116 Results in the "Burned Cover" category
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Chapter
24 – Standoff on the Bridge
Erika scanned the skies over the long cobblestone bridge. As before, that crimson mist clung to the air, but it wasn’t as thick as the first time around. Erika couldn’t see well, but she saw further than before. Faint, foggy silhouettes of that hanging city dotted the skyline like bubbles, visible only in the contrast of the dying orange-red sun. She didn’t recall seeing a sun, last time, but the fog had been much thicker then. The change in the fog bothered her. Did this place have natural…-
403.0 K • Ongoing
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Chapter
24 – Portents of Impending Doom
The atmosphere in Varn’s arcade felt unusually tense. It didn’t help that, as soon as Erika walked in, Leslie stood, pulled a hefty shotgun out from under the table, and aimed it right at the door. He quickly pointed it up at the ceiling as soon as he saw that it was Erika coming in, but he kept it in his hands, frowning heavily as The Fixer walked in behind her. Maybe she should have knocked. Erika wondered if they thought The Fixer was some kind of ghost, but dismissed that idea. He looked…-
403.0 K • Ongoing
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Chapter
23 – Opening a Box of Worms
“So,” Erika said, taking a seat at the Varn’s meeting table. “That’s the plan. Comments, questions, concerns?” Today was a bit of an odd day at the arcade. More of the machines were functional, including an old-fashioned skee-ball game. The carpets were clean, and some new lighting had been installed, readying the place for a hopeful opening after the new year. That assumed Rick was up for it. The proprietor of Varn’s sat at the meeting table with a sunken look in his eyes, staring at…-
403.0 K • Ongoing
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Chapter
23 – i – The Hermit
Tucked away in the heart of Hyde Park, concealed behind a nondescript brick façade, Ren lounged in her small slice of paradise within the otherwise chaotic city of Chicago. To the uninitiated, it appeared as little more than an aging townhouse, but to those with the right eyes—or the right introductions—it opened a door to a whole other world. The heavy scent of incense hung in the air, mixing with the violet smoke that wafted from her long pipe. Carefully cultivated flowerpots hung throughout the…-
403.0 K • Ongoing
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“I feel sick.” Alarmed, Erika took her foot off the gas and looked at Delilah. “Don’t throw up in here!” Rick, in the back seat with his laptop out, paused what he was doing to glance up. “Why? It can’t possibly make this thing worse.” Erika leveled a flat look at Rick before turning back to Delilah, eyeing her out of the corner of her vision as she focused on the road. “We can’t exactly put this off any longer. The Emperor was quite clear on that.” Rick answered before…
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403.0 K • Ongoing
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Chapter
Answers to Questions
“Looks like we got away just in time,” Simone said, hand to her brow as she peered down from the second story of the parking garage. The Museum, large and squat, was easy to see even with a few buildings obscuring parts of it from view. One street around its sides was visible, though it was a bit too far to really see. Flashing blue and red lights lit up the sides of the museum and the tops of the surrounding buildings. Police cars and ambulances filled the road. There were even firetrucks despite…-
403.0 K • Ongoing
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“We were aware of the unusually high concentration of birds in the area,” The Adjustment sighed, watching the police cordon off the roads. “Ongoing orders were to avoid agitating them until after the root cause of the problem had been resolved.” Erika chewed on that for a long moment, glaring up at the apartment building. The Eclipse showed up on the scene, just as Erika sent The Stalker away, and started locking the place down. The Fool used his earthen golem to block off windows and doors,…
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403.0 K • Ongoing
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Chapter
22 – i – The Adjustment
The Adjustment wasn’t what people usually considered a normal person. Some people wouldn’t consider her a person at all. Humans tended to feel unnerved in her presence, the same way they might find regular spiders creepy, except intensified by the fact that she was a human-sized spider. It was a bit lonely, both because she couldn’t easily disguise herself to have normal relations with normal people, and because even other unnaturals tended to avoid her; she didn’t exactly have many confidants.…-
403.0 K • Ongoing
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Layer by layer, sense by sense, Erika felt herself peeled apart. Sound went first: the gunfire, the shouts, the screech of metal birds all stretched and warped, then snapped into a cacophonous silence. The bridge, the van, and her allies smeared into streaks of color, then into impossible geometries—shapes that hurt to look at, their colors did not exist. Smell and taste followed, but not quietly. The spiciest curry paled compared to the taste of reality. A violent explosion of every taste at once…
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403.0 K • Ongoing
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Chapter
22 – Captivating Captives
Erika had never been to Egypt or anywhere, really. Exotic vacations to far-off countries weren’t exactly within the Walker family budget. She had seen plenty of pictures. Pyramids, statues, obelisks, all carved from that light-brown stone. Erika could easily believe that she had been transported across the world just by looking around her, and yet, it felt off. First and foremost was the darkness. Like it was some kind of massive cavern. The light from Erika’s phone provided the only real…-
403.0 K • Ongoing
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