Novels by Infared

The morning sun rose over the Yunis Estate, casting long, golden shadows across the rolling green hills of the northern pasture.It was a picture of serene, pastoral beauty that stood in stark, violent contrast to the mood inside the hunting lodge.The main hall smelled of antiseptic, heated metal, and stale coffee.Kaelen Yunis was wearing a fresh white coat that was already stained with alchemical reagents and hovering over Bo.The giant was sitting on a reinforced bench, his massive chest bare save for the bandages wrapping his ribs."Hold still," Kaelen muttered, holding a pair of tweezers glowing with a soft, blue healing light. "If you flinch, I might accidentally fuse your rib to your lung. And that would be... anatomically inconvenient.""It itches," Bo rumbled, his voice a deep tectonic grind."Healing itches," Kaelen retorted. "Dying hurts. Which do you choose?"In the corner, Lyra was curled up in the stolen armchair, fast asleep.She was snoring softly, a sound that was oc

Theron needed to be sure. He didn’t want any loose threads.He looked closely at the ruins.There were no bodies because the Eclipse Battery vaporized organic matter at the epicentre, but on the fringes...He narrowed his eyes."Report," he said into his communication stone.Commander Erebus's voice came back, smooth and dark. "The target area is neutralized, Lord Commander. No signs of life.""And Fenris?" Theron asked.There was a pause."Unknown," Erebus said. "We have lost contact with his tracking signal. Presumed dead."Theron frowned.Fenris was resilient, a beast bred for survival.If he was dead, then Pyralis had most likely met the same fate.But if Pyralis was dead... why did Theron still feel like he was in check?"Send a recovery team," Theron ordered. "I want confirmation. I want ashes. I want teeth.""At once, Lord Commander."The stone went dead.Ther

The world ended with a hum instead of a bang.Deep in the darkness of the Sunken Serpent, Pyralis Cinderfall was sliding.The slime-slicked stones of the old sewer main rushed past him as he plummeted into the bowels of the city while Slimey wrapped tight around his torso, acting as a shivering, gelatinous seatbelt.Above him, through the open grate he had just dived through, the sky turned a bruised, violent purple before the sound vanished entirely.For a split second, the air pressure dropped so drastically that Pyralis’s ears popped painfully, and the water in the sewer channel lifted into the air, suspended in zero-gravity droplets.Then the Eclipse Battery fired with a deafening VOOOM-CRACK.Rather than a simple explosion, it was an erasure.A beam of concentrated void magic, thick as a castle tower, slammed into the Common Lands, not pushing things away but unmaking them entirely.The shockwave that followed came as a pure kinetic force that hit the sewer grate above Pyralis li

In the spacious office of Lord Commander Theron, the air felt tense and sombre."Where is the Princess?" the Duchess demanded, turning on Theron. "Princess Isolde was seen leaving the palace hours ago! Is she safe? Is she down there in that filth?"Theron didn't turn around. His eyes were glued to the combat."My Knights are scouring the city, Duchess," Theron said, his voice smooth and detached. "Princess Isolde is resourceful. She is most likely watching the show from a safe distance.""Most… Likely?!" The Duchess shrieked. "If anything happens to her, Lord Commander, the Royal House will have your head! The Princes will act!""The King is dead," Theron cut her off, his voice flat. "And the Princes are busy playing war. I am handling this.""You call this handling it?" Lord Yunis spoke up, his voice cracking. "The Shadows are winning! If the other Kingdoms see this... if Bryngard sees us struggling with a handful of terrorists... they will invade within the week! We look weak, Thero

"Miss me?" Elara’s voice rang out, confident and bloody.Vex roared in response, her massive sword cleaving the air where Elara had been a split second before.To the right, the ground shook as Bo collided with Gorge, the two titans turning the marketplace into a demolition derby.Behind them, the unnatural silence of Lyra’s duel with Stitch-Lip created a terrifying void in the soundscape.But in the centre of the storm, Pyralis Cinderfall turned his attention back to the Wolf."Aww," Pyralis cooed, resting his burning Flammard on his shoulder. "Look at them. They’re bonding. It’s like a family reunion, but with more stabbing."Fenris Bloodfang was not amused.The werewolf lieutenant stared at the chaos, his amber eyes twitching. He looked back at Pyralis, his lip curling to reveal jagged, yellowing fangs."You hide behind women and cripples?" Fenris growled. "Pathetic.""I hide behind weapons," Pyralis corrected, his voice dripping with his usual snarky tone. "They just happen to be

“Hey,”The voice cut through the screaming in her head. It was calm and it was... bored?Lyra looked up.A boy stood there. He was older than her, maybe fifteen.He had messy black hair and eyes that burned with a strange, fierce intelligence. He wore the armor of a Third Knight recruit, but he didn't look like a soldier.He looked like trouble."You're making a hell of a mess," the boy said.The knights behind him were shouting. "Get back, recruit! She's a demon!"The boy ignored them. He looked right at her. Not at the shadow monster. At her."You look tired," he said."I... I can't stop it," Lyra choked out, the Echo's power vibrating in her throat. "Run.""Nah," the boy said. He squeezed her wrist. "Running is for cowards who can’t think calmly."He leaned in close, ignoring the violet flames licking at his face."My name is Seraph," he whispered. "And I'm getting you out of here.