Cynus

He had done it. Maxthane had imprisoned Fasha, and now he could . . . "Now what?" he thought, staring at the pillar of grey fog in the center of his room. He could feel Fasha's presence inside. Since he'd been the one to perform the ritual, Fasha was connected to him. With a thought, he could kill Fasha if he wanted, but did he want to? Having Fasha as his hostage wouldn't earn him any loyalty with the soldiers. They didn't even know Fasha's real identity. They all thought . . . They thought

Due to the bounty of comments, I'm just going to tag you all as I respond instead of quoting each one because I think that will look a little neater in the end. Thank you guys so much for the discussion, by the way! That was extremely fun to read through! @drpaladin - I love that you mentioned Neredos and his dreams. Writing Neredos and his existential hell was one of the places where I felt most connected to the story as I was writing it, so I hope as we revisit him throughout the story that it'll continue to be interesting. @jt15136 - Thank you for reading and loving the story! I try to have frequent updates with all the stories I write, which is why I prefer to finish my novels before I post them. There's a lot less headache that way. @flyboi - Oh yes, there is plenty in store, don't you worry. And Max has become sort of a badass, hasn't he? Remember when he used to be all timid about challenging authority? It seems he has arrived. @drpaladin, @Geoffrey257, @shyboy85, @flyboi - I absolutely love this discussion that you guys had. This totally just made my day, and you guys are welcome to do this on any chapters you'd like. I'm not going to say too much about the mechanics at this point, other than to confirm that there is definitely a bit of complexity to the situation. Once we return to Max and you know where he goes from here, I think I could discuss the finer points a little bit better then. I appreciate all the observations that you all made. I love that you're questioning the particulars of the magic, almost like you're thinking like a mage in the story world trying to decide if you can use a certain spell to accomplish something. It's awesome. I love all the observations about the potential social/political ramifications of this action. I love how you're all reading deeply into this. I love the question of Rega's potential reaction, and what that will mean. I love the attention you've all given to the details! Thank you!

I think the Bradeth and Kirra dynamic worked better than I thought it would. I've noticed that I tend to have Kirra gravitate toward strong female characters. Without Alsha to lead him, he bonded naturally to Bradeth as soon as she was in his life. This scene in particular was one of my favorites to write, since I was able to play multiple angles of that connection. I appreciate all of your comments, so thank you for giving me them. We're going to get into Ghayle a lot more in book 4, so I'm going to try to avoid giving too many spoilers. but yes, as a Fletcher, Bradeth is near the top of Elrok society. Since they are a very spiritual people, they do have a greater connection to the land and the forces that shape it than most people do. Like I said, I appreciate all of your comments. That's what I like to hear! Sweet!!!

Neredos paced his chambers in a fitful rage. He wanted to sleep, oh how he wanted to sleep! Never in the eight centuries since he had last rested had he wanted it more than now. He had thought all his friends dead—long dead, except for Veil, of course. And now his actions had led to Prism's death and Grim's imprisonment. Somewhere in the back of his mind he'd known that Grim was still alive, but he'd all but forgotten. And yet, he hadn't given a second thought as Grim battled Ibrix. Neredos

As always, I appreciate your observations a great deal. Thank you so much. The deterioration was in fact what I was going for, and I'm glad that it was reasoned out that way. I had a lot of fun with Bradeth, Alsha, and Kirra when I was writing this section, so hopefully it's something that you'll also enjoy.

No thunder. Kirra eyed the narrow window skeptically, wondering at the nature of the storm beyond the foggy glass. He had just walked into the bunkhouse after his long conversation with Alsha and hadn't yet stripped out of his armor. The flashes of light had drawn his attention first, as lightning often did. Thunderstorms had long been one of his favorite kinds of weather, mostly for how rare they were in the Everbright City, which rested above the reach of most storms. They often struck out

I love hearing that! Thank you so much. So, way back when I wrote "Shadow Honor", Salidar is arguably the person I put the most of myself into, both some of my good traits and my bad traits. I didn't necessarily want him to be redeemed, per se, but I did hope that some of his good traits would come through. I don't know that I relate to him the same way as I once did, and that's probably a good thing, all things considered, but when I write about him, I still have that very strong note of familiarity unmatched by most of the characters in the series. Thank you for your comments, they are, as always, appreciated. There certainly is a lot of doom on the horizon, isn't there? But they've all survived this far, so who knows what will happen? Other than me, anyway. Thank you for feeling for Styx. He needs all the support he can get.

"It is time," Bradeth said suddenly, rising from the boulder she'd used as a seat. She looked at Kira expectantly. "Parril has arrived at Port Salmus. Are you ready?" Kirra stood as well, though he still eyed Bradeth skeptically. For all her reassurances, he remained doubtful of her claims of teleportation. Nevertheless, he was willing to give her an opportunity to prove him wrong. "Absolutely, what do you need me to do?" Bradeth moved over the recently disturbed earth where they'd burie

I'm so excited for you to get later into this story and experience all the different twists and turns I have in store for you. What are Fasha's plans? And what role will the Elroks play in what's to come? I appreciate the words all the same! Thank you so much for the feedback!

Captain Rega assembled a team of a dozen soldiers within minutes of Maxthane leaving him. He didn't bother consulting with Commander Krythe on the matter, a point Styx filed away for safekeeping. As soon as he sent for the soldiers, he directed nearby servants to retrieve packs of provisions for each of them. Shortly thereafter, the group departed for their hunt by way of Madame Godani's Guildhall with enough supplies to last them four days carried between them all. Styx watched Dogo as they

Flowers brought Veil comfort where most things failed. She insisted that her servants maintain the garden behind her enclave, and they pruned and weeded it daily. She loved to walk down the narrow paths, gliding through a sea of colors. The beauty of them almost allowed her to forget. Almost. Clasean dutifully followed her, maintaining a distance of ten paces, his eyes as alert as ever despite their age as he kept watch for any threats to Veil's person. She wished he would walk beside her, b

I probably didn't explain this very well (If at all, actually... I'm really not sure, heh) but it's different whether we're looking at the past or looking at the present in the story. In "Clouded Purity" they were reliving memories as a sort of Virtual Reality, and could experience thoughts/emotions. When watching the present, they're simply observing, and therefore are not able to experience thoughts/emotions. I like to think of the reason they're all bumping into each other is that the world is starting to converge on Pentalus/the Everbright City/The Shade, because of what had happened there recently. But... I'm really just defending my own lazy writing. Originally, this was as much the Elrok book as it was anything else. Waaaaaaaay back when I first started this series (to refresh memories, I wrote "Shadow Honor" a long time ago, even though I only released it last year) Bradeth was one of the few characters I had already conceived of and written her introduction. I'd actually written the first few chapters of "Lonely Pride" at the time, and when I came back to the story again, I had to keep Bradeth because I adored her. I understand your position regarding Kirra's disbelief. The only reason why I'm defending it is just for the sake of clarity on why I wrote it the way I did. I appreciate the criticism, and I'll be taking it into consideration as I continue to build my worlds. Regarding teleportation: I was trying to set teleportation up as the pinnacle of magic. It's the most complex thing to accomplish using the magic system of this world. Even now, I'm thinking of strategies I could've used to sell this disbelief better (and probably could've toned the disbelief down as well) but it's extremely rare in the history of the world for someone to be able to master it. Whenever you have a feat that is possible but extremely difficult, you'll have people who disbelieve it on account of never having witnessed it. You're absolutely right, however, that Kirra shouldn't be one of these people. I don't know what I was thinking, honestly, XD

My GA community is one of my favorites. I wouldn't want to disappoint my readers here.

I'm happy to hear it! There's a lot more to come in this story, so I hope you continue to love it. (It's either five or six books. I'm about to start writing what I think will be the last one, so we'll see what happens. )

"Okay, can we just pause for a moment?" Prism asked, reaching out to touch Ghayle's arm. "There's a lot for me to unpack here. I realize you're showing me all the potential Chosen currently active right now, but I need to take a breath." "Of course, Prism," Ghayle said, withdrawing her hand. "Let's take a moment to talk." Prism nodded appreciatively, then turned to the Elrok at his side. "First, Telzath, when Bradeth said you had bonded yourself to Grim, did she mean what I think she mea

I like your theories on what would've happened with Salidar. He and Maxthane certainly have different styles, and ways of going about things. Of course, Salidar also expected to live a lot longer. He had a lot more to teach his son, and perhaps, despite Salidar's more morally ambiguous approach to life, some of that edginess would have helped Maxthane deal with these things easier. What Geoffrey said is correct about Kubriss as well. :-) Styx facing another demon certainly will have its surprises. Maxthane does have a lot of surprises in store as well, and hopefully seeing him resolve the issues with Krythe will be as enjoyable when read as it was to write. Good catch on Kubriss.

We'll be seeing a lot more of our boys, don't worry. I really enjoyed writing Kirra and Styx's contrasting perspectives on the world. Contrasting perspectives was part of the goal of this series as a whole, and I hope it continues to show up in feedback. There's definitely a lot in store for Kirra especially. I wanted him to be the one I followed a bit more often in this book, just like Styx was in book one.

Sleep. That's what Maxthane needed and had been steadily running out of. He found it easily enough, when the opportunity arose, but the opportunities came few and far between. Had his father been this busy all the time? Maxthane doubted it, reasoning that his extra duties stemmed more from the transfer of power than from having the power itself. But he did what he could to be effective within his grueling schedule. He spent his mornings in council with Captain Rega and Commander Krythe, dele

Kirra flinched when Styx's body rubbed against his. The contact lasted for a fraction of a second, but it was enough to send Kirra on another spiraling journey through his doubts. He wanted Styx in every way, from the quiet conversations to the lust-fueled kisses exchanged in the dark corners of Madame Godani's complex. He wanted more, to invite Styx to explore the depths of his body and soul, but he couldn't. They sparred on the roof of the Inkblade headquarters, shirtless and sweating from

That was actually the dichotomy I was going for in this chapter. I was trying to show a connection between Alsha and Veil, and their two different perspectives, so I appreciate your insight into that. Shadow Honor was in many ways a question of whether the ends justify the means, and now this is sort of a revisit of that concept to bring us back into the tone of the present. I hope it works. Indeed. Veil really does have some interesting ideas on morality, don't you think?

Don't worry, there are plenty of answers on their way. Glad to see you here, and I look forward to reading the rest of your comments on the future chapters. I think there's a lot of fun stuff that happens in this book, though I might be a little biased.

I'm glad you love my boys. THey're very dear to me.

I sure hope so. I look forward to your comments!

Veil lounged in her chambers, a cup of the finest azure wine in her hand, sipping it slowly as she enjoyed the coolness of the evening. These were dark times, in some ways as dark as the days of the Demon War, now eight centuries in the past. No, not past. The same war had persisted throughout the centuries, continuing to play out through the madness of the King. Neredos was a fool, or perhaps simply insane, and sometimes Veil didn't know which she feared more. Both would be curable by death

I hope it will live up to those expectations!