Lastfoolofmany

General Johanne de Mascione strode past the entrance to the Great Hall of the Westfall Castle and further down the gallery. Lord Arnias was holding court with the wealthy sycophants who supported his economic bleeding of the lower classes, and the General would normally be in attendance to keep abre

Penaton heard the cry of pain as he approached the gatehouse. It was the cry of a man who was prepared for it, expected it and knew it had to happen, but was still overwhelmed by the sheer agony nonetheless. He noted the trailing moans were stifled as the man tried to hold on to his dignity. The Com

The morning came with disturbing news. Assignments were handed out before the day’s training and the relevant blades were given their orders. But when Cort announced the morning roster, my name wasn’t on it. After reading out those names, he moved on to the afternoon roster and, again, my name wasn’

The next week and a bit was much the same as the last. The girls and I began to find the cardio mornings easier as our muscles healed every evening and we all started bulking up. Not that any of us had been out of shape when we had arrived. The twins had been hunters and farmhands in their village a

He pulled his ear away from the crack in silent rage. The hollow passage in the wall of the barracks had always been a font of information. It had helped him keep on top of his recruits, listen in and learn when they were plotting against him, and discover which women would serve him best. Cort had

The next day, before dawn, I was woken roughly by Cort and summoned to Gleeson’s office. As we walked through the almost completely black halls of the arena substructure, I tuned out his threats and bragging about how I was about to be thrown out to the streets for insubordination and assaulting a s

The city gate checks the next day were surprisingly anticlimactic. The Blade officers emptied their barracks onto the street before daybreak with bellowed orders and sharp commands. We were obviously not included in today’s operation. Men snapped to attention and moved quickly, but without rushing,

With the message sent via a trusted courier and the conversation paused for now, we ate together as Laura and Gleeson endured my unending list of questions about, well, everything. I had always liked to make decisions with the best possible information, something that was critically short in supply

In the dimly lit office of the Westfall Arena, Commander Thorpe was deciding to laugh or curse at the request in front of him. Beyond that stood two men: one of whom he respected, the other, he did not. Penaton Thorpe had known Watch Captain Danel Bralli for over 20 years. The two were not friends.

Evening had fallen and we had arranged for Laura and Erica to meet us at the ‘Flagon’ to discuss our steps for leaving Westfall for Sterya. Theran had sequestered us in a back room so that we could work out details away from the ears of other patrons. Erica smiled when she saw me, and I was preparin

A flickering campfire was the first thing I saw when I opened my eyes. The heat and light of the fire were obvious to me before I even awoke. As I slowly regained consciousness, I could see the embers glowing and tongues of flame licking around a large log… but then it all went wrong. The scene swir

Her sigh was not muffled by the wattle and daub walls of the room. The mud layer was thick and it retained the heat of the inn beautifully, but it had been rendered for aesthetics and did little to soften any noise. Laura was frustrated. Erica had been moping around the Boar’s Head for the last thre

As I sat in my chair after Theran left, running through everything I needed to do, I ended up thinking about the days I’d spent with Asha cooped up in the Steel Flagon, and I frowned. I’d been pretty poor company and the devoted elf deserved an apology. Asha had been amazing. Tired, sure. Emotionall

I stumbled down the stairs of the inn towards the main hall. I’d left Asha to sleep in our room as it was not yet light. She was normally an early riser, both the girls were, but the enormity of that first week on the road was finally taking its toll; she was exhausted and her body was claiming its

“What the fuck do you think you were doing?” The voice of Knight General Johanne De Mascione reverberated around the room, assaulting the ears of the Iron Shield standing at attention before him. The sound reflected beautifully off the curved, bare stone walls, their surfaces smoothed with a hard wh

The imposing man crossed the drawbridge and entered the gatehouse. The looming towers that would be so intimidating to an invading force instead gave him power and gravitas. He had been to the chapterhouse earlier in the morning. He’d replaced his armour. He’d replaced his sword. He held a new shiel

The stop at the resupply hamlet was brief—and distinctly unsatisfying. After a week on bedrolls, I’d been hoping for a real bed, rustic food, maybe a crackling hearth and warm mead. I’d tried mead back on Earth. It was good. The inn I pictured had simple comforts, kind-hearted folk, and jovial compa

I awoke to my shoulder muttering about the indignity I’d subjected it to. It took several moments to realise where I was or what I was or even who I was. It was one of those dreams where you are aware of the waking world, but not able to comprehend it—that eerie place before you drop deeper or wake

The young knight strode out of the enclosed area and moved through the bodies. What was she doing? This wasn’t her job. She healed the Knights, her comrades, the innocent. This wasn’t her job. But something in her was pushing her to show mercy this time. To find someone worth saving. Ordinarily, the

I was awoken by Laura’s boot softly kicking my foot. “Get up…” she whispered. “We’ll have company soon.” I sat up and prompted the two girls to get up quietly. “Have you seen anyone?” asked Asha. “I heard a sneeze in the distance just now. I’d wager that they are getting into position, surrounding u

“What on DROMIN are you doing?” The surprised voice cut through my reverie like a knife and I jolted awake to find Asha’s hand around my cock, apparently trying to massage my soul through my balls and into her palms. The sensation would have been heavenly except for the blonde Knight, sitting aghast

“Well I’m glad to see you’ve overcome your hesitation with the twins.” The tone was unmistakably sardonic. Bambinae smiled at me as I sat in the armchair. The stark white background was now replaced with the interior of a small thatch hut. The campfire was now a stone fireplace and it seemed much mo

The rest of the day was spent hunting and gathering supplies for the next few days of travel. The twins took Laura hunting and after several hours they had secured a young deer and within a few more hours they had skinned and prepared most of the meat for the rest of the journey. If nothing else the

“First of all. I lied to you. I’m sorry. I never forgot who I was… but the fact is the truth would draw too much attention and so I lied.” Laura’s eyes narrowed. “Not the best way to start when meeting someone for the first time.” I nodded in agreement. “I know. I’m sorry and I promise that I won’t

I looked at Asha, stunned, mouth agape as she grinned at me. I mumbled something, I’m sure it was profound; it was a question, of a sort, at any rate. Asha grinned wider. “You saved my life,” she spoke the words in an almost accusatory tone. Erica stopped mid-dance and stared at her sister, a giant

A flickering campfire was the first thing I saw when I opened my eyes. The heat and light of the fire were obvious to me before I even awoke. As I slowly opened my eyes I could see the embers glowing and tongues of flame licking around a large log. “I swear I’ve done this before...” I moaned as I sa

I needed to pee. It was just before dawn and I stirred to find Erica curled into my side. I sat up gently without waking her and quietly left the camp to find a tree. I nodded at Pheros and Dantz, who were still on watch and gave me a glare that I wasn’t sure I fully deserved, but thought nothing of

The next few days were, more or less, uneventful. The men trained every evening and I was expected to practice sword drills with them. The forms were definitely different to what I had practiced back in my university days and these were far more efficient and deadly. Not a single move was wasted and

I saw the blonde woman come storming across to me with a look of absolute rage on her face. The young knight was striding across the square with murder in her eyes and before I knew it, she had her hand around my throat and had roughly shoved me up against the wall. At least this was far more like t

The Captain split the men up and sent two each to compass points around the village. It didn’t escape me that his closest men were the ones he trusted to send off to work autonomously. “Gregory, Lauraphine, Mathew: you’re with me in front.” This was also not unexpected. He wanted me with him as I wa

My eyes opened to a female figure above me. Laura had been pulling back my eyelids to see if I was sleeping or actually unconscious. She sat back and looked mildly relieved before angrily turning to another Knight in full armour who was standing to the side. “There, Gregory, he’s awake. How he has m

My dreams were troubled as Sasha appeared to me, smiling and loving, but it was a bittersweet apparition. The one time I had found something or someone who didn’t bore me, someone I had found interesting enough to want to spend my life with, I wanted to sacrifice my wants for hers, and she was taken

I’m not sure what I had expected when I woke up, but being surrounded by dirt probably wasn’t it. Not just surrounded, mind you, but buried. BURIED ALIVE!! Granted, the ‘alive’ part was a welcome relief and the crushing feeling in my chest was gratifying proof of my renewed existence, but the pain q

The blinding white light eventually gave way to a single bench alone in the nothingness; a simple white stone that took shape as my eyes adjusted to the stark light. I wasn’t sure if this was a dream, or the afterlife, or purgatory, or something else entirely. But I was a Christian, a practicing one

I crossed the busy road from school and pulled the large coat around me, it was getting colder and the central heating of my classroom had made me painfully unprepared for the dropping temperatures. But it wasn’t as if I was going to be out in it for long. A quick walk into the subway allowed me a b