Honour Rae

ATS B6 Ch29: Skill Grind (5)

Arthur was running up against a problem, and that problem was a quickly diminishing number of card shards. 

Slowly but surely, he was going through the pile he’d brought. He was still seeing results and becoming noticeably more efficient at almost every aspect of his card smithing. 

Still, after literal weeks of practice, it was coming down to the ‘make it or break it’ point, and he was certain he wasn’t ready. 

Sitting back in his chair, he reluctantly pulled out his Time card. Ironically, he didn’...

ATS B6 Ch28: Skill Grind (4) (Brixaby)

Note: This should have come out last night but Brix kept having things to say...

Brixaby was both satisfied and... unsatisfied with his progress.

He hated to admit it—even within the depths of his own mind—but the progress of his skills were falling behind.

It was ridiculous. Outrageous! The ability to grow powerful by rapidly leveling skills had been one of the main reasons he had chosen to bond with Arthur.

Dim though his memories were back then, and even as little as he understood as a h...

ATS B6 Ch27: Skill Grind (3)

Without any warning, Brixaby twisted into one of his rapid barrel rolls, which Arthur was calling a ‘drill maneuver’ because they were flying straight down, spinning with Brixaby’s wings folded flat to his belly.

Arthur hung on for dear life as the centripetal forces tried to fling him off his neck. The trick he had learned was to not look at the rapidly spinning ground. Every time he did, vertigo would overwhelm him, and somehow his hands would slip.

He had no idea how his dragon did it—if it was a skill or something to ...

ATS B6 Ch26: Skill Grind (2)

It seemed that Arthur was always getting used to Brixaby's new and improved size. Even considering all his recent growth, Brixaby still had a long way to go before he reached the size of an average Legendary. Right now, he wasn't even giving Sams a run for his money.

But he was much bigger than before.

The addition of the venom aspects to his Call of the Void had not made him grow in length so much as bulked him out. The chest and back muscles that supported his four wings were noticeably thicker, as were his fore and hind legs. ...

ATS B6 Ch25: Skill Grind (1)

Brixaby stepped through the portal into the pocket space, looked around, and flicked his tongue out in displeasure. “Why are there not any buildings?”

Arthur, following behind, took his own look around. The sky was blue and clear, the temperature not too hot or too cold, and there were several flat areas nearby bracketed by gently rolling hills.

Hale had explained that each dimensional pocket space had its boundaries, and naturally,  the ones created with Legendary-level shards were much larger than the rest. The spaces ...

ATS B6 Ch24: A Good (?) Use of Shards

The next few days were a rush of activity as they gathered people and the supplies they would need to support them.

While the dimensional space was supposed to be an area meant for idyllic farmland, Arthur wanted to take no chances. This could not fail. So, he donated a significant portion of his supplies from his Personal Space, just in case.

About an hour before the space was translated to open, he pulled Soledad and Marion aside for a one-on-one meeting.

“Cinderwood has requested to go as well, and I granted it. But I ...

ATS B6 Ch23: Negotiations

Arthur’s first thought was that the Sands Through The Hourglass card seemed too good to be true.

His second thought was that he knew it was too good to be true.

There was no such thing as a free lunch, yet the Hourglass card provided just the solution to quite a few problems he was facing. On top of that, Arthur just happened to have harvested Legendary shards from the core of the eruption.

Did Hale and the others know that? But how could they? Did they know something and were fishing around to see what Ar...

ATS B6 Ch22: The Trusted Few

Judging by the sour expressions on his retinue’s faces, the next morning had come too early. Still, everyone was there, including Asha and Equinox, the hatchlings. Cinderwood, Kenzie and Marteen were also asked to come. Arthur wanted full representation on his trip to Buck Moon.

Which made Desmond and Sybil’s absence all the more conspicuous.

He glanced at Horatio. “You told them to be here, right?”

“You know I did,” he said, looking grumpier than ever.

Arthur pressed his lips into a thin line and then ges...

ATS B6 Ch 21: Awake With Venom

The moment the portal closed behind them, leaving them within Dark Rower’s realm, it was as if Cressida and Joy snapped back to full wakefulness.

Joy shook herself all over and, with two flaps of her wings, landed on the bank of the black water river.

Cressida turned to Arthur, stunned. “I had no idea,” she said, still looking as if someone had smacked her over the head. Before he could react, she turned to Joy. “Dearest, are you all right?”

“I am now. Wow.” She shook herself again. “It felt like my...

ATS B6 Ch20: Rowantree Estate

Arthur led Cressida inside the hive and to a room he knew where they’d unlikely be bothered. It was private—so private that apparently not even Chester had bothered to stock it with furniture, leaving it bare, empty, and cold.

A small part of Arthur’s mind reminded him that he needed to find the time to make this place his own. He needed furniture he enjoyed and no bare, ugly rooms without a purpose.

But that wasn’t what was important right now.

Once inside, he shut the door behind them. The click of the latch seeme...

ATS B6 Ch19: Return To Start (2)

Trap Card conditions met.

Return to Start: Activated.

The next thing Arthur knew, he was lying flat on his back in the middle of his luxurious bed at Blood Moon Hive.

Though he'd been incredibly busy since becoming leader, he had taken a few moments to reset the key point of his Return to Start card. Lucky thing. Return to Start was one of his oldest cards—one to be used in a dire emergency, which this had been.

Return to Start

Rare

Trap 2025-05-29 04:33:54 +0000 UTC View Post

ATS B6 Ch18: Return To Start

Brixaby paused and tilted his head up in a pose of clear consideration. Watching him, Arthur felt a swell of pride. Through trial and error, Brixaby had finally learned that some things needed to be thought through. What to do with a Legendary card was certainly one of them.

There were many paths Brixaby could take. He could, of course, present the card to Lung Bai. This would ingratiate him in her eyes, and it was no small thing. He could easily use that favor as leverage to gain access to her library. As she'd been collecting Legenda...

ATS B6 Ch17: A Choice of Venom

Arthur and the rest of his retinue went through the dark portal that evening, back to the eruption site. For this outing, he added Cinderwood to the group but left behind Marion, Soledad, and Kenzie. This was a mission for fighters only and fighter support. He also included an Uncommon earth pair who looked less than happy to join them.

As he left Blood Moon Hive, he had a moment to think that it was nice not to have to check with a higher authority for permission to do what he wanted. Now he was the higher authority.

2025-05-20 04:00:08 +0000 UTC View Post

ATS B6 Ch16: Quite The Entrance

Note: Woof, sorry for the wait on this! It should have come out a few days ago but I got whammied hard by norovirus. It's been unfun in the Rae household, let me tell you.

****

Now that they were released from the safety of the bubble shield, the legendary dragons flew upward to meet them. Arthur readied himself for a fight.

Marion’s quick healing refresh had done him a lot of good, yet he still felt hollow inside. It was as if the Cataclysmic Firestorm card had drained him of something that wasn’t mana.

Li...

ATS B6 Ch15: Lots and Lots and Lots of Fire

Brixaby turned to look at Arthur.

He didn’t bother to ask, "Are you sure?" because he knew his rider, and that meant he knew he would never use a card like this unless he was absolutely certain.

Arthur’s expression was grim. He now knew that Lung Bai giving him the Cataclysmic Firestorm card had been a setup from the start.

Perhaps she hadn’t known this moment would arrive so soon, but she was occasionally called in to clean up for eruptions that had spun out of control. She’d certainly known that eventually Arthur ...

ATS Book 6 Ch14: Lots and Lots and Lots of Butterflies

The scourgling butterflies came at them in a slow but unstoppable wave.

Immediately, Brixaby buzzed straight upward. However, not every dragon was built for speed. A Legendary dragon not too far away roared in pain.

Arthur swung around to see him climbing upward, great sweeps of his wings frantically beating at the air. But his size made him horrifically slow.

The first of the butterflies had already reached him, and their wings sliced into his scales.

A great gout of air split off from the rider and knocked a huge po...

ATS B6 Ch13: Lots and Lots and Lots of Grubs.

You have got to be kidding me, Arthur thought. Though to his own surprise, he felt more anticipation than exasperation.

His patience with Whitaker had long since worn thin. It would be nice to put the man in his place.

Crag was an enormous beast. He looked a lot like a flying mountain with outstretched claws.

Though Brixaby had grown quite a bit recently, he was still tiny in the other dragon's shadow. But he wasn't flying away. Instead, he trembled with eagerness.

Around him, Arthur heard people letting out ...

B6 Ch12: Snow Moon

Arthur and Brixaby arrived at an unfamiliar hive.

The first thing Arthur noticed was the impression of gray and white all around him. Then he and Brixaby were buffeted by freezing cold and stinging snow pellets. It took every bit of his dragon riding skill to hold on.

Looking around wildly, he saw the hive as only a dark, cone-shaped shadow. It wasn't Wolf Moon, though. The lines were a bit too severe. And while the weather could be challenging in the northern altitudes, it had been sunny and warm when he'd recently visited. That...

ATS B6 Ch11: Not A Usual Eruption (2)

Arthur felt a stab of pure horror. The portals were high in the sky, but the stunned dragons were falling fast. They had seconds before they hit the ground.

Brixaby took off alone to intercept them. He didn't have time to wait for Arthur, but there was no way he could make it in time.

There was a roar from nearby. Cinderwood, who had remained largely unnoticed during the meeting, had likely been waiting for Arthur's attention to ask something.

Her roar, however, had power.

New Counterfeit sp...

2025-04-04 04:27:16 +0000 UTC View Post