Pendragoon

The Reluctant Ranger Chapter 61 - Ranger of the Void

Nicole’s mouth was suddenly arid as she processed that she was hearing not only English from some ancient entity, but that it also knew her name.  She also didn’t know what to make of the title it had called her by.  The light dimmed as soon as the voice finished, then pulsed down the empty corridor.  A moment later the pulse repeated, as if guiding her along. 

“Well, that’s ominous,” Nicole said, almost expecting the voice to reply again, but was not surpr...

The Reluctant Ranger Chapter 60 - Thunder

Nicole woke with a start to the crash of thunder still echoing through their cave.  She heaved out a heavy sigh when she realized what it had been and sat back down against the corner of their makeshift shelter.  Maraline was still sound asleep, and it was hard to accept that the Sylan general could be so vulnerable.  There was a temptation to take a rock and smash her head, deliver a crippling blow to the enemy war effort, but with the likes of Bartran and Guiana on the other ...

The Reluctant Ranger Chapter 59 - Luminescence

Underground.  How the fucking hell were they underground in a massive jungle in the light of the goddamn day!?  Were they even on Earth or had they somehow ended up across the galaxy or lost to time?  There were endless possibilities when it came to crazy alien tech and freak accidents, and she had no clue where to even begin. 

Nicole forced herself to take a breath.  Panic wouldn’t help them survive and she really needed to be the one to keep a level head giv...

The Reluctant Ranger Chapter 58 - Cavernous

It was with squinting eyes that Nicole took in the first rays of the morning light.  At first she tried to roll away from whatever window was letting it in, but a rock dug into her side and quickly reminded her that she wasn’t in her bed, but a cave somewhere on the other side of the planet.  She rose to a sitting position as the events of the night caught up with her, from her sad attempts at carving the cat to cook, to the makeshift smoke rack set over the fire. 

Then...

The Reluctant Ranger Chapter 57 - Lost

The world whipped in a chaotic torrent, up and down were interchanged as Nicole struggled in vain to right herself only to crash to the ground before she realized she was free of the effect.  Unfortunately her vision was still clouded by spots, and blinking them away wasn’t helping nearly as much as she hoped it would. 

Worse, everything was spinning from whatever had happened.  Nicole knew she needed to get up, to be ready to fight, but her stomach lurched instead and ...

The Reluctant Ranger Interlude: Grace III

All she wanted to do was curse as the lights drew closer over the treeline.  It had been a mistake to humor her father for as long as she had, but the damage was done.  Now she had to figure out how they were going to get out of this one intact.  Fighting the police wasn’t an option, and revealing themselves as Rangers would be a disaster they couldn’t walk back from. 

“What was the plan?” Sarah asked. 

Grace grimaced.  “Honestly?  Show...

The Reluctant Ranger Interlude: Grace II

Trees lined the road, their leaves having long since fallen in the face of the recent freeze.  It was about two hours before sunrise and they were making decent time as they drove past the sign announcing the city limits of the town that Grace had once sworn to never enter again. 

Somerville had barely changed since she left.  The most notable difference was a second dollar shop that had opened closer to downtown.  Used to be you had to drive ten minutes down the hig...

The Reluctant Ranger Interlude: Grace I

After the mess that was the last few hours of dealing with that absolute clusterfuck of a chemical fire, not to mention finding out the facility under it was owned by Xavier Sinclair, Grace just wanted to collapse into bed and stay there for the next day at a minimum.  

Nicole was snoring gently beside her in her usual adorable way.  Her girlfriend would often deny snoring, but it was on the cute side of the spectrum so Grace always made sure to keep it to teasing and lit...

The Reluctant Ranger Chapter 53 - Rumination

Nicole collapsed into her normal booth, her team taking their own seats around her.  Being unable to report the exact specifics of what she uncovered wasn’t sitting well with Nicole, but what was she supposed to do?  Nicole reported that they found bodies at the site of the accident and left it at that.  Sinclair had the people needed to clean up the rest of the mess he dug for himself.

At least Sinclair hadn’t shown up and stuck his head in things, she did not have t...

The Reluctant Ranger Chapter 52 - Malfunctions

Nicole fell sideways, physics pulling their best impression of a funhouse mirror even as the energy that permeated the air surged through her.  It was warm, and all too familiar.  The budding warmth surged to searing degrees within her as Nicole let out a muted scream, the sound not quite traveling right through the air. 

Dimly she was aware that she wasn’t touching the ground, but was floating through the air.  Whatever had happened was fucking with everything and...

The Reluctant Ranger Chapter 51 - Drums From The Deep

The stairs were devoid of smoke, the fire not having made it into the depths of the structure, yet Nicole could tell that all the oxygen had been sucked out by the rising heat.  The emergency lights remained on despite the chaos above which gave her some hope that survivors might be located. 

It was slim, but she had to hold onto it.  There was a reason they directed her towards this location, no normal firefighter would have made it through that inferno, potentially for ...

The Reluctant Ranger Volume One

Hey everyone! I thought that my supporters would appreciate a download of the first volume now that it's all available for paid members in both pdf and epub formats! (Complete with some bonus concept art from my discord server!)

The Reluctant Ranger Chapter 50 - Burn Up

Nicole was ready to get home after all the loops she had just been thrown through.  It was nice that Julie hadn’t outed her or anything, but it was still disconcerting to know that her life could be upended so easily by a single picture taken by someone with malicious intent.  It was a sobering experience. 

Grace was heading back to campus and the others each had their own plans for the remainder of the day.  Nicole wanted nothing more than to head back as well and...

The Reluctant Ranger Chapter 49 - Fanclub

Nicole stretched, looking over her coursework.  She was bored, and that was always dangerous for someone with the kind of power she held.  She’d tried to keep up with the work, but it was proving difficult to remain focused.  Adrenaline was a hell of a drug and her work as a Ranger gave her a rush unlike even the peak of her gymnastics career. 

With a heavy sigh Nicole rolled out of her seat into a handstand before she stood back up.  Clapping almost startled ...

The Reluctant Ranger Chapter 48 - Food Drive

(Readers of the old draft will recognize this from the prior version, it has been edited and expanded to fit it's new place in the plot)

---

“Hayes, Evans, hang back for a moment.” 

Nicole paused, the commanding voice of Fire Chief Grayson catching her off guard.  With Carlos back in New York to help in the aftermath of the latest Sylan attack on his home turf, she no longer had him to act as a reasonable buffer between herself and the local elements.  Tha...

The Reluctant Ranger Chapter 47 - Stage Presence

“We’re making a lot of progress” Rebecca continued, a massive grin plastered across her face.  “I think I solved the bleedoff effect and Kelly is authorizing more testing tomorrow.” 

Nicole nodded along, working on her latest essay as her best friend continued her explanation that Nicole couldn’t hope to follow fully.  She was content to let her best friend gush, as it was always a delight to hear her be so animated about something she was passionate over.&nbs...

The Reluctant Ranger Chapter 46 - Standoff

Grace ended up making three additional blades for future stock before calling it a day.  Her girlfriend really needed a shower, but Nicole found she didn’t mind the combination of smoke and sweat coming off of her.  She had opted to tie her jacket around her waist rather than wear it following all the hours of work she had put in. 

She’d worked hard and worn herself out, which meant Nicole was the one to drive them home.  Grace was snoring softly from the passeng...

The Reluctant Ranger Chapter 45 - Forgemaster

The drive to the forge would take over thirty minutes, and Nicole was thankful that Grace had her music playlist going.  She recognized the song right off as one of Grace’s favorites, though she couldn’t claim the same.  That hadn’t stopped her from listening to it over and over just so she could feel closer with her girlfriend. 

What that meant was that Nicole knew the lyrics, and began to sing along with them.  Badly.  Worse, she was also dancing as best...

The Reluctant Ranger Chapter 44 - Examination

Sinclair Industries had rebounded quite well since Nicole’s first visit, which wasn’t saying much given the building had been on fire at the time.  Some experiment was being demonstrated for a group of shareholders and suffered a catastrophic failure, or at least that was the story that Kelly Rivers had given when asked. 

Nicole knew better than to trust the Chief Researcher at her word, cover ups were the name of the game when it came to clandestine organizations fighting...

The Reluctant Ranger Chapter 43 - Bestial Terror

The beast snarled, saliva dripping to the ground in thick strings.  Nicole stood stock still, watching as muscles coiled and the beast leaned forward, the tails twitching much like a feline’s.  She didn’t dare move, not when it was clear the mutant was just waiting for a reason to pounce.  It was the first time Nicole would be fighting something remotely like it without her morphing capabilities, and for the first time since becoming a Ranger she felt genuine fear at the si...

The Reluctant Ranger Chapter 42 - Proclamation

“Parley,” Maraline said, holding up her hand.  “I have not come to do battle.” 

“Funny way of showing it,” Grace said, her helmet shifting to regard the automatons. 

Maraline chuckled, the sound every bit as melodic as Nicole remembered.  “A distraction, should you prove hostile to my overtures.”

Nicole didn’t buy that for a second.  “What gesture of trust do you offer to back your words.” 

“Guiana remains in hibern...

The Reluctant Ranger Chapter 41 - Fragile Peace

Mud clung to her uniform as Nicole pulled herself through the muck.  She was determined, because so much rode on this singular moment.  Two months of training, in addition to her schooling and other duties.  Given the relative calm that followed the Battle of Anoka as it had become known, she had needed something to distract herself. 

Hence throwing herself into the training to be a firefighter.  Carlos was back in New York, but he had stuck around for a few wee...

The Reluctant Ranger Volume One Epilogue

Sylan technology never ceased to impress.  From the lack of any seam or weld line in their automatons to the material perfection of their manufacturing process.  There were no doubts in Kelly’s mind that the Sylan had access to advanced replication technology.  Unfortunately, neither of the recovered wrecks that Sinclair Industries had access to were equipped with such marvels.  No, all she had access to were a handful of trinkets from a crashed scout ship that happened ...

The Reluctant Ranger Interlude Jeff

Step.  Shoulder tensed.  Strike coming wide and low.  Adjust spear.  Impact.  Manageable.  Adjust.  Thrust.  Contact.

“Point, Cunningham!” The judge called. 

Jeff stepped back, a grin on his face as he pulled his helmet up.  His HEMA instructor did the same, only he was breathing heavily under his own protective helmet.  Curtis was in his late thirties, but he was one of the best fighters among the group, and besting him w...

The Reluctant Ranger Chapter 38 - Noodle Incident

Nicole had an hour until Grace’s last class let out, which gave her plenty of time to cut loose on the jogging trails.  She would need to rein herself in enough that people didn’t look too closely, but she also knew that a lot of people just weren’t that observant.  Sure, some of the people she ran past probably looked at her a little funny, but most would shrug and forget about it other than an idle curiosity.  That held true for what felt like her entire route, sometime...

The Reluctant Ranger Chapter 37 - Performance

Waking up with two girls sprawled across her was not something Nicole ever expected in life, but she was all too happy for it given the circumstances.  Becca’s head was in her lap, Nicole’s own fingers tangled in her hair from where she had been gently stroking her friend’s head.  Grace’s arm was still slung over her shoulder, but her girlfriend’s face was buried in said shoulder and half her shirt was damp with drool. 

Even with the superior healing that Kelly ...

The Reluctant Ranger Chapter 36 - Stand Together

“Cultivating?” Kayla asked.  “That makes it sound like they’re fucking growing us.” 

“That isn’t an inaccurate statement,” Sinclair said with a sigh.  “We’ve been tracking every attack we can across the globe.  Each new Ranger team appeared during a mass attack against a civilian population.  Some came from civilian populations within, others came from military or police forces, but all had one thing in common.” 

“A genuine des...

Calling all Ranger Readers!

I've got some good news! I've just finished uploading all my edited chapters! Up through chapter 35 is now available in a collection (the old draft collection is now renamed and the cover art reverted to reflect that shift) So while it isn't as far along the story as that version was, this is now going to be the collection I update as I go. I hope everyone enjoys the cleaned up and expanded texts!

(And helps me catch any issues before they hit the open net for mocking. :P

The Reluctant Ranger Chapter 35 - Secrets Spoken

Three days had passed since Nicole first woke in the hidden hospital deep below Sinclair Industries.  Whatever that strange wand did, Nicole felt better than she had any right to, and the provided physical therapy was almost unneeded.  She was being attended to by actual medical staff now, and had only seen Kelly once since their talk while Sinclair was busy with other matters.  Again, Nicole didn’t truly trust them, but there was only so much she could do from a hospital bed...

The Reluctant Ranger Chapter 34 - Agony

A whimper broke the silence even as sheets stirred.  Raw nerves protested the action as Nicole hissed out a curse through cracked lips and a dry throat.  Blinking open her eyes, she was greeted with a darkened ceiling only illuminated by the dull glow of a monitor.  That awareness brought more of her current predicament to the fore and she shifted experimentally only to bite down on a scream.

Okay, everything hurt, which was both good and bad news.  The good news was...