11: Of Tinkering

Jeron waited outside Niamh’s lodging, even more nervous than he had been with Captain Hawke. She had promised via courier messages to make time for him after her recovery training. Now, he knocked on her door, butterflies and snakes and all other wriggly things in his stomach and an absurd grin on his face. Niamh […]

10: Of A Welcome Surprise

Niamh slung her pack over her shoulder and looked around the hospital wing where she had stayed for the last three weeks. Sister Hilde watched her, eyes shining with tears. Niamh forced a stoic smile. Everything had changed so quickly, but now here she was, standing on the threshold of yet more newness to come. […]

9: Of Sweets And Sweetness

Niamh gazed down at her breakfast, veggie hand pies (her favorite) and a little bowl of lush red brambleberries sprinkled with sugar. Unlike on previous days, she did not push the food away. She’d already had one guest. A woman called Loremaster Olangah had examined her top to bottom, checking her for any magical maladies. […]

8: Of Nightmares and Lore

Jeron arrived at the Mageguild Demesne to find a group of armored Valiants flanking the gate. “A guard detail?” He had never seen so many soldiers on the normally peaceful grounds. “Of a sort,” a familiar voice hailed him. Jeron turned to find Niamh’s commanding officer approaching. “Did you get my note?” “Captain Hawke,” Jeron […]

7: Of Letters

6: Of Sunlit Pain

*Content warning: severe injury, post-trauma and depression. “Niamh?” The voice sounded muffled and far away. It said nothing about keys. It made no threats. Was she finally safe from the nightmares? “Can you hear me, Niamh?” Niamh struggled until she could force her eyes open. The world was too bright, everything so blurry. “Easy. Take […]

5: Of Life’s Cost

An hour later—how was it only an hour?—Jeron perched on a crate in a Mageguild tent, recovering. Kate and Moya had joined him, hunkered on their own crates, one on each side of him. They looked as bleary-eyed and exhausted as he felt. “It was a miracle, Jeron. You said those words about healing, and […]

4: Of Blood and Light

*Content warning: severe injury, blood, fantasy violence. Jeron left Sage Belden and the few others he’d gathered along the way in the Mageguild tent, the safest place he could think of. He kept an eye out for threats, satisfied they were far enough away from melee. He pushed through the tent flaps, blinded for a […]

3: Of Spring and Regret

*Content warning: severe injury, blood, fantasy violence. Two Weeks Into the Northgate Expedition Surely her Ivory Order contacts had been wrong. Niamh peered out over fields of sun-dappled grass stirring in the wind. It was several weeks into the Northgate Expedition, and nothing was what she’d expected, especially compared to the cautionary tales her old […]

2: Of Exploration

Niamh awoke with a start. Sunlight filtered through the high glass windows set into the stone wall of her room at the Duskcat Inn. A knock rapped into the morning quiet, followed by the sound of footsteps retreating. Shivering, she threw off the soft quilt and quickly padded barefoot across the cold flagstones. An envelope […]