A shrill scream cut through the air as the doors to the central room were pushed open. Four men carried in an improvised stretcher on which lay a body soaked in blood.
"Rockfall!" shouted one...
2025-05-13 17:12:01 +0000 UTC View PostVyxara's voice woke Valentina before dawn, and Valentina was glad of it – she certainly didn't want to be late today
"There's no need to be nervous, little Weaver," Vyxara's voice ...
2025-05-11 17:12:01 +0000 UTC View PostAn icy silence fell over the table. The duke gave his daughter a scathing look, while the duchess drew in a sharp breath.
"Hazel!" The duchess's voice was cutting. "This is absolutely unaccep...
2025-05-08 17:12:01 +0000 UTC View PostChamberlain Morris was already waiting for Valentina just outside the duke's study.
"If you will follow me, my lady." His measured steps led her first to a wide marble staircase. "The palace ...
2025-05-06 17:12:01 +0000 UTC View PostValentina blinked in confusion as she woke up. For a moment, she couldn't place where she was – the four-poster bed was too soft, the room too big, the air too sweet with the scent of roses.
<... 2025-05-04 17:12:01 +0000 UTC View PostValentina leaned forward to peer through the curtains. Through the grey haze, she saw only shadows at first, but then the fog lifted a little, revealing a view of Dusktown.
The town stretched...
2025-05-01 17:12:01 +0000 UTC View PostThe wheels of the wagon crunched on the dusty road as they left the last houses of Palewood behind them. Valentina turned around in her seat to catch one last glimpse of her home village. The famil...
2025-04-29 17:12:01 +0000 UTC View PostValentina lay awake in bed, unable to delay the moment she both longed for and dreaded. Dawn was already creeping in. In a few hours, the Duke's carriage would pick her up.
"You're nervou...
2025-04-27 17:12:01 +0000 UTC View PostOn one of the last afternoons she probably had left with her family, Valentina suggested a walk to her sister. "Let's go to the old pear tree," she said, "like we used to."
Adeline was beamin...
2025-04-24 17:12:01 +0000 UTC View PostNetta made her way through the crowd, one hand placed protectively on her pregnant belly. In the morning light streaming through the narrow windows of the Flametower, Valentina could see the freckl...
2025-04-22 17:12:00 +0000 UTC View PostThe faint morning light gave a hint of the worn Sunday clothes that Valentina's mother had carefully laid out for her daughters. The kitchen was already bustling with activity. Her father had alrea...
2025-04-20 17:12:01 +0000 UTC View Post"And what kind of pattern is that?" Adeline asked, pointing to the invisible lines Valentina was drawing in the air.
"That's a simple Leb pattern," Valentina explained patiently. "See how the...
2025-04-17 17:12:00 +0000 UTC View PostAfter breakfast, Valentina stepped out into the crisp morning with her father. The sun was still low and the dew glistened on the grass. A light haze hung over the fields, giving the landscape an a...
2025-04-15 17:12:01 +0000 UTC View PostValentina woke to the creaking of the wooden floorboards beneath the bare feet of her sisters, who were already getting ready. The mattress she had shared with Adeline when Cecily had lived here fe...
2025-04-13 17:12:01 +0000 UTC View PostAdeline tried to press Thomas' little face against her shoulder while she hid behind her father's broad back. The two-year-old was restless, whimpering softly and trying to squirm out of her embrac...
2025-04-10 17:12:00 +0000 UTC View PostAs announced, here is the map of the Kingdom of Sommerland.
Dear patrons,
This is it – the first part of Valentina's journey has concluded, and with it, my very first novel-length story has been completed. Although for you, the journey will continue...
2025-04-09 12:12:01 +0000 UTC View PostThe Burning Quill was well attended that evening. Students were celebrating the end of exams, saying goodbye to friends or drowning their disappointment in ale and fire tongues. The smell of roasti...
2025-04-08 17:12:00 +0000 UTC View PostValentina woke up long before sunrise. The pale light of dawn was only just creeping through her small window, but sleep was no longer an option. Her heart hammered against her ribs as she eagerly ...
2025-04-06 17:12:01 +0000 UTC View PostIn her small attic room, Valentina sat at her table and stared into a medicine book, reading the same paragraph for what must have been the third time. She let go of the book and began to rub her e...
2025-04-03 17:12:00 +0000 UTC View PostWhen Valentina woke up on the first morning of the exam week, still half asleep, her first instinct was to feel in her mind for Vyxara's familiar presence, for the demonic force that had so often p...
2025-04-01 17:12:00 +0000 UTC View PostProfessor Horne's message was short and formal, written in his characteristically shaky handwriting: "I expect you in my office this evening at the eighth hour. The matter cannot be delayed."
When Valentina woke up the next morning, she blinked in the bright light and tried to block out the throbbing aftermath of yesterday's banquet.
"Good morning, little Weaver," Vyxara ...
2025-03-27 18:12:01 +0000 UTC View PostThe next pattern hovered between them, more labyrinthine still than the previous ones. Valentina noticed Faustus' hand twitch to a bulging, misshapen pouch on his belt – probably where he had hid...
2025-03-25 18:12:01 +0000 UTC View PostThe morning of the competition, a beautiful spring morning, crept through Valentina's small window. She was already awake, staring at the ceiling and trying to get her pounding heartbeat under cont...
2025-03-23 18:12:00 +0000 UTC View Post"...strange," she heard a voice through the wall. "The door to the main corridor felt different."
"What do you mean by that, Professor Veilford?"
Valentina's heart skipped a beat. Why h...
2025-03-20 18:12:00 +0000 UTC View Post"Four vials for basic stabilization," Valentina muttered, scribbling the number on her already overstuffed parchment. "Plus at least five for the more complex patterns..."
"Don't forget t...
2025-03-18 18:12:00 +0000 UTC View Post"STOP!" screamed Vyxara in her head. "The corrupt Essence – it's leaking through!"
Valentina saw it too. Fine black veins began to run through the ambient Essence of the r...
2025-03-16 18:12:00 +0000 UTC View PostValentina sat in her usual corner of the library with a crumpled piece of parchment in front of her, going over her plan with Vyxara for the hundredth time.
"Let's go over everything agai...
2025-03-13 18:12:00 +0000 UTC View PostOn Friday evening, Valentina stood in front of her small mirror and stared at her reflection. The dark circles under her eyes seemed to have deepened even more and her skin looked pale in the flick...
2025-03-11 18:12:01 +0000 UTC View Post