“Wow,” Sam gushed, eyes sparkling as he looked back at the mountain he had been born in. “I’ve never really seen it like that before. I guess you just don’t realize how big and impressive the world is until you gain some perspective.”
“Takkla,” he continued, nudging his sibling. “You have better eyes than Dussok and I, can you even see the top of the mountain? It’s just all clouds and blue past a certain point for me.”
“Samazzar,” ...
2021-10-03 19:06:28 +0000 UTC View Post“What do you mean they’re in the facility,” Kat said, shaking her head as she tried to clear her thoughts. “I know there were reports of them disappearing, but I thought that just meant NeoSyne was driving the nomadic clans off of their territory as part of some sort of expansion plan.”
Emma stood up, nodding to her before grabbing the back of the chair she’d been sitting in and dragging it over toward the room’s rest area.
“That’s what I thought,” Whip c...
2021-09-30 17:47:39 +0000 UTC View PostThe spear dragged through the dark rock, giving off a keening whine as the sonic enchantment crumbled the stone like sand. Carefully, Micah lifted it. Around the sleeping Maarikava was a gargantuan circle carved into the mountainside, sigils inscribed every three to four paces.
Micah planted the butt of the spear into the rocks reaching up to wipe the sweat and grime from his face with the left sleeve of his pajamas. The formerly grey, now almost brown fabric rasped ag...
2021-09-29 00:52:14 +0000 UTC View PostMicah sprinted ahead, breath coming in short even bursts as the Maarikava slithered after him. In water, she moved with a deadly grace that belied its great size, but on land? Well, she wasn’t slow. The Maarikva was far too big to be slow. Instead she was unwieldy. Whenever Micah changed course, the huge serpent would have to skid to a halt, volcanic rocks grinding at her scales as she tried to halt her momentum to follow the tiny darting human.
The daski...
2021-09-28 05:44:24 +0000 UTC View PostTakkla paused in the undergrowth, raising a claw to stop Dussok and Samazzar. She dropped to all fours before disappearing into the tangle of branches and leaves that marked most of the forest floor outside of the sporadic game trails.
Sam shifted, wincing slightly. Putting any weight on his left leg hurt like crazy. Takkla had looked at it before they left, and apparently the stormcrow hadn’t broken anything, but that didn’t make it sting any less.
Glancing ...
2021-09-26 18:39:20 +0000 UTC View PostThe large metal door slid to the side, letting light flood into the dark well. Kat blinked once, letting her perks reset her vision. To either side of her, Kat’s companions flinched as they struggled with the sudden change, leaving her to be the first person to step into the factory.
Kat took a deep breath as she stepped into the sharp light of the complex. The air was chilly and recycled, a welcome respite after the dry desert night. The walls of the hallway w...
2021-09-24 03:28:41 +0000 UTC View Post“Maarikava,” Micah repeated the word thoughtfully, letting it roll off of his tongue. “I’m sorry, but the name doesn’t really help. Is it weak against ice attacks? Maybe sonic?”
“How do you,” Hanna began, only for her voice to dry up, trailing off awkwardly and leaving the aft-castle in silence once more.
“Does its species have a soft underbelly that it keeps beneath the waterline?” He asked hopefully, grasping for solutions to their mut...
2021-09-14 14:52:01 +0000 UTC View Post“By Maarika’s grace,” Hanna cursed, steadying herself against the aft-castle somewhere behind Micah.
He didn’t turn to acknowledge the woman, instead keeping his focus on the giant daskin as the Amelia shifted and rocked beneath his feet. Water splashed on the deck in torrents, pouring from the monster’s deceptively small scales as it seemed to fix its gaze on him.
For a moment, time itself seemed to freeze. The head-sized yellow-green orbs of the da...
2021-09-12 04:49:26 +0000 UTC View PostSam simply stood there, staring into the night sky for the first time. The two moons hung on either side of long delicate threads of stars, draped like silk across the empty blackness of space. In the distance, an owl hooted as it hunted its prey.
His vision grew misty for a second, the glittering points of light blurring together. Samazzar smiled, his tiny fangs gleaming in the moonlight as he took a deep breath of the cool night air.
How could he not look up in...
2021-09-08 15:32:24 +0000 UTC View PostThe van’s air conditioner whirred, coughing occasionally as it fought a losing battle against the dry desert heat. Kat wasn’t sure where Whip had bought it, but it was hard to argue that it didn’t look the part, beat up and sun-bleached, just like dozens of other vehicles in the expansive parking lot, she doubted it would draw any attention.
Sandy orange adobe walls passed by on the smartglass display as Jasper and Iris walked through the ruins. Ahead of them, a tour g...
2021-09-03 21:34:55 +0000 UTC View PostWisps of images floated around Micah’s head as he cast weave of fate, slowly resolving into threads of possibility that were almost as dizzying as the steady roll of the ship beneath his feet. One by one, he focused on the potential futures, tracing his mind along the grooves of fate in an attempt to map the near future.
He reached out with his mind for one swirl of potential only for it to pop like a soap bubble under his attention, erasing the spider web of choices an...
2021-08-31 13:00:51 +0000 UTC View PostThe barge slid into its slot, thumping against a quay as a pair of sailors jumped off of the large, rectangular boat and onto the weathered stone to begin tying the vessel down. With a sigh, Micah closed the Ageless Folio and stood up.
The wood planks of the deck rocked gently under him as the boat bobbed up and down on the current. Out in the Leel River itself, a trio of daskin, water serpents covered in heavily armored scales, skimmed just below the surface as they cut thr...
2021-08-31 13:00:09 +0000 UTC View PostThe warm breeze off the ocean sprayed Kat with salty mist as she walked across the creaking rope bridge connecting two islands of the Humbrass Atoll. A school of gleaming shoal fish swerved toward the ring of islands, cutting through the waves as they passed under the bridge. Beside her, Kaleek put his hands on the heavy ropes, leaning over the edge to watch them skim just beneath the waves.
The bridge creaked, swaying under the big otter’s weight. Kat half-stumbled ...
2021-08-25 16:38:00 +0000 UTC View Post“Esther!” Micah shouted, thrusting his spear through the hard shell of an emerald scarab and pinning it to the burning sand. “When you dodge its breath attack, make sure to keep your spear up. More importantly, keep yourself between the monsters and Eris.”
He planted a foot onto the scarab’s carapace before ripping his spear free and dancing to the side. Micah skimmed across the sand, intercepting another scarab before it could close in on the two girls. &nbs...
2021-08-21 20:21:31 +0000 UTC View Post“I don’t have anything to say to you,” Samazzar said, a frown creasing his scales as he crossed his arms in front of him. “I know that you sabotaged my ritual on purpose in order to deny me my birthright. Worse, you’ve been wretched to Crone Tazzaera for all of these years.”
“Did I sabotage your ritual now?” Lellassa asked, flicking an ear in amusement. “The way I remember it, you were given the same monster blood as every other pup. For w...
2021-08-21 01:35:11 +0000 UTC View PostAs some of you may be aware, Blessed Time, a dark LitRPG time-loop that I started writing around June or July of last year, is currently up for sale on Amazon and Audible, available starting today. The first book covers the first three 'arcs' of the books, and it includes a number of new chapters to help rework the flow/balance of the original novel.
I would be immensely grateful if you would pick up a copy (or read it on Kindle Unlimited), but if you don't ...
Sam’s eyes were closed as he lifted up a claw. Cool, moist air filtered in from the creche cave’s yawning exit to his left. His snout twitched at the bouquet of smells that assaulted him. He could almost imagine the wet foliage and flower fields that spawned the exotic scents, but like most kobolds, Samazzar had never left the comforting embrace of the mountains.
To him the smells were little an abstraction. The Crone’s books mentioned the common plants and...
2021-08-19 14:59:13 +0000 UTC View PostKat’s throwing dagger shattered the guard’s smartpanel, deflecting off of the metal armor implanted under the woman’s skin. A second later, she was inside the monitoring station ducking under a frantic swing of the other security officer’s rifle as Emma ran past her.
She thrust upward with her main knife, activating Penetrate and Overpressure at the same time as the point of her weapon found the gap between the clamshell of the man’s polymer chest armor and the ceramic g...
2021-08-13 18:21:12 +0000 UTC View PostThe next couple of months passed in a flash. Samazzar spent most of each day, watching over Crone Tazzaera’s shoulder and assisting as she tempered and prepared the reagents for his eventual baptism. After her grueling work in the laboratory, the Crone would spend an hour or two each afternoon instructing Takkla, Dussok and Sam on the intricacies of their mysteries.
Those were the moments he lived for. Clustered around the fire with his littermates as her cracked voi...
2021-08-10 16:32:57 +0000 UTC View Post“That’s a heavy tale to take in before your morning bitterroot tea,” Trevor leaned back into the pile of cushions with a shake of his head. “Dungeon breaks and wandering monsters are one thing, but I’m not sure how I feel about squaring off against a daemon lord. It doesn’t sound like the sort of endeavor that a man who wants to live a long and healthy life undertakes.”
“Prince of Elsewhere,” Micah corrected quietly, his eyes buried in the Ageless Fol...
2021-08-07 21:37:39 +0000 UTC View PostKat opened her eyes, letting the riot of sights, scents and sounds of Humbrass Atoll fade from her senses. She sighed, the white plaster of the hotel ceiling returning her gaze as she shifted slightly in the twin bed.
Whippoorwill groaned slightly, rolling to the side and dragging a pillow over her head on the bed to Kat’s left. Near her feet, Emma was curled up in a ball on a tiny futon, pulled out of the hotel room’s couch. She slept soundly, one of the room’s ...
2021-08-05 01:30:09 +0000 UTC View Post“Identify yourself!” Roggsar shouted, voice cracking as his claws dug into the handle of his pick. “Which tribe are you from! Answer quickly or I’ll put my pick through your skull.”
Sam just cocked his head to the side. He ignored the flurry of activity just beyond the wooden gate as he looked at Roggsar with all of his senses for the first time. Bad air puffed out of the guard's nostrils as his body glowed a dull orange beneath his rat-leather jerkin.<...
2021-07-27 15:58:17 +0000 UTC View PostMicah opened his eyes, squinting as the morning light slanted through the flap to his tent. With a grunt, he pulled himself out of the pile of cushions that passed for a Sandrovok bed. Esther, his younger sister, loved the things, buying fancier pillows at each oasis they traveled through and burying herself in them each night.
As for Micah, he swore he could feel the sand shifting under him through the silk cushions and canvas of the floor. Two years ago he had finall...
2021-07-22 17:45:08 +0000 UTC View PostKat shifted distractedly in her seat, the thin layer of cushion doing little to hide the cold metal curves of the arena’s chair. Below her in a sand-filled ring, a wolf, highlighted by a series of overhead neon strobe lights reared up onto its hind legs.
The crowd roared with appreciation, drowning out the announcer, a man in his early forties with a gleaming cyberarm and a dapper tophat as he shouted something before gesturing at the wolf. A series of three large metal ho...
2021-07-21 17:02:24 +0000 UTC View Post“Chamomile?” Mursa asked, motioning at the cup in front of Micah. He lifted it to his mouth, blowing the steam off of it while the goddess took the seat across from him.
Before he could respond, the door to the room slammed open. Micah shut his eyes, averting his gaze from the roiling mass of glowing fog and vague but indescribably vast shapes that he knew would be waiting just outside the small parlor.
“There he is!” Ankros’ voice thundered out, follow...
2021-07-18 04:14:35 +0000 UTC View PostKat held the crossbow to her shoulder, admiring the sleek curves of the carved ivory stock. She closed one eye, resting the weapon against her cheek as she adjusted her stance slightly to take the weapon’s weight into account.
She pulled the trigger, taking note of the smooth, well oiled action as it released the string, a flexible but iron-hard strand of chaos elk sinew. With a satisfying thwack the bow kicked gently against her shoulder.
“That’s genuin...
2021-07-15 19:35:11 +0000 UTC View PostSam hummed quietly to himself, sack slung over his shoulder as he retraced his steps out of the deep caves. His eyes and ears were peeled, magical senses straining for the slightest indication of a heat source or pressure variance.
Still, it was hard not to feel invincible. Muscles rippled under his new scales, his body almost overflowing with energy and potential. Even his loincloth barely fit, the strip of cured rat hide stretched tight over his expanded hips.
...
2021-07-13 14:33:13 +0000 UTC View PostMicah coughed, trying to clear the taste of brimstone and pitch from his throat. The air was hot and thick, the aftermath of dozens of high level spells clogging his lungs. With a groan the stone bricks under his feet shifted, almost causing Micah to lose his balance as the entire world lurched.
Next to him, Trevor’s injured leg gave out under him, sending his brother sprawling to the floor. Micah’s left hand lashed downward, snatching Trevor by the wrist before gr...
2021-07-09 18:02:24 +0000 UTC View PostEmma practically skipped off the commuter maglev, slipping past a crowd of passengers waiting to embark the train that they were leaving in the Grand Canyon terminal. Kat followed her, trying her hardest to keep her smile in check as her eyes followed the overly cheerful girl.
A step behind her, Whippoorwill yawned, dragging her feet as she tromped after Kat, more a matter of being woken up before her usual eleven a.m. alarm than anything else. The same couldn’t be said fo...
2021-07-08 16:08:10 +0000 UTC View Post“Oh my god I’m so excited!” Emma squealed, her voice high enough to hurt Kat’s ears as she clutched her hands together. “I can’t believe that we all get to spend summer break together! I have so many things planned out already, this is going to be the best vacation ever.”
Whippoorwill, glanced at Kat, confusion on her face. Jasper and Iris were already at the maglev station when the two of them arrived, chatting quietly with each other while Davis kept a ...
2021-06-28 13:38:04 +0000 UTC View Post