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    287 Results with the "vacant throne" tag


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      Tenebrael Appears

      Tenebrael Appears Cover
      by Tower Curator A queasy sensation welled up in the pit of Alyssa’s stomach as she stared down at the obviously broken neck. Alyssa turned away, fumbling around in her pocket for her cell phone. It wasn’t there. Right. Back on the couch. She stumbled, shaking knees failing to support her. Letting herself sit on the floor for only a moment in an attempt to quell her nerves, she couldn’t help but let out a slight laugh as adrenaline flooded out of her body. Using the abandoned bed as a handhold to get up, Alyssa…
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      Stranger in a Strange Land

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      by Tower Curator Alyssa woke with a jolt. As if someone had stuck her with sharp prongs attached to a car battery; her heart pounded in her chest as sweat trickled down her brow. Somewhere in the background, the harsh repetitive tones of an alarm clock buzzed without pause. She couldn’t see anything but a hazy white light. Worst of all, her breath felt too hot and too moist in front of her face, as if she were breathing the same air over and over again. Which she was. With a heavy groan, Alyssa moved a hand up to…
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      Exploration

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      by Tower Curator Alyssa walked a full circle around her house. Everywhere she went, she walked across fresh green grass. Really fresh. It smelled like the grass had just been mowed even though almost all of it brushed by her knees. Behind the house, a small lake bordered a forest filled with high trees. Maybe redwoods—Alyssa wasn’t sure, her brother had been the Wilderness Ranger of the family. With the sun not too hot and the breeze just light enough to be pleasant against her skin, she might have enjoyed relaxing…
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      The Observatorium

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      by Tower Curator Lyria was not as filthy as Alyssa had imagined a medieval city to be. Maybe that was a bit rude or insensitive to the people who lived here, but just the fact that they lacked indoor plumbing had to mean they didn’t have decent sanitation. But Lyria had a river that ran right next to it. A river that apparently collected a great deal of waste. She could only hope that they took their drinking water from upstream. Far far upstream. According to Bacco, there were cisterns around that collected rainwater…
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      Tess

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      by Tower Curator Tess sighed. She was getting looks again. Pitiful looks. This was one of those days. Princess Irulon had returned from her day’s activities with a bright smile on her face. A few of the other servants even reported humming. Normal days saw the princess return from the academy with a blank expression at best. Maybe a vapid smile with no real joy behind it. Her actually smiling threw up red flags for Tess’ fellow workers. Being a servant girl wasn’t easy. Being Irulon’s personal servant even…
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      Knights Solaris

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      by Tower Curator The guild, these Knights Solaris, had it made. Alyssa admitted it, she hadn’t experienced much of the city. But this building had to be among the upper class structures around. It lacked the decorum of the Observatorium, and the palace—which Alyssa still hadn’t seen up close—was likely far fancier. The guild was a sturdy building, constructed from thick blocks of brownish stone. It almost looked like a castle except for the massive windows that ran from just above the tall door clear up to the…
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      The Black Prince

      The Black Prince Cover
      by Tower Curator Alyssa stumbled over her words again and again. Every mess-up only served to make her more nervous, resulting in more and more mistakes. She wasn’t even sure if she was still intelligible, but the prince hadn’t interrupted her so she hadn’t stopped. When the Black Prince had first turned to her and asked what had happened, she had nearly fainted. It was like being addressed by Darth Vader. He had such an imposing presence. An aura of terror radiated from his armor, filling her with a dread that…
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      Gathering Storm

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      by Tower Curator Rainwater dripped down the windows of Tzheitza’s potion shop. It wasn’t her first time seeing rain in this new world. One night while traveling to Lyria, she had needed to pitch her tent early. Thankfully, the tent was water proof and kept her and everything she carried dry, though packing it up in the morning hadn’t been all that comfortable. But it had only rained that one evening, providing ample time for her tent to dry over the next night. Still, it was somewhat nostalgic. When younger, she…
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      Empty Mirror

      Empty Mirror Cover
      by Tower Curator “You stupid bitch! Can’t threaten to kill me now, can you?” Cid shouted at the hole in the tunnel floor. His eyes widened momentarily as he reached up to his throat, but the black smoke from the Contract spell was already disappearing, leaving him with a full grin on his face. “Hope you enjoy it down there as much as I did. Say hello to Bacco for me.” Alyssa watched in silence from her shroud of fractal illusions as he slid the light holder back into the wall. The trapdoor snapped shut,…
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      Infinite Regress

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      by Tower Curator Alyssa stumbled back, slamming into the wall behind her. Her breaths came hard and fast, filling her lungs with air her body didn’t need. Closing her eyes, she tried to get herself under control. She was still alive. Her stomach ached, as did her arm. But it was a phantom sort of ache. No dagger stuck out of her arm. Same with her belly. She even pulled up her shirt to check. There was no hole, no blood, no knife. Just the lightly ridged skin of her abs. She could still feel that cold inside her.…
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