Woot the Wanderer is, as his name says, a wanderer of Oz, originally from the Gillikin country, who arrives in his travels at the Palace of the Tin Woodman. That worthy, always interested in newcomers, has Woot brought in and asks him to tell of himself and his travels. But after this, as Woot is enjoying a dinner (which, naturally, neither the Tin Woodman nor his current companion, the Scarecrow, partake of), Woot asks how the Woodman came to be made of tin. The Woodman recounts the story – how he came to love a Munchkin [ Continue reading... ]
Under the Influence: The Lost Princess of Oz
June 16, 2015 By Leave a Comment
Eleventh in the series, The Lost Princess of Oz follows up on Rinkitink in Oz with another excellent tale, one of the best in the canon, and one of those most deeply influential in my writing of Polychrome. Dorothy Gale, going to Ozma's rooms to ask if she and her friends Betsy and Trot could take the Saw-Horse and royal carriage to visit the Munchkin country, discovers that Ozma has disappeared; even more disturbing, her Magic Picture is gone, so they cannot use it to discover where Ozma is. Shortly, they learn that Glinda's [ Continue reading... ]
Phoenix in Shadow: Chapter 28
February 27, 2015 By Leave a Comment
Miri had just seen something startling... ------ Chapter 28. Miri stepped into her guestroom at the Reflect's mansion and closed the door, leaning against it heavily. I'm shaking! Shaking like a terrified human! Her current body was human, in a way… but in all the centuries she'd been in such bodies, she'd never had such a reaction. Miri held her arm up in front of her, watched the trembling of the delicate hand, the imprecision of its movements, with stunned fascination; it took twice as long as normal [ Continue reading... ]
Phoenix in Shadow: Chapter 24
February 18, 2015 By Leave a Comment
Time to look in on another old friend... ------ Chapter 24. The misshapen creature – a deformed, monstrous hopclaw, he thought – shrank back as the moaning blade cut through the air. But Condor leapt completely over it, cutting off its escape. One clawed arm flew off, trailing blood. The other. The creature was screaming in terror and pain now, but Condor merely grinned and continued. Try to ambush me? Learn what you pay in pain! Finally it was over – too soon, Condor thought. This unending trek through [ Continue reading... ]
Phoenix in Shadow: Chapter 20
February 9, 2015 By Leave a Comment
Let's take a look at a different point of view, shall we? ------ Chapter 20. She skipped her way along the hallway, then bounded down the three hundred forty-three steps, taking them three or four at a time, to finally burst through the massive double doors that opened easily for her – and only a very few others. The room on the other side never failed to impress her – and, in the moments she was honest with herself, sent a tingle of apprehension through her as well. Arranged like a gigantic amphitheater [ Continue reading... ]
Phoenix in Shadow: Chapter 13
January 23, 2015 By Leave a Comment
And what's an epic fantasy without a villain? Let's see what our Bad Guy is up to. ------ Chapter 13. "You are tense this morning, Lord." It raised an eyebrow and smiled. With the false Justiciars no longer free to roam Evanwyl, it no longer cared about the use of words that might reveal its secret guise; the Justiciars could no longer accidentally reveal anything. What was surprising and amusing was Bolthawk's observation, and the fact that it was true. "You see clearly, Bolthawk. How did you [ Continue reading... ]
Phoenix in Shadow: Chapter 9
January 14, 2015 By Leave a Comment
It's been a while since we looked in on our villain... ----- Chapter 9. "All went well, then?" The light-destroying figure in the mirror-scroll smiled. "Exactly as we expected, yes," Kerlamion said in the eerie deep, howling tones of tortured air. "Condor is on his way back to you even now." It nodded, smiling; despite the human form, anyone watching would have known there was something desperately wrong from that smile alone. "Excellent, my King. I will keep an eye out for him; it would not [ Continue reading... ]
Phoenix in Shadow: Prologue
December 15, 2014 By 2 Comments
Now we begin the sequel to Phoenix Rising, Phoenix in Shadow, second in the Balanced Sword trilogy! And we start with a look at the real bad guy in the whole trilogy... ------ Prologue. This is… most interesting. It surveyed the clearing, smoke still drifting from multiple scattered fires which had – mostly – died out by now, dozens of bodies of monstrous, twisted… things lying everywhere, and a huge scar of blackened earth that stretched from an underground opening to fan out all the way to [ Continue reading... ]
Polychrome: Chapter 20
October 31, 2014 By Leave a Comment
As the Heroes have started their move, so must the Villains... ------ Chapter 20. Ugu the Unbowed stood on the balcony overlooking the petrified Emerald City; halfway to the horizon the pure dead gray ended, in a line as sharply drawn as if by a knife, and the green of the surrounding lands began. "And so it begins." "Sire?" Cirrus Dawnglory – or, at least, the being who now wore his name and face – said, clearly unsure of what his King meant. "Ah, you are here. Excellent. Walk with me, [ Continue reading... ]
Polychrome: Chapter 12
September 5, 2014 By Leave a Comment
If we have Heroes, we must also have Villains, and don't they deserve a bit of screen time? ----- Chapter 12. "A True Mortal! That little conniving snip of a Faerie and her father have brought over a True Mortal!" The sky darkened above the Gray Castle as Queen Amanita clenched her fist and muttered a phrase in a language so dark that even Ugu winced. He could understand Amanita's fear; as a Giantess in her origin, she was vastly more bound to Faerie than even he, for the Herkus were mostly [ Continue reading... ]
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