《Greyskin》Chapter 11.
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The next day after the attempted enslavement, the witch's household was full of hostility. As soon as Sel came out of the Sabrina's room, two pairs of eyes tried killing him on the spot. The greyskin didn't bother with the two girls and just walked outside. He looked around for a bit, but Regios wasn't anywhere to be seen, perhaps he left to escape all the animosity that was spreading around.
Sel had a few things to take care of. Firstly, he wanted to find Lemu and his family. That catsun had some business with Sel, so the faster they finish the faster he can move on. Also, Sel wanted to find the rest of the slavers who were still around. They had some of his den-mates, and Sel wanted them free. Even if he never saw them, they originated in the same place. It was an unfamiliar feeling of kinship, or family.
Sel felt similarly towards that Girl, but they were lovers, even if they shouldn't have been. Towards the females born in the same cave, he felt a connection like that of a pack. He wanted them free, he wanted his pack to roam the world, not bound to some asshole by a leash. And he was pissed off at the spacers that stacked the town yesterday. For now, Sel wants to stay here and get to know people, he missed the commune he had in the cave, even if he was the one who slaughtered them. He will try to not do the same here.
So, Sel walked around looking for catsun people. He remembered the three catsun from yesterday, so finding them shouldn't be difficult unless they were hiding at home. The first place he went was the place where the slavers attacked. There was still plenty of blood, but the bodies have been moved away. You can't waste good meat.
Near that place were various houses, each one containing some business. One of the houses was a whore house, so when Sel walked by, a familiar face peaked out and ran towards him.
“Mister! Thank you for saving me yesterday. If it wasn't for you, I don't know what would have happened. I don't know how to repay you, perhaps if you have free time...” The girl blushed as she spoke. Sel interrupted her mid-sentence.
“Siri. Where is your brother?”
“Ah. My brother is at home, he stayed in bed yesterday but now he is just lazing about. He still has a headache. Come on, I will show you the way.”
Leaving her post, Siri walked away, leading Sel towards her house. Few people whistled at her as they walked, the girl was rocking her hips, trying to claim attention of men. Sel recounted that yesterday she didn't seem to walk like that. Today, she deliberately put effort into the special walk, perhaps trying to attract somebody. The reason she did it escaped Sel at that moment.
When they arrived at the house, Siri led him inside and introduced her family to him.
“...this little rascal here is Twix, this girl is Poro... mister, I afraid I don't know your name.”
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“Sel.”
“Ah, well everyone say hello to Sel.”
To that a bunch of kids replied with greetings, looking curiously at the large grey man. He was easily a few heads higher than the half-feline children or even the few catsun who were now adults. Hearing the noise Lemu walked out of his room to greet Sel as well.
“Hey, mister Sel, I was afraid you would leave and not look at my pet. I will show him to you, but first do...”
“Let's go.”
Sel didn't want to do anything in the house. It was quiet filthy, a bunch of commoner kids living with little supervision, it didn't make a good impression. With an expressionless face Sel just walked outside. Lemu and Siri chased after him.
Lemu's family knew a bit about his two pets, so he didn't wave Siri away. Actually he was surprised that she follow them, she didn't seem to care about the beasts before, but now she showed clear interest. The real reason she followed them also escaped him.
After a twenty minute walk they came to a building hidden within overgrowth. It looked shabby and if not prompted by Lemu, Sel wouldn't walk inside.
Following Lemu, Sel and Siri came in, looking around. The place was covered with dirt, dead leaves and some animal feces. Siri made a disgusted face and Sel felt at home. His den was like that.
Inside the house there were two usual inhabitants. A white furry snake with wings, now big enough to carry Lemu or somebody of his or a slightly bigger size. And there was a black wierd creature. Not that it grew up, it looked like a lizard, with a head of a bar and insect wings. The scales have hardened and the wings were strong enough to carry the massive body around. The black thing was even bigger than the white one, it could probably carry Sel around.
As usual, Lemu saw black smoke gathered around the black beast, but when Sel came in, it fluttered quickly, like fire in the wind and then flew towards the greyskin. It left the beats clean, abandoning him, only mere droplets lingering behind.
Sel felt himself growing slightly more powerful. The beast really did attract scourge, a lot of it in fact. He decided to keep the creature. Motioning the creature to follow him, he left the building. The black creature although vary of him, followed the curious man outside.
In the sun the creature could be seen better. It was a two meter long lizard with a weird face and wings. It could fly around, but its figure would make it awkward for it to be mounted. So, Sel decided to change it around a bit. Since the creature had a lot of fel energy concentrated inside, Sel could change its shape around. This was one of the skills the hag taught him yesterday, although she just told him the basics. A witch would need at least few months to grasp the concept, but for Sel it was easy, as the fel energy easily follow his will.
Sel raised his hand and willed the scourge to surround the creature. Lemu was surprised at this development, not understanding what was happening. He wanted to stop the grey man, but he was frozen with fear, seeing the vast quantity of the black smoke. It was more than he ever witnessed on the creature.
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With the miasma becoming extremely thick, Sel willed it to take physical form, becoming visible. The creature was hidden behind it now. Having a rough idea what he wanted the creature to look like, he began pushing the new form he wanted for into the mass of smoke.
From within a hiss could be heard. The creature was in some pain, but it was used to pain by now, it was the feeling of it's body changing around that was alien to it. For about twenty minutes Sel stood still, manipulating the scourge within the creature, altering its form. Lemu wanted to stop him, but Siri just pushed him back, not wanting to interrupt the awesome display of power. Her eyes were glistening seeing such display of high level dark magic.
The witches that were common before often showed off their magics to I till fear in the hearts of lesser people. Even now that the witches were gone, there were few warlocks and other mages who could manipulate the black miasma to do their bidding. But none of the displays that Siri have ever seen compared to what she was seeing, the mere amount of the fel energy was incredible.
When Sel was done, he let the smoke disappear, willing it inside his body. Before him stood a creature, which now had a bipedal structure. It could go on all fours, but it could also walk around. The structure was changed as such, that Sel could grab onto the creatures back and fly around with him.
Previously, the creature had its wings sticking out of the back, making mounting it impossible as the wings would be obstructed. Now, they were sticking to the sides, protected by boney carapace. There were also some boney protrusions going from the spine in various places. They could be used to grab the creature to hold on to it. Overall, it looked like a bizarre brute, with different features mashed together to make it. It could walk around like Sel or Lemu, but it looked like nothing they have seen before. Sel was satisfied with the result.
“Wow! That was amazing, Sel you are a real Felmage!”
Siri jumped up in excitement upon seeing the creature and then run towards Sel and hugged him. This was their first encounter this close and certain thoughts flowed towards Sel when they touched. The emotions that Siri was feeling were transmitted to Sel upon contact, carried over by the fel energy she had inside. It was like the scourge itself assisted him.
Picking her up by her waist, Sel brought her face closer to him and kissed her, surprising her and her brother.
“What the hell?! Let go of my sister!”
Too afraid to speak up when the black beast was surrounded by the fel energy, Lemu was brave enough to confront the scary grey man when his sister was being assaulted. He didn't come closer to the two, but he cussed at the grey man for a minute that his sptongue was stuck in his older sister's mouth.
“Siri wanted me, so Siri is mine now.”
After separating from the girl, Sel answered with a short phrase and then bit his thumb. Sticking it into the girls mouth, he made her drink his blood, like he did with the girls last night. Filling the girl with fel energy, Sel makes markings appear on her. Her body is not bare like the human's, it is covered in fur, so the marking not only paints her skin, it also changes her fur. The fel energy also changed the coloring of her fur from orange and white, like that of a house cat, to crimson and black. Her eyes also changed from green to crimson. The change made her look somewhat scary, but it was the exact look Sel wanted for her. She was marked now and people wouldn't dare approach the weird looking catsun.
Thinking for a moment, he decides to give her some means to defends herself. With a quick manifestation of smoke, he changes the girl to have sharper canines and retractable claws that were very sharp as well. Sel was thinking of other things he could possible do, but he would have to delay them for later. He had other plans.
His ability was turning out to be very powerful, he could manipulated living creature like some god, while not being one. The fact that scourged obeyed him so well puzzled people around him, mainly the hag and Lemu, but Sel also questioned what made him special. Perhaps he would look into that.
Without even releasing the catsun girl, Sel jumps atop the black beast and commands him to fly.
“Fly, Bucefal.”
The beast also had markings on his scales, so he could be controlled telepathically and given precise commands and directions. With a buzzing sound, the beast takes off and flies toward the village.
Lemu, not quite understanding what happened, runs toward the white snake and mounts it, making it follow the newly changed black beast. Lemu practiced flying with the beasts, but after some accidents, he only properly trained the serpent.
The two flying figures flew towards the hag's house. Sel wanted to update the others on the situation and to do the other thing. Finding the slavers should be easy, not that Sel can fly around quickly. Those people are surely aware of their friends missing, they will either attack the town soon or leave with demons in tow. Neither of those outcomes were pleasant to Sel.
With that, the greyskin lands near the hag's house atop his new mount, with a weird catsun in his arms. Behind him lands Lemu, who is still confused at what is happening. He runs after the grey man who carried his sister in a princess carry inside a witch's house. Why would he go in there? Lemu didn't know that witch was now under Sel's command. Pausing for a moment, he followed behind, determined to not lesve his sister alone.
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The Kinnear Chronicles
For Alys Kinnear, becoming a wizard was her life's ambition, but it's an ambition that might just cost her her life. Does a country girl from Éire have what it takes to handle the dangerous and inglorious realities that come with being a practitioner in the magic-infused modern day city of London? She quickly finds herself confronted by street thugs trying to steal her new employer's property and a client whose home turns out to be a former asylum filled with the angry ghosts of former patients. With her new Familiars, a pair of snow leopards she rescued from an unscrupulous shop owner, Alys must overcome these and the more mundane day-to-day difficulties of studying to become a full-fledged Wizard. Because before she expects it, she'll find herself tested in ways she never imagined.
8 177Lost In Translation
If you're one to travel the roads, you may have heard of me. You may have heard my Names in the stories, the songs, and the whispers of the road. Perhaps you've even seen me during my travels, speaking to a bird of blue light, or on a city street, performing small acts for coin and repute. Or perhaps you may know me as the Skystrider, who walked with the wind. Or the Voiceless, a man of song without speech. You may know me as the Tutor, who taught the Lion of Summer how to fight, or the Traveler, who has walked all the roads of the earth. I am all of these things. And people have branded me a myth. But people don't understand what a myth is. They haven't heard the songs lost to our tongues, nor have they seen the things I've seen. They haven't gone to the places I've gone. My feet have walked the plains, the seas, and the clouds. I have spoken languages unspoken; tongues lost to time. I have sung to the earth, held the moon in my arms, and walked the roads that your heroes hesitate to even mention. I have outwitted Demons. I have danced with the Fae. My songs have been heard by lords of wind and ash, and my steps have echoed in the bellies of gargantuan beasts the likes of which you have never seen. These are what real myths are. And me? I'm no legend. I'm just the bard stupid enough to poke the real ones with a stick. Discord link here. [Disclaimer: Book 1 of this story will likely be published in KU by around the start of 2022, so please keep that in mind. Book 2 and onwards will continue here until they are published as well.]
8 310The Immortal Scientist
Taking over the world was easy enough. Create a few super soldiers and a sentient A.I. and you'll defeat any nation on Earth. The real issues come after that. What do you do with the full efforts of a united mankind? Spread out as far as you can and make pretty things. The natives of the sol system spread out and occupied the every planet and moon. The polulation was skyrocketing under the support of new food and medicine systems. Back on Earth, the mastermind behind all this created something that was so powerful, the heavens themselves would send down a tribulation. After surviving the ordeal, he would ascend to a higher plane. Thrust onto the stage of martial world cultivators, he finds the world poor, dirty and dangerous. Magic is nice, but science had been coming along nicely. They had almost breeched the Void Wall at the edge of the solar system. The only option available to him now was to educate these warring savages and lay the groundwork for a proper industrial society.
8 217The fire within
When Rey meets Darth Maul in the forest of an unknown planet, she is brave enough to engage with him in a lightsaber fight. However, when he overpowers her, to his surprise, he finds something interesting enough to spare her life. Bringing the unconscious Rey into his ship, he doesn't realize, how much his life will change, as they heading into the unknown future together.
8 188Yet Another Recycled Plotline: An Underwater Isekai Litrpg
A new life in a magical world. Underwater exploration isekai inspired by Arthurian legend. Zane once yearned to travel the world, see everything there was to see, and discover things no one else had found. But life has a way of fitting people into its grooves, and as the years passed his dream became little more than wistful glances at travel destinations he'd never afford. Until the day he's summoned to a magical water world and given the chance to start over. One tiny catch - he has to become a merman and give up any chance of returning home, but that's a small sacrifice compared to the power and potential these oceans have to offer. Finally a chance to break out of the mundanity of his normal life and see things he could never have imagined! There's a whole magical world to explore, ancient mysteries to uncover and squabbling kings to navigate, and Zane will face it all. He'll slay monsters, learn magic, and level up as he explores beyond the boundary of reality itself in a quest to finally show everyone what he's truly capable of and claim a place for himself in his new world.
8 148Through All Our Faults
One denies the pain that lurks in their mind. Another has let themselves be molded into someone unrecognizable. The third seeks a life that lies beyond their reach, forever an unattainable dream. The fourth has given up, drowning within their thoughts. Four individuals, each so unlike the other, brought together against a force greater than themselves. Each carries weight on their backs, unable to find relief from their burdens. As threats and dangers continue to gather, the outcome will fall to them, whether that leads to tragedy or success. As they face beasts and foes, they'll have to confront their inner demons and survive. If they can't rely on each other, the end will come.
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