Just a heads-up that there won't be any new chapters Friday, March 29 through Tuesday, April 2. My family is going on vacation, and my daughter plans to spend the entire trip in the swimming pool at the hotel. Apparently, I'll be playing the part of designated flotation device, so I'm not allowed to work 🤷♀️
2024-03-26 12:00:06 +0000 UTC View PostThey actually did rest for an hour or so. Kaz used the time to compress and release his core, building back up the ki the mountain had pulled from him to restore the stairs. Li ate a few chips of crystal Kaz pulled from his storage pouch, then spent the rest of the time sleeping. Some of her scales were starting to show the m...
2024-03-25 18:51:25 +0000 UTC View PostRatre was clearly exhausted by the conversation, so Kaz stood to leave as soon as the older male’s eyes drifted closed. With a nod to Jul, he headed for the door, but paused just before he pushed it open. Pointing to the table containing the pouches and containers of medicine, he spoke softly.
“Those five containers...
2024-03-22 19:55:20 +0000 UTC View Post“I saw Oda many times,” Ratre said. He didn’t open his eyes, and if he hadn’t been speaking, he would have seemed to be sleeping. “When she was little more than a pup, fresh from her spirit hunt, she came to see Enght, the chief of the Woodblades. I wasn’t much older than her, and I remember thinking that the colo...
2024-03-21 19:28:06 +0000 UTC View PostRatre and the other warrior were fast asleep on their moss beds, and Kaz froze, then crept forward as quietly as he could. The healer watched this with irritation tinged by amusement, but didn’t attempt to convince Kaz to leave.
Settling down next to Ratre, Kaz watched the slow rise and fall of the other kobold’s ch...
2024-03-20 22:35:54 +0000 UTC View PostSomehow, Kaz managed to sit there, silently eating the stew that his tongue could no longer taste, as those around him discussed everyday topics. Lianhua was fascinated by the story Berin had just told her, and was scribbling away in a book. For the first time, Kaz realized that she must have many such books, because she had ...
2024-03-19 20:05:39 +0000 UTC View Post“When the kobolds were young, the mountain spoke to them,” Berin began, her voice shifting to the rhythmic cadence of a born storyteller. All around them, eyes and ears turned toward the female, and a grim smile settled on her face as she continued.
The mountain told the kobolds that there was work to be done, a...
2024-03-18 20:40:53 +0000 UTC View PostKaz stepped out into the den, letting the door close gently behind him, then gave Raff a welcoming little yip. Raff chuckled and barked back, though the sound was nothing like the friendly greeting Kaz used.
Shaking his head, Kaz said, “You’re still not doing it right.”
For some reason, Raff had started this...
2024-03-15 20:44:17 +0000 UTC View PostThe Goldcoat den sprawled through several connected caverns. Instead of all the huts being in one, while others were used for storage, cooking, and other necessities, huts were scattered everywhere. Even in the first level of the Deep, kobolds didn’t feel the need to huddle together, hiding from the things in the dark, but ...
2024-03-14 17:53:28 +0000 UTC View PostWhen they joined everyone else at the bottom of the stairs, it was to find that Senge had doubled, and was now glaring at the version of herself waiting in the cavern below. The new ‘Senge’ was, of course, just another kobold who looked like her, and if Kaz were to guess, probably a birth-sister, rather than one from a se...
2024-03-13 18:32:39 +0000 UTC View PostSenge wanted to go down the stairs herself to see how much damage remained, if any, but Brez managed to talk her out of it, and instead sent one of the other warriors down. Meanwhile, another warrior was tasked with going back to the den to retrieve the males who had come from the mosui city, since it was apparently ...
2024-03-12 19:02:31 +0000 UTC View PostUpon entering the cavern beyond the arch, Kaz immediately realized where the grinding sounds were coming from. Like the arch, the stairs were in the process of repairing themselves. In the parts of the mountains where the staircases were maintained by kobolds, every third or fifth step was still covered in a layer of gold, an...
2024-03-11 18:35:55 +0000 UTC View Post
My weekend project. He's missing his pack, he's a little lop-sided, and he needs more more stuffing (I ran out!) but my kiddo thinks he's pretty awesome. I'm happy with him, too!
(I bought the pattern on Etsy from Teacuplion, which is an awesome username)
2024-03-11 03:15:27 +0000 UTC View PostSenge and her brother, Brez, led the group back to their den. Senge repeatedly called it temporary, and after the third time, Kaz caught Brez giving his sister an amused glance. Apparently, the males, or at least Brez, didn’t think it would be as short-term as Senge did.
As they walked, the warriors around them relaxe...
2024-03-08 20:18:53 +0000 UTC View PostSix warriors waited at the bottom of the stairs, gold-bladed knives and teeth bared as they glared up at the descending group. They made no move to attack until Raff, who had moved into the lead as soon as he saw them, went to set foot on the tunnel floor.
The largest warrior, a black-furred male with eyes almost as dar...
2024-03-08 00:21:20 +0000 UTC View PostI had to take a friend to the hospital this morning (she's going to be fine) and it has thrown off my entire schedule. I will get a chapter done, but I'm only at 1300 words, and my kiddo is on the way home, and she's like a plague of locusts descending on the house. Hang in there, and I'll get that chapter out.
2024-03-07 21:56:13 +0000 UTC View PostThe next day, Kaz, Li, the humans, and a dozen male kobolds stood at the exit to the city. No one had found any more of the hidden stairs yet, not that they seemed to be looking, but now that the mosui were gone, getting to the stairs kobolds usually used shouldn’t be too difficult. This exit was on the husede<...
2024-03-06 20:36:02 +0000 UTC View PostKaz picked up the knife given to him by his Aunt Rega as she lay dying. She told him it had belonged to Kaz’s father, Ghazt, though Kaz didn’t remember ever seeing it before. Still, Kaz treasured it, not only because it reminded him of Rega and Ghazt, but because it was impossibly sharp and sturdy.
Recently, when he...
2024-03-05 19:08:52 +0000 UTC View PostTwo days later, Kaz sat, staring from his newly sated pouch to the pile of objects he had removed from his torn and battered pack. It had taken a day and half for the pouch to release him, falling away from his hand while he slept, and when he woke to find it there he had been hesitant to even pick it up again. Still, it hadn...
2024-03-04 19:34:13 +0000 UTC View PostSome of the annoyance faded from Nucai’s gaze as it came to rest on Kaz, but then his eyes flickered to Lianhua and it returned.
“What are you still doing there?” Nucai demanded, sounding less than pleased.
Kaz indicated Lianhua. He was about to take a risk, but it was a small one, since he was certain the h...
2024-03-01 22:06:03 +0000 UTC View PostKaz staggered as the pouch continued sucking a constant stream of ki from him. He tried to close the connection, but once formed, it seemed impossible to disengage, much like when he got too close to one of the humans while they were cultivating. The difference was, of course, that there was no real intelligence behind this, ...
2024-02-29 19:05:57 +0000 UTC View PostTo Kaz’s disappointment, instead of looking excited or surprised, Lianhua just shook her head. “As I’ve mentioned, the Diushi were expansionists. They sent scholars, explorers, diplomats, and finally soldiers to every part of the continent. They weren’t exactly aggressive, in that they didn’t attack wantonly, but wa...
2024-02-28 18:53:33 +0000 UTC View PostThe last of the rings was the only one Kaz was really interested in, and now he picked it up. It was a simple, wide silver band, thick enough that the top of the inset stone was flush with the metal surface. The gem itself was a rich blue, a few shades darker than Kaz’s fur, and the bottom tip of the cut end just protruded ...
2024-02-27 22:15:52 +0000 UTC View PostDuring his journey through the levels controlled by the mosui, Kaz had picked up a few things, and now he laid them out in front of Lianhua. One after another, he pulled out one mithril ingot, one ingot of adamantium, a small metal container covered in delicate metal filigree, a short, squat scroll that glowed deep b...
2024-02-26 20:18:34 +0000 UTC View PostKaz slipped into the water not far from where Li was splashing, and soon the dragon made her way over to him, using him like a stone in a pool. Climbing up onto his shoulder, she slithered back into the water as if she’d fallen by accident, thrashing until he scooped her up and put her back onto his shoulder. Next, she clam...
2024-02-23 21:18:54 +0000 UTC View PostElvi smiled, plumed tail wagging gracefully. From the curve of her ears to the length of her snout, she was lovely, and the core in her abdomen spun with mingled gold and white power. She wasn’t as strong as her sister, Etle, but she wasn’t far off, either, and she had two colors of ki to Etle’s one. She was also determ...
2024-02-22 19:23:29 +0000 UTC View PostKaz gently knocked on the door of Lianhua’s room, then pushed it open so he could peer inside. He knew she was there because he could see her dantians through the wall, but she had a tendency to become so engrossed in her work that she didn’t even hear him knock. She also forgot to eat, which was ostensibly the reason he ...
2024-02-21 19:18:10 +0000 UTC View PostIn case anyone was wondering, Book one of Broken Knife was 129k words. To me, that's about right, because when it's published, the book will be a good size and weight to hold in your hands. More practically speaking, I can charge the same price as my other books and still get a decent return in royalties.
For r...
2024-02-20 20:29:03 +0000 UTC View PostOnce Kaz, Lianhua, and Thabil convinced small groups of kobolds and husede to work together, they were able to quickly fan out through the city and then the lower levels, freeing everyone still wearing a collar. Kaz himself was needed to free the husede leaders, whose collars required all five types of ki to...
2024-02-20 19:52:48 +0000 UTC View PostThabil shifted, looking almost nervous as everyone turned to look at her. “There is a way to speak to all of the collared at once,” she said. “If you let me, I can tell my people what has happened.”
Lianhua hesitated, then nodded. “What do you need to do?”
The husede gestured toward the door. ...
2024-02-19 22:22:21 +0000 UTC View Post
