Where Lies Adventure!

OF GODS AND MEN Chapter 37: Choosing to See              Drake awoke with the light of the dawn; an old habit of a former life lived for far too many years.   As a soldier, he had many predispositions disciplined into him.   Now though, this very morning, he wished to be rid of all of them.             Last night he tried very hard to ensure a much longer lie-in for himself by engaging Finnian Pell in a drinking game.   He, the tall and muscle-bound former soldier, matched the younger, thinner, and more jovial Pell drink for drink.   They were celebrating.   Two weeks had passed since a strange boy showed them to a familiar hilltop where they could look out onto the city of Malthanon.   They expected to find it in ruin, but were surprised to see that it had been restored…complete with the rebuilt palace of the Go...

OF GODS AND MEN Chapter 36: A Phantom Debate              Tarsus stood atop the crown of Malthus’s spire; the spire that rose so high off the cathedral base that it pierced the clouds in the sky.  Through the patchwork aerial quilt of blue and white, he caught glimpses of Malthanon underneath; the grand city glittering in the rays of sunlight that managed to find their way to the world below.             In his entire life as a mortal, Tarsus Cole never imagined he’d look upon this city from a height so far away.   Back then, he was mesmerized by the enormity of it.   Not only was the city large, but it housed so many different people from so many different places; yet here is where they chose to call home.   Now, though, it looked small: like a child’s toy.   Tarsus thought of Malthus shaping it, building it…like a meticulous collector, passionately constructing...

OF GODS AND MEN Chapter 35: Taking Shape              Almost all had been set to rights in Malthanon.   Save for the ruin where the docks once stood, the city had been perfectly restored to what it was before Adulatio’s betrayal.   The people were returning to it in droves, now filled with so much hope that it was palpable anywhere they would congregate.   It did not matter if it was a family sitting together in their home or a crowd of strangers in one of the city markets, the smiles and good cheer were boundless and generously offered.             Yet no place in the entire city held so much grace, gratitude and joy as the cathedral that formed the base of the GodKing’s palace.   Since the miraculous restorations had begun, this holy site had been filled with people.   Residents from all over Malthanon came to praise the name...