Cynus

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!

In a small garden between the world and the not-world, Ghayle entertained her guests. Prism, her most recent guest, had spent a day processing memories from his youth. Memories Ghayle had shown him, hoping to bring him to an understanding of the role she'd assumed for eons. But he hadn't fully come to understand. In fact, no matter how many times she went over it, Prism just wouldn't accept that Ghayle's decision to summon the demons had been the right move. And so, she let him deliberate, w

Days after an attempt to unleash demons upon the world has failed, three young men find themselves in the midst of new challenges. One must determine what it means to lead. One must face his past. One must discover who he really is. But there are forces still at play in the world which could undermine everything they hope to build and discover. Is the demon threat truly over? This is Book 3 of The Trial. You can find book 1 "Shadow Honor" here:

I'm so sorry I missed this. Thank you for commenting and reading. I appreciate your words on this. I wish I had more to add than that, but I agree with all your points above. Your first paragraph reminded me of this: I'm sorry I don't have much constructive to add, but thank you so much for your comments. They have lifted my spirits. You actually responded to it back then, heh.

Thankfully, I keep an eye on things and get to come back and respond to comments. I'll admit, I'm not really that close to this story anymore, and that does make it more difficult to comment on specific parts of it. This story, as you'll see at the end (this isn't a spoiler) was about a specific kind of release for me. Now that it has been released, I don't have much connection to it. It was a painful thing to write in a lot of ways, but... well, to put it simply, I've healed. But all of your commentaries have been a breath of fresh air. You're welcome to message or email me if you'd like to go over any technical or editorial details on any of my stories if you'd like. Fair warning, I am very bad at maintaining regular correspondence, though I do tend to reply. I hope you enjoy this story. It was very important for me to write at the time, and there's a lot of me that went into it. Thank you for reading it. Thank you. I had forgotten that line, and I'm glad to have had an opportunity to read it and relive it.