John Davis
Stories
4
Chapters
1,426
Words
411.5 K
Comments
0
Reading
1 d, 10 h
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Arthur walked into the door made of light. Despite Laird’s assurances that the dungeon’s trials were over, he still braced himself with a light thought on his Phase In, Phase Out card. He half-expected to come face to face with a never-ending horde of scourgelings, their pincers clacking. Those scourgelings would be showing up in his nightmares. But there was no final ‘gotcha’ from the dungeon. That had been in deciding who would claim the card library. Instead, Arthur stepped into a cool,…-
71 •
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Shadow immediately lunged for Joy. Standing on top of an open hill and not near any large shadows was surely what had kept him from teleporting and then attacking. Still, he was a fully grown dragon and she had only recently become large enough to fly with her rider in the air. It wasn’t a fair match-up. Out of all of them, her venomous claws presented the most immediate offensive threat. That had to be why Shadow wanted to take her out first. All of this flashed in and out of Arthur’s head in a…
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71 •
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Arthur blinked at the two dragons. Their arrival had been so unexpected that, for a moment, he thought that they might be some sort of hallucination borne out of either exhaustion or hope for rescue. He immediately rejected that. He didn't want a rescue. He wanted to see this through. Of course, Brixaby saw things in a completely different manner. "How dare you intrude on our fight! We have matters well in hand, and we will be the ones to win the prize. Go away!" "By the looks of things, you should be…
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71 •
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"Quickly!" Brixaby handed out the bars of metal. They were about the length of Arthur's forearm and roughly an inch thick. Taking his, Arthur spared a moment to wonder what other kinds of crafting materials Brixaby had hidden in his Personal Space. Also, these were likely stolen. He… should probably ask where his dragon kept getting his crafting supplies. That thought was wiped away as his fingers brushed over the metal bar. It was warm, almost uncomfortably so. As if it were heated from within. Joy…
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71 •
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The first thing Arthur did once he got into his Personal space was to take a big bite out of one of his purple apples. He knew that this was going to be a strain. Mental fatigue was already threatening to creep up on him from his last study session... what? Two hours ago in real time? Less? He wasn't sure, and that was a little alarming, too. Fighting for his life, against waves of scourgelings, hadn’t exactly been relaxing, either. He didn't have a choice. This was their one, best shot at gaining an…
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71 •
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Despite the fact they fought more scourgelings, the second wave went far better than the first. They knew what to expect now, and none was surprised by the heavy shielding over their body and eyes. Joy took out two in swift succession before turning to help the others with their battle. The third wave increased the number of scourgelings yet again, this time to ten. It was more difficult, yet still manageable. However, Arthur had to use his Phase In, Phase Out ability more than he liked. It renewed itself…
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71 •
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"Oh boy, oh boy!" Joy practically bounced from foot to foot in excitement, green-tinged canine teeth poking out from below her lips. “We get to fight scourgelings? Oh boy!” Was it Arthur's imagination, or were those teeth longer and sharper than before? He didn't have time to think about it, nor did he share in her excitement. His hands were sweaty on the hilt of the knife and shovel handle. As the scourgelings advanced, all he could think was: I'm not prepared for this. He was a dragon rider. When…
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"A dungeon," Arthur repeated, with a nod. "That means the prison we saw at the top of the mesa was more of... a holding facility?" He turned to look out over the top of the mesa, silvered in the setting moonlight. "Then the 'dungeon' must be the true place meant to hold criminals with longer sentences..." He trailed off when he caught the odd expression on Cressida's face. Why did she look like she was trying not to laugh at him? "Yes," Brixaby agreed, not noticing Cressida’s look. "After all, they…
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Arthur was so excited he practically flung himself out of his Personal Space and back into real-time. “Brixaby! Look what I found! It’s your card—" But Brixaby had started speaking at the same time, equally excited. And his voice boomed over Arthur’s. “I have located the hidden combat cards, and I will now receive your thanks!” “Wait, what?” Arthur asked. “What do you mean by ‘my card’?” Brixaby demanded, again speaking over him. Cressida slapped her hand on the desk between…
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Arthur dearly wanted to run to the shelf and explore the plethora of enchanted items, but he forced himself to wait until Cressida safely descended the ladder. Then, he placed the ladder back into his Personal Space. But they weren't done yet. There was still the issue of the gaping hole in the ground, which, from the right angle, would be visible from above. Yes, it was hidden within the shadow of a rock, but there was no reason to take undue chances. Working together, he and Brixaby sealed the hole…
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