Maiya had dreamed of this moment for months. When she fled her cult prison and returned to civilization. To normalcy. To safety.
Playing the role of an undercover agent had placed far more stress on her than she could’ve imagined, to say nothing of the assassination attempts.
Yes, attempts—th...
2023-12-13 17:17:19 +0000 UTC View Post“I can! I just can’t!” Maiya guffawed. Her face, while not perfectly projected through the communication orb, was more than sufficient to convey her emotions. “I mean, Demon God Vaak!? ...
2023-12-10 19:16:24 +0000 UTC View PostVir had several reasons for wanting to fight this band of Chitran soldiers. At the moment, it was the thrill of a fight that interested him most. What tattoos would he get to see? What bloodline arts? What techniques?
He didn’t have to wait long to find out.
The first attack was swift, but it was ne...
2023-12-10 19:14:59 +0000 UTC View PostVir’s jet black cloak fluttered gently in the breeze. Samar Patag wasn’t a windy city, but the Gargan Sea provided a constant, refreshing wind that moderated the sweltering humidity. It helped to reduce his sweat. Sweat that could ruin his face paint if he wasn’t careful.
Vir was currently crouched at...
2023-12-07 18:36:29 +0000 UTC View Post“This mistreatment. This poverty… Is there truly nothing that can be done?” Vir asked. He paced around the orphanage classroom, which was currently devoid of children.
“I’ve been doing my best since the war,” Janani said, biting her lip. “If there was even a sliver of hope, believe me, I’d h...
2023-12-06 18:02:11 +0000 UTC View PostBolin moved forward, bravely shielding the other children from Svar and his gang. As the oldest, he wore the shoes of the orphans’ leader, and in Vir’s eyes, he filled them well.
A few other boys and a couple of girls crowded around him, facing off against the bullies. The orphans had the advantage of n...
2023-12-05 17:11:19 +0000 UTC View Post“That will be all for the day,” Janani announced. “Class is dismissed!”
A round of aww’s and no fair’s resounded through the room.
Some of the children rushed out of the room, talking animatedly. Others stayed, clustering into groups and stealing glances at Vir. There was...
2023-12-04 18:20:28 +0000 UTC View PostVir left Greesha’s temple with a torrent of emotions welling inside him. There had been so much more to say, but the time wasn’t right. Vir hadn’t even broached the topic of Greesha’s prophecy of his birth, and wasn’t sure when he would. He was afraid that if he had, he couldn’t have restrained his pe...
2023-11-30 17:54:23 +0000 UTC View Post“Well?” Greesha said once they’d arrived at her place of work. Resembling a miniature temple with pointed roofs, it was nestled in between other large, three-story structures. As if it’d been there first, and everything else had been built around it.
The temple was in a far nicer part of to...
2023-11-29 18:49:22 +0000 UTC View PostSo, how should I play this? Vir thought, facing down the three Chitran guards. The captain was notably not taking part, choosing instead to oversee this duel. No doubt he expected this to be a beat-down.
Each fighter wore the same armor—a small, tight gambeson cuirass under chainmail that covered...
2023-11-28 18:28:19 +0000 UTC View PostFrom the shadows, Vir spotted many exits. He saw the insides of shacks, dark alleys, and plenty of exits along the wall.
In all of them, the common theme was squalor. A disturbing thought crossed his mind. He’d either entered a slum, or the entire city was this way. He prayed to all the gods that it wasn...
2023-11-27 18:24:44 +0000 UTC View Post“Are you serious?” Maiya said. “It’s been that long already!?”
Two hours had passed in the blink of an eye as Vir and Maiya chatted, and soon the sun was setting in Maiya’s Realm.
As much as Vir wanted to stay up long into the ‘night’, M...
2023-11-21 19:51:30 +0000 UTC View PostAfter handing Cirayus a handful of loaves of stale bread—which Vir felt was already straining Sani’s means—Vir set out on the road to Samar Patag with her two children and their communal Ash’va.
Darsh was the boy who’d fetched all the bread. He was a hardworking kid, and reminded Vir of hims...
2023-11-20 18:13:15 +0000 UTC View Post“And after that, I ended up helping her wash her laundry. You won’t believe the conditions people live in here—”
“Vir, you’re breaking up,” Maiya’s image distorted, then cut out entirely. “I think you need… recharge… orb.”
“Grak it!” Vir cursed, unwilling for their conversati...
2023-11-16 18:14:23 +0000 UTC View PostI hate my life. Oh gods, I hate my life.
As so often happened lately, Maiya found herself wondering just how much Fate hated her for her life to end up this way. The past week had been some of the most trying of her life, full of blood rituals, ceremonia...
2023-11-15 18:00:17 +0000 UTC View PostWho split my head open with an ax? Maiya thought groggily as she blearily opened her eyes. And what’s with the smell?
She looked around, unable to make any sense of her surroundings. People surrounded her. Lots of them. All jeering.
What did I ever do to you?
Her wri...
2023-11-14 18:17:04 +0000 UTC View Post“What do you think you’re doing?” Yamal cried. “She’s still alive, gods dammit!”
The Rector regarded him with as much affection as one would give a pile of trash.
“Our god has spoken. The Great Swarm has forsaken her.”
“Just hand her over to us, alright?” Yamal pleaded. “Pl...
2023-11-13 18:17:02 +0000 UTC View Post“Still,” Sani—the middle-aged mother who’d welcomed Vir into her home—said with a chuckle. “Must say I’m surprised. Warrior Callings aren’t usually so helpful with chores. Or at least, don’t let others see you doing chores.”
The woman had assumed Vir was of the Warrior Calling, and had p...
2023-11-09 18:06:24 +0000 UTC View Post“Maiya? Maiya can you hear me? Please, say something!” Vir said for what must have been the hundredth time.
“Might be these orbs don’t function across realms, lad,” Cirayus said, resting a hand upon Vir...
2023-11-08 18:23:58 +0000 UTC View PostWe’ve made a terrible mistake.
Vir raged at the gods—at Adinat, at Janak, at Badrak, Chala, Vera, and especially Yuma—for cursing them with such terrible luck.
He hadn’t even had the chance to bemoan the muggy air, and the utter lack of prana in the area, or to appreciate the...
2023-11-07 18:48:55 +0000 UTC View PostThe dark cave that had only recently been the final domain lord’s lair seemed a...
2023-11-06 18:14:29 +0000 UTC View PostVir walked around the room in a daze, mind reeling from all that had just occurred. The world with the floating islands, Ekanai, Maiya… they’d all disappeared. Had it all just been a dream?
Vir’s Artifact Chakram lay on the ground nearby, but the orb that had contained Maiya’s soul was nowhere to be found.
NOTE: I'll be without internet connectivity the next several days, so here are Monday's and Tuesday's chapters. Next chapter will be Wednesday.
Greesha appeared as a white essence, semi translucent. She did not look pleased to be here.
“You’re like a cockroach, Cirayus. I see you survived the Ash,...
2023-11-01 17:57:33 +0000 UTC View PostVir left his cave the same way he’d arrived—through the shadows. Why Ekanai hadn’t pursued him, he couldn’t say.
All he knew was that he had 2023-10-31 18:08:21 +0000 UTC View Post
A torrent of emotions assaulted Vir as his predecessor stepped through the Ash Gate into the City of the Gods. Emotions that stemmed as much from Ekanai as it did from himself.
From Ekanai, Vir felt the elation one can only feel after having finally taken the last step of a decades-long journey, along with ...
2023-10-30 18:13:24 +0000 UTC View PostVir found himself sitting on a stone bench. A long hearth fire burned a few paces away, its smoke rising to a circular hole cut in the top of the thatched yurt. The warm glow filled the dwelling with a sense of peace and security, something so foreign that Vir had nearly forgotten what it felt like.
A p...
2023-10-26 17:56:17 +0000 UTC View PostNOTE: Start of a four parter to finish Arc 5! Will want to hear all of your thoughts once we're done! :D
Pure, unbridled fury burned Vir’s veins as if they were on fire.
Vir’s leg may have been broken, but in that moment, nothing could stop him from chasing Ekanai into the Shadow Realm. 2023-10-25 18:10:23 +0000 UTC View Post
Cirayus found himself amid pandemonium. Fires raged. Buildings burned, and demons screamed.
Some fled from their homes, on fire. Others knelt beside loved ones, mourning. The sky was blood red, as if mirroring the terrible destruction.
Cirayus knew this place. He knew it so well, he could even place t...
2023-10-24 18:16:54 +0000 UTC View PostVir didn’t wait for Ekanai to finish his speech. Blinking to the demon, he unleashed a Katar Launch at point-blank range. The disc of pure black prana blazed out, so thick it was visible. Ekanai was far too close to dodge.
Then a raging torrent of Ash prana flowed into the demon’s ches...
2023-10-23 18:13:32 +0000 UTC View Post
