So our heroes finally get back home... and arrive to a warm welcome! ----- Chapter 23. Ingram gripped his anai-k'ota tighter. "You ready, Urelle?" "Almost." She held up her hands, gazing through a triangle made between them. "Ah! There's the Seal!" "Good," Silvertail said – in his rat form, sitting on the radiantly beautiful Princess Holy Aura's right shoulder. Cold rain did nothing to dim either Ingram's spirits or the glory of the four Apocalypse Maidens. He felt somewhat guilty for staring, but he'd seen Urelle having a [ Continue reading... ]
GODSWAR: The Spear of Athena, Chapter 20
March 11, 2021 By 2 Comments
So, they'd met some new people in an alley... ----- Chapter 20. Victoria spread her hands to indicate that she was no threat; the others copied her. "We are hardly enemies, sir," she said, "Or at least I would hope not, as we have not the least idea of where we are, and have little enough energy left for argument, let alone fighting. My niece," she gestured to Urelle, "is exhausted and in need of rest. Now might I ask who you are, and why we would be in danger?" The man – who appeared to be, now that Victoria got a better [ Continue reading... ]
GODSWAR: The Spear of Athena, Chapter 19
March 9, 2021 By 1 Comment
Our heroes had just left Mick's world... ----- Chapter 19. "By the Mothers, I am absolutely weary of this endless journey to world after world," Quester buzzed, trying to scrunch himself farther under the little overhang of rock that currently protected them from the downpour of chill rain. Lightning flashed in the distance, and a grumble of thunder followed a few seconds later. "We all are, Quester," Victoria snapped. Then she sighed. "My apologies. But yes, I am sure we all are. Yet we have no choice. As I understand it, even [ Continue reading... ]
GODSWAR: The Spear of Athena, Chapter 18
March 5, 2021 By Leave a Comment
Well, they at least had a guide in this place... ---- Chapter 18. "All right, listen up," said Mick. He was now dressed in a leather jerkin, his wand in a holster on one side, a basket-hilted rapier on the other. "If we’re lucky, your Seal, or whatever, is just a little ways inside Elphame, right near the path, and so you can just be on your merry way. Sometimes my luck’s like that. But sometimes it really, really ain’t, and you poppin’ up in my bathroom makes me figure your luck, at least in this world, runs a lot like mine. So [ Continue reading... ]
GODSWAR: The Spear of Athena, Chapter 17
March 3, 2021 By 2 Comments
They're off on a tour of worlds to find a way back to theirs... ------ Chapter 17. "DUCK!" Ingram obeyed Quester instinctively, and the glittering red-razor shards passed through the area his neck had just occupied, severing several strands of his lavender hair. He tumbled forward and dodged sideways, as Quester cast his last javelin. The adorable blonde girl – seemingly younger than Urelle – with the frightening red eyes and glittering crystal-skeleton wings dodged the hard-thrown spear as though it had been a pillow and [ Continue reading... ]
GODSWAR: The Spear of Athena, Chapters 15 and 16
March 1, 2021 By Leave a Comment
Couldn't post the usual on Friday, so today you get two! They finally reach the Seal... and discover what lies on the other side of something that walls off a country even from gods! ------- Chapter 15. Urelle watched as Druyar methodically unlocked the seven different locks sealing shut the immense door that was at the end of the lowest corridor in the Freehold, five levels below the ground, through other locked and guarded doors. The big man very carefully examined each lock, laboriously comparing the symbols on lock with [ Continue reading... ]
GODSWAR: The Spear of Athena, Chapter 14
February 24, 2021 By Leave a Comment
And we haven't seen what Raiagamor has been up to lately... ----- Chapter 14. "We have found them." Raiagamor could not blame Deimos for wearing a self-satisfied expression; it was a great achievement indeed, and especially so given what Deimos had gone through before. "You know where the Camp-Bels went to ground?" "We do. Even once we realized they had survived, they had left many subtle false trails, but one of our scouts finally located them. They are in a very well-hidden and defended redoubt not far from Amoni Agapis, [ Continue reading... ]
GODSWAR: The Spear of Athena, Chapter 13
February 22, 2021 By 2 Comments
They've got a problem, so they're calling in a consultant... ----- Chapter 13. It was not, Victoria admitted to herself, a sufficiently dramatic method of invoking a legend. Urelle simply gazed with full concentration into the Lens, a small girl with her black hair hanging in her face, staring intently at a little crystal object barely larger than her pinky nail. Faint glimmers came from it, so faint that she could not be sure it wasn’t merely reflection from the light-orbs in the room. Then she spoke the single word: [ Continue reading... ]
GODSWAR: The Spear of Athena, Chapter 12
February 19, 2021 By Leave a Comment
So, Urelle had -- just barely -- survived... ----- Chapter 12. "I think," Quester said, trying to balance gentleness and firmness, "it would be good if you could explain what happened yesterday, when you assisted Frederic." Urelle looked up from her bed, and Ingram, who was sitting in a chair nearby, glanced to Quester and Victoria. "What happened yesterday?" she asked. Ingram's brows drew down. "Frederic encountered… difficulty in healing you." The subtle tightness in his voice echoed the fears Quester felt in [ Continue reading... ]
GODSWAR: The Spear of Athena, Chapter 11
February 17, 2021 By Leave a Comment
Urelle was inside the Crucible, and all her friends can do is wait... and hope. ----- Chapter 11. "How long do we wait?" Ingram heard himself demanding again. "As long as we must," Victoria responded from the dimness of the pre-dawn. Even without more light, Ingram could see how exhausted Victoria was, dark circles beneath her eyes, the eyelids heavy, the mouth bracketed with lines of worry and weariness. I look no better, probably. It's been more than two days. Quester was sleeping, at least; he could feel the vagueness [ Continue reading... ]
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