Chapter 14
Walking along the river made for far slower passage, even with Magnus’ help in finding paths to take that would allow him to not have to wade through bushes or clinging vines that lined the riverbank.
Casey kept with the plan, though. He followed the riverbank north, doubling back to check and look for any sign of the spindle-shaped island in either direction when he wasn’t able to walk within sight of the river. Doing his best to keep up a good speed, Ca...
2024-12-27 09:00:03 +0000 UTC
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Hope you all have had a great year and are looking forward to the next. Thankfully for Desmond here, the Chloe-Krampus is gonna be a bit more gentle than the normal one might be!
2024-12-24 15:23:20 +0000 UTC
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Days bled away and the competition that we had been preparing for was soon upon us.
I’d still not figured out a way to diplomatically ask Cariad if she’d let me touch her and see if the entropy magic would protect me from the consequences that may have very well been why she was willing to be around someone like me.
I knew I was falling into my old habits of self doubt, but it was easy to let those worries shove the thoughts to the back of my mind and hide them in a corner und...
2024-12-24 09:00:06 +0000 UTC
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Chapter 13
When they left Hrefna’s house a few minutes later, Maude was clearly lost in thought. Casey, rather than interrupt her line of thinking, set about taking care of his errands. While he’d recently had the chance to refresh his supplies in Oakwatch, he still visited the market to replace what he’d eaten and check for anything of value there. The number of gold horns he still had in his pouch after looting Mikhail’s personal effects in the wake of their fight w...
2024-12-23 09:00:07 +0000 UTC
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I gave both Cerebaton’s warning and his suggestion several days to percolate in my mind. One thing that kept slowing me down was the realization that, while I was undoubtedly interested in Cariad, I had a very full plate at the moment. Between the relationship I already had with Kassandra and Rieka, adding in the obvious interest that Shayla was showing and the bits and pieces I was seeing from Jane, I didn’t know if I had the emotional capacity to handle something with Cariad, too.
2024-12-21 09:00:04 +0000 UTC
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Chapter 12
Casey chatted with Arvid about inconsequential things as they walked. The two drengr in the lead would chime in on occasion, but for the most part they seemed to be content to listen to the two men talk with the occasional huff or grunt from Magnus.
It was actually rather nice to talk to someone reasonable, besides Maude. Casey didn’t quite count Magnus as reasonable, not yet at least.
Casey did what he could to learn of the area, though he made sure ...
2024-12-20 09:00:03 +0000 UTC
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“Liam, you have picked up what I can teach you with a sword and a mace with surprising speed.” Cerebaton’s blunt statement brought me to a halt as I reset for our next round.
It was another Tuesday night, and I had spent most of the day working through my thoughts with the different powers to take—knowing I’d need to make a decision soon—and had been looking forward to the mindless exertion of working with Cerebaton. One of the things I hadn’t expected to miss so much from...
2024-12-17 09:00:05 +0000 UTC
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Chapter 11
Magnus, in his interminable style, made friends immediately with the drengr of the Oak Horde. Once Arvid got over the start of having something so big creep up on him, he immediately began to rummage in his pouch for some dried fruit to offer the big animal. When Magnus accepted the fruit with aplomb and grace, the others all crowded around to have a look.
The headlong flight through the night had shaken most of the red-brown dust out of the Gladewalker Elk...
2024-12-16 09:00:03 +0000 UTC
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Chapter 8
“I cannot linger for long right now, my child, but I want to let you know that I have never abandoned all of you. I just couldn’t rally the power to do anything like this.” Thera gestured to her ghostly self, her foxy tail flicking behind her before it narrowed slightly to match Sienna’s as a wolf tail.
“No! Do not apologize, Pack Lady. We knew you had spent yourself to protect our ancestors long ago, that you had given us everything already. We had ...
2024-12-15 09:01:02 +0000 UTC
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Chapter 7
Koda chased the Crooked forces until they reached the narrow paths that lead up and out of the low valley. He swung the oversized meat cleaver that the Crooked champion had once wielded like he was beating dirty rugs with it, hacking down foes with abandon.
A rage gripped his soul. All Koda saw of these gnarled and twisted monsters was the danger that they represented to his people. For just a moment, his anger began to wane as he cut more and mo...
2024-12-15 09:00:04 +0000 UTC
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Having spent so long struggling to get by, working in a shitty job, and having to put up with so much bullshit to make ends meet gave me a strong sense of work ethic. That translated into my need to be up relatively early each morning, being productive. Either by working on my Shape-Shifting or the Manipulate Element practice I’d been doing recently.
So far, none of the sales I’d put up on Bitsy had sold, but that wasn’t surprising at th...
2024-12-14 09:00:02 +0000 UTC
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Chapter 10
Given the chaos Casey had left in his wake, he pushed himself hard to make as much distance as possible. The escape from the town had been flawless, and if he hadn’t ended up running across the trio of idiots on the road outside, it would have meant he could travel easy. But with the unknown behind him regarding whether those he’d fought had actually gotten the guards or sent a patrol out after him, he couldn’t take that chance.
While before, Casey had ...
2024-12-13 09:00:06 +0000 UTC
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Chapter 6
By the time Koda hit the edge of it, the camp was already in disarray.
The other three hunting parties had waited only moments for the group that was pursuing their fellows to exit the camp before they shoved the prepared logs and rocks over the cliff edge to crash into the tents.
Someone had even managed to get one of the large logs to land in the cooking fire, spreading burning embers into the nearby tents and setting several ablaze.
As Koda watc...
2024-12-11 09:01:03 +0000 UTC
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Chapter 5
“So, what is the plan, Sienna?” the bear-featured man said once Koda and Sienna had crept back into the trees so that the other hunters could talk to them more easily.
The group crowded around, though none besides Sienna got within arm’s reach of Koda.
“I don’t think they’ve started twisting any of the captives. Probably still recovering from being pushed back from the village and mending their own injuries.” Sienna leaned on her spear with...
2024-12-11 09:00:05 +0000 UTC
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“I still can’t get over how well you handled Valda in the fight the other day!” Kassandra’s cheer was infectious as the dwarf lamia slithered along at my side, grinning happily while she swayed.
“It was just sparring,” I reminded her carefully. “If we’d been in an actual fight, I’m sure there would have been injuries all around. She spent most of Wednesday kicking my butt.”
It was now Friday, two days having passed since my sparring with Valda, and my lovers ha...
2024-12-10 09:00:08 +0000 UTC
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Chapter 9
It turned out that the situation at the gate was even easier than Casey had expected. There were no guards standing watch on the inside of the gate. Instead, he heard voices from the small hut to one side of the passage, voices and the rattle of dice on wood.
They waited a few minutes for the patrols on top of the curtain wall to get far enough away, then hurried forward with Magnus close at his heels. The elk had kept quiet for the short walk from the tavern ...
2024-12-09 09:00:08 +0000 UTC
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Chapter 4
Finding the path left by the monsters wasn’t hard. They hadn’t exactly been trying to be subtle in their flight. Koda followed the road that the female hunter who had reported to Sienna came in on, then looked for signs of struggle.
The blood trail and drag marks made it easy to follow along, as well as the number of bodies having passed through the undergrowth.
He stopped only once as he passed through a small orchard of blooming trees, using ...
2024-12-08 09:03:01 +0000 UTC
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Chapter 3
Sienna was an able guide and led the way deeper into the village for Koda without hesitation.
They clashed twice more with the gnarled creatures, and Koda gave as good as he got with the clawed gauntlet. He could feel something guiding him as he fought, a sensation of someone watching over his shoulder and helping slide him into the right position, directing him so that his strikes would find their mark.
He blocked with the bone-reinforced forearm of the gau...
2024-12-08 09:02:00 +0000 UTC
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Chapter 2
Water struck his face with the sensation of pushing through a gauzy curtain. It pushed against Koda’s skin for a brief moment before parting and allowing him through. No sensation of wetness clung to him, just that gentle tugging sensation accompanied by the stronger pull of the grip on his hand.
The grip gave him a firm yank, and Koda popped through with a gasp, expecting to swallow water but finding himself standing on the edge of another deep pool. He teetere...
2024-12-08 09:01:01 +0000 UTC
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HEY ALL! So these chapters will run Sun/Wed and stay up till the 17th when I have to pull them to remain KU Compliant. Hope you all enjoy!
Chapter 1
There was something so very soothing about being out in nature. Above him, the trees spread welcoming shade as shelter from the harsh sun. It was something to relish after long days spent working outside.
The clean scent of the mountain air combined with the occasional whiff of wildflowers or the scent of hot stone wa...
2024-12-08 09:00:06 +0000 UTC
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On the advice of the tax and finance accountant, I’d put together a basic LLC corporation to hold myself at a distance from the jewelry sales. It had just been waiting for the licenses to clear and come back that had held me up at all. From there it was as simple as setting up a Bitsy storefront, which was a pain in the ass, but I was figuring it out slowly.
I was in the middle of uploading the last photo for a combined set of pearl earrings and a necklace with a large, round pearl da...
2024-12-07 09:00:05 +0000 UTC
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HEY FOLKS! Guess what, my somewhat secret-squirrel (wolf?) project is finally going live! A more classic harem fantasy story.
The Lost Bloodline goes live 12/18 so enjoy an early Christmas present with a cute wolfgirl and more 😉
Keeping his head up and moving forward was what Koda Burke was best at. After having to emancipate himself as a teen and find his own way at a young age, it became part of who he was. The most important part, or so he thought.
Until that the fait...
2024-12-06 16:36:33 +0000 UTC
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Chapter 8
Considering that Casey had just been thinking about how he hadn’t been bothering to bargain in the market, he felt that he’d acquitted himself fairly well when he left the Iron Duck with his purchases.
For all that it took me maybe an hour of digging to collect those truffles, and I didn’t even trade all of them to him. I think that went well, Casey sent to Maude as he adjusted the strap of his carry sack over his shoulder and...
2024-12-06 09:00:03 +0000 UTC
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Book 2 for Monster Girls in Space is live on Audible (over 16 hours of audio)! Enjoy folks!
2024-12-03 18:18:47 +0000 UTC
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It didn’t take long for Kassandra to get the door resealed and us back up into the sunlight. Since this was the second time she’d done it and had the additional help from the new girls. Shayla stuck close, refining her sketches and visual records of what she’d seen.
When everyone was out of the cave and I’d sealed up the opening once more, we all trooped back down the mountain towards the road and back home. The girls moved in formation, with Jane and Kassandra chattering away a...
2024-12-03 09:00:03 +0000 UTC
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Chapter 7
Finishing his meal in the common room yielded no more information for Casey, other than a continual and growing irritation with the four men that sat nearby. Their conversation had eventually devolved from planning how they would earn a place with the Bronze Fist to what they would do when they went on their first raid.
Unfortunately, having to listen to their crude jokes and plans soured Casey’s stomach to the good food, so he just ate as quickly as he coul...
2024-12-02 09:00:18 +0000 UTC
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The sudden activation of the overhead lights produced a squeal of surprise from both of the new girls. Jane immediately ducked back behind me and when I glanced down to check on the mouse kin woman, I saw that she had her spell rod drawn and was warily poking it around my thigh.
A tugging sensation on my left sleeve drew my gaze over there to find that Shayla was also standing close behind me. Her wings flared out wide in a threat display while she stared down the tunnel in surprise.
2024-11-30 09:00:05 +0000 UTC
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Chapter 6
“Look, I know you don’t enjoy it, but this is how we are going to make it work. I need to get actual tack and a saddle for you, otherwise you are gonna stand out more. I’m sorry that it’s itchy.”
Casey’s reassurances fell on deaf ears as the elk just glared at him, its brown eyes narrowed in irritation while it refused to leave the tree line.
He’s right, dear Magnus. As much as I hate to see your beautiful coat sullied with...
2024-11-29 09:00:04 +0000 UTC
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It was more difficult than I had expected to extract myself from the grip of the girls. Not because Shayla refused to let me go. It only took a couple of small puffs of air across her antennae to get the moth woman to roll over and instead snuggle her back into my side. Or because Rieka was too firmly wrapped around me, either.
It was because Kassandra obstinately refused to move off of me until the last moment.
Let me tell you, despite the increases in strength I’d taken, it wa...
2024-11-26 09:00:05 +0000 UTC
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Chapter 5
Once he was done with his food, Casey focused on ensuring the meat was drying properly as well as the truffles. The delicate mushrooms required far more attention than he had expected, but Maude helped him keep an eye on them.
We want them to be dried, not cooked, Maude kept reminding him, enough that Casey had to resist the urge to roll his eyes every so often when the reminder came again to shift the mushrooms around.
2024-11-25 09:00:07 +0000 UTC
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