Tag: Magic
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Thief
Kazan studied the door in front of him. It was a standard, digital keypad lock, a type he’d seen numerous times before. Behind him, three other men stood by, shifting their weight anxiously. Inwardly, Kazan smiled to himself while outwardly he tinkered with the fake electronic gear he’d brought along. “Just another few seconds,” he…
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The Fall of Akumu: Chapter 9
“Akumu protect us!” Kasyn shouted as he leapt away from the replacement gate, feeling undead hands clawing at his feet as they reached up from below the ground. More undead were climbing out of the soil in all directions while others stalked out of fields, their gaze locked on Kasyn and his companions. “Get to…
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The Fall of Akumu: Chapter 3
Nowhere was free from crime, not even Akumu’s paradise of Yume. It was just a bit harder to get away with it. That is, unless you knew the right secrets. It was those secrets that brought Zeter to an empty barn on the western side of Autay Wa in the predawn light of morning. The…
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The Fall of Akumu: Chapter 2
Kasyn’s feet were sore and his whole body was weary. They’d been walking for weeks, stopping in each state to gather up the soul tithe on their long march to the capitol. He’d been to Yomichi only one other time and that was when he was a child. His only memories of the visit were…
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Year’s End
(Photo by Adam Lukac) The morning was cold but bright. Small particles of ice crystallized in the air to make a fine, grainy fog. Each tiny crystal caught the sunlight sending sparkles in nearly every direction. Underfoot, the snow crunched like packing foam. Every once in a while, a vole could be spotted darting through…
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Belief Part 3
(Photo by Melissa Mayes) Insef was a somewhat unique world, as far as habitable planets were concerned. Its rotation was such that one side always faced the star it orbited. That sort of orbit tended to make the star-facing side unbearably hot with the back side of the planet perpetually frozen. Insef, however, was far…
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Belief Part 2
The Cyph wasn’t a terribly large ship, certainly not the largest that Fas had been on, but nonetheless was large enough to transport her battalion while not crowding out the Cyph’s crew. Of course, the vast majority of Fas’s soldiers were in a magically induced stasis. All one thousand of her Sparks were kept in…
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Belief Part 1
(Photo by David Kopacz) For the past several hours, Conflagrator Fas had sat alone in her chambers staring at the cold steel wall before her. The room was unadorned, holding only the essentials. Her bed was currently tucked into the wall beside which was her desk and computer terminal. The only chair in the room…
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Coven of Minor Inconveniences
The Occult Wars had raged for centuries. Nations were rent and people were scattered to the far reaches of the world in search of respite and peace. The Followers of the Blinded Eye, The Witches of Mist, The Swaying Tower of Cognition, among countless others had each fought against one another for supremacy. Yet their…
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Misunderstandings
It was quiet in the tavern that night, which was unusual. Most evenings there would have been a large crowd, gathered in from the fields after their days labor, to eat, drink, and hear whatever news or stories were being passed around. As it was, Bogden sat at the small table alone, about to begin…
Bridge of Broken Glass 