ReaderPaul

Wonty -- a word meaning mystical or mysterious; one who strives for a deeper understanding; also can be the name of a boy or girl, though rare as such.

@Krista -- Very well thought out. Readers read what types of things they wish to read, as well. As you pointed out, authors who interact with readers in the comments and forums are more interesting -- and sometimes more fun -- than those who publicly bristle at almost everything.

Fascinating. Lots of possibilities upcoming in the next chapters. I get the distinct feeling that Mark and Sawney like each other and are attracted to each other.

@R. Eric, I partially agree. I love Peter Pan peanut butter. I was raised on Welch's Grape Jelly (sometimes apple or peach). Bama jelly was available and good, but dad usually brought home Welch's from the store he worked at.

Just looked it up on the Bing search engine. Fascinating! For a good unicorn story, there is

I notice that the town of Adelaide River had a population of 353 in the 2016 census. Probably there is a minimal number of police officers in the town. The duty officer may have been away from the office. But calls to other agencies -- a good idea.

Absolutely wonderful story. I wanted to comment her on something from chapter 11. Others were of unknown variety, resembling the casks in which wine was shipped, or having long filaments - gray in color - that looped and turned among the other growths. A third variety was tall and spiked in appearance, and looked as if the tips were quite sharp; however, the plants were taller than a man, and their impaling ends remained safely overhead as the group pushed their way slowly through the growths. Jamie frowned as he gently pushed the stalks aside to pass; they felt not at all like normal plants, but somewhat clammy to the touch, and nearly flesh-like in texture. They had stopped hacking their way along after Dorf had smacked one of the cask-like plants with the edge of his sword, only to have it explode, sending a cloud of spores jetting outward from the fracture. Only quick thinking by Jamie had saved them from possible harm. He called up the knot for a wind funnel - in small form used to help start fires for forges - but used the new skin upon his right hand to turn the funnel into a cyclone that blew the spores away from them. Jamie had learned enough in his reading to know that some molds and fungi were dangerous to humans, especially if their propagation spores were inhaled. They could not risk an illness among them for which they might have no antidote. "Interesting," Snave remarked, as the cloud of spores was carried away. "The nether creation upon your hand worked well to bolster the strength of the wind funnel." "I just tried it, without even thought on the matter," Jamie returned, a little wonderingly. He was thrilled that the nether device had worked to intensify something other than the magick of translocation. But just because it had worked for the wind funnel did not mean that it would work for all magicks. "More experimentation is called for," he decided.... I don't recall any other magicks except translocation which the special glove/skin boosted in the story. Perhaps in some future story we might learn if there are more magicks able to be boosted? What do you think, @Geron Kees?

Looks like Struan and Sawney have new problems. I suspect someone on the train has been in league with the villains., or possible a couple of the police departments have "moles" who are associates of the villains.

Wow, Preston, you've got us wondering -- way to go!

Wow, @R. Eric great chapter! I will be interested to see if Wayne takes the franchise. I am guessing he will, but you have surprised us before, R. Eric. Now I look forward to another chapter or two of Ark II.

What is the meaning of SM in this context?

@astone2292, form the interest this is generating, one of your author questions could be -- "What are your favorite types of gravy, and your least favorite types of gravy?" LOL.

Exactly. But many restaurants have milk in their sausage gravy, at least in my area. UGH!

As my milk allergy worsens, I have major trouble having sausage gravy with significant milk content. When I was a kid, Mother fixed liver gravy once in a while. Don't go there. It's AWFUL. Not fond of any fish gravy I have tried. Turkey gravy depends on what ingredients are added. In the types of gravy I make, I use ZERO milk. @astone2292, I hope many authors message you and volunteer.

Needs to be beef gravy, pork gravy, or chicken gravy -- other types can trigger my allergies.

Okay-- good place for a temporary pause!

And Geert! I also hope we get to visit with Wanda and Seeri and some of the other characters in a future story. Great ending, @Geron Kees.

I loved "In the Shadow of the Dragon" by @JamesSavik on GA. I have read the whole story five or six times. I loved "The Case of the 'Short, Short Prince" by @Geron Kees. For great short stories, "Get Into James Shorts" has a huge variety of good short stories by James Savik. "Hood's Revenge" is especially good in a story which is quite short. But there are many others there. "Retail Ninja" is a fun read by @astone2292. Aaron has a lot of good stories. For good reads with short chapters, usually featuring teen characters, @Backwoods Boy has a lot of good stories -- either one chapter stories, or fairly short stories. "He Ain't Heavy" and "The Retreat" and "The Jock and the Bookworm" and "Clothing Optional" are very good. Actually, I have found all stories or poems by Backwoods Boy on GA worth reading. @Valkyrie has "A Plethora of Prompts" and other interesting reading. @Dabeagle has many good stories, such as "The Right One" and "Things We Lost" and "You Don't Know Me" and "Devyn's Song" and "Gaymer" among others. I must stop listing or this post will be ridiculously long

Lots of good points in the discussion above. Here are my ideas. Point 1 -- Most of the time I will vote with my presence or absence. If I like a story or poem or non-fiction, I will write a mostly positive review. If I don't like something, I will probably not seek out that author's work again for some time because of time constraints In Real Life (IRL). At times I have read something I was not impressed with, but later a friend has said, you should read "x" because of (reasons a, b, and c). The second or third read I was more "caught" by the author's content in that story or poem or non-fiction item, and started making time to look for that author. Point 2 -- I have seen stories -- here and on other sites -- which I liked, but evidently the author changed their mind about and pulled the story. When this happens with an unfinished story, it can be disconcerting. But I am not the author. It is THEIR story. I can hope for it to appear again in revised form. Not likely, I know -- but possible. Point 3 -- The writing standards on GA are higher than the majority of sites. By that I mean the technical aspects of writing -- mostly correct grammar, spelling, and punctuation. This makes a story easier to read for me. Point 4 -- Some authors are -- possibly -- overly protective of their works. By that I mean they "bristle" with almost any criticism or comment not presented in glowing positive cheering terms. Some years back, an author told a different GA member than me (that member had complained to the author that he had too many straight persons in a particular story) -- that in everyday life there are more people who consider themselves straight than those who consider them selves gay, lesbian, or in my case, bi. This author politely said that he writes with the expectation that those of us in the LGBTQI+ community will be interacting with straight persons much of the time Point 5 -- There are many types of stories, poems, and non-fictions here on GA. If we something find we do not have an attraction to -- try something else. Try a different category, a different author, or even take a couple of days break from reading.

I discovered this by accident. I hope you will soon post more. I agree with the majority of what you have posted here. What you said about sometimes making for other is partially true. In my case I wanted a family, and I made the choices which allowed for that. As a result I sacrificed a lot of time and effort for two other persons in my life. It has mostly been worth it. But now, many years later, I am making a few more choices for myself directly, as a result of a series of events. You make many good points, @Bryson. Please write more at some time in the future.

Fascinating chapter. Looking forward to another chapter eventually. Hopefully, a chapter of Ark II soon?

@Geron Kees -- Loose threads [in stories] also mirror life. As life goes on, almost every person has "loose threads" in some lesser relationships (sometimes more significant relationships), unfinished things which we regret or remember fondly, and sometimes life changes where there were not clear and clean endings or beginnings. Regarding the gray mages -- not all of them were under the compulsions of Porvus. I would expect those to disperse quickly as they realized what was going on, and the defeat of Lodda and Porvus and Urvan. The ones under compulsions might try to go back to their former lives, and would need to be tracked down and -- to make up a word -- 'decompulsionized'. The negative attitudes toward 'commoners' and 'vermin' would need to be removed from the remaining gray mages under compulsions. If they stay in the Forest of Night, Irik and Bastyin and Gorge should be able to deal with them, having learned how to remove the compulsions from Jamie. It will be interesting to see if the children of Gorge have a knack. The knack Jamie gave him could easily make minor changes in his DNA and RNA which would allow him to pass it on. I think Jamie and Garvin and Bastyin should investigate the idea of translocating to a person, instead of a place. It should be possible in many cases. It would probably require at least a mid-level mage or higher. All of Jamie's group, and masters such as Thorvil, Crillis, and Kundrun, should be able to do it once Jamie or Bastyin figures it out. Lodda's nether MUST have some magick in it -- or once Lodda jumped he would have aged and died. Perhaps it has a very low level of magick, enough to keep this from happening. I think it will be fun to hear about Jamie and Garvin asking Raimey and Sedwick about Raimey being their apprentice. I think it will also be fun to hear about the reactions of customers entering into Thorvil's establishment and the shop of Crillis and Geert have having boys of age 16 to 18 saying, "Hi, I am Master Garvin" or "Hi, I'm Master Geert." And having a wooden gargoyle say, "Hello. I am Master Snave. How may I help you?"

@drpaladin has brought up a valuable point, and a possible hook for the next story in this series. The control Porvus (and possibly Lodda) exercised on the gray mages probably still remains. At this point, only Irik, Bastyin, and Gorge, of the mages who are almost always in the Forest of Night, would have the means of dealing with them. They should also know the magick to remove the influence put upon the gray mages. Also, what Flitch said to Jamie near the end of the chapter, about seeing Jamie and Garvin and the Lens again -- a portent possibility? And Garvin and Jamie suggesting Raimey as a possible apprentice? Another story hook! And perhaps Geert falls for another great-great-granddaughter of Wanda Pegfoot? Or a great-great-grandson? And no mention yet of the book of maps being returned to Master Crillis -- Geron, the possibilities are almost endless here! and you did this story in only 372,906 words! Masterful! Must we start calling you "Master Geron?" So the next question, for your (hint, hint) Crossovers series -- Is the type of magic used by Max, Keerby, Nicholaas, Robin Hood, and the others in your Charlie Boone series -- Is it a differing type of magic than the magickons of the Jamie universe? If so, it might work on Jamie's planet, as well.... Oh, just in case you had not guessed, Geron, I liked, loved, enjoyed, relished, appreciated, savored, prized, esteemed, treasured, and delighted in having this story to read. Thank you, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!

This is one of Geron's best stories yet. A new version of magic, called magick; new ways to use it that I have not previously seen combined; a new (or at least new to me) way of beginning a quest for something; new characters; a new and different world and universe, and fascinating stories in individual chapters or continuing through various chapters. I have been a fan of Geron's for years, but this might be the best yet. It is excellent, excelling, exciting, energetic, invigorating, interesting, innovative, and fantastic -- all at the same time. I heartily recommend this story.

What we do not know if the gateway is somehow blocked at the other end. If it is not, Jamie and company needs to immediately figure out a way to bring magickons with them!