Chapter 67B
Interlude - Decisions
Wendy rode the platform to the top of the tower, twitching and pulling at her clothes. She was still feeling exposed without her armor on. She wiped at her eyes as she arrived at the top, already hearing her Dad’s snores.
She smiled.
“Hey!” Her Mum waved her over, even changing forms to give her a big hug. It made Wendy want to melt, but she couldn’t quite let herself. Her first few days with her Mum had been pretty rough, ...
2023-09-15 09:04:55 +0000 UTC
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Chapter 67
Other Problems
Slothy whined as more of the strange shell creatures emerged from the mists. She was tired, and it wasn’t fun anymore.
A dozen of the things lay in a path behind her, but they just kept coming. It was as if they didn’t understand that she was a princess!
The clicking intensified as the creatures drew even closer.
“Fuck off, ya bastards!” Gavin yelled from her back.
Slothy swiped another one out of the air, crushing it b...
2023-09-15 08:59:32 +0000 UTC
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The cover for Vol 3 of the Waystation is finally up!
2023-09-13 10:14:40 +0000 UTC
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Chapter 66
Round Up
Wendy watched her skeletal claws pass harmlessly through the giggling nightmare yet again. She snarled, kicking and slicing at the air, meeting nothing but more mist.
“I’ll kill you!” Wendy snarled, leaping at the misty form again.
“How when you can’t even hurt me?” The girl giggled.
“I’ll find a way, trust me!” Wendy backed away, eyes flicking around.
“No, you won’t!” The lilting voice set Wendy’s nerves on...
2023-09-13 10:12:44 +0000 UTC
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Chapter 65
Ambushed in the Mists!
Lord Troy drew a long, shining sword from the jeweled sheath at his waist, summoning a gleaming shield with a stylish flick of his wrist.
He nodded to Bert as he kicked off from the wall, coming to rest on the ground below the Waystation.
“Come then, swine!” He called, his voice rich and deep. “Come and answer for your crimes!”
“My crimes!” Bert hopped off the wall, dropping to the ground and rolling up as his pro...
2023-09-13 10:11:15 +0000 UTC
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Chapter 64
The Valley of the Mists
“I don’t like it,” Bert shook his head. “We should go around.”
“Ugh!” Bell grunted. “Why?”
“The last time I went into the mists….” He trailed off. “Well, you know.”
“You met some red-haired psycho so hot for you that she ripped your head off?” Bell asked with a smirk. “You really think there are armies of all-powerful immortals so desperate for your affections they hide in the mists?”
<...
2023-09-08 06:44:49 +0000 UTC
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Chapter 63
Setting Up and Setting Out II
“Bud!” Bert called. “I thought you were dealing with this?”
“I am trying!” Bud called back as he tried to pull the dwarf free from Slothy’s grasp. “Every time I get him out, she just goes and gets him again.” Bud gave an exasperated sigh.
“Slothy?” Bert called, and she looked over at him defiantly. “Will you let the dwarf go, please?”
A series of images were relayed to him through their bond. ...
2023-09-06 07:58:30 +0000 UTC
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Chapter 62
Setting Up and Setting Out I
Bert looked down at the small, broken body of the half-pixie. Her name was Rose, and she was a thief class, according to her sister.
He was about to invite a corpse to join his Court.
He shrugged.
Technically, he already had two corpses in his court if you counted Tim and Bud. So, one more shouldn’t make a difference in the long run. Something told him a couple of half-pixies would be a little challenging in a way tha...
2023-09-06 07:57:20 +0000 UTC
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Chapter 61
Trials and Tribulations III
“We better get back for that town meeting,” Bert said grimly. “We need to finish this.”
“One sec,” Bell said and tapped on one of the speakers on the dash, “Wendy?”
“Yes, Mum?” Wendy called.
“We need Bud and the Patrol to come over and cover the other exits from the village,” Bell said.
“Okay, but can it be Scruff and the Patrol? Bud is… dealing with something.”
Bert and Bell exc...
2023-09-01 05:50:27 +0000 UTC
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Chapter 60B
Slothy’s Challenging Nap
Slothy ambled across the plains, sniffing the air for exciting scents. She had seen a small copse of trees nearby and could smell water. She was planning on having a quick swim before she took her nap.
Way Way always ensured she was clean, and her humans gave her regular brushings. But nothing beats a swim.
The sun had warmed her coat nicely by the time she entered the shady area beneath the trees.
A funny-shaped stone w...
2023-09-01 05:48:51 +0000 UTC
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Chapter 60
Trials and Tribulations II
“You're not going to like this,” Bell warned as they sat outside the Express. The fold-out camp setup had been deployed, and Bert was frying up some Bison Steaks for their dinner over the small campfire.
“I’m sure I won’t,” Bert agreed. “That meeting was fucking insane.”
“I might be wrong, but I think it’s Fae,” Bell sighed, “There are signs.”
“The Fae?” Bert asked,
“Yeah, the bird wa...
2023-08-30 08:23:01 +0000 UTC
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Chapter 59
Trials and Tribulations I
The journey to the borders of the former Three Houses lands was quiet and untroubled. The plains stretched away in all directions, with the occasional sign of a farm or small village in the distance.
Without the civil war raging, the area seemed almost idyllic, at least whenever neither of the pixies decided to make it rain blood.
The Express’ airhorn blasted as the stampeding animals swerved to avoid the giant machine. They r...
2023-08-30 08:21:39 +0000 UTC
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Chapter 58
Beer, Blood, and Body Parts III
“Mary, what can I do for you?” Bert asked as he washed his hands. It had been nonstop since they first arrived on the battlefield. The cavalry charge had come after hours of fighting, and the armies had barely a half dozen healers between them.
“Thank you for seeing me, Lord Caretaker,” Mary bowed deeply. She had come alone rather than with the escort that the leaders of the various armies had when they came alone.
2023-08-25 06:05:57 +0000 UTC
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Chapter 57
Beer, Blood, and Body Parts II
Arriving at a battle already underway was a completely different experience from anything they had done before.
Libby had warned him it would be bad, but she had failed to capture the true horror of it. The elevated viewing position left nothing to the imagination.
They had seen the smoke in the distance almost immediately. Within a mile, they could hear and finally… see it.
A three-way battle was not something Bert...
2023-08-23 06:23:56 +0000 UTC
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Chapter 56
Beer, Blood, and Body Parts I
The Waystation rolled to a stop to a general cheering from the nearby warriors. It seemed that word of the healing on offer had spread. An area had apparently been cleared for them.
Bell parked somewhere else.
Partly because she didn’t trust them, and partly because fuck their plans.
Bell was an independent Pixie and went where the hell she wanted.
Not the kind of pixie to have been having dreams about her best...
2023-08-23 06:22:10 +0000 UTC
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I often use the Interlude to flesh out the characters and backstory a little.
Let me know who you want to see get the next one.
I'll leave this running for a while, so I can get to everyone eventually!
2023-08-19 07:21:00 +0000 UTC
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Chapter 55
Just Passing Through III
“Oh, stop bitching,” Libby said once Bert finally managed to track her down. “You would have helped us anyway.”
“Really?” Bert snapped.
“You were never going to just wave and drive away,” Libby smiled. “I know people, Caretaker Hudson. You don’t want to help, but you will.”
“I never said I didn’t want to help,” Bert pointed out, uncomfortably aware he was making her point for her.
“You ju...
2023-08-18 05:58:02 +0000 UTC
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Chapter 54
Just Passing Through II
To say the sudden arrival of the enormous Express created a stir would be an understatement. The various forces appeared unsure of what to do at first, and ultimately it did not matter. They couldn’t stop it, and Wendy was not in a slowing down kind of mood.
It pulled up to the Waystation just as Bert came around the back of the giant vehicle. He practically flew over the ground as Wendy threw open the door and waved.
There were...
2023-08-16 09:03:16 +0000 UTC
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Chapter 53
Just Passing Through I
“She’s just not a hugger,” Bert gasped as Bud laughed.
“I thought you had lost it there for a minute,” Bud said. “I haven’t seen you that angry before.”
“I admit I may have lost it, just a bit, there.” Bert huffed. “But that guy really pissed me off.”
“We did kind of torture him,” Bud admitted. “He was in real pain when he was healing you.”
“I’m sorry he had to go through that,” Ber...
2023-08-16 09:02:01 +0000 UTC
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Chapter 52
The Broken Place III
A coolness passed over Bert, drawing him up from unconsciousness. It felt like his body was on fire, but the chill was fighting it. The feeling passed over him again as he fought his way toward consciousness.
He had to get out of the fire; he was burning. HE WAS BURNING!
His mind filled with images of teeth snapping at his flesh, and he thrashed about, trying to free himself.
“Shhhh!” Bell’s voice. “It’s okay; it’s ...
2023-08-11 06:30:01 +0000 UTC
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Chapter 51
The Broken Place II
“So it really has nothing to do with carpets?” Bell teased Bert.
“Well, sort of,” He said, “You drop a carpet of bombs… that covers the ground… like a carpet.”
“So why didn’t they call it like-a-carpet-bombing?” She grinned.
“Carpet bombing sounds snappier?” Bert offered.
“If you need to give it a snappy name, it’s a shit weapon!” Bell laughed.
“Oh, really?” Bert took the bait.
...
2023-08-11 06:28:31 +0000 UTC
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Chapter 50b
Interlude- Road Trip II
“You can’t be serious!” Percy protested.
“Well, I suppose if you have a better offer in terms of meat?” Wendy shrugged.
“That is blackmail,” Percy noted.
“No, just supply and demand.” Wendy grinned. “I have the supply and the demand.”
“Do you know Bert and Bell never asked for a thing?” He said lightly.
“Mum and Dad aren’t great at business.” She said equally lightly.
“Mum...
2023-08-09 08:54:27 +0000 UTC
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Chapter 50
The Broken Place I
The creation of the Deadlands had a lot of fallout, and in the days immediately following the spell, there were a lot of very rapid changes. While the academics were trying to discover what had happened, the areas around it were in chaos. The twin cities had been not only the axis of trade but also the stabilizing force in the nearby areas.
Fear was everywhere. Would the calamity repeat itself, or would the strange new dead area spread? Of c...
2023-08-09 08:53:12 +0000 UTC
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Chapter 49B
Interlude - Road Trip I
“Will you watch the road?” Scruff squeaked as Wendy rummaged in the cabin’s storage.
“I am,” She laughed. “I can see out of the Express at all times. Remember?”
“Still, though,” Scruff huffed. “It’s just creepy watching this thing drive itself.”
Wendy laughed and winked at Scruff before closing her eyes and humming as the Express accelerated through the Grasslands.
“Fuck sake!” Scruff grabb...
2023-08-04 06:27:13 +0000 UTC
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Chapter 49
Moving On III
By the time Bert woke up the following day, the Waystation was surrounded. House Jura had apparently wanted to make a point. The lines of men in armor, armored knights on horseback, leather-clad archers, and robed mages stood at a distance from the Waystation, encircling it but not attacking. At least not yet.
Eckhart was standing on the parapet over one of the Gates, facing the largest collection of armored knights. He glared across the field at...
2023-08-04 06:25:19 +0000 UTC
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Chapter 48
Moving On II
There are a lot of advantages to having a control tower that is so tall. One of those is the ability to see over things. The hill in front of them, for example.
A group of armored knights crouched behind the cover of the Hill and prepared a frankly pathetic ambush.
They had dug a trench in the road. It was deep. It was not wide.
“They have seen the Waystation, right?” Bud asked incredulously as he stared down from the massive three...
2023-08-02 06:20:09 +0000 UTC
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Chapter 47
Moving On I
“What about Percy?” Wendy asked. “You were supposed to tell him what was going on!”
“Nice try,” Bert smirked. “You just want to run off with the Express for a bit.”
“Percy knew we would only come back to warn them of danger,” Bell said from her perch on his shoulder.
“This is such bollocks!” Wendy said. “I am perfectly capable!”
“Your not even a month old!” Bert snapped. “You are not going running...
2023-08-02 06:18:38 +0000 UTC
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Chapter 46
A Busy Few Days III
Bell put her hands on her hips and glared.
“Are they ever coming out?” Wendy whined. “We want to meet her!”
“They have been separated for years!” She growled at her daughter. “They deserve to have some private time!”
“Some?” Scruff giggled. “They’ve been in there for a whole day already. If they have much more private time, he’ll drop dead.”
“Ewww!” Wendy shivered. “Scruff, that...
2023-07-28 06:58:54 +0000 UTC
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Chapter 45
A busy few days II
“Oi! Oi!” A woman yelled through the open doorway as Jerry sat with Bert and the crew for breakfast the next morning. She was dressed almost exactly like Jerry, and her auburn hair was tied back into a high ponytail. She also shared the same autumnal storm-looking pupils. “Ya beat me, you bastard!”
“Crissy! I wondered what was taking you so long,” Jerry laughed. “Get lost, did ya?”
“Get fucked, ya knob.” She laughed...
2023-07-26 06:54:34 +0000 UTC
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Chapter 44
A Busy Few Days I
Bert stomped out of the Barn, his face like thunder. It was too much. How did this shit keep happening to him? Why the flying fuck had he met not just one, but two Immortals.
“Most mortals would be happy talking to a God, would they?” He grumbled. “Then they are fucking idiots.” He looked around grumpily, seeing none of the usual morning activity going on. He growled.
Storming across the yard, he pushed open the door to the Bear...
2023-07-26 06:53:29 +0000 UTC
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