Draugameistari Chronicles - Author's notes

I like this. Brings back memories.  I also created a site on Substack, but the algorithm worshipping there is just too much. Can't. "You have to post on notes to get subscribers to your newsletter!" And then in notes, post after post "I want to read your writing, post it here" Correction, "I pretend to want to read your writing, please post it here and boost my algorithm." Am I a little sour, maybe? Hell yes. That sort of fake social dance is just not for me.  Also, I somehow hate the thought of paying (or asking for money) for simply subscribing. I mean, some people do write for a living, and they should get payed if their stuff is good enough, but most there aren't that special (me included) that people should pay to read their random thoughts. Books, yes. Art, yes. But a fucking newsletter? Ugh.  And yes, I swear. Here I can swear in peace. And everyone is an author there, actual readers are probably somewhere else. I once had a somewhat popular...

  Inverness, late March 2030. "It's you." I spat three times to my left. " Hverfa! " "Now, is that any way to greet an old friend?" the trespasser on my back porch said, as the wind blew a cold, wet shower on my face. "Get lost." "Oh, Cas..." I wiped my face and crossed my arms, staring at Matthias and trying to force him to turn and get lost with the power of my mind. Didn't work. Shame. "Why are you here?" I scanned the shadows behind him, trying to see into the pitch-black darkness the rain had created. I had this terrible itch inside my mind, telling me something was off, and it wasn't just the weather. A boom of thunder rolled from the distance. There was a man standing several steps behind Matthias, looking like he was trying to merge with the shadows. He was dressed head to toe in dark colours, his hood pulled up against the rain. I had almost missed him, since he was standing so still that he was half-hidde...