《Broken (Peeta Mellark Fanfiction)》Chapter 8 - Protection
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We make it to the tube, the entrance to the underground. There's a ladder that leads us down there, we all gather at the foot of it. We can see the darkness filled with so little light, and smell the rank, mildewy scent from the air in these passages. Pollux-the Avox-seems very uneasy, he clutches the wrist of his brother Castor.
"My brother worked down here after he became an Avox, took five years before we were able to buy his way up to ground level. Didn't see the sun once."
This place faintly reminds me of my prison back in the Capitol. The darkness, the terrible smells, and no sunlight. I was only there for a month though, Pollux was here for five years. I can't imagine having to go back. After being here for so long, he must know this place pretty well, at least we don't have to worry about getting lost or what to watch out for.
He doesn't seem to know of how valuable he is to the squad, he's just standing there, trembling beside his brother. Everyone else seems stunned, they can't seem to wrap their heads around the idea of no sunlight for five years, this isn't helping.
I turn to Pollux, "Well, then you just became out most valuable asset."
Castor lets out a snicker and Pollux manages a smile. Then I have some sort of a warm feeling I quickly recognize to be relief and joy. The feeling I get when making someone else happy. Its been a long time.
We make our way through the tunnel, like I said, we are really lucky to have Pollux. He tells us (or uses sign language to Castor who tells us) about the whole underground system. It's used to deliver goods throughout the city, it's called the Transfer. He knows about the traps, the pods, the shift changes, the cameras, the water movement, and the way through this maze of contraptions.
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We trudge through the tunnels for six straight hours, I hunch over between my guards, Gale and Jackson. I can only stare at the ground, trying not to get too upset over the fact that they forced me to come with them. Now is the time I start to wonder who the leader of this squad is now that Boggs is dead. Jackson was titled second-in-command, but Katniss has the Holo, and she's the one leading the group with Pollux. She orders us to rest for a little bit, no one objects. We stop in a small, warm room with humming machines.
They set up guard shifts again, and Pollux insists that he stay up the entire time, he can't sleep down here. I know the feeling, you can't sleep with so much fear unless exhaustion is too powerful. I try to sleep, but I just lay on the ground with my eyes closed for who knows how long. Exhaustion might of caught up with me, but it feels as if I never fell asleep.
After what I assume is a couple of hours. I just lay sideways with my eyes open, trying not to think too much, because nothing good ever comes when I get tangled in a huge mess of confusion. I can hear rummaging right behind me, I can feel the movement of someone sitting up almost right above me.
I quickly glance above me, Katniss is sitting is sitting behind me, it's her shift. She has a can of potato and bean stew, she gazes at me for a moment.
"Have you eaten?" She asks.
I shake my head, and as I sit up she hands me an open can of chicken and rice soup. I take it, and chug it back hungrily, not realizing how much hunger and fatigue has taken over my body. As I pause to swallow the soup, Katniss continues to stare at me, I can see only a little bit from the fluorescent light above us.
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"Peeta, when you asked about what happened to Darius and Lavinia, and Boggs told you it was real, you said you thought so. Because there was nothing was shiny about it. What did you mean?"
I think back at my recent discovery about my real and fake memories.
"Oh. I don't know exactly how to explain it." I tell her. I think back all the way to the painful beginning, the sessions, the lab table, then the rescue with nothing else but extremely enhanced anger and one fake motivation. Then throughout the remembrances of each memory, everything can somehow connect more and more, and the strange things like attacking trees or a blurry and flashy vision of long sharp teeth and demon eyes on someone who looks a lot like Katniss are obvious to be fake. I try to explain it to her in a simple way,
"In the beginning, everything was just complete confusion. Now I can sort certain things out. I think there's a pattern emerging. The memories they altered with the tracker jacker venom have this strange quality about them. Like they're too intense or the images aren't stable. You remember what it was like when you were stung?"
"Trees shattered. There were that colorful butterflies. I fell into a pit of orange bubbles... shiny orange bubbles."
"Right. But nothing about Darius or Lavinia was like that. I don't think they'd given me any venom yet." I say.
"Well that's good?" She asks. "If you can separate the two, then you can figure out what's true."
If only it was as simple as it sounds.
"Yes. And if I could grow wings, I could fly." I say "Only people can't grow wings. Real or not real?"
"Real, but people don't need wings to survive." She replies.
"Mockingjays do." I add, finishing the soup and handing it back to her. I think I see almost a bit of a smirk on her lips as she looks away. Then she looks back a me and it disappears.
"There's still time. You should sleep." She says.
I must look awful, with giant bags under my eyes with dirt and dust gathering on my skin. I lie back down, and just as I'm about to close my eyes, Katniss' hand stretches out and gently smoothes back my untidy hair. I freeze, and for a second my heart beats loudly in my chest at the presence of her touch, but she finishes and pulls back her hand away from my face.
I have that thought again, about how I think she still cares about me, this time, I don't push away the thought.
"You're still trying to protect me. Real or not real." I whisper.
"Real," she answers. "Because that's what you and I do. Protect each other."
It was real. She felt it too, the whole time. I knew it. I shut my eyes while having flashbacks of the Games, and how much devotion we had for one another, until finally exhaustion takes over, and I fall asleep.
My slumber is short-lived, I have an odd dream that doesn't really feel like a dream. There is no images, only darkness, but there is an achingly familiar chorus of hissing that slithers into my ears, saying one name, chanting it over and over.
Katniss.
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The Accidental Archmage - BOOK 9 (THE DRAGON HOUSES)
The Accidental Archmage Series (BETA CHAPTERS) NOTE: DRAFTS OF EARLIER BOOKS (BOOKS 1 to 8) HAVE BEEN POSTED BEFORE ON RRL. THEY ARE NOW ON AMAZON AND HAD ATTAINED BESTSELLER STATUS IN THE FANTASY-MYTHOLOGY GENRE. ACTUALLY, MANY RRL STORIES PUBLISHED ON AMAZON HAVE GONE ON TO BECOME BESTSELLERS AT ONE TIME OR ANOTHER. HOWEVER, AMAZON KDP RULES REQUIRE THAT MOST OF THE DIGITAL CONTENT AVAILABLE ELSEWHERE BE REMOVED. GENRE: CLASSICAL EPIC FANTASY An epic mythological fantasy in another world. Immerse yourself in a grand and dangerous adventure. In a world both familiar and strange. A world where magic and gods still exist. Meet deities, beings, and exiles from Earth’s pantheons. Encounter warriors, huskarls, satyrs, hoplites, dark and evil mages, and strange beings from myths of pre-history up to the age of iron.Match wits with the likes of Loki, Zeus, Athena, Odin, Amun-Ra, Coniraya, Viracocha, and even Dionysus. Escape plots and schemes played by powerful gods of life and death.Find the truth behind the dark and otherworldly beings from the Lovecraft mythos.Play with dire wolves, drakontes, lamias, keres, amphisbaenae, a sphinx, ice giants, creatures of nightmares, empusas, gigas, minotaurs, vrykolakas, jotnar, dokkalfr, to name a few.Survive being in the middle of wars between civilizations and races. Suffer the arrogance and stupidity of gods and men alike. Cross paths with beings who don’t like you. Thor, Ares, and the Incan death god Supay, to name three.Be burdened with a quest to save yourself and your humanity in the brutal and primordial world of Adar.A world where scientific pursuit will get you a lightning bolt or two. Probably five. All at the same time. Book Nine - THE DRAGON HOUSES His beloved Eira rescued, the rogue Titans have been defeated, and Tartarus sealed. Yet as the rising Archmage tries to escape the Forbidden Isle, events have been set in motion that would embroil him once again in the tides of war engulfing Adar. Escaped Titans, a rising power in the South, vengeful adherents of the Elder Gods, and more have him in mind. Least of all, a far from defeated Loki. New players have come to the fore, each with their own purpose in mind. The lustful drive for power, the search for a release of one's soul, and the companions' storied pasts all come to drive the world deeper and further into chaos. Add a powerful demon determined to open a portal to its own dimension. It's enough to drive a mortal man mad. (Cover image used under license) Book Eight - WHERE TITANS WALK Now in the land of the damned below the underworld domain of Hades, Eira awaits the company and battle portends. But first, they have to find the fortress of the Titans. Above them, Loki's war is going well as the internecine war among the pantheons continues. An old foe rises in the south, more powerful than ever. Astrid finds herself the subject of a wife's rage and the murky past of the companions now comes back to haunt them. Yet amidst it all, a dying Elder won't wait as plots and new players bedevil Havard Ulriksson, formerly Tyler West of Earth, now the Archmage of his adopted world. Cover Image used under license from shutterstock.com. Alterations by the writer. Book Seven - DRAGONS AND DEMONS https://www.royalroad.com/amazon/B08122Y739 An urgent rescue and the path to vengeance are not easy in a magical, myth-filled world. Nasty roadblocks and unexpected complications have a way of rearing their wicked heads along Tyler's route across the dwarven lands and into the infernal realm of Tartarus. More myths and legends cross the First Mage's path as Loki's war and Asag's emergence stir up mortal lands and magical domains. Cover Image used under license from shutterstock.com. Alterations by the writer. Book Six - TARTARUS BECKONS Gifts, curses, and problems. The unfolding of Loki's mad and complicated scheme results in a war between and among pantheons, empires, and kingdoms. From Ymir's Domain down to the far south, conflict engulfs Tyler's world and the magical gate to Tartarus is starting to break open, threatening to add mad Titans and other powerful beings to the chaotic mix. And on the forbidden isle of Banna, a dying enemy awaits. (Note: NOW PUBLISHED ON AMAZON) Book Five - LOKI'S GAMBIT With the promise of the First Mage not to act against him, Loki now accelerates his plans. A plot millennia in the making, spanning the length and breadth of Adar. Like a spider spinning its web, the trickster god now puts the finishing touches on an audacious scheme. A revolution to change the balance of godly and mortal power in the world. Book Four - VOID LANDS The Void Lands. A place where gods fear to tread. Where strange creatures and hostile beings emerge. A nexus of dimensions, the origins of which are lost in the mists of time. To stop the Aztecha Empire’s march to power and domination of the eastern lands, Tyler West, now a High Mage, must confront and defeat the empire’s mysterious patrons. Beings of incredible might and magical knowledge. An imperative path which leads him right to the Void Lands. Though a few detours are required, each dangerous yet crucial. The only problem is that the Void Lands are on the other side of the continent. And to get there, he may have to ask a favor from the Trickster God himself, the Norse deity known as Loki. Book Three - BLOOD WARS Continuing our lost mage's epic journey through the magical and extremely dangerous world of Adar. Escaping the convoluted schemes of the Greek pantheon, Tyler finds himself with an old acquaintance, the Incan deity Viracocha. His son, the sun god Inti, is dead. With the Aztecah Empire and its powerful pantheon of deities on the bloody road to more conquests, the deity asks for his help. A request he could easily refuse. Except Viracocha is not alone is asking for his aid. Two other pantheons have made their presence known to the young mage. And the Egyptian deities are watching how he will decide the matter. To add to his burdened conscience, the rise and dominance of the Aztecah pantheon would mean a million or more new human sacrifices. Resulting in extremely overpowered bloodthirsty deities. What's a newly minted Elder apprentice mage to do? Involve himself in a blood war? Book Two - GIFTS OF THE GREEKS Tyler's journey continues. New land, misadventures, friends, foes, skills, and knowledge. Confused encounters of the female kind. More deities become aware of Tyler as he continues his quest to survive, reach his potential, and carry out his burden. Amid convoluted plans designed by divine acquaintances of old and newly met gods, what's an ordinary guy from Earth to do?The god of wine wants to be his friend. Ares and his sons are coming to say hello. Book One - RAGNAROK RISING What if you fell through a crack in reality? Like those people disappearing in plain sight you've read about. What if you find yourself in a strangely familiar world? A world full of Earth’s mythological beings, lost civilizations, and people from its primitive and brutal past? Where magical energy still exists. Where gods play games among themselves, with the fate of mortal men as pawns. A land where a sword is deadlier than a five-inch thick contract drawn by a hotshot lawyer. Would you survive? That's Tyler West. Alone, lost and bewildered, the three moons in the sky made it clear he wasn’t on Earth anymore. It’s not a game. It’s real. And there's no coffee, pizza, fries, or his favorite show on HBO. *** All Rights Reserved. 2017/2018/2019/2020. Cover Images are used under license.
8 141Witches & Knights & Unicorn Fights
[2022-06-04: Currently drafting Act II - been on a hiatus trying to edit all the typos and continuity issues out of the first 12 chapters. Will start posting again in a few of days, probably at a chapter-per-week rate] Once upon a time, Maeve Morgan decided to be born... but she doesn't quite remember why. The other day, a voice told her to tell her own story... but she's not so sure just where to start, or quite when to stop. Maeve Morgan just wants to be left alone on her island, really, to shingle her roof, and maybe catch a Gnome someday. Meanwhile, in another Timeline... Bardlii Noonstar embarks on a mission to chronicle the adventures of a common hooded rat, which the Sentient City of Owl claims is destined be the Realms' next greatest Known Hero. And somehow, all of this will become connected. Which of our narrators will untangle this curious knot, by bravely and kindly advancing the plot? (Contains occasional swear words of the PG-13 variety)[participant in the Royal Road Writathon challenge]
8 140Legend of The Matriarch
This series of stories and perspectives ultimately accounts the birth and life of a new god that goes under the moniker of The Matriarch. Born as a baseless deity, she seeks knowledge in all forms and supports learning. However, even scholars have enemies. In her bid to explore worlds and expand her knowledge, she runs into another godlike creature whos views seem to counter her own. As she works to combat this threat to the entire multiverse, she seeks to legalize certain forms of darker magic, spread her influence, and acquires a lover or two along the way.
8 147Crimson
In a world of Runes the continent of Rustren is mired in slaughter and senseless wars. The Emperors star rises in the East, heralding the rebirth of the Emperor Rune. Once again the world will descend into carnage as kings and heroes wage savage wars. For whosoever obtains the Emperors Rune will obtain the Continent of Rustren.---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Note from the author:This is my first novel and written purely for my own entertainment. I welcome any and all constructive criticism and hope to complete the story to a high standard.This is only a hobby so the releases will be sporadic and few. Sorry XDPS - I've included Tags such as Romance. I don't know how it'll turn out but i'll leave it there just in case.
8 88I Am Not A Humanity's Traitor (Isekai LitRPG)
Ren is a reincarnated person. His new world had the same name as his old one, Earth. But that was the extent of the resemblances. Ren has a skill as well, or at least he was told he did, but he had no inkling of how to use it. He was disheartened at first but his goal wasn't the path to power, all he wanted from this world was to continue the peaceful life, but the world didn't even provide him with that. A luminous pillar descended upon him and one of his classmates. Goddess Helastia, one of the most revered goddess, called them to herself, probably not a good news. However, there, he finds that a group of heroes has been summoned from his past world to confront the Devils that will be rising soon. But contrary to his assumption of being a hero himself, she referred to him as a reincarnated imposter. She labeled both of them as Humanity's Traitors and sends them into a dungeon where they were supposed to live. That is, with their masters and comrades, the Devils and their minions. The monsters in the dungeon were not likely to accept them as allies, instead, they were out to devour the delicacies that appeared in their home. Only despair awaited them. ---------------------------------------------------------- This novel is inspired from Neets's parallel world syndrome, Abnormal state skill and bunch of other jp novels, this is also my first time writing a web novel. Also English isn't my native language, so, sorry in advance. The pic in the cover is taken from pixabay and edited by me.
8 130Real life in a Virtual World.
A boy, living half his life in hell-on-Earth and the other half in nothingness, suddenly finds himself to be in a virtual game world. But isn't his life in this virtual world more 'real' then his life in the real world?
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