《Sword, Staff, and Crown》Circle Challenged
Advertisement
It was one thing to know that Brendis and Haroun were the greatest warriors to ever live. To know that they had three thousand years to hone and practice their craft against each other, and anyone else who dared challenge their skill.
But to see it was something else entirely.
Brendis was a whirl of steel. His sword, as ancient as he was and powerful in itself, flashed with the light of a dozen spells as he held off the first rush of soldiers. His face was a mask of hard concentration as he forced them back one step, and then another. Raeca remembered seeing Haroun fight off the bandits who attacked her town, but those ragged men were nothing to Calliope’s bone white-armored soldiers.
Still, no one wanted to run at the Hero when he stood like that, shoulders squared, sword and shield ready to take on however many came at him. He could, and had, faced down armies. He was prepared to face this one as well to protect the woman he loved, and his oldest friend.
Spells made the air quake as Calliope and Haroun met, magic against magic, hatred against hatred. Spells wove about him, some spoken but most pulled from charms, ready to cast at any moment as he emptied his impressive arsenal at his ancient enemy.
Calliope screamed in fury, and met him, her magic different, brighter and harder like sunlight on ice, but no less effective. Already, Haroun bled from a dozen small wounds as he battled her this way and that.
Raeca looked between him and Brendis, paralyzed with fear. She was a healer of a small village. Yes, she saw blood and pain, but never like this. Never spilled out as men did their best to kill each other, and even the castle around them seemed to vibrate with angry readiness.
The need to help them broke through her fear, and she ran to Haroun first, trusting his magic to hold Calliope off long enough for her to do her work.
Advertisement
There was no time for finesse. Raeca planted her hands on his back, and focused, her own magic charged and ready, because what good would it have done before now? She was a healer, not a battlemage.
But she was a healer, tutored by the Dark Sorcerer, and his pride would never allow a student of his, particularly one of his bloodline, to fail in the heat of the moment.
Also, he spoke quite a number of languages, and could curse fluently in all of them even while flinging spells from both hands.
To be fair, having his injuries healed in one powerful rush hurt. Raeca was glad that all he did was curse.
As soon as he was healed, battling to keep Calliope’s magic off while Brendis handled the soldiers, Raeca ran for her hero.
Brendis fought like a man armored in his convictions. At last, he had his best friend at his back, and a woman who loved him to stand for.
With that to give him strength, he would fight until it killed him.
Of course, Raeca wasn’t about to let him die. Not before she got at least one proper kiss out of him, and hopefully many more.
But first they needed to survive this, and it would take both him and Haroun to make it happen.
As she reached him, a wave of archers poured in the door, shouting as they took aim.
“‘Roun! Archers!” Brendis shouted, and raised his shield, even as Raeca took cover behind him. She heard the thrum of bowstrings and heard Brendis curse in pain as some made it past his shield. Out of the corner of her eye, Raeca saw a deep amber shield shimmer up around Haroun, just in time.
“Your defiance will cost you dearly,” Calliope seethed from the dais, still beautiful in her white gown, but now marked with sweat and burns from casting, and the places where Haroun’s spells found their mark. “Every time you find peace, you will remember me, and I will turn all you love to dust in your mouth!”
Advertisement
“The prophecy is biting at your heels, Calliope!” Haroun yelled back. He blasted the archers with a shockwave that left most of them dead, and the rest injured or dying. “Can you feel it calling for you?”
“Killing you has been my greatest joy!” The queen shrieked, and blasted them, calling up waves of white-glowing crystal shards, each blade-sharp and lethal. The shards swarmed around them. Haroun split his attention enough to throw a second shield around Raeca and Brendis, and it saved their lives. “I will make entertainment of you in our next life! What a show you will make, dying slowly in the middle of my glorious temple!”
“This will be your last life!” Brendis told her as Raeca pulled arrows out of him and closed the wounds with hands that no longer shook. Haroun’s shield trembled under Calliope’s attack, but held, his will to protect them stronger than her will to break through. “We’ve lived too long already. Raeca, get behind me. Haroun?”
“Ready,” Haroun said, and blasted Calliope’s spell apart, magic blazing around him. “Time and past to end this.”
For the first time, fear crept into Calliope’s as they advanced on her, with Raeca behind them, protected, but ready to heal them if they needed her.
“Simple Brendis,” Calliope said, and clenched her fists together, before flinging them out, and open. The floor shuddered and cracked, and they had to break formation to get away as the white marble splintered down into the tombs below. “It was so easy to turn you on him each time. You would believe anything in those early lives. It was my favorite version of you.”
“Why did you do it?” Brendis demanded as Raeca held onto the back of his tunic. He caught another spell, more fire, on his shield, and Raeca lost sight of Haroun in the blaze. “I loved you!”
“I loved immortality,” Calliope replied silkily, and then gasped in pain. The fire vanished as she lost her concentration. “Desert rat! I should have killed you years ago!”
“You tried,” Haroun told her, and then cursed as she slashed out at him with an elegant sword that fit her hand perfectly. “You failed!”
Brendis pushed forward and caught Calliope’s sword on his just as she chopped down at Haroun, stronger, and armed with a heavier blade. She spun away and pivoted, a dancer through and through and poetry with her blade despite her long gown.
But for the first time, she was outnumbered, and outmatched, and they forced her back until finally Brendis twisted her sword out of her hands, and it clattered to the floor.
“Give in,” he told her as Calliope gasped for breath, fury radiating off her in waves even as Haroun held off her magic. “The circle must be broken. Let us have our peace at last.”
“You think me defeated?” Calliope laughed dismissively, her painted lips curled in a cruel smile as she stared l them down, unbowed. “There are other ways to win this game.”
A knife flashed in her hand, and Raeca yelped as Haroun pulled her out of the mad queen’s reach. But she wasn’t Calliope’s target. Not this time.
“I learned more about our prophesy than either of you!” Calliope laughed as she drove the dagger into her own heart. She gasped with triumph even as blood spilled down her white gown and stained it red. “I will be queen again!”
Advertisement
High Crew
High Crew is a finished story, the sequel is in the works. You can follow my Instagram for progress updates and other exclusive content. Sea Betwixt is a world full of gruesome battles, plundering raids, political intrigue, struggle for success and recognition. Only blade and wit will allow one man to rise above others here. But make few steps away from civilization and you will face evil spirits, eldritch beings, enchanted places, monsters from beneath the sea and giants from the uncharted East. A young warrior named Ymdaton will cross this boundary between gritty warfare and mystical encounters many times, as he follows his lord on a quest for dominance. Follow him on a journey to the land of Drevlyani, a small stubborn nation struggling for survival in the unforgiving primeval forest. Will our hero claim his place in legends despite the terrible price it could cost him? Read High Crew and find out! Cover art by Alexandra Roslik.
8 357Insanity Of A Reverend Reader
Fang Yuan is know as a smart and cunning man with great ambitions and wisdom. Everything and everyone eventually follows his plan, as he ascends and becomes stronger and stronger. One person, who recently got into reading about his tales due to his life's misfortune, died after reading chapter 270 and reincarnated as a baby in the Gu Yue clan. Can he overcome the disadvantages of being an otsider in his world or will he fail to even achieve everything before Great Love Immortal Venerable ascends? I have changed some small details about the strength path and there are some minor tweaks to Gu worms, apertures and mortals. The system is also not OP and the MC isn't pathetic. He can't be Fang Yuan levels of not pathetic, as he is only a 16 Year old with little experience. Guy in cover image resembles MC's brother not MC. A quick notice, I am "porting" the Fanfic over from webnovel, so if you want to read up ahead, then go there.
8 53Murderous Loves
"Look into my eyes"I whispered he adjusted his eyes to look into mine. "1 month ago, my mother was murdered. I came home to see her dead body lying dead on the floor. The man who killed her hasn't escaped yet. Imagine the rage I felt when I saw the man with the same 34 magnum that killed my mama in the waistband of his pants" I pressed his head harder against the table. "You tell me what I could do when I was filled with rage." Zeke a 16 year old boy comes home to find his mom murdered, after killing the man who murdered his mother hes sent to jail, how will his new life be when he is released and how will his city feel about the new murder running around town.
8 414Working For My Bias || Hwang Hyunjin FF
hyunjin x fem readerY/N thought that everything she seen on TV was real; that the way the idols act on screen and off screen was the same. But when she got a job offer to work as a stay in maid for stray kids, she started to believe otherwise because of one person."Why do you hate me? Ever since I came here you've never treated me like a friend. Hell, not even like a decent human being. Am I that bad?"Start - 19/12/2020End - 18/06/2021Rankings:#1 in changbin (24/02/21)#1 in development (04/04/21)#1 in straykids (06/04/21)#1 in hwanghyunjin (04/05/21)#1 in hyunjin (08/05/21)#1 in han (30/05/21)#1 in enemiestolovers (15/06/21)#1 in stay (28/06/21)#1 in hanjisung (05/08/21)#1 in leeknow (18/09/21) #1 in maid (18/09/21)#1 in seungmin (15/01/22)
8 147'Til Death Do Us Part [Bleach Fan Fiction: sequel to Be My Fraccion?]
In this sequel to the hit Fan Fiction; 'Be My Fraccion?' Brooke is a sixteen year old girl who was transformed by Aizen into an Arrancar, and now lives in Hueco Mundo, serving as Grimmjow Jeagerjaques Fraccion. Her life becomes complicated, however, when Grimmjow, Aizen, Ulquiorra, and Gin all begin a deadly battle for her affections. Join Brooke in her heart-wrenching journey to discover who she really loves, and who really loves her. Warning: violence and steamy hot scenes with Espada and ex-shinigami. Rated T.
8 62Youth ✿ Paul Lahote [1]
❝For some people, "the point of no return" begins at the very moment their souls become aware of each others' existence.❞ [ NEW MOON|BEFORE + DURING ] [ SANTIAGO TWIN SERES|BOOK 1 ]
8 160