《On Parts and Precedence》1. On Parts
Advertisement
A young man walked north from Camelot towards the lands which held Merlin’s machines. His name was Balin, and he carried with him a set of fine, magical tools—loaned out to the young man from Camelot’s workshop—in his tool kit, and several parts of different sizes and shapes in his many pockets. The man was ordered by his ruler, King Arthur, to fix a machine that the royal court believed to be malfunctioning. The Knights of the king’s court were busy with many, much more chivalrous errands.
Balin—who was not a knight like Sir Percival, or Sir Lanceor, or his own dear younger brother Sir Balan—was available at the time to do the king’s bidding and investigate the issue. King Arthur sent Balin on this adventure. He was to go inspect the situation. And, if possible, Merlin added with a serious look, repair the machine if it is broken.
Then the old, bearded enchanter turned to the king.
“I must take leave in haste, my liege,” Merlin said.
“And why’s that, my churl?” King Arthur asked, curious.
“I have to investigate an illness that’s spreading among the Angevin.”
“An illness? What sort?”
“A bad one, my liege,” Merlin replied. “A very bad bug indeed.”
“What happens when one catches said bug?”
“Their hands rot and fall off,” Merlin answered. “And, sometimes, they get large, painful boils fester on their… inner thighs, and upon the neck.”
“Oh, dear!”
“Yes, it’s bad,” Merlin continued. “And almost always, after the hands fall off, they die.”
“How horrid!”
“Yes, yes,” Merlin said with a sigh. “Off I go then. I bid you adieu, my liege.”
“Goodbye,” King Arthur said, then cupped his hands to shout as Merlin approached the exit of the throne room. “Return as swiftly as possible when possible, my churl.”
Advertisement
“Yes, my liege,” Merlin said, waving as he continued to walk out of the throne room.
“And be sure to protect yourself!” King Arthur shouted to Merlin. “No one will be there to pick you up if you fall like when you fell in Badon!”
“Ah, yes,” Merlin said, slapping his forehead.
The enchanter turned about and knelt, before rising again and then murmuring a few magical words to himself, casting an invisible barrier that not only protected him physically, but also protected him from noxious airborne particles by filtering the air within the small bubble in his peripersonal space.
And so Merlin went on east, while Balin travelled on north of Camelot towards the enchanter’s machines. The young man walked a great distance along open fields and very low hills until he came upon the gigantic machinations of Merlin’s design. They chugged loudly as they turned and spun and worked. He carried on walking until he came across some narrow metal pipes in the tall grasses beneath him.
He stared at them for a moment, then decided to keep them.
His pockets, however, were full. To make room, he decided to rid himself of some one-and-a-half inch gears that were sitting in one of his pockets.
“A shame,” he murmured to himself as he casted them aside. The small gears landed with a soft thud upon the ground.
He grabbed the pipes, then continued on his way towards Merlin’s machines. He passed by more incredible machines, as well as a very empty Crown storage crate, and walked along for several miles until he arrived at one of Merlin’s older machines.
It was designed to churn the air with large vertical-axis fans. But it was still. A static gestalt of motionless cogs and arms. The air was unperturbed here. The winds of magic stagnant and concentrated, thick with potential energy and rich with possibility.
Advertisement
Balin walked towards the monstrous, magnificent machine and scanned the many signs appended to it. One-by-one, he read the strange symbols, which he had studied back in the libraries of Camelot as per Merlin’s instructions.
Finally, he came across a sign he was looking for. He approached the machine and scanned its side as he walked along. His eyes ran along the mucked up surface of the once gleaming chrome metal, and the many small panels that protruded from its flank like boxy pustules.
“Here we are,” he said, stopping to tap upon a panel scrimshawed with one long horizontal line and four shorter lines emerging from the right side of it.
He pulled on the panel door, revealing a tangle of cogs that consisted of a broken one-and-a-half inch gear.
“Uh,” he muttered to himself as he patted his pockets and harrumphed when he pulled out a narrow pipe. “Hm.”
Advertisement
- In Serial76 Chapters
Chosen Chaos
30 years have passed since first contact. Earth has now been accepted into the galactic community, is expanding its territory to other planets, and has begun to adopt the myriad advanced technologies found throughout the Milky Way Galaxy. But as the least advanced race in the galaxy, the Earthians are struggling to carve a niche for themselves, made all the more difficult by the fact that they are the only race in the entire galaxy incapable of developing supernatural powers. Until recently. Few know how or why, but small groups of Earthians have begun to display superhuman abilities — and the militaries of the galaxy have begun to display interest in them. Combined with the rise of an evil thought to have been vanquished two decades ago, these superpowered Earthians are forced to choose between the value of their own lives… and the value of the entire galaxy. Part 1: Chosen Few — A mundane visit to the local science museum starts off a series of worrying events for Austin Travis and his friends. They would like nothing more than to continue living their lives as they have, but the universe seems to have other plans… Part 2: Chosen Elite — CSF-1 and the Eximius Vir return to normal military operation and discover a clue to finding powerful ancient technology. However, they aren’t the only ones to discover this clue, and soon find themselves in a race against time to prevent the technology from falling into the wrong hands… Part 3: Chosen Hidden — As the summer comes to an end, Pierce Bradley and his friend prepare for their last few days studying abroad on an alien planet. Pierce would like nothing more than to return home and flaunt his new experiences in front of his friends and classmates, but the universe seems to have other plans… Chosen and its three parts begin the Key Saga, a new novel series that takes place 20 years after Rise — which tells the tale of the aforementioned evil. Reading Rise is not a prerequisite for reading Chosen, but it will help to understand the setting and the various conflicts within. Character art on cover by @quassihollic on twitter.
8 440 - In Serial39 Chapters
The Bird and the Fool
Kesil is stranded very far indeed from his home. Despite a gift from the fair folk that allows him to understand and speak any language, he has very little idea of what’s going on around him (though he likes to pretend he does). But this doesn’t stop him from getting into trouble in the port city of Edazzo, in the ancient empire of Duri, and elsewhere, doing his best to find love, escape snares of ancient magic, and hopefully return home in the end.
8 98 - In Serial15 Chapters
I. Galactic War
Follow General Rostov as he fights for the Galactic Federation against the Galactic Empire while carving a place out in this vast galaxy for him and continuously expands his power base to become a force to be reckoned with. Inspired by Star Wars.
8 203 - In Serial133 Chapters
The Nameless Warrior *New Cover*
Since her father's suspicious death eight summers ago, Kindra has trained to become her tribe's first woman warrior. Although she completes the whipping ceremony to prove her strength and make a blood-bond with the tribe she fails to receive her warrior name. She's determined to earn her name in battle, but her plans change when the enemy Obsidian tribe claims her priestess sister as restitution for the war. To Kindra's surprise and horror the new chief allows them to take her sister. Rumors widespread at her father's death are whispered in her ear once more. It was the new chief who poisoned her father, they say. It was the new chief who sold her sister to the enemy. It was the new chief-not the War God-who refused to grant her a warrior name. Although she didn't believe the rumors in the past, Kindra begins to doubt the chief. When new evidence emerges it threatens to place the entire tribe in the hands of the Obsidians. As the last living descendant of the War God, Kindra's the only one who can depose the chief and save her tribe, but it will mean giving up the quest to rescue her sister, and the hope of ever becoming a named warrior.
8 230 - In Serial35 Chapters
The Fate of The Summoned (being ReWritten)
The Fate of The Summoned In the world of Aethion things are vastly different than on Earth. There is Magic and Monsters, as well as Demons and Dragons. Throughout the history of the world there have been many wars, both between all the various nations and kingdoms and between those nations and kingdoms and the Demonic forces lead by a Demon King or Lord. There are times that the Demons gain so much more power than the other nations, or that the others are embroiled in a war against each other and the lone nation is targeted by the demons. It was during these occasions that the various Gods and Goddesses started giving two things to the races. The First of these things were the Blessings, magical blessings given to the worth for chosen things. The Second of these things were the Summoning rituals, magic rituals that could summon beings from somewhere else, that would be Chosen, by the gods. These beings have almost always come from our world, Earth. It has been centuries since this practice began and the countries of the world have almost always flourished for a time after a Chosen or group of them were Summoned. All of the countries treat the Summoned well, almost like kings or princes in their own right. Well, not all countries, there are some that have treated them almost like slaves, though those countries don’t usually last long. There is one though, that has lasted, for a long time due to their connection to their Patron Deity, the Goddess of Light. They only accept certain types of Summoned and they dote on certain members of the country more than others. Several years ago they performed a summoning, as they were being plagued by overflow from the dungeons. Now they, like the other countries of Aethion, have performed the ritual to fight against the current Demon King, who is said to possess a Blessing. This is a story about Fate, and those that fight against it and those who accept it. In this story the main character(s) do not fight their fate, like those in my other story, rather they embrace it and let it shape them, though that does not mean they are total slaves to it. While there will be similarities to most other Hero sumoning novels, i hope the Mcs abilities and such will make it unique.
8 277 - In Serial8 Chapters
The Security Man. (Mike x Foxy)
8 88
Prev Chap
Next Chap
Chap List
Boy
Girl
