Fantasy
The Ember and the Crown - Part 1
The summons arrived with the quiet weight of a blade unsheathed in darkness. Wrapped in scarlet vellum and sealed with the sun-crowned crest of Drevril, the parchment exuded an unnatural warmth, like paper left too close to flame. The sigil binding it glimmered faintly with threads of memory-ink, a craftwork so precise that even Elira, standing several feet away in the shadowed inn loft, could feel the thrum of imitation power.
By Richard Bailey8 months ago in Chapters
My Neighbor’s Cat Thinks I’m Its Owner Now
It started with a meow. A single, innocent meow. At the time, I didn’t realize that meow was a legal contract in cat law, binding me for life to an arrangement I never agreed to. If I had, I might’ve shut my window, moved to another city, or learned how to meow back in a way that screamed, “Wrong house, furry overlord.”
By shittu adeola8 months ago in Chapters
The Day My Dog Became My Therapist
It all started on a Tuesday. Now, Tuesdays are usually uneventful. But this particular Tuesday, the universe decided to hit me with a whirlwind of chaos, confusion, and cold leftover lasagna. The morning started with me waking up to the sound of my alarm doing its best to imitate a dying robot. I slapped it into silence, stumbled out of bed, and stepped directly into something cold and squishy.
By shittu adeola8 months ago in Chapters
Shadows Over Soravin - Part 5
The once-proud ruin, hollowed halls of learning and vaults of buried arcanum, lay under a bruised sky. Ash still curled from fissures where forgotten magic had been disturbed, and the rain that fell was thick, laced with the taint of alchemical run-off, slicking the blackened stones and whispering like dying words into the cracks. The vault was gone. Collapsed. But its echoes still throbbed in the bones of the city.
By Richard Bailey8 months ago in Chapters
RAVEN'S GAMBIT. Content Warning.
Group Three had seen death before—but not like this. The corridor led them up a dry flight of stairs, the first they'd encountered since entering White Plume Mountain. Their boots, soaked and reeking of swamp water, left no wet prints here. For a moment, they hoped this meant relief.
By W.S. Klass8 months ago in Chapters
Shadows Over Soravin - Part 4
The descent felt like stepping into the marrow of a buried god. No light guided them, only memory. Thin lines of crystalline veinwork pulsed faintly along the vault walls, casting a sickly indigo shimmer over the steps. With every touch of a boot to stone, fragmented echoes burst outward, moments frozen in time, hazy and sharp in equal measure. Vaelin saw a gloved hand dripping with someone else’s blood. Elira glimpsed a page torn from a sigil codex, set aflame before the eyes of a weeping child. And Tovik… Tovik flinched at a laugh that sounded too much like his own, coming from a voice behind a mask.
By Richard Bailey8 months ago in Chapters
Shadows Over Soravin - Part 3
The deeper they pressed into the ruins beneath Soravin, the more the vault abandoned all pretense of architecture. Passageways twisted like veins, breathing faint heat through the stone. Glyphwork on the walls shimmered when touched, alive, reactive, growing. The vault was no longer just a site of research. It had become a living archive of the broken, a body built on fractured oaths and stolen memories.
By Richard Bailey8 months ago in Chapters
Michelin Guide names 4 new budget-friendly gems in Da Nang..
A Culinary Journey Through Vietnam's Hidden Delights: A Culinary Journey Through Vietnam's Hidden Delights The coastal city of Da Nang is the focus of the Michelin Guide's latest spotlight on Vietnam's vibrant and varied culinary scene. Da Nang has long been a favorite among travelers seeking authentic Vietnamese flavors due to its stunning beaches, rich history, and dynamic food culture. Four new budget-friendly restaurants have been identified by Michelin in its most recent update, demonstrating that exceptional dining does not always require a high price tag. These four establishments showcase the best of Da Nang's affordable yet high-quality cuisine, including steaming bowls of ma Quang and succulent seafood grilled to perfection. Whether you're a local foodie or a traveler on a budget, these Michelin-approved spots are a must-visit for an unforgettable gastronomic experience.
By parves mosharaf8 months ago in Chapters
Bucket List Seaplane Journeys Around The World
Seaplane Trips on Your Bucket List: 800 Words of Aerial Adventure Seaplanes are undeniably magical because of the way they effortlessly transition from the water to the air, providing breathtaking views and access to remote locations that traditional aircraft are unable to reach. For aviation enthusiasts and travel lovers alike, seaplane journeys represent the pinnacle of adventure, combining luxury, exclusivity, and awe-inspiring scenery.
By parves mosharaf8 months ago in Chapters
Every Day Is Theirs: A Heart’s Tribute to Our Parents Beyond One Day
✍️ By: Umair Ali Shah Yousafzai --- 🌸 Introduction: The Problem with “One Day” In an age where love has been reduced to emojis and celebrations are confined to trending hashtags, it’s become common to see people dedicate just one day a year to their parents — usually in the form of a well-edited photo, a generic social media caption, or a short video clip. "Happy Parents’ Day!" they declare, and with that, consider their duty fulfilled. But can one day capture the essence of lifelong sacrifice? Can a Facebook status outweigh a mother’s sleepless nights? Can an Instagram reel compensate for a father’s decades of toil? The answer — spoken by the heart — is a resounding no. Parents are not a seasonal celebration. They are the soul of our lives. They do not deserve a day; they deserve our every day, our every breath, our every success, our every prayer. --- 🕊️ A Love Beyond Comprehension Parental love is not poetic — it is prophetic. The mother’s womb becomes a sanctuary before we even open our eyes. Her body breaks to give us life. Her nights shatter so our dreams can form. Her meals go cold so ours stay warm. She becomes our shadow, our comfort, our shield. And the father? He becomes the silent mountain who absorbs the storm before it reaches us. He ages behind the curtain so we can grow on stage. His shoes wear thin so ours stay new. His pockets empty so our dreams can fill. His hands become rough while ours remain soft. Such love cannot be compared. It cannot be counted, priced, or postponed. It is as eternal as the sky — silent but all-encompassing. --- 🏠 From Cradle to Grave: They Gave Us Everything The truth is simple and painful: the very people who gave us everything, we give them the least. They carried us when we were weak. They taught us to walk, to speak, to eat. They encouraged our smallest achievements and bore our greatest failures. They forgave our rebellion, our rudeness, our rejection. They kept loving even when we didn’t love back. And what did they ask for in return? Nothing — except a little time. A little respect. A little remembrance. And yet, many of us fail even in that. --- 📅 One Day is Not Enough — It’s Almost Insulting Designating one day for parents is, in many ways, an insult wrapped in sentimentality. It suggests that gratitude can be scheduled, that love can be timed, that sacrifice can be acknowledged only when it's convenient. Do parents love only once a year? Do they support us only on Sundays? Do they pray for us only during exam season? No. Their love is relentless, their loyalty unconditional, their prayers eternal. Then how dare we give them just a day? --- 🕯️ Real-Life Reflections: Forgotten Candles of Our Lives Visit an old age home and you will see forgotten candles flickering dimly, waiting for someone to relight their flames. Mothers who once carried their children now carry loneliness. Fathers who once stood tall now sit silently by windows, hoping someone might knock on the door. "I gave him everything," says one mother, staring into her fading memories. "And now he sends money, but not himself." What do we owe them? Not riches. Not luxury. We owe them presence. We owe them honor. We owe them time. And if we fail to pay that debt in life, we will spend the rest of our lives repaying it in guilt. --- 🌙 The Islamic Perspective: A Duty, Not a Favor In Islam, honoring one's parents is not optional. It is second only to worshipping Allah. The Qur’an places “being good to parents” immediately after “worship none but Allah” (Surah Al-Isra, 17:23). > “And lower to them the wing of humility out of mercy and say: ‘My Lord, have mercy upon them as they brought me up [when I was] small.’” — (Qur’an 17:24)
By Umair Ali Shah 8 months ago in Chapters
