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Billing is Officially Paused
Just want to update you all that I went ahead and paused billing until September 21. If I still need more time I'll send out another update then and pause billing for another month.
Chapter 60: Blood
“C’mon Mako, we’re going to be late.” Asana transferred the bag of groceries to one arm so she could pull him along.“But why don’t we just stay on the road? Mom says the alleys are dangerous.”“Quit being a baby, it’s faster if we cut through here, and we’re already behind schedule. I’m not walking...
Chapter 59: The Journey Home
Ren walked the walls of Fort Katagari, hugging his cloak tight against the morning chill of the mountains. In the distant west the stone walls of the pass softened and gave way to a plateau dominated by the walls of a city and the towering structures within. Aranbul. Gateway to the west. Access point to the spice road....
Chapter 58: Questions, Questions
They walked until they couldn’t anymore and made camp well away from the road. Dried meats and flat bread were passed around the fire and Ren was plied with questions about what happened in the cave. When his story ended, silence reigned and he took the opportunity to take a piss. Questions about the fox would be com...
Chapter 57: Student of Foxes
Light bloomed behind Gunney’s eyelids, tearing him from the soft embrace of sleep. And he woke to a nightmare.The revolting, sweet, blood and shit scent of death assaulted him before he even opened his eyes. Crows cackled and cawed and circled and fed.The reddening leaves overhead might have been beautiful in the daw...
Chapter 56: A Meeting of Hunters
Instincts told him there were more, and they’d be coming soon enough. Better if he could get the jump on them.Ren sat where he could see the cave opening, a black hole that called to him. He pulled his final talisman from his pocket, pushed Qi into the reservoir and linked it to a trigger script. Settling into a thre...
CHAPTER 55: Monster in the Night
Kill them all. Make them pay.He intended to.Ren honored both Fox and Shadow in his preparation, and it was a dark, dead-moon night by the time he was finished.Somehow, the bandits were working together with the Black Claw. It had covered their tracks. Anybody else wouldn’t have been able to follow.But Ren had trained...
CHAPTER 54: The Gift of Legacy
Ren wasn’t sure how long he lay there under the cooling, bleeding body. It wasn’t until he realized his breathing was the only sound he heard that he finally moved, pushing off the stiff corpse.The blade came free. Ren’s hand just wouldn’t let go. At least it wasn't shaking now.He knelt over his friend, rol...
Chapter 53: No Good Choices
Commander Narwalla stalked the perimeter of camp, along the outer circle of tents and wagons tucked between trees atop of their little rise in the forest. Hidden as best they could manage. Traps were in place, scouts spread out in a wide net of sentries, every soldier remained in their armor with weapons at hand. They ...
Chapter 52: Mistake
One-Eye Sal watched as the barges that had been towed up the rivers from Katarn were unloaded into heavy wagons bearing the shining mark of Golden Fang Trading Co.This shipment was at least double the size of the last one judging by the number of wagons and had the increased number of guards to match. The boss would be...
Chapter 51: Home is Never True to Memory
The tracking parties all returned to the complex with similar tales. There was no sign of where the workers and overseers had been taken.After a day of scouring the forest and fields with his team, finding nothing, Ren was called into the command tent where the commander waited for him behind a portable table that doub...
Chapter 50: Farming Complex 34B
Ren returned to life in the company as usual, and it appeared Gunney had been right. Even when he’d passed Kareem on his way to fill his bowl for dinner one night, after a tense moment of sustained eye contact, nothing happened and he proceeded unmolested.The more he’d thought about it, the more certain he was that...
Chapter 49: Lieutenant Kareem
The past was the past, and Ren wasn’t going to let the bad blood that had previously flowed between him and Kareem Gutari guide his present. Or so he told himself. But Ren kept finding reasons to avoid camp. He spent extra time foraging, hunting, volunteering to assist the scouts in their duties. With less of his tim...
Chapter 48: A Turn of Fate
Cloud Company 7 packed up camp with the rising sun, and set out to beat the heat. The calendar said they had two more weeks before the official start of the hot season, but the sun seemed to have other plans. Did the Isvaran Sun Priests at the Temple of Light have any say? Somehow, Ren doubted that.As a forester, he wa...
Chapter 47: Cloud Company 7
Some say that the warm months thaw the soul and enable one to let go of past hurts. Ren wasn’t sure about any of that. What he was sure about was that the heat had woken up the bugs, and though he’d never imagined missing the bite of winter, his dreams were of the special stillness of a forest blanketed in snow, an...
Chapter 46: Meanwhile
Osai’s journey took him east. But not as directly as he would have liked.Each time he charted his course for the immortal lands the lightning in his body would start to crackle behind his ruined eye till he opened his sight to the threads. And when he listened it stilled, became calmer. Became a little more his.Half ...
Chapter 45: Deployment
After his soak at the bathhouse, Ren headed straight to the barracks and sleep took him.Orders came first thing the next morning in the form of a note delivered by courier. He was to join Cloud Company 7 on their patrol route of the roads and farms south of the valley. They would be stopping in Rattan to resupply in tw...
Chapter 44: Victory of the Meek
The Alpha squared on the Sett-Mother and met her keckering warcry with his own growl.Then they flashed into motion, gold and brown clashing with red and black. Claws tore and fangs ripped. Every drop of blood Mupali’katana lost was pulled through the air and into the wolf, his one good eye glowing bright and brighter...
Chapter 43: The Ambush
The hunting party was large and not as quiet as Ren would have liked. Thirty-six hardened spearmen, one trainee, and six foresters. The latter leading the former in groups of seven–and one of eight–fanned out to close the net on the Black Claw den–a cave in the southern reaches of the valley. Behind them, a team ...
Chapter 42: Silver Fox Meditation
Markens had been unusually quiet in the week since their meeting with Mupali’katana, which was to say, he was silent. The only exception being their meeting with command where he delivered their report. Since then, it was all hand signs. Not even a grunt or a chuckle.ThunkRen’s arrow hit true, deep into the edge of...
Chapter 41: Interlopers
Two months had passed since he began forester training. The last of the early winter blooms were long gone, making way for pansies, winter jasmine, and snowdrop scilla to bud. Once again, it was time to haul meat to town from the freeze box they’d buried in the frozen earth.“Today we’ll get you graduated to a pro...
Chapter 40: The Law of the Wild
The Silver Fox watches its prey to discover their vulnerabilities. Few predators are foolish enough to hunt it due to its penchant for setting traps.A creature of deep cunning, the Silver Fox knows when to run, when to hide, and when to strike. They never attack without a plan, and conflict is almost always decided wit...
Chapter 39: Just Rewards
The honor commissary was a square building seemingly cut from a single giant piece of granite. There were no windows, save a series of arrow slits. As far as Ren could tell, there was just the one door—also stone.A pair of armored military guards flanked either side of the entrance. Ren flashed his merit badge, and t...
Chapter 38: The Way Forward
Ren stumbled out of the Pointy End. The world was spinning, and he slumped against the wall, sliding down to sit on the ground and cradle his head.It felt good to play music again. He’d never played with other musicians before.The others had gotten up and danced. Gunney had tried to conduct Rhami around the dance flo...
Chapter 37: Libations
Ren realized that deep down he’d been holding onto a little hope. And that hope was a lie. The truth was way worse than he’d ever imagined. Seemed it always was.He gazed up at the board posted on the side of the mess hall. It listed every recruit by name. Beside their names was a little picture denoting their assig...
Chapter 36: Survival Trial
“Recruits,” Captain Lurron’s voice boomed through the woods, “It is time for your final trial. At the center of these woods is a cabin. Your mission is to arrive at the cabin without any of the sentries stopping you. You are allowed to try to fight your way through with your practice swords, but I don’t advis...
Chapter 35: Combat Trials
The fog cleared, and the arena was much changed. Small hills and gullies broke the line of sight. But their opponents were out there. Ren swung his sword. It looked real enough. Felt real. Cold and heavy like any other steel. Same with the shield. It was just like the ones they marched around with every day during trai...
Chapter 34: Trials Begin
Ants were still crawling along the inside of his skin, but Ren was more than ready to get back to training. Everything hinged on how he did in the trials. His whole life, his family, and–he admitted to himself–his pride. Everyone who’d spat on him since he came to Ardus, even Kareem, would eat their words if he b...
Chapter 33: Loved Ones Back Home
“Do you want another dose?” asked nurse Amhara.Ren stared at her. What kind of monster would threaten a patient with that kind of torture again.“Then I suggest you stop trying to get up and let me pour your water for you. You haven’t been cleared to get out of bed, which means you are still at risk of destabili...
Chapter 32: Scorn
“Should’ve known a slimy empyrean wouldn’t amount to more than a rat.” Kareem’s voice.“Hiding out, blowing a stick like a woman,” said another.Ren turned. Six shapes lurked in the dark behind him, fanned out, surrounding him.“Don’t you have anything better to do?” he said.“Better than culling an h...
