Ingram and his friends were in real trouble... ----- Chapter 9. Ingram blinked his way slowly back to consciousness into a blurred world filled with a vaguely underwater green. The dim green light, he finally realized, was from sunlight filtering through the innumerable leaves of the Forest Sea. Having made that determination, and finding his mind starting to gain some coherence, he blinked again and forced himself to focus. He was sitting up, bound to and against something. From the feel – without raising his head – it felt like [ Continue reading... ]
GODSWAR: The Mask of Ares, Chapter 8
May 22, 2020 By Leave a Comment
Victoria's arriving home... a little bit too late for the excitement... ----- Chapter 8. Myrionar's Balance I am tired. Victoria sighed, shaking her head, as she let Chirrup trot towards home. The bird made soft noises in anticipation of arriving at its paddock, where there would be fresh greens and comfortable hay to lie in. Victoria was looking forward to getting home too, but she doubted she'd be sleeping easily. It was, if anything, worse than she had imagined. It was, of course, bad enough – incomprehensibly bad [ Continue reading... ]
GODSWAR: The Mask of Ares, Chapter 7
May 20, 2020 By Leave a Comment
Quester and Ingram were now on their way... ----- Chapter 7. How much longer do you wish to continue tonight? Quester asked. Ingram shrugged. I was thinking of pushing through until tomorrow night, then rest. It gets us a good push forward and back onto a normal schedule. Unless you don't feel up to it? I was designed to continue for days, if necessary. If you think you can handle it, little human, by all means, let us keep going until night again falls. Someday we'll find out which one of us would actually fall [ Continue reading... ]
GODSWAR: The Mask of Ares, Chapter 6
May 18, 2020 By 2 Comments
Ingram and Quester had gotten an urgent message... ------ Chapter 6. Urelle watched from her darkened window as the two passed out of the gate, her heart beating twice, three times its normal speed. Ingram and Quester are leaving! She'd heard a lot of their discussion; enough to make her eyes sting at what had happened to Ingram, why he'd run away, and to be worried very much about what danger he was heading into. Quester was obviously worried too. But they'll need my help! That, another part of her mind told her, is one [ Continue reading... ]
GODSWAR: Chapter 5
May 15, 2020 By 4 Comments
A terrible thing had happened in the capital, and Victoria was away... ----- Chapter 5. The night felt … tense, was the best way Ingram could put it. Here, several miles from Zarathanton itself, there was little light other than that of the stars and what spilled out from the windows of the sprawling mansion. And with nearly everyone asleep, there were few lights within. Even as he glanced back at the house, he saw another window go dark. Embrae, the Master of House, he thought. The taciturn woman had been hired only a [ Continue reading... ]
GODSWAR: The Mask of Ares, Chapter 4
May 13, 2020 By Leave a Comment
Urelle was back home and everything was fine... ----- Chapter 4. Quester leapt, evading the streak of bladed energy that burned waist-high through the air. But even as he did, Urelle's hand reached, formed a claw, and the very air stretched, as though she had grasped its substance like a rippling sheet and pulled. A blast of air caught him in mid-jump, tore at his wings and body, tipped him over. He did not land with his usual grace, but tumbled like a human who had tripped over an unexpected branch; the impact caused [ Continue reading... ]
GODSWAR: The Mask of Ares, Chapter 3
May 11, 2020 By Leave a Comment
For every set of heroes, we need a villain... ----- Chapter 3. "I will be meditating in my chambers," Ares said to Phobos. "Please, no interruptions unless it is a matter of life and death." Or it will surely become one, he thought as Phobos bowed deeply to him. Ares – or, now that he was in private, he who had taken Ares for himself – barred the door, both with physical bolts and a touch of godspower. Even the new Deimos and Phobos knew very little about what he did when he was "meditating." They were, of course, [ Continue reading... ]
GODSWAR: The Mask of Ares, Chapter 2
May 9, 2020 By 7 Comments
Well, let's face it, Aunt Vicky knows her niece pretty well, so yeah, she's gonna try that thing... ----- Chapter 2. Urelle drifted down through the air, the airwing enchantment fading away. Still, that's brought me almost half a mile from the house. Should be enough. She was still furious, though a part of her – an increasingly annoying part of her – was starting to sound like Auntie Victoria and telling her that this was a really bad idea. Still… "They could have trusted me!" she muttered, as her toes touched down [ Continue reading... ]
GODSWAR: The Mask of Ares, Chapter 1
May 6, 2020 By 2 Comments
After that Prologue, we start the main story -- with some characters that readers of Phoenix Rising may remember! ------- Chapter 1. "Our mission ended some days ago, Ingram." Ingram Camp-Bel kept himself from jumping in startlement only because he was used to Quester managing to surprise him. The seven-foot-tall Iriistiik was incredibly quiet despite size and his insectoid, chitinous armor. "We agreed to stay and help." After almost two years together, Ingram could read Quester's expressions – which combined [ Continue reading... ]
Godswar: The Mask of Ares, Author’s Note and Prologue
May 4, 2020 By 2 Comments
And so today we begin snippeting Godswar: Mask of Ares, the first in a dualogy taking place on the same world as, and essentially in parallel with, the Balanced Sword trilogy! ------- GODSWAR: The Mask of Ares By Ryk E. Spoor AUTHOR'S NOTE: My world of Zarathan is something of a potpourri of all fantasy elements, and some SF ones as well, as readers of the Balanced Sword trilogy know. This is intentional. Few of the elements that look familiar are exactly what they appear to be, and even references to real-world [ Continue reading... ]
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