Recent content by Shrike

A wry, rasping laugh slid from his throat the way an edged sword whispers when drawn from its sheath. "Such a clever tongue." He pulled on the chain and it rattled, dragging her forward to follow him down the hallway. They reached the far door and he pulled it open, revealing another hallway...

"You're just as brazen as he said," the hooded figure whispered, almost to himself. So few on this island dared to speak to him thus. Perhaps she would not either, if she knew who he was, or perhaps her hate would be redoubled. Again, that ghost of a smile in the merest twitches of sallow...

The figure cocked his head and from within the hood's shadows came the glint of eyes reflecting the torchlight. He seemed to ponder her answer. "...Boring," the word skated from his lips as though a vile utterance, an affront to his ears. Of all the hateful wails and pitiful sobs, when last...

Drip. Drip. Drip. The leaking rainwater of the evening storm mixed with the ocean's spray and seeped through the cold, cruel rocks of Cerak At'Thul, down through the lower dungeons. This tepid, salt-poisoned water collected in puddles. One such puddle sat in her cell, near her bedroll and some...

“Reside? Tch.” Fine words, the wench had likely never left her keep except to laugh at the vagabonds and pirates beneath the grim keep. The black-hearted mercenary pointed behind them at an inn nearest the wall. “Red Boar inn.” He doubted she’d ever set foot in a place like that before...

Ah yes, that cold demanding snap in her voice, bracing as a blast of frigid air. Certainly a blood relative of Ravenna, though that defiance in her eyes and the thirst for adventure seemed all her father. Tydeus wondered why Agravayne still secluded himself on the isle. Probably too drunk these...

"There's your basilisk fangs and your monk's hood. Not easy to find, those. That'll be twenty gold." Tydeus stared at the two cloth-bound packages on the counter, slightly smaller than a bound book. His pale gray gaze traveled up to the storekeeper, a burly dwarf. Tydeus' stare drilled into the...

You make yourself too hard, you make yourself brittle too. Crack once, crack all to pieces.

A frown furrowed the silver brow of the half-elf. The scars marring his face and body itched at the mention of that name. Twice-Bitten. Better than the low thrum of constant pain they usually brought. They’d been quiet since his journey to the Tree. Since being bestowed the blessings of the dark...

The Shrike did not move to bow, or incline his head in greeting, or show any supplication her father or aunt might have expected. He stood unmoving as a limestone cliff face overlooking the crashing waves below. Scarred by the ocean’s lashing, weathered by time, but still and cold and unfeeling...

The sea spray stung Tydeus’ face. This time of year the ocean seemed a frigid thing, a denizen of lurking demons and sudden storms. He waited on a remote dock in Alliria’s great harbor, the sole figure there this time of the morning. But not for long. A new ship came in, with a hull blacker...

A figure in plate armor - foolish on an airship - rushed for the prow. Features hidden behind a winged helm, he barreled into a demon, shouldering through slashing claws that squealed against enchanted steel as he vaulted toward the tip of the ship. He had kept quiet nearly the whole ride...

A snort at her contemptuous stare and the jut of her bared throat, tendons taught and stark, pleading to be cut. It reminded him of that ranger, years ago. Such defiance, just to end up a flayed corpse on a rope. Better than most, the bleating sheep of the rest. A wolf could respect a wolf...

So powerful the stranger’s blow with his black blade that the very tree itself did shudder and boughs shook loose, crashing all around them, some even splashing into the pond itself. What horrific strength before the eyes of the Dark. What hideous might on display. A raw and terrible smile...

Yes