Magnus stepped forward and bit down on the struggling woman's neck. Mana slipped through his teeth, and he started sucking it in. She began to fight it, but the woman stilled as Áine slid her skill into place. Teddy eased up, and I tried to process two information streams simultaneously.
Áine loosened the grip and undid the parasite's hooks while Magnus sucked away its strength. T...
2024-01-12 19:19:01 +0000 UTC View Post
I shifted my balance and transferred the eye into my other arm. Holding it up, I addressed the titan. “What exactly will returning your eye do for you?”
Not that I don’t understand why he wants it back…
“Who wouldn’t want their eye returned to them? Especially when it was stolen so…” Rock-splitter rumbled.
The titan made me feel like an ant, a baby com...
2024-01-11 18:06:00 +0000 UTC View Post
(INSERT NEW ROYALROAD COVER FOR FHC B2 :D It's on RoyalRoad with the Font but here's base image)
I chased, I hunted, I found the prey.
Through the woods, across the stone, deep in its burrow.
A mountain, a man, a monster.
It sought dominion, but I am devourer; it couldn't run.
A deep thrum shook me awa...
2024-01-10 18:06:01 +0000 UTC View Post
“What about the nobles? Are we taking them along?”
Neyenna raised her head and stared at me with wide eyes.
In response, Devon temporarily set the eye down and moved to the four-poster bed, gripping the end. There was a tearing sound, and some dust fell from the ceiling as he casually lifted it up. As he started dragging the bed towards the door, I looked through the doorframe a...
2024-01-09 18:06:01 +0000 UTC View Post
Metal reverberated as a gauntleted fist smashed into one of Celanae's barriers. The guardsman behind it grew twice in size and charged like a mad bull. Instead of crashing into her barriers for a second time, she snapped, and the amethyst wall disappeared as the man rushed into the room.
I held out my spear, aiming for his legs, and willed it to bend. As he stepped forward, my spear wrapp...
2024-01-08 18:19:00 +0000 UTC View Post
Hanse's corpse collapsed to the floor, and Devon's fur returned to normal. He turned, and I looked up at the hulking werewolf. He raised his head and howled.
Slowly, Alice stepped out of the hallway and limped her way over. Her face had bandages applied to it, and my shoulders relaxed. Behind her was the woman from before, the one Alice rescued from the creeps.
She sank into the bac...
2024-01-08 18:06:01 +0000 UTC View PostThe following two days were ones of calm and boredom. It felt like the rain before a storm—drowsy, slow, and with no real idea of what was to come.
We only had to stop so I could use the bathroom, which was a bit of an issue when Sereza didn't understand why we were stopping.
It took some skirting around the questions, but she accepted it, and Teddy gathered us together. He pulled...
2024-01-05 19:19:10 +0000 UTC View Post
Chaos.
Everything was going downhill so fast.
"Freki, help Devon," I ordered.
Freki dived into the shadow realm, and I ran for the backroom. My heartbeat began to pick up, and another rumble shook the walls.
"Cain!" Alice yelled.
I turned just as a large piece of stone arced through the air. Grabbing my cloak and bracing for impact, a force ball smashed it aside an...
2024-01-04 18:07:00 +0000 UTC View Post
"And the chamber? You smelled that, right?"
Devon pulled a door off its hinges and stepped through the curtain covering the doorframe. "I did. We'll investigate after completing the hunt."
"What do you think is down there?"
"Something old. We'll find out after. Focus."
I pursed my lips and ripped the curtain off the nails it was bolted to. It ripped, and I tossed it to t...
2024-01-04 18:06:00 +0000 UTC View Post
I stopped behind Devon and crouched down to peer over his legs.
We didn’t travel far once we got above the mountain pass. There was a series of tunnels we took that Devon assured us contained the scent. Despite my constant sniffing, as if I was coming down with a cold, I smelled nothing.
Devon pointed to the top right corner. “There’s a rune etched into the stone. Use your sen...
2024-01-03 18:11:03 +0000 UTC View Post
"Alice!" I hissed.
She stopped moving and turned to look. I pointed to the door and shook my head as Freki reemerged.
"Trapped?"
"Yeah. Same rune as the one from the entrance, but it's only affecting the door."
Alice backed up a few steps and crouched low. "Any way to get around it?"
I ordered Freki to dive again and forced myself into the void. Once my vision spli...
2024-01-03 18:07:00 +0000 UTC View Post
Jezzra returned, thundering in on his horse with a grim expression.
Captain Volk was missing.
I had Freki start searching independently, the giant wolf disappearing into the shadow realms to look for secret entrances. So far, he had found nothing, even as I kept half my attention split between his vision and mine.
There was a heated argument between Merrick and Jezzra, but I d...
2024-01-02 18:15:00 +0000 UTC View Post
I felt something pulse from underneath the kidnapper's shirt. I turned and stared at the man trapped in my hand and then looked down. He smiled a blood-stained smile, missing gaps in his teeth and leaking blood onto my skin.
"Too late," he laughed.
The sense of danger drastically rose, and I tossed the guy aside. I began to run, but Freki tackled my legs, sending me sprawli...
2024-01-02 18:06:01 +0000 UTC View Post
(Accidentally uploaded fhc for tgw. Fixed, Sorry!)
"You need me to leave?" I asked.
He nodded. "Yes, I do."
"Okaay. Where?"
"Helio."
"Helio? That one city?"
"Exactly," Cal said as he stroked Sturmrorex's scales. "I need my Scion to visit the... local populace."
I narrowed my eyes. "Okay. Should I be concerned?"
He said nothing and continu...
2024-01-01 18:19:01 +0000 UTC View Post
Another hole forced the front-left wheel to dip. I gripped the side and watched a box slide towards the front, where Alice kicked it away. The wheel climbed out of the hole, and I braced as the back end sank a second later.
"Yadalee, is there no avoiding this?" I hollered.
"No! The right side is worse. Incoming!" Yadalee shouted back.
The wagon shifted left, and the wheels hit...
2024-01-01 18:06:01 +0000 UTC View Post
Carrying the boar back to camp was solved by lifting it and placing it on Freki's back. Freki looked somewhat unhappy about being used as a beast of burden for the corpse, but I fed him some extra mana as recompense.
When we got back, I had Freki stop and rejoin my shadow.
No use scaring the guards.
We carried the boar the rest of the way and plopped the dead beast on...
2023-12-31 01:01:14 +0000 UTC View Post
"You! Wha-what?" Isaac's father started.
In a rush, she boweled him aside, and Nathan stepped over his face, dragging his water robe across his head.
A loud sputtering could be heard echoing across the walls, and the crowd stared with slack jaws.
Rudehn blinked a few times but stayed in place while the two nobles from the other houses stepped away. I didn't blame them. Anastas...
2023-12-29 19:19:00 +0000 UTC View Post
"Apologies, sir Grimm. The next trek will be through a mountain pass. It's a tight fit and very long, so we'll want to stock up on supplies while we can," the captain explained. He pointed towards the large mountain wall about a mile out. "It's about three days along the pass, and then we'll be free. I'll have my men collect fresh water from the river, and we'll have to rearrange supplies. Don'...
2023-12-29 18:06:01 +0000 UTC View Post
After bathing in the river, I helped hitch the horses back onto their reins and hopped in. The wagon in front of us set off, and we followed.
Leaning back into the crate I chose as my spot for the last few days, I shifted so my cloak would bunch up behind me.
"Screw magic weapons. I demand a portable sleeping bag, enchanted to be no bigger than a grain of rice when not in use," I co...
2023-12-28 18:06:00 +0000 UTC View Post
With a crowd seeking entertainment, I felt silly circling Alice. Her eyes called for blood even if her body remained completely at ease.
I breathed in and then out, expelling unnecessary thoughts out of my mind.
Here we go.
I rushed forward; the explosive start worked best. She angled her axe; I tried to bend lower, leaning with my weapon arm first. Another swing; she...
2023-12-27 18:06:01 +0000 UTC View Post
The wagon hit a nasty hole that jarred the cabin's interior. A small box fell on my head, and I nearly crushed the thing before I calmed down.
"I hate this!" I yelled to no one.
Devon looked up from beneath his hood. Crimson eyes glared into mine and I shrunk back.
"Sorry."
He lowered his head and returned to napping.
Do you even need to sleep? 2023-12-26 18:06:00 +0000 UTC View Post
I stood inside the crowded main hall with Broken Tower and watched as another individual subtly bounced off Celanae's barrier.
Teddy's parents were still nowhere to be found, but we managed to meet before the staff announced that everyone should gather.
The ceiling was an endless expanse of fluffy white clouds and beautiful rays of sunlight. It reminded me of Uzu's inn. The enchantm...
2023-12-25 18:19:00 +0000 UTC View Post
Shadows consume. Shadows writhe. Shadows rage!
New hunt. Chase the prey. Ignore the pups.
Red. Red. RED!
Blood across my teeth, flesh on my tongue!
I sat up and shook my head free of the snippets of dream sequence still fresh in my mind. My mouth tingled until I swallowed and licked my teeth.
After many failed starts that ended w...
2023-12-25 18:06:01 +0000 UTC View Post
The guy looked like a tank, a wall of meat sporting rich ochre skin and thick bull-like horns. He had cropped hair, short and spiky, while his eyes glowed a dark yellow muddled with brown. Surprisingly enough, he had no tail.
He crossed his arms and stared. A woman, who looked similar but with lighter shades of amber and pointy, dagger-like horns and an equally sharp tail, tapped the armr...
2023-12-22 19:19:00 +0000 UTC View Post
It took another hour, or what felt like an hour, just to stabilize the dot of light inside the void. Concentrating, I began moving the image, removing the static around it and letting the light push back the darkness.
Astra said to picture it like a bright gem glowing in the sea of night. Unlike the night sky filled with endless stars, there was only one, and one that needed to c...
2023-12-21 18:06:01 +0000 UTC View Post
Alice was surprisingly at ease with the girl, adeptly handling questions as they came, while Devon occasionally answered whatever inquiry the father managed to slip in between his daughter's barrage of words.
They started easy, asking us about cool powers and awesome magic. Surprisingly, it was the father who asked the more outlandish questions. The craziest one so far was whether our wer...
2023-12-20 18:06:01 +0000 UTC View Post
I stared at the mirror and tried to smile. The result was pathetic.
Yeah, not working.
Thankfully, I didn't have to smile if I didn't want to. I slipped on my mask, and it magically locked in place. The usual pattern of three shifting eyes and a fanged grin appeared.
The ink shifted colors from oily black to brilliant gold to match the crimson hoodie and pant...
2023-12-18 18:19:00 +0000 UTC View Post
(Welp accidentally posted chapter 4 early so I guess no post tomorrow. Woopsy, enjoy the double post today.)
As we exited the tree line, we approached a leather-clad man with a long spear, who was on the lookout not more than a couple of yards away. We got close enough that Devon tapped his shoulder.
The guard jumped but surprisingly did not scream. He wh...
2023-12-18 18:06:00 +0000 UTC View Post
I pushed past a bush and had to bend the branches out of the way just to make it through. Not for the first time, I wondered why our guide wanted to lead us through some of the worst terrain imaginable.
Long briar thickets, super dense flora, and at one point, we had to skip over stones through what was basically a mud pit.
Yet, Devon said nothing, and we continued. After exiting th...
2023-12-18 18:06:00 +0000 UTC View Post
I moved to the side and ignored the commotion coming from the next building over. The noise irritated me enough that I almost put on my mask just so I could openly snarl.
Sleep had fled my body the night before, and insomnia ensured it stayed away.
Now, I marched my way to the clothing shop in the early morning light. It might have been peaceful and even relaxing, but the m...
2023-12-15 19:19:00 +0000 UTC View Post