Author: maelstron

• Chapter Three – Page Twelve

  “Fine, what would the neutral party be asking for? And keep in mind, though we can help you a lot, we are on a tight schedule here, so avoid anything that will take too long.” He looked a bit disappointed. “Ok I guess, it’s a fair request. I can answer some questions and enlighten you if you can get me a bag of giza seeds.” Tabitha knew what he asked for, and it was a strange request, but maybe she [...]

• Chapter Three – Page Eleven

  The study was cold, the only thing keeping it at an acceptable temperature was the fireplace, providing just enough warmth for the place. The old furniture was very comfortable, and extremely well kept considering it’s apparent old age. The tapestry was thick and kept any exterior light from coming in, and despite the chandelier’s light, shadows flickered with the fire’s dance. The place was silent but the crackling fire, Azelia took a place standing near the heat, while the others [...]

• Chapter Three – Page Ten

  They wandered again the halls of the castle, until they got to the dinning hall. There were large wooden tables, very old craftsmanship. They were empty, except by the center one, which had a small feast served on one end. They each took a place at the table. They were all starving at this point, but only Estela observed the wide variety of food, the other three looked at each others suspiciously. After a minute or so like this Azelia [...]

• Chapter Three – Page Nine

  I wasn’t long before Jacob and Fiona joined them. They sat down and had lunch, as they told each other what had happened, but Fiona decided to omit a little detail from her story. She wasn’t sure why, but she felt it would lead nowhere right now, so it would be best to deal with it latter. Night fell, but the van never came out. They speculated they might have exited through another gate, but avoided assuming anything more conclusive. [...]

• Chapter Three – Page Eight

  Using her ability to manipulate electricity she tried to create a magnetic field and make the iron gate close on the car. For a moment she look confuse as nothing happened, then she grinned a bit and changed tactics, though this would be less subtle for her taste. She used her power to steer the car out of the road at the last moment. Despite the driver trying to break, he ended up hitting the archway and causing the front [...]

• Chapter Three – Page Seven

  “How long are they gonna take?” Whined Estela. They had been hiding behind some trees near the road just outside the main gate. Ever since they had left, the only interesting thing happening was a squirrel crossing the road. Estela was already showing signs of impatience, while Tabitha was just fiddling with her gear. The place was silent, and the vegetation was beautiful despite being somewhat scarce. On the other side of the gate nature seemed dead, Estela thought, observing [...]

• Chapter Three – Page Six

  Jacob left the store more curious than he had entered it. He thought disturbing the old lady with his inquiries would lead him nowhere. Maybe inside the restaurant someone would know something. But Fiona was already going to discover that part. “You don’t seem to be from around here, what brings you to this desolate part of the world?” Asked the barman, trying to engage conversation with the beautiful lady waiting for her lunch. She smiled innocently at him, hiding [...]

• Chapter Three – Page Five

  ~~~~ // ~~~~ They walked for hours before they considered the extension of the estate was far greater than they could afford to scout at this time. When they did, they headed back all the way to the road, where the taxi had left them. Lunch had gone by unnoticed and now they starved on the side of an empty road. Jacob remembered that before they turned into this road, there was some kind of stop where they might find [...]

• Chapter Three – Page Four

  Everyone looked around. The path where they came from was deserted, leaves falling and covering the ground. The tall stone wall was the dividing point from which they could not pass. Through the open gate, the road seemed to go on out of sight, far into this uninviting territory. Jacob continued. “I guess entering their territory will mostly alert them, causing us to become less than welcome. We can check out how far does this wall go. Or maybe just [...]

• Chapter Three – Page Three

  ~~~~ // ~~~~ They drove for about an hour out of Paris. The more they drove, more the road became isolated. No signs of the city could be seen, but despite being so far away from another thing, the road was very conserved and well lit. The streetlamps, and occasional bench were all very quaint, with an aged elegance. Half way out of the civilization and the taxi driver began complaining about how far this was, and how expensive it [...]

• Chapter Three – Page Two

  In the other room a discussion ensued regarding whether it was wise to let them go by themselves. Considering the last encounter with monsters, Tabitha feared they could bump into something more powerful, and at least one more person could provide useful backup. Jacob and Fiona understood her point, but they thought that between them, they had enough resources to avoid being detected and to travel from one place to another without much problems. If they need help, the could [...]

• Chapter Three – The Craftsman’s Toys

  “What are you two doing?” Asked Fiona surprised to see the two of them packing, as she and Estela entered the room to wake them up. “Diogo had a vision about that little girl from Boston, she gets killed in a ritual similar to the one that created the rift we found yesterday.” “We are going there to save her.” Diogo completed Celeste’s sentence. Fiona observed them silently, she knew what this meant. She expected Diogo to be like this, [...]

• Chapter Two – Page Eleven

  The school bell rang, and the once silent halls began to fill with teenagers preparing to go back home. It was already past 5, and all the afternoon activities of the school were finally over. With few exceptions, only the high school students were at school at this time. Some groups came from the gymnasium where the sport practices took place, others were leaving their respective classes. Melina had come out of the chemistry class, so she went to her [...]

• Chapter Two – Page Ten

  Celeste got close to him, gave him a soft kiss on the lips and a long hug. “Come, we’ve got to figure what to do next.” “So, what is the situation?” Asked Tabitha who got out of her pack a notebook and a pen. “Well, we have apparently an international group of summoners trying to bring into this world a powerful demon. We don’t know why, or how they came to this knowledge.” Fiona said while keeping an eye on [...]

• Chapter Two – Page Nine

  They did not find any way of opening the door from the inside, but this was expected from the place where they kept their prisoners. Tabitha got near the door, put her hand over the rusty iron door. As the electricity flowed from her hand, she examined the mechanical system behind the operation of the door. She signaled everyone to be ready, as she concentrated her energy and the gears hidden in the walls turned to open the door. Everyone [...]

• Chapter Two – Page Eight

  Fiona took another blow from the lizard’s tail, and this time it sent her skidding next to Celeste. As she observed the beast preparing to charge her, she couldn’t avoid thinking there was little space to hold that thing off at this point. Before she began running towards the beast, she said to Celeste “Hurry up with that, you’ve got a few more seconds only.”. She put her sword to the side, pointing low and back, and blue icicles began [...]

• Chapter Two – Page Seven

  Fiona stepped back to avoid being gored, and tried to swing at the monster only to meet his protection once again. As long as it did not charge or build momentum it was slow enough, and she could keep distracting it, the only problem was space. She couldn’t move to the center where it was more spacious because of the pull, and in the corner near the door was Celeste, whom she had to keep safe for the time being. [...]

• Chapter Two – Page Six

  He was not the focused type, but he rarely let anything lose control over his powers, this time, the hatred and disappointment broke any form of concentration he had. As the invisibility shroud disappeared, he just stood there, using the pillar as support, as he stared at the center of the room. On the floor, surrounded by a pool of blood, was the corpse of the young boy sacrificed. ‘No older than 14.’ Diogo thought. In his chest a ceremonial [...]

• Chapter Two – Page Five

  “He went downstairs, behind the counter. Without any sort of surprise element, we should be fairly vulnerable going into their territory. You should conceal yourself and take point, specially since you can see in the dark.” Fiona pointed out to Diogo, who just glanced at her and at the counter. Diogo concentrated his energy, creating a wave of darkness that swept around him, making him invisible as it passed. While that Jacob went to the counter, and examined the stairs [...]

• Chapter Two – Page Four

  Celeste and Jacob finished their incantation just after the car explosion. They said the keywords “Dispel Magic” as they pointed towards the fissures in the sky, and they started to close, immediately ending the spell causing the fire shower. As soon as they finished casting, Jacob leaped down to check up on Tabitha who had just caught the woman Fiona tossed at her, and Celeste teleported beside Diogo as he ran to check up on Fiona. Estela went as soon [...]

• Chapter Two – Page Three

  Diogo kept distracting the statue, mostly dodging, and occasionally blocking the attack with the energy shields. This was getting boring, and he was concerned that it could lead to someone else getting hurt, so he rushed Fiona a little. “So, you know I don’t mind serving as distraction, especially since this doesn’t even qualify as a workout, but could you hurry up a bit before someone gets hurt?” “Oh come on, there is no one around to get hurt. Besides, [...]

• Chapter Two – Page Two

  As soon as Jacob landed, he put Estela back on the ground, not a moment before Tabitha and Celeste reappeared beside them. As they observed the flames dispersing in the air, leaving only a scorched mark on the ground, people began to panic, most of which ran out of the plaza. Only two people with their cameras stood there, trying to capture this weird moment. Diogo got up, and waving his hands swiftly and reciting a familiar enchantment. Then two [...]

• Chapter Two – The First Portal

  Everyone woke up early. Despite the sun light, the air remained cold in the city of Paris. They prepared their gear, concealing whatever was necessary, and taking only the essential. Tabitha walked beside Jacob, chatting vividly, showing of her blue dress with long sleeves, Jacob always had fun with her high spirits, though he didn’t care that much how he dressed, so long as it didn’t give any trouble to move. He preferred his blue serge pants, along with a [...]

• Chapter One – Page Nine

  ~ The Day Before ~ Jacob and Celeste had been fiddling with the samples they brought back since they woke up. I was now the middle of the afternoon, and they were just getting something out of it. Meanwhile Diogo remained lying in the bathtub, completely submerged. He only came out for lunch, and since then he sat in front of the window observing the soulless life of this friday. Fiona left everyone to go meet with officer Parkson and [...]

• Chapter One – Page Eight

  ~ Two Days Before ~ Diogo wandered the streets searching for a good observation point. He was not wearing the comprehend language ring, so he kept clear to himself that he couldn’t speak with anyone. But people rarely interacted with him. With the occasional intrigued look some people gave him, he mostly just smiled when people acknowledged his existence. Eventually he found a tall building near a place that seemed adequate to his objectives. The building had only 14 floors, [...]

• Chapter One – Page Seven

  ~ Three Days Before ~ “Now, hold it in this position.” Jacob said showing his stance, holding the piece of wood pointing forward. Estela tried to mimic the stance, it was close, but not perfect. “Now, observe, this is a way to keep a high defense. This way you force your opponent to stay somewhat away.” He indicated the distance Fiona was standing. “Now your to main concerns are casting a spell and defending properly, but since for now we [...]

• Chapter One – Page Six

  ~ Four Days Before ~ The small crystal projected an image upwards. The projection showed the blood analysis of all the officers, the mother, the girl, and the hooded man. Graphics filled the air, telling status, elemental affinities, spell power. Jacob tapped into a crystalline screen connected to the apparatus scanning the blood samples, information floated around, reordering itself to show the important discoveries. The girls came through the door, still savoring the sweet taste of pancakes they had for [...]

• Chapter One – Page Five

  ~ Five Days Before ~ Diogo kept a distance ahead of the group, even though he had only a slight idea where they were going. He was still in turmoil. He had in his mind that this mission was going to be simple, come here, identify the culprit, locate his base, kill him and go home. And yet they had barely began. He kept forgetting that searching for an unknown enemy could take years, and he should know better. They [...]

• Chapter One – Page Four

  ~ Six Days Before ~ Jacob got up and walked past everyone. Celeste kept looking over the scroll, and using a reference book she had to try and find something more useful about it. Diogo next to her tried to sleep, but he was a bit uneasy with everything. Tabitha kept an interested eye out the window, she was the least used to travel this high. Fiona and Estela talked about the daily activities of the world. The flight took [...]