Fiction Anthology

Bardass!

Prologue – The Legend of the Seven Heroes
Quest 01 – Recover the Master’s Tome!
Quest 02 – Panacea Recipe #9
Quest 03 – The Stolen Lute
Quest 04 – Why is the Rumble On?
Quest 05 – The Astorian Knight

Break 1 – Kruseid the Just

Quest 06 – The Old Gods
Quest 07 – Out of Astoria
Quest 08 – Forager’s Banquet
Quest 09 – Light of the Sakar
Quest 10 – Taste of Death

Break 2 – Meuri the Immortal

Quest 11 – The Way of Alchemy
Quest 12 – An Ancient Hymn
Quest 13 – Scar’s Tear
Quest 14 – The Spectre Kingdom
Quest 15 – The Last Survivor of Lorath

Break 3 – Roegen the Survivalist

Quest 16 – Whiteout
Quest 17 – Spring in the Eternal Winter
Quest 18 – The Lightless Kingdom
Quest 19 – Balken’s Shadow
Quest 20 – Pride of Harl

Break 4 – Chelsea the Feral

Quest 21 – A Knight’s Strength
Quest 22 – Coda
Quest 23 – Dark Phase
Quest 24 – Movement
Quest 25 – Rest

Break 5 – Raven the Unseen

Quest 26 – Slave Bridge
Quest 27 – Prelude to the Hunt
Quest 28 – Blood for the Forge
Quest 29 – Red Dragon Blues
Quest 30 – Black Interval

Break 6 – Arbel the Immovable

Timestream Trappers

Chapter 1: Mourning Shadow

Millennium Match

It’s only fitting that my life’s work be published close to the eve of such a historic event. But then again, perhaps this too is just another of the many coincidences that led me here.

Please note that I am not a science-fiction or fantasy writer; I am a journalist. I dare not say that everything in this book is fact – just that I report everything that was told to me, without bias or alteration. How you choose to read it is up to you. I can only hope you begin to see the absurd connections I do.

The chaos all started innocently enough when I interviewed a classmate in Japan. L.A.-born and Kobe-raised, she was also related to a female member of the Diet. She told the most inane story I had ever heard. It was like a bad piece of fiction – but one that could not possibly have come from a middleschooler’s mind; it was more like one of those trashy girls comics that I could never understand. That was basically how I regarded the tale until a couple of years later when I took it upon myself to investigate a minor school mystery. Then, the first coincidence: a single familiar name. Its meaning eluded me until I realized I had heard it in that absurd tale. I connected, followed leads, formed even more connections, followed dead ends, hunted down more leads, solved a mystery or two, discovered unsolvable mysteries, lost hope, gained hope, ran the full gamut of emotions possible when uncovering a story of such immense scale and finally ended up here, where it all truly begins. And yet, even though the long tangled web leads here, the final element had no part in the whole. I started out with the beginning and arrived at the end, with only 25 years separating those two points; and yet, if you were to connect those two points without following the chaos thread you would miss out on the sheer significance of those two points.

I am pleased to say that this January I will NOT be in attendance. I will be watching a stream from halfway across the world, catching up with some much-neglected friends and family as boundaries break and a long promise is fulfilled.

-R.S. 12/20/2036 in Annapolis

Millennium Match 1: Prophecy
Millennium Match 2: Meeting
Millennium Match 3: Union

Millennium Mystic 1: Intrusion 20

Millennium Body 1: A Day in the Life

Millennium Match 4: Waves
Millennium Match 5: Erosion

Millennium Revolution 1: Awakening

Millennium Body 2: When I’m Sixty-Four

Millennium Mystic 2: Crossroads 32

Millennium Match 6: Bodyguard
Millennium Match 7: Rematch

Millennium Body 3: Fixing a Hole

Millennium Mystic 3: Duel 32

Millennium Body 4: She’s Leaving Home