2026-06-27 05:08:09
Previous Chapter
Latest Chapter
The Sister’s Ghost
"Out of my way, Jax, or I will throw you off this launch platform myself!" Silas roared, his eyes bloodshot as he shoved the young mechanic back into a stack of empty crates.Silas marched toward the smallest scout airship sitting on the wooden launch pad, his heavy boots shaking the planks. His face was twisted with pure desperation, a thick rope coil slung over his broad shoulder and a pair of brass pistols shoved messily into his belt."Silas, stop!" Jax yelled, scrambling up from the sand. "The engines are not even warmed up! You will crash in the open desert!""I do not care about the engines!" Silas bellowed, grabbing the iron ladder that led up to the scout ship's deck. "My sister is sitting in a wet stone cell while those butchers prepare their execution block! I am not waiting forty eight hours for a grand strategy meeting!""You will not make it past the border towers alone, Silas," a cold, steady voice called out from the hangar shadow.Marcus rolled his ironwood chair into
The Chief’s Debt
"Down!" Marcus screamed, grabbing the wheels of his ironwood chair and driving himself forward with all his strength.The heavy chair slammed straight into Chief Kaelen's hips, knocking the tall northern leader sideways into the dirt. A split second later, a dozen razor sharp ironwood spikes whistled through the air where Kaelen's head had been, embedding themselves deep into the oak table legs with a terrifying thud.One flying wooden shard grazed Marcus's right arm, tearing clean through his coat sleeve and slicing a deep, three inch gash across his frozen skin."Marcus!" Lyra yelled, scrambling through the dust to reach his side."I am fine!" Marcus grunted, leaning back in his chair as the dust cleared."Look at your arm, lad!" Silas called out, stepping through the shattered opening of the cage with his broadsword lowered.Marcus pulled back his torn sleeve. Instead of red human blood dripping from the open cut, a thick, glowing violet sap trickled out from the wound. The violet
The Ironwood Trap
"Get your back against the table before the ceiling beams snap down on us!" Silas roared, drawing his heavy broadsword with a harsh metallic scrape.The massive ironwood roots groaned loudly as they twisted tighter around the canvas tent, their thick, dark bark squeezing the wooden frame into splintered scraps. The heavy timbers bowed inward under the crushing weight, closing off every window and door until the council leaders were trapped in pitch darkness."Out of the way!" Jax screamed from the outside perimeter.Through the narrow cracks in the wooden bars, the bright orange glare of burning torches flickered in the dusty air. Outside, dozens of camp guards and naval deserters rushed forward with iron axes, picks, and heavy sledgehammers."Swing together on my mark!" Jax yelled to the men behind him. "One! Two! Strike!"THWACK.Three heavy iron axes slammed directly into the thick trunk of the lead root. But instead of chopping through the dense wood, the iron blades bounced off t
The Council of War
"I will not throw away the last blood of my hunters for a city of human brick and iron!" Chief Kaelen roared, slamming his bone studded fist onto the wooden map table.The heavy parchment map of the capital city rattled, sending two brass inkwells sliding across the oak surface. Around the grand council tent, dozens of tribal leaders, naval deserters, and rebel captains shouted back at him, their voices turning into a chaotic roar that echoed out across the dusty desert plains."Your hunters will starve in these sands if General Vane's ironclad legion marches south!" Silas shouted back, his heavy hand resting on the pommel of his broadsword. "You think the rogue generals will respect your northern borders once they harvest every ironwood tree on the plain?""We survived in the high snows for five hundred years before your court generals ever built their palace!" Kaelen spat, turning his back on the table. "My people go north tonight!""If you march north now, Kaelen, your people will
The Reconstruction Camp
"Put down those supply crates before I let this bone arrow fly straight through your knee!" Chief Kaelen barked, her bowstring pulled tight to her cheek.In the center of the dusty clearing, a dozen angry mutineers from the royal navy stood holding iron crowbars, their boots planted firmly over three large wooden boxes of alchemical hardtack and dried meat. Behind them, a group of freed mountain prisoners brandished heavy iron chains, their faces pale and gaunt from weeks of starvation."We pulled those crates off the airships, Chief!" a scarred naval deserter spat, wiping dirt from his jaw. "Our men are sick! We are not giving up our rations to people who do not even know how to hold a rifle!""Every soul in this valley gets an equal share!" Silas shouted, stepping between the two armed groups with his massive broadsword held low. "Drop the bars now, or I will personally throw every one of you out into the open desert!"The desert wind blew hot across the vast, neutral plains. Tents
The Sinking Spire
"Grab the winch cable before the entire spire goes under!" Silas roared, his loud voice booming down through the open hatch of the falling airship.A wave of icy green water crashed over the broken stone balcony, burying Marcus and Lyra up to their chests. The massive black towers of the risen alien city were sliding fast into the ocean depths, dragging thousands of tons of stone and sea water down into a giant whirlpool."Over here!" Lyra screamed, her soaked hair plastered against her face as she wrapped one arm around Marcus's chest. "His legs are dead! He cannot swim!"Above them, the broad canvas hull of the alliance flagship hovered twenty feet above the churning ocean waves. Its side propellers groaned under the extreme pull of the wind, spraying white water across the deck as cargo ropes swung wild across the gap."Drop the cargo net now!" Silas bellowed to the deck crew behind him. "Jax, hold the steam winch tight!"A heavy, thick hemp rope net dropped from the airship door,
You may also like
