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Chapter 59 - The Bravado of Man
Chapter 59The Bravado of ManA voice cried out only for a moment before being silenced.A’stul watched emptily as a listless body of a human fell, eyeless, before him, a stirring of shadows soon shaping into a rank of Spryaes. They stared at him expectantly, awaiting praise. But his lips remained mu...
Chapter 58 - Changes
Chapter 58ChangesEthan cringed at the sight.A splayed entrance of a tunnel that was doused in thick layers of fog and miasma stared at him from the screen, taunting. It had happened again–an anomaly.Ronald had informed him in panic as soon as he’d returned, shoving the news into his face before ...
Chapter 57 - Hymns of Death
Chapter 57Hymns of DeathEthan pulled back the crimson blade, revealing a soft, old face that paled almost immediately, drained of blood. Colonel Quincy Jeeves lay dead in his bed next to a woman–likely his wife–who was wholly unaware of what had just transpired. Pulling back, he left the bedroom...
Chapter 56 - Dreaded Dark
Chapter 56Dreaded DarkIt stalked.The dark alleyways were its home, the damp, rancid holes between the buildings filled with trash and things unwanted. It, too, was unwanted. But it could become wanted. It could become anything. And anything it was–inscrutable, ephemeral.“Hey, Julie!” its voice...
Chapter 55 - Crimson Lullaby
Chapter 55Crimson LullabyMichael and James stared flabbergasted at the man standing some twenty feet from them. He was being serious–he was effectively inviting them to kill him just so he could prove some hollow point. Neither came with that intent, not truly–they simply wanted to establish a p...
Chapter 54 - The Tidings
Chapter 54The TidingsMichael put down the phone and, with a deep sigh, leaned back into the chair, his expression sombre and thoughtful.“Any luck?” a voice spoke out from the slightly darkened side where a man in a black suit was standing, his expression equally thoughtful to Michael’s.“Some...
Chapter 53 - Deal With the Devil
Chapter 53Deal With the DevilThe phone rang.Ethan groaned himself out of sleep and reached toward the nightstand, grabbing it. The first thing he noticed was that it was 3 A.M., and the second was the caller–Elijah. Quickly muting the sound, he shuffled out of bed carefully so as to not wake Layla...
Chapter 52 - Necessities
Chapter 52NecessitiesEthan withdrew a blood sword from the guts of a dying zowolf, digging into the creature’s corpse for a moment and taking out a small crystal, putting it into his inventory. Tian had informed him of the roamer that he’d spotted when taking Layla on one of their many excursion...
Chapter 51 - The Games Played
Chapter 51The Games Played“Y-yeah, it’s me,” Elijah spoke softly into the phone that Michael handed him. It was a secured one–though he could have had his men track the number on the other end, for the time being, he elected to play along. “No, they didn’t. Ah-uh. Y-yeah. Okay.” After ...
Chapter 50 - In Blight and Blindness
Chapter 50In Blight and BlindnessAn array of golden light flew forward at blinding speeds, illuminating the dark-thatched forest around it. The barks of the trees shimmered in a faint sheen of aurelian, exposing the worm-like veins pulsating just beneath their obsidian barks. It was a forest full of...
Chapter 49 - Truth Beckons
Chapter 49Truth BeckonsThe heart of mankind ultimately beat good–that was what Elijah always believed. Ever since he was a young little boy and his mom used to take him to work with her, where she drove ‘round town helping random stray animals and answering calls from people in need of a rescuer...
Chapter 48 - The Spinning of Wheels
Chapter 48The Spinning of WheelsEverything was normal–least so far Ethan could tell after skimping over the internet for a while. While there was bombastic news galore, it wasn’t anything he hadn’t already expected to happen. A group of people in Germany, dubbed ‘The First Ones’, regaled t...
Chapter 47 - Mourner's Voice
Chapter 47Mourner’s VoiceEthan, Elijah, and Ronald stood in line just in front of their temporary base when the spacetime in front of them shuddered and, a moment later, a spiraling vortex not unlike the one they walked through appeared. A pillar of white light shot to the sky as Ethan took a step...
Chapter 46 - Songs of Silence
Chapter 46Songs of SilenceThe bounty for clearing the Tunnel was massive. Even Ethan was taken aback when he had the opportunity to glance through the stream of notifications that had flooded his peripheral. The boss dropping 3 items was already on the better end of things, but that wasn’t even th...
Chapter 45 - Memento Mori
Chapter 45Memento MoriRonald didn’t see when it happened–he was too deep in shock, staring with parted lips at the sight that defied reason. He didn’t even notice until she was standing in the growing shadow, her back turned toward him, short hair fluttering just for a moment before she vanish...
Chapter 44 - Hollow Heart Forsaken
Chapter 44Hollow Heart ForsakenA roar erupted into the seamless void of fire–the beast's obsidian fur kindled, sparks of fire like starlight beginning to dance around it. Ethan approached it head-on, a whip of blood sprawling into its full extension and squarely landing against the beast's...
Chapter 43 - Aurion, the Last King
Chapter 43Aurion, the Last KingOf all three types of foes, antelopes, strangely, proved to be the most challenging even for Ethan. It wasn't because they posed any particular danger but because they engaged in fleeing as soon as their Health hit 50%, and they ran really fast. So fast, in fact, t...
Chapter 42 - Song of the Crimson Death
Chapter 42Song of the Crimson DeathEthan escorted Elijah with a strange gaze as the boy sped out of the tent and down the tunnel. In some ways, he was being somewhat impatient with the kids. A few words of reassurance would cost him nothing, but he still held back from committing to them. In part, i...
Chapter 41 - Thus Unbecoming
Chapter 41Thus UnbecomingTara stumbled and fell, her legs giving out, lungs surrendering. She couldn’t move any longer, slinking herself sideways and onto her back, sprawled on the scorching surface beneath. And yet, even the scalding pain of the burning skin couldn’t jostle her. It was impossib...
Chapter 40 - Hell Thus Began
Chapter 40Hell Thus BeganSome six hours into their second hunt, the group, for the first time, ran into a different monster from the lions–it was a six-foot-long constrictor snake, coiled unto itself, seeping strange-looking liquid over its skin. Its hue shifted from blindingly white to cool azure...
Chapter 39 - Matter Over Mind
Chapter 39Matter Over MindThe night—or, at the very least, the Scorching Savanna’s version of the night—descended upon the flat plains. As it did, the four crawled out of the hole in the ground, less than well-rested after having laid down uncomfortably for hours. With the exception of Ethan w...
Chapter 38 - Boiling Alive
Chapter 38Boiling AliveRonald grunted as he heaved himself out of a waist-deep hole, sitting on the edge and quickly taking out a bottle of water. His entire body was aching, his lungs were on fire, but even more importantly, he felt strangely alive. He and Ethan had been digging out a tunnel for al...
Chapter 37 - Scorching Savanna
Chapter 37Scorching SavannaEthan, Tara, Ronald, and Elijah stood about twenty feet from the surging vortex that had evolved over the last ten days. Rather than it being just a spinning swirl that distorted space around it, it was a bulging, vertical tunnel with expanding accretion-like disks project...
