Daniel Thompson
Stories
13
Chapters
4,688
Words
1.4 M
Comments
0
Reading
4 d, 20 h
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“I don’t know if this will be enough,” I say while a monster crawls out of a dark pool. It’s nothing too special. A large scorpion monster, with big claws and a bigger stinger. The stinger has a bit of a scoop shape beneath it which can be used as a cup to hold onto a decently big rock. The idea is that these scorpion monsters can fling those rocks ahead of them pretty darned hard. They’ll give the monsters we’ve gathered a ranged option. That’s one of the bigger problems with monster…-
98 •
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I stretch as best I can, because sleeping on the ground--even if Felix insisted last night that we find a spot where the dirt isn’t too hard--is really uncomfortable. I’m not the only one waking up. Esme’s rubbing at her face and Felix is rummaging around our bags for things to start breakfast with. Bianca’s the only one here that’s a morning person. She took two minutes to wake up, and since then she’s been perfectly fine. It’s a little maddening, actually, but I can’t fault her too much…
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98 •
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Our night at Bianca’s place is rather nice. Beds are a great invention, second only to books in terms of how helpful they are for sleeping (though pillows come in at a close third). Breakfast is a quick affair. Eggs and bacon and cheese as well as some local bread that’s shaped a bit longer than the bread I’m used to seeing. It had nuts in it too. Once we’re fed and Felix has gone through the leftovers, we all head outside where Bianca meets with Rafael again. “We’ll be heading out now,” she…
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98 •
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We had to get ready for the double date. The problem was, that while we had some time (Aunt Semper had slipped Esme a note saying that the date would take place in a week’s time) we didn’t know how to use that time well. My speciality was making monsters and... I guessed using dark magic pretty well? Neither of those things were useful when it came to preparing for a date. Worse, it wasn’t a real date. I had even less experience with fake-dates that were meant to help someone else with their…
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98 •
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“Find anything yet?” I ask as I leaf through a pile of letters. Bianca’s dad has a pretty good system in place here. There are cabinets along one wall of his office, with all the papers within them divided into three broad categories. General news--which has the most cabinet space--blackmail material, and then unrelated information. Within those, every letter and report is placed in order of date, with a marking at the top of the page telling the reader what the report relates to. That’s just for…
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98 •
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Bianca leans over, pressing herself closer to my back so that she can snake an arm ahead of me. “Over there,” she says. I follow her finger to the shoreline of the big lake next to the capital. We’ve been following the coast for nearly an hour already. Below us are a bunch of houses. Little villages that are only a few minute’s walk apart from each other, with a road connecting all of them together. Boats are coming in for the night to little docks and it seems like things are winding down for the…
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98 •
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Felix and Bianca are quick to agree to Esme’s plan. Not that it’s all that complicated a plan. Follow the little compass thing to the books that were stolen, then beat the snot out of the Altum cultists that stole them. It’s exactly the kind of plan that I’d expect Felix to be onboard with. “We’ll leave some of the monsters here,” I say. The wolves that have been accompanying us are pretty sturdy, and they’re big friendly fluffballs once you get to know them, so the next Archivists who…
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98 •
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“Esme!” I whispered really, This was an emergency. I saw a bushy head of hair pop up behind a stack of books at one desk and beelined over to it. There was only one person that could be, and I desperately needed her right then. “Valeria?” she asked as we came closer. She glanced at Felix, then at our hands, then right back to my eyes. “What’s going on?” I stopped, then realised that I was out of breath, so I took a moment to gulp down some fresh library air before answering. “Felix…
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98 •
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“What’s this place?” I ask The room’s obviously some sort of office space. There are a few writing tables, a shelf along the back wall with stacks of binders on it, and a workspace in the centre. It looks like someone’s gone around and shuffled through things recently, but nothing’s broken. Esme sets her lamp down on the worktable, then adjusts the wick to give us a bit more light. “So you see any lights?” she asks. I glance around, then find a few candle holders up against the wall,…
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98 •
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“Is it safe?” I ask. The big wolf-monster nods his furry head. “Borf.” “Good,” I say. I know that we haven’t seen any fresh undead in a bit, but my friends and I haven’t exactly scouted out the entire area. The vault is massive. The area near the entrance is just a small part of it. There are doors to the sides and rear of the room that lead into other, equally huge rooms. And it’s not just books. Semper has statues, crates filled with strange things, some training tools and even an…
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