Feathered Hearts Chapter 11 in prereads · 2:31pm Aug 2nd, 2021
It’s a big boi, currently coming in at just shy of 12k words as I bring the bonus material back in for a soft landing to merge it with the original material. This means long-awaited awakenings, revelations, continued intrigue, and coping against a backdrop of an ongoing crisis with the Russian Federation Ibexian Ascendancy.
Speaking of which... before anyone accuses me of an anti-Russian bias by making them the bad guys, I invite you to check out my Chernobyl-inspired story The Best and The Worst, which praises them. And I promise that we will see the Ibex directly before all is said and done, including what they can do. It’s actually kind of fun to introduce a new race like this and develop lore for them. As DB did for the Changelings and AJA does for the Nightborne/Highborne, I’ll do for the Ibex. As for the context?
An alliance of necessity against the Cloven, where you’ll also learn what was happening behind the scenes of their nation and why the cider switch-and-spike operation was launched.
But that’s in the future. In the meantime, here’s a teaser from the present:
Tribune Narada regarded Gilda coolly as she stood before her superior, drumming her talons on her stone desk. “You’ll forgive me if I don’t understand this sudden change of heart, Decurion. After demanding to remain in your posts with the humans, you now want a transfer?”
“Yes, sir,” Gilda replied, still standing at stiff attention.
“To an Auxiliary Guards combat unit near the Pearl Mountains?” she said dubiously.
“Yes, sir.”
“And you don’t want to tell me why?”
“No, sir.”
The drumming of her talons got louder as Gilda’s recalcitrance grew. “Have you told Second Spear Gletscher or the humans about this…?”
“No, sir,” she admitted, closing her eyes.
Narada studied her a moment longer before she shook her head. “Request denied.”
Gilda’s jaw dropped open. “But sir—”
“Must I repeat myself, Decurion?” Her eyes narrowed. “After fighting for days to stay in your post, you just up and change your mind on a seeming whim. You’ve offered me not a single justification for it, particularly after learning that the humans soldiers and civilians actually want you and the Second Spear to stay. This makes no sense, and I’m not going to approve your transfer to an Ascendancy-facing combat unit until you give me a crow-damned good reason as to why.”
Gilda’s beak opened, then closed, then opened again. “It’s personal, sir.”
Narada’s eyes narrowed again and there was a sharp flick of her leonine tail. “Do you honestly think that’s a good enough explanation? Especially when just about everything should be personal for you with regards to the humans now?”
“No, sir.”
Narada’s tail lashed hard and her tapping talons turned into a partially clenched fist that dragged painfully loudly on her stone desk. “Decurion, I have much better things to do right now than play word games with you, so out with it! Either tell me what sparked this strange request, or get out of my office so I can write my deployment orders in peace!”
Gilda closed her eyes, mentally bracing herself. “Very well, sir. I will explain. But as the matter is highly personal, I request that none of your aides or sentries be present.”
“Denied. They’re here in case of an Ibexian assassination attempt as a prelude to war. Be assured that by my order, they will not say a word about what they hear,” she said with a pointed glance to the guards and aides around them, who nodded once.
Gilda feared her next request was certain to result in an outright explosion from her superior, but with no other way forward, she voiced it anyway. “Then… may I write my reason, sir?” she asked, struggling to keep her voice from trembling as Narada’s quill snapped in her grasp when her fist clenched around it. “By my most revered and sacred Ancestors, I promise you’ll understand why I’m so reluctant to speak it when you see it!” she hastily added, trying to placate her superior with a very crisp salute.
Narada regarded her coldly for a moment, before pushing a fresh quill and blank sheet of parchment at her along with an ink jug. “You are severely trying my temper, Decurion! But very well. Out of morbid curiosity over your strange behavior, I will indulge you. But you’d best have a very good reason for acting this way, or I will not be happy.”
“I do, sir.” Realizing the Tribune’s patience was at an end, she grabbed at the pen and parchment and began writing out her reasons on the rear of the Tribune’s desk. She took no time to choose her words carefully but simply explained in brief sentences what she had learned from her meeting with Tara, praying it would be enough and Narada wouldn’t share it with anygriffon else.
Two minutes later, Gilda passed her the note and stood back to rigid but trembling attention as Narada accepted it with an impatient swipe of her claws. She scanned the note once, blinked, and then read it again a second time, much more carefully. She studied Gilda closely for a moment, then she took the note and dropped it into a metal can beside her, where the piece of parchment was instantly incinerated by the charm the can contained, reducing it to ash. It was normally used for classified communiques that required their destruction upon receipt, but she’d seen fit to use it for the note as well.
She then grabbed a communication gem out of her desk and spoke into it. “Decanus Nydia, report to my office immediately,” she instructed, then set her eyes on Gilda, not speaking until the aforementioned griffon arrived.
There was a knock at the door, followed by a female voice when the summoned griffon entered. “Decanus Nydia reporting as ordered, sir.”
“Greetings, Decanus, and thank you for answering my call promptly. By my order, please cast a cone of silence over me and the Decurion here. I need to speak to her privately about a personal matter...”
Got a couple editing passes to make, and prereads to receive first. It’ll probably launch Tuesday or Wednesday night. And after that...?
After that, it’ll be back to editing and updating the original story chapters. I should really take another run at the mods to allow me to post them here. More all-new content will eventually appear, but later. Let’s get more of the original story upgraded first. Suffice it to say, I have very grand plans for the Cloven War, especially its ending, where some old friends will reappear and some very Lord of the Rings-esque scenes will take place. Those of you who follow Firefly know well how epic I can make battle scenes, and those of who you don’t should read it just to find out.
And yes, more Eros chapters are in the offing, the content of which will be hinted at in this chapter.
Update is the best time of day. This is the second best
I am quite interested in how your take on the Cloven War will unfold.
Denim BlueDemon Eyes Laharl only got to the opening of the conflict before, sadly, disappearing.5563296
Why, thank you!
5563388
I think you mean Demon Eyes Laharl?
I don’t think Denim Blue did much more than reference it in his works.
Well, the war began at the end of chapter 5, and he made it all the way up to chapter 20, so I’d say he got more than a little ways into it. I plan to basically give the Cloven War the same treatment I do the war in Firefly, with minor battles building to major ones and multiple story climaxes, with the final battle being the greatest of all.
5563403
Yes. That was a major brain fart on the name.
Even though he had a number of chapters, Demon had just barely gotten into what the Cloven were. Mind you, I don't know if he had intended a full scale war or just a minor outbreak that was dealt with. Or not...