Chapter 12 – Steel for Another World
Chapter 12 – Steel for Another World “Nat, wake up.” She grunted, rolled over in the corner bed, and mumbled, “Five more minutes… It’s not even your night shift today…” “It is,” I kept my voice low. “But there’s something more urgent than standing watch.” Nat finally opened her eyes, ready to complain—and then her gaze landed on me. She woke up all at once. “Jesus—” Her voice caught. “Adrian, did you go negotiate with a meat grinder?” I glanced down at myself: combat suit covered in dried blo...
Chapter 12 – Steel for Another World
Chapter 12 – Steel for Another World “Nat, wake up.” She grunted, rolled over in the corner bed, and mumbled, “Five more minutes… It’s not even your night shift today…” “It is,” I kept my voice low. “But there’s something more urgent than standing watch.” Nat finally opened her eyes, ready to complain—and then her gaze landed on me. She woke up all at once. “Jesus—” Her voice caught. “Adrian, did you go negotiate with a meat grinder?” I glanced down at myself: combat suit covered in dried blo...
Chapter 10 – Deep Ore and Buried Bones
Chapter 10 – Deep Ore and Buried Bones The clock hand nudged forward by a single tick. Since the last time I slipped back from the tower, not much more than an hour had passed. Night in the real world still hadn’t burned out; occasionally a car rolled past outside the building, headlights sweeping across the curtains and disappearing again. The chunks of deep ore lay quietly in a white porcelain dish, dark gray shot through with specks of blue light, like someone had crushed a starry sky into...
Chapter 10 – Deep Ore and Buried Bones
Chapter 10 – Deep Ore and Buried Bones The clock hand nudged forward by a single tick. Since the last time I slipped back from the tower, not much more than an hour had passed. Night in the real world still hadn’t burned out; occasionally a car rolled past outside the building, headlights sweeping across the curtains and disappearing again. The chunks of deep ore lay quietly in a white porcelain dish, dark gray shot through with specks of blue light, like someone had crushed a starry sky into...
Chapter 9 – The Seam of Time
Chapter 9 – The Seam of Time The gate of the fortress slammed shut behind us, the iron bar falling with a dull, heavy thud. Out in the distance, the glow of Hoer still clung to the night. A column of smoke crawled slowly upward, like someone had scraped a filthy stroke across a sheet of black cloth. Corpses were dragged to an open space outside the walls, stacked in piles, doused with oil, and set on fire. The smoke carried the smell of burned flesh and the acrid sting of monster blood being ...
Chapter 9 – The Seam of Time
Chapter 9 – The Seam of Time The gate of the fortress slammed shut behind us, the iron bar falling with a dull, heavy thud. Out in the distance, the glow of Hoer still clung to the night. A column of smoke crawled slowly upward, like someone had scraped a filthy stroke across a sheet of black cloth. Corpses were dragged to an open space outside the walls, stacked in piles, doused with oil, and set on fire. The smoke carried the smell of burned flesh and the acrid sting of monster blood being ...
Chapter 8 – The Northern Road
Chapter 8 – The Northern Road When the gate of the fortress closed behind us, the sound was low and slow, like a boulder dropping into the bottom of the heart and sending out invisible ripples. The northern wind rushed at us, blowing the torch flames sideways. Outside the walls the night was a single sheet of ink; no lights anywhere in the distance, only the jagged outline of the horizon, like it had been bitten by some giant beast. Our group of a dozen or so walked in a not-quite-neat line, ...
Chapter 8 – The Northern Road
Chapter 8 – The Northern Road When the gate of the fortress closed behind us, the sound was low and slow, like a boulder dropping into the bottom of the heart and sending out invisible ripples. The northern wind rushed at us, blowing the torch flames sideways. Outside the walls the night was a single sheet of ink; no lights anywhere in the distance, only the jagged outline of the horizon, like it had been bitten by some giant beast. Our group of a dozen or so walked in a not-quite-neat line, ...
Chapter 7 — Second Descent
Chapter 7 — Second Descent
