Talesworn

Chapter 53 - Gravebait

Piper stretched languidly in her bed, luxuriating in the feel of the soft sheets against her skin. After spending weeks sleeping on hard rocks, the inn’s mattress felt heavenly. If she hadn’t had plans today, she would have happily spent the rest of the morning in bed.

I suppose I can sleep for a few more minutes.

Rolling over, she adjusted the pillow under her head slightly. With a sigh, she closed her eyes. Then her [Ambush Detection] blared a warni...

Chapter 53 - Prologue

A powerful spring storm battered the seaside fortress, with the torrential downpour lashing the ancient stone walls, and the roar of thunder making the foundation tremble. The squall howled impotently against the steadfast structure before swirling around it and gusting across the open plains.

Elissa looked up from her writing as the shutters rattled in the window. Above, she could hear the steady patter of rain on the roof. Another boom of thunder made her start, and she pressed a hand...

Chapter 52 - Epilogue

Ethel dropped the bundle of sticks at her feet and watched as Alfred dragged away a charred timber from the longhouse ruins. A contingent of the Crimson Guard had brought them back to the farm the previous day, and they had immediately launched into the job of rebuilding the farm.

Thankfully, the work would be done long before winter arrived, and the gold coin she’d found in her saddlebag should buy more than enough provisions to last until spring. It would even allow them to replace ...

Chapter 51 - Arrival

Piper stood on the barren hilltop and gazed down at the city of Kalmyros far below. Situated on an island in the middle of a river, the city had thick walls snaking around the perimeter, and a sprawling expanse of buildings on the shore banks. The road winding through the dusty valley was jammed with wagons and throngs of people.

“Welcome to Kalmyros,” Lukas said with an enormous grin. “Truly, I never thought I’d see my home again.”

“It’s huge!” Ophelia exclaimed. ...

Chapter 50 - Blood and Infernal Flames

Piper stood silently for a moment after the strange knight had departed. With a shake of her head, she leaned down and gripped her quiver; then, she began to feed a steady stream of mana into it. Soon, new arrows were rapidly appearing inside the quiver.

Though the demons had momentarily withdrawn, there was no guarantee they wouldn’t return. And she wanted to be ready for whatever they encountered in the next room.

The silence was broken by Ophelia crying out in alarm. The youn...

Chapter 49 - The Last Light in the Abyss

A monstrous harroth demon loomed over Piper, its armored skin glistening in the harsh red light. The creature’s mouth yawned open, revealing rows of dagger-like teeth. It let loose a deafening roar and then swung its four arms ending in talons at Piper.

Piper groped for an arrow, only to find her quiver empty. To her side lay another injured harroth, its chest slowly reforming where her [Demonic Mark] had exploded. If she could just concentrate her fire on a single de...

Chapter 48 - The Demonic Horde

Piper watched as Lukas advanced on the imps, a portal tearing open at his side. From within, a slimy brown humanoid plodded out before taking up a position in front of the caster. The summoned being stood there, with gooey chunks sliding off its body before plopping to the floor. It looked disgusting.

“Is that poop?” Ophelia whispered. “I think that’s a poop monster.”

“It’s not a poop monster,” Piper muttered before pausing. Who was to say that a poop monster didn�...

Chapter 47 - A Wall of Horrors

Piper impatiently tapped her foot against the ground as she watched the duke’s forces draw closer. Soon, they would be within range of the spellcasters if they didn’t get moving. But it seemed like her new friend Lukas wanted to turn himself into a human pack mule before entering the Black Pyramid.

The young man had spent the last few minutes racing around the camp and stuffing all manner of strange items into a massive backpack. When he lifted it to his shoulders, it stretched from...

Chapter 46 - A Doomed Expedition

Lukas held up his hands to the blazing fire, trying to dispel the chill of the previous night. Every day they were trapped here, he grew weaker, and the cold felt more biting. Already, his clothing was hanging off him like he was a scarecrow. If they didn’t find a way back through the Black Pyramid soon, they would starve to death.

Unless the dread owls take us first.

For once, the birds hadn’t returned last night. Every sundown since their wild flight from the pyrami...

Chapter 45 - A Spark of Hope

Piper stayed up through the rest of the night, directing the trickle of regenerating mana to her injured leg. She’d even been forced to remove her pants to prevent them catching on fire from constantly using [Demonic Blood]. But she was surprised at how long the healing was taking. The damage must be more severe than usual. 

When her bones finally reformed, it was nearly dawn. Only then, with the pain lessening and the fog lifting from her mind, did she pull up h...

More Chapters!

I just bumped up the advance chapters to 6 for the Aspirant Tier, and 12 for the Wayfarer tier. This means that the tiers with be two and four weeks ahead of Royal Road respectively. I'm hoping to add more chapters in the near future, since you're all so awesome.

And once again, thank you for your support. It means a lot to have so many people supporting my story.

Chapter 44 - Eyes in the Darkness

Piper stood on the barren mountain slope, watching Justina stride away from them. The woman had bidden them a terse farewell before leaving. She could tell the vampire was torn by her decision to abandon Ophelia, and for a second, she feared that Justina would renege on their deal. But after a tense few moments, the woman had stalked away into the gathering darkness.

Alone once more, they set out in the direction of the Black Pyramid. Both of them were hungry and exhausted, and neither ...

Chapter 43 - A Glimpse of Salvation

Piper pushed Ophelia behind her protectively as she raised her hand to cast [Umbral Terror]. In hindsight, it had probably been a bad idea to save Justina. But she would never have been able to live with herself if she had murdered a defenceless woman in cold blood—even if that woman was a bloodthirsty vampire.

Justina stopped a short distance away and lowered her weapon slightly. “What are you?”

“I’m a human,” Piper said, and wavered slightly...

Chapter 42 - An Unexpected Guest

The sound of a scream made Piper jerk upright, and Ophelia, who had been sleeping on her shoulder, slid down to her stomach. She gently pushed her friend off before rising to her feet. Someone was in the room with them. The scream was followed by the crash of metal and a meaty thud.

Frowning, she hurried over to the edge of the alcove. She scanned the room and spotted a figure lying a short distance from the pool of lava. Where had they come from? Both doors to the room remained sealed....

Brief Announcement

Going forward, new chapters will be released on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. I had hoped to keep up the daily release schedule a little longer, but I've been rewriting the end of the first book pretty intensively. However, I'm going to start increasing the number of advance chapters on Patreon.

Thankfully, there shouldn't be any lull between the books. After Chapter 52 (the tentative epilogue of this book), I have enough material to launch right into Book 2.

And once again, tha...

Chapter 41 - Forge of the Demons

Piper watched as the river of ooze poured out of the ceiling shafts before separating into distinct creatures. She counted at least ten of them. The monsters sloshed against each other, recoiling from the touch of their brethren as they crammed into the narrow corridor.

She raised her bow but then scowled as she lowered it again. Even with [Demonic Mark] there were too many to take out before they overwhelmed her. Plus, her healing ability probably wouldn’t work if sh...

Chapter 40 - The Gates to the Mountain

Piper reached the great bronze door and unceremoniously dumped her friend on the ground. She tugged off her glove with her teeth before pressing her bare palm against the metal surface. For a moment, nothing happened.

Please, please let this door work like the other one.

The soldiers were rapidly closing in on them, and she didn’t know what she would do if the door didn’t open. In the distance, she could hear the faint sound of drums and trumpets. The duke and his Cri...

Chapter 39 - Out of the Fire and Into the Frying Pan

Piper hurried away from Ethel and her family, doing her best to hold herself together. But after only a few steps, she felt tears streaming down her face. The biting wind immediately froze them on her cheeks. She tried to scrub them away but gave up after a few tries.

Trudging through the snow, she continued down the mountain pass. Already, she could feel her extremities freezing, though she could always use her [Demonic Blood] to warm herself up. It would just become a...

Chapter 38 - Two Paths Diverged in a Blizzard

Ethel stood outside the cave entrance, the wind whipping through her hair. She drew Ophelia closer to her, trying to shield her shivering daughter from the cold. Inside, she could barely make out the exchange between Justina and Piper.

She blinked her eyes rapidly as she overheard Piper claiming to have bewitched her family. But even with her best effort to hold back her tears, one escaped and rolled down her cheek. She understood exactly what Piper was doing—she was taking all the bl...

Chapter 37 - Even the Swiftest Hare Cannot Outrun the Fox's Hunger

Piper drew her bow back and prepared to fire at the Crimson Guard. She needed to get three arrows off as fast as possible to activate [Demonic Mark]. If she could just knock the vampires away, they might have time to retreat into the tunnel. Hopefully, the vampires wouldn’t be able to get the door open.

But as she loosed, red tendrils shot out from Justina and knocked the missile aside. She keenly remembered Ransford using the same skill on the farm. Did all vampires ...

Chapter 36 - Ancient Enemies

Piper stopped a short distance down the tunnel and squinted at the darkness. While the fire behind them cast a flickering light, it didn’t penetrate far into the corridor. Would all of their exploration plans be defeated by a simple lack of light?

I wish I still had the aetherstone.

At her thought, a string of gems embedded in the walls about chest high flared to life. They bathed the tunnel with a harsh red glow and illuminated a tunnel that must be at least a kilomete...

Chapter 35 - An Icy Wind

A single snowflake drifted lazily down from the dark sky before landing on Piper’s outstretched tongue. She pulled it into her mouth with a slight smile. Her dad had often wheeled her outside so she could enjoy the first snowfall of the year. And every single time she’d stuck her tongue out to catch the snowflakes.

She turned her attention back to the trail and looked up at the steep cliff walls on either side. Nothing grew here, and boulders were strewn about as if an angry giant h...

Chapter 34 - Terrors in the Night

The sound of redcap war cries echoed through the narrow mountain passes, the voices seemingly coming from all sides at once. A javelin soared out from the darkness and struck the rocky ground; it skittered along until it came to a rest at Piper’s feet.

In one smooth motion, she drew her bow and released. The arrow sailed out toward where the javelin had originated, and she was rewarded with a pained yelp. But no notification appeared, so she’d only wounded the redcap.

“Nice ...

A Brief Update and a Big Thank You

Firstly, I just want to say a huge thank you to everyone supporting me here. You're all awesome. And I'm blown away by the level of support I've already received.

Secondly, I wanted to announce that I finished writing the first book today. It's currently 52 chapters long, though that might change slightly with editing. But the first book is officially done.

And finally, I'm going to have to slow down the pace of releases in the near future. I'm hoping to wait until Chapter 50, but...

Chapter 33 - That's Not a Redcap. THAT's a Redcap.

“Finally,” Piper exclaimed as she read her new notification. At her feet lay a plump bird with an arrow through its breast. “It took long enough.”

Congratulations! You have learned the skill Hunting, Level 1.

Moving through the trees like a deadly predator, you have learned to hunt all manner of beasts. This skill gives you a bonus to tracking, stalking, and weapons related to hunting.

Learn this skill? (Yes/No?)

Chapter 32 - Gathering Forces

Justina grimaced as she drank from the flask of blood, the cool liquid making her freshly regrown teeth ache. Once she had taken a few more sips, she opened the intricately inscribed pouch on her belt and dropped it inside. The flask disappeared into the shining portal as if it had never existed.

As she closed her void pouch, she glanced around the ruined farmstead. She and Augustus had spent an entire day here to allow their wounds to heal. With the survivors of the redcap raiders lurk...

Chapter 31 - Passage to the Dragonspine Mountains

Piper crept through the pine forest with Alfred at her side, an arrow nocked on her bow. They were closing in on the redcap’s camp, and all around them were the signs of a hasty departure. She stepped over an abandoned pack before picking her way through scattered cooking implements. At the center of the camp, a thin wisp of smoke still rose from the remains of the campfire.

She continued onward, wincing as she stepped on a dry stick. How long would it take for the Holy System to give...

Chapter 30 - A Cave Full of Silence

Piper crept deeper into the cave, searching for the illusion she’d cast to conceal the alcove. Her teeth were chattering so loudly she was worried the sound would wake the others. All she wanted to do was climb under a thick woolen blanket and curl up into a ball. But first, she had to find the darn spot where the others were hopefully still asleep.

After searching for a few minutes, she released her [Enduring Casting]. A short distance away, the cave wall shimmered t...

Chapter 29 - Blood in the Thunder

“I’m so going to die,” Piper whispered to herself as she dodged behind a tree. “This is bad. This is really bad.”

Her heart was pounding in her chest, and she was fighting down a rising tide of panic. As she stood behind the tree trunk, she cast [Veil of Lies], concealing herself from her pursuers. She watched a group of redcaps rush past, hooting with excitement. In the distance, thunder rumbled, the leaden skies threatening to storm.

In hindsight, she�...

Chapter 28 - The Best Laid Plans of Demons and Redcaps

The dead leaves crunched under Piper’s feet as she moved in the direction of the redcap’s camp. She didn’t know the hills as well as Alfred, but she knew most of the major trails. And if she was right, the redcaps were camped near the entrance to the largest mountain pass.

At least she hoped that’s where they were. It was hard to tell just from glimpsing their campfire smoke from a distance. What if she couldn’t find their camp in the darkness?

The last thing she wanted ...