When Tanisha and Fuyumi returned to the boys, they found them both still fast asleep. She considered attempting to open the next door, given how easily the previous one had yielded. However, she hesitated. The entrance to the ruin had been deceptively simple to unlock, yet it had led to an ambush. There was no telling what might await beyond the core room’s door. Deciding it was wiser to wait...
2024-12-19 22:16:57 +0000 UTC View Post
It took multiple tubs of water and several rounds of vigorous scrubbing to remove all the dried blood and grime caked onto Freja’s skin and her stained uniform. Helina and Embla worked together to get Freja back to a clean and not far less smelly state. She had spent the better part of a week in a mu...
2024-12-18 00:05:12 +0000 UTC View PostTanisha placed her hand back on the device, releasing a small tether of aether into the mechanism. As she guided the stream of energy, she focused on tracing its flow, following the path Signe had described. Almost immediately, she encountered a disruption in the flow. The best analogy she could muster was that it felt like a hole in the middle of a maze. Any energy poured into it was swallowed...
2024-12-17 17:00:11 +0000 UTC View Post
I’ve been running from the shadow of my name,
Fighting demons, but they all look the same.
I’ve been running, fighting my name,
Breaking mirrors, drowning in shame.
Swore I’d be better, leave it behind,
Can't tell if i'm better, my heart's harder to find.
The group followed the orange line which the text over the desk in the lobby said would take them to the Aetheric Processing Core Room. Tanisha was not sure what that meant but given that it was the only instructions...
2024-12-16 00:29:39 +0000 UTC View Post
The city loomed like a dark symphony of stone and shadow, its architecture a study in towering spires, intricate ironwork, and gargoyle-lined rooftops. Narrow streets twisted between buildings that seemed to lean inward as if conspiring against the sky. Muninn didn’t know why she thought the daytime ...
2024-12-15 21:29:47 +0000 UTC View Post
(They said I must bow. They said that I must serve. I told them I serve no one.)
Through shattered skies and broken thrones,
I carve my path with blood and stone.
King of Chains, defying the tide,
The breaker of bounds, the fury inside.
(King o...
2024-12-15 17:00:00 +0000 UTC View Post
The weight was heavy, the nights were long,
The road was broken, but you moved on.
Through every fall, you found your ground,
In silence, strength was slowly found.
Rise again, hold your ground,
Lost but now, you’re found.
Oooh, rise...
2024-12-14 17:00:00 +0000 UTC View Post
“Son!” A thousand voices spoke in unison.
Bjorn blinked and he was back inside the corroded dream realm he had spoken to his father and mother through. The world was little more than a blank void of rolling clouds. Bjorn looked in the distance and saw the thousands of baleful lights in the sk...
2024-12-08 21:05:53 +0000 UTC View Post
Muninn’s taunt hung in the air for only a moment before the Enforcer roared. He focused his mana into a chantless spell. Chains materialized from his mana and with just a flick of the wrist flew towards her with blinding speed. Ferrokinetic chain’s were made directly from his mana as a construct in...
2024-12-08 20:18:26 +0000 UTC View Post
At some point Freja had fallen asleep while Bjorn kept his eyes out for any potential danger. They were not in a safe location, druid or no. He still let her rest her eyes but knew they would have to keep going soon. They needed to get out of the forest and away from here as soon as possible. If there ...
2024-12-07 19:57:17 +0000 UTC View Post
The tension was palpable as the next opponent was dragged forward. This time, it was an electrokinetic druid, his tall, wiry frame crackling faintly with electricity even under the passive suppression of Ingrid's aura. His eyes gleamed with sharp intelligence, a dangerous contrast to the brawn of the l...
2024-12-05 23:07:49 +0000 UTC View Post
The lightning—or whatever it truly was—struck the earth only a few hundred feet in front of Bjorn and his group. It froze in place, an ethereal tree of light that stretched endlessly into the heavens, its branches a jagged network of blinding luminescence. The air around it rippled, warping like w...
2024-12-05 22:50:36 +0000 UTC View Post
The battlefield was quiet now, the screams and clashes of war replaced by an eerie stillness. Smoke curled lazily into the dawn sky, mingling with the lingering mist. A mana storm brought about by the expenditure of so much magic loomed overhead like an aurora crackling with wild chaotic mana. Ingrid s...
2024-12-03 22:59:08 +0000 UTC View Post
The path through the Chaos Lands was going at the fastest pace Tanisha could manage. They had been running for hours to the point that she had to take several stamina potions just to make sure she could keep up with the constant speed Fuyumi was pushing them to travel. Tanisha knew that as soon as she ...
2024-12-03 21:58:48 +0000 UTC View Post
There are many types of familiars, and many natural paths they can take as the bond evolves. First is the proto-bond. It is the most basic and where all relationships between master and familiar start. From there it can go one of two ways. They can become an alpha familiar which is a rare bond born th...
2024-12-03 02:16:34 +0000 UTC View Post
Bjorn and Aurelius strolled side by side, their footsteps crunching softly against the rocky terrain of the mountainside as they patrolled for anomalies. The night sky was surprisingly colorful thanks to the forming mana storm aurora. Aurelius, ever the conversationalist, filled the air with animated c...
2024-12-01 20:33:25 +0000 UTC View Post
After her conversation with Orin, Muninn returned to the bar. Johnny was waiting, his curiosity barely contained as he glanced at her with a knowing smile. She could see it in his eyes—he was itching for gossip. Instead of indulging him right away, she slid her empty cup toward him, a silent demand ...
2024-12-01 19:27:04 +0000 UTC View Post
Fuyumi waited patiently as Bjorn and Aurelius took their positions, standing guard nearby. Her demeanor was calm, yet commanding as she began preparing Tanisha for what lay ahead. The first thing she did was direct Tanisha to eat and drink, much more than she typically consumed in an entire day. Tanis...
2024-11-27 01:29:39 +0000 UTC View Post
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Explanation of the Interludes
Before we get started there are some things to know about the interlude chapters. These are not from the perspective of Tanisha/Freja or Bjorn but various other characters we may or may not have seen in t...
2024-11-26 00:46:34 +0000 UTC View Post
Tanisha's eyes fluttered open, heavy with exhaustion. The world around her blurred and shifted like a dream, but one detail was clear: she was cradled in Aurelius's arms. The steady rhythm of his stride and the faint warmth radiating from him felt oddly reassuring, even as her surroundings swam in and...
2024-11-24 20:55:57 +0000 UTC View Post
A man stumbled out of the inn, into the cold winter air his legs barely cooperating as he swayed and staggered into the street. His drunken stupor carried him directly into the path of an oncoming carriage. The driver shouted in alarm, but it was the horse that reacted first, its keen eyes catching th...
2024-11-24 19:33:54 +0000 UTC View Post
(Image: 1)
Werewolves and wifwolves are a distinct humanoid species known for their nomadic lifestyle, sharp instincts, and strong pack bonds. They are part of a broader group collectively referred to as the "Were," which includes other shapeshifters such as werebears, weretigers, and more. Whil...
2024-11-24 14:35:31 +0000 UTC View Post
Bjorn jumped awake, hissing and confused. He needed to protect Freja from the wolves, they had to get out of there now. Why was he asleep, what happened? He couldn’t stand up, something was on top of him. He squirmed for a moment seeing double and his vision didn’t seem to be getting any cle...
2024-11-24 02:29:15 +0000 UTC View Post
Freja woke with a start, her eyes burning and her head pounding with the relentless onset of a headache. She couldn’t recall when she’d drifted off, but she was still slumped against the door, the cold wood pressing against her back. A solitary light crystal perched on a cupboard cast its sharp, c...
2024-11-23 22:15:16 +0000 UTC View Post
Bjorn’s first thought was just to lead Freja south, away from the forest and its looming dangers. His instincts told him this was the safest route, but each time he tried to guide her in that direction, she stopped him, pulling gently but firmly on his tail to get his attention. They had been follow...
2024-11-23 03:07:56 +0000 UTC View PostBjorn followed as he was slowest in the group though he kept as close as he could behind Aurelius and Fuyumi. Failsafe kept trying to get his attention but he was too worried about Tanisha to listen. They ran until they came to one of the large monolithic rock formations in the volcanic area. The shadows under the formation were odd, almost like moving through a semi-liquid. The corrupted mana ...
2024-11-21 21:00:07 +0000 UTC View PostTanisha had been talking with Aurelius to find out more about his lightning fast attacks. Chaos magic was indeed rare, so much so that she only remembered her teachers at the academy mentioning it once. Of course since she was stuck in the remedial classes due to her inability to use magic effectively she never knew if there was more to the study. The prevailing theory among her instructors was...
2024-11-20 00:24:49 +0000 UTC View PostThe corrupted mana in the air invoked a very different sensation that made it difficult to move through. The ground was hot and oppressive which somehow mingled simultaneously in the air with the frigid cold. It was a nightmare of boiling and freezing at the same time in a way that would be impossible anywhere else. Yet for Bjorn, the oppressive atmosphere was familiar—hauntingly so. The furt...
2024-11-19 20:15:33 +0000 UTC View PostMuninn stood at the edge of the observation deck, her gaze fixed on the endless horizon of the world below. Once, she might have believed she was among the heavens, the sacred realm where stars sang their eternal hymns alongside the Trues, but she knew better now. This was no divine domain, no celestial sanctuary. She was adrift in a silent void, the whispers called it ‘space’. She was in a...
2024-11-17 21:23:23 +0000 UTC View Post