Chapter#1 (GoS)
Good news, everyone! After months of outlining, worldbuilding, and quietly tinkering behind the scenes, I'm thrilled to announce that Garland of Stars, the official sequel to Dirge of Titans has begun!
Chapter 1 is now available, and it reintroduces us to Vaughan in the aftermath of war, as he struggles with his new life on Haradrun. Expect the familiar grit of Dirge, but with a more introspective, character-driven tone as the story shifts toward love, legacy, and looming transformation.
Coming up Next: Chapter 2 dives into the mind of Vincent DeKierr, where darker schemes start to unfold. If you thought he was unsettling in Dirge, you haven’t seen anything yet.
Bonus Content: I'm also working on custom illustrations for both Dirge and Garland. They'll be shared as companion content alongside each chapter release starting soon!
“My Xenomech shatters into a million broken mirror shards, and my body sinks into a fluid abyss of dark red. The smell, though… the iron stench of blood sits at my nostrils as I sink deeper toward an ominous ocean floor. And at the bottom, his arms dangling upward… is Yuri.
A panicked escape of air bubbles rises to the surface as I swim deeper, using every bit of my remaining strength to reach the bottom… but when I grab at Yuri, his feet are caught. I try yanking him free, struggling frantically as my lungs burn.
Then… they all appear… hundreds, thousands, millions of dead Terrans and Thriaxians litter the ocean floor, all of them prone, eyes closed, reaching for a surface they’ll never reach by themselves.
I shake my head, hitting his leg with mine… until someone… or something, reaches for my ankle. My body trembles as I glance down.
Pain and horror wrap around my heart, just like Chloeja’s hands were on my throat.
Sinking its serrated talons into my ankle is a grey, decaying human hand.
I kick at it, muffling a cry. Even though I’m freed, Yuri sinks into the thrum of rising of grey hands, clawing their way toward me.
I swim, my muscles ache, the C02 depleting to painful nitrogen in my chest as I try to swim upward.
But a gruesome hand covers my mouth, snakes its way over my legs… and the last of my air escapes upward, while I’m dragged down to the depths.
Blood enters my lungs, causing me to convulse as my hands reach for my throat and chest. I tremble as my vision fades.
As everything goes dark, an illuminated hand touches my face, eradicating the hands that clutch me, the burn in my lungs, the air returning. No words leave my mouth as my vision slowly returns, the darkness surrounding me penetrated by her otherworldly light.
“Vaughan.” She whispers, her hand gently coming to rest on my cheek.
This nameless woman, with deep blue eyes and platinum hair cascading around her like a halo… she looks at me with eyes filled with sadness.
“Don’t be afraid.” She whispers.
And before I can ask her anything, she softly disappears into the darkness.”
