Art - Shape of the Sky
nrsearcy posts
Art - The Justicar of the Broken Path
My guy Rashed al Aroka has knocked it out of the park again! Those of you who frequent the Discord will have seen the progression of this particular piece (I think we went through 8 or 9 versions) as Rashed worked on it, and I have to say that it turned out even better than I could have expected.
Obviously, the subject is our very own Justicar of the Broken Path, Sadie Song. I hope you all love the visual representation of one of my favorite characters I've written!
I have three o...
2025-03-29 13:00:17 +0000 UTC View PostPath of Dragons 9 - Chapter 37 - Not the Same
“Are you sure you’re okay?” asked Elijah, putting his hand on Nerthus’ shoulder. He gave a quick cast of Nature’s Bloom. “You don’t have to work. You can –”
“I am healed,” Nerthus interrupted tersely. “Please do not take this as an insult, but you need to stop.”
Elijah blinked. “Stop what?”
“Hovering. You are tipping the balance with your very presence. Do not think I haven’t noticed you using Nature...
2025-03-28 15:10:01 +0000 UTC View PostPath of Dragons 9 - Chapter 36 - Forts and Progression
The drums of war beat steadily, incessantly casting their rhythmic echoes across the field. Dark clouds swirled overhead, a portent of a coming storm, and lightning lanced through the atmosphere near the horizon. Thunder rolled, and Sadie felt her stomach tighten with anticipation.
She held her sword, barely noticing the weight as she studied her surroundings. Nearly ten thousand men and women stood, arrayed to either side in neat ranks. Their armor was wor...
2025-03-28 15:00:09 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 681 - Alive
After everything he’d been through, where he’d spent decades fighting unwinnable battles in Hell, it would have been easy to retreat into his shell, hunker down, and take a long and well-earned break. That was what Eveline wanted from him. And in some ways, that was what he needed.
But Zeke couldn’t stop.
The idea of passing up a fight felt so alien to him that he simply couldn’t force himself to turn away. Was it habit? Momentum? Was he just ...
2025-03-28 13:00:20 +0000 UTC View PostPath of Dragons 9 - Chapter 35 - Loot and Consequence
Edited Chapter 33 and this chapter to deal with the continuity error around Breeze's corpse. Let me know if you guys see anything I missed.
Black smoke still lingered in the air, though it had dispersed enough that it didn’t even affect Elijah. He hadn’t noticed it before, but it had a slightly sweet, acrid scent. “Do you know what it is?” he asked, glancing at Biggle, who’d just imbibed a potion.
“No way to know for certain,” t...
2025-03-27 15:10:01 +0000 UTC View PostPath of Dragons 9 - Chapter 34 - Somber
“I’m afraid,” Elijah admitted without looking up. Instead, he continued to stare at the grave. Marked by a large stone, into which he’d carved a short epitaph, the location stood atop the cliff overlooking the ocean. Often, Elijah came to that spot to think. Now, he would have company of a sort.
It was where he’d buried all the victims of the attack on the grove. More than seventy animals ranging from squirrels to rabbits and everything in b...
2025-03-27 15:00:06 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 680 - Marching Toward The End
The trip through the city of Seraphane went about as well as Zeke could have expected. Certainly, his passage didn’t go unnoticed. Many of the illusion-cloaked demons watched his every move. However, for whatever reason, they chose not to impede his path.
And Zeke was a little surprised at the resulting annoyance. It almost felt like he wanted to be attacked.
“Or you’re a battle junky who isn’t happy unless he’s killed a few hundred monsters...
2025-03-27 13:00:18 +0000 UTC View PostPath of Dragons 9 - Chapter 33 - Found Wanting
Isaiah stood atop the citadel’s front steps, staring down at the bodies. Some were bloated, having been killed as much as a week before. Others were far fresher. They stunk of rot and seawater and death. He acknowledged each of his senses, cataloguing the stunned silence that followed the Druid’s sudden departure. The smells. The sight. Even the goosebumps prickling his exposed skin.
But he didn’t let himself truly feel any of it.&nb...
2025-03-26 15:10:00 +0000 UTC View PostPath of Dragons 9 - Chapter 32 - Repercussions
In a lot of ways, holding Isaiah responsible was irrational. However, in every way that Elijah wanted to consider, he certainly was. Without what had happened in Seattle, no one would have doubted his power. There was no way to be certain, but Elijah believed that, had that not happened, Breeze never would have dared to attack the grove. Moreover, the pirates wouldn’t have agreed to the plan if they truly believed they might encounter the strongest man in the world.<...
2025-03-26 15:05:01 +0000 UTC View PostPath of Dragons 9 - Chapter 31 - Bargaining
Elijah thudded down outside of town, numb to the emotions roiling in a quarantined part of his mind. He’d given himself entirely over to the simmering rage, and it had burned through everything else, pushing it out until nothing else remained.
Nothing he would acknowledge, at least.
Still, the screams of his victims echoed in his mind. Most of them were pirates. They were a stain upon the world, preying upon those weaker than them and profiting off of dea...
2025-03-26 15:00:11 +0000 UTC View PostPath of Dragons 9 - Chapter 30 - Guilt by Association
“Can you help him?”
Ron knelt beside Nerthus, who lay on Elijah’s bed inside the treehouse. The spryggent still hadn’t fully recovered, though for the life of him, Elijah couldn’t figure out why. He’d spent the past day-and-a-half healing his friend, and though he’d improved, he still hadn’t regained consciousness. Ron had arrived only a few minutes before, but his presence was an encouraging turn of events.
“I don’t know. Give me a mome...
2025-03-25 15:10:00 +0000 UTC View PostPath of Dragons 9 - Chapter 29 - Remorseless
Grief and fury twisted in Elijah’s gut as he felt Nerthus reappear a little less than a mile away. The spryggent was grievously injured, leaking sap-like blood everywhere. He staggered, collapsing to the ground. Elsewhere, Elijah felt the destruction the invaders had left in their wake.
Slain animals. Destroyed plants. One of the deer was dead as well.
They all screamed in silent pain and fury in a voice only Elijah could hear. Tea...
2025-03-25 15:00:11 +0000 UTC View PostFifteen Million (An Announcement for Path of Dragons)
Just wanted to make a quick announcement before we get to today's Path of Dragons chapters...
Some of you already know this, but when Podium (my publisher) informed me of the publishing schedule for Path of Dragons, I was a little bummed out. More than a year is a long time in this genre, and I was worried about losing steam. However, once that initial malaise wore off, I decided to look at that long gap as an opportunity. So, in addition to working on the overa...
2025-03-25 14:45:02 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 679 - The Way Forward
“So long as I don’t have to go through hell again, I’m completely onboard,” Zeke said. “We don’t, right?”
Oberon shook his head. “Each realm is connected by a series of…pathways,” he stated. “In most cases, access is routine. Think of it like border security in your old world. You go through a checkpoint where they establish your credentials, then allow you through.”
“That doesn’t sound so bad,” Zeke responded, shoveling ...
2025-03-25 13:00:13 +0000 UTC View PostPath of Dragons 9 - Chapter 28 - On a Moonless Night
Cassius Flint stared through the handheld telescope at the island in the distance. It was wreathed in dense fog, though he knew that was something of a mirage. After a week spent in Ironshore, he knew his target, inside and out. He’d spoken to multiple men and women who’d been on that island, who’d felt the treasures it held. He knew it better than anyone else on the planet.
More importantly, he also knew that the owner was away. He’d watched the Dr...
2025-03-24 15:10:01 +0000 UTC View PostPath of Dragons 9 - Chapter 27 - Interruptions
The intruder wore a velour tracksuit – in bright red and stripes down the sides – with the jacket open to reveal a mat of black chest hair that was partially hidden by a multitude of thick, gold chains. Lamar Sims recognized him, of course. How could he not, after everything that had happened?
Ever since the apocalypse, Vinnie Santoro had been a thorn in everyone’s side. A wannabe warlord-slash-despot, Santoro had terrorized half of Philadelphia to the point wher...
2025-03-24 15:00:14 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 678 - Responsibility
Zeke sat with his elbows on his knees as he stared at the floor. Oddly enough, there were leaves scattered across it, many of which had gathered into piles in the corners. They smelled fresh.
But he wasn’t interested in them. Nor did he care about the rest of the embassy’s décor. It would have been incredibly easy to get wrapped up in the cozy inn aesthetic, but he refused to acknowledge it. Instead, he was focused on the things he’d learned on...
2025-03-24 13:00:15 +0000 UTC View PostPath of Dragons 9 - Chapter 26 - The Wedding
Kurik was worried about his friend.
Elijah wasn’t just anxious. He seemed like a bomb ready to explode. It was there in his every twitchy movement, in the way he rambled on about nothing, and in the bags beneath his eyes. The problem was that Kurik had no idea how to help him. And for a dwarf used to solving problems, that was a hard rock to break.
However, one thing that wasn’t in question was that, of the entire group, Elijah stood out from everyone e...
2025-03-23 15:10:01 +0000 UTC View PostPath of Dragons 9 - Chapter 25 - Primed
“Fuck that guy,” spat Helen, slapping her hand against the table. Then, she looked around at all the stunned faces. “What?”
Ron coughed. “I think that’s the first time I’ve heard you swear.”
“I’ll be honest – I wasn’t sure you knew how to speak,” Elijah said with a subtle grin. “I was willing to write you off as the strong, silent type.”
“Oh, shut up,” she said, throwing a French fry at him. He caught it easily,...
2025-03-23 15:00:04 +0000 UTC View PostPath of Dragons 9 - Chapter 24 - Philadelphia
“I feel like I should get some kind of frequent flier miles or something,” Elijah said, leaning against the wall next to the Spires. The compound itself had been expanded, adding an extra building, and a wall was under construction. According to Eryka, they’d been forced to see to their defenses due to a surge in the level of the local wildlife.
That was understandable, given the continuously rising ethera density. Elijah couldn’t be certain, but he suspe...
2025-03-22 15:10:00 +0000 UTC View PostPath of Dragons 9 - Chapter 23 - A Touching Gift
“This place is a marvel,” Atticus said, sitting on the treehouse’s deck and sipping a cup of coffee. “You truly know how to live, my friend.”
Elijah couldn’t deny the truth of Atticus’ statement. The grove truly was a wondrous place, and it was important to be reminded not to take it for granted. But more than that, it was home. Of everywhere he’d lived, he’d never felt more connected than he did while in the grove.
That was the point, of ...
2025-03-22 15:00:05 +0000 UTC View PostPath of Dragons 9 - Chapter 22 - Loose Ends
“They’re good kids,” said Essex. “The little one, especially. She has fire.”
“How do you think it’ll work?” Elijah asked, sitting atop the wall encircling the training yard and studying the grove trainees hard at work. They’d been going at it for hours, and though their energy had begun to wane, they all seemed committed to the task at hand. “With their archetypes, I mean.”
Essex shrugged, then leaned forward, his elbows on the low wal...
2025-03-21 15:10:01 +0000 UTC View PostPath of Dragons 9 - Chapter 21 - A Big Operation
“That is a lot of fat.”
“Do we think it’s enough, though?”
“For what?”
“Are you serious? I just explained this to you.”
“Sorry,” said Biggle, still staring at the stacked barrels. “Bit distracted by the literal tons of high-grade alchemical ingredients right in front of me. Do you know what I could do with that?”
“What?”
“I…I don’t know. A lot,” he said. “I’d need to experiment. I...
2025-03-21 15:00:08 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 677 - Explanations
The room flickered with warm candlelight as Zeke pulled the chair out. He sat, but he didn’t relax. Instead, he crossed his arms in front of his chest and asked, “What do you want?”
“I’m hurt, Zeke. I thought we were old friends.”
“You’ve been using me from the very beginning, and –”
“Guiding you. Developing you. But I haven’t begun to actually use you,” Oberon reminded him. “I thought you might be more apprecia...
2025-03-21 13:00:16 +0000 UTC View PostPath of Dragons 9 - Chapter 20 - Journey Home
Towing a corpse weighing hundreds of tons came with a host of problems, not least of which was the fact that it tended to attract every scavenger – and in a lot of cases, predators – in the region. Because of that, Elijah had spent the past two days alternating between dragging the leviathan’s corpse through the ocean and fighting off the opportunistic beasts wanting to get a piece of it for themselves.
He didn’t blame them, either.
Even he was impressed by the sheer...
2025-03-20 15:10:01 +0000 UTC View Post