Silverdawn

Unclassed - 21

“What would you have me answer?” Naska asked.

Vulrak hummed as he thought over her question.

“Introductions would be a good start. I know your names. But I’d prefer you state them, alongside your classes.”

“Naska Argyle, Accountant.”

My eyes widened at how plainly she’d said that. I’d...

Unclassed - 20

The following day I woke up to the smell of something incredible. I hadn’t smelled food so good in months. Not since I used to walk past the markets in some of the wealthier districts where chefs would be hard at work serving a full line of lunchtime customers.

Honestly, it smelled so good that it took multiple breath...

Unclassed - 19

Maisie wasn’t a great fighter. The two guys coming at her would quite easily have beaten the living daylights out of her if Jackal hadn’t ran straight into their path.

She watched as the beastkin bit down on one of their shoulders, blood spraying in a fountain, a scream hitting the cave’s ceiling as Jackal was pun...

Unclassed - 18

“Okay, guys. This is Eric.”

“Hi guys!” Eric gave a big wave, his brown hair tussling.

My group took a long look at Eric, then at me, all of them looking some level of perplexed.

“This is the guy that’s training us?” Ceri asked.

“He looks like a puppy,” Jackal added.

“...

Unclassed - 17

Toar couldn’t believe his ears as he listened to the younger boy standing before him.

They were a member of Naska’s group—that demon girl. They’d arrived at camp holding out a letter for him to read, saying the matter was ‘sensitive’. 

Everyone had stirred and reacted at the sudden disruption, Cer...

Unclassed - 16

My core, which moments ago had been akin to a burning star, was finally quieting to a gentle dim glow. The storm that raged within me settled, the power that had been rocketing through me moments before stilling like a gentle tide.

I looked within myself. Felt calm envelop my being.

Then a screen flashed up in fro...

Unclassed - 15

“Adam, you’re on your own again today,” Toar said, handing me a piece of paper. “Here’s a map to where you’re working, and a list of what you’re looking for. Tell me if any of it’s confusing.”

It wasn’t lost on me that Toar was calling me by my actual name. Anything to keep up appearances, it seemed....

Unclassed - 14

“What the hell happened to you?” Toar asked as I stumbled back to camp, covered in a fresh array of bruises.

“As if you don’t know,” I grunted, setting myself down on a log.

Everyone was staring at me. Clearly I looked even worse than I felt. I imagined my face was pretty bloody.

“Seriously, what...

Unclassed - 13

Punching rocks was painful. 

I mean, yeah, I’d tried shadow boxing at first, but after half an hour my arms barely felt tired. I didn’t feel as if I was getting anything useful out of it. I was used to having a punching bag.

And nothing in my [Hoard] seemed to serve as one. There were rags, rocks, empty b...

Unclassed - 12

I ran as fast as I could without allowing myself to stumble. The cave was dark, and a single misstep would be perilous.

Behind me, a massive spider with shiny steel pincers gave relentless chase. It was about as tall as a horse, its body twice as wide. When you added the span of its legs, the monster became gargantuan.<...

Unclassed - 11

“Target identified.”

Exploration was quickly cut short as projectiles struck my chest.

I fell, clutching at myself as breath fled my lungs, torso crumpling as I attempted to scramble behind a large crate.

I’d barely made it a few paces into the terrifying, wondrous facility ahead before two mounted gun...

Unclassed - 10

I couldn’t believe how stupid I was.

Stupid. Stupid stupid stupid.

I huffed a shallow breath through my unfiltered mask as I replayed every exchange I’d had with Toar until now.

He’d always known about my signing bonus. That was why he took an interest in me. It’s why he brought me down here.

I...

Unclassed - 9

“Tell me about the underground.”

The three of us left two minutes ago, and only now was I choosing to break the silence. If I needed an excuse to back out, now was the time.

“I was wondering if you were gonna ask,” Toar mused from up front. He glanced back at me as he spoke. 

“About fifty feet...

Unclassed - 8

I am a dragon.

Toar Halfshade affirmed those words to himself so often that he almost believed them.

A half-leopard, half-tiger beastkin born under the bloodline of a deer… there was a lot in Toar’s composition that he couldn’t rightly make sense of.

His mother had married into a clan of tiger...

Unclassed - 7

My stunt with the grenade had earned me, in Tattia’s words, ‘the most lucrative contract she’d ever given out’. 

I frowned as I picked at a tough piece of steak with my fingers. They’d given me a knife and fork, but right now, I didn’t have the patience. I bit and tore into the meat like I hadn’t eate...

Mana Devourer/HHS - Book 2, Ch. 6

“You really wanna go back down there?”

Markus had found Abrah not long after retrieving his weapon. The imp was in the middle of scrubbing a large pot when Markus had pulled him away from his duties, which he didn’t seem all too fussed about despite his loud protests at the time. Luckily, Markus had remembered his...

Mana Devourer/HHS - Book 2, Ch. 5

Waking Cyrus was a surprisingly difficult task. He’d have imagined that rousing the orc would be a simple matter considering the life of battle he’d had, and yet Markus had to call his name at least ten times to make him so much as stir a little.

“You’re really enjoying that new bed, huh?” Markus chuc...

Mana Devourer/HHS - Book 2, Ch. 4

Markus couldn’t remember the last time he’d genuinely tried to do push ups. He almost expected to do ten and then feel his arms start shaking, but it seemed he’d underestimated just how much raw improvement his body had been through in all the time he’d spent both dumping stat points and fighting for his life over and...

Mana Devourer/HHS - Book 2 Ch 3

“Markus?”

Markus barely heard his name being called. He shifted to look ahead, dropping the mostly unfrozen rag in his hand and finally acknowledging the voice tapping against his brain.

He looked down at Lexi, who might’ve been stood there calling his name for a good few seconds. Markus wasn’t sure.

Mana Devourer/HHS - Book 2 Ch. 2

Negotiating with Randall was much less daunting than Markus would’ve anticipated. He really was willing to offer a ton, and for Markus, it was more the matter of trying to narrow Randall down to things Markus could specifically use than try to get him to increase his offer.

The first thing Markus and Randall ...

Mana Devourer/HHS - Book 2, Ch 1

“Let’s say I agree to this,” Markus started, eyeing Randall intensely. 

He watched as Randall’s eyes shifted so suddenly, as his body lurched so violently against his seat that he seemed to have been struck by lightning.

Yeah, that got your attention… you want this so badly. I could ask...