Author Archives: Josh Juza

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November 1, 2019

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Book, Fractured Mountains, Realm of Nevre

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The Fractured Mountains: Darkness Ascending – Chapter 24

Syb lead the party to the stand of trees. In the dim light the vines looked even more sinister than before. They writhed of their own accord and lashed out randomly.

Holding her new stone torch high Enress approached the vines. “I have only my knuckle dusters. You guys will need to do most of the attacking.” She grabbed one of the flailing vines and attempted to hold it down. It started to lift her off her feet. “Or all the attacking…”

With a swift motion Gaemacirch brought his katana down on the vine, severing it near the base. He quickly ran away from the swarming masses of vines swatting at him. “Well, you can still be useful.” He smiled slightly at Enress. “Though, I suppose we should not grab these. If it can lift an automaton it will fling any one of the rest of us.”

“Agreed.” Burner moved forward to the vine and studied it. “Hmm…I’ve never seen this kind of vine before. Julian?”

Moving forward to get a better look Julian shrugged. “I’m not really good with this sort of thing. It was Adalet’s area.”

Enress sighed. “Let me get a better look. Shine your lantern here, Julian.” She pointed at the end of the vine. The vine squirted a purple liquid in Enress’ eye. “Well, good thing I’m a construct, because that would have been very damaging to you organics.” She wiped the liquid from her face. “It’s a purple deathgrip. The purple comes from the poison’s color, since the vine itself is green. Also, if it constricts you pray to your god that it grabs you around the ankle so you don’t die from it. There’s also rumors that they’re animals and not plants.”

“Great.” Dreekt put his taloned finger out and Syb landed on it. “Let’s keep you close.”

Syb tweeted something at Dreekt than perched himself on the left shoulder.

Dreekt pulled out his dagger, Julian readied his axes, and Burner readied her rapier.

“Well, dim as it is, sunlight is better than night. Let’s go.” Burner moved forward, stabbing at any vine that dared move in her direction.

Following Burner’s lead, the rest of the adventurers followed behind. Gaem cutting through vines, and everyone else slashing and stabbing.

Before too long the party found themselves in a clearing filled with the bones of some ancient creature. After a moment of silence as the party tried to process what kind of creature the bones could’ve originated from Enress spoke up.

“That’s a cyclops skull. It only has the one eye socket, but that’s a pretty big skull. A giant cyclops maybe?”

Dreekt nodded. “I’ve heard stories about ancient creatures that were larger than their modern forms, but that would’ve been millennia ago. These would be dust.”

“Let’s just be glad,” Gaemacirch interjected, “that we don’t have to fight this thing.”

As the party began moving around the cyclops bones the shriek of jekawir pierced the air. There were at least three distinct cries.

“That’s not good.” Julian grabbed his handaxes and looked to the sky.

Burner started humming a dissonant tune. “Get ready.” She pulled her bow from her back and notched an arrow. “Take them down as soon as you see them.”

The grotesque sight of the jekawir assaulted the eyes of the adventuring group. The neckless creatures had pink humanoid skin with tufts of grey fur that seemed placed on them at random. They had large wings that were bat-like, and had legs like those of a frog, but with human hands where the feet would be. Their tongues lolled out of their toothy mouths and were accompanied by a noxious breath that made it hard to focus.

Burner and Julian launched their attacks at the jekawir first. Burner’s arrow pierced the hide of one of the creatures, while Julian’s handaxes fell harmlessly to the ground. He had underestimated the range.

Dreekt shot a bolt of arcane energy into the sky. He didn’t end up hitting the jekawir, but he caused the injured one to swoop towards the ground, creating an opening for Gaemacirch to swing at it.

With a mighty swing, Gaemacirch’s katana beheaded the jekawir. The head of the creature went flying and knocked another jekawir out of the air and onto its back. “Well, that worked out pretty good.”

The jekawir that was knocked to the ground righted itself and flapped towards Gaemacirch. The one still in the air swooped down and attacked Gaemacirch with the sharp nails at the end of its humanoid hand-feet. It missed and shrieked in Gaemacirch’s face, getting its noxious breath directly into his face, then Enress punched it in the face with her knuckle dusters, surprising it more than hurting it with a glancing blow.

Swapping to her rapier Burner walked up to the uninjured jekawir and jabbed at it, forcing it to jump to the side and leaving an opening for the next person to attack it. Seeing the opening Julian ran for one of his axes, picked it up, and chucked it at the jekawir. The flat of the axe hit the creature in the back, causing it to cry out in pain.

Drawing his quarterstaff Dreekt turned and whacked at the jekawir that Enress had punched. He forced it to lose some balance, but he was unable to hit it. Seeing Dreekt set up yet another jekawir for him Gaemacirch swung at the creature with his katana. He wasn’t able to hit it, but it completely lost its balance and fell on its back. It hopped back up and bit at Dreekt, ripping through the flesh of his arm, ripping out feathers and exposing his skin.

The second jekawir slashed at Gaemacirch with its wings. It didn’t hit, but caused Enress to lose some of her balance as the wings slashed around in the same area she was occupying. In retaliation she punched it in the chest, expecting to wind it, but she found extra resistance there.

“Are these things designed to take hits or something?” Enress stared at the creatures. “These don’t look natural.”

“We can talk about it later. Just focus on taking them down!” Burner jabbed at the jekawir that had just bit Dreekt. She also found resistance just under the skin. “You may be on to something, though.”

Julian picked up his other axe and tossed it at the same jekawir that Burner had just attacked. “Take some more of this!” The axe buried itself into the creature’s hid and hung there. “That’s not what I meant…”

Seeing the creature in front of him was barely standing Dreekt swung at it again. He missed and forced the creature to bump its companion off balance, opening up yet another advantage for Gaemacirch.

“Look, I appreciate you creating opening and all, but could you also do some damage?” Gaemacirch sliced at the jekawir that was off-balance. He sliced its head off its non-existent neck and the swing continued through to finish off the other jekawir as well.

“Ok,” Burner said, “let’s take a quick break, and I’ll see if I can learn anything about how these jekawir tick.” After ten or so minutes she had one of the creatures, the one Gaemacirch hadn’t beheaded, flayed open. “Hmm…it seems the place where the neck would be is the weakest area. No surprise since that’s how two of the three of them were killed.”

“Interesting, but we need to get to Slapper. Let’s get moving again, shall we?” Julian motioned at the next wall of writhing vines. “These vines seem more active than the ones we’ve already moved through. They may prove to be more of a hassle.”

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October 23, 2019

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Star Wars

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Help Us Jor-Val Ondelios, You’re Our Only Hope! – Pt. 6

Ao and Dor Thay entered the cave opening on the porous rogue moon. The lights on their space suits lit the cave, casting strange shadows. The lights from the Tempest barely reached the entrance of the cave, casting tall shadows onto their path. Before long the nautolan and human found themselves at a near-vertical incline of the cave.

“Hey, Ao, what does ExplorCorps say about putting yourself in harms way?” Dor Thay looked down the new section of cave. “That looks dangerous to traverse.”

Ao pulled a glow rod from the side of his space suit and activated it. “Well, let’s see how far this thing goes before we decide.” He tossed the rod into the shaft and watched as it landed four meters away on a smooth, gray surface. “Looks like the porous rock ends down there. It’s not too far down, either. Let’s take a look.” He pulled mono-filament rope from another pouch and anchored it into the rock at his feet. He tossed the other end down the shaft.

“Fine, just make sure your suit’s line feeder is working. Wouldn’t want to get down there and not be able to come back up.” Dor Thay was already checking his Republic-issue suit’s system.

Ao checked the line feeder at his waist. “Goes in forward and reverse just fine, but I’ll be right back. Gotta tell Jor-Val what we’re doing.”

Nodding Dor Thay hooked up to the line Ao had set up. “I’ll check the anchor is secure then head down. See you at the bottom.”

“Be back in two shakes of a nerf’s tail.” Ao jogged to the cave’s entrance.

– – –

“Hey, Jor-Val, do you read?” Ao’s voice crackled over the ship’s comm, interwoven with static.

Jor-Val was practicing some lightsaber katas when, with a start, he dropped his lightsaber. He deactivated it with the Force the moment before it hit the floor and ran to the nearest comm panel and slapped the talk button. “I’m here, what’s up?”

“We found a vertical shaft, we’re going to take a quick look.” Ao paused for a moment. “Tell Tate to head out. We’ll want a third for this. He can fly over here on his boosters.”

T8-T3’s wheels could be heard skidding into the airlock, loud enough to be heard over the comm.

“Alright. Give us about an hour after Tate gets here, then. If we don’t contact you by then assume we’re in trouble and follow us. That’s not usual protocol, but I’ve lost too many people.”

“Agreed.” Jor-Val set a time on his chrono. “May the Force be with you.”

“And you. Ao off.”

– – –

Dor Thay slowly lowered himself down the shaft. The porous rock was easy to grip with the suit’s boots, but he was careful not to keep any edges from snagging on the wall. With a thump he landed on the gray rock below the shaft. The lights on his suit flickered when he landed and he saw something giving off light behind him. The tunnel he was in went to his left in a mostly straight line and behind him in a slope downward. “Hey, Ao, are you back in comm range yet?”

T8-T3 slowly lowered himself down the shaft, whistling over the comm.

“Yup, Tate’s here too.”

“Well, we have some source of light down here.” He turned his lights off and turned toward the light. “It’s a soft, bluish color.”

There was a pause as Ao processed the information. “I’ll be right down.”

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October 16, 2019

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Book, Mendacium, Warlocke Chronicles

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Medakus Grimoires: Mendacium – Ch. 3

“Hey, Daren. Can you stay a little later tonight? I need some help restocking the shelves.” Cal pulled a cart of boxes from the storage room. “Just got that new RPG lineup in. I’ll start rearranging now if you’re cool manning the register by yourself.”

“Yeah, no problem. I’m feeling a lot better now. Mom won’t let me leave home without that drink powder.”

Cal started restacking some board games. “When’s that storm gonna pass, you think? I’m getting a buzz in the back of my head.”

“Hopefully soon.”

A customer entered the store and walked up to the counter. “So, I was wondering if you guys have an RPG night. You know where people show up to join or run campaigns or one-shot games?”

“We tried a few times but there wasn’t much interest, so we stopped advertising it.” Daren looked over at Cal. “Hey, Cal. He wants to know if we have an RPG night.”

Setting down the games he was rearranging Cal made his way to the counter. “Game master or player?”

– –

Cal had decided to completely rearrange the store, not just the stock. “You can stay really late, right? It’s Friday.” He started lifting one end of a shelf.

“Yeah, I have no plans.” Daren grabbed the other end of the shelf and followed Cal’s lead to the corner of the store. “I was wondering what you know about werewolves, though.”

“Always carry silverware. Not the cheap stuff, the actual silver stuff.” Cal chuckled. “Joking aside, that depends on what kind of werewolf. I’ve never met a real one, so I don’t know anything first hand.”

Daren nodded as they set the shelf down. “Yeah. My grimoire’s fairly non-specific on what myths and legends are true, and what ones aren’t.”

“One thing I know is that wolf’s bane should repel them and that they transform under a full moon. Other than that, some legends have proto-werewolves that wear wolf’s skin to control their transformation. Either those werewolves are actually shape shifters or they used the skin to temporarily cut themselves from the moon cycle.” Cal moved over to the next shelf. “Let’s put that one on the other side.” He grabbed one end while Daren grabbed the other.

“Why the sudden interest in werewolves? I can feel a faint presence on you. The taste of werewolf is faint, but it’s there…along with something else stronger.” Cal almost dropped the shelf and carefully set it down. His eyes were wide. “Who have you been talking to?”

Daren set the shelf down. “Just some new kids at school. Why?”

“I feel the trace of vampires on you. Two different kinds though I can’t quite tell which. One’s a blood vampire, but the other…”

“Wait, other kinds of vampires? I’ve only heard of the one kind. What’re the others? Hold on a sec.” Daren jogged to the employee’s room and grabbed his grimoire and a pen then jogged back out.

Cal had started moving some of the smaller items in the shop. “Oh, gonna take some notes?”

“There’s nothing in here about other types of vampires. If there are others I should write it down.”

“Okay. According to various myths there’s some vampire-like creatures that feed off things other than blood. They have all the other characteristics that are commonly attributed to vampires. Undead as in reanimated, fast, able to persuade others easily. All the minor powers and the ability to live forever if they are undisturbed. Also, vampires aren’t affected by garlic. They are affected by aloe, though.”

“What other things can they feed on?”

“Let’s see, life-force is one. It’s different from blood sucking because those fed upon by blood suckers aren’t necessarily made weaker by it.” Cal sat down in one of the chairs. “Another is a psychic vampire. They can feed off the thoughts or the emotions of others. If they are around a lot of people they can go unnoticed for extended periods of time, but if they feed off only a few then those people become emotionless husks.”

Daren was furiously writing in his grimoire. “Emotionless husks. Do they feed actively like blood drinking vampires?”

“The life-force ones do, but the psychic vampires feed automatically. Also, unlike the other two they don’t become physically sluggish if they overeat, they become mentally sluggish. Though I’ve never heard of a psychic vampire overeating on purpose I suppose they could.”

“How do they accidentally overeat? That doesn’t make sense.”

“If they are around trauma they can absorb too much of the emotion. I’ve seen it-“ Cal caught himself. “I can’t talk about that, though. Anything else before we move more shelves?”

Daren set his grimoire down on the counter. “No, not if you won’t talk about the things you’ve seen. Let’s move some more shelves.”

– –

“The new kids are what?!” Neta Medakus was brewing in the basement when Daren told her what Cal said. “Are you still planning on talking with them on Sunday?”

Daren nodded. “If they were going to do something they could do it at any moment. You know that.”

“I’m coming with. I’ll get the spray bottles.”

“Spray bottles?”

Neta pulled two spray bottles from a shelf. One was labeled wolf’s bane and the other was labeled aloe. “These spray bottles.” She motioned at the small, three-inch-tall bottles with press sprayers on them.

Daren stared at them for a moment. “That’s what those are for?”

“Yes, protection. I expect that if they were too deviant that the council would do something about it, but just in case I’ll put spray bottles around the house.”

“Hey, you haven’t heard from dad lately, have you? I have questions that I want to ask him.”

Neta smiled sadly. “I haven’t. I’ll ask Octavianus if he can get ahold of him for you though. We talked today.”

“Octavianus? Why were you talking with him?”

“He’s trying to get me on the council. I’m not even a warlocke, I’m just an herbalist. I don’t know his full reasons, never could read that vampire.” Neta sighed. “It would make it easier to get in contact with Darek though.”

“It’d be his seat, right? Kind of a temporary member?”

“Maybe. Octavianus wants to keep me on when your father gets back, but I don’t know about that. For now, let’s focus on what to do for Sunday.”

– –

Cal was playing with his rottweiler, Shanta, on Sunday when he felt three presences getting closer. Shaking his head, he looked at Shanta. “Well, girl. If we’re done playing round up with the cows we should go check on Daren. It seems his friends from down the lane are visiting.”

Shanta barked happily.

“Yes, you’ll get to see Daren. Let’s go.” Cal connected Shasta’s leash and started walking down the driveway. “Don’t let me forget to grain the cows on the way back.”

Shanta started walking down the driveway and onto the road. She was walking so fast Cal had to jog to keep himself from being pulled over.

“Whoa, girl. We don’t need to go this fast. Calm down.”

– –

Neta and Daren were waiting in a clearing in the small forested area behind the house. Sara, Jayse, and John walked into the clearing and were surprised to see Neta there too.

“Who’s that?” John asked as he walked closer. “I didn’t think you were inviting anyone.”

“I’m his mother, Neta.”

“Ah, are you a warlocke then?” Jayse asked, walking forward with Sara.

“Just an herbalist, I’m afraid. Though that means I know how to deal with your kind.” Neta pulled out the spray bottles. “I came armed in case anything funky happens.”

As she said this Shanta came running up the path and tackled Daren. She was yipping playfully.

“Sorry, I couldn’t keep up, so I let her off the leash.” Cal was able to get out between pants. “I’ll just sit down over here and catch my breath.” He dropped down onto the grass in lotus position.

“Shanta, get off me! I’ll get you a treat, just let me stand up.”

Barking happily Shanta licked Daren’s face and removed her paws from his chest. Then she sat on her haunches, waiting for the dog treat.

“Here,” Daren pulled a bit of jerky out of his pocket and gave it to Shanta, “and next time don’t tackle me.”

Shanta took the stiff jerky and started chewing on it, content for the moment.

“So, who’s that?” John motioned at Cal.

“I’m Cal Stver, Daren’s boss. I came over for a surprise visit. Shanta loves Daren for some reason.” Cal stood up. “I just think he’s a lazy employee, even if he works late on Fridays.” He noticed Daren was carrying his grimoire. “If I’m interrupting something important then I can come back later. Shanta won’t leave for at least an hour now, though.”

Jayse perked up. “Stver? I know that from somewhere…where do I know that name from?”

“It’s an old Armenian family. If he’s from the American branch, there’s no problems.” Sara patted Jayse on the shoulder. “Nothing’s wrong here.”

“No, it’s something else. One of the boxes…Stver, you’re coming with me. We’ll be right back.”

Before Neta could even think about using the spray bottle Jayse and Cal disappeared. Shanta whined softly.

“He’ll be right back, girl. Don’t worry.” Daren looked at Sara. “He will be right back, right?”

Sara sighed. “I think so. I have no idea what he was talking about.”

“Some of the boxes came last night,” John said. “The ones from Hilsonville. I’m not sure which ones though.”

“As long as he doesn’t forget to tell Erik he’s bringing someone in the house. Erik hates it when Jayse does stuff like this without telling him.”

“Erik?” Daren asked, “I thought you three lived alone.”

“We have to have a fake guardian. Jayse is pretending to be a Junior. I don’t know why.” John sighed. “Well, back to the conversation at hand. I want to break from the moon cycle. What do I need to do to gain that sort of trust from you?”

“Daren,” Neta stared into John’s eyes, “can you do that? You’ve never done anything that complicated.”

John didn’t break eye contact with Neta. “A Medakus warlocke can do it. I know your line, and I know the original name of your line. If there’s a spell that can be cast, a Medakus can cast it.”

“You say you go by Ainsley. Will the council know of you by that name?” “No, but if you ask Andali Windspeaker if he vouches for John, son of Thomas I assure you he will.”

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October 9, 2019

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Rebuilding Brangmar, South Reaches

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Rebuilding Brangmar – Pt. 12

Mother Ironbark lead Aram, Erin, Tribst, and Throbor to a tree larger than the others. “This is the first rediron tree to be planted here. It was brought from another realm. Perhaps one of you is from there.”

“Maybe. So, where is the town we’re going to?” Aram looked around the forest floor, confused at the lack of buildings.

Mother Ironbark smiled. “Oh, really. Have you looked up?”

“Humans never think to look up.” Erin responded. “We’re used to the threats coming from our level or lower.” She then looked up and was amazed at the walkways and buildings that seemed to grow out of the very trees. The sprawling sylvan city was quiet, but there were lights and Erin noticed some figures walking the paths.

“Oh, oh no.” Tribst said, noticing the city. “I am terrified of heights. If I could just wait down here…”

A large basket lowered itself to the foot of the great tree. A gnome stood in the basket. “Oh, hello! I see Mother Ironbark has collected some new people. I’m Tibdast.”

Tribst’s eyes couldn’t grow any wider, but they twitched when he heard the name. “Tibdast?”

“Oh, hello Tribst. I believe we, well you and another me, have met.” Tibdast smiled broadly. “I’m afraid I don’t have any ale here, only this elevator now.”

“You two know each other?” Mother Ironbark got on the elevator. “Well, if the knowledgeable gnome here finds you friendly you will be most welcome. We don’t have any guest rooms on the forest floor, however, so our hospitality stays only in the treetops.”

“How, might I ask, do you normally get up to the city. I don’t imagine you use this lift every time.” Throbor motioned at the number of elves in the hunting party. “Even just the few of you can’t all fit.”

One of the other elves smiled. “Only druids go out in such large packs.” At that all the elves other than Mother Ironbark transformed into various different birds and flew up to the treetops.

“Your druids are powerful, to be able to fly so easily.” Tribst watched the birds rise into the air. “It takes our druids many decades to master such flight.”

Mother Ironbark frowned. “Are your druids not of the air?”

“No, I think not. The druids I know are in many different orders. I imagine that the other non-elvish races are much the same.” Tribst shrugged. “And perhaps not.”

Tibdast nodded. “Yes, the elves of this land all are of the circle of air, whereas there are almost no non-elves in the circle. No outsiders have picked it up in centuries.”

The elevator began to rise to the treetops as Mother Ironbark stared at Tibdast. “I don’t believe you’ve been here near that long, sir gnome.”

“I’m good at paying attention to information. It’s sorta my thing.” He winked at Tribst.

Soon the adventurers found themselves in the treetops, surrounded by elves. It was getting hard for Erin to focus, with all the beauty around her.

“Please, Tibdast, show our new guests around. I must speak with the elders and see about an audience with them. It could be a few days, or a few months. They do love to deliberate.” She turned and ran off down a narrow, handrail free, walkway.

Tribst pulled Tibdast aside. “So, uh, what are you doing here, Messenger? I thought our pantheon couldn’t leave our realm.”

“I didn’t leave, I’m actually from here…but I’m also in each of your realms. In Aram’s and Erin’s respective realms I’m a human, but in Throbor’s I’m a dwarf.”

“So you exist simultaneously with the save view as all your other selves?”

“No, no.” Tibdast sighed. “I mean that happens sometimes, but we normally get the memories of each other version when we sleep.”

“I see. Do you want to keep this secret form the others?”

“Yes, please…and stop licking your eye!”

“Sorry.” Tribst pulled his tongue back into his mouth with a slurp. “Force of habit.”

“Anyway,” Tibdast turned to address the rest of the adventurers. “I don’t own a bar here, but I can recommend one, and the elves are sure to cover room and board. If you wish for currency conversion I can do that for you at my house over here…”

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October 7, 2019

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Book, Realm of Nevre, The Sight

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The Sight: Assassin – Intro

Ophir was born to a poor human family in Lakestown in southern Zentar. When he was dropped off at the local temple of The Kindness he spent the first five years of his life in service to, and under the protection of, the local high priest. It was at this time that his gift first started to surface…or it was the time that the priest finally understood what he was talking about. He never really knew which it was. At this time, he was carted off to a nearby town to go to serve in a temple of The Pathfinder. He never made it to that temple.

– – –

Waking swiftly, Ophir found himself in a small room with a bed, a chamber pot, a desk, and a three-legged stool. He thought back to what happened on the cart. The last thing he remembered was seeing someone’s presence behind him with his gift but turning he saw nobody with his eyes. He slowly stood up from the bed and took stock of the desk.

A quill, a filled inkwell, dying sand, and a blank piece of parchment sat on the desk. Disinterested, Ophir looked with the sense that was not his eyes to see who had been to this place recently. He sensed the presence of the person who had been invisible here. He thought maybe they were carrying him, it was hardest for him to sense himself, but they could just as easily have been dragging him. The woman, the sense had become clearer, the woman had talked with someone outside the door then left. The man was still standing outside the door.

He must be keeping watch, Ophir thought to himself, I guess I should let him know I’m awake?

“Hello? Is anyone there?” The last thing the priest of The Kindness had told Ophir was to hide his gift from strangers. They would try to use him to find people, some for good, but those people would be rare in this world.

The man outside the door moved toward it and paused. Ophir heard the key slide into the lock and then the door opened.

“Yes, runt? Do you need something?” The man was dressed in all black and had a pair of daggers at his sides. The man was lean, and Ophir knew there was no way he would be able to outrun him.

“Where am I?”

The man laughed. “Oh, you were the forcefully recruited child. This is the assassin’s guild. Welcome to the temple of The Sneak.”

Ophir’s stomach dropped. This was exactly what the priest had warned him about. People who would use his talents to kill people.

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October 2, 2019

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Book, Skye Born, World of Souls

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World of Souls – Ch. 9: The Right Corridor

“Slow down!” Janine yelled down the corridor. “You don’t have to run so fast! Actually, you shouldn’t! I don’t know the layout of this station, we could find a maintenance room anywhere!” She was starting to lose her breath, when Allie suddenly stopped. Thankful for the respite Janine leaned her bulbous salawoman hands on her legs. “Do you see something?” She managed to get the question out between gasps.

Allie turned her microphone off. “Mute your mic. I want to talk.” She idly scratched her beak with her taloned hand.

With a sigh Janine muted her microphone, making sure she was still receiving audio and could quickly turn it back on in case of an emergency. “There, it’s off. What’s up?”

“I’m going to preface this with something that should be obvious.” Allie started walking slowly along the corridor, expecting Janine to follow suit. “Relationships on the ISS Dominiot between crew members is allowed. Obviously, the captain and myself are in a relationship, and it seems you and Elinog are as well.”

Janine blushed slightly. “Yeah, it seemed a little quick, but we just hit it off. But I don’t get it. Where is this going?”

“Did you have real feelings for him before the accident?”

“What? Of course I did.” Janine said, confusion in her voice. “What exactly are you insinuating?”

“Look, I’m not insinuating anything. I’m just looking after someone who’s been like a brother to me. Calm down, please.”

AB-775, Blavet, and Elinog’s voices came over the comm as they started to talk about the split in the corridor. Janine and Allie were approaching one as well.

Allie and Janine stopped walking and turned to face each other. “Ok,” said Janine, “I think I know where this is going. Go ahead and ask.”

With a sigh Allie complied. “Are you just seeing him as a project now that he’s lost his legs and lower arms, or do you still have real feelings for Elinog?”

Janine shook her head. “Look, I know where the question is coming from, but I still don’t like that you’re asking it. No, I don’t just see him as a project. I loved him before, and I love him now. It might be a little hard for him to reciprocate that for a while, which is why I’m so focused on making him better.”

“Good. That’s exactly the answer I was looking for.” Allie turned back toward the corridor and motioned to either side. Which way do you want to go?”

“Heroes go left, but that would lead us towards the guys. Let’s continue forward. Sounds like they’re investigating the rooms.” Janine listened to the comm for a moment. “Seems like they’re all crew quarters.”

“Fine, oh, and you can ask me any question, seeing as I just probed into your relationship.” Allie moved forward and the door in front of her slammed shut, blocking the path. “Uhh…what was that?”

A crackling noise emanated from a nearby speaker followed by the monotone voice of a station AI. “I would not recommend going in that direction, organics. Please take the right corridor.”

Janine glanced up at a camera next to the speaker. “Looks like we don’t have much choice in the matter…right it is.”

With a curt nod Allie turned toward the right corridor and began walking down it. “Maybe you should unmute your comm and let the guys know wha-” The sentence was cut short as a group of bipedal creatures spilled out of a side corridor and advanced on Allie.

Unsure what was happening Janine unmuted the comm as she saw Allie get tackled. Reacting on instinct Janine pulled her skravyn companion from the onslaught of mad beings and pulled her into one of the crew quarters. She severed the wires leading to the door and shut it manually.

Allie screamed as the door shut. “What was that?” Blavet’s voice was full of fear. “Allie! Janine! Can you hear me?!”

Allie’s comm had been unmuted and she started cawing into her comm, followed by Janine’s voice on her own comm. “Something’s here, on station! Be careful! I’m getting Allie to safety!”

“I’m going to track your mental traces. Elinog, Abe, and I will be there as soon as we can.”

“Ok, good.” Janine turned to face Allie. “Allie, speak to me, are you okay?”

Allie tried to respond but was only able to caw. She tried to remember how to form speech with her tongue and beak, but nothing was coming out right. She grabbed for her datapad and quickly typed something into it, sending it to Janine’s datapad.

“I can’t talk,” Janine read from the datapad. “I’m scared and confused, but I don’t seem to be injured in any other way. What were those things?” Janine shook her head. “Allie, those looked like they were people once.” Janine pulled a small welding torch from her small pack. “I’m going to weld up this door so they won’t be able to get in. You should warp yourself in the blanket on the bed. You might just be suffering from shock. I’ll be with you in a moment.”

Allie nodded and pulled the blanked from the quarter’s bed. She shook the dust from it and wrapped it around herself. She cawed quietly to herself, trying to whisper encouragement to herself and quickly decided that wasn’t going to help.

– – –

“Why did you tell her you were going to track their mental traces? Do you have the experience to do that?” Elinog was jogging behind Blavet, his metal legs making dull thuds through his synthetic skin grafts.

“Normally, no, but I can feel the fear radiating from Allie. You heard what Janine read from the datapad. She’s scared out of her mind.”

“You realize we’re still on comms?” Janine’s voice crackled through the speaker.

“Yes, and Allie? I love you. Don’t forget that. You may be scared, but I’m on my way.” Blavet doubled his pace.

AB-775 turned to Elinog, who was struggling to keep up. “Hey, I can track comm signals, if you want to slow down a little.”

“Yeah, I do.” Elinog slowed his pace slightly. “Blavet, you go. We’ll be right behind you.”

“Ok!”

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September 25, 2019

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Terra Incognita – Ch. 14

Around the pool Ember, Lukren, Helena, Drakust, and Evryn sat restlessly.

“Are you sure I shouldn’t go join them?” Ember asked, as she stood and began pacing in a circle around Helena. Her red fox fur standing out against the white snow.

Evryn snorted softly and rested her ice wolf head on Krakust’s lap. The orc patted her head and turned to look at Lukren, who was periodically drinking from a flask. “I assume you don’t want to share that?”

“What would you have to drink about? One of my kin is inside a serpent. I think only the dwarf should be drunk, anyway.” He took another swig, and a bit of ale spilled onto his unkempt beard.

Helena stood and motioned for the flask. Her sky elf skin blending into the background of snow. “Well, may I have a drink?”

“Sure, sure.” Lukren handed the flask over. “It’s almost empty anyway.”

With a swift motion Helena chugged down the remainder of the flask. “Ah, that’s not as good as wine, but it definitely has a kick.”

Krakust stared at Lukren for a moment then pulled a bottle of whiskey out of his pack. “Here.” He handed it to Lukren.

“Uhh…thanks.” The dwarf took the bottle and started drinking.

– – –

Sorley and Lourek watched as Donaar the dragonkin started playing chess against the spirit of an ancient mage. His magnetite colored stales reflected the dim light emanating from the bowels of the great serpent.

Turning to Sorley, Lourek stroked his braded dwarven beard. “So, how exactly is this game played?”

The human Sorley scratched his hairless face idly. “Well, the goal is to capture the opponent’s king. It’s the piece with the cross on the top of it. Different types of pieces do different things. Pawns, the short ones, can only move forward directly, or diagonally to capture other pieces for example.”

“So, it’s a war strategy game where both sides are equal and have the same resources?”

“Yes, I suppose that’s exactly what it is.” Sorley shrugged. “I’m not very good at it myself.” He turned his attention back to the game slowly advancing. “He seems to be doing fairly well from what I know.”

“Well,” the mage’s spirit said, “looks like your friends are bored. Let’s give them something to play with, shall we?” The spirit waved its incorporeal arms and two goblins appeared near Sorley and Lourek, weapons drawn.

The goblins said something in a language they couldn’t understand and ran forward. Meanwhile, on the chess board, two pawns, one from each player’s side, disappeared from the board.

The spirit shrugged. “I have to keep the game balanced.”

– – –

The serpent closed its mouth and laughed. “Oh, I forgot how well that mage played his games. Well, it seems your friends are in a combat situation. They should be fine, though. The old mage isn’t up to his full strength these days.”

Helena quickly translated the words of the serpent to the others. “I don’t think they’ll have a problem. When Orby is enhancing Sorley, he seems to have better tricks up his sleeve. I’d never heard of that before, but that’s how he was able to defeat you in the cavern.” She nodded at Krakust.

“That explains a lot. What is Orby, anyway?” Krakust took the whiskey back from Lukren and took a swig before giving it back.

Ember pawed at Evryn then curled up next to her. “Orby’s a light elemental. He’s Helena’s familiar.”

“I see. I’d never heard of a light elemental before now. Then again, the orcs aren’t really known for their grasp of the arcane.”

“No, we aren’t, are we brother?” A voice echoed from the forest surrounding the hot springs.

“Who goes there!” Lukren jumped to his feet, instantly sober, wielding his short sword.

Two orcs stepped out from the edge of the forest.

One spoke up. “Those sent to check that Krakust is doing his task.”

“You don’t seem to be doing that, now, do you?” The other added.

Krakust stood up and Evryn pushed Ember away so she could do the same. “That’s not very honorable of the chieftain to send someone to watch after one of their greatest warriors.”

“You were an exception,” the second orc said. “The chieftain doesn’t doubt you, but the elders have worries about you.”

Krakust raised his dagger, the only weapon he had on his person. “You defy the chieftain and say I am not doing my task?” His eyes became bloodshot and the veins on his arms stood out against his green skin. “I will defend the chieftain’s name since you soil it behind his back!” He stormed forward and stabbed at the second orc, his rage forcing his face into a scowl. “Traitors are to be killed!” He dug the dagger into the orc’s arm, let go of it, and pulled the pickhammer from his opponent’s back. He then kicked the orc backward into a tree with enough force to dislodge a large amount of snow. The snow dropped onto the surprised orc’s head with a loud thwump. Krakust turned to the first orc. “Well?!”

The first orc looked at Krakust with a searching expression. “Explar evost?”

“Epro, brother.” Krakust responded.

The first orc took his war hammer from his own back and crushed the second orc’s skull in himself. “I will tell the chieftain your travel goes well.”

The rage drained from Krakust and he relaxed. “I’ll be keeping the pickhammer.”

“I would expect no less, cheiflein.”

Krakust walked over and pulled his dagger from the dead orc’s arm then turned and walked back to Helena and Lukren. Putting his dagger in its sheath and strapping the pickhammer to his back.

“What in bloody Darkfall was that about?” Lukren put his short sword away.

“Something you might call kingdom politics.” Krakust sat down next to Evryn who was already lying down again.

– – –

Sorley let out a purplish-blue blast of fire at the first goblin, who convulsed and fell over in a smoldering heap. “They’re pawns. They seem to be pretty weak.”

Lourek nodded and pulled his daggers from his back. He threw both of them at the goblin, slaying it where it stood.

“Whoa, really? That’s too complicated! We were supposed to just be playing chess!” Donaar shouted in surprise. The two pawns that had disappeared reappeared on the board. “Guys, if he does that again, play with them for a while! That ruined my next move!”

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September 4, 2019

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Cerdic the Usual – Ch. 8

Grimm let go of the vampire Patrick and fell back in a defensive position in front of Cerdic. Veron was up and running away from the confrontation. He knew he couldn’t help and motioned for Cerdic to follow.

With a small shake of his head, indicating he wasn’t going to leave, Cerdic watched Jeremy as he started to cast a spell. The geometric shapes forming in the air in front of his waving hands reminded Cerdic of the residual shapes on the tire, and they were aimed directly at Eric’s center of mass. Without hesitation Cerdic yelled, “look out!” and tackled Eric to the ground. The magic went over the two of them and hit a nearby fence post, reducing it to ash.

Eric looked at the fence post and back at Cerdic. “Uh, thanks…how did you…?”

“Later, Eric!” Henry yelled. “We need to deal with Jeremy first!”

Cerdic rolled off Eric and helped him to his feet. “He’s using some sort of aging magic. Be careful.”

“I see that now…my only question is, how did you? But Henry is right. We have a more immediate concern.” Eric moved his left hand and gripped his grimoire with his right. As he made motions Cerdic saw a barrier appear in front of Eric. It covered his body, but his arms were on the outside. He decided that was so Eric could cast through the barrier.

“Grimm. Be careful.” Cerdic turned and joined Veron behind a nearby rock.

Giving a small bark of recognition, Grimm tried to bite Jeremy in the leg, but Jeremy was prepared. He sent a blast of energy at Grimm then turned to ward off a spell from Henry. Grimm was pushed back towards the rock Veron and Cerdic were hiding behind and stood there, menacingly.

Veron nudged Cerdic. “Jeremy is a powerful warlock. Grimm probably wouldn’t be able to get into his inner defense. Let’s just watch.”

“Fine.”

Henry grabbed his grimoire from his side and flipped it open. He turned to a page near the middle and cast a spell on Patrick, the now prone vampire. Tendrils of dark energy erupted from the ground and bound him in place. “We shouldn’t have to worry about you recovering, now.” He turned towards Jeremy. “Two on one, do you think you can take both of us?”

“Maybe. Let’s find out.” Jeremy grabbed his grimoire and opened it to the last page, then he stuck his arm elbow deep into the page. When he pulled his arm back out it was covered in dark black ink, and he held a strange bone in his hand. “The bone of a great old one, broken.” He snapped the bone and Cerdic saw a rush of shapeless energy engulf Jeremy. “Blood of the warlock, freshly spilled.” He took a bone fragment and stabbed it deep into his forearm.

“We need to stop him!” Eric yelled at Henry. “Hit him with everything you have!”

“Okay!” Henry began making exaggerated motions with his hands. “Veron! Run!” He shot a deep red mass of energy at Jeremy. Cerdic noticed, as he turned to run, that the geometry was jagged and unfinished. It seemed to him that the spell was not yet perfected, like Henry was still working on it.

As the mass of energy splashed into Jeremy the energy surrounding him dissipated it into his surroundings. A deep gash appeared in the ground in front of and to the sides of where he was standing. “Impressive. I didn’t know you had spells that would kill, Aelfson.”

With Jeremy’s attention on Henry, Eric attempted to shoot smaller, more precise spells at the energy surrounding their foe. He was casting many small, slightly different iterations trying to see what would get through his shield.

“Now, where was I? Oh, yes. Just after blood of warlock freshly spilled.” Jeremy stuck his arm back into the page of his grimoire and pulled a wand from it. “Wand of wizard, ground to dust.” He cast a spell on the wand and it started to disintegrate, leaving a small pile in the palm of his hand. “Ingested for power unleashed on good.” He swallowed the pile of dust with a slight cough then strode over to his vampire companion. “Sorry, Pat, but I need you to hold still.”

One of the small missile spells Eric had been pounding the energy with broke through. The green flames it was sporting burned up Jeremy’s arm for a moment. “Dragonfire spells! They break through!”

“Shast!” Henry began flipping through his grimoire. “I have one in here somewhere.”

Eric began mumbling something in Latin and moving his arm in very specific, practiced ways. “Draco,” was the last word he mumbled as he shot a green ball at Jeremy.

Laughing hysterically Jeremy reached up and grabbed the ball of dragonfire. “Oh, yes. It breaks through, but I knew it would. I have wards against dragonfire all over my body, Eric!” He gripped the bone in his other hand. “With the bone of Bugg-Shash I sacrifice this vampire and call you forth again!” He began moving the bone down towards Patrick’s prone form when an arrow flew through the air and shot the bone from his hand. It landed in the dirt a few feet away.

In surprise and anger Jeremy looked up to see Cerdic holding a small crossbow tied to his wrist.

“Where was that?” Veron looked at Cerdic’s arm. “You definitely didn’t have that before.

“Parting gift from Tibdast. Said I would know when to use it.” Cerdic loaded another bolt into the crossbow. “Apparently that energy doesn’t protect you from mundane weapons.”

“I was with you the whole time. When did he give you that?”

Cerdic shrugged. “Remember when we went out to the car? You went outside first, and he came back and gave it to me.”

“Mundane weapons, eh?” Henry smiled broadly and pulled three throwing knives from his jacket. “Perfect.” He tossed the three knives at once and they buried into Jeremy’s right chest, shredding his lung.

“Stupid treefting Usual!” Jeremy shouted as he started coughing up blood. He took a few steps away from Patrick then fell backwards.

Eric nodded at Cerdic. “Good job. You have a good head on your shoulders.” He walked over to Patrick. “Well, let’s see what the council wants to do with you and your friend, shall we?”

Patrick said something intelligible.

Henry cautiously approached Jeremy, who was still coughing up blood. “Is the energy gone?”

With a glance Cerdic saw the energy was dissipating into the ground. “It will be soon. Give it a moment.”

“I wasn’t asking you, but you seem to know what you’re saying.” Henry waited a few seconds then approached the warlock. “We’ll get that lung fixed up at the council hall. Let’s go.” He carefully picked Jeremy up and teleported immediately.

Eric shook his head. “I’ll be going too. I’ll send a car to pick you two up…” He looked at Veron’s car for the first time since the spells started slinging around. “Uh…and I’ll see about replacing that.” The back-passenger door fell off the car. It was the last door still on it, and the rest of the car was covered in dents and burns.

“Great. I guess I better get my stuff out of it.”

– – –

Veron was able to talk the driver into giving him the car and teleporting back to where he had come from and was currently sitting behind the wheel of a sleek black car with tinted windows. “This is a nice car. I’m pretty sure it’s also warded up.”

“Yeah, it seems to be.” Cerdic looked around the car and saw a lot of overlapping triangles and squares.

“What do you mean?”

Cerdic shrugged. “I started seeing things. I think it has something to do with Grimm.”

With a nod of understanding Veron took a right turn on the road. “Yeah, bonding with a supernatural creature can do things, for sure. Never heard of a Usual having the Eyes of the Magus, though.” He paused. “You do have a bond with a church grim, though. That’s extremely unusual for anyone, especially a Usual.”

“It’s starting to sound like I may not be a Usual.” Cerdic said, jokingly.

“You jest, but that may just be true. I think we need to take a short detour.”

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August 30, 2019

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Book, Fractured Mountains, Realm of Nevre

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The Fractured Mountains: Darkness Ascending Ch. 23

[Just a note, I kept forgetting to update the titles of The Fractured Mountains to the title of the first book of what I hope will end up a series, Darkness Ascending. I know that the story will not be wrapped up by the end of the first book. I also want to let you know that the adventures of Kreet and crew will eventually be laid out in the book Oceans Ablaze, which will likely turn into multiple books as well.]

Gaemacirch was scouting ahead of the group. Something that Burner didn’t normally ask them to do, but she was starting to get paranoid that something would attack out of the blue. She was sure it was just her being high-strung with the sidetracks to continuing north, but she still decided to heed the feeling. Julian was bringing up the rear, keeping an eye out for things coming from behind when he noticed that it was starting to get dark.

“Is it really that late already?” Julian studied the sky for a moment. “I didn’t think we left town this late.”

Dreekt shrugged. “The month is ending soon, so winter solstice is almost here. I assumed the days were just getting shorter from that.”

“I suppose so.” Julian looked back at the landscape behind them. “Just seems the days are getting shorter faster than they normally do.”

As the sun set on the party Burner called Gaemacirch back to look for a good campsite. Not long afterward Julian had to pull out his hooded lantern. “Ok, it’s definitely not supposed to be this dark already.” He pointed into the sky. “That’s the sun. What’s going on here?”

Burner followed Julian’s arm to look at the sun. “By the fount! What’s going on?”

No sooner did the words escape Burner’s mouth than an answer echoed across the plains. “Darkness is ascending.” A tall, slim human with short black hair and a short-cropped beard wearing scholarly robes and holding a strange, glowing red stone on a stick like it was a torch approached from the darkness.

“Who are you?” Burner looked at the human strangely, and why is a scholar out here?

Dreekt chuckled. “He’s a historian, not a scholar.” He waved at the human. “Well, hello there, Stigr.”

“The Pathfinder will do. You haven’t earned the right to call me by my first name yet.” Stigr nodded at Dreekt. “Though you will eventually, Wings.”

“Wings?”

“Oops…can’t say anymore. Spoilers.” Stigr blushed slightly. “We tend to meet out of order.”

Gaemacirch walked into the circle of light. “Hey, so it’s getting hard for me to see, and I grew up in Dark Under. Somethings…oh, hello traveler.” He bowed slightly. “I’m Gaemacirch, but people call me Gaem.”

“Call me The Pathfinder.” Stigr nodded even more slightly to Gaemacirch. “I believe you may be coming to the conclusion I came to warn you about.”

“Darkness is ascending from the depths, yes?” Gaemacirch motioned at the darkness around them. “It’s getting thick like the depths of Dark Under. The parts we were told to never wander, even in groups.”

Stigr nodded. “Yes, exactly. I also came to tell you that you must rescue Slapper. He is integral to the future.” He then turned to Enress. “Here, Enress.” He handed her his strange torch. “Keep the stone safe. You’ll know what to do with it when you get there.” With a big smile Stigr disappeared.

“Well, that was foreboding.” Enress looked at the stone torch. “I have no idea what this is, but he seemed to think I would.”

Dreekt pulled out the black stone in the dagger and held it up to the red stone. The dagger leaped from his hand and the stones pressed together. The rattling they made was the same sound two smooth magnetite stones make when they pull together, only louder. The darkness around the adventuring company thinned out as if clean water was poured into a pool of muddy water, then the darkness slowly started flowing back in.

“That wasn’t expected.” Dreekt pulled the dagger from the stone torch. “I expect that there’s some way to make that more powerful. Cleanse the whole realm.”

– – –

When the company finally came to a halt for their rest the chill of the night forced them to scrounge around the plains for sticks to light a fire. Enress offered to keep watch all night again, but Burner insisted on having regular watch rotations on top of that. They had no way of knowing what else was ascending with the darkness.

The first few watches went without a hitch, but when Burner was talking the third watch there was an unmissable rattle that was coming closer and closer to the campsite.

“What is that?” Burner asked, walking toward Enress. “You do hear it too, don’t you?”

“Yes, I do.” Enress held the torch higher into the air, increasing the radius of light. A glint of white was just visible on the edge of the lit area. “Could be that.” She pointed at the glint. “I don’t know what it is, though.”

From the darkness six shambling skeletons approached with bits of shadow seeming to billow off of them like cloaks in an invisible wind.

“Everyone, wake up!” Burner turned to shake Gaemacirch awake. “Shadow skeletons are attacking! Six of them.”

Running forward to engage with the creatures Enress threw a punch at the gut of one skeleton, missing because it had not gut. “Shast.”

In response to the swing the shadow skeletons moved in and started to siphon Enress’ life energy away from her. The shadowy bits seemed to grow larger as she felt her life essence being drained.

Swinging again, with more carefully aimed punches, Enress’ spiked brass knuckles shattered the skull of one of the shadow skeletons.

Burner helped Gaemacirch to his feet then slung an arrow at the nearest shadow skeleton’s neck, breaking its head off and sending it to careen into another one.

Getting to his feet Gaemacirch approached and tossed a kunai at one of the shadow skeletons. The kunai passed through a pair of ribs and landed on the ground behind it.

The shadow skeletons were not deterred in their attempts to drain Enress’ life energy and drew even more life from the automaton, healing in the process.

Dreekt stood and tossed a spell at the shadow skeletons, causing a third to fall to the ground in pieces.

As the shadow skeleton fell, Julian’s axe flew through the air and nicked one of the shadow skeletons.

Seeing the shadow skeletons starting to fall Enress punched at the one closest to her. Its arms were outstretched to drain her life essence, but they did not keep the blows from hitting it and turning it to splinters.

With his katana Gaemacirch brought one to the brink and burned it badly. He assumed it was able to stand because it was being bolstered by the life energy being drained from Enress.

Burner shot an arrow at the neck of the shadow skeleton Gaemacirch had almost taken out and severed its head from its body as well.

The last shadow skeleton siphoned life from Enress and used it to bring back its ally whose head had just been severed. The head reattached to the spine and the shadow skeleton stood back up.

A spell passed by one of the shadow skeletons as Dreekt made an opening for Julian to move forward to attack in melee.

Julian approached and brought the flat of his axe’s blade up to smack the shadow skeleton’s head back off. He wasn’t sure if it would work, but it did.

With a final flurry of hits Enress reduced the remaining shadow skeleton to splinters. She then began gathering the bones.

“What are you doing?” Burner asked, not sure what to make of the arrival of the creatures.

Enress didn’t look up from her task. “I’m gathering the remains up to burn them. You know what these things are, is that a good idea?”

“Yes, if there are anymore shadow skeletons, they would be able to bring these ones back if we don’t dispose of them.” Burner sat down heavily. “I don’t know why creatures from Darkfall are doing in Nevre, but it must have something to do with this rising darkness…” She stopped talking, falling deep into thought.

Gaemacirch helped Enress collect the bones to throw on the fire. “The veil must be weakened between here and Darkfall if they’re appearing, right?”

Burner nodded. “Let’s hurry and get Slapper. It’s not going to get any brighter out than this, and then we need to get to Magnus. I’m sure this has something to do with what’s drawing me northward.”

“Yes, let’s hurry. I’m getting a bad feeling.” Julian started packing up his area of the camp. “I wish Adalet was here. She would know what’s going on. She always seemed to, anyway.”

Enress patted Julian on the shoulder. “Hey, let’s get to Slapper. We’ll piece this together as we go.”

“You’re right. Let’s get moving.”

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August 28, 2019

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Help Us Jor-Val Ondelios, You’re Our Only Hope! – Pt. 5

Jor-val Ondelios sat at the piloting console of the Tempest. His eyes were closed as he meditated in the Force. Visions of the temple of Balance on Vergaiun passed before his mind’s eye. Then he found himself in hyperspace. He looked at the astrogation computer next to him and saw coordinates for wild space. The coordinates burned into his mind.

With a gasp Jor-val sat bolt upright at the console. “Hey, Tate!”

T8-T3 rolled up from behind the cockpit. He whistled in a questioning manner.

“I have some coordinates I want you to run through your databanks.” He typed the coordinates into the navcomp and waited for T8-T3’s response.

– – –

On the moon Ao and Dor Thay found nothing but a barren, porous landscape of volcanic rock.

“Hey, Ao, what are the chances a moon this size has a molten core?” Dor Thay asked, motioning at the barren landscape.

Ao grabbed a small rock and put it into a pouch on his vac suit. “Unlikely. My guess is it was broken off an existing planet. Possibly a meteor impact with a lava planet.

With a nod Dor Thay did a last look around. He was considering a suggestion to return to the ship when he saw a cave. “Should we do some spelunking, or just head back to the ship?” He motioned at the cave entrance.

“Let’s at least take a quick look. It’ll look better in the report.” Ao activated the comm to the ship. “Hey, Jor-val. We’re going underground for a second. We may lose comms.”

“Ok. I’m checking into some coordinates…by the way, Dor Thay, where were we headed?” Jor-val’s voice was already lined with static.

Dor Thay smiled slightly. “Vergaiun. I have rumors that the Balance know something about the vergence.”

“I have coordinates, but let’s continue to Vergaiun to get some corroboration.” Jor-val sighed slightly. “The Force can be vague sometimes. I have coordinates but not a safe route through wild space.”

Ao stopped in his tracks. “A vergence in wild space? Well, this trip just got a lot more interesting. Anyway, going into this cave. We’ll let you know what we find, if anything.”

“Don’t be too long, I’ll send Tate after you if you’re gone for more than two hours.”

“Sounds good. Thay out.”

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