Honour Rae

B4 Ch18: He Who Dealt It

Arthur landed, with knees loose to absorb the impact, on unpleasantly soft ground. Wisps of toxic gas still drifted from the corpses, most of which were unrecognizable from the scourgeling they once were. Aside from the effects of the toxic gas, the adventurers had thrown everything they had into the pit during that last final push, leaving behind a gruesome sight.

Bradley stood on the other side of the pit, hands on his hips, grinning broadly at Arthur. "Well, it looks like you have mo...

She of Many Dragons

This story might look familiar to some of you. I uploaded about 15 chapters onto Royal Road for fun last summer under an alt name. Then, when I realized I wanted to seriously publish it I took it down for edits. Since then, I've been working on it a little bit at a time and am now ready to bring it to you. 

To keep from spamming people's emails, I'm grouping the chap...

B4 Ch17: Greed

The problems started where they usually did, with greed.

While the toxic green gas appeared heavier than air and mostly stayed in the pit, looking like a pea soup. It took time to dissipate. Tendrils curled up over the edge, and no one risked going too close.

There was still a lot of work to be done, and clean-up to do. Many adventurers had died right after the initial pit collapse. But some had managed to find their way out either through card powers or through pure grit.

E...

A Discord Whoops

So the good news is I finally, finally, FINALLY got discord and Patreon to play nice so members automatically get access and a role.

The bad news is I thought it would be for new members -- as in people who signed in from today on forward. 

I didn't expect it to back date my existing membership. 

Sorry for the many pings, everyone. Feel free to mute the server if it's not your thing, or let me know if you want a kick. 

~ Rae 2024-01-28 05:34:22 +0000 UTC View Post

B4 Ch16: Pit Fighting

As the ground collapsed, a cloud of dust rose up a thick that Arthur could not see through it. But he could hear growls, yells… and screams. Movement flashed – a shadow in the dust, and it was bigger than any of the Uncommons.

This was one of the Rares. There were no doubt more. Once more, they’d set and sprung a trap for the adventurers and now they were falling upon their prey.

Arthur’s mouth opened to tell Brixaby to dive, but the dragon was ahead ...

Totem: 23 - Memory Trip

So, our fight against the third corrupted beast was a complete disaster.

Annika and I decided that because Russell was going nowhere fast, and we both had our totem cores running on empty, it would be pretty dumb to face something else today. No matter what Ash said.

We spent an uneasy night out in the forest away from the ruined village. It wasn't much better, but Annika had me watch over Russell as she went through the forest and picked up the supplies that she needed. I'll give...

Totem 22: The Trickster

"Wait, before we leave, I need to check something," I said, and then walked over to the roadrunner. It had been dead for forty-five minutes, tops. But it already stank as if it had been dead for days. I think it had something to do with the fact that it was a corrupted beast. Emphasis on corrupted.

Either way, I wasn't going to find out what roadrunner tasted like tonight. Pity.

"What is it?" Annika came to join me, but stopped a few paces away, one long sleeve coming up ...

Totem 21: My Mentor Is An Ass

MAOR TOTEM!!!!

(Give me about 20 minutes and all previous chapters of Totem should be in a collection, or you can click on the Totem tag for backreading.)

Ash stared at us, taking in the scene. He had taken his sweet time showing up — arriving just as we were about to get to harvesting the roadrunner.

I had to admit that we didn’t make all that impressive of a sight. Annika and I were both splattered from head to foot with mud...

B4 Ch15: Maniac Kludger

Brixaby dropped down right in front of the adventuring groups, startling a few people.

Lopez and his men had been leading the way, with the rest ranged far to the right and left on either side. Arthur got the impression that healthy competition had turned to active dislike among the different adventurers, and the solution was to stay far away from one another.

Once he recovered from the shock, Lopez must have read the look on Arthur’s face because his own expression went grim. �...

B4 Ch14: An Honest Conversation

Because Arthur could only access the Call of The Heart card through the link with his dragon, it required a different sort of effort. Something akin to the difference between Arthur simply walking from point A to point B, and trekking up a steep hill where he had to check every position of his foot for accuracy.

However, Arthur made it work. As he focused hard on his desire to find the scourgelings, a map bloomed up within his consciousness. But this was no ordinary map: It was created ...

B4 Ch13: The Adventurers

A few hours later, fully dressed in his own clothes and feeling completely whole again, Arthur approached the sheriff's office. It was easy to spot, being one of the newest, largest buildings in the city capped with a gleaming dome of glass panels.

After a quick scan at the door to determine that yes, he and Brixaby still didn't have extra cards that they shouldn't, they were allowed to see over-sheriff Walker.

She sat at a desk, and judging by the dark circl...

B4 Ch12: New Party Member?

Come morning, there was a knock at the door.

Arthur snorted awake, confused, because he didn’t remember falling asleep. Embarrassingly, he suspected he had slipped off while speaking to Brixaby. Hustling the displaced kids and annoyed Sheriffs out of his room had taken some time, and he’d been suffering backlash from the 20 Point Spree card.

Brixaby, who’d been sleeping by Arthur’s bed, popped his head up with narrowed eyes to the door. “Who dares disturb my rest?”

B4 Ch11: Revenge Served... Immediately

Arthur woke up.

Unlike when he had been put in Brixaby's Personal Space, he instinctively knew that time had passed and he had not been there for it. It helped that the window he’d first seen the sunset through was now curtained off and shut. A soft card anchor lit the room.

He heard his dragon snoring, loudly and enthusiastically, right beside the bed. From where he lay, Arthur saw the top of Brixaby's black spines rising and falling in time with his snores.

On...

B4 Ch10: The Trap Springs

Happy New Year!!!

"What's going on?" a voice asked from in the dark pit below. The arm retracted, and a face flashed into view. About Arthur's age, female, with accusing, suspicious eyes.

She asked, "What's happening?"

Arthur didn't answer. He levered himself up to the top to look out. There were several clouds of building dust in the medium distance, and from the middle of one, he saw a flash of a multicolored beak with a cruel curve at the end. ...

B4 Ch9 - It's A Trap

Note: I could not stop myself from using that title. :)

Arthur was torn. Time was of the essence, and he truly did not give one fig about the local rules about card harvesting... except that he knew exactly what would happen the moment he and Brixaby were out of sight. He had once been in these people's place.

A single card, even a Common one, could change the course of a life. Some of these people were showing signs of injury in the middle of ...

B4 Ch8: Scourgeling Skirmish

Note: Second chapter of the day! Hot off the press! Ignore the fact Arthur jumped like three levels of dragon riding skill in 1 chapter. The skill # two chapters ago was in error, not this one. :)

Brixaby suddenly dived, and for a terrible moment, Arthur felt his rear lift off the dragon's scaly neck.

"Brix!" he yelled, clutching desperately at the ridge in front of him and used the strength of his legs to pull himself back down.

Arthur couldn't q...

B4 Ch7 - A New Mission

Two chapters today! As some of you know, I work a day job still and the week leading up to Christmas is by far the busiest of the year. I'm going to aim for one more chapter this week, but it's not 100%. I'm a little dead on my feet.

Following the ghostly green arrow that hovered over the card anchor, Arthur and Brixaby headed to the east.

As they got closer to the wall, the arrow’s direction shifted to the north. Their target was moving.

Frowning, Arthur bent as low as he...

B4 Ch6: Deputized

Brixaby circled around the top of the tower a couple of times to give himself and Arthur a view of the people waiting for them. As he did, he fanned out his extra set of wings in what anybody who had been used to working with dragons would know was a display of aggression. Judging by the unimpressed look of the authorities and some curt gestures to come on down and land, this seemed to shoot right past them.

Brixaby turned his head to glance at Arthur. "Should I give them a stunning sho...

B4 Ch5: Flight Around The City

Note: This should have come out yesterday, but then I got a better idea for the second half of the chapter. It be like that sometimes. 

Once Arthur and Brixaby had finished with the card and returned it to Dannill, tension noticeably loosened among the guards.

Dannill turned to Arthur, all smiles on his sly face as he asked in Texan, “If you don’t mind me asking, where do you and your fine fellow here,” he glanced at Brixaby, “intend to room for the n...

B4 Ch4: Foundational Language Class

Arthur had to push every one of his skills in his stealth class –- especially Silent Movement an Evasion -- to the limit to make it up, undetected, to the top of the wall. Then there was the matter of avoiding the guards who were patrolling there.

It hadn’t been his first choice — and certainly not his best choice. But he’d been unaware that the exits out to the to forest shut at sundown.

He was stuck inside the city, unable to make it to the hill where he was to meet Brix...

B4 Ch3: Biggest City In The West

With only some lingering apprehension for Brixaby, Arthur headed into the city.

Just past the wall, he stepped into a busy, crowded, twisting street filled with a multitude of shops — all in different, often clashing colors. Most were strung with banners in eye-popping colors, as if every single one was trying to outshout the other for attention. In addition, some had buskers who would regularly yell at passersby. They in turn had to compete with street performers who used both native...

Book 4 Chapter 2: Mega Scourgeling

There were four scourgelings in total. 

Arthur started forward with the intent to help, but a heavy hand landed on his shoulder. 

Domingo pushed him back. "Don't bother," he said, almost boredly. "We have professionals to handle this." 

Arthur looked wildly around. "But those are scourgelings! There's an eruption—!"

 His eyes scanned the treetops, certain that he would see or hear Brixaby any moment. The dragon wouldn’t ignore something like thi...

All The Skills Book 4 Chapter 1: Faberge Man

Woo! Start of book 4! Hope you're as excited as I am. :)

(I had a good lol on some recent comments here and on discord about languages in this world... hope you guys enjoy this one.) 

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Arthur and Brixaby stood on a hill and looked out at the city ahead of them.

It was… hard to miss.

Entirely encircled by steep brick walls, the buildings inside were arranged by height. The ones at the city’s edge closest to the wall were the shortest. Each ...

ATS B3 Epilogue

And here's the epilogue! :D Thanks for reading through, guys. Book 4 starts on Wednesday!

Arthur and Brixaby arrived, a few moments later, well outside Mesa Free Hive. Right on top of the pebbles they had keyed to during the battle with the Mind Singer's dragons.

It was nighttime in this part of the world. Just after sunset.

Arthur turned to his dragon. “A human-wing body-enhancement card?”

“Even if we can now fly together, all proper beings should have wings of ...

B3 Ch65: Final Goodbye

Two chapters today!

Arthur was unsurprised to see a purple courier dragon with a golden sash waiting for him right on the other side.

Well, they hadn't come in quietly. Hive leadership would have been alerted by the portal and the missing dragons spilling out.

"What do you want?" Brixaby demanded to the purple.

The officious dragon puffed himself up. "Leader Whitaker demands to see you at once."

Brixaby snorted and shouldered past the purple, ins...

B3 Ch64: Messy Aftermath

The next few hours were a blur. Arthur did his best not to walk through them in an unthinking fog. Later, Brixaby insisted he had conducted himself as well as any Legendary rider should.

Arthur wasn't sure he agreed, but he appreciated the attempt to cheer him up.

Most of his attention was spent on rescue, organization of remaining resources, and the beginning of cleanup.

The scourgelings had followed the Mind Singer like bees after their queen. Because she wore a dragon's b...

B3 Ch63: Hive of Horrors (Part 3)

Quick reminder: I'm re-editing previous chapters and uploading them in ten chapter batches. Here's some easy links if you're doing a re-read.

Chapter 1

Chapter 10

(Links to the next chapters are at the bottom of each chapter) 2023-11-17 01:14:35 +0000 UTC View Post