Jessica Brown
Stories
7
Chapters
1,940
Words
857.1 K
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Reading
2 d, 23 h
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The transformations had grown easier, she quickly discovered. Agony brought on by splitting bone and boiling flesh suffused her being, but the peak of pain no longer rose quite so high and the change proved swifter. The rat humanoid shook herself as her other form solidified. She glanced to the tiger - who watched her with rapt curiosity, and opened her mouth. A pause. …perhaps she should have transformed Ah, well. It would see soon enough. She eyed the wall of the pit. No ramp wrapped about the…
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“Does that leader-man…do any of them Another pause. Then a snort of distaste followed by another shake of the head. “Oh…okay,” she murmured. Her blood froze colder than the night-chilled mountain air. This tiger was not only intelligent, but That showed all the intellect of a human, married to the primal power of a great predator. A terrifying possibility: the filthy cult leader had worked his craft better than he could have imagined. Now, the question was, She forced her gaze to the…
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Haldrych and Adelmar found the beast-man within a lonely tunnel, curled up beneath its misery. The brute moaned piteously - blood-drenched chain clinking with its terrible fits – as it stared at the ruined stump where once had been a hand. The great wound was bandaged and sutured shut to stymie bleeding, and a topical oil of poppy and willow had been poured over the stump to dull the pain. The bandages wicked bright red. Milos had tended the wound then cast the creature aside to brood on its…
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“Damn that filthy rat!” Haldrych cursed beneath his breath. “She has the luck of a devil!” “Even I am starting to wonder about that,” Adelmar cast a troubled look down the darkened tunnel. None were about, save for them. “Did that beast not attack her?” “It was as though she wasn’t there!” the young poet hissed. “I watched until the sun had fled and the wind had deadened my hands, but the useless creature did not make a single move toward her!” His teeth ground behind trembling…
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This time they did not bother to cover her head. Haldrych and Adelmar dragged Wurhi the Rat by her bronze-bound wrists - so firmly did the metal restrain her limbs that her hands and feet had numbed. She could In the offing, anguished screams emanated from the depths of the beast-man’s core - smothering the constant chanting that filled the mountain - while Milos marched ahead in a fit of icy fury. His every step landed with the weight of a wrathful giant resolved to punch through the earth, and Wurhi…
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“ Thin eyebrows rose. “It speaks,” the dark man said in mock surprise. “This is a wonder of wonders, is it not? A talking dog!” “This cur had best speak on command,” the woman growled. “Your sentries would not quit battle long enough to share your secrets…commendable, but foolish.” “ The robed man chuckled. “A clever spot; far enough from road and river that no one would think to search here in this bleak season. But it was your young friends, the Ameldan dog and his pup, that…
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Hunt Leader Jairus thundered across the icy mountain valley astride his wiry gelding. At his back rode the cultists of Lycundar - their cloaks whipping, their breath misting and the lycanthropes’ eyes shining in the failing dusk-light with a bestial gleam even in human form. These were hard men. While the cult pulled savagery from all walks of life - from gutters to palaces - these slayers had been honed by rough living long before the embrace of He Who Consumes Himself. Cutthroats. Pirates.…
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With a rending cry, she doubled over as every thew in her body contorted. The rodent rose up, threatening to consume her rational thoughts beneath bestial instinct. As her will steeled itself to fight for control, an image slipped into her mind. Water. Flowing into a vessel. With ease. Drawing a deep breath, she pushed away the agony as her bones shattered and shifted. Instead, she embraced the beast that began to rampage through her mind…or did it? The instincts were powerful, but not hostile. Not…
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Then came the smell. “Oh…” Wurhi’s eyes widened. “Oh shit.” “What?” Merrick demanded from behind her. “What’s-” A mountain began to materialize in the black, sheathed in the gleam of bronze. “…oh gods,” Merrick’s groan was that of a dying man. Milos’ beast-man loomed from the passage like a metal-clad fortress. Its girdle had been supplemented by an entire armoury. Bronze sheathed its form: a gleaming coif covered its head - leaving its ruddy face bare - layers of…
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“Like water…like water…” Wurhi the Rat muttered, retreading the same words as she had for some hours. “I’m like water? …what in every hell, god and demon does that The little thief paced the bottom of the pit, her feet shuffling through straw and creating a well-worn trench. The dried grass proved far cleaner than the mouldy mess in the first hole she and Merrick had been cast into. Thankfully, it was also free of bone and rot. And - for now - But - whatever reason this Milos had for…
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