Novels by Chrissy 🌹

The pieces of the silver mirror were on the granite floor like a spilled star map, without the Outworld’s light. For the time since the twin crowns were on my head the background noise of the universe—the constant high-pitched hum of calculating machines, automated accounts and distant supervision—was completely gone.The silence of the High Peaks was no longer the silence of a hidden place; it was the quiet of a place where something had just ended."The diagnostic link did not just break, " Malachi said, stepping over the silver pieces. He knelt, his long black cloak pooling around his boots as he picked up a piece of the glass. The reflection in the piece did not show his face; it showed a starless mix of violet ink that had permanently stained the item's internal code. "It cut the line completely. The Fourth Grid has isolated our location. To their automated systems, looking at this area is like dropping a measuring tape into a hole. They’ve locked the hatch from their side to sav

The shiny glass of the perimeter shields did not just block the cold mountain winds; it worked with them. From the peaks to the lowest valleys a faint clear sound rang through the crisp winter air every time the wind hit the barrier. This sound came from the Fourth Grids math and the wild untamed fury of the North.Inside the vaults the nexus pool had settled into a steady glowing circle. The star-metal sphere rested at the center of the Aether anchoring the green and purple ley lines into a perfect circuit. This circuit hummed through the soles of my boots."The temperature inside has normalized " Vesper said, her voice echoing in the cavern as she unhooked the copper leads from Kaelens gauntlet.She collapsed back onto a stack of crates her coat clicking softly. The needles on her gauges vibrated within a balanced range. "The logic-core isn't fighting the magic anymore. Its acting like a valve. The High Peaks are drawing forty percent power but the strain on the mountain has dropped

The deep vaults of the High Peaks did not look like a war room. Here the air was thick with a green and purple mist that made my tongue feel like I was licking a copper pipe. The main pool was like a bottomless hole filled with a glowing liquid that churned like the sea. It cast weird glowing shadows on the granite pillars that held up the fortress above."Keep the drafts closed!" Kaelen yelled through the steam. His face was lit up by the heat of the furnaces below.He stood on the iron catwalk above the pool wearing a leather apron that was covered in soot and frost. Below him four master smiths were lifting a crucible made of strong granite and star-metal. Inside it a pool of silver star-metal bubbled and spat heated up by the energy of the stolen Solder-Cores."Vesper what's the reading on that crystal?" Kaelen asked, not taking his eyes off the silver.Vesper was sitting on a stone ledge beside the catwalk wearing a welding visor. She held a receiver box in her lap, which was con

The Blue Logic-Core did not give off heat like the stones of the Second Grid. It did the opposite. Holding the square crystal in my hand felt like holding a piece of the empty space between stars—a cold so clean and compressed that it numbed the black ink on my collar. The Twin Crown on my head had to anchor its frequencies to keep my blood from freezing."The core is checking the room " Malachi said, his voice cutting through the silence.He stepped closer his eye tracking the tiny light-blue grids tracing themselves across the crystals surface. He didn't touch it; his fingers hovered above the stone his charcoal marks humming in sync with the cores processing. "Its looking for the broadcast tower of the Fourth Grid. Its trying to report its termination. If that signal leaves this mountain the Chief Architect will mark our location as a sector.""It won't leave the mountain " I said, my voice carrying a resonance that instantly caused the light-blue grids on the crystal to distort.I

The Arbitrator of the Fourth Grid did not move back from the loss of its crystal weapon. The Arbitrator of the Fourth Grid had no body to hurt no feelings to hurt. As the Arbitrator of the Fourth Grids data disappeared into the space of my right eye the silver rods in its chest started working again with a cold hissing sound. The Arbitrator of the Fourth Grid was thinking of a way to fight in a very short time."Variable deleted," a three-part sound rang out through the air. "Recalculating combat power. Starting physical alignment."The Arbitrator of the Fourth Grids hand made of white marble and tipped with five shiny silver points shot forward. The Arbitrator of the Fourth Grids hand did not punch it moved in a line with great force like a strong machine aiming for the center of the Twin Crown on my forehead.BANG.The Arbitrator of the Fourth Grids blow did not touch the band.A big furred Varg forearm blocked the strike in the air. Jaxon had thrown his body across the broken stone

The bruises on my hand did not stop at the edges of the broken amber seal. They spread like oil across the stone floor crawling up the three stone pillars that held the Blacksmiths severed arm.The blue ring that Vesper had put on started to whistle. It was not a loud hiss. It was a scary tone that vibrated at the same frequency as freezing metal."The rules are changing!" Vesper shouted, her patchwork coat clicking wildly as all her gauges slammed against the zero mark. "This is not a fight, Empress! The Fourth Grid is taking control. They are making it impossible for us to fight back!""What do you mean?" Jaxon asked, his golden aura flickering on his shoulders as he tried to stay in his human form. The heat from his chest was being sucked away leaving frost on his leather vest. "Speak plainly smuggler!""They are making it so we cannot win!" she yelled, dropping to her knees to adjust the knobs on her whistling box. "In their world fire only burns if it has permission. Swords only