogging Clog
The brickwork tunnels below the Thistlethorn estate were narrow and cramped, and the fog that flowed through them smelled permanently of rotting mistweed.
And these were just some of the things Rylan disliked about carrying out fog-condenser maintenance.
Unfortunately, like most people who lived on an island in the vast cloudsea, they were entirely reliant on condensers for their water needs, and maintaining them was an important task tha...
2023-12-01 13:15:47 +0000 UTC
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So far, all of Loudmouth’s plans had gone off without a hitch, but now, for the first time, he was stumped. While he was confident in defeating any warrior in single combat after Friend Alec’s excellent training, there was no such thing as ‘single combat’ when it came to Starmother, who was in fact a massive hive mind of Peilor.
As he couldn’t immediately think of a way to defeat her, his Friends wanted to sabotage the Voidcannon instead, so they could at least prevent the Pei...
2023-11-24 08:16:54 +0000 UTC
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Things changed drastically for Loudmouth after that night. It turned out, their goal had been to make the audience laugh all along. Who knew!
And the problem, had been Mister Lyrack.
The truth was, the Peilor had been stifling Loudmouth’s natural comedic talent, rather than letting it shine through as he should have. And now that he’d stopped holding back the hilarious Hoig, Loudmouth quickly transformed into the comedy king he’d always been meant to be.
Mister Lyrack ...
2023-11-17 14:05:07 +0000 UTC
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Even though Loudmouth wished his Friends would stay more than anything he’d ever wished, he understood that they couldn’t, not if they were to defeat the evil Peilor. And so, despite the pain in his heroic heart, he offered to help in any way he could.
As it turned out, there was one last hurdle to clear before they could go. They needed a sixth human, so they could leave in pairs. Unfortunately, all of the other humans had already paired up, and there were none left f...
2023-11-10 09:55:28 +0000 UTC
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Despite all the scary stories Loudmouth had been told about the humans, he definitely wasn’t scared at all. Puffing out his chest, he strode out of the bushes.
“Humans!” he croaked loudly, “Prepare to face Loudmouth in honourable combat!”
The thought of striking some kind of sneaky blow from ambush definitely never even crossed his mind.
The humans were visibly shaken by his sudden, heroic appearance, but after a moment of deliberation, the taller of the two—the ...
2023-11-03 12:48:00 +0000 UTC
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CHAPTER 1 The Birth of a Hero Before Loudmouth was born, nothing interesting or noteworthy ever happened in the village, so the Hoig who liv
CHAPTER 1
The Birth of a Hero
Before Loudmouth was born, nothing interesting or noteworthy ever happened in the village, so the Hoig who lived there were probably very bored.
Though we’ll never know for sure, because they’re all dead, and Friend Alec says ghosts don’t really exist.
Anyway, the assumed dreadful mono...
2023-10-27 08:16:30 +0000 UTC
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Very nigh, in fact. I have five more posts lined up for Tier 3 and up. That's chapters 312-315, and the epilogue.
The Whispering Crystals is about to come to an end.
Which of course begs the question: What's next?
Well, for starters, I'm working on a short story about Loudmouth, written 'by him,' so to speak. Personally, I think it's quite hilarious, and the first couple of weeks after the series ends, that's what I'll be posting for you guys, at a rate of one chapt...
2023-09-29 09:36:09 +0000 UTC
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The moment I spot what I presume to be Starmother’s original body, her host looking out at the expanding ball of Astreum through the Final Hub’s transparent front wall, I signal the others with a flash of pink.
Then I prompt Alec to point at her, and without further communication, we all accelerate forwards, converging on her location.
Of course, after her little speech earlier, we’re hardly the only ones moving in her direction. Peilor all over are flying towards the front ...
2023-09-22 09:50:59 +0000 UTC
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The black, owl-shaped whistle feels cool to Kaitlynn’s lips as she blows on it. The shrill sound it produces in no way resembles the cry of an actual owl, but that probably doesn’t matter anyway.
What matters is the tangible wave of Espir that erupts from the whistle, spreading in every direction, seen and unseen.
“You have a lot of nerve, missy,” Starmother chimes, low and dangerous, once the sound dies out. “You came here on purpose, didn’t you? You knew my darling s...
2023-09-18 09:13:34 +0000 UTC
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“Warptunnel stability at ninety-six percent,” the captured Peilor who I’ve tasked with keeping me informed chimes with a tremor in her voice.
I’m hovering in spiritform next to Alec, now in the Command Centre, having left communications behind in the capable hands of Trisha. After all, few beings are better at communicating than a hive mind.
While Commander Haron seemed a bit sceptical when I told him everything’s going according to plan, he didn’t seem inclined to int...
2023-09-15 13:06:34 +0000 UTC
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Our bad luck started off strong. We got up at 5 a.m. on Saturday, went to the airport, and... found out that our flight had a three-hour delay.
Fantastic.
Then, right around when we finally boarded the plane, we got a message from the guesthouse we were going to stay at, letting us know they were cancelling our reservation (which we'd already paid for in full) because we hadn't transferred the money for some kind of additional security deposit that we were apparentl...
2023-09-12 14:14:12 +0000 UTC
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Time is a funny thing.
To Kaitlynn, the trial seems unending. Eternal. An endless parade of ‘witnesses’ are called to the stand where they are asked a strange mix of questions, ranging from the vague, seemingly irrelevant, to the strangely confrontational, to the downright ludicrous.
‘Did Lyrack properly maintain the hedges bordering your property?’ they asked his former neighbour with the otter-like host.
‘Why did you never report Lyrack’s depression, his deep-s...
2023-09-12 13:48:49 +0000 UTC
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Because I'll still be in London on Monday. ;)
2023-09-08 08:57:21 +0000 UTC
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So far, so good. Could this guy move any slower though?
I try not to show my impatience as I float Alec after our guide, deeper into the Voidcannon’s bowels. While I’m confident we’re still on schedule, I really don’t want to risk any delays in our plan.
Kaitlynn’s Trial should have started by now. According to Sudo, that'll give us about two hours.
Frankly, it feels like too little. But starting too early would’ve been risky as well. T...
2023-09-08 08:56:12 +0000 UTC
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The big black castle they’re infiltrating this time looks weird to Loudmouth. It doesn’t have parapets, for starters. Also, the guards are just hanging around it rather than standing on top, for some reason.
Well, perhaps they also felt it would be awkward to stand on top when there aren’t even any parapets.
Anyway, the castle is just weird, and definitely not scary. Even if it were scary, Loudmouth definitely wouldn’t be scared. Loudmouth is a brave hero, after a...
2023-09-04 09:50:32 +0000 UTC
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The blue scale mail armour that Alec made glints in the light of Big Bortha... for about three minutes, before we cover it all with grey cloth, dyed in the precise tint of the Starshade Syndicate.
That includes our helmets, which have even been fitted with grey masks. After all, we want to look the part of the anonymous agents as best as possible.
Alec doesn’t seem too broken up about it, anyway, as he fiddles with the fit on Dave’s arms, which are a little bulkier than they u...
2023-09-01 10:52:22 +0000 UTC
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“A choice?” Kaitlynn asks, a frown on her avatar’s glowing face. “What choice do I have?”
“Well,” I start, “we’ve been talking to Yog. Officially, your trial is in two days, however, he could probably figure out a way to get it postponed until after the operation, which is still on schedule to happen in five days, right before the Earthshift would occur.”
Kaitlynn’s eyes widen as the implications hit her.
“But here’s the thing,” I say, li...
2023-08-28 11:52:02 +0000 UTC
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Pre-chapter author's note:
Just a quick FYI: I've decided to name the organisation Sudo's a part of the Starshade Syndicate. I'll be editing that name in retroactively, as it doesn't make sense to reveal it this late, so I figured I'd give a heads-up. ;)
It takes a moment for Jacob’s words to filter through, to really start to make sense. The concept of Kaitlynn being arrest...
2023-08-25 10:31:49 +0000 UTC
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The days that follow string together—as they tend to when you don’t sleep—into a blur of preparations.
Alec finishes his new armours, and they look sick. They’re still blue and scaley, but this time—with a little help from Farouq—they’re made of lacquered Darksteel, rather than leather. He made four sets, one each for himself, Jacob, Dave, and Loudmouth. Apparently, Kaitlynn had never seen the Hoig bawl as hard as during the fitting, making it almost impossible for Alec to...
2023-08-21 09:14:37 +0000 UTC
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