《Not Quite What You Meant (Short Story Collection)》Sight Unseen
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They call it The Artifact. No one knows where it’s from, nor what it is, nor how it works. But its effects are well documented and fully reproducible.
Any who sees it will die. Those approaching it blindfolded or with eyes closed still hear its whisper, its song, and cannot resist the urge to sneak a glance - just one. And that’s too much.
Those who look upon it even by a single glance will become enthralled, their minds and bodies overcome with The Artifact and nothing else. They speak nonsense, ignore even their friends and family members, and neglect all but the bizarre impulses imparted by the alien object.
Some remain by The Artifact; some silent, some speaking ceaselessly until their voices fade. Some leave; some wandering the near area, others walking off in a straight line until they collapse from exhaustion.
None survive. None has ever recovered.
If the eyes are the window to the soul, The Artifact is the master thief who breaks that window and steals everything concealed within.
Needless to say, it has been quarantined for longer than most civilizations exist. Warnings are posted outside its resting place, a labyrinth built around it to keep away the curious and the idiotic.
Infrequent attempts are made to break in and steal it, either for use as a weapon or mere curiosity. It is said that collectors have offered private contractors billions to obtain it. Yet none has ever succeeded.
None until today.
Luiran walks softly forward, guided by the siren call that whispers and sings through the darkness. The labyrinth is ancient. Many chambers and tunnels have collapsed in the centuries since its construction. But The Artifact knows its surroundings intimately. It whispers instructions, tonalities that shift and beckon, showing the correct path through and around every obstacle.
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Luiran walks steadily onward and The Artifact’s lure only grows stronger. Luiran strains against the dark, trying to catch some glimpse, desperate to see what it is that required such secrecy and such elaborate defences.
The darkness remains absolute. There are no lights to show the way, no torches or windows here. Nor would they aid Luiran if they were present.
Closer, closer; hands reaching, then the touch of cold slick material, so different from the worn and ancient stone of the protecting labyrinth. Luiran lifts The Artifact soundlessly from its resting place, the silent song of its call shifting from a plea to a comforting croon. Mine. Safe. Together.
Luiran holds The Artifact close, wrapping it in layers of cloth that do nothing to muffle its gentle humming, and places it carefully into a specially-crafted bag to keep it secure. Then, listening to the gentle directions that offer guidance through the dark, Luiran retraces the path that led inward, returning to the world beyond.
Returning both with Artifact in hand, and soul entirely intact.
If any had seen Luiran’s departure from that sealed and guarded place, they’d call it rightful fear that prompted so stealthy and cowardly an escape. None would guess the trip’s success.
In years to come, no one would believe that The Artifact even existed. When a decade or so later a particularly audacious treasure hunter returned with news that the entire compound was built around an empty depression in the ground, the world would laugh at the millennia-old hoax that had fooled civilizations for ages. Many would claim that of course they’d never believed in such an artifact. It was clearly only a fairy tale, a story about caution in seeking power.
And upon a far mountain, a sect of blind believers guard a secret that the rest of the world is better off never knowing about. A sacred duty, both to their Artifact and to the rest of the world.
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If one visited their lower tiers, those open to the public, they may see a single statue of a person carrying a nondescript bundle. Inquiries would be met with smiles and the explanation that this was to honer Saint Luiran, who once carried the fate of humanity.
What that fate might be? None will answer.
They simply hum to a tune only they can hear, and say that some things are better left unseen.
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Hugh Johnson and the Seven Evil Alts
[participant in the Royal Road Writathon challenge] Hugh Johnson was having a bad day. First there was the stupid long line to get into Comiket, then Truck-kun smashed him into paste, a lolii-goddess who punched him into another world, and finally, a wolf that decided to snack on him. And that was just the last 15 minutes. Now he needs to save Eternasy from the Seven Evil Alternate characters he created while playing Endless Fantasy before they destroy the world. Who knew that your actions in a game would have real-world consequences? Join Hugh as he takes on his first Evil Alt and journeys to the Lair of Daemon Wyrm. Hugh Johnson and the Seven Evil Alts will contain tropes familiar to readers of Japanese isekai light novels - a humorous progression fantasy with slice of life scenes, cute girls, burley men, dungeons, magic, and mayhem. Be warned that the MC is not a clueless weeb who has no idea how women or the world works. Expect this to read like hot garbage, and you will not be disappointed. I never expected to toss it into the Writeathon, but I have poor impulse control, so here we are.
8 186The King & the Brother
Huxley Orphanage is home to many of the slums orphans, including Cessair and Jabez. Two boys who constantly find themselves at the short end of the stick; when finally they decide to take fate into their own hands they must overcome the Orphanage designed to keep them down, a King willing to exploit the blossoming magic in the world at any cost, and their own personal demons.
8 152Journal of an Adventurer
Join Lone Solo in his adventures that will lead him from being an ex-soldier suffering ptsd to fighting an invasion of an unknown enemy as an Adventurer. Please note: Lake Merrin is in 1st person, in the style of stream of consciousness. 2nd note: Due to evolution of my story and feedback, I will be continuing from The Great Spoon Heist to a 3rd person PoV. Journal Entry One Twenty-third of Harvest, 1007 FK. Within two weeks I will be on the front line, fighting an enemy that has powers beyond our imagination! It reminds me of a book I read in school—about the end of the Massacre of Magic, and the invasion of those Beasts and their shambling, rotten minions! Back blurb: He is a face in the crowd; a nobody, but with every story, there is a beginning. Travel with this ordinary half-human as he works to find a roof over his head, to put food on the table and stumbles on something beyond his reckoning.This is his journey; this is his path. His Journal. A Journal of an Adventurer.Should he stand up to become a "hero"? ...Will it matter? Lake Merrin is a city in the North-Western part of Western Duchy, Favinonia. It is also known as Iron Dukedom. Duke Trahern Isenhart III is the ruler of Iron Dukedom, and his third cousin Count Darel Isenhart is the ruler of Lake Merrin, and it’s county. Lake Merrin is home to twenty thousand people, and it has the second oldest Adventuring Hall in Favinonia; nearly nine hundred years old. This is set in a gunpowder/industrial fantasy world.
8 166Blade of Crom
A band of adventures go out to tackle the dangers of a monster lair.Will they find treasure and glory or does a dark fatih await them in the dark? A short story about Cromwalls Band of Adventurers and the one who leads them.
8 108My Driver can't be This Cute
As cars have been around for over a century now and has been seen as a simple tool to travel around.However, people who do have a great interest in cars knew that they are more than just a mode of transport, each are unique to them and they sometimes do convey feelings towards the driver, it seems like they are living entities.But what if they are always been living all along? Now a rally driver by the name of Nekomi Fujiwara starting to lose his passion for racing while suffering from lost memory and headaches is going to find out, and soon found something that he had lost years ago along the way, his reason to race.
8 63IT (2017)- Pennywise Vore
Here is a vore compilation for the 2017 version of Pennywise, where he eats the members of the losers club, including Henry Bower's gang and Georgie. (I may include some side characters from the movie.)
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