Joe’s kick didn’t smash the door in. Turned out it was a pull door.
He repeated his threat with the same level of gusto, then jerked the door open and ran in.
Clay and Alex followed quick on his heels, neither one wanting to let him and Bertha out of range of a Health Potion.
Instead of the hotel penthouse Clay was expecting, the top floor of the Marriott looked like a cro...
2022-08-01 22:00:07 +0000 UTC View PostThe next three weeks blazed by in a blur of long days, sleepless nights, and early mornings spent training under the unwavering gaze of Rockheart and Suresh the Magnificent. Logan and the Terrible Twelfth drilled and studied, cultivated for hours at a time, while also learning everything they could about each of the six different worlds. The entire process was like drinking from a firehose. A f...
2022-08-01 17:01:02 +0000 UTC View Post“This is a terrible idea,” Kerra said. “I thought we were finally making some real progress.” Her lips pressed into a tight line, arms folded across her chest, as she watched me scoop up another handful of liquified whale fat. “Clearly, I was mistaken…”
My breath formed a small cloud in front of me as I slathered the rancid sludge onto my chest and arms. It smelled like a co...
2022-07-30 17:00:06 +0000 UTC View PostOnce they had dispatched the dog-skull women—which Griff called banshee handmaidens—they spent a few seconds discussing the benefits versus the risks of taking the elevator. In the end, they decided to roll the dice. The banshee’s had used the car, after all, so it was serviceable and the idea of skipping floors was extremely appealing—especially since they had a lot of ground to cover ...
2022-07-29 22:00:04 +0000 UTC View PostThe next week passed in a series of long days spent either in the saddle or on the ground, hunting down increasingly deadlier Mortka, in increasingly bizarre scenarios.
Our second mission, which took place inside an abandoned chapel just outside the township of Bellwind, was relatively straightforward. A Profane Dread Shadow had taken up residency in the formally sanctified building and h...
2022-07-29 17:01:03 +0000 UTC View PostI quickly composed my thoughts as I stared at the Eldritch garden flower. That unholy, arboreal abomination was the real culprit here. Those ethereal purple lines, pulsing beneath the surface of the ground were like magical marionette strings, and the flower was clearly the puppet master. Much as I hated to admit it, Renholm and Marina were right. The only way we were going to end this was to b...
2022-07-28 17:00:05 +0000 UTC View PostThe old-timer was waiting for them outside camp the next morning, leaning against the wall with one dusty boot propped against the metal.
“Well, what’d you young pups decide? Want to party up with an old dog today?”
Clay opened his mouth to speak for the group, but unfortunately Joe was faster on the draw and for some unfathomable reason in the mood to stir the pot.
“N...
2022-07-27 22:00:03 +0000 UTC View PostTwilight had settled over the forest and the looming trees cast long, crooked shadows by the time we got to the grove. One glance and I knew we were in the right place. The forest we’d come through consisted mostly of coniferous trees like pines, firs, and spruces with the occasional spattering of maples and cottonwoods thrown into the mix. Not the grove. We found ourselves staring down into ...
2022-07-27 17:00:07 +0000 UTC View PostThe morning passed by in a haze. It was a beautiful day for riding, the skies clear, the sun beating down from above, warming the air and the ground, which made it easier for the horses. Kerra seemed to be in a sour mood—probably because her pet murder horse hadn’t mauled me—but the rest of the kids were buzzing with barely restrained excitement. This was their first proper bounty as bran...
2022-07-27 00:57:22 +0000 UTC View PostEvening was falling when they made it back inside Camp Liberty’s walls. While Joe and Alex headed off to get cleaned up and stow their gear, Clay made his way to the General Store to restock their Healing Potions and take care of one last piece of business.
McPike was getting ready to close up, but when Clay told him what he wanted, the promise of the gold outweighed his hurry to call i...
2022-07-25 22:00:03 +0000 UTC View PostMost of the school seemed to be packed into the Golden Serpent Hall, which doubled as both the place for assemblies and the main dining area. Tet sat with them at their usual spot near the back of the great room. Up near the front, on the dais, Shadowcroft was conferring in hushed whispered with Suresh the Magnificent and several other professors.
Everyone was shivering with excitement. 2022-07-25 17:01:02 +0000 UTC View Post
Clay backpedaled away from the oncoming Incant, raising the M4. He doubted something as mundane as a bullet would put a guy that powerful down, but he wasn’t going to let Lynes take them out without a fight.
The Incant’s massive mech suit stuttered, then tripped. Lynes went down in a crash of metal and swearing.
“Got his legs!” Alex popped up behind the floundering mech suit...
2022-07-22 22:00:03 +0000 UTC View PostAs the crane lurched into motion once more, Clay took off at a sprint, grabbing Alex by the arm then shoving his brother down an adjacent row. Metal screamed and treads rumbled. Scrap heaps toppled as the crane bashed and smashed its way through the junkyard in hot pursuit.
“Look out!” Alex grabbed Clay’s cuirass and jerked him to a sudden halt, saving him in almost precisely the sa...
2022-07-21 22:00:04 +0000 UTC View PostThey woke up early the next morning, gearing up and heading out into the dark, silent camp. Coals from last night’s cookfires smoldered. Someone in the tent city snored. The wind whistled in off the desert, cool and hollow-sounding.
The sun wouldn’t come up for another half-hour, which meant the Wilfords were still tucked safely away in their bedrolls. Clay and the others liked the kn...
2022-07-20 22:00:03 +0000 UTC View PostThe next day was Sunday. Their day off, if there was such a thing out in the IZ. Joe slept through the morning—still passed out from the heavy night of drinking before—while Clay and Alex attended a short service over at the local Camp Liberty Chapel. The place was presided over by a sparkplug of a Lutheran minister, who had more scars on his face than actual face. Only a handful of congreg...
2022-07-19 22:00:03 +0000 UTC View PostThe Jaegers spent the next six weeks grinding out kills day in and day out, just like clockwork. Sometimes they went with the Wildford brothers. Twice other freelancers partied up with them, and they cleared the first couple levels of small dungeons—the Home Depot one day and what used to be a Taco Bell another. But mostly, they headed out, just the three of them. One thing that Clay quickly ...
2022-07-18 22:00:03 +0000 UTC View PostNOTE FROM JAMES: Because I totally forgot to post a Shadowcroft chapter last week, I figured I'd make up for it by posting a double! Enjoy!
...
2022-07-18 17:16:00 +0000 UTC View PostHiro “Hardclaw” Shirazi had made some pretty bad decisions in his life—there was that one time he used the Wand of Lightning in the Putrid Portcullis dungeon that fried most of the party and melted a pretty cool magical candelabra. Losing out on the loot was tragic. Losing the party? Meh.
But Hardclaw had also made some good decisions. He’d walked away from a dungeon called the Tr...
2022-07-18 17:01:02 +0000 UTC View PostThen something rebounded off the back of Mohawk’s head, knocking the spikey helmet askew.
Joe reared back his chainsaw for another shot. The chain wasn’t whirling, but it was still big and damned heavy. Bertha slammed into Mohawk’s spine, this time throwing oily blood in an arc. The goblin’s eyes glazed. Its clawing weakened.
Clay wrenched his arm free of the dazed creature...
2022-07-16 22:00:03 +0000 UTC View Post“What the hell were you thinking, Joe?” Alex asked as they shook out their tent to unroll it.
Joe kicked back against the wall. “I only answer to Lumberjack Joe now.”
He wasn’t slurring at all, which was actually kind of impressive considering how much booze he’d put away. Drinking had always been one of Joe’s talents, though, like filling the yard of anywhere he lived...
2022-07-15 22:00:05 +0000 UTC View PostInside the saloon, most of the walls had been torn out, leaving one big open room studded with mismatched tables and chairs. A particle board bar top had been installed at the edge of the rotting linoleum of the kitchen floor. Behind it, the counters and cabinets had been left in, though the doors had been ripped off to better display the liquor, beer, and soda selection. Both bathrooms had bee...
2022-07-14 22:00:03 +0000 UTC View PostThe day dawned bright and cold as I made my way to the stable. The sky was crystal clear with brilliant streaks of pink and purple reaching up from the horizon like probing fingers. A thin layer of frost lay over the cobblestones, but that would burn off by the time the sun fully climbed its happy ass out of bed and got to work. I gave a brief wave to Niels, who was already on the other side of...
2022-07-14 17:01:02 +0000 UTC View Post
Alright folks, got the art with the title treatment in. Really think it turned out great. Super epic, great pose. Definitely captures the spirit of the Vigil Bound. What do you guys think?
2022-07-13 17:00:07 +0000 UTC View PostNOTE FROM JAMES: Hey everyone, just wanted to let y'all know that I'll be posting chapters from a new novella series called Wasteland Warlords. It's post-apocalyptic Gamelit with a fun cast of wonky characters. I'll be posting a chapter a day for a while, but no worries, it won't interfere with my other current projects, Vigil's Valor and Shadowcroft 3. These chapters are just ...
2022-07-13 14:02:10 +0000 UTC View PostAccording to Kerra, we were going to be gone for a week or maybe a little longer, depending on how smoothly things went with the various bounties she’d selected. Even after our chat, I still had some mixed feelings about leaving. Thanks to my time down in the Sprawl, I was surer than ever that there was some serious tomfuckery afoot.
Whatever was happening in Wildespell was more than ju...
2022-07-12 17:01:03 +0000 UTC View Post21 – Heart to Heart
It was well past midnight by the time I finally made it out of the Sprawl and back to the Citadel. The guards waved me through with minimal questioning the second I dropped the glamor concealing my identity. The safety protocols were meant to keep others out, but being a Vigil was a rubber stamp that moved things right along. Knowing that I needed to...
2022-07-09 17:01:01 +0000 UTC View Post“Should’ve known as much,” Bramin said, pushing himself up from the dust and standing on wobbly feet. “No normal human could’ve taken a punch like that, and there’s not a man alive who could lay me out.” He reached up and swiped a hairy hand across his bloody lip. “Why didn’t you just say you were a Vigil, then? Would’ve saved us a whole mess of trouble, eh?”
“Stan...
2022-07-08 21:07:27 +0000 UTC View PostThe interior of the Drunken Crow was bare, dusty, and poorly lit. In short, it was the perfect disguise.
The basement, on the other hand, couldn’t have been more different. I wandered through a massive bar that buzzed with laughter and manic energy. Alcohol flowed like flood waters and clouds of pungent blue-gray smoke hung thick in the air. Dangerous-looking men and women crowded aroun...
2022-07-08 20:38:54 +0000 UTC View PostLogan lingered in front of the Raven Hauntblood School of Specialty Classes at Nightfall University. The school was a glossy black fortress of towers, bridges, fountains, and buildings all carved into the side of a seemingly infinite rock cavern known as the Onyx Ravine. Nightfall was so named because the school was buried deep within the ground and the sunlight never touched here. Instead, the...
2022-07-04 17:01:01 +0000 UTC View PostHey everyone! So this is my very first attempt at audio narration. I have my recording space set up and I'm learning how to use Reaper to record and fix my audio. This isn't the final version--there's a good chance I won't even narrate this particular novella (which no one has seen yet, FYI)--but I figured it was perfect to practice on.
Please give me some honest feedback and let me...
2022-07-02 20:26:29 +0000 UTC View Post