2026-07-11 18:05:50
Previous Chapter
Latest Chapter
The Third Lock
"Pour the shadow into the pit before the mountain splits in two!" Marcus screamed, his left eye blazing with midnight light as the floor crumbled beneath his boots.The white vortex in the center of the hall roared like a thousand starving beasts. Cold air whipped through the chamber with such violence that iron beams snapped off the walls and flew upward into the dark ceiling."Marcus, your eye is bleeding!" Lyra shouted, holding fast to an iron pillar as her feet floated inches above the stone. "You cannot hold that much magic alone!""I have to!" Marcus yelled back, driving both hands into the edge of the pit.A thick stream of dark, liquid shadow poured from his palms, spreading around the rim of the spinning white storm. The dark goo hissed and bubbled as it touched the pure frost, trying desperately to knit the spatial tear shut. But the vortex fought back, throwing heavy bursts of ice shrapnel high into the air."It is pushing the liquid away!" Silas shouted from the stairs, hi
The Captain's Sacrifice
"Break the staff, Marcus, I cannot hold him forever!" Briggs roared as blood streamed down his muscular arms.His bare hands were sliced deep by the sharp teeth of the razor hound skull, but his grip remained like solid iron. The Grand Abbot snarled, yanked hard on his weapon, and kicked his heavy boots against Briggs's chest. Briggs spat a mouthful of dark blood onto the stone floor, yet he refused to let go."Unclasp your hands, trash!" the Abbot hissed, his layered voice ringing through the red twilight of the hall."Not a chance, old priest!" Briggs yelled back, his jaw locked tight as his shoulder muscles quivered under the extreme strain.Marcus gritted his teeth as the pain in his right shoulder flared like hot fire. He reached up with his left hand, grabbing the cold spike of dark shadow pinning him to the altar wall."Do it now, lad!" Silas screamed from across the room as he pulled two wounded airship crewmen behind a stone pillar. "Pull yourself off that wall!"Marcus let o
The Abbot's Ritual
"Shoot the Abbot before he cuts Marcus down!" Lyra screamed, pointing her trembling finger toward the top of the iron altar.Silas did not hesitate. He raised his heavy repeating rifle, racked the frost coated bolt with a harsh metallic clatter, and pulled the trigger. A loud bang echoed through the vast hall, but the lead bullet never reached the priest. A spinning wall of frozen blades, formed by six pale monks whirling their ice spears in a fast circle, caught the shot mid-air and smashed it into lead dust."I cannot hit him through that wall!" Silas yelled, racking another shell. "The blades are spinning too fast! The metal just bounces right off!""We have to break through!" Toby cried, holding a rusty iron shield he had grabbed off a dead guard. "Marcus is pinned! Look at his shoulder!"Marcus groaned against the cold surface of the central altar. The razor sharp spike of solid shadow was still driven deep through his right shoulder, locking him firmly against the rusted iron wa
Father Against Son
"Block his left side, Marcus, he is moving faster than light!" Silas screamed as a wave of invisible force blasted across the black courtyard.The air ripped apart with a high pitched screech. Marcus shoved Silas back just as a tear in space sheared clean through a thick iron pillar, dropping three tons of solid metal into the freezing dust. The force of the vacuum yanked at Marcus's coat, shredding his leather pauldrons to ribbons."Father, stop!" Marcus shouted, his voice echoing off the tilting walls. "It is me! It is Marcus!"The tall, hollow eyed man did not pause. Blue smoke poured from his empty eye sockets as he raised a pale hand, turning his wrist with a sharp, unnatural jerk. Another tear in space opened right under Marcus's boots, twisting the heavy iron floor plates like scrap paper."He cannot hear you!" Lyra yelled from behind the shelter of a fallen beam. She held a glowing glass flask high. "The cult's spell has locked his mind in a continuous loop! He only sees an en
The Black Iron Monastery
"Step back before they drive those iron spears right through your chest!" Briggs barked, his voice echoing across the silent black floor.Figures glided out from behind the heavy metal pillars surrounding the central hall. They wore long, ragged robes of icy gray cloth, their faces hidden deep beneath high canvas hoods. Each one carried a long spear made of polished dark metal, the tips glistening with a wet, crimson liquid that did not run or drip."Who are these people?" Silas asked, raising his heavy steel bar as he stepped in front of Lyra. "They do not look like airship guards!""They are not guards!" Briggs said, leaning heavily on a cracked wooden beam to keep his shattered leg off the stone. He winced in pain, his jaw tight as he wiped sweat from his chin. "Look at the crest stamped onto their chest plates! That is the iron hammer of the Northern Keeper Order! They were supposed to be extinct three hundred years ago!""Keepers?" Marcus asked, staring at the hooded figures circ
The Liquid Shadow
"Get back from the ice wall, it is melting upside down!" Silas yelled, waving his arm to clear the frozen air.The mountain of packed slush and black mud that buried Marcus was not breaking. It was turning into a bubbling puddle of dark, oily fluid. The thick liquid hissed as it washed over the blue ice, carving deep channels into the glacier floor as if it were soft wax."What is that foul stuff?" Toby asked, taking three quick steps backward. "It smells like burnt copper and old iron!""Look at the center!" Val shouted, drawing his sword. "Something is coming through!"A hand covered in slick, black grease burst through the melting heap. Marcus dragged himself out of the collapsing wall, gasping for air as he collapsed onto his hands and knees. His left eye was burning with a brilliant, midnight-black light that cast long, unnatural shadows against the glacial walls."Marcus!" Silas roared, sprinting forward to grab him under the arms. "You are alive!""Do not touch the liquid!" Mar
You may also like
Short stories: A little suspense
Desmond Baiden 5.6K viewsThe weapon dealer's son
amr silver3.9K viewsGENUINE SUPERHUMAN
HM2.8K viewsZombies Apocalypse
Maxwell 4.9K viewsThe Somatic Gambler
ASAKE412 viewsIn a World of Nightmares, I Keep Awakening Stronger Talents
Matrix_the_Author208 viewsEclipse Harvest
Olive Mirelle1.2K viewsThe Ghost Army
Isaac119 views