Well, our group's all together and it's time we learned something about what's actually going on here! ----- Chapter 11. Urelle studied Ingram out of the corner of her eye as they walked. He was silent when not talking, and his feet would glide over the forest floor, hardly displacing a single leaf, lifting up and over or around even the smallest branches without, as far as she could tell, even looking at them. Even walking next to him she had to strain to hear the faintest whisper of sound from his passage; she sounded like a [ Continue reading... ]
GODSWAR: The Mask of Ares, Chapter 10
Well, they'd been rescued unexpectedly.... ----- Chapter 10. Quester's perceptions were, he knew, faster than any ordinary human's. Even so, he had not truly been able to follow Lady Vantage's lethal sprint across the clearing; it had been but a confusion of swings and impacts and spraying blood, with the woman herself following a deadly geometry that took her past each of the eight assailants in the time it took to draw a breath. Their rescuer straightened after a moment, lifted her axe, and approached. "Hold still, [ Continue reading... ]
GODSWAR: The Mask of Ares, Chapter 9
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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... ]
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