------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"We need to go, right now!" Ren pleaded with the immensely muscular back in front of her. Zammar did not reply, still lost in his thoughts. He was facing the long ramp that led down from the Kampallan ring. Directly in front was a giant fissure that had appeared when he punched the stone in unbridled fury. Tristan was afraid the entire mountain would crumble and crush them because of it. But so far it had held. On the other hand, he was grateful that the tall mountains, in whose shadow they stood, obscured view of the absolute ruin contained within. They did not, however prevent the smell of rotting, burned flesh from permeating through the thin evening air.
"Please Zammar..."
The man turned around, revealing his gorgeous face with an eccentric swirl of beautiful black hair. He looked at the young queen with deep, empty brown eyes.
"Not yet, Ren." He whispered finally.
"But they're going to reach more villages...we can warn people..." She, like Tristan had been stunned silent by his solemn mannerism.
"No, we will never catch up on foot." He unsheathed the immense greatsword across his back. It rippled mesmerizingly along the lethal edge with an azure glow. With a loud heave, the immense man thrust the sword deep in to the ground directly in front of him. There, it began to pulsate softly with a stronger, more visible blue that banished the shadows immediately around in periodic intervals.
"What are you doing...?" Ren managed to utter before Zammar's hands landed softly on her shoulders. Tristan felt a dagger of envy at the way her entire body went limp and she stared up at him with large and completely unguarded, but beautiful green eyes. He could almost hear the rapid increase in her heartbeat.
"Listen Ren, this was not your fault."
She was silent for a long while before whispering "We should have arrived sooner, we should have warned them."
"No, think of what happened at Torst...Kampalla never stood a chance."
"I don't care...I should have done better...so many...so many people..." Her small voice died instantly as the giant arms pulled her in to an embrace, effectively hiding her behind the bare muscles.
"Ren, I will not let this happen again." The conviction in the mans voice was penetrating.
Tristan watched the embrace for a while before turning to walk away; he couldn't bear the knot that was growing in his stomach. The small white fox kit trotted after him; one companion that would usually have brought a smile to his face.
The trio had clambered down the long ramp from the Kampallan ring, turning their back on the smoking ruins within. Ahead, a long and seemingly endless prairie landscape stretched westward in to the horizon. Having grown up in the mountains, Tristan had never seen such a flat and endless horizon. Yet now, when he was standing at the very edge of everything he had ever known - The Dragon Peaks, he felt apathetic to the beautiful scenery.
He reached the bottom of the long ramp that had been carved in to the side of a tall mountain and stepped off the long grass on to the paved road that disappeared far to the West. In the distance, the first of many giant plumes of black smoke continued to rise, hiding the dawning stars in its ominous, potent whirl. He took a long, sorrowful look at it before walking off the far edge of the path, feeling his way through the grass and bushes for a while.
"Tristan friend, I am here." A rough voice called out, prompting him to turn and watch the humanoid figure stride out from the grasses elegantly. They were in a small clearing, where harder ground had made it hard for the long and pervasive grass to take hold. The top of the Und's elongated alien head reached up to Tristans shoulders. Spores from various weeds clung to its rough brown fur, and the big black eyes looked up at him neutrally. A mouth opened where there had been none, revealing the sharp needle like teeth. "It is good that you came, I was not sure if you would."
"How could you let this happen!?" He did not stop himself from raising his voice, stepping closer to the Und aggressively.
"I didn't..."
"Do you know how many people died!? How many lives you ended? Did you even look at what happened to the city? There were hundreds and thousands of people that made their home there...and so many more that ran from Torst...How could you do this Aythyl?"
"Tristan friend..."
"Can you imagine how Ren feels? She always puts the weight of the world on her shoulders and then she has to see this? That's not fair!"
The Und stared at him with the giant empty eyes, bearing into his will. Tristan felt himself breaking, the anger threatening to be replaced by the more prevalent grief.
"These people...they didn't do anything to you, or any Und'kal...Why Aythyl?" He managed to whisper finally.
"I didn't know, Tristan friend...I can not stop the Prime Directive." The Und sounded calm, but barely so.
Tristan knew it to be true, but something, someone had to be blamed. Unconsciously, he crossed his arms and stared hard at the ground. As if in response, Aythyls face, that usually looked so neutral without the mouth, contorted in a strange expression, as if he was struggling within himself. Suddenly, the Und fell on its spindly knees, clutching the large head with long fingers.
"Aythyl?" Tristan reached out, immediately concerned. The Und looked up at him once he touched the rough fur on its shoulders.
"These emotions, Tristan friend, they are new and foreign to me...They are so strong." He looked back at the ground. "You feel...sadness, sorrow that many of your people are gone...It is not just anger, it is different, it is more powerful...deeper. But you did not even bond with these people...I do not understand this emotion I am feeling."
Tristan knelt by his friends side, rubbing the rough shoulder and feeling his anger dissipate completely. Sometimes he forgot that the world of humans was as foreign to the Und'kal as theirs was to him. "It's alright, Aythyl. We humans learn to put ourselves in the places of others, we feel for each other, it's called it empathy...I guess it's like an extension of love. Do the Und'kal not care about one another the same way?"
The Und shook his head. "Why? This emotion is painful, it is like loneliness...It leaves me empty here." He motioned to his belly. "Why do you love one another? It is not worth the pain..."
Tristan wasn't really sure what to say, the picture of Ren smiling beautifully flashed in his minds eye. "It has to be..." He whispered finally.
The Und looked back at him. "I have mind shared with you, friend Tristan, I am human now...Or at least, partly so...Still, I do not understand. "
Tristan sat back on his rump and looked up at the stars helplessly. "I wish I knew what it is like to be an Und'kal...I can not imagine life without these emotions you find so foreign. Is there something you have that we don't? Some way to fill in the gap?" His questions were met with silence and he soon lost himself in his thoughts. The Und'kal had come from the stars, according to Ren. To him, that made them harbingers of a new age for humanity, the connection of two different civilizations.
"Aythyl...Why are your people here? You had your own home did you not, your own world?"
"It is gone, friend Tristan."
"Gone? What happened? How can a world be gone?"
The Und looked at him for a long while. "Friend Tristan, I can show you..."
Tristan sat up immediately. "Really?"
"Yes...but..."
"What?"
"You will see what I have seen, and I have seen what others have lived...This has never been done before."
"Let's try it!" The enthusiasm in his voice was riveting.
"But, friend Tristan, you will be in the mind of an Und'kal, it may...it will change you..."
"That's okay Aythyl, I want to try and understand your people...I think if we both understand each other, we can stop all this fighting."
Aythyl looked at him with big, black eyes. "Yes...maybe we can stop the fighting..."
Slowly and with great hesitation, the Und moved towards him. "Then, I will show you what Prime four has shown me."
Aythyl placed his long fingered hands on the side of Tristans head. In response, Tristan was automatically drawn to the deep and tar like eyes, seeing the reflection of his own hazel ones. As the world around him suddenly darkened, the moon and starlight choked out by encroaching walls, the last thing he saw was the colour of his eyes swirling into a dark black.
A moment later, they were standing in a small, dark chamber. There was virtually no light, but for a small orange glow from the ceiling, yet Tristan could see perfectly. The walls and ground were covered in dark, jagged plant like ropes that resembled forest wines. Somehow, Tristan knew that these were called turgs - the basis for Und'kal structures.
A shuffling sound alerted him to a creature he had never seen before, but knew to be called a Rak. It looked spiderlike, with six thin legs and a small stout head. It's entire body was large and bulbous, like a giant vase attached to the back of the head. At it's highest, the Rak only reached to Tristans waist. It crawled around the outskirts of the room, extruding more turg from an opening on its rear end. The extruded turg fell to the ground slowly and as it did, the turg on the ground moved aside smoothly to make room for it.
In the center of the room was a square made of tall, sharp pieces of turg resembling the needle like Und'kal teeth. Together, they formed an enclosure, and in it's center was a small juvenile Und. It regarded its surroundings with eyes that were far too large, giving it an air of curiosity. The ears, which seemed to already be fully grown popped out from a head that was too small for them. The rest of its body was proportionally even smaller, Tristan wondered how that big a head could be supported on such a thin neck.
"This is me, in The Hive on this world." Aythyl said ethereally, next to Tristan. His voice seemed distorted, almost wave like. Yet, it had never been clearer.
Suddenly, a batch of turg on one wall of the room slid apart and downwards to create a large, rectangular opening. Light flooded the dreary room instantly from outside, soon lost as a figure strode forward. Tristan gasped silently, automatically in reverence. The Und Prime was taller than ordinary Und's, it must have stood atleast twelve feet. Instead of the naked fur that covered Aythyl and his brothers, the Prime was draped in a long flowing robe. It was divided by lines, and looked to be made of individual pieces of turg...Except the robe seemed so integral to it's body, that when the Und Prime stepped forward, it flowed around the tall body to accommodate the movement perfectly. The head, though larger than most Unds was shaped exactly the same, with a lack of mouth and large, black eyes. Only the elongated ears indicated any difference, as they crooked inwards to each other and effectively formed a crown.
The Prime walked with long, elegant strides to the baby Aythyl, who was regarding it with awe. Its arms were closed in front of it, lost between the robe of turg, which also dragged behind it. With its head held high, it looked priest like. The Prime reached Aythyl, and unwound its skeletal hands to place long fingers on the side of the juveniles head.
Tristan only had time for a short breath before the dreary room disappeared in a brilliant vortex of orange and black. Once the image finally stabilized, he gasped at the vista.
They were standing at the top of a giant rocky canyon that stretched to the horizon, where an enormous, red sun had begun its ascent to the orange sky. Overhead, it illuminated two giant moons that were so close he could see enormous craters on their surface. They seemed to be locked to one another, separated only by a very thin strip of sky.
Craning his head, he noticed another new mystery. The space directly above was different from the rest. Instead of the dull orange glow that painted the sky, this one small section was a deep black. Stars shone through it, and at its corner he could only just make out the edge of a giant yellow sphere. It was as if the morning sky itself had been ripped apart so that the light of the stars could claim one small territory. The entire tear was like a massive rhomboid with glowing vertices that zigzagged into the surrounding sky like bolts of lightning.
He looked back down and saw a single Und standing at the edge of the rocky cliff. It's name was Styck, and it was him, as he was it. Tristan stepped forward to stand by the Und's side and stared down at the giant canyon. The ground, and canyon walls were all covered in turg, the black vines leaving small gaps for the red rock. Throughout the vista, sharp black spikes stuck out from the ground at odd angles. Some ended in elaborate patterns and had curvy branches shooting out from their length. Somehow, he knew these to be sun feeding lifeforms similar to the trees. A single muddy river ran along the base of the canyon, dividing the turg covered ground in two sections.
Spread across the vista, in random intervals, were giant conical structures with flat tops. Made of turg, they merged with the surrounding ground seamlessly. These were The Hive nodes - the above ground portions of the Und'kal hive.
Tristan realized, he knew, that sprawled below him was in fact a massive Und'kal civilization. Through the knowledge of the Und Styck, which was also his knowledge, he knew that the entire planet was covered in a similar fashion. Together, they formed one, single hive that was interconnected below and between the node structures.
Suddenly, an enormous explosion ripped through the air. In the distance, Tristan was surprised to see a giant cloud of dust where a turg structure had been. As it began to clear, the silhouette of a colossal, monstrous head started to show. Shaped like an enormous shovel, the massive mouth shook from side to side before opening to let loose a tremendous roar that shook the ground and caused rocks to tumble off the canyon across from him. The ground beneath him cracked, ripped apart by the monstrous power.
Tristan never truly saw the creature, as by the time the dust settled, it had disappeared beneath again. Another explosion followed immediately, and a new cloud of dust covered where another structure had been. Before this settled, or before the giant monster had disappeared again, another structure was destroyed by one of its brethren. The creatures were immense. Their heads, being the only visible component, were larger than any mountain Tristan had ever seen in his life.
Stepping back, Tristan almost fell to the ground, overwhelmed by not his own, but Stycks fear. The Und was shaking desperately, watching the beasts with huge eyes. Tristan realized that this was the only part of Ghekyal, the planet he was on, that had not been destroyed by The Great Monsters from the Deep. This was the last that remained of the Und'kal home. And now, it too was under siege. A small part in the back of his mind felt sad, solemn to see the demise of the civilization. But, the dominating emotion was fear. This was not his emotion, but that of Styck. Styck did not regard the destruction of his home with sorrow. Rather, in cold, pragmatic logic, the Und seemed only concerned with it's own survival. The fact that the majority of its people had died...seemed unimportant. The Prime directive was to survive.
But there was another component. Styck was angry, very angry with the Monsters from the Deep. This was not human anger, fueled by grief and sorrow. Rather, here was pure, bestial rage at the prospect of being threatened. Tristan felt the rage seep in to his own being. Stycks feelings and ideas coursed through Tristan like his own. He was Styck, and had lived all twenty of the Unds years.
Like the Und, Tristan turned his back to destruction of its home below. Styck walked along the cliff to join the massive crowd that huddled around a dark, gargantuan opening. A part of Tristan was awe-struck as he looked up at it, another was impartial. Something told him that this was an Athl - the last one to leave Ghekyal. The Athl were giant flying animals that once roamed the Great Empty above Ghekyal. The size of the beast was so large, that the groups of Und'kal gathering and slowly clambering in to its open jaws looked tiny in comparison. Nothing could be seen of the rest of its body, that remained obstructed behind the open jaws. Giant, sharp teeth, similar in shape to Und'kal ones, acted as gateways to divide the the massive crowd of Und'kal into lines of Unds and Kals. The wings were folded up by its side, reaching high in to the sky like dark, leathery mountains. The creature reminded Tristan of a larger version of the ones he had seen Und ride in the Dragon Peaks.
Styck had disappeared in to the crowd. Just when Tristan turned to look for him, another violent swirl of colour replaced his surroundings. Again he flew through a vortex of black and orange, this time the black won.
He was no longer on the canyon in Ghekyal. The red sky had been replaced by the dark interior of a mouth. Turg hung down from all crevices, and covered the base of the mouth beneath him. Crowds of Und'kal were gathering and walking deeper in to the cavity - towards the warmth of the beasts stomach.
Tristan was no longer Styck. Now, he was a young Kal. This young Kal warrior had no name, not yet. It had not earned a name yet. Tristans human body stood by to the side, with Aythyl next to him, watching blankly. The human Tristan, was gone.
The Young Kal was angry. An anger that Tristan felt in his deepest being. It was the eternal anger, an undying itch in the back of his throat that constantly reminded him of the need to destroy. His bloodlust was agitated more than usual...He hadn't had the opportunity to hunt. Now, he was stuck in the mouth of the Giant Flyer. A voice spoke in the back of Tristans mind - an Athl. Yes, he was in an Athl. The Kal did not know that - to it, this was simply the Giant Flyer.
Standing aside from the enormous group of Und'kal, the Kal, Tristan, flexed his talons vehemently. They needed more sharpening, more killing to become stronger with the blood of his prey. That was the only desire that filled him. There was fear, an unrelenting fear of what he had seen on the ground. But that was soon mingled with the need to fight. His brothers had been killed, the only thing that mattered was that their attacker be punished. It did not matter that they were gone forever, all that mattered was the act of vengeance. The Great Beasts...with his talons, he would have ripped the giant creature to shreds. But the Prime Directive...The Prime Directive forced him in to The Great Flyer. He felt a great rage towards the Unds. But he could not act on it. No, never harm an Und. That would be impossible.
The ground started to shake just as the light from the big-fire-in-the-sky disappeared behind the enormous jaw. The Great Flyer was about to fly. The Kal, Tristan, jumped up vehemently. "KILL!" He yelled, ready to use his talons and rip the Flyers insides to shreds.
He was halted very suddenly. A soft, soothing whisper filled the inside of his mind, the inside of his very being. "Protect the mothers." The Prime Directive became all consuming. Nothing else mattered. Like the thousands of other Kal, Tristan turned to charge deep in to the heart of the Athl.
The world disappeared again in a swirl of black.
Now, they stood inside a long hall like cavity with small cutouts in the wall. Turg covered everything. Tristans human body stared blankly. That wasn't him any more. He was Unark - the old Und that was staring out of one of the holes. This was in the neck of the Athl. Outside the opening, the canyon was slowly moving away. Massive clouds of dust covered everything, hiding the destruction that he knew was happening. Memories of Unarks life came flooding back to Tristan. Now, he watched as the home that he had spent all his years and the companions that he had shared his life with were buried beneath the power of The Great Monsters from the Deep. Somewhere in a deep corner of his mind, Tristan was sad and sorrowful for the loss of the civilization. The emotion did not come from Unark.
Unark gazed out of the window with cold, calculating reason. He was safe now, in the belly of the Athl. The Mothers and Primes were both well protected. Their species would survive, that was the most important thing - the prime directive. His fear dissipated. His anger at The Great Monsters did not. Instead, he consciously shoved it aside, focusing on the next task. They would need to find a new home. The new world must have an air sphere like their own, one that was extremely rich in Nitrog gas. Then, they would be able to breath. Enough Rak survived to reproduce and allow them to rebuild their civilization.
Ghekyal was far below him now. It curved into the distance, disappearing behind the glow of the giant red sun. He watched as the Athl flew gracefully towards the massive tear in the sky, waiting for the Great Empty on the other side. It happened instantly. In one moment, the red of Ghekyal was replaced with impenetrable black. As he stared out of the window, an immense yellow and orange planet moved into his sight. The planet had thick, giant rings of rock orbiting it. Unark gazed at it curiously, watching the movement of storm clouds across the surface. Suddenly, he knew that this would not be their new home - The Primes had just found it.
He watched the planet disappear behind the Athls flesh as it turned with a slow, graceful glide through nothing. In the distance, he could make out the other four Athl. They were all converging on a small yellow moon.
Everything disappeared in another swirl of colour. The vortex mixed brown, yellow, blue and black. When it ended, Tristan and Aythyl were standing on flat, icy and barren landscape. The sky was a deeper black than any night time on Earth or Ghekyal. An immense sphere with giant rocky rings made some sort of moon above him, rising out of the horizon magnificently. A glimmering light in the distance indicated where the sun was.
Tristan was a Kal named He-who-hunts-Ghorads-in-the-dark. He walked across the turg covered ground outside the Hive nodes, his movements were sluggish in the freezing cold as he stared up at the distant star. He felt insanely angry at The Great Monsters. The bloodlust was unreal. He needed to rip something apart, to feel the tearing of tendons in his teeth and the burn of hot blood on his skin. In fury, he smashed the ground beneath with a hard talon, crushing the rocks. Behind him, the corpse of the juvenile Kal that had challenged his dominance rustled slightly in the frigid wind. Oh, how good it had felt to tear his brother apart. That was all he could find to fight on this harsh world - his own brothers.
A voice permeated through his being. "We have found another home, closer to the warmth. Get back into the Athl, protect the mothers." Tristan forgot his bloodlust, and started galloping towards the nearest opening of the Athl's mouth, to join the thousands of others.
There was another swirl of colour, a mix of green and dark blue. At the end of the vortex, Tristan found himself back in the clearing. The high mountains of the Kampallan ring were just a few hundred meters in front, and long grass tickled his neck. The entire scene was illuminated by a bright full moon and shining stars overhead. He felt incredibly disoriented, the scenery completely unregistered.
"Tristan, no...you were in too deep." Aythyl was holding his blank face, caressing it with his fingers as he stared deep into Tristans blank eyes.
Tristans arm shot up, lightening quick, to tighten around the Und's neck. Aythyl gasped suddenly before looking back at him with even larger black eyes. "You...You killed them all." Tristan whispered maliciously, applying more pressure to his hand.
"Tristan friend...stop..." Aythyl managed to gasp.
"Hundreds of thousands of my people...You killed them all...I will rip your throat out." His voice had started low, but grew stronger at its conclusion.
"Tristan friend...stop...this is...not you."
Tristans grip tightened more, he felt the thin neck beginning to give way. Aytyhl was losing air, his eyes glossy, but still staring hard and unblinking. The long arms were hanging limply by his side as Tristan strained to lift the light Und up to his eye level. There was nothing around him, just the Und, himself and the burning desire to kill.
A sharp pain coursed through his his arm as the fox kit leaped up to bite in to it, breaking him out of the trance. As the world re materialized around him and Tristan realized what he was doing, he gasped loudly, clambering backwards on his arms and feet; knocking the fox back to the ground where it landed nimbly to look up at him. He stared wide eyed and horror struck as Aythyl tumbled back to the ground, gasping for air on all fours. His own breath came hard and fast, chaotic with the discord of denial.
"No...Aythyl...no." He whispered desperately.
"Friend Tristan...It...was not you..." The Und managed to gasp between remarkably fast and high breaths.
"No," He shook his head violently; how could he hurt his friend?
Aythyl made a strange coughing sound, prompting Tristan to jump up quickly and run to the shaking Und. He threw his arms around Aythyl in a tight embrace, tears were gathering in his eyes even as the rough fur tickled his cheeks.
"I'm so sorry...I don't...I don't know what got in to me..." He whispered into the bony shoulder. The Und patted his back with it's long fingered hands, an unseemly human gesture.
"Tristan friend, this is what it means to be Und'kal."
"No," Tristan whispered, "I'm human...I won't...I won't hurt you...I promise, I will never hurt you again."
Aythyl broke the embrace and pushed away to look at him with large, faithful eyes. "I know, friend Tristan. I have never seen a being so pure and devoid of hate as when I first mind shared with you. I trust you with my life blood."
Tristan shook his head in dismay again, looking down in shame. "I still can't believe...how..."
"I think, friend Tristan, that now you understand us Und'kal better...I think now we can work towards a peaceful solution..."
"Tristan!?" Ren's voice called abruptly in the distance to interrupt the Und, strained at the highest volume she could manage.
"Tristan friend, your queen-mate is calling. You should return to her."
"But...Aythyl...Will I see you again?" He whispered with a crossed heart, holding his breath in fear of the response.
"Yes, we will meet. You are still my friend. Do not be ashamed." Aythyl said neutrally, flooding Tristan with relief.
"Then...just stay hidden, okay? I'll come back for you tomorrow."
"No, Tristan friend, I can not go much further than this. The Prime Directive is calling me back, I am needed at The Hive."
"Oh but..."
"Here," The Und opened it's large mouth and reached a long, spindly arm down it. When it finally returned, it was holding an irregularly shaped black rock. "Take this."
"What is it?" Tristan asked, instantly curious. He reached out for the rock, ignoring the saliva that dripped down from it in thick globules.
"We have mind shared two ways...Now, we are forever bound. This is a heartstone, it solidifies our connection. I will see you again, friend Tristan, and together...we will bring our people to a time of peace and harmony."
Tristan pocketed the stone carefully before throwing his arms around Aythyl again. "I'm so sorry, Aythyl...I didn't mean to hurt you."
"I know, friend Tristan."
"Then...I guess this is it, I will see you again...I promise."
"Yes, now go...your queen-mate is calling for you."
Ren had her arms crossed and was scanning at the tall grass in front of her, her face a mix of frustration and worry, when Tristan walked out from behind her.
"Ren..."
She turned around astonishingly fast. "Tristan! Where have you been?! Do you have any idea how worried I..." She was silenced instantly as Tristan threw his arms around her. His eyes were watery again.
"Ren, I won't ever hurt you okay? I won't let anything hurt you. I'll protect you forever...I promise." He thought he heard her heart rate increase just slightly, probably just imagining things he reminded himself.
"Tristan...?" She reluctantly returned the embrace, holding him for a short and glorious moment. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah," he broke the embrace to give her his best smile and then took her hand to walk to where Zammar was standing, facing the vast planes to the East. Calesol was back in its sheathe now.
His mouth fell open as he followed the incredible mans level gaze. A beautiful horse was galloping towards them. The bright moonlight shone on it's rich, elegant coat to bring out the thick brown colour as the long golden mane rustled gloriously with its gallop. He had never seen such an elegant animal before. It moved with not only incredible grace, but also unbelievable speed. In just a moment, the horse was right in front of him. Now, he realized that right between its eyes, there was a white circle. Within it, he could just make out a thin crescent moon to the left of three waves. The symbol looked remarkably familiar.
Tristan reached out an arm to welcome the beast, but it walked right by and in to Zammars massive embrace. The two locked their heads together, all four eyes closed in harmonious union. Tristan had never seen such a strong bond between animal and man...Its power felt almost physical, as if he was cast aside, unworthy to share in its glory. The man and the horse, each representing the most beautiful of their individual species, were bonded with one another in eternal unity. They symbolized the pinnacle of mans connection with nature.
"This is Arion," Zammar said finally in a soft voice, opening his eyes and stroking the shining coat affectionately. "He is my greatest friend, for life. And he, will guide us to our next destination." In response, Arion let out a soft neigh.
Tristan glanced at Ren for a moment as she was helped on the horses back by Zammar. She had a big smile on her face, and stroked the fur earnestly. He followed her arm back down to the beautiful animal, he couldn't keep his eyes off it for long.
"Tristan, come." Zammar said, extending his hand.
Tristan kept his eyes on the horse as he stepped forward. Somewhere deep in his mind a voice spoke to him, 'kill it.'
Authors Note:
Hello my plentiful and devoted fans (I love you guys!). If you have been following this story for a while, you may be wondering why this authors note has suddenly popped up so much sooner than previously. I guess the obvious thing to say is that this part is significantly shorter.
The series titled (for now unknowingly why) Candahar went from one part to two parts to three to a lot more. It is basically a big, related chunk of the story that I wanted to keep together but also wanted to make sure justice was done to.
Anyway, for that reason I thought it would be a good idea to experiment with a different approach to the story writing, one that had been pushed upon me (mighty forcefully and with much blackmail I may say) by a good fan!
The more I think about it though, the more I like it.
The idea being to release the story in much shorter, more frequent parts. I was worried that the story being incomplete within a section, and the lack of readers would be a hindrance. But I think that this may just make it easier for the readers, allowing them to sit for shorter periods of time at once to just "catch up" on where the story is. I suppose it is similar to watching a TV show with much due interest.
Anyway, I have been pretty excited for the "Candahar" series. So far, over half of the series have been completed, so I hope to be releasing often enough with good edits.
I hope that the new method encourages more people to bear through the first three parts and hop on the much empty bandwagon! Otherwise, I hope that my fans (I repeat- I do really appreciate people taking the much precious time to read through this) enjoy this series.
No comments:
Post a Comment