Rowley's Roar #10

For today's blog post, one of the fictional characters from my novels will be sharing a few messages. No, I'm not going crazy. I'm just having a little fun with writing from the perspective of one of my characters, to explain her music.

Without further adieu, please once again welcome Captain Edwina "Roaring" Rowley, who shall be taking a moment to explain another song from an album we're compiling.

The Tiger Witch

Hey itches.

Sorry if I'm in a sad mood today, because we're nearly to the end of my story and I don't want to say goodbye. I don't know what will become of me after this, but I'll get to that in a moment.

So, there I was, the last pirate captain, even though I didn't want to be one anymore. It really sucks that all the others got to go legit after the Dead Queen was finally forced to bow the knee, but not me. I was specifically excluded, simply because the leader of the Pirate Hunters hated me so much and had the ear of the Blackwell sisters, who were the ones that made the offer of amnesty.

I'll never forget seeing Foundation Stone explode so brightly, she outshone the sun, followed by multiple general bone transduction broadcasts, from the Port Keepers that manage the Ice Palaces and handle most day to day communication.

Every time I heard that offer of amnesty, followed by the specific exclusion of myself, my heart twisted a little further, because I never wanted to be a pirate! I was so angry!

In the end, I made up my mind to fly to Cakana, the old harvest moon that used to feed the whole star system.

Since the people there had thrown off the shackle of living under the boot of the Newt Witches and had no contact with space, I figured no one living there would know anything about me. I planned to land Glass House in some remote corner and start over as a little band of traveling minstrels, something the remainder of my crew had no problem with.

I really miss them, because they were the best. The few I had left were my die-hard fans, who were willing to share my grave, if necessary. Mr. Zindo, the rest of my bridge crew and my chief engineer were my closest friends, but unfortunately, their loyalty cost them their lives. Zindo, in particular, was my...oh, never mind, you don't want to hear that.

I just wish I could have gone with them, but that was not my fate...

We got to Cakana orbit and just as I was observing, to make calculations for landing, I was surprised to see a ship rocket into space. Even more strange was the fact it was Starwitch, the little rocket the Blackwell sisters lived and traveled in.

I tried reaching out to the sisters with bone transduction, but got an immediate splitting headache as the magic rebounded, unable to located them. Instead, I recast the spell and focused only on the interior of the other ship.

That's the day I met Lieutenant Colonel Scarth Denholm, who I will curse to the day I die again! That insane woman got me killed, but I'm getting ahead of myself.

We soon learned each of us hated the Blackwell sisters for our own reasons. Furthermore, Denholm was on a mission of revenge, because the sisters had orchestrated the downfall of her nation.

It wasn't long before their ship docked in my landing bay and we met face to face.

I performed Twinkle and Spin for Denholm and her clearly gone in the head companion, who was most certainly a completely deranged blood witch. Surprisingly enough, both of them enjoyed the song.

We became friends, after a fashion, bonding over our shared hatred, and began planning our revenge.

Unfortunately, I realized far too late that Denholm was even more mad than her companion, which is quite the statement. Captain Kristina "Killer" Krauss was a blood witch, assassin and serial killer, but at least with her, I knew where I stood. As a pirate, I dealt with that kind of monster on a regular basis, because they were useful for boarding action.

Denholm, on the other hand, had been hiding a very self-destructive side. With the fall of her nation, which had been the foundation of her obsessive personality, she was completely directionless, aside from her desire to punish Amelia Blackwell for her betrayal. The trouble with that kind is that once they reach the end of the road and get their revenge, almost anything can happen.

By the time I realized that, I was already stuck riding the tiger wherever she led. I'd already agreed and backing out wasn't an option, because Denholm had a real psychotic need to punish betrayers.

In the end, my own hatred cooled and I decided to do the bare minimum to further Denholm's plans, then get as far away as possible, because Denholm's eyes glowed when she was angry.

Do you have any idea what it means for a witch's emotions to make their eyes glow?

It meant Denholm was in the same class as the primordial witches, the first generation, who were so powerful, they could overwhelm their own flesh, if they weren't careful with magic. The worst case of mana burn I studied in school resulted in one of the children of the first witch literally exploding, simply because she pushed her magic too far, too fast.

And let me tell you, that wasn't a small explosion. It vaporized an entire moon and disrupted the gas giant it orbited, leaving the other moons adrift, though that happened in another star system, long, long ago.

Getting back to the point, the Blackwell sisters turned out to be coming right to us on a little errand of their own, so we stayed put, to "welcome" them.

As usual, I took more punishment than I deserved, even though I only fired a warning shot. That's when Iris pulled her little remote-touch trick, literally beating most of my bridge crew half to death and poor Zindo took a full-strength kick to the family jewels! I could have sworn I heard something rupture, but once the rest of us were down, Iris invisibly kicked him in the head, presumably to end his suffering, because he was screaming pretty loud. Then Marta hit Glass House with the full power of the magic she'd stolen from the Dead Queen.

As my ship started to come apart, I decided it was time to do one good thing and kill Denholm. I grabbed my axe and strummed my heart out, like never before! I hit her with the full force of Myth Guitar and I hope I shattered her skull, because she was too crazy to let live!

I played for all my worth in my final moments and even kept going as I was sucked out in space. I kept going as long as I could, hoping to balance my personal ledger a little in my final moments.

I don't know how the battle turned out after that, but as my body began to freeze in the void, I found myself wondering why I'd only been stunned by the vacuum of space, which didn't make sense...

Here's The Tiger Witch for you to enjoy:

Lyrics

Met some witches near harvest moon,
Who knew of sisters Black Well!
Of like purpose, we attune,
Payback would be real swell!

I forgot my own advice,
And teamed up for revenge sake!
I shouldn't have rolled the dice,
Just to have my final stake!

Chorus:
I will now ride the tiger,
This crazy witch will kill us!
I'm an unwilling rider,
Can't we this fate, now discuss?

Iris uses lethal intent,
And Marta's second to none!
My aid I shouldn't have lent,
To myself, what have I done?

In regret, I grab my axe,
Roaring at the tiger witch!
Myth guitar, we pay the tax,
And kill that psychotic itch!

(Chorus)

Knowing I'm dead by own hand,
I strum to balance my sheet!
It is not a gesture grand,
With my fingers moving fleet!

I hope the tiger to see,
On the other side of veil!
To tiger, stand up to she,
And then go to my soul's jail!

(Chorus)

My Glass House, she does now break,
Yet to my grave, I will play!
For more air, yet I do ache,
One more heart to music sway!

Cannot breathe, my fingers freeze,
My life over, music done,
To the Gods, I now beg, "Please?"
Yet how can void only stun?

(Chorus)

Here's a link to the MP3 file, if you'd like to download it.

The Tiger Witch is copyright 2026, Owen Tyme, all rights reserved, but free for your personal enjoyment. Lyrics by Owen Tyme, music generated by ACE-Step 1.5. E-mail me if you want to use it for something else.

Waiting in the Void

So, I died by explosive decompression.

Can't say it surprises me, because that's a pretty common fate for pirates. Thing is, in the old sailing days, defeated pirates would have walked the plank into waters that had been chummed, to bring on the sharks. However, in space, the closest thing to that is an airlock. That's the usual quick punishment that most every ship captain would use on captured pirates. It's a cruel and unusually painful execution method, but since we were cruel and often unusual, it was fitting.

On the other hand, I'm deeply confused by the fact that even though my body stopped, I didn't. Can you imagine getting spaced, and losing consciousness from the stunning strain of it, only to wake up some time later, merely uncomfortable? That's exactly what happened to me. I'm just lucky my eyes were open when I died, because otherwise, I would have spent the intervening years blind.

Yet, somehow, I kept my hand tightly wrapped around the neck of Myth Guitar. I can't help but smile at the image of a musician getting spaced, only to keep a good grip on her axe. Honestly, it's one of those perfect little things that life sometimes does, adding a little sweet to a bitter end.

I don't know how long I was out, but when I came to, I was alone, though there was some debris from my ship floating about.

I honestly have no idea how much time passed, but after a while, I hoped Nuva, the Goddess of Death, would come to take my soul to the afterlife. In fact, I started to silently pray for her intervention, because there's nothing worse than hanging about, with literally nothing to do.

I prayed for either rescue or a more permanent end, but nothing happened and I was forced to wait. Of course, that was not the end of my prayers, because I spent whole days and weeks turning my thoughts to Nuva and the rest of the Gods.

Eventually, the debris of my ship floated off, since every piece had its own differing velocity. I got to see some of it fall into the atmosphere and burn up, which was kind of pretty.

After seeing that, I crunched the numbers for my own orbit, in the hopes it might decay and bring me to an end, but I was frustrated to realize it was almost stable and would take decades to decay.

So, I mentally settled in for the long haul, composing lyrics and music in my mind. The album I've been sharing with you is the result and I must say, I'm kind of proud of it. I just wish I could try the songs out loud, because they're never quite the same same inside my head versus outside.

My next favorite hobby while I floated was trying to puzzle out what had happened to me, but since I literally flunked Necromancy 101 (I slept through every class), it took me quite a while to realize I'd become a zombie.

You see, I eventually turned my magical senses inward, discovering magic bonding my soul to my skull, which might be how a zombie is made. I don't know, but I'm definitely dead and my soul stuck around, so I must be a zombie, right?

Anyway, that left me with a nagging question: how did I become a zombie? I really don't know, but I have my suspicions. It could be that the Dead Queen put a delayed-activation spell on me, which was designed to turn me into a zombie upon death. From a skilled caster, those can be rather hard to sense.

That's the biggest possibility, because I could see the cruel monster reasoning that would be the perfect punishment for failure. Honestly, I wouldn't be the first witch she did that to. I can also reason that she liked me, despite the fact she treated me like sh...crap. Think of it along the lines of a favorite toy and yes, that is the way she treated me. If your favorite toy breaks, do you throw it out or try to fix it?

Yeah, she fixed me good. I hate that woman.

However, there's one big flaw in my reasoning, because most spells fall apart when their caster dies and I'm certain she's dead, because the Blackwell sisters vaporized her giant, granite star ship. So, if her soul passed on, how could it have maintained the spell that turned me undead?

That brings me to the other possibilities.

First, Nuva is pissed off at me and refused to collect me, but I suspect were that the case, she would have spoken with me, because that's her way. She isn't one to not explain herself.

Second, Nuva has some purpose in mind for me, similar to one of her Blessed, though obviously not so exalted, because she turned me undead, rather than restoring my life to me. On the other hand, if I'm to become one of the Blessed, she may be waiting until I'm no longer lost in space to restore my life and the zombie spell is the means to preserve me. I don't think this is it, but can't rule it out.

Third is some mixture of options one and two, which means Nuva extended the Queen's zombie spell, to preserve me until she's ready to have a word.

Honestly, I find myself asking: what is the Goddess of Death playing at?

Years have passed in silent solitude like no other I've ever known and all I long for is to hear another human voice, but that's the trouble: I have been hearing them. I don't know if I'm losing my mind, but Zindo sometimes speaks with me, as does Owen.

I mean, who is this Owen Tyme fellow? I don't know, but he sure is chatty, asking lots of questions about my life and when we're talking, I always hear him scribbling with a pencil. He tells me my life story is fascinating, but that's the last thing anyone wants to be to some crazy voice in their head, right?

Are they real or am I mad? Increasingly, I've begun to suspect the answer is both.

In the end, I just decided to go with the flow, because it was driving me crazy trying to ignore the voices. I know there's a little ironic humor there, but if I wasn't laughing, I'd be crying, not that I can do either at the moment.

Anyway, today I'm staring at Cakana again, because my slow rotations have brought me back around to face it and I see the most bizarre thing, which I ought to tell you about.

You ever see a hockey puck before? Kind of flat and wide, but round? Well, imagine one made of granite that's probably about twelve to fifteen miles wide and one thick, with a glowing cone of energy on top, which makes the whole thing look a little like a glowing witch hat.

It's one of the most beautiful and bizarre things I've ever seen, with a level of engineering sophistication that looks a little like Amelia Blackwell's work. Of course, that's just an educated guess, though it also reminds me a little of the Dead Queen's star ship.

I remember learning about the old generational ship designs, which carried people between the stars, which was how the Solus system was colonized, about three-thousand years back. Every one of them was a big granite block, because that stone can easily provide a surplus of useful magic. My best guess is that it's meant to be a colony ship.

The walled city I see inside that energy field only adds to that impression, but the magic keeping is safe seems to be failing and fading. That's probably from the wind pressure straining the field, becaise they're rising far too fast.

And now it's turning in the air, to face the other way, probably to present a bare face, rather than something inhabited. It's gaining speed and the underside is glowing quite fiercely, as if they've really got something against being anywhere near the ground.

You know what? After all these years of pleading with the Gods for rescue or my final condemnation to the not-so-gentle ministrations of Nyna, the Goddess of Punishment, I think I've got my answer, because that hunk of rock is coming right at me and I'm probably going to shatter like a flash-frozen rose.

Oh well. Either way, it's an end to my long torment and that's all I want.

Wish me luck and here's what will probably be my final song, little itches, titled Waiting in the Void:

Lyrics

Chorus:
For forgiveness, I do pray,
And someone to come along.
Wish my myth guitar to play,
Maybe even fix my wrong.

Waited for Goddess of Death,
And was Hopeless in the Void.
I could not take in a breath,
Stared at passing asteroid.

Goddess Nuva, where are you?
I do fear you may be late,
Can't say that I mind the view,
But please tell my final fate.

(Chorus)

I can't breathe and I can't move,
So how do I cogitate?
With my axe, would I dare groove,
But all I do: pass the date.

Fill my time composing tunes,
Because my fingers done froze.
I watch all the dancing moons,
Wishing I could scratch my nose.

(Chorus)

Filled with regret for my way,
And better option, a lack.
For punishment, I may pray,
Or perhaps, a better track.

Passing the years, months and days,
Arrange lyrics in my mind,
Trying to push off the craze,
Of fool's fate, self-assigned.

(Chorus)

A zombie, I have become,
Waiting in the void, I am.
All of my flesh is now numb,
Delaying this soul's exam.

At harvest moon, I do stare,
Flying mountain surprises me.
Coming at me, I do swear,
Moving too fast, do you see?

Here's a link to the MP3 file, if you'd like to download it.

Waiting in the Void is copyright 2026, Owen Tyme, all rights reserved, but free for your personal enjoyment. Lyrics by Owen Tyme, music generated by ACE-Step 1.5. E-mail me if you want to use it for something else.

Rowley's Parting Words

Well, little itches, I'm shocked.

That ship really put on the brakes, just as soon as it was out of the atmosphere, and I was almost gently scooped up, with the still-warm underside of the hull thawing me out.

The acceleration from that point on was less, though they were probably shooting for escape velocity, which was handy, because it provided just enough force for me to walk the ship's underside.

I got to the edge and looked around, spotting an airlock. From there, it was just a simple matter of using a little gravity magic to keep me in contact with the side as I climbed to that hatch.

Now I'm inside and this place is like a maze. I don't know what's going on, but I hear people shouting. I think I'll go say, "Hi!" Maybe I can be of some assistance?

However, a few parting words, my friends:

Remember what I said once before? Accept others for who they are and don't push them to the edge. That's important, the most valuable lesson I've ever learned, because you never know what might happen. Better to treat people with the decency and respect I never got.

Here's another little gem: hatred isn't the way. All it does it hurt people. I don't know if I'll ever forgive Sakura for the way she treated me and I'm still pretty angry with Denholm for getting me killed, but I guess I'll have to take my own advice and try to let go of my own rage.

Love and kisses, ladies and gentlemen. Love and kisses for all! Goodbye and good journey to all of us!

A Message From Owen

That's the end of this little musical journey, at least for now, though I do have other musical characters in my novels that might merit similar attention. My thinking is I may make some dwarf music to honor some of the characters of The Wizard's Scion, with a chorus of basses and tenors. Some mining and battle music would be good, then there's always Last Keg, which is another song that ought to get made, since it's so important to those characters.

Then there's Lyra, Nicole and Ida, the Siren Sisters, for whom music has always been an important part of their story. The troll birthing and healing songs should be written. Might have to put together an album of troll music.

Captain Edwina "Roaring" Rowley will next be seen in volume four of The Book of Newts, Witchhome. Putting together this album helped me sort out my twisted-up feelings about The Book of Newts and I feel like I can work on the series again.

However, I have a lot of work to do on Ashen Blades/Scarlet Eye and Jigsaw City, so my plans are still taking shape. I'll be playing this by ear, to write the best novels I can for both you and myself, because I'm not going to force the inspiration. That never works.

This album will soon get a little final polish in the form of possibly fading some songs out at the end and in one case, I will probably cut the end off with a fade, because it got a little crazier than I preferred, though the rest of it is spot on. Other songs may get padded with a little silence.

When it's ready, it will be going on Itch.io, since Bandcamp doesn't allow AI-generated music. The price will be pay-what-you-want, since I didn't make this album for money's sake. I really started out to get one song made for a future audiobook, but I had so much fun making Twinkle and Spin, I kept going.

Have a great day. I hope you enjoy my novels and the music that goes with them!

Tags: audio, music, roaring-rowley