Urelle was back home and everything was fine... ----- Chapter 4. Quester leapt, evading the streak of bladed energy that burned waist-high through the air. But even as he did, Urelle's hand reached, formed a claw, and the very air stretched, as though she had grasped its substance like a rippling sheet and pulled. A blast of air caught him in mid-jump, tore at his wings and body, tipped him over. He did not land with his usual grace, but tumbled like a human who had tripped over an unexpected branch; the impact caused [ Continue reading... ]
GODSWAR: The Mask of Ares, Chapter 3
May 11, 2020 By Leave a Comment
For every set of heroes, we need a villain... ----- Chapter 3. "I will be meditating in my chambers," Ares said to Phobos. "Please, no interruptions unless it is a matter of life and death." Or it will surely become one, he thought as Phobos bowed deeply to him. Ares – or, now that he was in private, he who had taken Ares for himself – barred the door, both with physical bolts and a touch of godspower. Even the new Deimos and Phobos knew very little about what he did when he was "meditating." They were, of course, [ Continue reading... ]
GODSWAR: The Mask of Ares, Chapter 2
May 9, 2020 By 7 Comments
Well, let's face it, Aunt Vicky knows her niece pretty well, so yeah, she's gonna try that thing... ----- Chapter 2. Urelle drifted down through the air, the airwing enchantment fading away. Still, that's brought me almost half a mile from the house. Should be enough. She was still furious, though a part of her – an increasingly annoying part of her – was starting to sound like Auntie Victoria and telling her that this was a really bad idea. Still… "They could have trusted me!" she muttered, as her toes touched down [ Continue reading... ]
GODSWAR: The Mask of Ares, Chapter 1
May 6, 2020 By 2 Comments
After that Prologue, we start the main story -- with some characters that readers of Phoenix Rising may remember! ------- Chapter 1. "Our mission ended some days ago, Ingram." Ingram Camp-Bel kept himself from jumping in startlement only because he was used to Quester managing to surprise him. The seven-foot-tall Iriistiik was incredibly quiet despite size and his insectoid, chitinous armor. "We agreed to stay and help." After almost two years together, Ingram could read Quester's expressions – which combined [ Continue reading... ]
Godswar: The Mask of Ares, Author’s Note and Prologue
May 4, 2020 By 2 Comments
And so today we begin snippeting Godswar: Mask of Ares, the first in a dualogy taking place on the same world as, and essentially in parallel with, the Balanced Sword trilogy! ------- GODSWAR: The Mask of Ares By Ryk E. Spoor AUTHOR'S NOTE: My world of Zarathan is something of a potpourri of all fantasy elements, and some SF ones as well, as readers of the Balanced Sword trilogy know. This is intentional. Few of the elements that look familiar are exactly what they appear to be, and even references to real-world [ Continue reading... ]
Castaway Resolution: Chapter 30
January 31, 2020 By Leave a Comment
This is the final chapter I'm posting -- we've reached the halfway point in the novel! If you can't wait to see the rest, the eARC of the novel is up now at Baen; otherwise, Castaway Resolution will be out in early March! The castaways had a couple problems... Chapter 30. "We're going to start moving out of here now," Campbell said. "Just shot up one of those stinging-worm things, and the air here's gone way beyond foul, it's getting' toxic." "But we can't just stop work on getting Emerald Maui home!" Sakura said [ Continue reading... ]
Castaway Resolution: Chapter 29
January 29, 2020 By Leave a Comment
They needed to figure out how to get their little ones home... ----- Part 4: RESCUES Chapter 29. Sakura tried to ignore the telltales at the corner of her omni's display. Maybe I shouldn't leave them there at all. But the idea of not having an eye on her best friend ever was intolerable. And really, she just had to remind herself that there wasn't any reason to keep checking every second. Whips was in suspension, his metabolism slowed to something like a hundredth of normal. That didn't entirely apply to other aspects [ Continue reading... ]
Castaway Resolution: Chapter 28
January 27, 2020 By Leave a Comment
Whips was not well... ----- Chapter 28. "I'm dying, aren't I?" Whips asked over his private channel. He was pretty sure what the answer was going to be. Laura was silent for a moment. Then, very quietly, she said, "Yes. Yes, you are, Harratrer. I'm sorry." "Thought so." He tried to say it casually, but he could hear the pain in his voice too clearly. "We're working on it," she said. "We're not giving up, and you shouldn't either." "Got. . . too many things to do to give up," Whips said, studying the side [ Continue reading... ]
Castaway Resolution: Chapter 27
January 24, 2020 By Leave a Comment
Well, they'd at least established contact... ----- Chapter 27. Relief and fear speared simultaneously through Laura. "Francisco? Thank God! Are all of you all right?" "Hitomi and I are good, yes. Whips. . . Whips is not good. He cannot move much." Then Whips' voice—weak and with the burring undertone of pain and exhaustion—came on the comm. "I'm here. . . Mom," he said. She smiled and felt tears start from her eyes at the same time. "Relaying through Francisco's omni—I can link through the open airlock [ Continue reading... ]
Castaway Resolution: Chapter 26
January 22, 2020 By Leave a Comment
Meanwhile, on Emerald Maui... ------ Chapter 26. The problem, Whips thought, wasn't that he had to send out one of the kids; it was that he had to do that and accept that if something went wrong he could not do anything about it. Sky and Earth knew that there were dangers to going out on a rocking ocean vessel—especially in this ocean. After the tsunami there would almost have to be a huge number of dead bodies, animals that hadn't been able to escape in time, and that meant that the water for many kilometers around, [ Continue reading... ]
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