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Chapter 340 - Escape

A wave of sheer despair crashed down on the wyrm, and even the overflow was enough to send Zeke spiraling into brief hopelessness. It only lasted a moment before it faded away, but he knew the feelings persisted within the kobolds’ minds. They’d just been asked to abandon their mother, a creature that, for all intents and purposes, was their goddess. It was the right choice. Mikaena clearly could not defeat the other wyrm in battle, and the efforts of Zeke or the remaining kobolds would m...

Mistrunner 3 - Chapter 16 - Predictability

Mira always thinks everyone is going to turn on her, and more often than not, she’s been right. And I think that’s a terrible tragedy because the entire world is not the mob of self-interest that she thinks it is. There are good people out there. She just doesn’t let herself see them.

Patrick Ward

The passage of the hoverbike kicked up a rooster tail of dust as I guided it through the desert. For the most part, I k...

Chapter 339 - Fusion

The golems hit first, but the giant wyrm didn’t even twitch when they landed upon his broad back.  If Zeke had taken a moment to stop and think, he’d have marveled at the sheer scope of the creature.  Baraziq wasn’t just enormous.  His size, especially up close, was nearly incomprehensible.  As wide as a building, and the length of a small train, the wyrm moved with the fluidity of an eel, his comparatively smaller legs propelling him forward at unbelievable speed. 2023-08-08 13:00:05 +0000 UTC View Post

Chapter 338 - Escalation

The city spread out before Zeke, towering above and descending far below his position at the tunnel’s exit. An arching crystalline bridge stretched out in front of him, leading to an enormous, rocky spire that stood in the center of a yawning abyss. Zeke had no idea how deep it went. Miles, maybe. He certainly couldn’t see the bottom, mired as it was in deep shadow. But from his perspective, it looked as if it would go on forever.

The sound of vicious combat echoed throughout the cy...

Mistrunner 3 - Chapter 15 - A Challenge

Sometimes, I wonder what would happen if Mira and I just settled down somewhere. I can’t help but think neither of us would be particularly happy. I need my projects, and she needs adventure. Without those distractions, I’m sure we’d get tired of one another pretty quickly. Or maybe not. I don’t know, and I’m terrified of the day I might get my answer.

Patrick Ward

I continued to fire upon the giant combat bot ...

Mistrunner 3 - Chapter 14 - Fallibility

For a while, I thought it was love. Cy treated me like an equal. We talked. We had things in common. We were doing great, important things. But Mira was always in the back of my mind. The moment I admitted that to myself, I realized that I could never have a future with Cy. For both our sakes, it had to end. I just wish she saw it that way.

Patrick Ward

“Not bad,” I said, kneeling atop a sand dune and watching Rex pl...

Chapter 337 - Doubts

“I hate this,” Zeke muttered, half under his breath, as he watched his army of former slaves march ahead of him. Thankfully, the dwarf known as the Arsenal had been more than happy to help out by providing plenty of weapons and armor, so each of the slaves were equipped. Not well, but even patchwork armor and poor quality weapons were better than nothing.

“A good general does not lead from the front,” said Jasper, a refrain he’d repeated a dozen times since beginning their tre...

Chapter 336 - Allies

“When?” asked a hulking ogre with a silvery collar around his thick neck. He rolled his massive shoulders and leaned back against the barracks’ wall. With a sigh that felt so forceful it might rattle the walls, he added, “Been months, elf. When’s this savior comin’?”

“Soon,” said Jasper, glancing at the other slave. Despite the huge disparity in strength, he didn’t fear the ogre. Indeed, when Zeke had left on his expedition into the demon realm, he’d broken Jasper�...

Mistrunner 3 - Chapter 13 - To the Victor

For the longest time, I didn’t think happiness was really possible. With what was coming, everything looked so bleak. But then I saw that Nova City wasn’t really representative of the entire world. Sure, there were other places like it. Most of the biggest cities in the world were under the aliens’ thumbs. But a different kind of life was possible. Of course, I knew it was all going to end soon enough, but at least it gave me some hope.

...

Chapter 335 - Commencing the Assault

Zeke battered the portcullis into scrap metal, and he didn’t waste any time before zeroing in on the dwarven leader. Even as the gaudily armored dwarf leaped at him, his sword raised an overhand attack, Zeke strode forward with the weight of inevitability on his side. His steps shook the ground like small, localized earthquakes, and Zeke pulled more earthen energy into his two skills with each footfall. The leader hit him with every ounce of momentum he could muster, but the sword blow clan...

Chapter 334 - Runebreaker

Fire danced in the sky as the ruined stronghold crumbled all around as Zeke took a few precious minutes to rest and recover as best he could. The rapid regeneration associated with activating [Cambion’s Awakening] via demonic mana had healed his body well enough – even his arm had regrown – but in doing so, it had wrought enough spiritual damage that he could scarcely think without being rewarded with creaking pain. If he’d kept going any longer, recovery might have t...

Weekly Check-In (7/30/23)

Alright, so, some of you might already be aware of this, but I figured I'd better mention it for those who aren't.  This week, I turned my final draft of the manuscript for book five, and just as I was getting ready to move on to book six, my publisher dropped a bit of a bomb on me.  Basically, they suggested that I consider splitting what was book five into two volumes.  Their reasoning was pretty simple: at ~250k words, it was a big book.  Like, really big.  And tha...

Mistrunner 3 - Chapter 12 - Heist

Cy got out of Nova City before we even returned from our delve into the spider Rift. Didn’t leave a note. No communication whatsoever. Just escaped the city and fled across the country without so much as a goodbye. I should have expected it, really. Our situation was so complicated, and I’d already made my feelings clear.

Patrick Ward

“Just so you know,” said Patrick. “I’m definitely not calling you that.”<...

Mistrunner 3 - Chapter 11 - The Dragon Roars

I don’t think what happened in Nova really hit Mira until she discovered that her favorite band had been one of the casualties of the city’s destruction. Obviously, from a rational perspective, she knew. She had to have known. But it didn’t hit home until someone told her Leviathan’s fate. After that, our ship got a new name, and Mira truly started down a dark road.

Patrick Ward

I gripped the strap, the wind whip...

Chapter 333 - Freeing the Demon

With corrosive mana racing through him, Zeke let out a roar of pure hate and aggression, then bounded toward the enormous dwarf. His stride quickly ate the distance, and in only an instant, his hammer found its mark in the shocked Roknag’s chest. He took it without any preparation, and the sound of destroyed armor and broken bones echoed through the coral forest before the impact sent the huge figure rocketing backwards to carve a wide path of destruction through the twisting white spires.<...

Chapter 332 - A Giant Among Dwarves

The dwarves’ panic only lasted for a few moments, but by that point, Zeke and trio of golems were among them, wreaking havoc. Even as he whipped his hammer around, destroying fortifications with every swing, the dwarven defenders recovered and mounted a counterattack. A hundred different skills fell upon Zeke with terrible fury. Most bounced off of his metallic form, but a few managed to gouge deep wounds into his hardened skin. Silvery blood flew from the injuries, but he continued stridin...

Mistrunner 3 - Chapter 10 - Pressure Points

The day we hit that Rift, we had no idea that it was going to change everything. At the time, we’d been riding high off of a few victories, and Mira was still running away from what happened in Nova City. Maybe that’s why we failed so horribly. For months, that’s what I told myself. But in the end, I had to admit that if I’d been able to pull my own weight, things might have turned out differently.

Patrick Ward

T...

Chapter 331 - The Battle Begins

“This is very uncomfortable,” said Eveline, floating beside Zeke. She’d retained her natural form, which meant that she looked like a prototypical succubus, wearing a black dress whose hem seemed to drag across the ground. “Have I mentioned that yet?”

“I’m not dropping the skill.”

“Oh, I know. You’ve said as much a few times,” she replied in an airy voice. “I just thought you needed to know that you’re torturing me. So long as you’re okay with that, I �...

Weekly Check-in (7/24/23)

Yes.  This is late.  And I know I missed it last week.  In my defense, I've been extremely busy trying to get Death: Genesis 5 finished and prepared for my publisher.  Still, I apologize for the oversight.  

So - everything's going pretty well.  Death: Genesis 3 continues to do well on Amazon (it's the highest rated book in the series so far!), and I hope book four ends up being even better received.  That said, sales are lagging a touch behind the sec...

Chapter 330 - Bulwark of the Triumvirate

It took three days for Zeke to completely recover from the battle against the crucified dwarf. It wasn’t that he had been terribly injured. Rather, the combination of exhaustion and the effects of so much corrosive mana running through him had left him almost completely unable to function. In a pinch, he could have brought some of his power to bear, but with what was coming, he knew he needed to be at the top of his game. So, he rested and healed, but he also worked diligently to implement ...

Mistrunner 3 - Chapter 9 - Amid Chaos

I’m not a [Cybernetic Engineer]. That much became obvious the longer I tried to learn the skill. From a rational standpoint, I understood it well enough, but I knew from the very beginning that I was missing something vital. That little spark that separated someone meant for a skill from everyone else. Cy had it. And so does Mira with her skills. But me? I was meant for something else.

Patrick Ward

It only took a momen...

Mistrunner 3 - Chapter 8 - Making a Move

Initially, I didn’t want to go back to her. Back then, it was a toxic, unequal relationship where I fully believed that what she wanted was more important than what I needed. But the moment I saw Mira again, I knew I couldn’t resist diving back in. Not because I needed her. I did, but I could stomach staying away. Rather, I went back because I saw how lost she was without me. It might be distasteful to admit, but there’s a certain satisfaction in knowing someone els...

2023-07-22 13:00:03 +0000 UTC View Post