Well, it's time for Erik to show something of what he's learned... ----- Chapter 16. "We're running out of time, I think." Iris nodded, surveying the training area with eyes that seemed to look far beyond the walls of the castle. "You have come far, and your words have convinced me that you do have some plan. In a week or two, perhaps, no more. Have you decided on what you will do when you leave?" "I'm pretty sure what I need to do. I have to cross the Deadly Desert alone, and even as a [ Continue reading... ]
Polychrome: Chapter 15
September 26, 2014 By Leave a Comment
As Uncle would say, "Research is IMPORTANT!" ----- Chapter 15. "… and these notes were written by the Wizard himself, not all that long before Oz fell." She placed the thick sheaf of parchment on top of the least-wobbly stack next to Erik. The mortal could-be-Hero nodded absently, absorbed in sketching some sort of diagram or chart which, she could see, had already been re-sketched, modified, parts scribbled out and redrawn, with dozens of little notations that she couldn't really [ Continue reading... ]
Polychrome: Chapter 14
September 19, 2014 By Leave a Comment
Time for the good guys to start moving their plans forward a bit... ----- Chapter 14. I sat down at the small table; this time it was just me, Iris Mirabilis, Nimbus, and Polychrome. "So… what's on the agenda today?" I said after a pause. "Nimbus tells me that you have… made considerable progress." The Lord of Rainbows' tone showed that there were still reservations in that assessment. "While we have many concerns, it is clear now that you have the potential and the will needed, and that – [ Continue reading... ]
Polychrome: Chapter 13
September 12, 2014 By Leave a Comment
Let's see how our Heroine views the Hero's progress thus far... ----- Chapter 13. Polychrome watched from the doorway as the group of Guards prepared for training combat. She knew that Nimbus and her father were deeply worried; Erik had the intellectual and, somewhat surprisingly, physical potential to be a good, perhaps even better than good, warrior, but when it came down to actual fighting, sparring with the men, the closest thing to real combat they could manage to give him… he [ Continue reading... ]
Polychrome: Chapter 12
September 5, 2014 By Leave a Comment
If we have Heroes, we must also have Villains, and don't they deserve a bit of screen time? ----- Chapter 12. "A True Mortal! That little conniving snip of a Faerie and her father have brought over a True Mortal!" The sky darkened above the Gray Castle as Queen Amanita clenched her fist and muttered a phrase in a language so dark that even Ugu winced. He could understand Amanita's fear; as a Giantess in her origin, she was vastly more bound to Faerie than even he, for the Herkus were mostly [ Continue reading... ]
Polychrome: Chapter 11
August 29, 2014 By Leave a Comment
Our Hero's got a long way to go before he's ready to go hero-ing... ----- Chapter 11. Three blows hammered against my sword, trying to deflect it from its path, and just about succeeding; instead of smashing directly into the Storm Legionnaire currently trying to take my head off, the massive blade glanced off his scaled mail. Even so, the impact was enough to send him spinning away like a pinball. Two more figures were streaking in from both sides, and this guy had delayed me just a [ Continue reading... ]
Polychrome: Chapter 10
August 22, 2014 By Leave a Comment
Well, Our Hero needed a bit of training (or maybe more than a bit...) ----- Chapter 10. "So, Captain Thunderstroke –" "Hah!" His laugh was as abrupt as his last name. "Nimbus, please. Or 'sir' when I'm training you. But if the Rainbow Lord has decreed that I, personally, train you, we are equals. Say on, then." I grinned back at him. I was probably going to hate this guy at times during our training, but I kinda liked him already. "How much do you know about the Prophecy? Is [ Continue reading... ]
Polychrome: Chapter 9
August 16, 2014 By Leave a Comment
We were in the middle of a discussion... ----- Chapter 9. For a minute I thought he wasn't going to answer me directly. His storm-violet eyes started to turn away; then they closed, reopened, looked back down at me. "Erik Medon, this is one of the great uncertainties. Your precise fate… lies beyond any prophecy. The prophecy, in fact, ends at the moment you confront our true enemies. And as I have already told you, even the path to that confrontation is fraught with uncertainty. Die you may, and [ Continue reading... ]
Polychrome: Chapter 8
August 8, 2014 By Leave a Comment
And now we return to see what happened to our hero... Chapter 8. He gazed tensely at the smoke and dust before him. The detonation had been even greater than he had expected, a blast that had cracked the nearest columns and left a choking cloud obscuring the area of impact entirely. Have I ended it even as it began? Or… A figure was becoming visible. The smoke suddenly cleared, and his gaze was caught and held by ice-blue eyes, filled with anger and shock, staring furiously from a salt-white face. The [ Continue reading... ]
Polychrome: Chapter 7 and First Vision
August 1, 2014 By Leave a Comment
It's time for a point of view we haven't seen for quite a while... since the beginning, in fact... and then one we will see short pieces of a few more times... Chapter 7. He looked up from the stone he was polishing as the Tempest swirled into the room. "You bring news?" The bound storm-spirit bowed low before Ugu, and in a thin shrieking voice reported its observations. As he listened, Ugu felt his face tightening, already thin lips thinning. And so it has begun. Once the Tempest had concluded, [ Continue reading... ]
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