Tymely News
Work In Progress #7: Troll War #7 (August 5-9)
This is part seven of my series on my work in progress novel, Troll War, which centers around a kingdom of trolls going to war with a kingdom of dwarves, all because a pair of corrupt nobles from a third kingdom were bored and curious to see which race would come out on top.
You can read a short description of Troll War to learn more or you can read short summaries of each day's writing, on Mastodon.
Here's links to the rest of my blog entries on Troll War, in chronological order:
Slowing Down a Bit
I've been extremely busy in the past week, because I'll be publishing another installment in The Wizard's Scion relatively soon. This will be Dark Moon, which is actually my favorite book in the series, because it introduces Cha'da, the not-exactly-evil-or-particularly-good necromancer. I've always had fun writing her, because she has rather good reasons for all the bad stuff does, which once people hear them, they go, "Oh, I can understand that and I might have done the same." She and Levi become rivals, because he doesn't approve of necromancy.
My artist friend recently finished the cover art and all that's left for me to do is get my final pass of editing done, so I've been putting a little less time into new writing and using a lot of my free time to work on that. I'm about half done, so probably another week of work and then I'll need to set the release date far enough into the future that Draft2Digital's systems can get their ducks in a row, so it will probably be available for purchase in two weeks time.
Chapter 29: The Ember Throne
Sureshot takes her team into Unseelie territory and I switched to Brosla's perspective, because he needed some attention and character development.
He sees movement in the woods, which are far more dense than any forest has a right to be, with trees that have grown together, so their leaves block out most of the light, making the forest dark and gloomy, even during the day.
All the movement seems to be coming from the trees and he sees a creepy face in the bark of one of them.
He pulls his laser rifle off his back as he comes to the conclusion they're being watched.
He raises his concerns with Sureshot, who brushes them off, because she knows for a fact they're being watched by a dryad:
“That face in the bark of a tree I saw you frowning at was the dryad’s, just sticking out of the tree. She wanted us to see her, as a friendly warning to stay on our best behavior. She’s been moving branches around, probably because she noticed the way it bothers you and the soldiers. Dryads are normally a lot more…still.” Sureshot finished with a wry smile, “Just don’t take it personally.”
Shortly after, she declares they're gone far enough and orders the men to make camp, but not get comfortable.
Corporal logan refines her order with additional (screamed) instructions: no campfire, bedrolls only, no tents.
Half of King Windmaker's company of guards take the opportunity to pop their hatches, for some fresh air.
Sureshot lays back against a tree and closes her eyes, leading to this scene:
“Aren’t you afraid?” Brosla asked.
“Me?” Sureshot chucked, “No. I’ve dealt with The Ember Throne before. That’s the name of this country, by the way. The local fey are dangerous and unpredictable, but they’re not stupid enough to kill a special envoy from Oswil.” She said the last theatrically loudly, as if she wanted the dryad to hear her, “Isn’t that right, Matron Blueleaf?”
Brosla fearfully took a few steps back as the face he’d seen earlier appeared in the bark of the tree, above Sureshot’s head.
“My, but you’re a cheeky one…Special Envoy From Oswil, daring to lean on one of my trees, without permission.” The face spoke and looked down at Sureshot with mild amusement, “Is that you, Corporal Stanton?”
“Yes, but I’m a Staff Sergeant, now.” Sureshot answered, her eyes still closed.
“Ah. Always…moving up in the world, you are. I can hardly keep up with the pace at which your kind live. It seems like just…yesterday that I observed you swinging from the branches of one of my sisters, far to the northeast, in that little human…kingdom of yours.” The dryad’s head fully emerged from the tree and leaves sprouted from the bark of her scalp, like hair.
She was rather attractive, for a woman made of wood.
“Really?” Sureshot sounded unimpressed, despite the Dryad’s implication she’d been watching Sureshot grow up, “You have a sister in Oswil?”
“Every forest in the world has a dryad attached to it and we…talk. You’ve been of…particular interest.”
Brosla shuddered, disturbed by the thought of being watched by every tree on the planet.
“Is Lord Shadowfang available?” Sureshot finally got to the point.
“I’m afraid not. He’s being…difficult of late and does not wish to have visitors. The ruler of Utros has…upset him quite badly.”
“That’s a shame, but give him my best, nonetheless. Will you at least pass along a message?”
“No.” The dryad laughed, maliciously, “You leaned against my tree without permission, so I’ll do nothing of the sort.”
“Okay, then you can be the one to inform Lord Shadowfang that he’s missed a perfect opportunity to strike back at Utros, without getting his hands dirty.” Sureshot rose back to her feet and shouted as she strode toward her horse, “Strike camp! We head out in five minutes, back the way we came!”
The dryad loses the undeclared contest of wit with Sureshot, because Sureshot has just put her in the position of giving the fey Lord bad news, so she passes along a request for an audience, then passes the replay back:
Matron Blueleaf spoke with great resignation, “Well played, Staff Sergeant Stanton. Lord Shadowfang will see you…presently, but only one of your party, who will be…required to submit to a…little duel, to obtain an audience. Win the battle and you’ll have your…meeting, plus a personal boon owed by the loser to the winner. Lose and the life of your representative will be…forfeit.”
Sureshot asks for a volunteer and King Windmaker is first to speak, because he's always wanted to fight a fairy, but Sureshot ignores him, because he's too important to risk.
She asks for other volunteers and Brosla eventually speaks. He's nervous as can be, because he's always been a man of peace, but as a null, he knows he'll be immune to fairy magic, giving him the advantage.
Sureshot agrees and the dryad objects, but ultimately agrees:
“Surely you jest! Your imaginary friend can’t accept this challenge!” The dryad’s voice turned angry as she stepped more fully out of the tree, revealing a feminine form made from bark, wearing a dress composed of woven leaves, though her backside was still halfway inside the tree.
Sureshot laughed, “Oh, he’s hardly imaginary.” She stepped back over to the tree-woman, until her face was inches away from the bark of the dryad’s face, hissing, “He’s a null.”
“Ah, that explains the horse that directs itself. I cannot see or hear this…friend of yours, because I use magic to see. Lord Shadowfang will be…furious, but I won’t let on until after the…game is over, because he…disrespected me a few centuries ago.”
Brosla continues on alone, until he comes to a large, cave-like chamber in the forest, filled with wood-sprites, which are two feet tall, made of wood and since they're Unseelie, have whittled their tree branch fingers into claws, with dirk clinging to their roots/feet, which they walk upon, though they clearly root themselves from time to time. They look on Brosla with hunger, because they prefer flesh and blood for fertilizer.
The chamber is lit by flowing fairies with insectile features that fly around over head.
I intentionally went with scary and ugly fairies, because the Unseelie are the dark fey. All the pretty ones are Seelie/light fey. In my works involving fairies, they're often shape shifters and their prevailing mood tends to set their appearance. Whether any particular fey is Seelie or Unseelie depends on how they feel and their appearance reflects their nature, unless they concentrate on a particular form.
Three fairies step into the chamber, a huge, six armed spider fairy, a beautiful female fairy with perfect bodily proportions that would make even a supermodel jealous (her hands are bound, which should give a hint about which side she's on) and finally, one that looks like a vampire, who wears a crown of living wood, with amber jewels set into it, the biggest of which has a spider inside.
Brosla introduces himself politely and earns an immediate measure of respect for having good manners.
The one with the crown introduces himself as Skylad Shadowfang, ruler of The Ember Throne and the Unseelie Court. The spider fey is Trevan Spidercliff and the woman is Lady Posey Lovelymint, who's been his "guest" for the past five-hundred years, because he caught her spying on behalf of the Seelie Court.
There's a brief discussion between the fairies regarding Brosla and Lovelymint makes a gamble on the outcome of the coming fight: if Shadowfang wins, then she'll tell him anything he likes, but if Brosla wins, then she goes free. Shadowfang accepts the bet, because he has great confidence in his abilities to defeat a mortal.
Brosla is asked if he will take up challenge, but he has questions, first seeking clarification on the nature of the boon he will earn if he wins, which is explained as being a favor owed, which Shadowfang will repay with anything that's in his power, upon request.
Next, the alien asks about the nature of the coming duel and is praised for his wisdom, because he seeks clear knowledge, before committing himself.
Brosla and Shadowfang are to fight until one of them dies, loses consciousness or admits defeat. If Brosla survives, he'll become Shadowfang's slave.
He's offered the chance to suggest rules of his own, but he refuses, preferring to keep things simple.
The fairies consider him to have won a battle of wits, because he asked questions and then suggested no rules. If he'd asked for more rules, then Shadowfang would have insisted on a rule of his own devising for each Brosla desired, seeking to hobble his opponent.
Even Shadowfang treats Brosla with great respect, considering it a shame that he's about to die.
Brosla is given a moment to prepare and the battle will begin when he's ready.
Chapter 30: Humility
Brosla takes his rifle off his back and turns the power all the way up.
Shadowfang is curious to know what the device is, but Brosla insists that he'll demonstrate it in battle. Still, the fey Lord presses on, demanding to know what it is, leading to this conversation:
Lady Lovelymint looked amused as she spoke an obvious verbal barb, “Did you think him fool enough to reveal all, just because you desire it? His mystique may be the best weapon he has, yet you would rob him of it? Let a mortal surprise you for once, or are you a coward?”
Spidercliff chuckled, “Indeed! If your power is as great as you claim, then you need not fear what any mortal can do, no matter the weapon used.”
Shadowfang looked frustrated, “Of course, you both make an excellent point.”
Brosla declares his readiness and takes aim.
Lord Shadowfang employs brainwashing magic, which has no effect on Brosla, who shoots him through the chest, burning a hole right through the fairy's lung, causing him to fall over!
Feeling more confident, because his plan seems to be working, Brosla kindly offers Shadowfang the chance to surrender, that he might avoid further pain.
Shadowfang wheezes, "What is that thing?"
The conversation to follow was fun to write:
“An LM-20377 laser rifle,” Brosla answered with confidence, because he’d finally seen some evidence that his plans might actually play out the way they had in his mind, “which has been modified with top of the line heat sinks, the highest quality synthetic diamond lenses, so they’ll never scratch, modern power cells that hold five times the power of the original and last of all, the variable-strength beam emitter was customized to use the excess power in the cells at greater efficiency than it was originally tuned for. This weapon may very well be the most powerful hand-held laser in existence.”
“How can it do so much without magic?” The fey balked as he held a glowing hand over his wound.
Brosla reasoned he was healing himself with magic, because he wasn’t wheezing anymore.
Lady Lovelymint chuckled at the Unseelie fey Lord’s discomfort, which caused him to shout, “Well, what are you waiting for, Spidercliff? Kill this wretch!”
The spider fey shook his head, “Fight your own battles, my Lord, because I’m more interested in seeing how this will play out without my interference, especially since I’ve never been able to wound you. Besides, that weapon of his is fascinating.”
Shadowfang tries an invisibility spell, which also fails against Brosla's immunity to magic, so Brosla shoots Shadowfang in the foot as he tries to sneak around. While he hops around on one foot, Brosla shoots him in the shoulder, once more knocking him down.
“This is most interesting!” Spiderfang commented, “Never before has Lord Shadowfang taken a fall, but in one battle, he’s now fallen twice!” Lovelymint clapped her hands and mocked, “Twice in one day, my Lord? Can he make it three?”
“Concede your defeat, Lord Shadowfang.” Brosla spoke with calm confidence, “I do not wish to embarrass you further.”
“How dare you speak to me with such impudence, mortal?” Shadowfang screamed as he rose from a prone position to standing, without bothering to use his limbs, clearly a feat of magic.
Shadowfang is so angry, black liquid pours from every orifice of his body, flowing over his skin, an outward reflection of his shift in mood. His finger and toe nails lengthen into razor sharp claws and his body glows red, as a reflection of his rage as he charges at Brosla!
Knowing her fate hangs on the outcome, Lovelymint promises Brosla a boon from her if he wins, to keep him motivated.
Brosla switches his laser into continuous beam mode (equivalent to full auto on a modern assault rifle) and lays into the fairy with everything he's got, because he's afraid he's going to die!
Five full seconds of fire later, the rifle runs out of power and the fairy goes for a flying tackle, claws at the lead! Brosla is impaled through his chest and gut, but as they're falling, he kicks the fey lord in the family jewels, causing Shadowfang to cross his eyes and pass out, because it was the straw that broke the camel's back.
Brosla has won, but only if he survives. He coughs up blood and manages to speak just long enough to say, "Journal: triage!"
His journal flies out of his pocket as a metallic sphere, which does a scan and then falls on him as a liquid, which flows into his wounds, to begin surgery. Unfortunately, the triage function was a last-minute addition and it has no information on anesthesia. I felt it was important to make sure Brosla doesn't rely on his journal to fix injuries, except when he has to, so I thought that would be a good consequence to using it.
He passes out from the pain, eventually waking up with his head in Lovelymint's lap. His journal is still at work, but the pain his lessened.
They discuss what he wants for his boon and he shares his story, though he's surprised she's already aware he's a Vokosian, claiming she was once friend with his god, Vok. She even occasionally visited the Vokisian homeworld (until her capture), to keep a promise she made to Vok that involves prodding the Vokosians toward peace and enlightenment.
Brosla requests her assistance fighting against the coming machine swarm (even going so far as to request assistance with a total genocide, since it's the machines or everyone else) and she agrees to do all she can, but insists that has not used up the boon, because what he's asked is in her own best interest. She promises to inform the Seelie Queen and do all she can to make peace on the planet.
Normally, most fey would jump at the chance to discharge the favor so easily, but Lovelymint respects Brosla too much to cheat him.
Brosla doesn't know what else to ask for, so she gives him a magic token (a wooden comb from her heair) he can discard as a sign he wishes to see her, claiming it will find its way back to her and then tell her where he is.
She vanishes (teleports away) to get to work, because time is of the essence. The outcome of this will be a matter of most kingdoms of the world coming together for the crisis, because the Seelie are well-known to only intervene in mortal affairs when requested to or when the situation is dire. However, that won't become important until book two.
Brosla steps over to where Lord Shadowfang literally sits in the corner, crying in the form of a child, because that's what he is. He's only seven-hundred years old, which is the equivalent of a seven-year old, when it comes to emotional maturity, though fairies mature intellectually much faster.
As it turns out, he's the son of the Seelie Queen and he ran away at the age of two-hundred, because she tried to discipline him (he was in the middle of the terrible two-hundreds, after all). Lady Lovelymint (his babysitter) was sent to keep an eye on him, but he outwitted her and made her his prisoner.
Brosla apologizes for hurting the fey Lord's feelings and that makes a lot of difference. He was able to handle the pain of getting injured, but since he's just a boy, he'd never been kicked in the balls before and was totally unprepared for that, on top of everything else.
The experience was very humbling for him.
Brosla requests of the fey Lord that he help fight the coming machine invasion, again asking for genocide of the machines. Shadowfang promises to do all he can, but like Lovelymint, he has too much respect for Brosla to cheat him, since doing as the alien has asked is in his own best interest.
He also gives Brosla a token (the spider jewel from his crown), telling him to crush it when he wishes to speak.
Sureshot arrives for the meeting (the Dryad passed word along) and she makes her request for safe passage through the forest, so she might attack the trolls from behind.
Shadowfang agrees and then comments that he's sometimes his own worst enemy, because if he'd only listened, he would have gotten what he wanted (he hates the trolls, because they beat his people in war), without owing someone a boon.
The thing I love about this chapter is that Brosla succeeded where no one else in history ever has: he's gotten the Seelie and the Unseelie on the same page, because they face an enemy the likes of which the galaxy has never seen.
Chapter 31: Crazy Iz’eol
Based on the suspicions of the science officer that another ship is hiding in the FTL engine wake of Terror of Vok (the only blind spot the ship has), Captain Vendros orders a Crazy Izeol (pronounced like "is-wall").
This involves dropping out of FTL space to turn in place. Further, feeling particularly paranoid, he orders them to open fire the instant they finish the turn, regardless of what's there.
They have time to prepare, so he orders all non-essential personnel to board escape pods carrying only what they need to survive, just in case.
The High Priestess enters her assigned pod carrying her religious vestments, because she reasons being able to comfort the survivors will increase their chances.
The others in the pod are initially angry to see her, but when they see the clothing she carries, they feel ashamed for judging her. The woman next to her recognizes the crisis of faith their only priest has been suffering through alone and offers her sympathy, because she once had a crisis of faith, herself, but hadn't ever considered the possibility a priest might have one.
The priestess is asked to lead them in prayer and they link hands as she begins for this scene (the High Preistess is named Et’aell):
They all bowed their heads as Et’aell spoke for all, “O, Great God Vok, hear us in our time of need-”
Her words were interrupted by a sudden, savage sideways twist that had several of them groaning with discomfort!
Et’aell’s voice filled with great fervor, her dormant faith coming back to her, because she was afraid she was about to die, “-and bless the hands that fight this battle, that we may-”
The ship stopped turning and there was a tremendously loud sound produced by the combination of every single cannon on the right side of the ship firing simultaneously, along with nearly a hundred missile launches!
“-survive the day! Deliver us from-”
Another volley of missiles was fired, producing a great wooshing sound as the missile thrusters interacted with the hull, causing sympathetic vibrations!
“-evil! Amen!”
There was a murmur of Amens from the others.
This takes the High Priestess another few step closer to once more embracing her faith.
Returning to the perspective of Captain Vendros, on the bridge, he's pleased to see the pursuing ship FTL space, right in the midst of the field of lasers and missiles that blanket the area, like a minefield.
The enemy ship made big mistake and returns to normal space that's occupied. The lasers and missiles end up inside the ship's hull., doing severe damage to nearly every system. In particular, the FTL drive was not fully disengaged, resulting in feedback to the main reactor, which can't handle the sudden reversal of current and it goes off like a bomb, vaporizing the whole ship.
The bridge crew of Terror of Vok cheer, but Vendros asks a very sobering question: did the enemy send a signal?
The science officer has no answer for him, so he tells them to assume it did and they get back into FTL space.
As it turns out, the enemy did send a final signal and two more warships are assigned to destroy Terror of Vok. That's how the machines do war: when any ship fails, it's replaced by two more, until that tactic proves to be ineffective, leading to the task being brought to the attention of the swarm's leader: Omega.
Omega is considered a god by the other machines of the swarm, because he made them.
Delaying a Chapter
Three days in a row, I planned to write a particular chapter, which will be titled 'Sharpshooter'. I sat down to write it each day and then felt inspired to write something else, including chapters 32, 33 and 37.
The first was because the overly shouty and generally awful nature of Corporal Logan (the Corporal assigned to Sureshot) needed to be addressed before going into the final battle, so I wrote Chapter 32 to address that on Tuesday.
I thought Chapter 33 would be Sharpshooter, but it turned into a chapter that helps lay out how the ground battles of the next few chapters will take place, revealing the plans of both sides (funny how the plan never resembles the actual battle), which I wrote on Thursday.
Then on Friday, I sat down to write Sharpshooter and finally realized the penultimate chapter needed to be written first, because the battle in orbit will literally hang over the rest of the climax, which is tentatively numbered 37.
Chapter 32: The Corporal's Core
In this chapter, Sureshot finally gets fed up with Corporal Logan's needlessly nasty treatment of his squad and requests a word in private as they make camp in the woods near the border of Utros.
I got stuck at the very beginning of this scene and then ran off to speak with a friend, because I've no experience with a Sergeant dressing-down a Corporal, but my friend was a Sergeant in the U.S. Army and he ran me through all the options a Sergeant might take. Armed with that knowledge, I ran home and finished the chapter.
As always, research is everything to my writing. I can't write what I don't know and I've never been in the military, so I have to lean on the knowledge of others, though my friend says I do this rather well with the information he imparts.
I'm reminded of writing She Goes to War, which was a novel my friend talked my into writing, because he wanted to talk about his time fighting the Vietnam War, ahem, Police Action (as he always calls it, with a wry smile on his face).
Sureshot starts by asking Logan why, leading to this scene:
“I know my men.” Logan gave her a defiant look, “They’re a lazy lot that need a harsh hand, which I give them.”
“I doubt that very much.” Sureshot used a deceptively calm tone, “If they’re defiant, then it’s because you’re too harsh, so let me rephrase: Corporal Logan, you will treat the men with common decency and respect. That’s an order.”
“With all due respect, Sarge, I’ve been with this squad a long time and I know-”
“Are you defying my direct order, Corporal?” Sureshot was amazed the man was being so stubborn.
“No, I’m just-”
“That was a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ question, Corporal.” Sureshot used a tone of warning, much like a glacier might produce a cracking sound, just before dropping one into a crevasse.
“I just think you need to hear my-”
Sureshot sighed and muttered to herself, “Well, don’t say you didn’t ask for it…”
She moved with the sudden speed and precision of a rattlesnake, punching Logan right in the eye! The man hit the forest floor like a sack of potatoes, but soon rose with the crazed, evil smile of a berserker, because he loved a good bare-knuckle brawl!
Meanwhile, Brosla and the soldiers speculate a bout what's happening.
Brosla asks the reason for the man's behavior, leading to this scene that I'll let speak for itself (the names you won't recognize belong to other members of the squad, while the 'younger private' referenced is a young man Brosla was trying to befriend):
The ironically black-haired Private Perry Snow grinned and joked, “Yeah, just the spiky stick rammed up his-” he cursed and the soldiers shared a rare moment of levity.
Brosla found the coarseness of the man’s words unnecessary, but it was nothing he hadn’t come to expect from career soldiers.
“Do any of you know what might have made him such a sour man? I was thinking I might try having a word with him about it.
“Please don’t.” Snow waved his hands in warning, “You’ll only make him worse. The only one that might make a difference-”
There was a distant, but very masculine cry of pain. It could have been Corporal Logan.
“-seems to be doing so, right now.” Snow smiled.
“You think so?” Austin asked.
There was another scream, much louder than the last, modulated to a higher pitch halfway through by whatever was going on becoming more intense.
“Oh yeah.” Snow chucked, “Sarge is almost definitely giving him what for.”
“What makes you think that?” Brosla asked.
Snow explained, making air quotes with his fingers at the appropriate time, “Three other sergeants have tried to ‘have a word’ with the Corp and not one of them stayed our sergeant afterward.”
The younger private nodded, “And the last was balling his eyes out like a little-” he cursed, “-when they came back.”
“But Sarge? She’s a fighter.” Snow chipped in, “She was in the 108th. You don’t mess with the 108th unless you got a death wish, but the Corp is so bull-headed, I bet he picked the fight. I bet he was spoiling for it, so he could try his luck and see how he measures up. He normally likes his odds against most anyone.”
Brosla shrugged. He didn’t understand the military mindset very well, because he’d always been a man of peace.
Illa stepped over and posited, “I think things will be getting better for you soldiers. Jane, Staff Sergeant Stanton to you, is an excellent leader and Logan isn’t her first Corporal. She once told me a story about straightening out another.”
“What happened to him?” Snow looked very curious.
“According to rumor, he learned a few lessons about challenging a master of far eastern martial arts. According to your sergeant, they just had a quiet discussion, until he saw the light and changed his ways. I’m sure-”
There was a third scream from Corporal Logan.
“-Logan will also see the light.” Illa finished her sentence without missing a beat, smiling as she turned to walk back to her husband.
Snow laughed, “I think he’s seeing it, right now!”
We finally get a scene from Corporal Logan's perspective as Sureshot holds him pinned, face down, in the dirt as she lectures him on both when to obey orders and when not to, including the nature of how badly he's screwed up, because he refused a direct order.
He has a flashback all the way to his childhood, starting with the loss of his parents, who were crushed by barrels of cheap booze that broke loose from the wagon carrying them, followed by his life in an orphanage.
He had a particularly rough day with a nobleman's son grinding his face into the dirt one day, resulting in his clothes being torn and bloodied (the other boy really messed up his face).
He went home expecting a little love and a healing touch (magic), only for the super-strict nun-like sister in charge to berate him for "playing so hard he ruined his clothes". She lectured him for a full hour before finally healing his face.
She calls him "Lazy and in need of harsh treatment", which mirrors his words about his men, though he isn't introspective enough to see that parallel.
He learned some harsh lessons form that day, leading him to believe three things: other boys are awful, compassion is never found where it should be and he more or less decides women are evil.
He eventually got old enough that he was kicked out of the orphanage and then drifted from job to job, because his temper always got the better of him. Eventually, his temper landed him a job as a bouncer at a pub, but he was a little too vicious.
One day he beat an Army Captain, a nobleman, so badly he permanently maimed him, beyond the power of healing magic. That landed him before a judge, but the judge saw something in him that might be usefully directed to the kingdom's good, let alone his own, giving him a choice between ten yearshard labor in prison, or Army service.
For a time, he believed he'd found his proper place in life and found pride in serving his king. Within six months, was promoted to Corporal, a decision multiple sergeants came to regret.
The troubles that landed him in the Army soon returned and from his perspective, "because sergeants just didn’t know when to shut up and listen to him, with women sergeants being the worst in that regard."
Coming back to the present, he focuses all of his significant hatred on Sureshot, but he finds he also has a measure of respect he's had for no other sergeant, because she beat him in a fight and did so with ease.
Staff Sergeant Stanton spoke softly in an educational tone of voice like a school teacher, “Now, tell me: what are you going to do from this day forward?”
Logan suggested she procreate with herself for the second time, laughing as the last of his fire held on for dear life.
Stanton hauled back on his arm, perfectly shifting it back into the valley agony she’d been expertly working it in and out of, producing a third cry of pain! She pushed it just that little bit further than she’d done before, until tears dripped from his eyes!
“Say the words, Corporal.” Stanton calmly demanded, still holding his arm with precision, as if she tortured men for a living.
Tired of the pain and sick of her weight on his back, Corporal Logan finally broke and said the words, “I’ll follow orders, yours in particular. I won’t argue.”
And when I say jump?”
“I’ll ask, ‘How high?’ ”
“Good.” Stanton released his arm and stepped off of him.
She treats him kindly and help[s him up, because she's no angry at all (just doing an unpleasant, but necessary job) and that leaves him somewhat confused.
He still hates her, but his feelings keep going in circles, from anger to resignation and even just a hint of admiration, before going back to the start, due to his wounded pride.
They return to camp, leading to this little gem (Alethis is the name of the planet):
Watching as Corporal Logan and Sureshot returned, Brosla was surprised the Corporal had a black eye, a real nasty-looking shiner, as the people of Alethis tended to call them.
Private Snow called out, “Hey Corp, what happened to your eye?” Brosla reflected that Snow seemed to be the bravest of the soldiers, because he was more or less poking a wounded bear.
Logan glared at the man with menace just shy of that require to kill with a look, only to incongruously respond in a quiet, embarrassed tone of voice, “I fell down.”
Brosla didn’t believe that for even one second, unless he’d fallen as a result of Sureshot knocking him down.
Sureshot gives Logan an order to test his behavior and even uses the word "please" to make a subtle point. He interacts with the men without his former shouting and nastiness.
Chapter 33: Snake in the Grass
Sureshot leads her team in a mission briefing in the dark of the night, while Illa uses a moonbeam peeking through the trees to highlight visual aids. She's given them the same lecture every day along the way.
I'm told by my friend, the former sergeant, this is the proper military way, though I wasn't surprised, because I arrived at this on my own, thinking it just made sense to cover the details until they're memorized.
The summary of their plan go as follows: Sureshot and her small squad, plus Brosla, Illa and Kadrek go first. Illa calms the ghosts of Memorial Vale and then Sureshot will use a telegraph crystal to notify King Windmaker she's ready, just by rapidly tapping it.
They'll locate the secret door to the palace (Illa holds up a line drawing of a flower, which she long ago cut into the stone slab with magic). Then either Illa uses magic to move the slab or one of the war-riders will do the job.
Once inside the palace, orders are to cause as much chaos as possible and ultimately, make way to the troll front lines from behind, so the siege can be broken.
The last item of business is Nepita (Illa holds up a drawing of her face). Sureshot reminds them NO ONE is to engage in combat with Nepita, aside frm herself, Brosla and King Windmaker. She doesn't tell them the real reasons (most of them have no idea Nepita is Queen of Utros), but does remind them of the insane power of the woman's swords, as an excuse to get them to run from her. She explains that Windmaker is immune to their magic, because he forged them, Brosla is immune to magic in general and Sureshot intends to put her down with a single shot, the instant she sees her.
They set out to begin their mission.
Switching to Anji's perspective, who happens to be hidden in Memorial Vale, she looks out at the desert scrub brush between the two kingdoms, scanning for invaders. Grandmother has said Memorial vale is vulnerable to infiltration, but Anji doesn't buy the idea of climbing the cliff wall at the back of the valley as a special vulnerability, vowing to search the palace for a secret exit.
She catches a strange snippet of sound drifting on the wind: the sound of whistling rocks. Anji recognizes it as the only outward sign of a concealment spell that Illa taught Kina (demonstrated in Chapter 6).
She sings to contact Nepita's mind, since she's also in the valley, informing her what she's heard.
Switching off to Nepita's perspective, she heads back inside the palace via the secret door (she recently found it), but does an unusual thing along the way: she growls, producing a red glow around her body as she physically lifts the stone slab out of the way! She's spent the past three months studying Rage Song and discovered a powerful strength enhancing spell.
She enters Illa's old room, where Yetu lives:
“Yetu, I’ve finally found an excuse to set you free.” Nepita announced.
Yetu bowed his head and spoke loyally, “Your will is my command, as from the beginning, my Queen.”
Nepita smiled, because her son was so bright, it was a real shame he couldn’t be her heir. He would have made an excellent Queen, if only he hadn’t been male, and if Nepita had a daughter with such potential, she would have willingly stepped down to allow them to replace her, but Yetu wasn’t female and that could never happen.
“I will publicly pardon your crime and even approve your use of Rage Song, but to sell it to the court, I’ll need your help to accomplish something I’m not sure even I can do alone: kill Illa. We’ll work as a team to overwhelm her. I’ll use physical attacks, while you overwhelm her with magic, then give you most of the credit. There’s no way the little-” Nepita cursed, referring to Illa as a female dog, “-can stand up to both of us.” She spoke confidently, despite her own reservations.
Yetu looked up and met his mother’s gaze with the kind of blood-lust she’d seen in the mirror when extremely angry and an unsettling smile, to match. He growled a little and his eyes glowed red. He chuckled softly at first, before launching into the full-blown, insane laughter of a man that had lost his marbles as a result of a suppressed and frustrated rage finally finding an outlet.
The laugh stopped suddenly and his eyes returned to normal as he eagerly nodded, “It will be done with great pleasure, my Queen! Thank you for giving me this chance to prove my loyalty! I’ll make you proud, Mother!”
Nepita beamed with pride, because not only was Yetu smart, but he’d finally come to the intensity of emotion that marked a good troll leader and it really was a shame he wasn’t female, because he had the perfect temperament.
“You already have.” Nepita smiled at her son and gestured to the secret door, “Let’s go kill your Aunt, before she leads the dwarves to this secret door, because I’m certain she knows it’s here.”
If they win, then Nepita plans to raise Yetu in rank until he's third in the kingdom, after herself and Anji. If they win, then he'll never again need fear the court, because he'll be in a position of power, able to kill them at will if they cross him.
Nonetheless, Nepita isn't sure of herself, for once, with no idea if she can defeat Illa or not, because she's the most powerful troll witch the kingdom has ever seen. She even considers calling on Anji for backup, if Yetu and Nepita aren't quite enough.
What I Skipped
Chapter 34 will be 'Sharpshooter', in which Anji and Sureshot finally have the sniper vs. sniper battle I've been foreshadowing since chapter 14.
Chapter 35 will detail Illa's magical duel with Yetu.
Chapter 36 will finally bring King Windmaker face to face with Nepita, while Aketa and her abominations keep the King's personal guard busy, in the background, though I may give Aketa and the abominations some limelight for a chapter of their own as they fight the royal guard.
These three or four chapters will be written next week, plus the Epilogue.
Chapter 37: Bushwhack
The chapter begins with one of the machine warships assigned to destroy Terror of Vok, Pursuer 72D5E639, which has arrived at Alethis ahead of Captain Vendros.
It begins scan of the planet, trying to determine why Vendros is running to the 'miracle' world, as it's referred to in records stolen form the Vokosians.
It doesn't finish it's scans, interrupted by a radiation surge marking the emergence of a star ship from FTL space, which it assumes is the early arrival of its target.
We switch to Vendros and his bridge crew as he makes preparations to exit FTL space. He's still in a paranoid mood, so he orders battle stations and sends non-essential personnel to escape pods, once again. He also orders the pilot to exit FTL space using OBSS, which is sort for Olgun’s Bait and Switch Sequence.
OBSS involves completely shutting the FTL drive off in an instant, rather than a more gradual shutdown. This slightly distorts space inside the ship, which can be dangerous, but before it can do any real harm, the drive is activated again for a brief instant, causing the ship to very nearly exit FTL space in one location, before actually emerging into normal space somewhere else, along the ship's current course. This creates a radiation surge at the first spot almost exactly like a ship that's about to appear, confusing sensor readings.
Vendos gives a speech/pep talk:
“Today we may die, but if this is our time, then we’re-” Vendros cursed, “-well taking our attacker down with us! I will do whatever it takes to defend the galaxy and I will gladly lay down my life to protect our last miracle and safely deliver our families to their new home! Men, are you with me on this?”
Everyone stopped their work for a moment and raised their fists, a gesture Vok was famed for using, though he normally did it with his hammer in hand, promising his readiness to fight. The gesture silently indicated their support, approval and willingness to die for their cause.
“For the galaxy, for our families and for Vok!” Vendros raised his hand, including himself in the gesture.
His bridge crew shouted the ceremonial refrain, “Our hearts and minds for Vok! Our lives for the cause! May Vok give our souls rest!”
Tears streamed from the eyes of Vendros as pride filled his heart. It was strange to hear his crew speak so religiously, but in a most unusual turn of events, he and his crew had rediscovered their faith through the High Priestess coming to doubt her own and he wondered if he’d seen the hand of Vok in that matter.
As his crew got back to work, he was left to his own thoughts, wondering about his own relationship with his god, as a still and calm voice entered his mind, I have always known the important destiny of your soul and never doubted your calling. I chose you before you were formed in the womb, for only you could do the things you have and will do. You became a pirate, because you needed the strength to defy an empire, that you might save the last of my people. My hand is upon your actions. Go now and wield my hammer in faith.
Vendros knew it had been the Voice of Vok and wept with the knowledge, overcome by powerful spirituality and the certain knowledge he was going to die, because Vok only spoke so clearly to men who were sure to lose their lives, that they might accomplish some final task he desired of them. He wasn’t afraid, because he was following Vok’s plan and that meant his soul was assured a place of peace and security in Vok’s heavenly hosts.
The bridge crew briefly looked at him with tears in their eyes and he knew Vok had also spoken to them, before turning back to their work with great fervor and certainty.
I particularly love how the plot thread of the High Priestess losing her faith was the direct cause of many others rediscovering their own. Her doubts more or less saved the souls of a bunch of hardened, atheistic pirates that had turned their backs on their god. I didn't expect that until I wrote that bit yesterday. I really wonder if that detail was somewhere in my subconscious, just waiting for the right time, or if it was inspired. I'll probably never know, at least in this life.
The High Priestess hears the order to report to the escape pods, but feels a powerful need to first put on her religious vestments, so she applies a quick makeup mask and then dons her robes, before running to the pod.
When she arrives, everyone there is comforted to see the way she's dressed and she leads them in prayer as the escape pod launches.
Out the back window, she looks on as Terror of Vok unleashes a blast from its most powerful weapons, a pair of huge, fixed-mount laser cannons, hitting the enemy warship from behind, though it soon begins spinning to face the other ship.
She prays for the crew of the ship with great faith, because she's finally come full-circle and embraced the faith she lost, likely stronger for the experience.
She prays quite fervently as the pod noses down into the atmosphere and loses sight of the battle. She also realizes she's now become the leader of the last group of living Vokosians, because Terror of Vok and her crew are extremely unlikely to survive the battle.
That's the last time the High Priestess will appear in the novel, but hjer story isn't over. In the next volume, she'll be an important character, probably a main character.
I'll just quote the entire next scene, because it's short:
“OBSS successful and we got real lucky!” The science officer reported, “We’re directly behind a Pursuer! Looks like they tried to take a page from our playbook, to destroy us as we exit FTL space.
The pilot completed a one-hundred-eighty degree turn and there was a shudder as he fired the main cannon!
“We’re ineffective, sir!” The first officer screamed, “It will take us hours to cut through their hull at this power level, the armor is so thick!”
“We have incoming drones and the enemy is coming about!” One of the gunners shouted!
“Jam all frequencies and activate Hammer of Vok Mode!” Vendros screamed, “Don’t let them get a word out!”
Hammer of Vok Mode was another of Olgun’s genius enhancements to the ship, based on his accidental discovery that the ship’s main reactors could handle running at two-hundred-fifty percent power for a few moments without sustaining damage. Having read the engineer’s report on the matter, Vendros had gone to the man and together, they designed the ship’s ultimate weapon and last surprise, a mode in which all available power was routed to the main cannons, to produce a beam so intense, it was hypothetically capable of boring a hole straight through a planet. It had never been tested, because it would certainly destroy the cannons, if not the whole ship, but Vendros and his crew had always been the kind to go down fighting. The software involved had been designed such that if the damage was catastrophic, then all reactor safeties would disengage, turning the ship into a flying bomb, in the hopes their death would take the enemy with them.
“Emergency power engaged!” Olgun’s voice came over the intercom, “Backup reactors coming online! Rerouting power from non-essential systems!”
The lights cut out and most of the workstations on the bridge died, except for the pilot’s controls, which were necessary to aim and fire the main cannons.
“Cutting life-support and gravity!”
Everyone was suddenly weightless and a few loose items floated around as the pilot lined them up for a more precise shot, because he knew exactly where the main computer of the enemy ship was, which was effectively its brain.
He waited for just a moment for his shot to line up and and then pulled the trigger on one of his control sticks, producing a blinding flash of red light that poured in though the window of the bridge!
As distant portions of the ship began to explode, because all of the main power conduits had been overloaded, Vendros knew the final measure of Hammer of Vok mode would activate and he just wished he could hear the thoughts of the enemy warship as it realized how screwed it was.
“It’s been a pleasure serving with you, my fiends.” Vendros spoke with emotion, getting murmurs of agreement in turn, before he raised his hand and shouted, “All hail Vok!”
His men matched his gesture and shouted in unison, “All hail Vok!”
Pursuer 72D5E639 is left effectively brain dead, without even having alerted its superior unit it had been killed, which will buy a little time before more ships are dispatched.
The next scene follows Scout 3455C4B1, a ground unit that sleeps in the hull of one of the few relatively intact portions of the destroyed ship. It's woken by automated systems and knowledge of the current mission is dumped into its mind.
It's coated in high temperature plastic, which forms an egg-like shape around it, the outside of which is cooled with chilled nitrogen gas, leaving it at a liquid center surrounded by a heavy shell of solid, ablative plastic. Explosive bolts blow an outer hull panel off and another explosion launches it from the hidden chamber. After a moment, a thruster pack (outside the entry capsule) comes to life, angling it downward toward the planet, just as the narrative reveals there's hundreds more, just like it, because they're falling in formation.
That scene marks the end of the last chapter of the book, but there will be an Epilogue that comes after it, to cap things off properly.
Future Plans
Next week should mark the end of the rough draft.
All I have left to write are chapters 34-36 and then the Epilogue.
The Epilogue should consist of briefly covering the perspectives of every major and minor surviving character in the book as they look up at the sky as the battle between star ships comes to a spectacular end and debris streams down into the atmosphere.
Some of the falling objects are Vokosian escape pods, several hundred are machine swarm ground troops in various configurations from small scout drones, to autonomous weapons, on up to leaders. I should probably add some new characters too. The Queen of the Seelie, for example, would be a good choice, because she'll be important in later books.
It's quite likely I'll accidentally leave some characters out of this in the rough draft, but I'll probably make myself a list and then check that as I'm editing, so I can add missing characters.
After that startling event changes Nepita's mind, King Windmaker will suggest a pact of peace and the two will discuss how to stop their people from fighting. They'll end up using All-biter to literally cut the war in half, because it's capable of cutting through even metaphors, at least with Windmaker coaching Nepita on how to use it.
The very last pair of scenes of the book will mirror each other, involving Lady Gunn and Lord Rolar coming to visit the dwarves and the trolls, respectively. Each ill be shown the forged journals provided to the opposite side and Lord Rolar will meet have a grisly death at the hands of the trolls, while Lady Gunn will be clapped in irons and held for questioning, because Oswil has a lot of questions for the traitorous woman.
Editing of this novel is likely to be delayed, however, because I've got to finish editing Dark Moon first and I'm not doing two editing projects simultaneously.
Tags: writing, work-in-progress, rumors-of-war