Recent content by Thorne

More people on his side, huh? Thorne gave an incredulous huff. For a Dread, this kid was woefully optimistic. "If two decades in hiding has taught me anything, it's that I can only rely on myself." He grumbled. The good men and women he'd fought beside during the revolution were valiant and...

"I'm well aware of the revolution. That doesn't mean I can trust any random soul that wanders on to this property." Thorne replied shortly. More of that wretched lightning danced across his skin, a constant, uncomfortable reminder of the runes' presence. Then the boy spoke of alternative uses...

Thorne grimaced. How woefully naïve. If experience had taught him anything, it was that there were really only two things that this horrible curse was good for. "You didn't really get to experience Vel Anir as it was, did you?" The veteran growled, his scarred hand balling into a fist. "Think...

At least he was forthright. It's funny, just a year or two ago Thorne would've likely lashed out at that little revelation, but nowadays it somehow made him want to give the boy a modicum of trust. And if all he wanted was to learn about this...burden of Thorne's, well... The veteran held his...

Thorne brought a hand up to rub at weary eyes. Perhaps this really was just a curious kid, seeking information on something he was genuinely interested in. An incredibly naïve kid, but a good natured one, at least. "I assumed you knew that much, at least. Hmph." The old veteran grumbled as he...

So it was about that. Well, at least the boy was straight to the point. That way neither of them had to waste any time. Thorne's gaze hardened, his brow furrowed. "You don't want to know, and no." He retorted curtly. "I didn't spend the last twenty years being hunted so I could start sharing...

Bluster counted for a lot, Thorne had found. Whether or not those third, second, and first level Dreads that had come before Alistair and died choking on their own blood were actually greater than him was of little consequence. What mattered was the threat. Thankfully, the young man complied...

"Hmph." Was the only response Alistair got for the moment. Looking closer, this really was a kid. If he was a Dreadlord, he must've been fresh out of the Academy. Thorne frequently had to remind himself that not all Dreadlords had been the soulless monsters he'd thought them to be. He'd learned...

Magic...from Thorne? The old veteran was no mage. Not really, anyways. He'd always considered himself a soldier first and foremost, but he was well aware of the threat that the ability his former master had bestowed upon him posed. If Thorne didn't trust this...'Alistair' before, that feeling...

Quite some time had passed since Thorne and his makeshift family had returned to the manor of the minor House Whispergrove. It wasn't the same as it had been when he was young - it was rather hard to put something back together that had been reduced to rubble and ash. Yet it stood, and its...

"Aye, home. As I knew it. Whispergrove Manor." Thorne said, looking wistful for a moment. The place had been burned and crushed to nothing what must have been two decades ago by now, but the new Anirian Republic had deemed it fit to restore it as an act of reparations to Autumn. "Where is my...

"As I knew it?" Right. That would be a tricky verbal habit to navigate. "As it was, I mean." Thorne corrected himself, grunting as he bent over to begin cutting Ania's ankles free in turn. There would be a lot of informing he'd have to do, a lot of making up for lost time. Thorne hadn't been...

While the searing pain lingered in the old soldier's arm, at the very least Ania hadn't had the wherewithal to induce one last hallucination in him before he was able to suppress her. He studied the girl's face as the negative magic took effect; anger and vitriol gave way to confusion and...

It didn't seem possible for someone so low to have fallen so much further. Ania was a sorry sight in her current condition. If he hadn't known exactly what she was capable of he would've been incredibly critical of the people running this place, but Thorne was cursed with knowledge. If they...

How many months had it been since the revolution had come to pass? Gideon Thorne hadn't been sure. Time had very much become a muddled blur since then. The old veteran had expected to die that bloody night. He was an old soldier, and one who had very little to lose. He had thought he'd be...