David Martinez
Stories
11
Chapters
3,348
Words
937.5 K
Comments
0
Reading
3 d, 6 h
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Leif put a golden fist through the skull of what had once been an evolved wolf. The monster, rotting and twisted, perished with a low gurgling growl. Overhead streaks of white light flashed, each targeting undead too far away for anyone else within the expedition to even have a chance of hitting. From over a hill another group of undead of all different shapes and sizes came sprinting, bounding and stumbling. Among their number were several distinctly goblin shaped figures. They would undoubtedly be…
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A flock of Highland Runners crested a distant hill. Their shrill cawing split the morning air. The caravan was in full momentum, they had awoken early and set off as fast as possible. The world was gaining an almost dark and malevolent cast. And it wasn’t due to turbulence. Everything was fleeing south before an ever encroaching threat. When the sun was hanging far overhead the mixed group stopped for a break. Many collapsed as soon as the relentless marching was no longer needed. Food and drink was…
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The wind picked up, it rustled leaves and billowed clothing. The sound was not that of a raging gale, instead the wind possessed an almost shrill melody. In the distance, motes of purple and red fluttered up from the earth. Specs of bioluminescent light reaching for the sky. An arrow of light streaked through the night. It impacted the side of a grassy hill with a thud. An instant later two figures appeared in a flash of light. The first was a cloaked being that teetered briefly before taking a step…
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“ The word hung in the air, the sound seeming to come from all around, not just Leif’s mouth. Then something shifted, power built up in his hand, rising with every moment. Leif felt the well of power within him drain at an alarming rate, he had been so focused on getting his command to work he hadn’t limited the draw. White light with dancing specs of gold flared from where he touched the deer’s back. It lit up the night, briefly outlining the shadows of a distant clump of trees. The deer bolted…
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Kala had told Leif he should read through the introductory chapters of ‘a novice’s guide to restoration’ before picking his newest skills. When Leif had told her the skills would be automatically selected by the system in several hours her reply had simply been: “Read quickly then.” The convoy had set up camp for the evening, everyone on much higher alert than the night before. The group that had gone off to scout the swampland had returned during dinner. The unnerving report that evidence of…
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Two hours later the expedition and nomad clan were on the move. Surprisingly there had been zero fatalities during the night's violence and panic. The monsters had seemingly been more interested in disabling and stealing their potential victims than they were killing, and those who did sustain life threatening injuries had been healed in time. Six people had been carried off into the night, but they had been saved when the hogs had charged to the expedition's rescue. Leif noticed that people, especially…
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The deer couldn’t read. Obviously. Though being tied to a thin tree with rope while the humans cleaned up after the attack did give it plenty of time to try. And fail. Animals couldn’t exactly control or manipulate the system. Other than by accident. The deer, hanging there helplessly wasn’t an exception to the rule. It instinctively blinked away the window like it had done to all the others. Fortunately the system operated mostly autonomously for lower level beasts and monsters. This was one of…
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Heat built under Leif’s bark and every muscle went tense. The paralysing cold was shunted to the side, his body regaining control. But that wasn’t all. Far from it. All over his body his plant-like nature became clearly apparent. Red leaves bloomed where newly growing branches shot from his back and arms. The wooden spikes outlining the crown of his head rapidly lengthened, each jutting out like ivory horns. Blood red leaves billowing out like a canopy of crimson hair, or the plume of a helmet. The…
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An arrow of light was fired from atop the hill where the nomad camp was situated. It flew in a high arc, a radiant streak of white that illuminated the night like a personal star. For the brief instant it hung at the peak of its arc, everything came into sight. The panicking, half asleep expedition camp. Several of its members too young to be considered adults. Several were half dressed, half asleep and half intoxicated. All were unprepared. But not as unprepared as they otherwise would be. As the…
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=== Countdown to disaster: Ten minutes. === Johan dreamt of home. Of the canyon walls the size of mountains, the washed out rainbow colour dividing the hundreds of rock layers, each an indication of times long lost as the years went by. He dreamt of the rolling dunes and hanging petrified forests, he dreamt of the people, hardy but always smiling. And he dreamt of losing them. It was a repeating nightmare, of beauty turning to tragedy. Of the shadows of winged creatures darkening the ground and the…
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