《Virtuous Sons》1.1
Advertisement
The Son of Rome
The Eos was a ship built for speed. Her hull was sleek and her scarlet sails caught the wind like eagle wings, driving her through the waves at speeds that belied all common sense. It was a beautiful day for her to sail.
It was my first time on an open sea. The taste of salt on the air was all too familiar, but the cresting blue waves, the vast empty horizons, and the steady rolling of the deck beneath my feet were all entirely new experiences. I’d had my doubts when Griffon had suggested sailing, and in particular sailing this ship, but most of my concerns had quickly been put to rest. It was an exhilarating experience.
Still, there were complications to consider.
“They’re going to be furious,” I said, leaning on the rail at the bow. The Ionian Sea stretched out endlessly ahead, clear blue and shimmering in the sun.
“Will they?” Griffon asked behind me, and I could hear the roll of his eyes. “I hadn’t realized. What other profundities does the son of Rome have to offer?”
He’d stacked every single rowing bench on the ship into a bizarre approximation of a throne, and now lounged in it while the ship’s oars and favorable winds steadily propelled us forward. I’d allowed the absurd display, as he was doing the hard sailing. His pneuma intent had grown alongside the rest of his cultivation when he’d ascended, and where there had been ten arms before there were now twenty. Each arm of pure intent heaved on the oars of the Eos.
“More than they would have been if we hadn’t stolen their ship,” I clarified, turning to him and leaning back against the ship’s rail. “Why did you feel the need to slap every face you possibly could on your way out the door?”
The faint cries of sea birds and the rolling slaps of waves against the Eos’ hull hung between us while the former Young Aristocrat of the Rosy Dawn considered his answer. His right cheek rested on his fist, scarlet eyes glittering with the satisfaction of a lion that had just eaten its fill. He’d slipped his scarlet and white robes off his shoulders early on into the voyage so that they hung down around his belt, leaving his torso bare. He looked utterly content.
For now.
“Tell me something, Sol,” he said. “Are you familiar with the hero’s journey?”
Advertisement
“Vaguely.” Faint memories of an old man in weathered Alikon cloth, afternoons spent in the vineyards discussing everything under the sun.
“There are an infinite number of paths to the peak of Olympus Mons, but it’s a fact of life that some are more often tread than others,” he explained. “Every man likes to think he’s unique, but all too often we’re just echoes of those that came before us. We all labor within the divine framework. As such, there are certain constants that any man can expect to run up against in the race to divinity.”
Griffon lazily raised his free hand, lifting fingers one by one. “Bottlenecks. Deviations. Trials.”
“Tribulations,” I said. Lightning falling from clear blue skies. Griffon inclined his head.
“It’s the nature of the Fates to decide our lives for us from the moment we’re born. As we draw our first breath, they know. Which among us will be tyrants, and which will be slaves. It’s why they hate men like you and me.” He smiled, something vicious in the quirk of his lips. “They know that their only choice is to kill us in the cradle, because we will never, ever submit.
“To cast off destiny’s threads a man must first live an utterly audacious life. No one is born a Tyrant and there are no shortcuts to the peak of the mountain. How is it, then, that men ascend at all? The Fates know us fully at the moment of birth. Intuitively, there are only two possibilities - that the Fates can be defied. Or that ascension is a lie, and we’re all just dancing to our graves while heaven beats its drums.”
Griffon shrugged. “I choose to believe the former. And because I believe it, it is so. Until the moment I die my life is my own, and so I’ll always be reviled by the Fates. Tribulations are inevitable. Why cringe away from them?”
“So instead,” I said incredulously, “You welcome them with open arms.”
“They’re the best part of the journey, after all.”
My heart and soul for a companion with sense.
“If that’s the case, Olympia is where we part,” I decided. He laid a palm on his bare chest, eyes closing in mock hurt. I snorted. “I have enough madness ahead of me without throwing you onto the pile.”
“Oh? What sort of madness? Is it the kind that howls?”
Advertisement
For some reason that I still wasn’t quite sure of, I’d told him the story of my time in the legions as we ran through the fields of the Rosy Dawn towards the docks. I’d told him as we rigged his cousin’s ship and cut it loose, and as the sun fully rose to light up the Ionian Sea, I’d seen in vivid clarity the hunger in his eyes as he listened.
“It is,” I decided.
“And how is one son of Rome going to tear down an empire of demons?” Griffon asked curiously. “Your legions are dead and gone.”
My fists clenched and unclenched. “How does any man stand against an empire?”
“And you call me mad.” Griffon chuckled. His arms of pankration intent withdrew into his soul all at once, the Eos coasting to a steady halt in the calm waves. “How can a Roman ever hope to raise an army of Greeks against anyone but himself?”
“The legions of the Republic were the finest in the world,” I said, and before he could make a smart remark, continued, “We triumphed over superior numbers and individuals of absurd cultivation as a matter of course. That those dogs drove us from our provinces, flushed us from our city, and tore apart our legions? With smaller numbers?” I snarled and spat over the side of the ship. “They’re dogs, but they’re war dogs. They were built for this work.
“If they only wanted Rome, then fine. I’ll climb that fucking mountain and bury them under the sea with my strength alone. But if they’re the kind of animals I think they are, they won’t stop at just one. They’ll be at your father’s door next, and then I won’t have to raise the army. Damon Aetos will do it for me.”
One way or another, I’d tear that captain’s throat out and eat his beating heart.
“That’s my kind of plan,” Griffon said approvingly. “But there is one flaw in your reasoning, and as your blood brother I can’t help but point it out.”
I sneered. “We aren’t brothers.”
“Worthless Roman, we have been from the start.” He leaned forward, elbows on his knees. His pneuma was alight. “And as your brother, I must ask the hard questions. First and foremostly, what makes you think that these dogs of Carthage will pose a threat to my father? Just because they thrashed your glorious Republic? The same Republic that never once dared to war with our free city-states?”
“After Gaul, you were next,” I informed him simply. He smirked.
“I’m sure we were. But even if I were to believe that, there’s another flaw in your plan.”
I raised my own pneuma, flexing muscles that had gone unused for months on end. The waves around the Eos shuddered and pulsed.
“Enlighten me.”
“You’re under a delusion,” Griffon informed me. “That anything you do will make what’s to come any less mad, any less ruinous. We were marked by the Fates from the beginning and you’ve already begun to suffer their attention. Run from me if you’d like. It won’t make a difference.”
I made to answer but was interrupted by the sound of beating wings. An eagle’s cry split the air, and from the sky dove the predator itself, talons spread wide. I raised an arm, some instinct holding back my pneuma, and it landed roughly on my forearm. Its talons sank into my flesh, would have shredded it if not for the reinforcement of my cultivation.
I stared, lost for words, at the messenger eagle of Rome. It tilted its head left and right, watching me expectantly. It had no scroll on its leg.
“The poets like to say that the Epic doesn’t start until a man ascends to the Heroic Realm,” Griffon mused. The eagle cocked its head and whistled sharply at him. “But the truth is, the winds have been blowing for a year now. The Muses are already watching. How can we do anything but give them a show?”
On the horizon, a ship appeared. It was a light, shallow-bottomed vessel. Its sails were ragged, its oars pumping furiously against the waves. As it breached the far horizon and we became as visible to it as it was to us, its course changed at once.
“Pirates?” I whispered, watching it come for us.
“Heaven beats its drums,” Griffon said, rising from his throne and stretching. “Are you ready to dance?”
I stared at him for a silent moment.
Gravitas.
Griffon laughed as the captain’s virtue threw him from the ship. The eagle on my arm shrieked and took flight as twenty arms of pneuma latched onto me and dragged me over the rail with him.
Advertisement
- In Serial28 Chapters
The Deathseeker [Under Revision]
NOTE: This story has dark elements, but it's neither grimdark nor particularly edgy. It's also currently being revised. Satan's Axe...Lord of High Honor...The Immortal Giant...The Black Maelstrom...Son of Thunderfield...The Gods' Retribution. Dalric had many names. None were as fitting as his last, Dalric the Deathseeker. Born from an unwanted mating between the greatest warriors of the time, death was his only true kin. It birthed him, molded him, and now standing in the middle of a lifeless battlefield, it drenched him. The blood of thousands of soldiers soaked his skin. Two hundred thousand men approached him that day. All of them sought his life, none of them left with theirs. But they would not die in vain, they had accomplished their mission. Hidden beneath a thousand layers of their blood, was Dalric's very own. Feeling his life fade, he gazed weakly at his work. A seemingly endless array of corpses laid battered and disfigured before him. Some bore faces of horror, most had no face at all. His most trusted companion floated in front of him, blocking the view. Waves of sorrow flowed between them. “My time has finally come. I’ve begged for death and it’s finally arrived. My work is done...and so is yours. You’re free to be who you were meant to.” With his contract with the gods fulfilled, they were truly free. The centuries of torment would end. No longer would they have to walk the path of a monster. Little did Dalric know, the devil was in the details. What To Expect: A good time. In a few more words than that, a cast of believable characters in a unique world dealing with conflicts and problems a little bit more complex than punching the big evil guy in the face. Just a little though. Minimum Word Count a Week: 5000 Release Time(s): Between Friday 12pm EST and Monday 6am EST I also write A King in the Clouds
8 87 - In Serial194 Chapters
Supervillain
The world is broken and rotten. It's supposed defenders are too weak willed to do what is necessary. It's leaders are too corrupt to care for those beneath them If they wont fix this world, then I will! I will make the world a better place ..... by any means necessary! Nice to meet you all. My name is Ginobi47. A lurker of fanfiction.net and now a writer of original fic.This is my first original work and I do hope you enjoy it! Do remember that this is a fiction in the Superhero genre. Please expect the craziness that goes along with it. NOTE: English is not my maiden language. AUTHOR'S NOTE: As I went through the other fictions of Royal Road, I noticed that my style of writing style (slow release, 1 big post) doesnt work well in this site. As such, I'll be experimenting on releasing smaller chapters more often, as this seems to be how the authors of Royal Road does things. Mind you, my release speed will still be very slow compared to others, but I'll churn out chapters more often than what I used to do. DISCORD SERVER: https://discord.gg/M7bmjTH ANOTHER NOTE: Some of my readers convinced me to set up a discord server. While I have absolutely no idea what to do in a discord server, but if you're interested, just join in and go nuts. Suggest some storylines or characters, seek advice in just about anything or tell me your deepest darkest secret (you can PROBABLY trust me ^.^). Feel free to do whatever is fun
8 1179 - In Serial71 Chapters
Modern Deity
[18+] Kyte, a student that is days away from graduating high school, ends up encountering a group of people he despises the most. What Kyte never thought was that miracles can happen at any moment, even if they seem to appear too late. After obtaining something that gives him the power and courage to defend himself and get revenge, Kyte realizes that letting his emotions get the better of him might lead him to his demise. *Rated Mature for: Descriptive gore, sexual content, and language. *This is not a light-hearted story, despite some interactions with characters. My story is a natural plot-reveal over time. It takes more than one chapter to create a story.
8 137 - In Serial55 Chapters
Rat In The Dungeon
I used to be completely normal dude, living the life. Not bad not great, but it was okay.Well that was until i died miserably.Usually that would be the end of it, but to my surprise that was only the beginning.I had a life.I had a friend.I had a job.Aaaand now my only pride is whiskers, maybe a tail as well.Follow me on my adventure through my second life, where i will surely not die miserably ever again. This is my second attempt at story. I have no doubts there will be plethora of typos and possibly even mistakes. I will try my very best to fix anything, anyone will point out. English is not my native language but i will do my best.Enjoy my story and have a nice day. Wulfos PS: I have found a lovely lady Aoibh that did a cover for my novel for free. https://www.royalroad.com/forums/thread/108162 Rights for non-commercial usage of the art were given to me for free use on scribble hub and royal roads by Aoibh.Thats all.
8 70 - In Serial10 Chapters
Big Book of Fandom One Shots
I'm in a lot of fandoms. It's as if my fandoms sit in a lobby in my mind and any time I see anything related to a fandom, it just become chaos.The problem with having this many fandoms is that a multitude of them have little to no fanfictions.That's what I'm here for.I can't put all my fandoms in the description, but check the authors note for the rules and fandoms ^^
8 93 - In Serial3 Chapters
Avneil Shots: Two Beautiful Encounters.. ❤
Relive the two most beautiful encounters..Ps: Don't steal any part of this book.Ranked as#7 in short imagines on 16/01/19Ranked #19 in poetry on 8/11/22, are u kidding me?😭
8 57