The Coils of Set
Endbringers come from different backgrounds, and they draw from that in their works. Read the rest of this entry »
Viktor, Meet Agnar
Knowledge of your enemies provides you with leverage against them in a face-to-face encounter. Read the rest of this entry »
Viktor’s Castle Burns
Humans cannot stand up to an abomination in battle, but endbringers know that putting one abomination against another is a different matter.
Adding to Agnar’s List
Take a look back at Gilman and his abomination now that you’ve met Neferhe. Read the rest of this entry »
Doing Viktor’s Bidding
“After a brief break, we will have lot number four hundred one. Recently unearthed and painstakingly reassembled after a . . . violent situation in Mozambique, an antiquity that resonates with power: the Antikythera Mechanism.
“Bidding starts in five minutes at one million American dollars. Equivalent sanguinal currencies gladly accepted.”
From the back of the dimly lit auction house, Viktor grinned. It seems I’ve arrived just in time.
He scanned the neat rows of chairs, looking for a vacant seat. To his left he noticed two shaven-headed priests of the Tibetan demon-prince, Pekhar. Potentially dangerous someday, Viktor thought, but they don’t have the resources to even be here. They must be sellers of a lot that comes up later.
Directly in front of him was a serpentine aztecal, slowly fanning itself with the feathers on its head-crest. Clearly here as a proxy for someone else. I wonder whom? Next to the aztecal was an immensely fat wendigo taking up two chairs (clearly prospering under the curse, Viktor thought) and a Norse fire-demon (useless in a situation like this). Read the rest of this entry »
The High Cost of Failure
“If you didn’t find a body, then he’s not dead yet.” Dr. Gilman paced in front of his desk. “This ‘Agnar’ has plagued me for months. You reported him dead last week. Now I have an intruder somewhere in the hospital, and my security expert tells me Agnar might not be dead after all?”
“The entire building collapsed after the explosion! You can’t expect me to believe . . .”
“Haroldson,” said Dr. Gilman gently, taking a syringe from the desk. “This Agnar is clearly more than he seems. He destroyed my abomination, and mortals just don’t do that. It’s a virtue to be thorough, and you weren’t thorough. How do you suppose I should punish this failure?”
Haroldson eyed the syringe, swallowed hard, and said, “Um . . . Don’t deal with me until you’ve taken care of the intruder, doctor.”
Agnar, Hunted
Squinting into the darkness of the tenement room, Agnar checked for exits, then foes, then weapons. The door was locked, and the window was closed and fifty feet above the street below. No intruders hid in the shadows of the tiny room. His gun was under his pillow, already in his hand. His sword was in his duffel bag at the foot of the bed. The trumpet case was on the bed next to him.
Agnar tentatively lifted one leg, but grimaced and gently set it down when the creaking bedsprings announced his shifting weight. I’m stuck, unless I want to announce that I’m awake.
Unbroken light shone under the tenement door. When they step in front of the door, I’ll see the shadows of their feet and get a second or two of warning. Two shots to the center of the door, then I grab the case, the duffel bag, then . . . Read the rest of this entry »
Agnar on the Hunt
Twelve scientists in comas. Each of them working on the frontiers of medicine, chemistry, biology, that sort of thing. Each found sitting upright in bed by wives, roommates, children. Each otherwise healthy — but their souls took one-way flights out of town. Twelve of the best and brightest gone for good, and I’m trying to figure out why.
There are two common threads. The first is the faces. Usually, when you see a soul-suck, you’re looking at a vacancy. There’s a glassy stare, limp body, and lots of drool. But these scientists had faces twisted with spite and hate. Their eyes didn’t move — didn’t respond to stimulus — but shone with hate that was almost palpable. I got the sensation that each one was about to say, “Shining a light in my eyes? How dare you!”
The Doctor’s Symphony
“Have a seat, Ms. Bauer. I appreciate you meeting me this late at night — laboratory time is at a premium, even for me.”
“Of course, Dr. Gilman.” Kristen reclined on the examination table. She shivered, then briefly wondered why. She was used to being cold at the doctor’s office, and her paper robe didn’t provide much warmth. But Dr. Gilman’s lab was warm, almost stuffy.
The pale, balding form of Dr. Gilman appeared from behind an immense, donut-shaped imaging unit. “You passed the last batch of tests with flying colors, Ms. Bauer. In a few hours, your diabetes will be a thing of the past.” Read the rest of this entry »
Scent and Ascent
Master says I’m not supposed to leave the ziggurat. So I don’t. But I like to climb to the top and glimpse out across the green jungle. Master thinks I sleep all day, but I always stay awake long enough to see the sea of leaves below our mountains. But then I see the humans coming down the path from the village and climbing the steep stairs. When they’re halfway to the top, I have to scurry back to my special chamber deep underground. I’m very careful.
Then I sleep, and I dream of Master. He teaches me how to pretend to be something I’m not. Like a human. Or a snake. Master teaches me how to hunt, and how to protect myself. He teaches me about magic. Master knows so much, and he says I have to learn it all quickly. Read the rest of this entry »
