Varan has somewhere to go, and things to learn on the way... ----- Chapter 20 Varan: Take care of yourselves. I thought that with all the intensity I could muster. And you as well, Vick replied from on board The Eönwyl, far across the Zhiraz system. But you need not echo so loudly in my brain! Your power will reach far, Captain; for such trivial distances you need not focus. "All right, I guess I need to learn to judge that kind of thing better," I said aloud to the D-Comm. "Yes," the Eönwyl said, with [ Continue reading... ]
Demons of the Past: RETRIBUTION, Chapter 18
March 16, 2019 By Leave a Comment
Varan and his friends are finally together on their own ship again... ----- Chapter 18 Varan: Yes. You have become immensely more powerful since last we were together. Vick leaned back and studied me closely. Proportionately even more so than I would have expected. "Really?" At his crest-rattle I held up my hand. "I'm not really doubting you, but I can't feel it, you know. I haven't had much to compare myself to, after all." You – and I, following my own treatment – were improving along a strong, but well-defined, [ Continue reading... ]
Demons of the Past: RETRIBUTION, Chapter 15
March 13, 2019 By Leave a Comment
They'd convinced the Vmee that they'd been telling the truth... but the Empire had come calling... ----- Chapter 15 Varan: The door slid open without warning and the Grasper lunged in. "Captain! Captain Varan, come swiftly!" Even under ordinary circumstances I wouldn't question an order from a jailor, but the grim panic in the Grasper's voice lent it vastly more urgency. I rose from my chair; the Grasper was already turning away and I followed, feeling a rising sense of nervousness. Well, she didn't come with [ Continue reading... ]
Demons of the Past: RETRIBUTION, Chapter 13
March 11, 2019 By Leave a Comment
Varan was learning to live in a fairly comfortable prison... ----- Chapter 13 Varan: Twin mandibles slashed at me, and I parried, reinforcing my parry with my psionic strength. I was still under the damper fields, yes, but it remained an edge that allowed me to hold the Grasper at bay just long enough to flip up and let the pressure on the blades squirt me higher, a seed shot from between two fingers, and somersault in midair. I landed on the Grasper's back and laid the vya-shadu across her eyes. "I win, I think." A [ Continue reading... ]
Demons of the Past: RETRIBUTION, Chapter 9
March 7, 2019 By Leave a Comment
Meanwhile, Sasham Varan is still doing time... ----- Chapter 9 Varan: The vya-shadu hovered before me, moving only the tiny amount expected from a weapon held in a steady hand. I could feel a sheen of sweat already forming on my face, echoing the tremendous strain I was feeling on my mind as I slowly rose from my meditations and drew the other sword. I'd done this kind of training before, of course; first onboard the Teraikon, hidden in a clear bubble within the mindshields, and later on board The Eönwyl, many hours of [ Continue reading... ]
Demons of the Past: RETRIBUTION, Chapter 4
March 2, 2019 By Leave a Comment
Meanwhile, Varan was in one of the biggest lockups in the Galaxy... ----- Chapter 4 Varan: I concentrated, mind in High Center, focused on the stylus I used for my journal. Calm and focused. Strength through will, order of thought from the chaos of fear. There is nothing to fear here and now. There is only the moment and the will. The stylus trembled, and then – slowly, slowly – rose, first one end, then the other, as though being picked up by invisible fingers. It was hard – Torline's Name, it was hard! – but [ Continue reading... ]
Demons of the Past: RETRIBUTION, Chapter 1
February 27, 2019 By 3 Comments
We finally begin the last book in Varan's journey, as RETRIBUTION releases on March 19th! ----- Demons of the Past: RETRIBUTION by Ryk E. Spoor Section One: The Shadowed Hand Chapter 1 Varan: I stumbled forward through the door, still somehow clinging to Tor's Mind Center like a man maintaining a precarious grip on the edge of a precipice. I turned, seeing the portal slide shut slowly, locking shut with a ringing clang of finality. It was a measure of how much was still wrong with me that I found being locked in my [ Continue reading... ]
Demons of the Past: REVOLUTION, Chapter 21
October 15, 2018 By 1 Comment
Our snippeting comes to an end with Varan and friends arriving, finally, at Thann'Ta for a fateful meeting... ----- Chapter 21. Varan: Downbreak this time happened precisely on schedule, with both myself and The Eönwyl in place, rested, and ready. Thann'ta's sun was slightly more orange than standard, but Thann'ta itself orbited closer to its star by enough to make it a hotter world than most Imperial planets – one that would have violent weather and, if experience was any guide, a lot of thick and deadly jungle over much of the [ Continue reading... ]
Demons of the Past: REVOLUTION, Chapter 20
October 12, 2018 By Leave a Comment
Varan's gamble is a painful one... ----- Chapter 20. Varan: Morno came straight in, as I'd expected; his style was to hammer fast and hard, typical of the Ternam Ralyeh, and his technique was a unique combination of jai-ye and zairaka. Taelin used a lot of the latter – Lukh was an expert in it – but jai-ye was almost exclusive to the Dragon Strikers; it meant "wing-claw" and was a style focused on swift, multi-level punching and kicking, a highly aggressive combat style meant to maim and kill. But I was in Mind Center, the calm [ Continue reading... ]
Demons of the Past: REVOLUTION, Chapter 18
October 8, 2018 By Leave a Comment
Varan had a plan... ----- Chapter 18 Varan: "All right, Varan." It had taken him just another half-hour to finish up whatever business he had elsewhere; Morno settled himself into a chair just outside of the doorway. "We're recording now, though I'm sure you don't need that warning." "No, I rather expected you were recording long before you got here." Morno's eyes narrowed. "Actually, no. Without a Monitor to order me otherwise, I'm sticking with full military procedure, and that means that even suspected psis like you aren't [ Continue reading... ]
What You’re Saying