Chapter 45: Fidelity Astrophel The absence of those who followed Vance is a blow that the five work to diminish. Those who are left - a...

Chapter 44: Accretion Astrophel Every leader has their opposition. Every decision, another opinion. Building along the coast was always...

The cold burns like every nerve ending is set on fire. It consumes her, leaving her with no room to think nor breath with which to scream. The scream of the ice-white Thralkin still rings in her ears as though embedded in the very ice encasing her.

Flykra demanded that they follow the deserters from the humble ruins on the hilltop where the five had just begun to build. It took little thought, and less effort to guess where these stragglers would go. There was, as far as they knew, only one place to truly go. Seyune...

Walking the streets of Seyune, all Vance can think about is the way the city sparkled after the rain. It wasn’t even that much rain - a passing cloud that let go a little too soon - but it was enough to imprint the memory in his thoughts; the smell of the freshly washed ground haunted him in his sleep - as did memories of controlling the waves back home...

The next day, the sky is split overhead by an eerie but ever more familiar roar. Flykra’s glimmering white body is bright against the daylight and the clear sky behind her. At first glance as she approaches, the Thralkin appears as though like a large bird. But even still, she grows more impossible, more monstrous the nearer she flies...

The rain started light enough as to be a whisper - not quite scratching at the panes of glass in the Red Queen’s castle, but just enough to catch his attention as his sleepy magic flickers, his hands twitching. He holds his hands up, examining them while the Queen’s voice fades into the background...

The better part of another week was spent waiting; the six who had arrived already made a couple lean-to’s in the meantime, but when the carts carrying their fellows arrived from Kildangan, the real work began - tearing down trees and cutting planks for actual housing...

Gathering supplies for the trip didn’t involve all that much. Astrophel’s friends were quick to take over, planning to go up the cliff, and find a spot in which to settle. They all agreed it would be best to keep their packs light, to make progress and cover distance more quickly...

Sunlight hits him with the same pounding headache as though he were waking up drunk. The light is too bright; chatter around him is too loud; his skin feels too tight. Rolling to his side, he sees Dionne watching him right before he coughs, expelling a lungful of sea water, his throat burning, eyes watering. He doesn’t remember swallowing that much water, let alone coming back to shore half drowned...

After Seyune, Kildanagan appears humble and down to earth as the caravan arrives back at the port-city. Bustling with life, the people...

The procession as it enters through the wall surrounding Seyune proper is a crew of armored warriors atop J’korun and carts alike...

Chapter 33: Missive Veyda The water caller, as he calls himself, bends over the wide, polished wooden desk of the palace’s office. It’s...

The white Thralkin’s wings cup against the wind, shaping the air to suit her needs as she slows, her lower half dropping toward...

Chapter 31: Absorption Vance After the display with the prisoner, Vance had been offered a room in the palace. He took it, knowing his...

Chapter 30: Pioneer Astrophel By the end of the first day of travel, Seri, Dionne and Astrophel raced away from the curve of the river...

“What is your name, water caller?” the red queen asks, leaning back in the throne, fingertips tapping against her mouth...

When Astrophel got back to the boats, Iska was waiting for him, snuffling through his stuff and dripping water over everything...

If he thought the buildings in Kildangan were tall, the walls of Seyune were something else entirely. Over the tops of the trees...

The sun is already overhead by the time the crashing of the waves seeps through the dark space of unconsciousness to rouse Astrophel...