Honour Rae

B3 Ch53: Dragon Farming

For once, Joy did not live up to her name. When she landed, she was nearly vibrating with rage. Cressida, sitting on her back, had an equally stormy expression.

“What happened —“

But before Arthur could finish, Joy exploded. “Every single egg has been taken by those… Those mean nasty monsters! I hate them! Who takes eggs? They’re so mean, and evil, and… and no one was able to stop them!”

“Many of the nesting mothers are gone, too,” Cressida said, voice ti...

B3 Ch52: Deprogrammed

"Brix! What—"

Arthur was cut off as the newly released brown dragon roared in rage and took a swipe towards Brixaby. He had, Arthur noted, extremely long claws.

Also, it said something for how singularly angry the brown was that he didn't even hesitate after instantly—from his point of view—going from night to day, and facing a dragon roughly the size of a cat to one the size of a small horse.

"My card... give me my rider's card..." the brown growled, yet managed it in...

B3 Ch51: Mysteries

"Something isn't right about this," Arthur muttered to Brixaby.

The little dragon sank fast, without any of the grace that the older dragons with larger wings possessed. Brixaby didn't glide; he simply buzzed downward, leveling off only when he felt like it – but not before jinking right and left to avoid other dragons passing by.

"What's wrong? We won and sent them back with their tails between their legs." Brixaby blithely ignored the fact that there were several fi...

B3 Ch50: Battle For Free Hive (3)

"Why fly out that way?" Brixaby asked. He pointed his muzzle downward, toward the still spiraling, bleeding green dragon—the one who had been holding the portal open. It was nearly at the ground now. "When all we need to transport everybody over there is right in front of us."

He sounded eager to steal a brand-new spell. A portal type, at that.

Only the lessons on dignity he had been forced to take at Wolf Moon Hive kept Arthur from slapping his own forehead. "No need. I already...

B3 Ch49: A New Brixaby

Arthur twisted to get a better look at his dragon.

"Brix! You're--"

"Magnificent?" Smugness practically dripped off the end of his very pointed muzzle. "Impressive? Gargantuan?"

"You're awake," Arthur said and grinned at his dragon's offended look.

But, as a matter of fact, Brix did look very impressive. Not only had he grown in size and pure mass -- but he was also now the size of a decent cart donkey, which could handle the weight of a man without armor on -- his fea...

B3 Ch48: Battle For Free Hive (2)

In the moment of clarity between when Arthur left Laird's back and right before he struck the Silver's, he experienced a moment of harsh clarity: Am I insane?

Then in the next moment, he struck with a force that knocked his air from his lungs. He didn't have time to recover from that before he started to slide down the buttery soft chain mail armor. It was well made, buttery soft, and without any easy seams or gaps for him to grip onto.

Arthur focuse...

B3 Ch47: Battle For Free Hive (1)

As Laird climbed into the air, he opened his mouth and roared.

Arthur half expected a whirlwind of candle-top flames to come out and wreck destruction.

But this wasn't a spell. It was a command.

Three dozen dragons all scattered around the top of the mesa suddenly came out of camouflage. There had been zero indication there had been there at all.

Arthur had been proud of his Stealth skills, but those paled when magic was involved.

With roars of their own, the dra...

B3 Ch46: Outvoted

Note: Real quick, I was recently featured on the CritRPG podcast. (Yes that's two podcasts back to back. I've been busy. lol) If you want to hear me talk about writing and other BS, check it out here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4u_viPRoGns

Arthur’s emotions were in a whirlwind. Confusion over how the Mind Singer could possibly think that she had killed Brixab...

B3 Ch45: Brix Ate Too Much

Second chapter for today! If you started with this one, go back one. :)

Arthur jolted awake at the sound of shrill alarms.

He experienced a second shock when he realized he was laying sideways, but his body was on the bare sliver edge of the mattress. A hard bulk pressed into his back.

Joy found a way to climb onto the bed after all, he thought irritably.

Arthur shoved his arm back. His elbow hit hard, unyielding scale.

“What’s tha...

B3 Ch44: Consume (The Card)

Brixaby waited for a beat. "Just kidding, of course. I'm going to consume the card!"

"Hold on there," Arthur said, slightly alarmed. "Let's wait until we get back to our room. We don't know what will be waiting for us." Or how Brixaby would react after consuming a Legendary, but he kept that anxiety to himself for now.

He looked around at the dark, still landscape. It was so quiet and peaceful that it was easy to let himself believe they had gotten away with their theft. But that ...

B3 Ch43: Second Core

Laird looked around at the three enemy dragons, and one ally, their bodies littering the peninsula. He heaved a sigh.

“I will take care of this.”

The last of the adrenaline that had carried Arthur this far was fading, and he wanted nothing more than to find a bed and sleep. Pure will and a healthy dose of his Exhaustion Resistance helped him continue to stand.

Cressida, meanwhile, was visibly wilting with one hand on Joy to keep standing up. Brixaby still perc...

B3 Ch42: A Sword Cuts Both Ways

The only one of their enemies left alive was the brown dragon.

"Give me the card," he sang, pushing through a new storm of purple-topped candle flames to lunge at the dead blue dragon. The flames sizzled on his scales, but he didn’t react at all. His focus was absolute, his yellow eyes open and manic.

"Stop him!" Arthur yelled.

Joy spun around to face him, teeth and claws bared.

Brixaby got there first. He swooped over to the brown's chest. The brown was so focused o...

B3 Ch41: A Legendary Force

The scarlet dragon opened her mouth and unleashed a Legendary force.

What blasted from between her jaws was more of a force than a sound. It seemed to vibrate the air around them. Yet notes hung in the air like snippets of a forgotten song. It was beautiful. But mostly, it was terrible.

Cressida’s bubble shield snapped up.

Rocks the size of Arthur’s head were thrown in all directions by the force of the blast. Most bounced off the shield. Those that hit dead on and staye...

B3 Ch40: The Sentinels

Note: Woof, this chapter was a beast to write. Literally four drafts until I was happy with it. Anyway, I'm calling it good. Expect the next chapter in about a half hour. 

Arthur’s first worry was that these were dragon from the Free Hive’s council. Maybe the had some sort of enforcement group that didn’t include Laird.

Except… there weren’t any insignia visible. Some of the crafter dragons wore elaborate collars to show off their skills ...

B3 Ch39 : Dungeon End

Several things occurred to Arthur at the same time. The first of which was that he was now convinced he had seen Laird pluck the card out of his own Personal Space. This was not a combat card, and there was no way Brixaby would have missed it while perusing the shelves. This also meant that while Arthur had been discussing cards with Cressida and Joy, Laird could have easily been plucking ideal cards for his own dragons from the shelf and shoving them into his Personal Space.

Arthur and...

B3 Ch38: Water Cranes

Note: So sorry I didn't get that weekend chapter out! I waaaay underestimated how much moving mid-summer would take out of me. My brain was mush. But I've come to you with what I hope is a juicy chapter. 

****

Arthur let himself feel a little gratification when Laird popped out of his Personal Space with teeth bared and a lick of purple flame dancing at the end of each of his claws.

Despite his reassurances to Arthur, he too had been looking for a fight...

B3 Ch37: Two of a Kind

Quick note to expect a weekend chapter. It's moving day tomorrow! Woo!

***

Arthur walked into the door made of light.

Despite Laird’s assurances that the dungeon’s trials were over, he still braced himself with a light thought on his Phase In, Phase Out card. He half expected to come face to face with a never-ending horde of scourgelings, their pincers clacking.

He had a feeling these particular shaped scourgelings would be showing up in his nightmares.

But t...

B3 Ch36: An Understanding

Shadow immediately lunged for Joy.

Standing on top of an open hill and not near any large shadows was surely what had kept him from teleporting and then attacking. Still, he was a fully grown dragon and she had only recently become large enough to fly with her rider in the air. It wasn’t a fair match-up.

Out of all of them, her venomous claws presented the most immediate offensive threat. That had to be why Shadow wanted to take her out first.

All of this flashed in and ou...

B3 Ch35: The Final Waves

Note: Okay it's one chapter, but it's a long one!

Arthur blinked at the two dragons. Their arrival had been so unexpected that, for a moment, he thought that they might be some sort of hallucination. Borne out of either exhaustion or hope for rescue.

He immediately rejected that last thought. He didn't want a rescue. He wanted to see this through.

Of course, Brixaby saw things in a completely different manner. "How dare you intrude on our...

Chapter(s) Tomorrow!

Quick update: Having a moment where the characters don't want to do what the outline says they need to do. Thus, the delay. I'm working hard on resolving the issue and do expect a chapter (possibly two?) tomorrow. 

Sorry for the wait!

B3 Ch34: Brixaby's Enchantments

"Quickly!" Brixaby handed out the bars of metal. They were about the length of Arthur's forearm and roughly an inch thick. Taking his, Arthur spared a moment to wonder what other kinds of crafting materials Brixaby had hidden in his Personal Space.

That thought was wiped away as his fingers brushed over the metal bar. It was warm, almost uncomfortably so. As if it were heated from within.

Joy waved hers around like a sword, though in her large hand, it looked more like a baton. "I...

B3 Ch33: Enter The Dungeon 4

The first thing Arthur did once he got into his Personal space was to take a big bite out of one of his purple apples. He knew that this was going to be a strain. Mental fatigue was already threatening to creep up on him from his last study session... what? Two hours ago in real time? Less? He wasn't sure, and that was a little alarming, too.

Fighting for his life, against waves of scourgelings, wasn't exactly relaxing, either.

He didn't have a choice. This was their one, best sho...