The Regressed Mercenary's Machinations - Chapter 17: We Need a Variable (2)

In a world where magic is forbidden and witches are hunted, Ashlynn Blackwell has hidden her mark of the witch since birth. The night of her wedding she's betrayed and her secret is exposed. Attacked by her husband and his knights, Ashlynn was abandoned and left for dead in the wilderness.Rescued by the vampire lady Nyrielle, Ashlynn is offered a choice: die as a human or embrace her power as a witch. Bound by a mystical blood pact, Ashlynn is plunged into a world of ancient magic, immortal vampires, and deadly political intrigue for the chance to find eternal love.

MOUNTAIN SITTING IMMORTAL (MSI)A conduit of the great Dao happened to enter the grotto heaven called Earth. No one had been able to take ownership of this conduit for many years until Marvin came into contact with it. Marvin met the requirement to use the conduit. This allowed him to begin his journey towards immortality. The journey begins from transcending the first mortal coil at Body Forging to transcending the second at Energy Gathering, passing through the subsequent mortal coils, and hopefully to becoming a true immortal with eternal life.But the conduit is far more useful than helping a dying business tycoon gain another lease at life. It is also a conduit of great power. This power and many more will be his as long as he continues to sit on his mountain and grows the mountain into a colossus. The mountain will bring him to greater heights and greater power. This is the story of the Mountain Sitting Immortal.

The Last Touched is a haunting fantasy of bloodlines, broken fate, and the perilous cost of power.Elsbeth MoonChild is the last of the touched—the final descendant of a cursed lineage bound to the flame. As Alpha of the shattered 12th pack, she bears the ruin left by her father’s crime: the murder of the queen. Branded by his betrayal, hunted by her former chosen mate, and driven into exile with the last of her people, Elsbeth has one desperate path forward—to survive, she must stake her claim in the Rite of Queens, an ancient trial that demands strength, sacrifice, and the will to rule.But the Rite does more than test her body and mind. It pulls her backward in time, submerging her into the forgotten life of her ancestor—the first queen. As memories bleed into dreams and dreams into waking, Elsbeth begins to unravel a long-buried truth: the flame in her blood is not just magic. It is a weapon. A curse. A gift once traded in blood and sacrifice to end an age of chaos.And she is not the only one who carries it.Julia, her estranged sister—exiled, fire-born, and half-mad with hunger—is no hybrid. She is the living echo of the power their bloodline tried to bury. Ruthless, charismatic, and driven by the belief that the throne was stolen from her, Julia is building a gospel of grievance and flame. Her army grows in the shadows, fed by secrets and stolen children. And with each ritual, the ancient seal weakens, waking something that was never meant to rise again.Torn between duty and desire, Elsbeth clings to the one thing that keeps her tethered—Fen, her true mate, a being older than he appears, hiding a divine truth of his own. Their bond runs deeper than fate, but it terrifies her. To surrender to it would mean choosing love over the kingdom. And if she falls too far, the flame inside her might burn her from within… just as it did her father.As old gods stir and the fire in her blood begins to answer the call of something watching from beneath the ice, Elsbeth must decide: will she become the queen her people need? Or the weapon her blood was meant to wield?