Van Gogh Reborn! - Chapter 228:

A conversation with a handsome stranger leaves Ariane chained in a cellar with a strange affliction. She soon discovers that the darkness of the nineteenth century’s Deep South hides many dangers. Mages, wolf shifters and the humans who hunt them play a risky game where to stumble is to die, all under the amused gaze of the apex predators of the supernatural world: vampires.

It is never healthy to attract the gaze of the aristocracy of the night. It takes much to survive in this merciless world, but Ariane will not let that deter her. The southern belle has a bite, and she is willing to learn and to grow in this hostile new world. She will use whatever means necessary to reclaim her freedom, be it guile, charm, or those intriguing new instincts that make blood so delectable.

This is a story of vampires as I believe they should be, with their strengths and weaknesses, with their remnants of humanity and the beast inside. Updates every Friday. Mind the tags.

Cover by Antti Hakosaari: https://www.artstation.com/haco

Special thanks to Svensonsen for getting me started, as well as Omi Nya, Hesketh, Rhaegar, Yaksher, Selkie and Raven for proofreading my stuff. Thanks to my patrons and you dear readers, for the support. I could not do it without you.

Journey is on Amazon, both in ebooks and audio. here is a link to the first one:

https://www.royalroad.com/amazon/B08DK6G8Y8

The story probably exists in your local marketplace as well of I can tempt you.

The legendary mercenary Great Emperor, the “Forbidden God King” Ye Chenfeng, had returned to the city, sweeping away everything with an invincible stance.He had unveiled millennia-old mysteries, Atlantis, the Maya civilization, and the astonishing secrets hidden beneath the Himalayas...

After the sudden death of her boyfriend, Leslie Song has been single-handedly raising her precious little daughter Calliope. It’s a difficult life, but it’s a happy one. A freak accident puts an end to that.As Leslie lies dying on the road, watching Calliope breathe her last, she curses her helplessness. Calliope’s crochet fox seems to hear her. It opens its mouth and asks, “Do you want to see your daughter again? If so, follow me. Her soul has already left for another world.”Leslie agrees. That’s the last thing she remembers before losing consciousness. When she opens her eyes again, she finds herself—or rather, her soul—standing beside her unconscious body on a hospital bed.“How is this supposed to help me find Calliope!” she exclaims.“This is not your body. Your body is dead. This is my original host, Charlene Li,” explains the toy fox. “You can possess her body to find Calliope, but if you do, you must finish her uncompleted mission for her.”“And what mission is that?”“To marry the second most eligible CEO in the city.”‘This,’ Leslie concludes, ‘is a scam.’ But she has no other choice.**********Meanwhile, the second most eligible bachelor in the city, Calix Xu, is patting himself on the back for thwarting his grandmother’s attempts to marry him off. After exhausting all of his tricks and excuses, he has resorted to marrying the comatose daughter of the Li family.Calix smiles, pleased with himself, “Aren't I smart? Grandmother can do nothing now.”But… why is he seeing his newly-wedded wife hovering beside her own body?Before he can react, his wife—the moving one—floats towards him.“Husband! Help me find my child!”“Your child?” Calix asks weakly before doing the only reasonable thing he can do in such a situation.He faints.

I was just your average burnout. Now I’m a kobold in a dungeon where everything wants to eat me—and frankly, I get it. I look delicious.Reincarnated as the weakest possible monster in the worst possible place, I start with nothing but panic, backward knees, and a skill called Civilization Mimicry—which is sealed. Because of course it is.But survival isn't the story.This is the story of what comes after.Of finding meaning in the scraps. Of building law from ashes. Of kindling memory in a place designed to erase.Because even if the world sees kobolds as nothing, I’ve seen what we used to be.And I’m going to bring it back.Firelight by firelight. Burial by burial. One fragile tradition at a time.Because if the world wants kobolds to be nothing?Then I’ll teach it what nothing becomes when it learns to dream.