Will Hawkins

Jeremy, in his dream, predicted all this including the death of the king, but in his dream, it was he who put on the crown. A very mysterious interlude. I fear the mystery is not easily solved. Well, back to reading. I am sure all will be made clear after the smoke settles.

The extent of Jeremy's ecstasy feels like it is more than alcohol driven, perhaps with a mysterious powder or pills dissolved in a drink. He, I feel is going to waken in the morning with a throbbing head and a soreness in other places in his body. This evening will have far-reaching and unpleasant consequences I am afraid.

A typical formal affair with everyone smiling and bowing on the surface, but with claws barely retracted. You have captured the tension and the boredom of the guests very well TB. This implies either much research or an intimate experience with similar formal occasions. At any rate, excellent writing.

Griffen is an approved spelling of the mythical beast that is half lion and half eagle, but there is also an alternative spelling of 'gryphon' that may be more familiar to some readers.

invite him to join Beatrix and me. The object of the verb 'join'. We have now determined that Yinx's blindness is modified by magic because he can see better when his feet touch the ground, the question now becomes, how much better?

I agree with Buz the word 'tragedy' in the series title seems inappropriate at this time. However, in the progress of the tale, it may change its meaning. We shall see!!

Yinx, our young harpist is not totally blind then -- he used a candle in his little hut, but he uses the abilities of a blind man to detect thoughts and feelings... It seems to me that both of the gods who wish to court him are less than good, but the werewolf seems to be better. Interest grows as the tale progresses. Good writing Juju, keep up the level.

Yes, we readers know that the young man, the harpist, is the chosen of the moon. Is he truly blind or is that only moonlight in his eyes? The adding of names with the change of viewpoint is NOT distracting, it helps to shift the reader's attention from one character to another without the normal 'he said/she said', although the brain skips over those phrases as we are so used to seeing them. Excellent start to what promises to be an interesting and unusual tale. 😀

Well, this is confusing but interesting -- let's see what is going on!! !make it easier to the shack. – make it easier to get to the shack.

Okay, here comes snarky!!! 'is' is a 'to be' verb and as such does not take an object. "Now it’s just him and I" therefore uses the wrong case for the pronoun -- it should read, "now it is just he and I". I know that is not the way teens talk, however, and you are doing 'teen talk' here, so this is not a monumental error, just something to consider for the future as an author.

So pleased to hear from you, Mark, and your academic achievements. When you get to be my age (85) and you don't hear from/about a friend for a while suspicions rise as to their welfare. Maybe that is transference, but... At any rate, now that the zenith of academia is reached, you have an audience of interested readers out here in the world. Rest, revitalize and recover your fictional muse as soon as possible, but do not stress your health. Misterwill

Retched Raven or Wretched Raven? no denying it of food - no denying it food

There is confusion in my mind about the relationships between Stefano and Toch\Troch and Allise. We have a father, Stefano, with a newly-born son (who has been named Nikolos) and who gets bitten on the - back? - of the neck by Vargon, the dark traveler. Then there is the question of the cause of death of Toch\Troch - a slip on wet grass and two people plunge into the river and drown. Was one of these Allise? If so, who had a baby? This could be a fascinating beginning for a Gypsy-vampire story if we were sure about what happened to whom and when!

Your alternating between present and historical viewpoints in your writing is a way to make the story most complete as it offers insight from the past into the present actions of the characters. It is a literary device that is common among nineteenth-century writers and is perfectly acceptable so long as you make it clear to the reader that is what is happening.

It is a terrible situation for a ruler not to be able to trust some of those who surround him, but it becomes more terrible for his country when even a monk is included in those he distrusts.

I am concerned about Max. Yes, he is the heir to the king of the underworld, but at this point, he is letting his fifteen-year-old hormones lead him around by the balls. I don't think his father is going to be too happy with him.

The magic tattoos are an interesting twist in this story. Of course, I want Styx to do well in his fighting, He is a character to whom one can easily relate.

Extra kudos to Buz if he knows the origin of the expression he used about a 'Doozy'. Interesting story so far, looking forward to the melee! I especially like Styx. He is just unsure enough of his own talents to be interesting.

After just finishing another of your stories, I sought this one out as being a little more contemporary, in date of publication, not necessarily in the era being described. I enjoy your writing style even though the magic sometimes confuses an old writer of Engineering Reports such as I. Obviously magic is not my forte, but I will put my pragmatism on the back burner for a while and just relax and enjoy. The freedom from technical (read: grammatical) errors in your writing is a real pleasure, too many GA authors publish with the grammar of a pre-teen who slept through his English classes in Grade School and, though his writing may tell an interesting tale, it is destroyed for the reader by his poor command of the mechanics of English composition. Misspellings, homophones, and verb-subject disagreements interrupt a reader's concentration and he loses the thread of the narrative. I will not even mention punctuation. English punctuation is a morass in which an author can easily become mired! These grammatical faults are so easy to avoid - subjecting one's writing to a grammar checker like Grammarly (which is free) is a very simple solution. A good editor or beta reader is another help. Just re-reading the work before publication doesn't work well as the author's eye can skip too easily over grammatical errors because if his familiarity with his own writing and concern with the story being told. At any rate, I am looking forward to enjoying your work with much anticipation.

This was a difficult series for me to read. To assimilate all the author's writing skill requires an intimate knowledge of both Ancient and Renaissance Mythology which I admit I do not possess. If I had that depth I am sure I would have been able to follow the author's pattern more closely. On the other side of the coin: the writing is excellent. It is a real pleasure to read an entire series without being inundated in grammatical error and spelling mistakes. The grammar here is perfect, the characterizations are excellent and the pace is appropriate to the subject matter, even with the 1,000 word limit for each chapter. All in all a superior effort, Cia. Congratulations and a resounding 'well done'. Mister will

I have attended two funerals in my lifetime - one for my mother and the other for a boyfriend. When my mother died I was too young to take part in the services, when my boyfriend died, not of AIDs thankfully, I was asked to be a eulogist. I have always believed that funerals are for the living, not the deceased, so when I spoke I interjected several humorous incidents from our lives together. The reaction of other guests was totally approving and the laughter from them was a welcome relief from the solemnity of the occasion. I received many compliments on my attitude and on the eulogy, so I guess I created the right atmosphere. The tenor of my speaking was how much he had enjoyed his life and how brief was the painful exit from it. Even friends from his lifetime complimented me on the humor I was able to inject into the proceedings and I am sure that he was laughing in heaven.

I hope that the hospital can detect some substance in Ethan's body that establishes his desire to die without recourse, to help Caleb's sense that he did the best he could to prevent his friend's death.

As my comments are coming nearly a year after others that appear on the site, I assume that the 'bug' about notices has been fixed. Suicide by exsanguination (bleeding to death by cutting the wrists) is not terribly successful as the arteries in the wrists are much deeper than a person would expect and cutting a vein does not allow enough blood to flow quickly. Cutting the femoral artery (on the inside of the thigh ) is quicker, but once again, the femoral artery is much deeper than an inexperienced person would assume. Statistically, worldwide, suicide by exsanguination is only 1.2% successful and that takes into account cutting and piercing attempts in countries where firearms are not easily available.

"Tragedy is not the greatest dinner guest, but he does tell great stories." Adventure and Romance are second-rate storytellers when compared to Tragedy. Just weigh the works of the great tragedians against those of the Romanticists. But Tragedy often adds a tinge of levity to spice up his stories as well. Great beginning Cynus. I am in love with your imagery already. Now, I cheat on GA tales waiting until a series is complete so I am not subject to the frustrations of your close followers, but at my age, there is not time enough to wait around for next week's issue. Keep up the great use of language Cy, it makes a tale sing to its reader. MisterWill

In reference to 'blooding', it's always better (easier) to ask forgiveness rather than permission. This is the second time I have started this story. This time I plan to stick with it. Your writing style Cia makes reading your stories a real treat. Onward!!!!!!