A sigh rippled out of Ceria, then the tension poured away from her like an almost visible wave. We were both still in our armor, hardly the right clothing for what came next. I told her to remove her jack. She slipped out of it while I removed my own armor. Without my asking, she then untied her tunic at …

Nobody spoke much, beyond assuring each other that nobody had been seriously wounded. As the chimeras burned, I healed some scratches on the two while they sat on their rumps trying to catch their breath. Both of them shuddered when I cast the magic, but they were too worn out to protest much. When I was done, I made Bruna …

Jurmat licked his lips, staring at her, then me, then her again. “My Lady, I cannot…” he began answering in a pleading voice. I didn’t bother to wait for his words. When Trisiagga turned her angry scowl to scold him, I raised the crossbow and fired at her. She staggered backwards, shocked at the supersonic strike that hit her square …

“This cannot be happening,” I heard Ceria moan behind me. I didn’t have to warn my companions.  They recognized what sort of opponent we were facing. The first one to appear was the same opponent we had last seen disappearing over the outcropping behind us. I never sensed him come past us to return, so he had found some other …

I nodded my confirmation to her. I had no delusions about how badly I had misled them by omission. “I’m sorry for not being fully honest about myself,” I told her. “Even if I had my reasons, you had a right to know such an important thing about someone you were going to be risking your life with.” “But the …

After a half-hour or so, something prompted me to look at the amazon again. Bruna’s eyes were beginning to look a little dull, I noticed. “You’re developing miasma ache now,” I stated. For a reply, she simply nodded. She was still lay on her bedroll, covered in her blanket. I moved over to sit next to her and held out …

My mind was blank. I couldn’t make any sense out of the strange things he was saying. All I could tell was that he seemed to be saying those things about me. Pushing himself off the ground slightly, he crawled backwards on his hands and feet, continuing to stare at me like he was seeing a ghost. Finally, he struggled …

. Ceria had been standing near the rock face; she now ran up and joined us, her staff again charged with several preset spells. Bruna had been torn up before, and the state of her miasma had me seriously concerned. I had again done healing on her and her armor had suffered no further damage in the battle, but I …

No matter how much I disliked Ryuu Kowa, I had to give him credit. He had been facing the enemy head-on. He stood in a square stance, his improbably large sword raised over his head, in the middle of another clearing a hundred paces from Graham’s position, doing his best lightning rod impression. From the wide-open-mouthed grimace on his face, …

Normally I use the cocking lever to arm my crossbow, to avoid unnerving people, but I had no time for that. I went ahead and pulled the string back and set it over the latch using just my fingers and Tiana’s inhuman strength. I pulled the enchanted bolt out of the stock and set it in the flight groove. It’s …