Tag: ancient rome

The Apostate Saint: Chapter 31 – Chaos and Order

Andrew Michael Miller1 Comment

"I don't have to explain to you that none of this leaves this house," Valoricus said plainly to his colleagues gathered in his home. "Not to your wives, your compatriots or your sons. We work in darkness, as it must be done. As it has been done so often in times of great need for the sanctity of this ruling body. For the City." The men gathered before him nodded, eying one another as if to gauge their loyalty to the conspiracy. Barius Fiducoulus seemed more nervous than the four others, something which Valoricus took to mean that the man was to be a liability. Valoricus couldn't ignore the obvious, so he sought to address his suspicions without hesitation.

The Apostate Saint: Chapter 30 – Something Foul in the Air

Andrew Michael Miller2 Comments

Ever since he had regained his legs, Art had walked himself straight from one disaster into another. He was beginning to think that his new legs were, in fact, cursed, and that it would have been better if he had never regrown them in the first place. When he considered the mysterious nature of the Gifts that the Son had used to regenerate his legs, he began to consider that something more foul was in the air. The fact that he had inexplicably been incapacitated right around the time that Alaric's mother died really sold him on the fact that, perhaps, he shouldn't have looked that gift horse in the mouth.

The Apostate Saint: Chapter 29 – Two Arms!

Andrew Michael Miller4 Comments

"We've got to do better than this!" called Isidore from his horse. It was true. Alaric and the others would need to increase their pace by a significant amount if they were going to be able to catch up with the Son. We shouldn't have hesitated so long. Alaric didn't want to accept the fact that, no matter how much he wanted to follow the Son, it would ultimately prove a fool's errand. Still, he and the others all knew it was their sacred duty, and they would do whatever it took to get there eventually. They retraced their steps closely, so Alaric was already familiar with the landscape, but it worried him that they were racing headlong and not paying enough attention to the danger that may be lying in wait for them.

The Apostate Saint: Chapter 28 – Departure

Andrew Michael Miller6 Comments

"What now?" said Euric, to his cousin Bulgar and Fridok who stood idly nearby. They were soldiers who suddenly found themselves without their commander. It was an honest question for Euric to ask, and Fridok was thinking the same thing. After all, the Son was the only one who knew the lay of the land and what dangers might lurk around every corner, and he had already put significant distance between himself and the others as he carried Gailavira's unconscious body back to the City. Bulgar shrugged, offering no solutions. Fridok wanted to follow the Son, and thought very much borrowing one of the horses to ride off and catch up to him. At least that would put some distance in between him and Alaric, so he could focus on the things that really mattered.

The Apostate Saint: Chapter 26 – Arrival (Part 1)

Andrew Michael Miller2 Comments

He could faintly hear the sounds of someone calling to Him, commanding Him. It was a voice that He hardly knew, feminine, not a part of his core memory before the Exilium. Should He obey? By what right did that voice have to command Him? His thoughts were disjointed, broken, confused. There was so much that had happened in his exile, so many years that were lost to Him. Even His Father was missing in this broken version of their world. Why were the Gifts taken from the people? Why were His brethren subjected to such an impossibly cruel fate? Why had God forsaken mankind?