Header Background Image

    290 Results in the "Vacant Throne" category


    • Chapter

      Demands

      Demands Cover
      by Tower Curator “They’re what? I’m not sure I heard you correctly.” “Claiming ownership of the monsters.” “Ah. I did hear you properly.” Alyssa rubbed at her hair. It was getting a bit long again. She had only cut it once since arriving in Nod—Kasita had done it upon her request. A ponytail might do it good for a while, but she would eventually need to get it at least tidied up and trimmed. She might be living in a vaguely medieval world, but that didn’t mean that she had to ascribe to their…
    • Chapter

      Decorous

      Decorous Cover
      by Tower Curator The world was ending. Figuratively, but very possibly literally as well. For months now, things had been strange. Off. Once familiar aspects of the world, constants as unchanging as granite, were now twisted. Decorous clasped his hands together, staring. He didn’t stare at anything in particular. The room was the Lords’ Dining Hall of the palace. An exclusive area reserved for only those of the highest standing in society. And an intensely familiar place for Decorous. He had spent many evenings…
    • Chapter

      Deadlock

      Deadlock Cover
      by Tower Curator Bastiel’s four wings spread wide. Whatever ‘discouragement’ was supposed to mean, it clearly included rushing head-on toward Alyssa. Spectral Chains lashing out slowed the angel for a moment. Only a moment. Her body shuddered as the chains burst into fragments of twinkling light. Cricking her neck to one side, Bastiel resumed her charge. She wasn’t moving as fast as Alyssa had seen Tenebrael and Iosefael move during their fight. For that, Alyssa was thankful. It gave her the opportunity to…
    • Chapter

      Dawn

      Dawn Cover
      by Tower Curator The morning light of the sun peeked over the horizon, casting a wave of light over two gathered armies. Without a cloud in sight, not even a small shadow fell over either side. Medieval wars were, quite possibly, the stupidest things Alyssa had ever seen. Lyria’s army was standing in a number of rows. Bowmen, pikemen, knights, arcanists… All just lined up like they were going to get lunch at the school cafeteria. Most stood in silence. Some whispered to their neighbors in some kind of nervous yet…
    • Dangerous Streets Cover
      by Tower Curator The air had changed. The night before, when she had been following after Cid and Bacco, and earlier in the day, when she had visited the Observatorium and the Waterhole, everything had been peaceful. Calm. Maybe not perfectly peaceful. She had passed by one or two more energetic arguments, but nothing that seemed like it would have affected her. There was a tension in the air that could be cut. A palpable sensation that something was wrong. Alyssa already knew what that something was, but for everyone…
    • Chapter

      Cracks

      Cracks Cover
      by Tower Curator Yora was gone. Alyssa had watched from Illuna’s walls as the entourage disappeared over the horizon, the tips of their banners being the last thing to go. It had made Alyssa wonder whether the bannermen were supposed to carry their banners the entire way back to Yora—a location roughly two weeks out from Illuna—or if they could be collapsed and attached to their horses in some manner. Regardless, after ensuring through Kasita that they hadn’t caused any incidents on their way out, she got some…
    • Chapter

      Court II

      Court II Cover
      by Tower Curator Alyssa did not know why she had been invited to the evening’s meeting. She felt like she should have something more to offer, but when it came down to it, most of the people at the table were absolutely impossible to talk to. They were too set in their views. Even little disagreements about some inane side note were taken as personal attacks. Arguing anything more had seen two people storm off already. It wasn’t even her doing the arguments. Aside from her introduction, Alyssa could count the number…
    • Chapter

      Court I

      Court I Cover
      by Tower Curator Watching the monstrosity that was The Farmer in action was relieving in a strange sort of way. It certainly presented a terrifying visage, but that was about all it had. In terms of speed, Alyssa was pretty sure that her grandfather would have been able to outrun it with his walker. While it had been extremely quiet for its size during testing, it was quite noisy while threshing and chewing up all the crops it processed. Between that, the pistons thumping, and the treads causing minor earthquakes, it was…
    • Chapter

      Court Arcanist

      Court Arcanist Cover
      by Tower Curator “I have heard what happened to the draken in your care and what you and your party are trying to do for it. I sincerely hope it goes well.” “Yeah,” Alyssa said. “Me too.” Now knowing roughly what kind of company she was in, Alyssa had taken a seat at the table. Before, she had been a bit wary that some high arcanist of the local government wanted to talk to her. She wasn’t sure that she should be entirely comfortable in the presence of these monsters—she had only met and talked with…
    • Corpse Removal Service Cover
      by Tower Curator “What in Tenebrael’s name is that?” Volta asked, clamping a bit of her clothes around her mouth and nose. Alyssa knew from experience that doing so wouldn’t help. The stench that hung around was too powerful. Still, if it made Volta feel better, it wasn’t like it was hurting anything. She hadn’t really wanted to bring them to the cave, but it was much closer than Illuna. It had preserved food and water, which both Volta and Red needed. Really, Red should have eaten something before they had…
    Note