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In the end, I had to let them go, no matter how unwillingly. You and your family have served as a wonderful stopgap for what I’ve lost, Elliot, but you can never fill the hole of what I’ve left behind, much as they could never do the same for you. Two things ...

Carefully, I lifted the decanter on my grandmother’s sideboard and tilted it over my flask’s narrow opening, watching the resulting trickle of amber liquid with my tongue caught between my teeth. I needed steady hands for this, couldn’t allow a drop to spill, ...

As if to echo my unease, Korix shifted in front of me, but we couldn’t let it overcome us. If we did nothing, the Ancients won. “We could temporarily neutralize their threat. Remove all of Cerullis’ members who are under an Ancient’s sway,” I said. “I have so...

When we reached the apartment, Ace barreled through its door to me, but like the good boy he was, he didn’t indulge in his obvious desire to jump on me. Instead, he wove back and forth, excitedly hopping, until I acknowledged his existence, but once I had, he ...

As soon as I was out of sight, I took off at House Kolb speed toward the apartment’s sitting room. When I entered it, I hardly slowed down, launching myself at the sectional sofa where Korix was sitting. While he grunted at my body’s impact with him, the sweet...

I was busy with Korix and Leski when a message flashed into my array. Given the circumstances, I almost ignored it, but since it had arrived at the highest priority, I left off with what I’d been doing so I could scan its contents. You know the vehicle I want...

As soon as I’d stepped into House Cerullis’ headquarters, I removed my camouflage disk, working my jaw once it was gone. Damn, I did not like the way that felt.  Around me, people had recoiled, wide-eyed, from the person who’d appeared in their midst, and I c...

DO YOU SEE, BRETHREN? WE ARE ALWAYS VICTORIOUS! Pheniks, Feena, and I chase one another across the Azuwell Plains with our giggles and shouts ringing in a quiet serenity. My sister is starting another round of lesson rotations tomorrow, so our parents have ...

The Ancient left me, steam and electricity billowing out of a scorched-through body. I was on the ground, uncomfortably sprawled beneath an overturned table, but I couldn’t relieve the discomfort of my position. In fact, I couldn’t move at all, save for the sh...

As I descended through House Cerullis’ headquarter, I set about dismantling as much of its security as I could. I had no doubt that Korix had gone straight to Talira after losing me, and once she learned I had a handle on the Ancient in me, she’d be sure to se...

“Zaeden! I need you come back, kuvesk.” Hurt is the world is the world is the world is my- “Fight it off. You can do it.” No relief some relief have to think have to… Mother Time, it HURTS! Someone. Help. I’m breaking. “I KNOW THEY’RE COMING, FEENA!” So...

Once we were a good distance from headquarters, I requested direct connections between my companions and myself, never slowing in my flight, and after they’d been accepted, I didn’t let anyone else speak. “I’m going to the Source,” I said. “Whether you come w...

Feena was right. Below us, way to fucking far below us, the Preserve soon gave way to a beach and the sea while islands dotted its cerulean waters further out, and above this, five blotches were peppered across the sky, swaying in place. My array couldn’t make...

Ostiu had fallen behind us a while ago, and with us once more over the sea, we were flying between the arms of Ibis’ crescent. Somewhere over these waters, we’d find the Source. Unfortunately, I wasn’t sure where it was. The more I’d fought to suppress the An...

“Should I do this?” I asked. Korix would know what I meant, just like he’d known my plan since I’d shared where I was going, and since the Ancients had been weirdly kind enough to stop attacking us for the moment, I needed to speak these thoughts out loud. I ...

The strangest aircraft I’d ever seen slowed to a stop beside me with only a faint whir coming from its engines, which explained how it had snuck up on me. It looked like the fighter planes that had been used during the war with those from beyond the stars, but...

I easily caught up with Pheniks, but when I pulled alongside his aircraft, I slowed down, peering into the cockpit. When he spotted me, Pheniks animatedly waved, and I frowned. “You seem unusually chipper, considering what we just did,” I said.  “What, disru...

Waiting in the foyer of shukusen Talira’s office, I examined her latest acquisition, another painting by Gaze. He’d done a masterful job of depicting a field’s gentle rustle in the breeze with the shifting of its canvas’ threads an achievement to admire. “You...

My grandmother’s office was in shadows with the glow of the city’s lights lending it an aura of mystery. As we entered, the door closed behind us with the distinctive thunk of a lock engaging, and I went on alert. Despite knowing this meeting wasn’t a trap, I...

So, now you know how I became who I am, and if you must judge me, do it. I can no more deny my past than you can yours. You won’t find the ideal hero in me, but honestly, who can be as impossible as that? Acting as a perfect protagonist isn’t feasible in the ...