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BT IV - Chapter 22

The mists of Elsewhere poured out of the rift, obscuring the battlefield.  Blasts of green light speared through the roiling fog as if it weren’t there, driving Adrian and his men further back.  The group’s healer was using Refresh repeatedly on the drunk nobles, sobering them up and restoring their stamina as they fell back into defensive positions.

Now that their wits were back about them, Micah suspected that the fight would be a lot more even, but that wasn’...

BT IV - Chapter 21

The trip to the cult safehouse was unique and amusing if more than a little unimpressive.  The carriage jolted, tossing Micah lightly into the man sitting to his right.  Somehow, despite barely being able to keep his eyes open, the passenger managed to avoid spilling his drink.  Briefly, Micah wondered if the man had a blessing related to balance and coordination before his companion drunkenly patted him on the shoulder.

“S’alright man.  Yah know.  Your alri...

BT IV - Chapter 20

Micah swayed in time with the music, a pained smile frozen on his face.  The sound of violins swelled behind him as he did his best to follow Gwen’s practiced movements.

The princess was gorgeous.  Considering the number of servants that had joined Micah’s guild on their circuit of Sandrovok, it only made sense.  He barely understood the unspoken rules of fashion and etiquette that bubbled under the surface at the balls and high society events that she forced him to a...

BT IV - Chapter 19

Micah looked over a long line of royal servants.  They stood at attention, hands clasped behind their backs in ranks 20 people long and 10 deep.  He took a deep breath, casting Root Weave wordlessly as he absorbed the scent of Elsewhere that filled the mustering hall.

On either side of the room, members of the Silver Wolves stood with their weapons at ready, eyeing the formation of forgotten.  He’d cleared the blessed amongst the royal servants the day before, ...

BT IV - Chapter 18

Age 21 [ERROR] / 35

Class/Level Divine Candidate 58

XP 120,000/2,000,000

HP 10,492/10,492

Class Specialty

Chronomancer, Enchanter

Attributes

Body 62, Agility 62, Mind 125, Spirit 124

Attunement

Moon 110  Sun 70  Night 130

Mana

Moon 10,200/11008 Sun 10,928/10,928 Night  9,220/11,048

Affinities

Time 10

Tier V - Foresight 19, Time Echos...

BT IV - Chapter 17

He barely got the words out when a gust of wind rushed down the cave toward him, carrying with it a strange scent and the rustle of wings in the air.  Advanced Arcana twinged and Micah could feel something fundamentally wrong darting down the tunnel toward him.

“Get in here,” he roared over his shoulder.  “The monsters know we’re here and they aren’t happy.”

Micah ran forward, using Root Weave as he moved to create a funnel in the cave up ah...

BT IV - Chapter 16

“I agree,” Drekt said solemnly, “We should be wary.  A winged magical beast would have left signs of struggle.  Even without your foreknowledge that something is rotten in Pereston, your discovery at the trapper outpost would have put me on edge.”

Micah nodded, feet crunching through the shin-deep snow as they descended the mountain. It had taken most of a day for him to catch up with the main column.  By the time he arrived with Trevor, Ravi and Leeka, the rest o...

BT IV - Chapter 15

Micah bit his lower lip, letting the cool wind whip at his face.  Snow filled the mountain pass, only marred by a line of footprints where the advance team had scouted ahead.  On either side of the valley, mountains jutted above them, their peaks obscured by clouds.

“I didn’t know that the gods let the world grow this cold,” Leeka chattered.  “I appreciate the fur cloak Micah, but the next time you decide that it’s time for a vacation, I’d prefer someplace mor...

BT IV - Chapter 14

The Empress exuded both beauty and danger.  She looked like a snake, coiled and waiting for its moment to strike in the morning light.  As best Micah could tell, she was barely a couple of years older than Gwen, but he knew for a fact that she had ruled Sandrovok for at least thirty years.

Behind her stood her three husbands, a human, an elf, and a Durgh.  All were incredibly handsome in their own ways, and given their auras Micah suspected that the weakest of them, the h...

BTIV - Chapter 13

The sound of violins washed over Micah as he stood awkwardly in the corner of the ballroom, a crystal champagne flute in his hand as he watched dozens of nobles and wealthy commoners dance in the center of the room.  A waltz was playing and all around him the ruling classes of Sandrovok engaged in quiet deals and conversation, using the party as a pleasant excuse to gather.

He took a sip from his glass.  His father would probably make some sort of comment on the bright and bub...

BTIV - Chapter Twelve

An onkert snarled in front of Micah, beating its chest with gorilla arms as it faced down a human warrior.  Chains forged from fire jumped from the sand, shackling both of the daemon’s arms and setting their thick fur ablaze as the fighter used his blessing.  The man switched to a two handed grip on his sword and stabbed the blade through the bound monster’s chest.

Micah blinked.  His mouth was filled with fuzz and it was like he was watching the world through dirty g...

BTIV - Chapter Eleven

Micah opened his eyes.  His bed creaked slightly under his back as he shifted slightly, bringing back a brief twinge of nostalgia that he couldn’t quite place.  Light streamed in through an open window as the smell of sizzling bacon wafted into his room from where his mother was cooking breakfast in the kitchen.

His stomach growled, churning angrily as it demanded food.  Micah sat up in his bed, forehead scrunching as he looked around his bedroom.  For some reason,...

BTIV - Chapter 10

Micah put his shoulder into the window, shattering it and leaping out into the night sky.  Air rushed past him as he hastily tucked the letters into his carrying pouch.  Already he could feel ritual energy coiling around him, nipping at his skin as it sought to pierce through his body and latch its claws into his soul.

The guards on the walls, the gardens, really all life other than Micah himself withered in a matter of seconds, their energy siphoned by the ritual circle. &nbs...

BTIV - Chapter 9

A carriage clattered over cobblestone, sharply contrasting with the distant sounds of music and revelry.  Drekt, Leeka, and Trevor sat in the darkness next to them, their backs to a grassy berm that was the only thing protecting them from being seen directly by anyone with a torch.

“The man you had me mark is fifteen paces away,” Leeka whispered “Moving at a fast walk or a slow jog.  That has to be him in the wagon.”

Micah nodded, pulling a cloth mask up from his...

BTIV - Chapter 8

“As I said earlier,” Micah replied, “I have the ability to see the future somewhat.”

They were in a conference room at one of the royal family’s summer palaces.  It wasn’t as big as the governor’s manor, but at the same time, representatives of the royal family rarely visited Red Sands for more than a month at a time.  The building was large and well appointed enough to make a point about the Empress’ wealth and power, but it didn’t see enough use to warrant ...

BTIV - Chapter 7

The dizziness from Deja Vu faded, and Micah found his carriage pulling to a halt in front of the stage.  Above him, Gwen sat on her throne, waiting to present him with an award for his role in suppressing the outbreak.

A familiar man hurried down the stairs, a polished gem in his hand.  Micah tuned out his words, smiling and nodding as he began to cast his spells one after another. Haste, Regeneration, and, as he began to walk up the steps toward the...

BTIV - Chapter 6

A blast of heat washed over Micah’s tight smile.  In front of him, a man in garish and outlandish clothing was spitting some brand of foul smelling grain alcohol into a torch, generating a stream of fire that rivaled a low level spellcaster.

On either side of the firebreather, a pair of people in red and gold leotards did a series of backflips across the paving stones, drawing a roar from the crowd.  Micah felt a muscle in his jaw twitch as he looked up and down Empire stree...

BTIV - Chapter 5

Wind rushed past Micah, pulling at his hair and whipping it back and forth as he flew toward the battlefield.  He reached up with his left hand, touching one of the Maarikava teeth mounted on the shoulder of his armor and poured mana into it.  A streamer of gold light jumped from the ivory spike and flew through the air toward where Esther, Eris and Leeka were attacking the first sand elemental to crest the edge of the sinkhole.

The golden light transformed, turning into a mas...

BTIV - Chapter 4

“Squad A needs to move five hundred paces to the left.”

Micah looked up from the ageless folio, squinting into the desert sun as he looked around his surroundings once more.  He stood high in the air, at least a hundred paces above a large dune of sand that dominated the local environment.  Four clusters of blessed stood around the massive wave of sand, their arms and armor glinting in the unending light.

Standing silently in the air on either side of him we...

BTIV - Chapter 3

An arrow, the size of Micah's forearm and almost as thick, zipped through the air, slamming into the shoulder of a shade ogre and pinning the creature to the dungeon's rocky wall.  It bellowed in pain, dropping its war club and reaching up to grab the length of heavy wood embedded in its thick flesh.   Mackenzie took advantage of its distraction, lunging forward and thrusting her spear up under the monster's raised arm to bury it in the creature's chest.  Unfortunately, de...

BTIV - Chapter 2

Footsteps echoed outside the room as Micah and pulled himself to his feet.  Leeka was having the worst time of it, but everyone in his group was still suffering ill effects from the long distance teleportation.  Drekt leaned woozily against Tellivern, but everyone else was on the floor groaning and clutching at their heads or stomachs.

Micah shook his head to clear some cobwebs, and a moment later the sounds outside came to a stop.  A man flung the door open before steppi...

BTIV - Chapter 1

Micah’s brow furrowed slightly as he tapped the blade of his knife against his chin. He stood in the center of a large room, three concentric circles of runes drawn on the metal floor. The outer layers were already carved in, the steel filings carefully swept away before he filled the etchings with quartz powder, but as complex and alien glyphs grew closer to him, they were replaced by chalk markings.

He tucked his knife under an arm and summoned the ageless folio. Above him,...

Patreon Exclusive - Blessed Time IV

If you've wondered what I've been up to, the answer is sprinting Blessed Time IV for NaNoWriMo.  I'm hoping to avoid the headache of scheduling releases on RR and taking them down for that book so you're getting it on Patreon and Patreon only.  It WILL be coming down once the book releases on Kindle, but I wanted to share it here first.

INDEX
Chapter 1 - Unheralded
2022-11-11 19:51:29 +0000 UTC View Post

Dream II - Chapter 26

- - - - -

Race: Saurian

Bloodline Powers: Improved Strength, Rending, Firebreath
Greater Mysteries: Fire (Noble) 4, Wind (Noble) 3, Sound (Advanced) 2
Lesser Mysteries: Heat 4, Oxygen 4, Embers 4, Pressure 4, Current/Flow 4

- - - - -.

Dussok remained slumped, his eyes clouded and distant and arms limp by his side as his back was pressed against a nearby tree.  Around Takkla, Adam, Dussok and Samazzar, the undergro...

Dream II - Chapter 25

- - - - -

Race: Saurian

Bloodline Powers: Improved Strength, Rending, Firebreath
Greater Mysteries: Fire (Noble) 4, Wind (Noble) 3, Sound (Advanced) 2
Lesser Mysteries: Heat 4, Oxygen 4, Embers 4, Pressure 4, Current/Flow 4

- - - - -.

Samazzar’s side twinged slightly.  The climb out of Whistling Gorge hadn’t helped things, but ultimately his potion had done its work.  His shoulders and flank were still te...

Dream II - Chapter 24

- - - - -

Race: Saurian

Bloodline Powers: Improved Strength, Rending, Firebreath
Greater Mysteries: Fire (Noble) 4, Wind (Noble) 3, Sound (Advanced) 1
Lesser Mysteries: Heat 4, Oxygen 4, Embers 4, Pressure 4, Current/Flow 4

- - - - -.

Samazzar dangled in the darkness, a mad grin on his face and adrenaline pumping through his veins.  Distantly he could feel pain in his shoulders and chest where the harness bit into...

Somnus IV - Chapter 16

The din of the restaurant swelled around Kat as she struggled to keep a smile from her face.  Waiters, fuzzy simians with hairless hands that barely reached her shoulder scurried back and forth across wooden ceiling beams holding platters of food and drinks.  Occasionally they’d stop and hook their tail around the support in order to lower themselves to a table and serve the ordered meals.

Between the clamor of the dozen or so alien species enjoying their meals around her an...

Dream 2 - Chapter 23

- - - - -

Race: Saurian

Bloodline Powers: Improved Strength, Rending, Firebreath
Greater Mysteries: Fire (Noble) 4, Wind (Noble) 2, Sound (Advanced) 1
Lesser Mysteries: Heat 4, Oxygen 4, Embers 4, Pressure 4, Current/Flow 4

- - - - -.

“Fascinating,” Samazzar remarked, his eyes sharp with excitement as he watched Adam toss a half dozen daggers into the air and snatch the glittering blades one at a time as they fell ...

Dream II - Chapter 22

- - - - -

Race: Saurian

Bloodline Powers: Improved Strength, Rending, Firebreath
Greater Mysteries: Fire (Noble) 4, Wind (Noble) 2, Sound (Advanced) 1
Lesser Mysteries: Heat 4, Oxygen 4, Embers 4, Pressure 4, Current/Flow 4

- - - - -

“No.” Tazzaera’s voice slapped Samazzar almost as hard as her hand as she knocked the obsidian rod from his grip.  “That’s for brewing potions of detonation and oils of comb...

Somnus IV - Chapter 15

Kat’s pupil flicked upward, bringing up another page of information on her smartpanel.  The words flowed past as she analyzed the data, pausing here and there to read the notes the Whippoorwill had appended to the document.  A blink of her eye brought up another series of tables, each showing expenditures from a variety of corporate accounts.

A red light flickered in the corner of Kat’s vision, interrupting her scrolling. She focused her gaze on the far right of the smartp...