John Davis
Stories
4
Chapters
1,426
Words
411.5 K
Comments
0
Reading
1 d, 10 h
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Arthur had only spent a couple hours in the tent, but the landscape outside had drastically changed. With the silencing magic placed around the area, Arthur hadn’t suspected a thing. The Legendary recruits had been busy. Now he stared at a twenty foot high stone wall which encircled the outer edges of the city. The scourge volcano had grown in size, too, but the wall represented an impressive bulwark. A deep moat had been dredged up to the edge of the wall and filled with a venom green liquid. If any…-
71 •
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Arthur imagined his newly learned skill would be put to good use. He didn't quite count on the pure chaos that existed inside the tent. Either the weaver guild stitched some silencing runes in the tent's fabric, or someone was using a powerful dampening card because the sight of injured people -- one of whom was holding his own finger in bloody hand, the smell of vomit and blood and all sorts of unspeakable fluids, and unvarnished sounds of agony nearly sent Arthur back out the tent again. But he was a…
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71 •
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Tess and her passengers emerged out of the rip in the sky into blazing afternoon sunshine. Echo, who sat behind Arthur, let out a girlish scream. She had briefly returned to her natural 12-year-old form at Johanna's request. It meant less weight for Tess to carry. Arthur twisted around in his saddle to make sure she was still secure. Her eyes were wide as she gazed around. Catching his look, she pointed straight ahead. Arthur nodded. The wind blew too fiercely to allow any conversation, but words…
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71 •
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Arthur couldn't quite figure Penn out. When he'd first met his cousin, he was gregarious and outgoing -- no, that wasn't true. The first time he'd met his cousin, Penn had helped ruin Arthur's behind-the-bar juggling act. But of course, he'd been too drunk to link a random bartender with "Earnest Kane". Now, though Penn no longer acted overtly suspicious, Arthur sensed a new distance between them as they walked the halls toward the commissary. Penn kept calling him 'Kane' and remained unusually…
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71 •
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Valentina closed her fist. For one heart stopping moment, all of the air in the room… evacuated. Arthur’s ears popped painfully and when he tried to breathe in, he only received a wisp. Instinct made him glance up. A dense fog had collected at the roof of the room — everything but a bare hint of air, densely packed into a miniature cloud. All sound stopped. Valentina let the moment linger for the space of three heartbeats. Her fist relaxed and the air whooshed down again. People gasped all around…
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71 •
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It took every bit of Inside, he was reeling. He had half-guessed it was something like this, but to have it confirmed meant that Lional had intentionally sold the second card out of a Legendary set. That was a huge advantage to give up. Were they that financially bad off? Or were they that afraid of the king’s wrath? Still keeping his expression politely interested, Arthur said, “Sounds impressive. What does your card do?” Penn started to reply when a general hubbub drew their attention to the…
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71 •
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The very next instant, Arthur found himself standing, whole, in his Personal Space. He looked around wildly. It took him a few moments to realize that he had come immediately here. He didn’t even go through the extra step of standing in front of the bookshelf, first. Apparently, panic was a good way to discover a shortcut. That was great and all, but it didn’t distract him from the fact that while his mind was suspended in timeless space, his body was under attack. “Shit,” he muttered. He began…
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71 •
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Arthur had to show his formal invitation at no less than three check points on the way. Each was staffed by professional looking hive guards Arthur had never seen before -- likely men and women who worked exclusively in the upper levels. At each way point, the invitation was carefully examined as if looking for a forgery. Surely a forgery would be quickly discovered once someone presented themselves to the Legendary egg. But Arthur supposed that some people might take the chance just for the opportunity…
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71 •
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The downside, of course, was the headache. At first Arthur thought he could handle it. Then he stood to put the time-mark candle out. The pain in his head sharpened as he moved. IT was as if someone had shoved a metal bar up through the bottom of his skull, just where head met neck, all the way through and out the top. He staggered to the candle, unsure if the sudden vertigo was due to the pain or if it was all rolled into one. It took all of his concentration to snuff the candle out. After that, he fell…
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71 •
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Like most businesses, the card shop was doing brisk business for festival day. There were several around the hive's city, but Kenzie and Arthur went to the one mutually known as the largest and best stocked. However, it didn't mean that the shops were well-stocked with what he wanted. Arthur grimaced as he glanced over the shelves. All were of the Common variety -- Uncommon cards were behind the counter where one had to pass through the approval of the store clerks to get a closer look. And the ones set…
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71 •
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