《Delving Into the Unknown》Chapter 6
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Eris slipped away from the rest of the crew once everyone was settled, shutting and locking the door to her cabin. The young woman leaned against the wooden door to collect her thoughts for a moment. She considered herself fortunate that no lives were lost in this skirmish. But now was the time to plan her next move. With having lost three days of their journey, she needed to get back on target at once.
The captain moved from the locked door in light footed strides to the chest in the far corner of the room. She pulled out a key from around her neck and inserted inside the keyhole, unlocking the chest. Eris rummaged through the many parchment papers and books until she came across a pitch black leather-bound book. Eris lifted the book from its dormant place and brought it to her desk, opening to the fourth page.
The waves of the ocean cradled the Tiger Lily as the crew went about their daily activities. Navigating, watching for enemies, preparing supplies and performing health inspections. Life at sea seemed to have a steady rhythm, Logan noticed, just like his home did. But sailing could be quite unpredictable and dangerous. One moment, all could be calm an in perfect harmony. Whereas in the next moment, a wild storm would throw everything off balance. Much like the current storm that quickly began to brew on the open ocean out of the blue.
"All hands! All hands on deck now!" "Secure the sails! Grab a lifeline! Everyone, lifelines!" "Hurry! It's getting closer!" The entire crew worked together as one body to brace the ship and themselves for the incoming hurricane. They worked to pull the delicate sails in the tie them down. Both Aileen and Eris frantically passed ends of rope to each and every crewmember to tie around themselves. Charlie hurried around to test everyone's knots to ensure their security.
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"Dammit, it won't tighten up!" The ships began to rock violently as the waves began to rise, causing Martin to struggle with securing himself. "Hold on!" Logan moved to sprint to the older man to help only to be knocked down by a large wave swiping the deck. He hit the wood hard, the powerful force pushing him all the way to the other side of the deck. " Martin!" Charlie cried out in horror as his senior was hanging on to the side railing of the ship. Logan scrambled to his feet, lunging to the other side of the deck. As luck would have it, he made it to Martin's side just as the next wave hit them again. Logan held Martin's arms with the tightest grip he could muster while they were both swept back into the center of the deck the rest of the crew members catching the both of them. "Tie Martin down now! Everyone hold on!" The rain pelted down mercilessly as both the ocean and the wind grew in strength.
Logan had heard terrible stories about boats never returning home after a wicked storm like this one. But actually experiencing the sheer wrath of nature at sea first hand was a completely different matter. Other than what they'd already done, there was nothing else any of them could do except to hold on to something.
The sky had turned black with the heavy rain clouds. Most of the crew were clinging onto different parts of the ship in the hopes of staying alive. However, Charlie was a brave boy. Despite the assault of mother nature, he continued the struggle of trying to steer the Tiger Lily through the chaos. It was no secret that Charlie possessed a gentle spirit at heart. It was this same disposition that made him so determined to try to keep the vessel going. He couldn't possibly stand the thought of losing any of his companions. So Charlie held onto the wheel that would steer the ship, prepared to ride out the storm for the sake of his friends.
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Once again, Logan was floating in cold water. The world around him was complete darkness. There was nothing but the water and himself. The sea almost felt like a gentle embrace. His mind was calm and his soul at peace in this state. To stay in this place of tranquility was not something Logan would mind at all. But then someone called to him. A man's voice. Not one that he recognized, but felt almost familiar. Then joined by a woman's voice in unison. Joined by two more until it felt as though an entire nation was calling out to him out of what appeared to be desperation. Logan thrashed about in the water, trying to follow the sea of voices until he was pulled under the surface by an unseen force. He struggled and kicked to escape and return to the surface. But his resistance was futile. The invisible entity tightened its hold on his body and pulled him further into the depths of the dark water. He screamed in terror and frustration, but the water muffled all sound. 'I'm going to die here!' Those thoughts were the last to cross his mind before he was shaken awake in the real world.
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The Cosmic Interloper
Synopsis: A cyborg transhuman escapes her corporate indenture and through unfathomably unlikely circumstances, she ends up in a fantasy world of full of unique magic, angry people with sharp implements, and the whole flavor-spectrum of divine entities. Hilarity ensues. Features: - No blue boxes or cultivation, this is not a LitRPG nor about martial arts - Hard-ish Sci-Fi meets hard-ish magic - Generally trying to keep this "rational" Rationale: My primary goal with The Cosmic Interloper is to write something that I myself would enjoy reading. Of course, that’s not the only motivation, but I think it’s the most important one for me to keep in mind, especially as the author. In fact, this whole story came about because after consuming oodles of fiction, I found myself craving a very specific type of story which I couldn’t find many examples of. Then I asked myself, “why not write it myself?” and here we are. Disclaimer: In general, while I’m not writing a comedy, I do intend for this story to be funny and a bit wacky or absurd. That said though, I am using this story as a vehicle to explore some potentially dark topics including (but not limited to) slavery, speciesism/racism, and existential questions of self, consciousness, and identity. Still, I’m going to leave the “traumatizing content” tags off, because I don’t feel that what I’ve written so far (or plan on writing) exceeds the threshold that would be necessary for me to tag it thusly. Also, [insert your favorite boilerplate “views expressed” disclaimer here]. I shouldn’t need to say this, but the main character can be wrong on occasion (gasp!) and the way she views the world is not the objective truth (if such a thing even exists).
8 162Yora Chronicles
[Arc 0 - The Prologue] Airen and Yuelei Casteya - Two twins separated in act of revenge not of their own doing. One is sent to the frozen north, where she is adopted by a frost phoenix and taught to survive in the harshest of conditions, eventually meeting with the forces that govern nature itself. The other is sent to the southern deserts and is saved by a band of slaves-turned-raiders who take him in as one of their own, where he eventually came into contact with a being that calls herself the History Eater. The two sought power and the forces of the world would soon listen, but not without their own aspirations. And perhaps if the two were to meet again, they would be so warped by their own hands and would not even recognize the other. [Arc 1 - Disciple of the History Eater & Knighthood] Under the guidance of Fieluri, the whimsical being from the Archive, Airen moves south to the Red Slate Republic to attend Stonewall Military Academy. There, he finds himself wrapped up in the History Eater's ploys, and at the same time, learns of the somber side of society in the slave-driven republic. Eventually, under Fieluri's instruction, he descends into the depths of dungeons where he eventually reunites with an old acquaintance. Yuelei, who has grown used to living in the snowy mountains, moves north to the Holy Land of Ecclisa to attend the Royal Knight Academy. After Lin leaves, she slowly adapts to living with humans again, but not without ceaseless caution. The thinly-veiled peace is eventually broken, for the monsters that haunted the nights in the Whitefrost Mountains are returning once more. In response, the Holy Land of Ecclisa slowly prepare for war, but Yuelei is not just a mere bystander. All paths eventually leads to conflict. When it arrives, one can choose to deter it away, or to revel in it. [Arc 2 - WIP] NOTE- Based on an internal discussion, please be advised the earlier chapters of this novel [Arc 0 and Arc I] is going through a major revision and rewrite to gap the 6 years experience since the first draft of this novel. For questions,concerns,comments or contributions, feel free to join us on our discord: https://discord.gg/Vdp2k6v © 2018 by Phyantasm. All Rights Reserved.
8 435Shadow's Fall (Discontinued)
Dere(Dare-ay)- Prince of Darkness, God of Shadows, Patron of Beggars and Thieves, King of Lies, and Divine of many titles- awakens to a startling realization; he has been made mortal. The gods have punished him for a crime he swears he didn't commit. Now, stripped of his divinity and powers and cast down to the mortal world, Dere finds himself smack in the middle of an ongoing coup against the sitting Monarch of Clovin, a kingdom he doesn't even know. He avoids involving himself in the petty mortal affair until he learns that it may not be as simple as it first seemed. Monsters of a God long thought dead have reappeared and the hands of the Immortals themselves are at work in Clovin. To restore his immortality and preserve a decision he made long ago, the newly mortal Dere dives into the power struggle around the kingdom and allies himself with the last remaining member of the old monarchy. As he delves deeper and deeper into the ongoing struggle in his search for answers, he uncovers a much larger conspiracy, one that may threaten the gods themselves.
8 179The Plight of Aélia: Firebrand
The Kingdom of Aélia stands on the cusp of many scientific breakthroughs, thanks, in part, to the discovery of a powerful new element, currently known as Aélium. This element has brought with it many technologies never before thought possible by many on the planet of Aél and ushered in an era of intellect and scientific revolution to much of the world. Meanwhile, Emperor Lennix Sangrey of the Sangréalan Empire, jealous of Aélia's scientific achievements and hell-bent on revenge for the death of his father, the previous emperor, Runivan Sangrey, plots for the destruction of Aélia from somewhere in the shadows. Blissfully unaware of the impending doom, the son of the hero of Aélia and vanquisher of the previous emperor, Glaed Balaston prepares to follow in his father's footsteps as one of the protectors of Aélia; The Firebrand Knights.
8 150Heart of a tree
what happens when a normal man dies, does he enters the karmic cycle of reincarnation or does he go to heaven or hell, or does he just disappears into eternal darkness for David it was a bit of everything, as he dies he is reborn as a baby into the world of cultivation, where he finds just how cruel and magical this world is as he is forced to grow just to survive to live...............................................................................................................this is my first work ever so forgive me for any inconvenience my mc in the start will be aimless when he slowly develops he will find aim and goal in this second life Names in this setting are presented with the family name before the given name (ie. Lastname firstname).
8 108Land of Athlora
This is the story about Wren, a young ogress born under unfortunate circumstances. Despite so, Zarris, her father raises Wren despite all obstacles. This is the first part of her journey surviving on her own in the wild as she grows stronger. With the ultimate goal to fulfill her father's dream and create a home for the Frost Clan and other ogres. For new readers, the prologue is exactly what it sounds like it explains the history of the World. The story actually starts on chapter 1. (If you want to support the author, (me), please buy the novel at https://www.royalroad.com/amazon/B01JMYOA4G OR please donate to my paetron account! (Art for novel, not mine, belongs to original creator.)
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