Novels by Marimou

Chapter: Whispers in the Hollow MarchThe name Hollow March comes from the sound of its own death. The hollow echo of footsteps as citizens fled the relentless crest beast attacks. Street by street, the population marched away until only empty buildings remained, and the rhythmic sound of departure became the city's final legacy.Ryan had always dismissed it as fear breeding stories. Until tonight.The district pressed in from all sides, crooked buildings forming a dense black ceiling of stone and timber that swallowed what little moonlight remained and turned every alleyway shadow into something watching. His boots sank into damp moss with each step, cold seeping through the leather. He tightened his grip on his staff as the glyph carved into his left forearm pulsed faintly. A restrained glow, barely brighter than embers, just enough to outline the fog of his breath.He slowed, closed his eyes for a moment, and focused.Ryan raised a fist, signaling a halt. “Heads up. Tracks stop be

Chapter Nine: Hunt Lira was in the sub-level training pits, sweat stinging her eyes as she drilled combos against a holo-target. The crack of her bullwhip echoed off the reinforced walls, each strike precise, tip snapping inches from the projected aberrant's throat. Ryan spotted her from the weights rack, grunting through his final rep. Enisa perched on a catwalk above, silently fletching arrows with carbon shafts.The alarms hit like a shock baton. Red strobes flooded the pit, and every comm implant in the room buzzed in unison. Priority Alpha. Report to Briefing Chamber Nine immediately.Ryan let the barbell crash to the mat. "Great. Was just hitting my stride."Enisa dropped down beside them, quiver already slung. "Priority Alpha means someone upstairs is panicking. Bet it's another breach."Lira coiled her whip with a flick, hooking it to her belt. "Only one way to find out."They joined the flow of black-clad Hunters moving through the corridors. No one spoke much. Speculation w

Chapter: The Hollow Marches They used to hang bells at the edge of the territory. Small ones at first, copper and easy to replace. Later, heavier iron bells that rang like warnings pulled straight from the earth. The sound carried far on quiet nights, a dull, trembling chime meant to wake sleepers and steady frightened hearts. None of the bells rang anymore. The land once called Morganreach had been emptied so slowly that no one noticed the moment it truly died. People left in stages, one family, then a street, then an entire district. Doors were locked not because anyone believed they would return, but because habit is hard to kill. Even now, footprints sometimes appeared in the dust of abandoned homes. Not real ones, just the suggestion of where life used to move. At first, the crestbeasts came like animals. They broke fences. They tore through grain stores. They screamed in the dark and vanished by morning, leaving behind bodies that looked as if something had tried to carve

One Year LaterA full year passed, marked by slow mornings, bruises that healed too slowly, accidental breakthroughs, and the quiet satisfaction of becoming better than the person they were the day before. The academy felt different now. The students who once relied heavily on enhancers had all learned to stand on the strength of their own crests, and real missions had shaped them into something far more capable.Kaen changed the most. When he first arrived, his magnetism ability flickered like a weak signal. Some days he could shift a coin across a table and other days it would not even twitch. Now he moved through the training field with calm precision. He could assign magnetic properties to objects with just a touch and adjust the magnetic field around his own body to launch himself short distances or pull weapons into his hands. He had even discovered a technique for creating brief floating platforms by adjusting polarities under his feet. He only used it during missions, but it m

CHAPTER: Crests and EnhancersMorning light filtered through the Academy’s transparent walls, painting the dormitory halls with soft gold. Ryan and Enisa had barely finished breakfast when a chime echoed through the corridors. The message was simple but authoritative:All first-year candidates report to the Luminar Hall for briefings and initial enhancements. Attendance is mandatory.The Nullforge Grounds from yesterday still throbbed in Ryan’s memory. Today, it seemed, the Academy would demand more than physical skill,they were going to demand understanding.---The BriefingLuminar Hall was vast, a circular chamber with holographic panels floating in mid-air. Rows of seats were filled with first-year candidates, each observing the room with awe and apprehension. Instructor Valis stepped forward, her presence immediately commanding attention.“Today,” she began, “you will learn what separates a district-bound recruit from a Crownlight defender. Your abilities, your strength, your ver

CHAPTER: Trials and ShadowsThe sun hung low over the Academy, a dim, amber glow that bled through the transparent dome of the Nullforge Grounds. Platforms hovered in irregular patterns, casting long shadows across the arena.Ryan tightened his pulse staff. Beside him, Enisa rotated her baton in a practiced arc, already feeling the fatigue from the earlier trial. Across the arena, Lira Vael flicked her whip-staff, the electric tips sparking as she sized up the moving targets. Kaen Ryl’s gauntlets hummed, small pulses of energy escaping with each flex of his hands.The instructors had not officially assigned them as a team. But when the next trial began,a series of mobile Crest Beast constructs combined with automated drone attacks,they realized instinctively that they would have to work together.Instructor Valis’s voice rang out:“Your next trial will simulate coordinated assaults on district borders. Moving constructs and aerial drones will be deployed simultaneously. You must disab