Cynus

My heart goes out to the Duke a lot over the course of the story. Obviously I can't say much more without it being a spoiler, but I ended up putting a lot more of myself into him that I thought I would. I had originally planned to make him a complete asshole, but as soon as I wrote the scene, he took a completely different path. Veil and the Grim were always supposed to be close, however, and we'll have plenty of time to cover what happened between them. The Fedain morality is an interesting study, to be sure. Grim is a cute little firecracker, isn't he? It will be a bit more complex than that, but that had a lot to do with it. I suppose part of the other for writing the story for me was asking the question "if the world was sentient, what would it do to save itself?" Grim is and always will be my favorite character in this series. He is modeled after someone who is very important to me, and I remember our shared youth quite fondly. Writing him as a teenager was a lot of fun. It's a whole political mess, that's for sure. I really enjoyed writing this family scene. It was fun to show these characters in a different light they'd seen before, and to give some background on who they were before they became who they are. Relationships in the story have a huge impact on the path it takes, so I hope you enjoy watching them develop. We're going to see a lot of changes in relationships along the course of the story. Each of these characters will have prominent roles to play, family dynamics have a way of creating drama, after all. Fedain are very good when it comes to love. Very open-minded indeed.

He learned from the best! I have had this scene burning in my mind for well over a year, though the naming portion of it came to me only a short time before I wrote it. I'm glad you like it.

Prism stepped back from Ghayle's touch, momentarily reeling from the weight of memory. After he recovered and reassessed his condition, he turned a narrow-eyed stare on Ghayle and asked, "What was that supposed to tell me, Ghayle? My life was hardly a good example of the state of the world. I was a poor boy who didn't understand how the world worked, not then, and not when it collapsed." "So that you understand your place in the world," Ghayle replied, nodding in approval. Her hand remaine

Hopefully you'll enjoy the journey. Those are marvelous questions my friend, and many answers await you in the pages ahead. I think you're right where I want you, reader-wise, and I hope you'll enjoy finding the answers as they arise.

Yes, I believe Prism even mentioned he was a lot like Styx once. You're going to see a different side of both our boys here, but hopefully they'll still feel like themselves, and you'll be able to see the future them inside the children they once were. Two thieves in a pod. That was indeed a description of guns. Not necessarily the same type of firearms as we have today, but a similar type of weapon, for sure. We will eventually get into why/how the technology differs between the periods. I'm glad. Prism has a tendency to immediately assess a person/situation. He saw his younger self reflected in Styx. This was inspired by Holi, for sure. Interestingly enough, i'd never been to the festival before writing this, but shortly after finishing this chapter I attended for the first time. I think I might enjoy such a period of structured enlightenment, myself, heh.

Nameless grunted in pain as a bump in the road sent his head slamming against the reinforced wall of the vehicle. He growled and glanced at the barred grate separating him from the driver, wishing he could take a shot at Ol' Boggi, the village constable to remind him how to drive. Boggi took the growl as an invitation to comment on Nameless's situation, which only served to aggravate him further. "You know, boy . . . it'll only be for a few years, then you can come back out, if'n that's wh

I look forward to your future thoughts. I honestly hadn't thought of the Great Flood metaphor before, but that's a great analogy, indeed. Lots of questions in store, even if many questions have just been answered. Hope you'll enjoy the ride! I love that you're already delving into their psyches. Ah... those are good questions indeed. We'll find out a lot more in the chapters to come. Many questions will be answered, many more will arise. We've a long road to travel with many sights to see. I like you picking up on Prism's innate wariness, good job! Indeed. While not trying to draw any direct comparisons per se, I was trying to establish a world in a similar position to ours, but we'll see if I accomplished that as we move along.

Chapter 1 The world felt white. Prism had never felt a color before, but he could think of it in no other terms. He floated through a sea of pure light, an intense wind whipping around him from everywhere and nowhere, pulling him toward the great unknown. Death. He'd died. He knew it, could remember speaking to Styx in Pentalus, after facing Fasha in a burning building. He'd failed to protect anyone—not Styx, nor the people of Pentalus, nor Grim . . . Grim. Prism ached for the

Eight centuries before Salidar thulu-Khant's reign, the world was much different. Technology, not magic, defined the world, though political machinations and civil unrest had pushed the world to the edge of destruction. Two young men, embark on a journey of self-discovery while dealing with the consequences of a broken society. Meanwhile, an ancient force seeks to unleash a Trial of Destruction on the world.

Awesome! The little I know about the Maori has always intrigued me. When I lived in South Korea, I had a good friend and roommate for a few months who was a Kiwi, and that's probably the most I've learned about Maori culture, though that was still from a non-Maori.

I thought this would serve more like a teaser at the end of the movie, kind of like what Marvel movies do these days. I wanted it to have a punch of interesting things, but create just as much hype as it answers. We now know who worked with Fasha to screw up things with the Knights, but we still don't know why, and we still don't know what's going to happen with that. I promise that the answer to your second question will be answered very quickly in book 2. Awesome! As you already know (thank you again) Book 2, "Clouded Purity", has already begun posting at Patreon. It will be posted in full here, but will finish quicker there. It's just a teaser, something to get you hyped up for the sequels. Hopefully won't take too long for you. Oh, when this web finally untangles, you'll have all the answers. If you don't, I will make sure to do a Q&A, heh. Awesome! Thank you for joining us. It's been a fun ride. These are all excellent observations. Now, why did Grim although that information inside is simply because he didn't trust anyone? Or is there something else that Grim has revealed to anyone yet? I like the way pick up on the undertones. Oh, don't feel so bad. I didn't want you to think it would be Veil, though I am glad that some people suspected her. Ever since I first started writing fantasy, way back in middle school, I have had this idea for a character who is an Oracle, who dresses all in white, acts very serene and cool, but who is actually an antagonist. Veil gave me the opportunity to finally do that. As to how she developed that way, I promise you we will eventually get to it. As for what Neredos is, too, will also cover that. Veil's story will be really big in book 3. Thank you for coming along on the ride. Awesome! I look forward to having you! Thank you, I appreciate the support. The whole idea was to write this as a teaser, something that would linger, and make you eager to see more. Judging by your reaction, I really hope I succeeded.

Thank you for that. The next adventure will be again very soon, this week to be precise. Unfortunately, we will not be immediately picking up where we've just left our heroes. We will be going into the past, with Prism and Grim, to explore the beginning of the demons eight hundred years in the past. Hopefully this detour will keep you invested until we resume Styx and company in book 3. Madame Godani is amazing. She's definitely one of my favorites. As for the other...? Honestly, my perspective on Maxthane's easy willingness to accept a threesome came mostly from two different things. One, The Shade is pretty sexually liberated. They enjoy high individual expression, which extends sexuality as well. Secondly, Maxthane is simply not a jealous person. Nor does he consider people to be property, something that he shows when he frees the gladiators. When it comes down to it for him, he loves Styx on a level he doesn't even fully understand, and it compels him to accept whatever comes with that. When you add all that together, throw in some innate Fedain qualities, then Maxthane's easy acceptance of Kirra shouldn't be too hard to see. It is good to trust Kirra and his Gor instincts in pretty much every sense. Trust that his instincts have noticed something, don't necessarily trust that he has interpreted them correctly, though. All of those questions will eventually be answered, of course. We will be dealing with some of them in book 2, and some of them in book 3. If I try to fit everything into one book, it would've ended up very long. Oh, don't you worry, we will have plenty of answers for you on all of these to come. Dogo, Madame Godani, the Shade... Many changes in store for everyone. So, when I invite all my readers to go hang gliding with me, you'll be staying behind? Would you least be willing to come pick us up at the bottom of wherever we land? Next thing definitely has it in him, the question is do the people believe in him? Yes, our Warriors of Dark(plus one Warrior of Light) are going to be very cool. A lot of fun in store for the crew. What does "Kia Ora" mean?

Oh, we're going to learn quite a bit about Ghayle in the next book. Indeed! Way to take notes! Two things kept Prism from facing Fasha until one of them died the last time he had a chance. One, he had to protect Styx. Two, he believed he had to get necessary information to Neredos. At this point, however, he believes that the best course of action is to give everything he can to try to kill Fasha. I had actually considered that option with Fasha/Salidar, but ended up choosing this instead. I still have a ways to go, so there's plenty of opportunity for me to mess around with the Fasha/Salidar/Maxthane problem, and many different routes I could take to get there. Maxthane and The Shade will have a lot to do with book 3. Hopefully you guys will last through the prequel. I appreciate all the speculation. One question is, does Styx even know that Grim is inside of that pillar? The only people we know for sure witnessed it were Prism and Neredos. Anyone else might've just assumed that Grim made it out safely. I really like your thought process on how things will happen with The Shade. I absolutely agree with you that the lack of Prism makes the heroes' job all that much harder. If he had managed to stay alive to help them, they would be in a much better position. But on the other hand, as you have alluded to, it has impacted Styx in a way that has charged him with responsibility and duty, allowing him to lead the charge. I think you will find Grim as complex as ever. This. Indeed! And we may learn more about what he believed in book 2! Oh, I think Fasha would have the good sense to stay as far away from Johnny Storm is possible. Of course, you might be able to catch him. :-) I'm glad you like the badness of the antagonist. Makes me think I'm doing something right. I was too much help just yet. There is magic in this world, after all.

Book 2 will begin posting sometime next week! Either Wednesday or Saturday. Thanks for joining me!

"The plan shouldn't have failed. Everything was in its proper place! How could it fall apart like that?" Fasha glared at the woman on the other side of the fluidic barrier. Veil was some distance away, but through the devices that each of them had, they could communicate as if they stood face to face. "What?" She replied, keeping her expression composed as she looked back at him. "Are you angry with me? I don't see how you could be. I did everything you asked of me." "You're not angr

Chapter 26 (the epilogue) will post either late today or early tomorrow. I'll be out all day, so I'll hopefully get to comments, soon.

It felt surreal to be entering The Shade again so soon, and to be doing so through the main entrance instead of sneaking in. While Maxthane had expected things to be different now that his father was dead, he still thought of the grand cavern as his home, but for some reason it didn't feel familiar to him anymore as he stepped onto the staircase that would lead him down into the depths. It felt like he was entering a whole new world. His stomach fluttered and he felt as if he were going to

And unfortunately, it happens all too often. The immortal's curse. At least that's what my best friend and I call it. The way that living forever affects your psyche. As always, I appreciate your enthusiasm! I can tell you who summoned Fasha, but not until we reach that point. I can tell you who Fasha's contact is in the Everbright city, too! Of course, we learn that sooner rather than later. I can't wait to explain Prism's tattoos to you even more. Oh, just wait for the next book before you draw too many conclusions on Prism and Grim. As I was mentioning above, I was inspired a lot by the term "the immortals curse", which has certainly affected Grim in its own way. Will be delving into the foundation of Grim in the next book. Names are definitely powerful, and it's great you picked up on that. You nailed Neredos exactly. :-) Don't worry, obvious I won't reveal how yet, but were not done with Grim yet. The only thing I can answer this point, is that Fasha had the time between leaving Salidar and Maxthane to change into whomever he wanted to be. As for why he chose Veil, and whether or not Veil has anything to do with this, I'll address later. Oh yes, the Knights honestly didn't think this would ever happen. At least not for the past few centuries, anyway. Now, I think another interesting question is, why were they so unprepared? What stopped that knowledge from being spread? Is it simply Neredos's incompetence, or is there something else at work? I love this back and forth between you two. Thank you for this. Answers will come soon, I promise!

I will respond to recent chapter comments later today.

"Prince Maxthane!" Kirra and Styx looked up to see one of Salidar's men headed their way. He was dressed in the black leather uniform, except that his was of higher quality than the others, marking him as higher rank than the other soldiers. The sword he held was of a quality to match the armor, and from the scars visible on his middle-aged face, to the gait with which he walked, implied that he was a seasoned soldier. Worry was etched into his features as he saw Maxthane lying on the ground, un

Indeed. What marvelous and extensive observations! I love them all.

I take it that's a good "OMG"?

I'm glad the battle scene worked! Oh, we'll be addressing what happens soon. Will someone save Prism? Good question. Or is he even going to need saving? Just because he thinks he has no chance, doesn't mean he doesn't have the ingenuity to pull through. Sweetlion's answer is definitely in the right area. Good question. You will have an answer before the end of the book. As for Maxthane and what happens next... Man, I need to finish the next book . . . Good job!

Neredos had already turned away, considering Prism a non-issue. There are also reasons for Neredos being . . . well, Neredos. I will eventually address this issue (I have already, actually, in chapter 1 of book 3, but it'll be awhile before we get there). I'm glad you're questioning things. It actually helps me know what I definitely have to cover in the later books!

It is kind of a terrible way to get to the throne, but I suppose that's the way of things, isn't it? How will Fasha deal with the threat he has created in Maxthane? The Knights truly were unprepared for what is happened, weren't they? And I hope to prove that Maxthane doesn't have a shred of jealousy in him from his actions towards Kirra. He's good kid. Oh, don't worry about him. I never kill my characters! I don't know if you've ever seen Full Metal Alchemist before, but there's a character, Greed, who is incredibly difficult to kill. One of the lines set against him is "how many times do I have to kill you before you stay dead?". I like to imagine certain people saying that to Fasha. Yes, unfortunately these beautiful and magnificent Eagles will not be able to fly the ring to Mordor. Indeed, Salidar's motives were exactly what he lined them out to be. Despite all the warnings, he truly believed he would be able to avoid losing control. Great question! Yes it did! Thank you so much, and I hope you received my email. Oooo... I like where you're going with your thought process here. Delving into the motives of the Vhor... I'm looking forward to your reaction when you see the final reveal of everything. Of course, that might take a while yet. We will eventually get to the heritage of Styx. I promise! Really, I do! Hey, I'm glad someone feels sorry for Salidar. I put a lot of myself in to him, just as I did with Nobuyuki and Masahiro Sato from "From the Cup of the Worthless". I have a soft spot for bad boys, what can I say? And yes, in his final moments, Salidar was shown the perfect truth of everything he tried to accomplish, the dark mirror of his intentions. His final moments must've been agony. I don't think it's weird at all the you felt more sorry for the Eagles to the Knights. As far as we know, most of the Knights are pricks. We'll get into a lot more tattoo magic later, too. Have you noticed Prism's? Thank you for the confidence boosters! Max did! Unfortunately, Fasha is a man with many many many contingency plans. But, he is killable, if they can only pull it off. Ah, I absolutely agree with you, Salidar would not of been equipped to deal with the potentials of a demon threat that wasn't under his control. Hell, even if the plan had succeeded exactly the way he wanted it to, Salidar still probably would have come up short. And there's more intensity to come, I promise you. Book 3 will deal with our boys being together the most, I think. That, or book 5... We'll have to see where the muse takes me, and if everybody makes it to that book...