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Mistrunner 3- Chapter 41 - An Uncomfortable Journey

Sometimes, I wonder how it all started. Someone had to have created the Mist. Were they responsible for the Nexus Implants and the system? Or was it someone else? Did it all just spontaneously manifest, created by the Mist itself? There’s so much we don’t know, and I don’t know if we’ll ever learn the truth.

Patrick Ward

Whoever categorized the Ithids as elves or fairies had clearly never encountered either. To m...

Chapter 373 - Elemental Forces

“This is unnatural,” said Eta, looking around.

Jasper resisted the urge to sigh at her obvious statement. “Was it the stone trees that gave it away?” he asked under his breath.

Obviously, his voice wasn’t as quiet as he’d hoped, because she said, “Yes. There is no life in them.”

The dark elf just shook his head. It wasn’t his first time in a dungeon, so while he’d been surprised when the ground fell out from under them, he’d quickly adjusted his mindset...

Chapter 372 - Two Against the World

Pudge awoke to the unpleasant feeling of being half-submerged in what he hoped was water. Fortunately, his head rested on something above the liquid, which had kept him from drowning. With a groan, he pushed himself upright and looked around.

“Finally awake?” asked Sasha, her voice cutting through his attempt to take stock of his situation. He turned around to see her sitting on some sort of rise – a tiny island amidst the ubiquitous water. “So sorry I couldn’t sit around and ...

Mistrunner 3 - Chapter 40 - Downtime

Mira is like a bomb waiting to explode. It happened once before, and I’ve spent the intervening years trying to keep it from happening again. Not because I care about all the people she’ll probably hurt. I do, but not as much as I care about what another Nova City incident will do to her.

Patrick Ward

The next morning, I woke up feeling hopeful, satisfied, and well-rested. For a long time, I just lay there next to Pa...

Chapter 371 - There's Always a Price

It didn’t take Zeke long to get over the shock of having the ground collapse beneath him, but even regaining his wits did little to help his situation. Years ago, he’d evolved his race for the very first time, which had enhanced his vision to the point where he didn’t need light to see. His senses had been further upgraded with each subsequent racial upgrade, and when he’d become a cambion, his night vision had reached the threshold where he could see as well in the dead of night as h...

Chapter 370 - Working Together

“I think ‘garghoules’ would have been a better name,” said Eveline.

“Not the time!” Zeke grunted as he was sent flying backwards through the air. He hit the ground, kicking up a rooster tail of gravel before skidding to a stop. Before he could recover, one of the ghoulgoyles was on top of him, raking its long, stone claws across his chest. Instinctively, he desperately covered his face as he rolled to the side. With a desperate backhand, he dislodged the monster, sending it ...

Mistrunner 3 - Chapter 39 - A Universal Scale

Sometimes, I have trouble remembering their faces. Remy. My mom. A dozen others I don’t even want to think about. I can only imagine what it was like for Jeremiah. How lonely must he have been? How many loved ones must he have watched die? I don’t want to end up like that. And I’m terrified that Mira is already on her way.

Patrick Ward

I remained in the area for a little while longer, and in that time, I let my min...

Mistrunner 3 - Chapter 38 - Killer Clown

The world – probably the universe – is filled with horrible things. I know that, and I accept it. But I think there’s just as much good out there. You just have to be open to it. To look for it. To embrace it. I want Mira to see what I see, but I just don’t know if she’s got that in her.

Patrick Ward

I couldn’t leave the E’rok Tan compound – and those horrible cages – behind quickly enough for my taste....

Chapter 369 - A Taste of His Own Medicine

Zeke maintained [Triune Colossus], fueling the skill with earth mana as he marched down the gravel lane. On either side of him grew oak trees, their low, interlocking branches spreading across the open area to create a nearly impenetrable canopy. Moonlight filtered through, dancing with the drifting fog that hung over the whole area.

Behind him, the rest of the party came. First, there was Sasha, then Eta, Pudge, and finally, Silik protecting the rear. Thankfully, they hadn’t been att...

Chapter 368 - Gargoyles

Zeke looked out across the grounds, searching for something to indicate the nature of the dungeon’s denizens. But he saw nothing but shadows, overgrown topiary, and, above it all, the looming presence of the manor. To him, it looked like nothing so much as a haunted house one might find in a movie.

“I find the memories of your old world fascinating,” Eveline said. “It was so safe that you had to invent ways to scare yourselves.”

“It wasn’t that safe,” Zeke muttered...

Mistrunner 3 - Chapter 37 - Livestock

There’s so much we don’t know about the world. We have no idea what’s out there. Not really. And the rest of the universe is even more mysterious. Anyone who claims they know what’s coming is lying.

Patrick Ward

I approached the abandoned amusement park as quietly as I could manage. Usually, I could rely solely on Stealth and Camouflage to see me through, but the memory of how easily that clown wildling had taken...

Chapter 367 - I Told You So

At Zeke’s nod, Pudge slipped away from the group. As he did so, he used [Concealed Steps] to mask his presence, augmenting it with his Will. His path of stealth only had one real purpose, but so long as he maintained concentration, it could combine with his skill to make him almost entirely undetectable to anyone without some sort of sensory powers. Hopefully, the giants in pursuit of the group were not counting among that group.

As his companions increased their pace, racing through ...

Chapter 366 - A Familiar Foe

The winter moon hung high in the night sky, casting the forest in a silvery light as Zeke led his companions through the wilderness. The ghostly, high-pitched moan hung in the air, clinging to everyone like a cloak. Zeke glanced down and saw that his body was almost entirely transparent – an effect of Jasper’s skill [Mantle of the Banshee].

The skill was contingent on Jasper playing a haunting melody on a set of reed pipes he’d constructed himself, but the effects were unquestiona...

Mistrunner 3 - Chapter 36 - The Bones of the Past

I never expected my life to end up like this. After my mom died and I started riding along with Remy, I thought I’d follow in his footsteps. We both did. But then he died, and I had to scramble for some way to stay relevant. I was so terrified Mira would leave me behind that I just went along with her plans. I still don’t know if it was the right choice.

Patrick Ward

A day later, I set the Leviathan down about a hund...

Mistrunner 3 - Chapter 35 - Failure

Morality is the privilege of the powerful.

Patrick Ward

After Alistaris gave me a little more information on my target, I escorted him out of the Leviathan. To my surprise, a ship landed a moment later. It was small – maybe twenty or thirty feet long – sleek, and shaped like a bullet with wings. Looking at it, it was easy to imagine that it was a craft specialized for stealth and speed.

As Alistaris climbed abo...

Chapter 365 - The Blind Leading the Blind

“Can we go around?” Zeke asked, standing atop a hill and gazing across the tundra. In the distance, he saw four imposing fortresses. So far away, it was difficult to truly gauge their size, but he judged that each of them was far larger than even the ice palace had been. Of course, that wasn’t a surprise, given what he’d been told by the kobold rangers who’d scouted the area. “I really don’t want to have to a bunch of giants again.”

Silik, who’d become like Zeke’s sh...

Chapter 364 - Just Another Day on the Tundra

Zeke kicked the huge, white bear directly in the snout, sending it skidding backwards across the ice. It recovered quickly, but by that point, Pudge was upon it, raking [Netherclaw] across its broad back. Light blue blood splattered across its fur as Pudge’s skill tore a jagged wound in its thick hide, exposing its crystalline ribs. The beast lashed out, its enormous paw taking Pudge by surprise. When it connected, the former dire bear went flying through the air, then skipped across the ic...

Mistrunner 3 - Chapter 34 - The Bad Guys

I think it’s important to see the good in the world. Sure, evil’s out there. Bad things happen all the time. But to me, happiness is a choice we have to make every single day. Focusing on the negative will do nothing but make that choice harder and harder until it’s just not an option anymore.

Patrick Ward

The round hit Alistaris directly in the forehead, the momentum behind the shot sending him flipping backwards into the ship’s ...

Mistrunner 1 Out Now!

For those who might've missed previous announcements, I just wanted to let you know that the first book in the Mistrunner series is now available on 2023-09-19 21:24:01 +0000 UTC View Post

Chapter 363 - Necessary Pain

“Is he well?” asked Sasha, sitting cross-legged on the couch. Pudge paced nearby, clearly in a state of unrest.

“I think so,” he admitted, though he wasn’t certain that he believed his own words. Zeke had once again put himself in harm’s way, and as a result, he’d nearly died. He’d pulled through – in no small part due to Kianma’s efforts – but would that always be the case? It was easy to fall into the trap of thinking that Zeke would always recover, but Pudge had...

Chapter 362 - Colossal Body

Zeke was only out for a couple of hours, and by the time he awoke, he was back in the tower. When his eyes fluttered open, he was confronted with a vision of Kianma hovering over him like an overprotective mother. He tried to sit up, but she put one clawed hand on his chest, stopping him before he even got started. Perhaps he could have pushed upright regardless, but the moment he’d moved, he’d felt an overwhelming sense of exhaustion crash over him.

“Stop,” Kianma hissed, looki...

Mistrunner 3 - Chapter 33 - Information

To Mira, Jeremiah was a god-like figure. Rationally, I think she understands that he was a flawed man and the product of a seriously messed-up situation, but from an emotional – and much more powerful – standpoint, he was everything she wants to become. If I do nothing else in my life, I hope I can prevent that from happening.

Patrick Ward

I followed Gala’s directions through the Bazaar, eventually finding myself i...

Mistrunner 3- Chapter 32 - Familiar Faces

Sometimes, the only way to make sense of things is to take everything apart, figure out how it works, and then put it back together.

Patrick Ward

I trailed my hand along the uneven concrete wall of the tunnel as I followed Gunther Gunderson through what was left of Nova City. Gone were the broad avenues and towering buildings, replaced by a series of underground tunnels dug through the rubble of what had once been a grea...

Chapter 361 - Scars

Athis shouted something in a language Tucker couldn’t understand, then bounded forward across the ship’s deck. He reached the rail, but he didn’t slow. In fact, he continued to accelerate as he leaped into the air. His trajectory took him across hundreds of feet until he crashed into the side of the other ship. Athis’s claws dug into the hardened wood, and he vaulted over the edge and into the group of startled sailors.

It was at that moment that Tucker truly understood why ever...

Chapter 360 - The Eye of the Storm

“Another one incoming!” Tucker screamed, wheeling around and taking aim at the storm spirit bearing down on him. It was a swirling mass of wind and rain, with a bit of lightning thrown in for good measure, and if it reached him, there was almost no chance of his survival. Fortunately, his storm-dispersing grenades were perfectly suited to keeping the little pseudo-elementals at bay. He fired, sending a glass globe filled with liquified earth mana infused with mercury to collide with the o...

Mistrunner 3 - Chapter 31 - Return

Many of the aliens I’ve encountered resemble creatures out of our mythology. From elves to gnomes and everything in between – I often wonder if there’s some meaning behind that. Had they made contact well before the Initialization, and our myths were the result? Or was there some other explanation?

Patrick Ward

“You think it’s safe?” asked Patrick, lying next to me in our bed. His head was cradled in his hand...

Mistrunner Book One

Some of you may have noticed that the chapters for the first Mistrunner book have been removed.  As much as I wish I could keep them up, Amazon's exclusivity terms prevent me from doing so.  If you'd like to read those chapters again, they'll be available on Amazon and Audible starting on 9/19 (next Tuesday).  The listing is:

2023-09-12 20:37:45 +0000 UTC View Post

Chapter 359 - Icy Abomination

“Run!” Zeke roared, wheeling around to face his stunned companions. Their surprised inaction didn’t last long before each of them turned and obeyed his command. Jasper was the fastest, his feet spurred along by some skill that only affected his personal agility, but Silik and the kobold centurions weren’t far behind. Pudge came next. Even with his injuries, his stats were high enough to put on him on a different level.

Notably, he’d slung Sasha over his shoulder. It was probab...

Chapter 358 - Picking Up the Pieces

The acrid smell of burning corpses filled the air as Zeke knelt next to a dead kobold. He hadn’t known the creature’s name. Nor did he recognize the distinct pattern on her scales or the colorful plumage that marked her as a female. But he vowed to remember her sacrifice.

And his failure.

“How many?” he asked.

He rested a hand on the slain kobold’s chest. Her body was cold. Her spirit was gone. She was just a hunk of meat, now. As he stared ahead, a twisted tangle ...

Mistrunner 3 - Chapter 30 - Olympus

Overconfidence bordering on arrogance will always be an issue for Mira. She never sees a problem she doesn’t believe she can overcome. And given her track record, she’s probably right. But I’m terrified of the day she discovers otherwise.

Patrick Ward

As I walked through the corridors of the Pacifician headquarters, I chose not to push my luck. Instead, I kept to little-used hallways and did everything I could to a...