Chris Huisjen

Stormblade C29: Christening (1)

29 - Christening (1)

The new place was gorgeous.

Two bedrooms. A kitchen that was separated from the main room by a low, countered wall. A tub, not just a standing-room...

Stormblade C28: Breaking (4)

28 - Breaking (4)

The bus didn’t take us back to Jessie’s school. It dropped both of us off outside of our building, and I wheeled her to the elevator, then to our apartm...

Stormblade C27: Breaking (3)

27- Breaking (3)

Jessie: Yeah, we’re sa it’s in here monster monster monster hurry!

My blood ran cold. Some of it ran cold from the wounds that covered my ...

Stormblade C26: Breaking (2)

26 - Breaking (2)

Jessie had been studying. Not chemistry or math or social studies, but her new—hopefully, if she passed the exam—job as a Governing Council rep. So, whe...

Stormblade C25: Breaking (1)

25 - Breaking (1)

Tuesday afternoon. That was the soonest Ellen could meet up again—except for Sunday, and I’d already committed that time to helping Jessie. I wasn’t r...

Stormblade C24: Pack Bonding (2)

24 - Pack Bonding (2)

I spent the rest of the day forging the storm into armor and contemplating what Stormsteel Core really meant for my build. The forging ...

Stormblade C23: The Price of Power (5)

23 - The Price of Power (5)

The healer, for all that I hated to admit it, was right.

I’d sat down last night to merge Grassi’s Greater Swordplay, b...

Stormblade C22: The Price of Power (4)

22 - The Price of Power (4)

I’d forgotten about the Ice Troll. Tunneled in on the D-Ranked archer. And now I was paying for it.

I staggered under the blow; it wasn’...

Stormblade C21: The Price of Power (3)

21 - The Price of Power (3)

As we climbed the tunnel in the dark, I kept waiting for an arrow between my shoulder blades or to walk into a razor-sharp string trap.

But ...

Stormblade C20: The Price of Power (2)

20 - The Price of Power (2)

Nearly nine seconds.

Enough time to walk from my apartment door to Tara’s and knock on it.

An eternity in combat.

That delay d...

Stormblade C19: The Price of Power (1)

19 - The Price of Power (1)

Lizard-man intestines slopped over my sword’s guard and onto my hand as blood froze mid-air and shattered against my face.

I’d signed up...

Stormblade C18: I Want to Do My Best, Too

18 - I Want to Do My Best, Too

The Roadrunners didn’t say anything to us the whole time we walked out of the portal. And they didn’t say anything as they loaded the uncon...

Stormblade C17: Roadrunners (3)

17- Roadrunners (3)

The Magmatic Octopod’s jaw opened wide as its tentacle yanked Ellen off her feet. I knew exactly what was coming. It lifted her high into the air, and t...

Stormblade C16: Roadrunners (2)

16 - Roadrunners (2)

Ellen screamed.

No. Ellen didn’t scream. I’d learned a lot about her from this portal clear, and one of the things I’d learned was that she d...

Stormblade C15: Roadrunners (1)

15 - Roadrunners (1)

My next portal was another E-Rank, this time close to home.

A training portal. Nothing special. Just a chance to level up my skills and get ready f...

Stormblade C14: Pumping Iron

14 - Pumping Iron

“Forty-nine…and fifty! You’re done.” Ellen said.

Much to my surprise, she’d followed me over to the gym. Most mages didn’t put in as much ...

Stormblade C13: Pack Bonding (1)

13 - Pack Bonding (1)

It was a rare cloudy Monday in Phoenix, and I shivered when I got off the bus outside the Peoria GC center. Not that it was cold. It hadn’t been cold ...

Stormblade C12: Rites

12 - Rites

Carlos hadn’t been a father. That was the only good news, because everyone else he could have left behind, he had.

Almost ten minutes passed before I stepp...

Stormblade C11: You Have to Keep This Secret

11 - You Have to Keep This Secret

Ellen and I had argued as the timer ticked down.

It had gotten…heated.

She’d raised some good points; a lot of A and S-Ranke...

Stormblade C10: E-Rankers (3)

10 - E-Rankers (3)

Guilds always saved the portal boss kill until the last minute.

Sometimes, they’d even let it break if they had a team ready.

They preferred ...

Stormblade C9: E-Rankers (2)

9 - E-Rankers (2)

I scanned the treeline warily, the Stormsteel rapier nothing but a metal bar and hanging by my cheek in a high, longsword guard instead of a fencing one. �...