nrsearcy

Chapter 738 - The Price to be Paid

Zeke could have simply willed himself to another location, but, for two reasons, he chose to ride with Pudge.  The first was that he wasn’t entirely certain where they were going, but the second came from a desire for connection.  However, his attempts to rectify that were met with stony silence. 

Pudge still loved him like the brother he was, but he’d clearly moved on.  There was no gleeful reunion.  No laughter.  No embrace.  Just a stoic accepta...

Path of Dragons 10 - Chapter 85 - Hartwood

Elijah was alone, but he could feel every single person he’d inducted into the grove.  It wasn’t just his locus, either, though he’d come to recognize that it was difficult to tell the difference between the two sensations.  Instead, it was something akin to what he felt with Miguel, though it was different from that as well.  His nephew’s presence was like a candle in the dark – a small flame, but easily discernible.  The newcomers were more like distant stars, ...

Path of Dragons 10 - Chapter 84 - Branches and Leaves

More than two hundred people sat before Elijah.  On some faces were expressions both reserved and reluctant.  Other expressions ranged from awe-struck to haughty.  And still others were almost entirely blank, and Elijah could only determine their emotions by the feel of their rapidly beating hearts. 

For his part, Elijah was incredibly anxious.  Combined with the intended inductees into the grove, the island played host to more people than it had since the pirat...

Path of Dragons 10 - Chapter 83 - Not Alone

Moving the double chapter from Sunday to today because I think it fits better. Enjoy!

Leaves fluttered in Elijah’s mind, echoing the morning breeze sweeping through the grove.  The balcony of his treehouse gave him a spectacular view of the ancestral tree, which sent a wave of contentment through him.  As he took a sip of his coffee, Carmen stepped out of the treehouse and sat next to him.  Like him, she cradled a mug of steam...

Path of Dragons 10 - Chapter 82 - Knight

Miguel felt his uncle well before his actual arrival.  The feeling wasn’t overbearing, but he had a vague sense of the grove and its master.  Still, when Elijah poked his head above the surface of the strait – in the form of a giant sea turtle – he couldn’t contain his relief. 

“Welcome back!” Elijah bellowed, though it clearly wasn’t intended as a shout.  Even so, the sound sent ripples across the water.  “I’ll see you at the docks.”

T...

Chapter 737 - A Mortal Concept

Time.

The word was a ubiquitous constant, and for every creature in existence.  For the unthinking beasts, it was as simple as “time to eat” or “time to sleep.”  But for sapient entities, it garnered much more meaning.  It marked the passing of days, lending weight to any event.  A one-year anniversary was a joyous occasion, but one celebrating fifty years was something else entirely. 

So, what did it mean that Zeke suddenly didn’t care about it?...

Path of Dragons 10 - Chapter 81 - Heroic Return

Elijah awoke on a bed of moss, but it wasn’t in his treehouse.  He opened his eyes to see a canopy of blue leaves above him.  Motes of dust and pollen danced in the rays of light peeking through as the chirp of various birdcalls filled the air.  He took a deep breath, smelling fresh rain and earth. 

It was home.

“How long?” he asked.

Nerthus stood nearby, as still as any tree – a sentry by any other name.  “It has been nearly seven weeks si...

Chapter 736 - Reality and Illusion

The very concept that reality was made of threads was a bit misleading.  From Zeke’s perspective, it was true.  That wasn’t to imply that what everyone else saw was any less real, though.  Rather, it was as if everything existed on multiple planes, and the threads were a representation of the underlying truth of all reality.  The other expression – the one everyone else saw – was still valid, even if it sometimes felt like what he saw was somehow more. 

...

Path of Dragons 10 - Chapter 80 - Everything in its Place

The cave swirled, a storm of ethera, water, and vitality.  But it couldn’t compare to the formless tempest his mind had become.  Without those facets – or even the partition that came with his very first step on the path of mind cultivation – he was very nearly overwhelmed with the sheer volume of information that came from his locus.  He could feel every single cell of every single organism, and for miles around his island.

Before, he’d not really noticed it, but...

Path of Dragons 10 - Chapter 79 - Confrontation

“How’s it going?” Alyssa asked as she stepped into the room.  She kicked aside a pile of old clothes.  “Gross.”

She looked identical to how she had back in high school.  In fact, the longer he looked at her, the more he realized that she was wearing the same outfit she’d worn the day before he’d left for Hawaii.  A black Soundgarden tee-shirt, ripped jeans, and a pair of Doc Martens. 

Later, she would lament that it was just a phase, that she...

Chapter 735 - The Root of Existence

Everything was nothing.

Zeke existed, and yet, he ceased to be. 

The silence was deafening, the nothingness blinding in its lack.  There were no thoughts.  No senses.  No stimuli of any kind.  Even the threads were gone. 

It might have lasted for an eternity or a second, but suddenly, it all came rushing back.  Zeke felt himself being ripped to pieces, unraveling in a way he’d never experienced before.  Even Hell, where he’d been t...

Path of Dragons 10 - Chapter 78 - Shattered Facets

Floating in the center of the cave, with huge strands of kelp tickling his skin, Elijah focused on the facets of his mind.  For the most part, they were identical.  Nine incarnations of the same diamond-like gem.  He knew that representation was all in his imagination, but he also knew it was real.  The metaphysics of it were beyond his understanding, but one certainty was that just because something was imaginary didn’t mean it wasn’t real. 

Moreover, that ...

Death: Genesis Chapter (7/8/25) Delayed

I apologize. I had something come up, so this morning's Death: Genesis chapter is delayed until tomorrow. I hope this doesn't cause any issues for anyone!

Path of Dragons 10 - Chapter 77 - Home

Before Elijah left Argos, he stopped by Atticus’ store and emptied his Arcane Loop and Ghoulhide Satchel and sold anything he couldn’t use.  As it turned out, the stakes he’d taken from the war elf encampment were nearly worthless, and the only thing that made them special was that they functioned as foci for the powerful Wardwrights.  Without their input, they were practically useless, except as scrap. 

Disappointing, but if Elijah was honest with himself, he’d f...

Chapter 734 - Driven by Need

Reality imploded.

Zeke blacked out. 

And when he opened his eyes, there was nothing.  No strings.  No cavern of splintered wood.  It was as if he’d broken through to a different plane of existence, and it was entirely empty.  No sound.  No smell.  He wasn’t even sure if what he saw was due to a lack of visual stimuli or if there truly was nothing there.

It lasted for only a second before the roar of an explosion burst his eardrums. ...

Announcements

No - this isn't a third chapter for today! Instead, I wanted to make a quick announcement. I'll be removing the chapters for book two of Path of Dragons on 8/15/2025. As I'm sure you all know by now, this is a necessity forced upon authors who want their work to be included in the Kindle Unlimited catalogue. I do, which means I need to ensure that the content is exclusive to Amazon. Thus, the removal of those chapters. Thanks for understanding!

But wait - there's more to this announceme...

Path of Dragons 10 - Chapter 76 - Choices

“What am I going to do with you?” Elijah asked, pacing back and forth at the foot of the bed.

Gunnar, still bound to the headboard by ethera-sapping handcuffs, let out a long-suffering sigh.  “Whatever it is, can you do it elsewhere?  I don’t mind the…equipment in here.  Even the knowledge of what it’s for doesn’t bother me.  What really gets to me is the smell,” he revealed.  He gave short sniff.  “Like olive oil and sweat.  And sex....

Path of Dragons 10 - Chapter 75 - Not That Kind of Dungeon

“Uh…this is not what I expected,” Elijah breathed as he watched Atticus cuff Lindstrom to a bed.  He glanced around, unsure what to make of his friend’s basement.  There were no bars or cells. 

“Don’t worry.  It’ll hold, my friend,” Atticus said, looking back with a broad grin.  “I’ve tested it myself.”

Through Soul of the Wild, Elijah felt Selene – Atticus’ new wife – roll her eyes.  She clutched her crossed arms even clos...

Path of Dragons 10 - Chapter 74 - Glorious

Kurik leaped aside, narrowly dodging an oncoming veinroot.  The fleshy tendril changed direction at the last second, wrapping around his ankle and fouling his maneuver.  Panicked as it dragged him toward the wall, he hacked at it with his new hatchet.  The bone-handled axe bit deep, but the rubbery veinroot was anything but easy to sever.  Thankfully, with his recent influx of levels, Kurik had enough strength and dexterity that, when he hit it a second time, the axe tore ...

Path of Dragons 10 - Chapter 73 - A Fate Earned

Elijah stared at on Gunnar Lindstrom, his expression betraying none of the conflict in his mind.  The man was beaten, in pain, and wholly drained.  He posed no more threat.  And yet, Elijah still wanted to kill him. 

Part of that came from the notion that, if he let him live, he might just find a way to complete the contract for which he’d been hired.  But Elijah knew that was nothing more than a rationalization.  In reality, he wanted to kill the assassi...

Chapter 733 - Cost of Victory

Zeke struggled.

No matter how hard he pulled, the threads that comprised Aja’s tree form refused the budge.  The first few had resisted as well, but he’d managed to pry them loose.  Severing them took a bit more effort, but in the end, he did it.  However, now that he’d moved on to some of the thicker strands, he couldn’t force them to obey his commands. 

And that was enough to send him into a frustrated rage.

He didn’t scream or hit things.&nbs...

Path of Dragons 10 - Chapter 72 - Complexity

Just a quick note that I've made a couple of changes with Gunnar's perspective in previous chapters. The first is a mention of the skill he used to hide his traps. Fittingly, it is called Conceal Trap, and it is a ranger ability acquired at level seventeen. The second is the origin of the venom, which was originally acquired by Gunnar himself. Now, it has been changed to have been bought from a specialized "poison guy" who raised the snakes himself and prepared the ven...

2025-07-03 15:00:11 +0000 UTC View Post