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11 Descent
publish date:
2025-10-07 09:34:33
Latest chapter
Foundling 7 Getaway (4)
Hunter gathered sunlight from the passage’s opening, and from the corridors father back and junctures of wall, he gathered shadow, shaping them, channeling his pain and anger into a material force (The Beast laughed.), and his blade began to flicker from shadow to light, light to shadow.Hunter’s footwork was subtly changing, the stretch of arm, the looseness of wrist. The tip of his blade began to flicker in and out of the light. Riposte, lunge, parry, lunge, lunge, lunge, parry, riposte.[use fencing glossary] Shadow to light to shadow to deeper shadow then a flash of sparks along the length of clashing blades. The flash of sparks were absorbed in Hunter’s flow and returned as a blade of light. Then another, a black blade, coalesced across from the sun blade, the saber blade between them. The two strands wavered between the seen and unseen and moved in a helix around the center blade.There was no sound, only the matching force of a similar blade strike. Poe would have to expend ki
Foundling 7 Getaway (3)
They measured each other across the distance. Poe wondered if he could do this. Hunter knew that he could. He had given time enough to devotion, now he must away.He rushed Poe, angling away from the poignard. Blades clashed, clanged. Sparks flew along their lengths. Swirls of ki flowed from Poe like the arms of an octopus to ensnare Hunter, who turned them away with a ki shield. Defense was the first thing taught for the skill-less and the ki-less, and no great power or skill was needed to maintain one. They could be maintained with a trickle and Hunter had far more than that.The ring of steel settled into a rhythm as did the parry and riposte of ki. Hunter tried to work his way up under Poe’s reach while staying outside the striking distance of the poignard, to move him out of the way, but Poe kept the opening to the valley between himself and Hunter. If Hunter got past, the boy was too fleet of foot for Poe to pursue, and beyond sight, ki would be ineffectual.Poe held back, delay
Foundling 7 Getaway (2)
Hunter arrived at the Armory. The bow was not there. From Master Philip’s memory, he thought they would be. His calmness and focus made him unemotional. (The Beast snarled.) His emotionlessness, however, did not mean he did not care, and the absence of his bow almost broke that calm, made him indecisive. He could not remain, could not stay, but he would not leave without the bow, and if he stayed to retrieve it, there would be a fight, and in that fight, there would be blood and worse. The decision to be made was obvious, easy, and he took it along with a sheathed rapier.A moving shadow captured no light as it flowed through the corridors from cornices, across walls, along ceilings. Suspicions were not roused at its passage, no mind incited to investigate. It was as if neither he nor they existed outside the bubble of their own presence, and inside shadow, the implacable deadness of his features were hidden.The Beast mocked, whispered: Give in. Be unincumbered by the shallow regard
Foundling 7 Getaway
When the alarm came, Poe was still in the Magister’s quarters. They were the first ones at the cell. Master’s Philip’s body was rigid from the cold touch of the serpent, his hair had turned white, and his eyes were wide on some horror only he could see.Poe placed his hand against his chest, and the frown that came to his lips deepened the cragged lines of his face.“There is no wound, but the cloth above his heart is wet. There is also no residual ki anywhere to be found in his body.”In the cell, every surface was covered in a watery sheen. Poe squatted to examine the metal fragments littering the floor. They were hard, brittle. Maybe, with enough force of will, and strength of body . . . just maybe?“What is left of his chains?”“Yes.”The Magister cast his eyes along the lines and face of the cell, to the bolt where a chain had once been fixed.“The room is also depleted of ki,” Poe said.“Has the twin talent awakened?”“He has never shown those qualities.”“Many things he has nev
Foundling 6 Breakout (3)
It was stark and clear as if he lived the moment. But how could he, being but a babe and no more aware of the whole of the world than a newborn could be.It made him angry that such remembrances had been barred from recollection; and there were still more. But that was not a concern he could dwell on. His time was growing short. What was happening within the cell cold not long remain unnoticed by the Master outside.Mind ticked like a clock from moment to memory to emotion. Muscles taught, a spring ready to explode. He had no more time Huner stood as if the shackles at his wrists or the weight of the chains were no account. He stepped forward and the chains, held by the bolt in the floor, snapped tight. He leaned into it, curling his arms forward, getting all the leverage he could.The creeping frost edged beneath the cell door.Hunter relaxed, then surged forward, shocking the metal. It chimed. Rime fell away. Fractures quickened its length, widening into cracks. Iron fragments clatt
Foundling 6 Breakout (2)
While Hunter’s body trembled and muscles strained, his mind remained still. As ki was consumed, the force he had unleashed grew stronger and tried to escape from the hand that checked; and the crystal serpent grew; and the frost crept forward to coat everything in the room.Hunter struggled to halt its advance, and in that struggle another door to memory opened.How far to go? How much travail until they became lost to rival ambitions which had invaded her world, her cities, here home. They counseled fleeing to the edge of shadow. the unknown, the Dark from notice became lost from the could no longer be found, until he could not be found. Many lives had been sold in their flight. Moving between worlds, battling fiends and foul beasts as they fled, and resting when they could.They had been traveling for days, weeks, and there had been no more attacks. They had reached beyond or lost those who pursued them. According to the World Walker, they would be there soon, but fatigue had overta
Foundling 4 Prisoner
Hunter sat on a cold stone bench in the corner of a cold stone room. Small, ill lit, barred by the locked, thick bolt in the heavy, banded oaken door with a Mage standing duty just beyond that. He was still chained but had better learned to manage the weight of the dangling shackles now attached to
Foundling 3 Deliberation
From most of the Magi in the stalls, there were only hard-eyed stares and very little sympathy. In a few, there was compassion and consideration. In others doubt and uncertainty, but would that uncertainty outweigh the pressure to find Hunter fully accountable. There had to be a full consensus, and
Foundling Capture (3)
“It is good that you are awake to speak for yourself.” The emotionlessness in Poe’s voice belied the considerate regard in his eyes, buts the coldness in his voice still saddened Hunter.Hunter had little prospects of swaying anyone. He had broken the most sacred law of the Magi. If they could not
Foundling Capture (2)
He smelled them before he came upon them. Clustered, marbled scents packed together. He could parse some scents from the herd but not all. Hunter used his remaining ki to give the mirage substance and texture as he had before and sent it forth like a bird on wing. Only this bird’s wings grew and sw
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