Arc 4 Ends. One Chapter This Week.
Chapter 36 is live for Read Ahead subscribers. One chapter this week as I lay the groundwork for Arc 5. Garran's cot is empty. Folded blankets, no note. If you know the man, you know that's the note. And the broadcast Elena has been building toward for months finally goes live. The truth about the Unraveling's experiments, out in the open where it can't be taken back. But truth doesn't only illuminate what you point it at. It lights up everything. Including you. That's Act 4. Chapter 31 (The Dark Night) is now free for everyone. Arc 5 is coming. -- Rick
The Trap You Walk Into With Your Eyes Open
Two new Read Ahead chapters are live. Chapter 34 -- Cassian Vex is waiting on the road to Dameris. Five Unraveling agents. An empty approach road. And three exhausted people who know exactly what they're walking toward. Garran's ribs are grinding toward his lung. Marcus's corruption is a beacon. The only way forward is through someone's teeth. Chapter 35 brings the group inside the city walls, but safety is a relative term in Dameris. Old allies resurface, debts get called in, and Garran sits Marcus down for a conversation that reshapes the map of where this story is going. There's a stone the size of a walnut that's been carried for nine years. Now it changes hands. Also: Chapters 29 (The Scarred Man Returns) and 30 (Old Wolves) are now free for everyone. Garran's return, the silence with teeth, and two men learning to walk the same road again. Worth your time. See you next week, folks. -- Rick
Related Content
Chapter 34: The Architect's Gambit
Beyond the Fold: A Grimdark Progression Fantasy • Ch. 34
Chapter 35: The Serenfold Seed
Beyond the Fold: A Grimdark Progression Fantasy • Ch. 35
New Chapters: The Training Ends. The Hunt Doesn't.
Hey folks, Chapters 32 and 33 are live for Read Ahead subscribers. Marcus sits with Garran on a mountain outcropping and learns something that sounds simple but isn't: how to hold a forbidden skill active without letting it consume you. He's going to need it. Because Chapter 33 is called "Vyra's End," and she's done waiting. That's all I'll say about that one. Read it. Also, Chapters 27 (The Nullification) and 28 (Between Hunts) are now free for everyone. You're heading into the deep Ashwood Vale with Marcus and watching the group emerge into open country for the first time in weeks. Good stuff in there. Thanks for being on this journey. -- Rick
Four Chapters up to Chapter 31
Hey folks, Missed last week's post entirely, life got ahead of me. So since then, there are four new chapters live. Up to 31 for Read Head. Here's what I'll say without saying too much: old debts get called in, someone breaks open in a way I've been building toward for a long time, and there's a night in Chapter 31 that changed the shape of the rest of the story for me while I was writing it. Thanks for sticking around. - Rick
Related Content
Chapter 31: The Dark Night
Beyond the Fold: A Grimdark Progression Fantasy • Ch. 31
Chapter 30: Old Wolves
Beyond the Fold: A Grimdark Progression Fantasy • Ch. 30
New Chapters: 20-21 Public + 23-25 Read-Ahead
Hey folks, Chapters 20-21 are now free for everyone. This is the reunion. Ninety-one days, two forbidden skills, and a Marcus who's barely recognizable. Elena is not what he expected. Chapter 21 changes everything about this story. Read-ahead supporters: Chapters 23-25 are live. Marcus and Elena learn to fight together, something inhuman is stalking them, and Chapter 25... Marcus faces a door the System itself didn't build. Elena begs him not to open it. Thanks for being on this journey. Back to the keyboard. - Rick
Related Content
Chapter 20: The Ashenmire
Beyond the Fold: A Grimdark Progression Fantasy • Ch. 20
Chapter 22 is live for read-ahead supporters
One chapter this week—life happened, and I'd rather give you one I'm proud of than rush two that don't land. Here's the thing about reunions: they're not endings. Marcus found Elena. But Chapter 22 is what comes after—when you finally reach the person you've been chasing and realize you have no idea what to say. Or worse, that they have plenty to say to you. Chapter 19 goes public today for everyone—the Thornhaven resolution for those on the free track. Back to Chapter 23. - Rick
Chapters 20 and 21 are now live for read-ahead supporters
I've been building toward these chapters since page one. Chapter 20 takes Marcus into the Ashenmire, and let me tell you—fighting a Level 40 Bog Wyrm in waist-deep swamp water while trying to track your missing wife through corrupted visions is not how anyone wants to spend their afternoon. But it's what gets him there. To her. Chapter 21 is the reunion. Quick note: I'm also backfilling chapters on Royal Road. But if you want to stay ahead of the curve, this is the place. More chapters will be available here than anywhere else. We're into Act 3 territory now, and everything Marcus thought he understood about Elena's disappearance is about to get complicated. Chapter 22 is calling. — Rick
Chapters 18 & 19: The Road to Ashenmire
Hey folks, Two chapters up this week as we barrel toward the end of Arc 2. Chapter 18 deals with the aftermath of Deephold. Marcus made his choice, and now he has to live with it. Chapter 19 brings back Tomas Reed. Tomas sees exactly what Marcus is becoming. And he has something to say about it. Two men standing on opposite sides of a choice. We're in the home stretch of Arc 2. Thanks for being here. — Rick
Related Content
Chapter 18: The Architect's End
Beyond the Fold: A Grimdark Progression Fantasy • Ch. 18
Chapter 19: The Second Forbidden Skill
Beyond the Fold: A Grimdark Progression Fantasy • Ch. 19
Two Chapters. One Threshold. Everything Changes.
Hey folks, Chapter 16 is up and chapter 17 is now live for Read Ahead members. Here's the thing about writing this stretch. I knew from the beginning that Marcus would cross the 10 CP threshold eventually. Veda warned him. The readers have been watching the numbers climb. But actually writing the moment where he steps over that line and doesn't feel different? That hit me harder than I expected. Corruption doesn't announce itself. It accumulates. Chapter 16 brings Marcus to Thornhaven, and he gets more answers about who Elena really is. Let's just say "Subject 17" puts a lot of things into perspective. Also: you'll meet someone who terrified me to write. Chapter 17 is a race through territory that should kill him into a facility full of secrets. And at the end of it, a note. - Rick
Related Content
Chapter 16: Thornhaven
Beyond the Fold: A Grimdark Progression Fantasy • Ch. 16
Chapter 17: Race to Deephold
Beyond the Fold: A Grimdark Progression Fantasy • Ch. 17
New Year, Same Obsession: Chapters 13-15 Are Live
Hey folks, Happy 2026. Hope your new year is off to a good start. Mine started with Marcus learning the truth about Elena—and watching him process that information was one of the hardest things I've written. Chapter 13 is now public for everyone. This is the one. The revelations chapter. Marcus finally gets answers from Kira Vex about who Elena really is. "The Key." And she has maybe two weeks to live. Chapter 14 takes Marcus into the Ashfall Valley—corrupted territory where the land itself tries to claim him. He meets Tomas Reed, a man who lost his son to this place and spent two years hunting revenge. "Forward motion isn't the same as purpose." Chapter 15 is where things get complicated. Someone from the Unraveling makes contact with an offer that isn't quite what it seems. Elena is fifteen miles away now. The math is getting tight. Thanks for following Marcus's journey into 2026. This arc is building toward something I've been planning since the outline. Back to the keyboard. — Rick
Related Content
Chapter 13: The Price of Information
Beyond the Fold: A Grimdark Progression Fantasy • Ch. 13
Chapter 14: The Road to Thornhaven
Beyond the Fold: A Grimdark Progression Fantasy • Ch. 14
Chapter 15: Competing Hunters
Beyond the Fold: A Grimdark Progression Fantasy • Ch. 15