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spellblade part 2
Signed-off-by: Xe Iaso <me@christine.website>
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---
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title: Postdrome
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date: 2022-02-26
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date: 2022-02-25
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series: freenode
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---
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---
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title: "Spellblade: Chapter 1"
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title: "Spellblade: Part 1"
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date: 2021-10-11
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series: spellblade
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tags:
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<p><i>This book is dedicated to all of those that need a ray of hope in these
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trying times.</i></p>
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Copyright 2021 Christine Dodrill. All rights reserved.
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Copyright 2021-2022 Xe Iaso. All rights reserved.
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This book is a Within Studios publication. Find out more at
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https://withinstudios.itch.io
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---
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title: "Spellblade: Part 2"
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date: 2022-02-26
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series: spellblade
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tags:
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- webnovel
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- fiction
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---
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[Ya know how I said that I'd release more Spellblade monthly? That didn't
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happen. I'm actually writing more, but this is what I have in my backlog that I
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didn't release sooner. Enjoy!](conversation://Cadey/enby)
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---
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> Calm the raging whirlwind of your mind like this: breathe in for four counts,
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> hold for four counts, breathe out for four counts, hold for four counts. Focus
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> on Now, not Then or What Might Be.
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- Alicia's Mother
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---
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Zekas' team shared a meal in the meal hall. The hall was unusually quiet as it
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was the chef's "experimental" day. This day usually drew smaller crowds of
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everyone but the sharks, because the smell was not as intense for them on land
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as it would be in the water. There was usually enough food to spare that Zekas
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could get a double portion, but yesterday's events had left him on edge.
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"I can't believe we lost like that. We were so damn close. How could you let it
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get away like that? It was _right there_!"
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Zekas gnashed his teeth at his teammates, but mostly at his right-fin man Blanu.
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Blanu sat there slightly shaking in fear, his tail tucked under the bench and
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between his legs. _If this is that bad, then what happened with the teacher?_,
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he thought to himself.
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"That know-it-all cat keeps getting away with it. First she gets the good team,
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then she uses her blood to fake the flag? How stupid are you people? Can't you
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smell the difference between cloth and flag?"
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Blanu decided that this was a good time to pipe up, "I don't think that was her
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plan, I was the one that stabbed her. Didn't think it would do so much though."
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Zekas looked over at Blanu's direction. Zekas intently stared at the younger
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shark, studying his medium build and roughly short stature. "How much damage did
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you do?"
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"I kinda sharpened my sword last night to try and buff out a knot in the wood,
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and when it struck her the cut was pretty good, about one knuckle-tip across. I
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figured she had thicker skin."
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Zekas looked at Blanu incredulously. "A knuckle-tip? I saw the bleed had stopped
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by the time we walked back to the teacher. She had a bandage on it by then, but
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still she should have had some more bleed in her."
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"Oh yeah, there was one other thing. I could swear this was glare or something
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but I think I saw her hands glow at the end of it."
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Zekas looked over inquisitively. "Her hands...glow? Like a witch?"
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"Mighta been the glare, but I could swear that I saw her hands glow."
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Zekas stared down at his food. _Hands glowing? Fast healing? Could she be a
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spellcrafter?_ Zekas laughed to himself a bit. "It was probably the glare. You
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need to pay more attention next time."
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Blanu laugned to himself with a very nervous laugh. "Yeah, it was probably
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nothin', sorry boss!"
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Zekas continued the laugh, making the rest of the team feel obligated to laugh
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as well. _It's probably something, but I need proof._ Zekas continued to eat his
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meal in an uncomfortable silence.
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---
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It was a beautiful day in Nord Sewlet. Alicia was up to no good with other kids
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building a snow fort. The other group of kids had challenged them to a battle,
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and Alicia was more than happy to oblige. Their snow fort was made, complete
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with their bunker full of snowball ammunition. One of the other kids taunted
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over with "dumb girls, I bet your fort isn't even ready!"
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"You wanna eat those words?" Alicia shouted back. Alicia had a reputation for
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being the most accurate with her snow projectiles, using her body as a trebuchet
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she could easily thwack her foes across the battlefield...sometimes that is.
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They cast the first snowball. The battle was on. The fight was not bloody, but
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it was over as soon as one of the snowballs missed the enemy fort. It struck the
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side of the mountain and then the shaking started. It was an avalanche.
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It was crashing towards her like it always did. Then there was a flash and then
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_NO!_ Alicia screamed to herself in her mind, shocking herself awake. She was
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safe in the bladecraft school. _There was no avalanche, it was a dream. I'm
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safe, it was a dream. I'm awake, it was a dream. That was years ago, it was a
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dream._ Alicia ran down the list of affirmations from her town's cleric, using
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them to pull herself to her normal state of calm. _Anxiety is a bitch_, she
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thought.
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Alicia looked over and saw Tistus unceremoniously on his back and twitching
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happily like he was dreaming. _At least someone's having a decent dream_.
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Alicia quietly stole forward over to Tistus' cot. Her presence made his eyes
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flutter open and he instinctively purred in his sleep. Alicia grabbed Tistus in
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a tender, caring hug; the kind of hug that you can only understand when you wake
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up from horrific nightmares of your past. Tistus stirred and yawned. He
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whispered to Alicia "Another one?" Alicia nodded. "The avalanche?" Alicia nodded
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again. Tistus hugged back tighter, these ones always hit Alicia hard.
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They stayed like that for what felt like an hour or two, but then the blissful
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silence was broken by the morning bell. Alicia stretched and yawned, then
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gracefully started to stand. It was morning: another day, another battle.
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As Alicia was getting dressed in her class uniform Tistus looked up at Alicia.
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"You know you can talk with me about that any time you need, right? It must be
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tough to have all that bottled up so much."
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Alicia nodded back and hugged him as her response. "I'll try. It's hard."
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Alicia's thoughts returned to the battle yesterday. The anxiety from the
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adrenaline of the event was still there. _No_, she thought. _I need to stop
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thinking about this. This will only cause trouble if I keep thinking about it.
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I'm not a witch, that was a fluke and it won't happen again._
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She put on her boots and tied them, hopefully to spec. She was ready for the
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day, but first her stomach was ready for a meal at the canteen. The other
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members of her team were rousing with the sound of the morning horn and
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staggered along as they got up.
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---
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Alicia scowled across the battlefield as she studied the paper her teacher gave
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her. "Yep, they have the high ground. You need to capture their flag and bring
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it back."
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Alicia nodded and turned to her team to start formulating strategy as the
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teacher went off to watch the situation unfold.
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"Oh, one more thing:", the teacher interrupted. "If you travel in groups of less
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than two, the green team is allowed to tag members of your team out. This will
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count against you in the scoring. If you wanna do well, don't go it alone."
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"I see, thanks for warning us." Alicia said confidently. The teacher replied
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"you're welcome, good luck."
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_That's totally not ominous,_ Alicia thought to herself.
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Alicia looked over her team and sighed. "I knew that this would be hard, but it
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looks like this is going to suck. We're against green team. They have the high
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ground. We've got to take the flag from somewhere around here. No claws on the
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flag, it's supposed to be left intact as much as possible. Otherwise it's your
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standard recon mission trying to get a document from the enemy. Tis, you're with
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me. You two scouts pair up and you all-arounders are together. Please don't get
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caught."
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Everyone nodded. Puri spoke up, "Do we know anything about the terrain? I've
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never been in this part of the field before."
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Alicia gestured at the map. "This map is all we've got and it's 10 years out of
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date. Hopefully it's accurate. I think the river may be a safer place, but we're
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sneps so our heads are going to stand out. Stay low to the ground I guess. The
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river isn't the best to drink though."
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"I see, thank you." Puri mused and settled into her place in the circle.
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"Oh, one more thing. If they play dirty, don't play dirty back. It'll push our
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score down. Let's head out and kick ass!"
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Alicia smiled and lead her team to victory, projecting an outward image of calm
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and collected focus but on the inside she was worried sick. This was one of the
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bigger ones. _No, now's not the time to worry_, she thought to herself, taking a
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deep breath and heading out towards the battlefield.
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---
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Over on the side, Zekas was watching. Blanu was laying in the grass next to him.
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"Hey boss?"
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Zekas grunted and looked over at Blanu. "What do you want? I'm trying to keep an
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eye on the cat. Something bothering you?"
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"Why do you care about this so much? She ain't done anything to you-"
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Zekas cut Blanu off with a swift punch to the shoulder. "Shut up and focus on
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the girl. You'll know what I'm talking about when you see it."
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"Okay boss." Blanu nodded and scooched over away from Zekas, hopefully outside
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of the range of his fists. He raised his contraband spyglass to his face and
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looked out into the distance.
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