Aster Brooks Books

Ch. 36: Copper Crescent

Cass followed Daidyn through the crowded streets of Velillia’s lower district. As they walked, he pointed out interesting landmarks and his favorite shops: a sandwich place over there that got the ratio of meat to lettuce just right, a tailor he...

Ch. 35: Magic Academy

“The catacombs open tomorrow,” Alyx explained to Cass as they walked through the city the next day. “Telis and I have preparations to make. You’re welcome to tag along, take it easy.” 

There was another question unspoken there...

Ch. 34: The Delim Library

Cass lay in her bed, staring at the ceiling. Sleep should be easy. It had been a long day. Travel and dueling and banquets. Sleep should be easy. 

She should be tired. 

And she was. But useless questions drowned out that exha...

Ch. 33: Averenis Storehouse

Was it unreasonable to be mad? Cass didn’t know. She had known Alyx was callous about death. She had known Alyx had no problem killing. 

This wasn’t some big betrayal. 

Alyx had tried to keep her out of it. Cass was the o...

Ch. 32: For Power

The banquet continued late into the night. The food seemed as endless as it was diverse. Every time Cass was sure they had cleared a plate on the table, it was replaced with another new dish without so much as a ripple of air displaced.

All ...

Ch. 31: Introductions

Cass blinked to regain her vision, though she could still roughly make out the last moves of Alyx’s fight through Atmospheric Sense. That had been so close. Did Alyx know how many lightning bolts Kohen had been preparing? He had implanted more t...

Ch. 30: Alyx: Duel

Alyx stepped onto the dueling stage, the pressure of high society’s eyes on her shoulders. She stood tall, forcing herself not to look for her father in the crowd again. Two of his children were fighting. If he weren’t watching, nothing she co...

Ch. 29: Banquet

A woman stood beside an enormous dragon. Both could be described in a word as night. She wore a gown of flowing black, her dark hair coiled in a crown of braids against her head. Silver pins were woven into the plait like stars in the dark sky. At...

Ch. 28: The Ducal Palace

Cass followed Alyx up the stairs to the palace. Telis had dressed them in robes of silken fabric, Cass in dark blue with long, wide sleeves and a short train that glided effortlessly behind her, Alyx in deep green thing of a more square or masculi...

Ch. 27: Procession

Half a second later, Cass was falling. 

Alyx was laughing by the time Cass’s feet were on the ground again. “You are way more slippery than I imagined!”

Cass blinked. “What exactly happened?” 

She had gotten a...

Ch. 26: All Out

Cass turned to see Alyx and Telis step out onto the training yard. 

“Oh good, you’ve warmed up,” Alyx said.

“What?” Cass asked. 

Everyone looked at Cass with disappointment.

“Why did you think I asked ...

Ch. 25: Sparring

“So, where is Alyx?” Cass asked when they got up to the empty training yard. It was on the top of the Spire the manor had been built into. It was simultaneously natural stone and the manor’s roof. 

“The lady’ll be along in a b...

Ch. 24: Unwanted Guest

The guest room was an impressive suite, larger than Cass’s entire apartment back home. It comprised three rooms: a sitting room, a bedroom, and a bathroom. That was if one didn’t count the extensive (if rather empty) closet space as its own ro...

Ch. 23: Velillia

They rode down the main street, following its gentle curves through the town. The deeper they got into the city, the less and less of the sky Cass could see above them. Every block, the buildings on either side seemed to hang further and further o...

Ch. 22: Arrival

They left shortly after Cass woke up the next morning. Cass called it morning, but it was almost noon. Alyx had spent the morning organizing the campground into a long-term encampment, taking stock of what the villagers still had and what they wou...

Ch. 21: Alyx: Nightwatch

Alyx stood behind her tent, just outside the collective glow of the refugee camp. Night had long since fallen and, by every right, she should be resting. She needed to be in the best possible condition when they got home. There would be no time to...

Ch. 20: Camp

The sun was the barest sliver over the far treeline when Cass was forced to give up. There was nothing left. Her body was ragged, her mind raw. 

More importantly, there was none left to save amid the flames. 

Cass staggered b...

Ch. 19: Smoke and Hearth

There were more. There were so many more. Was one of them that child’s mother? Another child’s mother? A wife? A husband? A father? A sibling? A friend?

Cass threw herself into building after building. The smoke was choking, but a slyphi...

Ch. 18: Smoke and Fire

There were dozens more people chased by the bartiangs. Dozens more huddled in corners, hoping the fire and smoke would leave them alone long enough for the apes to leave. Fire licked at every building. 

Eventually, the screams fell sile...

Ch. 17: Smoke and Mists

Around her, the fire was growing. The air was thin, more smoke than oxygen, all of it hot, scalding her lungs and skin. 

She heard another scream and followed it into a plaza around a well. A group of people—a woman with a sword, two ...

Ch 16: Salos: Smoke and Silver

There were more bartiangs in the buildings and side streets. They were attracted by the calls of the silverback. But telling the child this would not help. 

All he could do was get her as far from the silverback as he could. 

Ch. 15: Salos: Smoke and Shadows

Salos slipped through the smoky streets, silent as a shadow, for all the good it did him. Behind him, the little girl Cass saved scurried, her feet loud as she ran over the dirt road, her breathing gasping and choking in the smoke. 

The...

Ch. 14: Smoke and Apes

They spent the next several days riding hard across the open fields between Hervet and Velillia. They stopped regularly for Cass and Alyx to switch between Alyx’s horse and the one that had been intended for Cass, but only truly resting when nig...

Ch. 13: Dragons

Cass woke up on a blanket on the ground. Alyx sat next to her in the grass. 

“What happened?” Cass’s voice was hoarse. 

“Cass!” Alyx grabbed her hand. “Abyss, what was that? Are you okay?”

Cass blinked. Ex...

Ch. 12: The Demon God

Cass found herself at the city gates about an hour later, dressed in her new leather armor, her Bag stocked with supplies. Before her were a set of five horses, four saddled and ready to go, one packed with supplies.

Cass stared up at her ho...

Ch. 11: Break Down

Cass didn’t quite run out of the temple, though with her stats and the Concept of Wind on Dexterity making her movement faster, it was easy to mistake her panicked speed walking for a full out sprint. 

She leaned against the wall outs...

Ch. 10: Unexpected Visitor

The rest of the shopping trip passed in a hazy blur. Alyx picked out armor for herself and Cass from the armory. Metal things for Alyx. Flexible but study leather pieces to be worn under her robe for Cass.

They stopped at a few other stores,...

Ch. 9: Street Fight

Cass swung as he charged. Her staff struck his armed hand and pushed him wide. He staggered as he ran past her. Staff Mastery pointed out a dozen potential strikes to drop him here. Wind Blade chaffed to be released at his back. 

Before...

Ch. 8: Ambush

The man was built like a bull, wide chested, flat-faced, skinny legs. His clothing was all leather, without an inch of skin uncovered from just below his chin to his toes. Several daggers were prominent on his body, strapped to hip and thighs. The...

Ch. 7: Errands

Cass walked with purpose through the hallways of the townhouse, her thoughts purposefully directed at anything and everything but herself.  

“Miss Cass?” Telis said.

Cass jumped. The butler stood in the center of the hall...