2026-08-19 07:42:14
Previous Chapter
Latest Chapter
Chapter 10
"I was on the roof," she said, shrugging her shoulders. "I saw the explosion in the alley. I followed you here. I saw you draw that strange square on the floor and burn the hounds. And I saw you turn a sack of poisonous Blight-wheat into a flesh-eating monster in under a minute." She stopped tossing the coin. She slipped it into her pocket and stepped forward, the playful look vanishing from her face. Her glowing silver eyes locked onto Brandon with intense, dangerous suspicion. "My name is Lydia," she said, resting her hand on the hilt of a curved hunting knife at her belt. "I am a hedge-witch. I was born with the Aether in my blood. I don't need the Sun-King's prayers to make a spark." She pointed a dirty finger at Brandon. "But you... you are an ordinary human. A weak, ink-stained scribe. You have no magic in your blood. Yet, you manipulated raw Aether without chanting, without praying, and without a holy wand. That is impossible." Lydia took another step closer, her voice drop
Chapter 9
Brandon was dragged backward across the rough stone floor. The thick, purple vine wrapped around his left ankle pulled with the strength of a raging horse. The sharp thorns dug deep into his skin, sending waves of burning pain up his leg. He kicked with his free foot, but it was like kicking solid iron. Just a few feet away, the center of the wooden planter box had ripped completely open. A horrific, jagged mouth made of twisted wood and sharp thorns snapped wildly in the air. Glowing, purple sap dripped from its wooden teeth. Wherever the sap hit the stone floor, it hissed and melted the rock like powerful acid. The mutant plant let out a terrible, high-pitched scream. It sounded like rusted metal grinding against bone. It was hungry, and it was pulling Brandon directly into its deadly mouth. “Weapon. I need a weapon!” Brandon’s mind screamed. He had dropped his heavy iron hammer when the vine first grabbed him. He frantically scraped his hands across the dirty floor as he was d
Chapter 8
Brandon picked up a handful of the black seeds. They were dead. They were poison. Even if he could somehow cook them, they would kill Veronica. “No,” Brandon told himself, his grip tightening on the black seeds. “There is no such thing as a magical curse. It is a biological infection. It is a disease. And diseases can be cured.”Brandon looked down at the black tattoo on his right hand. He could still feel the raw, blue Aether swirling in the air around him. The brand was a siphon. It allowed him to pull the energy into his body. He didn't know any magical spells. He didn't know any prayers. But he knew biology. He knew cellular structure. He knew botany and genetic mutation. Brandon moved quickly. He found a large, deep wooden planter box near the window. He dumped out the dry, dead dirt and filled it with fresh, damp soil he dug up from beneath the loose floorboards. He poured a thick layer of the black, blighted seeds into the dirt. He knelt in front of the planter box, placing
Chapter 7
Brandon tasted bitter leather and old sweat. He was biting down so hard on a thick leather strap that his gums were bleeding. He did not know how the strap got into his mouth, but as his eyes snapped open, he saw Veronica’s small, shaking hands holding the ends of a leather belt against his face. She was crying, whispering for him to stay quiet. If he screamed, the guards outside would hear him. If he screamed, they were dead. So, Brandon bit down on the leather and endured the absolute agony. The glowing red brand—the parasitic magic that had ripped itself from Inquisitor Voss’s dead chest—was digging into the back of Brandon’s right hand. It did not just burn his skin. It felt like tiny, hot wires were crawling under his flesh, sliding up his arm, and plugging directly into his spine and his brain. He squeezed his eyes shut, his entire body trembling violently. The magic was forcefully fusing with his nervous system. Then, just as suddenly as it had started, the blinding pain st
Chapter 6
Voss flinched, instinctively tightening his shield. "Fool!" the Inquisitor shouted over the roar of the flames. "Your fire cannot penetrate the barrier! The heat cannot reach me!""I don't need the heat to reach you," Brandon yelled back. "I need the fire to eat!" Fire is a chemical reaction. It requires three things to exist: fuel, heat, and oxygen. The highly volatile solvent provided the fuel and the heat. But it needed oxygen to keep burning. And a fire that large, burning that intensely, consumes oxygen at a terrifying rate. The roaring circle of flames around Voss’s feet acted like a vacuum. It aggressively sucked all the available oxygen out of the surrounding air to fuel itself. And because Voss’s shield allowed gasses to pass through, the fire pulled the oxygen straight out of the inside of the kinetic bubble. In less than three seconds, the localized atmosphere inside Voss's shield was completely stripped of oxygen. Voss opened his mouth to laugh again, but no sound came
Chapter 5
Veronica’s feet kicked wildly in the empty air. She hung three feet off the ground, her small hands clawing frantically at an invisible vice around her neck. Her pale face was rapidly turning a sickening shade of blue. She tried to cry out for her brother, but the magic gripping her throat was too tight. Only weak, choked gasps escaped her lips."Veronica!" Brandon roared, his voice cracking with panic. He lunged forward, raising the heavy iron hammer in his left hand. With all the strength he had left in his battered body, he swung the hammer directly at Inquisitor Voss's head. The hammer stopped dead in mid-air, a full foot away from Voss’s face. It felt as if Brandon had struck a solid wall of invisible steel. The shimmering dome of warped air around the Inquisitor rippled slightly like a puddle hit by a raindrop. The force of the rebound jarred Brandon’s arm so violently that the hammer slipped from his grip, clattering uselessly to the floor. Brandon scrambled backward, his mi
You may also like
Mon'Ter
ReinStriver29.4K viewsunparalleled sword sovereign
GCsage28.5K viewsHis Biggest Secret
ijay18.3K viewsVINCENT MILES: AND THE FIST OF FIRE
Kurt Dp.18.3K viewsMUTE BUT ALMIGHTY: Return of the Archmage
ilyon Above Story57 viewsThe Lens Of The Unseen
soufianemeziane694 viewsThe legend of the dragon knight
Black snider201 viewsOverlord : The Legend of Noa
Coolos202 views