I looked away. “There was no victory in Phyreios. You should understand that better than anyone.”

Chapter LII: A Temple of Faces

Eske meets an old rival and receives a warning in the latest chapter of Journey to the Water, available on Patreon. My Patreon is only $3 a month!

If I had done evil, I told myself, then the evil I had done was a trivial thing. I had freed Svilsara from the serpent, and left the mage-king alive, giving his foes nothing. If I had to do penance, I would do it after I found Khalim.

Chapter LI: Friendlier Shores

I’ve got a shiny new chapter for you over on Patreon, in which Eske returns to the sorcerer’s tower and grapples with the consequences of his quest. Also, as you can see, I am back to working on the draft!

His heretic cult might gain some infamy if I had fought with Alaba, but what use was a dead outlander to their mysterious cause?

Chapter L: The Way Down

Eske makes a daring escape in the latest chapter of Journey to the Water, which you can read right now on Patreon. For all the previous chapters, visit the Stories tab above.

“You’re not an assassin? You’re a common thief?”

“Hardly common,” I said.

Chapter XLIX: The Treasure-Hall of the Mage-King

Eske faces off with a mysterious monarch in a treasure vault high above the forest floor. You can read this chapter right now on Patreon.

Here was a land where the living worshiped the dead, and where hidden, shadowy gods dueled for control of honored corpses kept within vaults of stone or living wood.

Chapter XLVIII: To the Upper Kingdom

Under the guidance of a man who might be a cult leader, Eske makes the climb from the forest floor to the treetop vault where the artifact he seeks should lie. You can read this chapter right now on Patreon.

“Mostly, though, we offer hope that the world will be different, when the gods return, than what has been promised.”

Chapter XLVII: Under the Trees

Eske encounters a strange new landscape and an even stranger new traveling companion in the latest chapter of Journey to the Water. You can read this chapter right now on Patreon.

“Ah, to be in such a hurry in the city of the dead,” the man said. “Why serve a living master in the short time before you enter the service of the old gods?”

Chapter XLVI: Ksadaja, the City of the Dead

Eske is after a relic hidden in the mysterious kingdom built into the trees of a great forest. First, he has to figure out how to get there. You can read this chapter right now on Patreon.

“If I return?” I echoed. I could not help but smile at her utter lack of faith in me. “You think I won’t?”

Chapter XLV: The Summer Sea

Eske is off again, this time to recover an artifact for the wizard who claims to be able to help with Eske’s quest. You can read this chapter right now on Patreon, or wait until next week for it to be posted here on the blog.

I lay awake, watching the stars move across my window, and contemplated setting out on my own once more with no guidance from the all-knowing one.

Chapter XLIV: Beside the Water

Eske finally gets some rest before he sets out on the next quest. You can read this chapter right now on Patreon. Right now I have only one tier, which is $3 a month. If you can’t spare $3, this chapter will be available to read here on the blog next week.

“The books are so old, their spines are weak, and things try to escape.”

Chapter XLIII: The Book-Collector

Eske has enlisted the help of a strange wizard and his stranger apprentice. You can read this chapter right now on Patreon.