Honour Rae

52. Surrounded By Sharks

You have no idea how much self-control it's taking not to create a Master of Bees card. (I'm enjoying all the speculation in the comments!)

“Are you we take the right-hand tunnel?” Penn asked with a tone in his voice that implied he wasn’t asking at all. “I’m fairly certain the dueling grounds are to the left.”

Arthur knew for a fact they needed to go the right. The left was a shortcut to the hatchling nests.

But it didn’t...

51. The Duke's Secrets

Arthur opened the door a crack, saw darkness beyond. No candles were lit. He swiftly stepped in and shut the door behind him, heart beating fast as he listened for any sign he had been noticed from outside, or within.

All was quiet.

The only light came in through the windows, and the curtains were currently drawn. He stepped across, barking his shin once on a low piece of furniture.

Pushing the curtains back to let in the light, he looked around and was shocked at the state ...

50. Lockpicking - Level 11

Arthur's uncle laughed uproariously.

All Arthur could do was stare. His mind, scrambled in shock, wasn't sure if the man was laughing out of casual cruelty because Arthur had bungled his juggling, or if he recognized Arthur had decided this played a fine trick.

Then Arthur's mind snapped into action again. He realized the man was red-faced under his bearded cheeks. He was drunk.

One thick arm was slung around the shoulders of a boy who looked very much like his father. Perha...

49. Basic Juggling 9

No, the original title wasn't really 'back juggling'. That was just a trick of your eyes and certainly not my terrible typing skills gone awry... 

The upcoming event was called the “Rare promenade” which told Arthur a stuffy noble had been the one to think it up.

It was an event that was equal parts about the egg and equal parts political shadow boxing.

Arthur dressed his best for the night, which was a step above his normal evening work ...

48. A Hint of Green

“One silver?” Arthur replied with a tinge of fake outrage. “Surely you mean per case.”

“Don’t pull that on me. One silver per box, and there are four boxes to a case.” The vegetable vendor he was haggling with crossed his arms over his chest. Arthur suspected the man ate solely off of what didn’t sell at his booth because the man was as thin as a rail. Though Arthur had seen him lift cases that would make him pause.

“Those prices are near criminal,” Arthur said...

47. Personal Space and Second Helping

Arthur’s fingers trembled as he picked up the last corner piece. As it was a rare, it shimmered metallic in the early sunlight. Assembled on the table in front of him was the rest of the card. Nearly four years of work in 72 pieces.

Yes, he could have gotten it done sooner — especially with his workaholic tendencies — but there had been… complications.

This wasn’t the time to think about that. He let out a breath, tried to steady his hand and moved to fit the final piece...

Interlude: Cori was a good good dragon

Cori was a good, good dragon. But Cori missed her rider very, very much.

 Many, many moons ago a wicked, wicked scourgeling had knocked Debrah off Cori’s back.

Cori had flown fast, fast but hadn’t been in time to catch her rider. Blood everywhere. Card in her heart torn in two.

Year and years later it still hurt hurt.

No one else’s card smelled as good good as Debrah’s. No one looked at a purple like Cori twice. They all wanted young hatchlings. 

46. Cooking Class

Arthur hadn't felt this flavor of rage and despair since... well, now that he thought about it. He hadn't felt it since he left the borderland village.

A place where everything was unfair, where he had no hope of ever getting ahead, and his greatest ambition was to live out to see the end of that day.

Remembering that he practically lived in paradise compared to before gave him pause. And that was enough to cool his temper.

He put down the dirty wineglass that, a few moments...

45. Serving Wench

Had to cut this one short because it ends in a weird place. Believe it or not, we're coming up to the time jump soon. Hope everyone's ready to say goodbye to 12 year old Arthur...

Arthur was unusually quiet as Kenzie led him away from the dragon nests. He glanced behind himself once before they rounded the first bend in the tunnel.

The farmer boy was still crouched next to his new dragon, petting the tan's neck and speaking softly to him. His parents st...

44. Dragon Linked Card

Instantly, Arthur was suspicious.

“Why do you want me to visit the hatchlings? Is there a Rare available or something?”

Not that it would do him a lick of good. From what he had gleaned from casual conversations with Horatio, a dragon would not link to someone who had a higher tier card in their heart.

Even if a Common hatchling found someone with a card in the same set, the presence of an Uncommon or Rare card would disrupt the bonding.

This had a dark side, Horat...

43. Basic Empathic Resistance

Arthur froze with the feeling like he had just been caught stealing raisins from the bowl. His first fleeting thought to deny it died when he saw the certainty in Kenzie's face — and remembered the feeling of out-of-control hysterical laughter.

Suddenly, he understood why Decan and his friends had left so quickly after she showed up.

"How did you know — Oh." He stopped as it came to him. Of course, his Trap card would have activated the moment Decan used magic on him.

"I...

42. Like a baby who had his rattle taken away

The city had a different feel to it during mid-morning. They were quieter than he had seen before. The children were in school or apprenticed in their future trade. The adults were either working their trade or craft or else caring for their households.

Arthur received a couple of long looks, but after passing his graduation tests, Freyja had given him a new chip to carry.

It was a circle of black, polished stone with a hole carved in the middle. It now sat strung on the necklace ...

41. Kitchen Management (Cooking/Leadership Class)

Arthur woke to the tinny chime of a card anchor alarm.

Groaning, he rolled over. Through bleary eyes, he saw a small light pulsing by his bed. His new alarm stone.

Horatio groaned from the next cot over. “I hate you.”

Arthur kind of hated himself, too.

He reached over and pressed one finger against the stone. It silenced immediately and Arthur had to fight the urge to close his eye and fall asleep.

From the deep, rhythmic breathing on the other side of the ro...

40. Starting To Take Notice...

A month later and Arthur had still not gained his Cooking Class. He couldn’t figure out what the problem was.

His Kitchen Knife and Meal Preparation Skills had stalled out at levels 18 and 19 respectively, but they were well advanced. His Meat Butchering made it to Basic 9. No one had any complaints about the dishes he sent out.

In fact, it was the exact opposite. Chef Barlow had been slowly adding more and more work duties to h...

39. Freeze

There was trouble ahead.

He had followed the tunnel through so many twists and turns, that he was completely turned around. No windows or balconies led to the outside to tell him what direction he was heading. Only large wooden doors he assumed were dragon rider apartments. The tunnel just kept going on and on.

The only thing that kept Arthur from retracing his steps back was that it was in Kenzie’s best interest to keep him in good standing with the hive. She wouldn’t mislead...

38. Aura Eye

Arthur’s mind was split three ways. He had just promised himself that he would now allow the thief class to change him. Yet here he was, tempted to put that Shoplifting Skill to good use.

The second part of his mind was occupied by the voice of his father.

“Get your hands on a low-ranked card — any card. Save up your money or steal one if you have to.”

The third part knew there was virtually no chance of him getting away with these. Yes, these cards ...

37. Ripe For The Picking

“Don’t shift your weight around so much. You’ll tip me over,” Marteen called, which didn’t help Arthur’s nerves at all. Especially since he didn’t think he had been shifting his weight.

Arthur froze, every muscle clenched so tight he was in fear of getting a cramp. Then he would likely fall off on his own.

By this time, they were several house-lengths above the roofs of the city. He caught sight of a large, squareish building that might be the orphanage. For a second...

36. To Catch A Thief

I’ve created a monster, Arthur thought fondly as he walked down the streets of the hive city. For once, he was not heading back to the orphanage after work… and he was alone.

Horatio had passed Chef’s test/orientation with flying colors. It turned out he had a real flair for working with breads and pastries. Arthur didn’t get it. Bread was good to eat and all, but it was a pain and a half to make, even with his Baking Skills to help him.

He much p...

Chapter 35: Card Anchor

Second of two chapters today. 

The day after Arthur was paid his first Uncommon card shard was a break day.

These came once every six days, with the seventh being a day of rest. However, for those with lower positions — such as Arthur – he was usually required to work them anyway, even though he got a break from classes.

But Horatio had surprised him and had offered to take his usual shift to help bake bread loaves. He had assi...

Chapter 34: Work Hard, Earn Cards

Turns out I found a natural stopping point with the chapter after all. This is the first of two today.

Arthur recoiled in horror, hand halfway up to his heart even though he didn’t keep his Rare card there anymore. It was pure reflex and the bruised spot where he’d taken it from his heart throbbed.

“I don’t want your card, what do you take me for?” Horatio snapped.

Arthur glared up at him. “People have tried before.”

Horatio’...

Longer Chapter Friday

Two things real quick:

Today's chapter grew long with no natural stopping point so an extra chunky one will be posted tomorrow. 

Beyond that, I've edited the previous chapter to include the text. Whomever is uploading the raw text not only ignored my public request (they actually included it in their uploads) but uploaded the files as well. So I'm not doing any extra steps or risking sacrificing your reader experience. 

This is the last I'll probably say publicly o...

Chapter 33: A Rare Deal

By all rights, Arthur should have woken up at the morning bell dead with exhaustion.

Instead, it was as if his limbs were charged with bits of lightning. What he had seen last night — real demonstrations of what cards were capable of — had set his mind ablaze with possibilities.

He wanted a card that worked like that, but even more… He wanted to find out what his own card could be capable of. The wonders he’d seen came from Uncommon cards. He had a Legendary. 2022-08-04 04:54:54 +0000 UTC View Post

An Appeal To The Person Pirating My Work

Recently the text of locked chapters have appeared on a site. As this is the only place where they have been posted, it's one of my subscribers. 

This puts me in devastating jeopardy for me because instead of an epub floating around The Pirate Bay or whatever, it's searchable raw text that Amazon crawlers WILL find.

I've filed a DMCA notice to the website and the host but as they're a pirate site I might have to go with Adult Legal Action.

Before I do that, I w...

32. Card Anchor

"In the red corner,” said the announcer. “Shawna Shadow Sorceress.”

The crowd cheered and Shawna turned and waved. As she did, Arthur noticed she held a stick in her hand about a foot long with a painted red end on it. This must be the marker Horatio talked about.

“And in the blue corner, we have the Master of Multiplication!”

The man on the other end was a little harder to see due to distance. However, as the crowd cheered he took off his top hat and bowed to them...

31. Red Vs. Blue

Straightening, Arthur lowered his hand from the bandage under his shirt. Hopefully, Horatio would think he had been going for a belt knife instead.

“What are you doing here?” he asked, though he already knew. “You were following me?”

Far from looking guilty, Horatio rolled his eyes. “I wanted to see if perfect Arthur knew his way around the town like everything else.”

Perfect Arthur? His eyebrows knit together, and he opened his mouth to reply.

Hor...

30. Out On The Town

Arthur chewed over what Horatio had said for the rest of the evening. So much so that he chopped the pile of onions roughly, so that Chef told him to throw those in an onion soup and start again -- and do it right this time.

Grumbling to himself, he did. But he couldn't keep down his spinning thoughts.

It was obvious to anyone who had eyes that everyone from headmaster Freyja to the teachers wanted their students to be carded. A carded person was healthier and more productive. He'...

29. Annoying Roommate

I know I'm behind one chapter. This chapter had no natural break and is twice as long as normal, thus the delay.

Soon, Arthur’s days at the Wolf Moon Hive fell into a pattern.

Most of his days went like this.

He would awake at the sound of the breakfast bell being rung. It was a huge metal cylinder that hung at the entrance between the lobby and the communal dining room. The kids who were too young for work duty outside the orphana...

28. Cook

Arthur had expected to see something like the community kitchens back in his village. Thinking of old Yuma and how she sat on her stool and threatened kids with her wooden spoon gave him a pang of homesickness.

Instead, Freya led him down three winding blocks and turned sharply. Arthur found himself standing in front of a business labeled, “Salt and Spoon”.

“It’s an inn?” he asked, hesitantly.

“It’s a restaurant,” she said, “And despite all appea...

27. Orphanage

Arthur stopped in shock in front of the building. His feet planted to the ground in horror.

After they got the last of the evacuees sorted out, Magda had led him through the city, where finally, they had come to this stop.

He hadn't actively practiced his reading skills, but he had gained a level though necessity by reading unfamiliar signage while in new towns.

This was a word he had seen several times before, emblazoned on a wooden archway that led into a small courtyard.<...

26. Hook, Line, and Sinker

Arthur slept in hours past dawn which was unusual for him. Red had started his days early, even if the rest of the caravan would prefer to sleep off the wine and ale from the night before. That had meant Arthur did too.

But when he opened his eyes, it was to find people shuffling around the tent, and half of the bed left empty with rumpled bedding.

Maybe it had been — what had Magda called it? Spatial sickness? — because his mind felt much clearer than before.

He was in ...