C&C update and teaser · 7:49pm March 22nd
The new chapter is closing on 11k words, and it might well be up over 15k when all is said and done. Too far past that, and I’ll have to think about breaking it up again. I’ve gotten close to finishing the first and last (fourth) sections, with the second section at 70% done and the third, about 30%. But the third is in some ways the most crucial, given that’s where you’re going to learn what’s going on elsewhere in the Kingdom and just where/when/how the Cloven struck.
The third section will also, as earlier promised, borrow large amounts of text from the original Feathered Heart’s chapter 10 and be illustrated with maps I plan to create in Photoshop. That’s going to take probably several days for me to do when I finally get started, but I’m still going to do it. I might even share them with DEL himself now that I’m in touch with him again, just to see what he thinks.
Be advised that there’s going to be a LOT of information crammed into this one, and the chapter will go at a brisk space with minimal dialog outside of a couple areas. You’ll learn not only about the general war situation, but get a very in-depth demonstration in the first section of how the Changelings can wage conventional war (you see how they could wage a very unconventional war in Eros, but the Cloven aren’t vulnerable to that!)
The second section will be Cipio addressing the entire city, with a short speech by Queen Lepidoptes as well. The third is Gilda running a Council of War in the Tribune’s absence (for reasons that will be explained in the chapter), and the fourth...?
Well. At that point, it’ll finally be time to get in touch with some old friends. 
But even before that, there’s a treat I have planned for not just readers, but our favorite dweeb of a griffon. And for that, I will offer up the following teaser:
The Marines were not idle during this time. Invited to try out griffon arms, they fired both single shot and repeating crossbows under supervision, leaving them surprised at the damage even a single a well-aimed explosive bolt could inflict on a wall or charging soldier. When a now-healed Brennan asked to try to a heavy repeater, which he described as similar in function and purpose to his “Saw”, he did so under Raven supervision.
Hefting the heavy soldier weapon with a grunt, he took aim and mowed down a line of targets emplaced on the ground below, blowing apart a series of target dummies borrowed from a nearby training grounds with a string of explosive bolts that shredded them.
Afterwards, he stared down at it in wonder. “Whoa… that’s a lot more fun than my hunting crossbows back home!” The remark earned a startled look from Gilda, who exchanged a glance with Giraldi.
Even though they have cannons, humans still use crossbows? She had no idea why, or what form they would take.
“Laissez les bon temps rouler!” She was further surprised to hear him speak the pony language of Prench as he loaded a fresh coil and fired it on more distant targets from a prone position, showing he had gotten the hang of it quickly.
Of course, as the Marines had been granted permission to use griffon weapons, it was requested that the griffons be allowed to try human ones. Imlay demurred at first, claiming that their orders wouldn’t allow it, to which Tara rolled her eyes and invited a surprised Fortrakt over. She then removed another storage gem which turned into several examples a new human sidearm of a type Gilda hadn’t yet seen before:
It was larger and almost all metal, and unlike the standard ones which had detachable quivers that slid out the base, this one had a cylindrical assembly that popped out to the side when she released a latch, showing it had six perfectly circular holes roughly the same size as the base of her talons evenly spaced around the periphery.
“This is a Smith & Wesson .45 caliber revolver,” Tara explained to a surprised and suddenly sorely excited Fortrakt as a grinning Chris and Marco looked on, the former trying very hard to stay standing without any assistance. “And as for why it’s called a revolver...” She then startled Fortrakt by spinning the cylinder rapidly around its axis with a flick of a finger, which it did surprisingly smoothly for being made of metal.
“Before you ask, ‘caliber’ simply refers to the size of the bullet, or cannonball as you call them. All you really need to know is that it fires the same rounds as my 1911. As you can see, it’s a larger gun that’s got a rubber grip, so you should be able to grasp it a lot easier than our other weapons,” she told him while he studied it with the same air of a cub itching to get his talons on a new toy.
“Revolvers were our first type of repeating sidearm, invented nearly two centuries ago and still in use today. It’s a different kind of ‘cannon’ that’s heavier, larger, simpler to operate and probably better suited to your talons. It’s also very reliable, even able to fire underwater. So, would you like to try it, lover-bird?” she then asked him with a wink, earning a fierce flush and roaring laughter as everycreature stopped to watch, with even the drones hovering in the air nearby to watch.
An eager but anxious Fortrakt listened carefully as Tara explained the exotic weapon’s operation, but only after Chris and Imlay had emphasized the basic rules of all human firearms, which Gilda instantly granted made a great deal of sense: Always assume it’s loaded, don’t ever aim it at anything you don’t intend to shoot, and most importantly of all, always—always! —keep your talon off the trigger until ready to fire.
Once the rules had been repeatedly recited and Fortrakt had acknowledged them, she then showed him how to load it. Pointing it down, she held it in one set of talons while she simply grabbed a handful of bullets out of a separate box and then somehow held them in her palm while loading them into the ‘chambers’ one by one.
It was an impressively dexterous act which vividly illustrated to the griffons previously unfamiliar with humans just how deft and nimble human digits truly were. Once that was accomplished, she reseated the cylinder in its housing, which she did with a simple sharp flick of the wrist that resulted in it snapping back in place with a sharp metallic click. She then showed him how to ‘cock the hammer’, which was a metal protuberance on the top rear of the weapon that could be partially retracted with another series of soft clicks.
Doing so caused the cylinder to fractionally rotate, Gilda instantly noted. She then raised the weapon towards another target dummy on the ground below, shouted “ears!” to make sure everyone near enough had covered theirs, and then opened up on the target with a series of massive cracks that caused fresh flinches from those who hadn’t obeyed her, re-cocking the hammer each time in what appeared to be a well-practiced manner as she punched a series of holes into the old metal armor covering the target.
Six shots later, she lowered the smoking tube and then opened the cylinder again, this time to remove the hot but empty shells, which she pried out with her the hard edges of her ‘fingernails’. “Your turn!” she then informed Fortrakt with a grin, holding the ‘revolver’ out for him while taking pains to keep the ‘barrel’ pointed downrange.
“Ancestors…” after all his earlier moodiness, Gilda found herself glad to see Fortrakt be his earnest and dweeby self again as he accepted the weapon from her almost reverently and loaded a single round carefully under her supervision, checking with her every step of the way.
Despite its thick base and griffon-suitable grip, he nearly fumbled it a couple times either out of unfamiliarity or nervousness. But under her tutelage, he finally seemed to get the hang of holding it, doing his best to mimic Tara’s grip and stance as he reared upright to aim it, flaring his wings for bipedal balance so he could hold it in both sets of talons as Tara had.
“Relax, cub,” Gilda told him as she saw him trying not to tremble, clearly anticipating the weapon’s visibly impressive recoil as he cocked the hammer with some difficulty, having trouble positioning his thumb talon to do so. She considered teasing him by telling him to just imagine he was aiming his spear at Tara’s rear, but thought better of it, deciding she definitely didn’t want to fluster him when he was holding a human cannon for the first time. “You mastered crossbows after a rough start, so you certainly can master this.”
“By your command…” he said without looking at her, then exhaled heavily, closing his eyes and bowing his head before opening them. He looked through the manual sights as Tara had taught him, then took a deep breath as his talon closed on the trigger.
Hey, our favorite birdie boi earned it. I will work more on the new chapter this weekend, but at this rate it’s going to be a couple more weeks before it’s finished, especially counting the maps I need to make. So please be patient, and I apologize for the wait as always. If it ends up being split up again, I’ll let you know, but that just means you’ll get two chapters in fairly short order instead of one.
Fabulous new, thanks for wetting our reader appetite for more content ♡
I'm glad to hear C&C is getting maps too. They make every story more immersive and I'm used to staring at them anyway in my spare time.
And since we're talking about big irons...
This is gonna be gud
guntime for griffies