Stellar

Is that so? I believe when you commented on Chapter 17 on your previous account, you described 'part two' (being Veil of Shadow) as 'a bit of a snooze fest', which was hardly a glowing compliment. I took a break from this series to write Spirit of Fire, which has been my main focus until its completion in December 2019. Now that the fantasy novel is finished, there are two options for what I will do next, and the thread about this can be found here.

@Graeme Uh. Yes. I do actually know this already. My humour is apparently indistinguishable from a serious question, but thank you anyhow. @Carlos Hazday I don't know! Maybe a website needs to be made?

This sounds entirely reasonable as a guideline for politics, though I want to ask if canvassing heavily for a third party candidate is allowed. Specifically, one who advocates a 'Torch Everything' philosophy for both domestic and foreign affairs, is looking to dramatically increase funding to all dragon-welfare-related initiatives, and employs the time-honoured and technically effective strategy of eating his opponents live on television during debates. Just asking, for a friend. A completely human friend. Burn Them ALL! 2020.

Oh. Well, Araziah's ascendance into godhood was planned as the end of this book. There will be a sequel that will finish the story -- it was intended to be in two parts. If this isn't to your liking, I'm sorry, but it what it is.

Why do you wish it ended?

As I note above, I don't have a preference, or I would have made the decision myself already. Asking me to go with my passion is like asking a parent which child is their favourite. I don't have one and I don't intend to choose at this time.

Uh, if that's all the plot was about, I ... guess so?

And now you know how he came to be watching 'the beginning of the end of the world'. An entire book of 'setup' to reach that point might be considered excessive, but I tell you this: there's so much left to come, and the seeds for a great many things -- like in Aspects of Dawn -- were planted well before they will come to fruition and importance, in any conclusive future work.

I'm glad to have had you along for the journey! The book may be over but the story -- it is definitely far from done.

Thank you!

Thank you, though it needs to be said that if I had a strong opinion in the first place, then I never would have posed the question and just chosen something myself. It makes little difference to me which order I write them in -- I know what's going to happen in both series regardless -- which is why it came to a poll of readers to find out the popular view.

One of the biggest questions that the sequel will address (whensoever it should be written) is how much of Araziah is still Araziah, and how much of his personality is divine and/or 'the mad god'. The two are melded -- permanently, I might add -- but what does that mean for who he is? I am genuinely curious how you did imagine the story ending. I'm sure most thought it was probably going to wrapped up nicely with the 'good guys' of the Order getting their victory and the war being 'won' in that fashion, but how did you think it would go? It's a little weird trying to undercut the mental imagery of my own ending, so you'll have to let me know! Incidentally, I remember saying to you before I started writing that I wasn't meaning for this book to be longer than the others I've written -- and yet here it is as the most prolific word-count I've created to date! Just goes to show I need to stop making any kind of predictions, because they exist solely to prove future-me wrong in some way.

Well, whichever you fine folks want me to do next, I will. Bear in mind though, that whatever isn't chosen -- the OTHER choice -- will be left idle for a good couple of years while the primary option is written, so ... you have yourself one hell of a decision. I'll be leaving this open for some time (probably a few months), so please don't feel shy about voting nor voicing your opinion.

Hello, dear readers! You are here because you have finished Spirit of Fire. Before I say anything further, I will post here some random factoids about the book. If this doesn't interest you, please proceed to the end of the bullet points. the character of Sebby didn't exist in the first draft of the book. In fact, he was added in after I started writing, a couple of chapters before his appearance at Northwood. It was a case of the author loving the character so much that he began to compete with Araziah and so the love triangle was born! Yes, that's right, some invisible retconning took place, as the original copy had Torsten and the red dragon as the OTP -- Sebby just got in the middle and complicated everything. similarly, Araziah's temperament ended up a lot nicer than I had envisaged. If you thought he was kind of a dick, he was meant to be worse; more callous, more domineering, less empathetic. There is a very dark alternative timeline which has Araziah taking what he wants from Torsten's family and learning no moral lessons whatsoever. the state in which Mirrorvale is located is left deliberately abstract. It's a fictional location that would slot somewhere between Virginia, Tennessee and the Carolinas. I suppose there would have to be some historical basis for the reason this is the case, but I don't imagine Spirit of Fire's modern history to be different from the actual thing. in the first chapter and other places where the Spirit of Fire speaks, his dialogue was meant to be in boldface red to distinguish it from the black other dragons use, but for some reason, the GA text editor has repeatedly stripped the colour from it. It wasn't a big deal, but this small bit of formatting was meant to illustrate just how unique and special the speaker is. Crawley's dialogue was immensely enjoyable to write, and he's probably my favourite supporting character. As mentioned somewhere else, he's an amalgam of Terry Pratchett's demon Crowley from Good Omens and the PI Dirk Gently, from the titular series of novels. the ending to this book was the first thing about it I imagined. Araziah's fate was written from the start -- and this was always how it was going to go! With that in mind, I'd like to say thank you. To @Dayne Mora and @Niraz; thank you for the beta work you did on the early and middle chapters. To the readers who have supported me, in the occasional sense and consistently; thank you for coming with me on this ride. Lastly, a special thanks to @Philippe, for helping me when nobody else seemed willing, for your patience, perspective, and assistance. If you haven't already left a review or comment, I would dearly love to hear from you. Please let me know what Spirit of Fire meant to you! Lastly: yes, this story will continue. It doesn't end here, and it is the first half of a bigger tale -- but it isn't the only tale I have to tell! If you want to vote on what to see me write next, go check out this post! I will leave it up for a month or three, so have your say! In the meanwhile, if there is anything you want to ask about Spirit of Fire's ending -- things not understood, or character fates -- please do so here and I'll attempt to answer.

The last chapter and epilogue are up! Spirit of Fire is done.

All around the world, every mortal dragon felt the tremours of rebirth. Distant, but unmistakable. Yet, the powers of the world knew it first. Above Siberia's endless plains and taiga, dozens of gusting winds coalesced and slowed, pausing as the sky goddess recognised the moment. He had returned but his arrival was just the beginning. Upon the eastern shore of the United States, the Lady Shiba stood, the wavelets of the Atlantic washing against her ankles. It had come to pas

The location he teleported to was where the final images of the Gamma team's video had captured before their unfortunate demise at Lautone's hand. It was empty when he arrived, but for the discarded equipment of the murdered Order team, brief scorch and frost marks from whatever resistance had been given, and beyond that, the door into the next reservoir storage, where the lens was. Where he was. Araziah opened it and walked through, the bastard sword in hand. The second room was ide

In service of 'higher' causes -- gods and the politics of war -- dragons are scarcely any different from humans. Some will do terribly dishonourable things because they believe they must, especially when such things are understood as being sanctioned by the divine and 'necessary' to ensure victory. Simply put, when the Spirits command, they will obey -- but to what point?

Lucy was fulfilling the reason she was put on that team to begin with. There's more danger for her and those with her; they aren't out of the woods yet. Celeste, though, is one of the victims of the longer betrayal, the same that almost claimed Minato. An uncomfortable reminder that to larger supernatural forces, human desires and motivations don't really matter too much -- pawns on a chessboard, expendable and inconsequential.

Thank you! Check back on Christmas Eve for the last part!

Haha! Well, you'd be waiting a couple of years if you wanted to do so from the start I am flattered you're enjoying it so much -- only a couple of days and the final part will be available. I hope the ending will be to your taste.

The third part of the finale is available.

"What is it?" She replied to him just as softly, a smidgen of concern creeping into her feelings. "If you saw something-" "I did." He interrupted. "Listen. In a few seconds, right after I finish saying this to you, the water dragon with you, Lautone, he will try to kill you. Not just you, but the whole team." The whole team?! "Don't say anything to me. Don't give him any clues. Just when he starts to move -- do something. Anything. Whatever you have to, to stop him. If you don't, he

It does seem like a truth bomb or two are about to drop! The consequences, as you might surmise, could be fairly critical. Thanks for reading!

The second part of the finale is up.