It was quiet in my mindscape as I tried to come up with a reasonable excuse. As the seconds ticked by I knew anything would be better than nothing as Desero's shock would soon abate, and I would lose my momentary advantage if you could call it that. So, without really knowing where I was going with this, I began rambling.
My mind is in shambles! That Deity, she tried to do something to me! She pulled me back when we were speaking! I was about to tell you, but I got no chance!
2021-04-01 07:44:40 +0000 UTC
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"I'm Est," I said.
The woman didn't reply, just staring at me in utter surprise, as if telling someone your name was the most ridiculous thing in the world. I wondered again about the oddity of Grablons and names.
"Laurel," she finally said, staring right at me.
I nodded, getting the feeling from her raised eyebrows that she had offered me something more than just her name. I didn't have any idea what, though, so I just shrugged it off.
"Well, it's nice to meet you, La...
2021-04-01 07:44:06 +0000 UTC
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Without any hesitation, I swam back up towards the bow of the ship. How do I get up? I shouted in my mind.
The water around me surged, and a tentacle crashed by me, causing a cyclone in the water, shoving me aside. When I regained my bearings, I found myself dozens of meters away from the ship while tentacles pummeled its hull, and two massive shadows moved up towards it.
Get me aboard! I screamed, feeling an onset of panic like I hadn't felt in a very long time....
2021-04-01 07:43:33 +0000 UTC
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When I woke, it was to the gentle swaying of my hammock and the soft muttering from the top deck. It took me a few moments to realize where I was. The ship's voice had nagged me to sleep but was luckily gone now, and I was almost afraid to move out of fear of having it start again. It had told me it wanted to know what I was and where I came from.
How it knew I wasn't an actual Grablon was beyond me, but I kept my eyes closed and pretended to sleep.
It had been ages since I could ...
2021-04-01 07:42:48 +0000 UTC
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I groaned contentedly as I pushed myself up from the table, trying to ignore the annoyed and curious stares from the Grablon soldiers around me. The plates before me were cleaned so well they could almost be reused, and even the basket with bread, oh god, bread, was cleaned of crumbs. My stomach hadn't been this stuffed in a long time, and my skin was still glowing from the hot shower I had taken.
Of all the things in this world that reminded me of home, I was more than a littl...
2021-04-01 07:41:45 +0000 UTC
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My mind cleared from the unexpected threat, and I just raised an eyebrow.
"Why do you think I am not one of your people?"
I only just managed to dodge to the side and seek refuge behind a small table as one of the fireballs was flung at my head. No more came, and I slowly looked across the table. The Gurossa stared at me, her eyes as bright as the fireballs. With a quick move, she resummoned the fourth.
"I ask the questions, you answer. Now! Who, or what are you?"
It s...
2021-04-01 07:41:00 +0000 UTC
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"What's that disgusting smell?"
"Don't look. It's that hobo Grablon over there."
"Is that blood? He looks like he just came from some battle…"
I ignored the comments, and the many more that followed, heeding Eristin's warning seriously as I traveled across the tent riddled square. My hope of quickly moving to the Grablon district and finding a place to rest, eat and get my bearings had been smashed.
Eristin could have told me this square is a ten-kilometer long m...
2021-04-01 07:39:46 +0000 UTC
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Somehow, losing the handle of my first ax hurt more than I had realized it would. At least I learned from the second try. Although it didn't come in rapid bursts, my strength kept increasing, and the weight of my ax needed to keep up. I had made the ax blade a little larger again and thicker in the middle with that in mind. I would need to find another material fast, though, any bigger and it would become unwieldy. As it was, the blade spanned the breadth of my shoulders. I had also decided a...
2021-04-01 07:35:31 +0000 UTC
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I have no recollection of how long Barry dragged me along, only of slamming into the ground and feeling my back drag across uneven surfaces. When he finally stopped and lay me on the ground, my entire body was bruised. Barely awake, I grasped around until I touched something that felt like bark. I failed to cast Share Life Force four times before finally succeeding, and when I did, I sensed a massive influx of energy. It flooded my body, washing away pain and weariness. I felt the torn muscle...
2021-03-27 07:17:36 +0000 UTC
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"Move, you big piece of!"
I groaned as I shoved against the final, massive log. With a creak, it finally toppled over and rolled into the open area around the life-pod tree.
It was the last I needed for my plan. Dripping with sweat, I put my back against it and rolled the almost two-meter thick log further into the clearing. It was partially rotten, but with a solid core; at least that's what I hoped after poking it a bit.
Cleared of branches, some as thick as my waist, it r...
2021-03-27 07:16:41 +0000 UTC
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As I felt the cold wind blow around my privates, I shivered. How am I going to do anything like this?
Focus! You can create what you need here! The grumpy old voice snapped, shaking me from my worry of being naked and weaponless.
What do you mean? I thought, hoping it would reach the grumpy old Deity.
Who's old?!
I swallowed. Was this guy reading my mind?
Yes! We'll discuss you calling me old after we defeat this fake one. ...
2021-03-27 07:15:53 +0000 UTC
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What the hell does it want? I thought, staring at the arm that was signaling at me rapidly.
I didn't dare speak. My face still stung from the slap it had given me the first time I tried. Attempting to make out what it meant, I saw it repeat the same pattern of gestures.
A finger poke down, cross two fingers, wave a few times as if trying to get rid of a mosquito, clench fist, then pound something. When it finished, it pointed a finger at me and waited.
It wants ...
2021-03-27 07:15:10 +0000 UTC
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A soft shaking and low mumbling woke me up. My first reaction was to freeze, hoping nobody had seen me below the bed as my fear rose. I scanned my body but didn't feel any pain. Then it hit me. I didn't feel anything, period.
My mind snapped awake, and I realized my eyes were already open. I put a clamp on my emotions immediately, almost strangling them away. It was hard, especially the fear and shock. I had hoped never to experience one of these terrible dreams again. After a second, I...
2021-03-27 07:14:32 +0000 UTC
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As I stared at the decapitated little carving, I patted the slight bulge on my chest and felt it poke into my chest muscles.
Let's hope nobody hits me here, I thought with a wince.
The things Rathica had told me played through my mind.
Absentmindedly, I placed the remains of the little statuette into my bag while scanning the room. Wondering what was in the chests, I began rummaging through them, finding a host of odd trinkets and toys. Plates, cups, cutlery, and cl...
2021-03-27 07:13:57 +0000 UTC
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I sat, staring along the path between two camps into the depths of the forest.
Where are you, Eliandra?
My worry was so great I had asked the Preyatar followers what they knew. All that got me was some mock laughter and another regaling of how they sacked Dursic and chased off the Flowheart Prime that was there.
I wanted to go and search for her. If only I didn't have to find the seeds of the body making tree for the rest of humanity… Her not being here meant noth...
2021-03-27 07:13:18 +0000 UTC
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Grabbing the small knife, I continued adding to the pile of wood carvings that lay around me. A few hours later, I laid down the knife and looked at the butterfly-shaped blade with a happy nod. It wasn't any kind of masterwork, but it would suffice. In a single fluid motion, I shoved the ax handle through the hole in the blade. I blocked it from falling out with a couple of small wedges and then cast Harden Wood multiple times. I stopped when I felt a slight, continuous drain and cast one Sof...
2021-03-27 07:12:41 +0000 UTC
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In the end, the uncertainty of rushing into the unfamiliar ruins and perhaps having to fight those two made me stay put. I waited for them and watched intently as they reached the border of the crumbling pillars. As they stepped through, it was as if a shimmering forcefield appeared, and a second later, a fiery glyph appeared atop its surface. The barrier remained in place, as did the glyph that resembled a taloned fist holding a burning sword.
"It's been ages since we were the first!" ...
2021-03-27 07:12:04 +0000 UTC
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"Get lost," I screamed across my shoulder while having a massive sense of Deja Vu and urging the Vengeful Mount to greater speed.
The soft padding of the massive bird that came from behind me made me almost wish I had stuck with walking. Almost. Spotting a dense area of burned looking bushes, I steered closer towards it. Holding the reins with one hand and the ax handle with another, I cast two Entangles as I passed close to the bushes. The shaking and thumping of the horse's steps made...
2021-03-27 07:11:27 +0000 UTC
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With a soft thud, the last of the two possessed Hags hit the ground. The forest loomed all around me, dark and brooding. Looking at the last of the hags, I shivered. Alone again. Warm, damp air clung to everything, including my face, and I wiped the moisture away. Not the first time, nor the last I knew.
Taking a quick look at the Hag bodies, I hoped I wouldn't come across more of them. Or more of those boars, I thought, looking around the woods that suddenly seemed mo...
2021-03-21 18:11:37 +0000 UTC
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"Come on. I'm pretty sure you can do better than me!" I said, looking at the Hag and feeling afraid. I desperately searched for an idea, a way out. There was none. Rathica, I don't know if you can hear me, but I need your help! I screamed a prayer in my mind, and a soft chime sounded throughout the cave.
The Hag laughed as she pressed her hands down on my shoulder, her head coming closer to mine. "Don't bother, little Prime follower. Your deity can't help you here! The Mistress...
2021-03-21 18:10:56 +0000 UTC
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When I woke that morning, Smell was again standing guard while Scar was pressed close to me. Feeling the warmth she radiated, I shrugged. I could get used to that, although…a host of memories of Sandra and my time in the flat flowed through my mind. I closed my eyes and let them come. I had bottled them up for too long already.
Ten minutes later, I sat up, strengthened in my desire to find her again. To figure out if she meant what she wrote or if she would push me away again.
<...
2021-03-21 18:10:15 +0000 UTC
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"I won't tell you anything!" The Fin'r Goblin shouted again. The ax against his throat appeared to barely faze him.
Dammit, do I really have to torture this guy? I thought, wondering how waterboarding worked. I had read about it once but never imagined I might need to use it.
"Tell me where and when your patrols are!" I growled, pressing the ax against his skin until a line of blood appeared. The Goblin just glared at me, and I got up and suppressed the desire to roar at ...
2021-03-21 18:09:40 +0000 UTC
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The darkness had encroached on the forest so fast it seemed like someone put a blanket over it. I sat below the bush, squinting at the guard tower, my night vision barely reaching that far. The Fin'r Goblins were just grey outlines atop the tower.
Why don't they have a bloody watch fire? I moaned internally. It would have made it so much easier to time what I wanted to do. To my annoyance and surprise, those Goblins seemed well organized, and not just at the guard tower.
...
2021-03-21 18:08:56 +0000 UTC
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A soft howling woke me from a deep, dreamless sleep. Groggily I turned on my side, trying to find the blankets, a fog covering my mind. Had I been drinking? I couldn't recall. Stupid neighbors. Stupid dog. Couldn't they just let that thing inside so it wouldn't wake me up every day? And where the hell was my blanket? My hand gripped a long, curved piece of wood, rough bark scratching my palm.
A branch? It took a moment for the last vestiges of sleep to dispel from my mind.
The mem...
2021-03-21 18:08:18 +0000 UTC
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An hour after I set out with Scar and Smell, we were deep inside an immense thornbush. It was three meters or more high and so deep I didn't see the end.
Groaning as another thorn scratched one of my uncovered arms, I pushed a few branches out of my way. The two Wirgs easily navigated the undergrowth, barely slowed down. Every few seconds, they stopped and waited for me.
I should have found some plant control spell, I thought as I stared at the thick area of prickly plant...
2021-03-21 18:07:45 +0000 UTC
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It was deathly quiet in the short hallway. When I moved forward, the crunching of my footsteps on the dust, sand, and debris sounded like shrapnel going off. The ceiling was surprisingly high, something I hadn't noticed while looking inside.
So, this was Rathica's previous form's temple? I was curious, to say the least, and moved to the corner. Left led to a collapsed tunnel, and as I looked, I cringed. She had said east… but where the hell was east? I couldn't see the sun or sky down...
2021-03-21 18:06:41 +0000 UTC
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The remaining three weeks passed in a blur of ax handling, wood crafting, and skimming through the spell books, searching for desirable spells. With my learning rate back to it's natural six, I could learn two small spells in the remaining days and ended up choosing Gills and Remove Body Modifications. It left me with thirty free knowledge and an intense desire to find the sea and try out gills.
Three days before the end of the six weeks that Rathica had given me, I was slicing my ax th...
2021-03-21 18:05:59 +0000 UTC
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Reaching the door to Dursic, I stared at it with trepidation. What should I expect? Perhaps nothing? Taking a deep breath, ax at the ready, I slowly opened the door a crack. A waft of thick warm air poured inside. I saw a part of the wall. Long red smears and soot stains covered the portion I saw, making the hairs on my arms stand on end.
Pushing the door fully open, I saw an unmoving body lie in the corridor, coagulated blood below it. One arm was missing, and I saw it lie further at t...
2021-03-21 18:04:25 +0000 UTC
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The days passed in a blur, a painful, repetitive, and annoying blur. I quickly lost track of day and night, neither of which was determinable in the library, deciding to just sleep when I felt like it. When I woke, I mixed practicing the ax-forms Haltir had taught me with learning the first spell.
A stack of wood, large enough to fuel a fireplace for weeks, lay below one table. I had moved three other tables, placing them together on their sides, with a fourth a top in what looked like ...
2021-03-20 13:07:38 +0000 UTC
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I snuck through the halls of the temple, listening closely for any patrolling paladins. In one hand, I carried a pack filled with food pilfered from the kitchen, and two others held leather sacks with water. In the last one, I held my bag, stuffed to the brim with wood.
I hope she isn't waiting at the door again, I thought.
It was two days since my talk with Rathica, and all I had been doing was practicing the hand gestures for the first spell I brought from the library. ...
2021-03-20 13:07:06 +0000 UTC
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