Novels by Larass

The world was no longer a forest.Greyfenwood Forest had melted, dripping like oil paint on a burning canvas. The green of the leaves turned into wet concrete gray. The sounds of jungle insects were replaced by the honking of black taxis and the rumble of a distant subway train.Finnian was no longer sprawling on the muddy ground. He was standing in a narrow alley in the East End, London.Heavy rain fell, but it didn't wash his skin, it felt like needles of ice. In his hand wasn't a high-tech Gauntlet or a stolen pistol, but a suppressed Walther PPK with a barrel still smoking."No..." Finnian whispered, his voice trembling. "Not today. Please, not today."The VX-Red neurotoxin was more than just a poison; it was a cruel time machine. The chemical burned Finnian's hippocampus, forcing him to replay the one moment in his life he hated most. The archive of sins he had tried to bury with whiskey and women for the last five years.At his feet lay a young man. His face was ruined. Not by b

The morning sunlight pierced through the mist of Greyfenwood, turning the forest into a labyrinth of silver steam and long shadows.On the forest floor, amidst mossy oak roots, Finnian was checking his weapon. His face was hard, his sharp eyes scanning every suspicious leaf movement. Next to him, Elena sat holding her cauterized right shoulder. Her face was pale, but she wasn't whining."Drink," Finnian tossed the leftover water bottle from the enemy soldier he had killed last night. "I don't want you fainting halfway there."Elena caught the bottle with her left hand, drinking greedily. "Thanks," she murmured, wiping her lips. She stared at Finnian's back again, then at the Gauntlet on his left hand, now in standby mode (dimly glowing)."Why didn't you leave me?" Elena asked suddenly.Finnian didn't turn around. He was sharpening his Bowie knife on a flat river stone. "I told you. You're a spare key.""That's not the reason," Elena interrupted, her voice regaining some of its scienti

Thirty meters above the ground, the world felt slightly safer, though significantly colder.Greyfenwood Forest was home to ancient Sequoias with canopies as thick as rooftops. It was on one of these giant branches, wide as a sedan, that Finnian dumped Elena Vance's body roughly."Aaargh!" Elena screamed, a stifled cry as her back hit the hard bark."Shh. Quiet or die," Finnian hissed. He knelt beside her, scanning the darkness below.The forest beneath them was alive. The sound of snapping twigs, the hum of mechanical breathing, and the sweep of red laser beams from the eyes of Hellhounds could be seen roaming the forest floor. They were like land sharks smelling blood. And Elena's blood was dripping, leaving a sweet scent trail for those iron predators.Finnian let out a long breath, then leaned his rifle against the tree trunk. The Gauntlet on his left hand still hummed softly, its light dimmed to avoid attracting attention."Listen, Doc," Finnian said, ripping open Elena's shattere

The ceiling of the steel bunker curved inward, its scrap metal groaning under the pressure of thousands of tons from the diamond-coated drill bit spinning above it. The sound of grinding metal sounded like a woman's scream."Okay, new toy..." Finnian raised his left hand. The black Gauntlet left by his father hummed, its green fluid tubes glowing brightly, as if eager to taste danger. "Just don't explode and chop my hand off, okay?"CLAAAANG!The drill bit punched through the roof. Mud and iron debris sprayed inside.Finnian didn't retreat. He jumped towards the spinning drill.With a maniacal roar, Finnian punched the side of the giant drill bit with his left hand. As his fist made contact, the Gauntlet released a directed kinetic shockwave. Not a fire explosion, but a micro-gravity distortion.BAAAM!The solid steel drill bit didn't shatter, but it bent. Its rotational axis destroyed instantly. The drilling engine on the surface halted with the ear-splitting sound of snapping gears.

The world was no longer fire, but mud.Dark. Thick. And it felt like burning.Finnian sank deeper into the bottom of the waste swamp. The black chemical sludge had the consistency of used motor oil mixed with super glue. Every time Finnian tried to kick his way to the surface, the swamp's suction pulled him down twice as hard."Dammit... this isn't how I die," he thought, panic beginning to creep at the edges of his consciousness.He held his breath. His lungs started screaming for oxygen. The pain in his shoulder from the cockpit glass shards stung sharply as the toxic chemicals seeped in. Fortunately, the 'new' skin layer given by the Dryad seemed to provide some resistance. If he were still a normal human, his skin would be blistering and peeling off by now.Thud.His back hit the bottom of the swamp. Not soft mud, but something hard. Metal?Finnian fumbled in the pitch darkness. His hands swept across a flat, cold, rusted surface. This wasn't bedrock. It was steel plating. He felt

"Fire! Kill that demon now!"The Iron Fang squad Captain's voice cracked with panic. Three heavy-class assault rifles barked simultaneously inside the cramped cave chamber. RAT-TAT-TAT-TAT!In seconds, hundreds of tungsten bullets obliterated the stalactite where Finnian had stood. Limestone dust exploded, filling the air. However, their target—the green-glowing man—was gone.Not vanished, but moving too fast for normal human optic nerves to process, even with tactical HUD assistance.SHING.A green blur flashed between the ranks of soldiers.The squad Captain felt a cold breeze on his neck, followed by a warm, wet sensation. He looked down, puzzled why his vision suddenly tilted. His body collapsed, his head rolling off his shoulders, cleanly decapitated by a shard of quartz crystal swung at supersonic speed."Dammit! Where is he?!" screamed the sergeant next to him, spinning his body encased in a hundred-kilogram Exosuit."Behind you, idiot," Finnian whispered.Finnian clung to the