I got out of the chair, too late to chase after Varrow.
“I’m not working for Versalicci!” I protested as he neared the window. “I’m here on my own business.”
To my relief, he did not leap through the window. To my dismay, he pulled a saber from a wooden umbrella stand. A pockmarked and rusted thi...
2024-07-29 16:00:10 +0000 UTC View PostI shrugged at Versalicci’s comments. “Truth be told, even if it wasn’t suicide for myself trying to hammer through that…well, the Duke certainly made it easier by melting the middle. But it’s only a useful bluff while we’re in this room.”
“So, an empty bluff, then?”
I put a hand on the quarts. He...
2024-07-26 16:00:21 +0000 UTC View PostMy chisel cut into stone, slicing through the quartz with difficulty as I tapped it slightly with the hammer. Bits of the crystal flaked as the diamond head of the chisel carved out a curving path, forming the basis for the circle.
The stone room I was in had an entire sheet of crystal covering the floor and little else...
2024-07-24 16:00:19 +0000 UTC View PostMelissa froze, her expression of smug satisfaction immediately turning to fear. The color drained out of her, leaving her nearly as white as a human. Her eyes flickered between my face and Versalicci. Comparing structures and details. Making connections. Sure, half of my ancestry came a few thousand miles away from his, but w...
2024-07-22 16:00:16 +0000 UTC View PostMoving into the house didn’t take long.
The house I was currently in, not the one down the street which was also there’s but served as a way to keep attention off of themselves. There was a tunnel linking the two, which meant dedicated observers had puzzled something out by now.
Then again, not everyone ...
2024-07-19 16:00:21 +0000 UTC View PostIt was afternoon by the time I’d woken up, and not on the same day as I’d swallowed the sedative.
I’d gotten dressed and tried to get used to being in my old body once again. Missing the door knob when trying to open the door and the number of times a hoof had hit something told me it would not be fast. Hopefully,...
2024-07-17 16:00:12 +0000 UTC View PostI stumbled through the Infernal Quarter bleeding more than just blood.
The constructed illusion I’d woven around myself was fading fast, getting pumped out at about the same rate as I actually bled.
I’d stopped to change the illusion to an Infernal man of above-average height and a green shade of skin, and to ...
2024-07-15 16:00:12 +0000 UTC View PostSimultaneously feeling internal relief while puppeteering my face for a subtle expression of fear was quite the trick.
I spat and cursed their names and made a lunge for Voltar that saw me clubbed to the ground with the butts of muskets. It wasn’t an inspired performance, but I might as well do all I could to mask the...
2024-07-12 16:00:13 +0000 UTC View PostThe carriage jolted as it turned corners, the sudden movement throwing me off balance.
Normally I’d be able to tell it was coming and brace myself, even at the speeds we were traveling. Normally.
My head hit the wood of the carriage’s side, cushioned only by the burlap sack that had been shoved over my head. D...
2024-07-10 16:00:10 +0000 UTC View PostJust as a note, the previous chapter did not include the original last line for reasons I’m unable to determine. I’ve since edited it in, but we’ll also be opening this chapter on the same line for anyone who read it before I made that edit. Apologies for the misunderstanding.
I grinned as they halted out...
2024-07-08 16:00:11 +0000 UTC View PostWell, this was a conundrum.
My metal-thread-wearing intruder was moving into the warehouse with a lantern in hand. Given the organization of the shelves from the route he was taking, I could either leave now or stay and see if I could get some answers out of him.
I crept around the corner, following behind h...
2024-07-05 16:00:14 +0000 UTC View PostIt was never advisable to walk the docks of Garretsville at night.
This district had started well outside the city’s limits, a thousand years ago, but as the city had grown it had swallowed the port town. It’d kept its independent spirit thought, which as time went on meant it’d become a favorite for smugglers. 2024-07-03 16:00:13 +0000 UTC View Post
It was never easy to walk the rooftops. It meant was walking across one roof, climbing down, and then finding a way onto the next roof. Heavens and Hells help you if that next roof had tiles or anything else that could break and make noise. When people were walking effortlessly across roofs, it usually meant magic was involve...
2024-07-01 16:00:17 +0000 UTC View PostIt didn’t take long for Liu Xang to talk the nurses into letting me visit with him. Being a distant descendant of a Companion of the Shining Princess came with some perks, even after this many generations removed. The name had the weight to get the foot in the door, and both politeness and being human were enough to carry h...
2024-06-28 16:00:11 +0000 UTC View PostI needed to come back here and steal this bed.
My apartment’s bed had hardly been the worst place I’d slept, indeed an improvement over the gutter, the street, or even coffin beds, all of which I’d endured over my years in the Quarter. But this bed was to my apartment’s bed what the apartment’s bed had been to...
2024-06-26 16:00:10 +0000 UTC View Post“No,” I whispered, turning away from the sight. My tongue slipped out unconsciously, licking some of the arterial spray off of my face. I bit down into it, holding it in place before it could slip inside. I winced, tasting copper as my teeth sank in to hold the possessed appendage in place.
How much do y...
2024-06-24 16:00:11 +0000 UTC View PostIt took far too much time to return to the Infernal Quarter. I hadn’t asked about a carriage to take me back, simply retrieved my belongings and started my journey on foot. Going on foot meant a long trip hoping no one paid too much attention to me or felt tempted to try and steal the small bag of my belongings slung across...
2024-06-21 16:00:12 +0000 UTC View PostAfter I’d returned from her heir and delivered my report, Lady Karsin insisted I stay for at least a cup of tea, which I didn’t turn down. After all the chaos of today, it was barely afternoon. A moment to relax seemed well deserved.
Unfortunately, it seemed one of the topics of conversation had been myself.
...
2024-06-19 16:00:06 +0000 UTC View PostThe walk through the interior gardens of the estate was enjoyable, if brief. Lady Karsin’s servants took us through the gate and guided us along a path towards the back of the estate, trees and bushes of varying kinds forming a wall blocking sight from the main entrance.
I wondered how many visitors to the estates rea...
2024-06-17 16:00:10 +0000 UTC View PostThey’d had a carriage waiting for me, which had drawn enough onlookers pulling out onto the street had been an issue.
“I’m going to have no peace for the next few months, perhaps even years,” I observed as the carriage tried to make its way through the district. “You’re aware there’s a march of…pro...
2024-06-14 16:00:18 +0000 UTC View PostThe stairs creaked beneath my feet, some of them shifting under my weight. The half-hearted thought of seeing these fixed rose up again. There was no real chance of them ever being fixed. I didn’t have the time or money, the landlady could not care less about maintenance, and my fellow tenants didn’t consider it something...
2024-06-12 16:00:10 +0000 UTC View PostKalasyp was going to be furious.
It’s all that echoed in my mind as I walked the street. It shouldn’t. On the list of things that had gone wrong, not fulfilling my word to Kalasyp was far, far down.
Could he blame me? It’s not like I’d planned this morning to be banned from the guild and the underground se...
2024-06-10 16:00:15 +0000 UTC View PostI didn’t try running. Helvek had spotted me already and made swift progress to where I stood. All running would do is delay this and antagonize him and Almaseck. Not something I could afford to do, nor want to do. No matter how much this delayed me, I was on decent terms with both of them.
As Helvek neared I could mak...
2024-06-07 16:00:10 +0000 UTC View PostAll around me, the dwarf settlement extended up and down along the cavern's walls.
I’d been in a few dwarf-built settlements underground before and each tended to differ depending on where they’d carved out their settlements. When you have an existing natural cavern like here? They took the route that required the ...
2024-06-05 16:00:14 +0000 UTC View PostI really needed to stop going into dark places.
I did have a lamp with me this time, a candle burning at the center and providing some light. Not as much as I’d prefer. The darkness ahead shifted as I pushed forward, shadows dancing along the tunnel walls.
I walked along a rough stone path, maneuvering carefully...
2024-06-03 16:00:18 +0000 UTC View PostI resisted the urge to curse. Not only would it not do anything, but the assortment of thugs before me and Tolman might think it referred to them.
It did, but provoking them wouldn’t do any good.
Five people stood outside the entrance, maybe a dozen feet away. Most of them wouldn’t look out of place on the str...
2024-05-31 16:00:15 +0000 UTC View PostMy testing closet lay utterly empty except for a small pile of dockworkers' clothes. I stared down at them. I….the door had been locked. I leaned down, lifting the clothes up, searching through them as if I could find them hiding among them. The door had been locked!
I found nothing besides the piece of paper, which h...
2024-05-29 16:00:04 +0000 UTC View PostSilence reigned as those words left my lips. I looked at Voltar, but his expression still refused to shift.
The poison was called Angel’s Sorrow for a reason. It didn’t need to be an angel, but it required a divine creature to shed its tears. The concentrated sorrow of such an entity was powerful enough to hurt the ...
2024-05-27 16:00:07 +0000 UTC View Post“Shit,” was Zarrow’s only remark. His eyes flitted towards the doorway, trying to find a way out without touching Voltar.
The detective watched in mild amusement as my patient tried to move as far away as the chair would allow. I had no idea where these two had crossed paths, but Zarrow clearly better appreciated ...
2024-05-24 16:00:08 +0000 UTC View PostThe following day began with tea.
I stared at my small teapot, focusing on counting the seconds. It helped distract me from the pounding also on the inside of my head.
I’d come here after waiting outside my lab for half an hour. Making sure that the intruder didn’t just have a key to all my locks, or the tools...
2024-05-22 16:00:12 +0000 UTC View Post
