《A Castle in a Teacup》Chapter 12
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The hound jerks away and I make the choice not to go with it. I would rather not get pulled into the fray. Instead I jerk my head back quickly. My teeth, sunk deeply into the hound, are left behind. Copto teeth regrow quickly as long as there is enough spare essence. I will have a new set grown within the hour. The hound on the other hand is left with a circle of bleeding wounds on its side filled with foreign essence, no doubt a deeply painful sensation.
I take a few quick steps back from the hound which continues to struggle with my thinking Red. The hound’s movements slower now as it bleeds essence from its side. Looking around I see that the other hound that slipped past the Reds is wrestling with my two Yellows. One of the Yellows is badly damaged with part of its shoulder torn off and leaking smoke. Despite it’s wounds it continues fighting alongside its fellow Yellow, the two are supported by the Violet who hits the hound with bullets of force whenever there is an opening. It seems that it is only a matter of time before that group is victorious.
Casting my mind back to the front line Reds I see that for the most part my forces are overcoming their foes. Two of my Reds have mangled their hounds to the point that they are able to disengage and finish off their foes. One unlucky Red has lost an arm to its hound, smoke pours out of its stump as it weakly flails to prevent the hound from getting a solid grip around its neck.
I reallocate the Reds that have won their fights to help those that are struggling. From the mental links I have formed with the group I watch as my thinking Red gets a solid blow on the hound that I helped weaken. As the hound reels back the thinking Red strikes with its right hand claws, stabbing them lighting fast into the side of the hound’s head. It pulls its claws back out covered in bright red pseudo-blood, and the hound collapses. The threat closest to me is removed.
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I send my thinking Red over to help eliminate the other hound that has slipped past the Reds. The hound is not doing well, small craters crisscross its side leaking, pseudo-blood where the Violet’s spells have landed. One of its eyes is bleeding and it has a slight limp. Only one Yellow faces it down, its comrade has fallen to the ground. It waves its limbs in the hound’s general direction but essence loss from its shoulder wound has rendered it useless.
I mentally note that the Red which lost its arm has disappeared from the mental link. Another Red has entered combat with the victorious hound. Some hounds begin to find themselves at a disadvantage as victorious Reds re-enter the fray creating two on one situations.
My thinking Red reaches its assigned hound. The hound is already slow moving and damaged. The thinking Red makes short work of it having already learned how to handle these foes from its previous combat, the hound is not able to react fast enough to the needle like claws plunging into its skull. With that hound out of the way the none combat Coptos are more firmly separated from danger.
The Violet begins to take pot shots at the remaining hounds, while the Yellow and thinking Red stay back from combat to provide a second line of defense for the delicate Coptos if any more hounds break through. Slowly but surly the hounds fall one by one, with each one defeated pushing the advantage more in my direction.
Finally the last hound finds itself almost surrounded by Coptos. Bloody gashes left by Copto claws run across its body and crimson sheets down its side. Seeing itself firmly outnumbered it turns to flee. Before it can reach the tree line a ball of force slams into its back tossing it to the ground. It struggles to get back to its feet, but the balls of force launched by the Violet continue to pummel it one after another until it lays still.
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The injured Yellow’s mind vanishes from the link as it collapses back into essence and smoke.
One Yellow and one Red have been lost in this attack. Most of the other Reds have mild to moderate wounds leaking smoke like spent essence. I begin approaching the damaged Reds and healing their wounds. I lay my hands on them, feel what areas were damaged, and then channel the extra essence in each Copto to eliminate the damage and stop the essence loss
I help?*
I glance over at the green Blue
Show me*
the green Blue severs its mind from mine and walks over to one of the injured Reds. It takes several more seconds before smoke stops emitting from the Red’s wounds. I mentally nod to it and turn my attention back to the injured. Ten minutes later the last of the essence loss has been stopped. Now it is time to make some decisions.
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Cultivating Earth [Hiatus]
[This fiction is on indefinite hiatus. I'm currently acting as a 24-hour caregiver for my step-father who had a massive heart attack. I apologize for disappearing so quickly, but sometimes that's just life. I'll return as soon as possible. Sorry everyone!] Zhao Gang, after hundreds of thousands of years cultivating, has finally reached the penultimate threshold. He is ready to ascend to the level of True Immortal. Driven by the need for a place his enemies won't find him, Zhao Gang puts together an audacious plan. He has developed a revolutionary new formation which will allow him to ascend while on even the lowest planes. To avoid drawing attention, he has to choose a plane that is relatively desolate, however. He chooses Earth. Fast forward three thousand years. Zhao Gang discovers what his work has wrought - a cultivation-free culture that has delved the deep mysteries of creation - he can't help but think how this tiny little planet devoid of natural energy could affect the course of all creation. There's only one problem. For that to happen, he has to succeed in cultivating Earth. Notes: Chinese names should be ignored in the social context - they don't mean anything. Sorry for slaughtering such a beautiful tradition. This novel starts off slower than most. If the slow-roll isn't your thing, you might want to give this a pass. If it's not for you, I understand. Also, releases may be broken up into smaller chunks. The goal is 5k words, but definitely more than 4k. If you see a short release, be aware that more is probably coming. I'll be honest and say that I'm struggling with each new scene, if only because I want to balance the scope of vision with good pacing. I hope the work I put into it is worthwhile.
8 77Vigil's Justice (Vigil Bound Book 1)
Death is a real son of a bitch. Boyd Knight found his calling when he joined the Marines and qualified for the elite Force Recon. He’d found a tribe and a family, so when a hand grenade landed near his team, he jumped on it without thought or regret. But instead of winding up dead, he wakes up butt naked in a cave full of monsters with a knife in one hand and a pistol in the other. He’s been hand chosen by the Five-Faced God of Justice and entrusted with the power of the Vigil Bound. Every kill makes him stronger and thanks to the Ascendant System, Boyd can level up, unlock increasingly powerful spells, and even harness the abilities of the monsters he’s been dispatched to hunt. If he can survive the deadly shapeshifter stalking him from the shadows, Boyd’s second life promises to be even more ass-kickingly epic than his first.
8 141Epoch
Humanity is gone. An unknown disaster long since wiping out the entirety of civilization. To our young feathered blacksmith though, such things about long forgotten life matters not. No, more pressing issues consist of the local Tower that pierces into the heavens suddenly collapsing. Finding one's self stuck repeating a cycle of three days and worse of all, being stuck with a spirit guide who doesn't know how to be quiet.
8 163The Flight of the Askillion
Story of Humanity's first FTL vessel escaping the solar system and what it encounters.
8 195Scholar of the Fog
Leaving a trail of blood as he climbed up a hill, his limbs felt like lead. He was gasping too, his lungs burning with every step he took. It felt like a bundle of broken glass was scraping away the inner walls of his flesh. He was dying, obvious to both him and his pursuers. And it would not be long till he dropped dead as he bled away. If not, the people chasing him would surely finished what they had came for. It was as if the Gods themselves had already predestined his fate. He took one step forward and stood at the peak of the hill. He let his legs rest as he could barely go on. Heaving deep breaths, he could hear sneering voices and shouts behind him. They were close, and the grim realization stoked the embers of his most primal fear. He did not want to die. He had dreams, like any other youth. There was glory to be had in this world. He wanted to learn more of life, and lived through its motions. He wanted to live. He swept his gaze, and across him was a spanning forest of old. With a glint in his eyes, and jaws clenched, he decided to gamble with all he had. He was dying, and by now, it did not matter where his grave was. He ran down the hill, and stopped where the plains and the forest met. His eyes swept about the trees, and he could feel an instinctual urge to drag himself away. He knew what this forest was, and here, he would find his salvation. Or his doom. The voices behind him grew closer, and among the noise was the faint clanging of steel. Gritting his teeth, he ousted all the will he had from the depths of his soul and stepped forth into the forest. Damned he be by the Gods if they wanted him dead. -new synopsis 10/6/2016 ---------- A new chapter would be released every friday. And the quality of writing should improve each time, hopefully. Another important thing to mention is how the story as of now, is only a bedrock for a massive world if it ever gets there. (CH18) And if possible, reviews are very much appreciated. ---------- For the ones who are interested in the old synopsis: With one foot in the grave, he ran away for that little bit of hope. Exhausted and bleeding, it was only a matter of time until he passed out. By then, his fate would be sealed and he would be no more. Thus, he had to make a decision that might just save his life. It was a gamble, he knew, but he had no He ran into the forbidden forest where no man had ever come back. He headed within, intending to scare his pursuers away. But they persisted in their chase, hounding him down until he was forced to take a step of no return. There, in the darkest depths of the forest, was the ghastly fog and behind him where men who wanted his head. Left with nothing else, he stepped forth and crossed the boundary of the living and the dead. Henceforth, his fate was forever changed. No longer just a scholar, but something more…
8 175Better To Be Lucky Than Good.
The world is dying, something has to be done. The people who messed it up are clueless. The ones who are fixing it aren't in it for the right reasons. They have endless funding, and unlimited resources, but the plan they advertised isn't the plan they will execute. Drew is put in charge of integration and security for a major project at work. He knows something is off so he asks the one person he trusts the most to help him. Unfortunately that person isn't a hero and is the last person humanity wants to depend on. These two are all that stand between them and their goals. Can they stem the tide and bring humanity back from the brink or will they just screw around and go for shiny treasure and digital glory?
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