Hastum

118. Mortal's involvement

A massive Egyptian man with a two-handed khopesh on his back walked in. He was almost two meters tall, with broad shoulders, a long braided beard, and relatively harsh facial features. His body was overall stout, except for his massive height.

117. Vampire

“You look like you’re going to an execution,” I said, my eyes on Q’Shar’s tail, which was currently dragging behind him as we made our way to the car.

“Every time you idiots gather is a tragedy waiting to happen.”

“Oh, ...

116. Preparations for the sabbath

The next two weeks were spent preparing for the sabbath. Q’Shar, although not without whining and bitching, completed the list of people “asking for an accident” very quickly, and I spent quite some time collecting souls, with the occasional...

115. Demon's nightmare

Jess slowly made her way toward the bed. If the deep dark circles underneath her eyes were anything to go by, then anyone would think she’d go to bed gladly, but her movements suggested otherwise. They were slow and jittery.

She approached...

114. Third Chamber

“The food was really good. You should have told me politics was just eating on someone else’s dime and throwing insults. I would have gotten involved much sooner.”

Q’Shar looked at me, his ears flat to the sides.

“I’m not g...

113. Getting heated

The promised bonus chapter is here!

***

Q’Shar’s tail twitched as he considered whether he should stop Sam. He knew where the priest was going with this and didn’t like the direction. So after a quick calculation, the cat decided...

112. No rest for the wicked

Author's note.

If you noticed, the chapter numbers changed because during revision, I ended up deleting a chapter's worth of text from the previous chapters. Since I promised 17 chapters ahead, a bonus one will be posted this weekend to even...

111. Strange machine

I waited for some time at the cave entrance, meditating and restoring myself to top condition. Only after about an hour did I go back inside. 

The stone chamber was silent as before, but there was a change in the air. The atmosphere had...

110. Waltz No. 2

Author's note.

Hello!

A small update. I finally should have some more time, so the promised bonus chapters should be back.

But aside from that, thanks to all of your support, I can spend some money on artists! So I wanted to get...

109. Sally

“But before I begin,” he said, glancing back at me, “you claim the world outside changed. Yet you know the name of the dreaded Alhazreds. So the ancient families endured the many ages that passed. Then… which clan do you come from?”

108. Another test

I locked my eyes onto the corpse sitting upon the massive stone throne as I slowly approached.

When I was about halfway there, it twitched and then moved. The head rose slightly as two white, milky eyes met mine, and the face stretched into ...

107. Golem

I jumped back on instinct, dodging the massive clump of metal before it could turn my face into paste. As I did, I felt a gust of air on my cheek as the fist passed me with enough force to take my head clean off my shoulders. I kept my distance wh...

106. Case closed, tomb opened

A gentle and warm wind picked up the desert sands as I stood over a yawning abyss, staring into a deep hole that went straight down. As I was about to turn away, the sand started moving, and like a pale golden river, it flowed into the opening, ta...

105. Tom's father

Ophelia lay in her bed with her gaze focused on the ceiling. She still had over an hour until her alarm rang, but she could not fall asleep. And that was because today was the day. She had proposed that if Tom’s father wanted to talk to her, the...

104. Phantom pain

I saw Rey run to Cecil, who was lying on the ground, unmoving.

I looked at Peter and quickly poured healing potion over the stump to stop the bleeding. Once it looked like he wouldn't die just lying there, I went after Rey to start on the lo...

103. Give me fuel, give me fire

The strange person with a bloated belly ran at us. I took some distance, and so did the mutant, unsure of what to do.

I prepared for defense.

Around halfway to us, the creature turned in the direction of the mutant. And as it got close...

102. Final round

I could see Rey’s facial muscles flex as he gritted his teeth. His breath quickened and his eyes darted between me and the tree line.

“I suggest we get moving if you want to see them alive.”

“You won’t bullshit your way out o...

101. Mutant hunters

It took me another two hours of going through them before I got the whole picture.

The mages who initially camped here were the very same ones whose souls were attached to Peter’s body, and now I understood how they were bound.

There...

102. Battle once fought

I looked at the hook-sized hole under the sigil. I extended myself into it only to sense a seal I could not even truly comprehend. I immediately retreated, not risking a backlash from something created by one of the most infamous soul mages in his...

100. The sigil

It's a bonus chapter!

I attached images, one is a concept of what the pumpkin would look like, and the other is my own drawing of the original sigil. Hope this helps with the visualisation!

***

I took a last look at the pumpkin, ...

100. The sign

Author's note

This chapter turned out shorter than planned. I decided to cut it at the pumpkin since I have a drawing to help visualize what will be revealed in the next chapter, but I want to try to make it more readable. Since it is shorte...

99. Over my head?

I was running out of spells, not to mention my broken ribs. I had it in me for another Eldritch spell, maybe even of a third circle, but… would that be enough? Was it keeping more surprises?

I realised… I didn’t know how to deal a kill...

98. Illusion

I dodged two more attacks and blocked a rock flying at my head with a Shield as I made my way to the place where I first cast the grasping hands. The parts of the flesh the creature tore off itself were still lying around...

97. Face to faces

“So what do you think he wants now? His father wasn’t in the slaughterhouse, so his revenge changed.”

“I don’t know. Last time we spoke, he was talking about punishing all the guilty. Or rather, it was the faces that spoke. He was ...

96. Many faces

It took me a while to realize who that was, as I’d only seen him briefly. But now it all made sense.

“When do your parents come back?” I asked the girl.

“They work late. Why?”

“Good, so we have time. I think your brot...

95. Emma

After listening to the kids’ story and getting their contact information, I met up with the ghost hunters as they went back to their parents. As it turned out, the man who spoke to Rey was a local policeman. Apparently, they were getting despera...

94. Patient zero

I told Cecil I would meet them at the vigil and drove to the apartment where the mortician’s cat lived. I then looked through the window, checked around, and even knocked and tried to talk to the apartment owner, although that was hard as she re...

93. Paranoia?

Ophelia looked out the window. She wasn’t sure whether she was seeing things or was actually being stalked by someone. She slowly approached the window without turning on the lights and looked out.

It was still there—a black, luxurious c...

92. Guilt

I went back to the motel I stayed in near the town. All the way back, I was thinking about the quote. So there was another person involved in the murder, one not in the local Protestant community. One that would also be close to the family, or at ...

91. Writing on the wall

I could hurry to the hospital later. I didn’t see any flesh changes on the girl, so I should have some time. I got in my car and drove to the preacher’s place as I could hear the sirens behind me.

I would have to explain myself to the lo...