Prolific writing pace of Feathered Hearts continues — here's a teaser · 2:51pm May 12th, 2021
Skipping ahead a little, and thanks in part to a sleepless night when I decided there was no use trying and got up at 4am to spend the next several hours writing, I’ve completed the next main story chapter, which takes place two days following the events described in the M-rated side story.
Currently weighing in at just north of 8k words, intrigue is afoot, and it’s time for a reveal. Prereader AJ_Aficionado has compared it favorably to a Richard Marcinko story, so I think it earns a teaser, at least. Here’s how the chapter begins:
“Ugh…” Gilda moaned as her blue eyes fluttered open, only to quickly snap shut again at the painful level of light in the room, feeling both chilled and feverish at the same time as a shiver of cold passed through her body, even under whatever blanket she lay beneath. “Where am I…?”
“Easy there, Decurion,” a male human voice broke into her thoughts—their healer?—as she felt a blanket being pulled up over her. “Just lie still. You’re going to be fine.”
“Fine?” Gilda sensed something was wrong with her, but she wasn’t sure what; she tried to raise her head only for it to fall back to the pillow beneath it almost instantly, a series of aches and shivers suddenly shooting through her like she’d last felt when was down with hard the feather flu. “What… happened?”
“A long story,” Gilda then recognized Tribune Narada’s voice, etched with a rare note of concern. “And one we were hoping you might yet be able to fill in a few blanks of. Welcome back to the land of the living, Decurion. You’ve been unconscious for nearly two days now.”
“Two… days?” Gilda said in disbelief through her very pasty beak, trying but failing to pull together her last memories as she struggled to focus her eyes and raise a foreleg. “But why am I…?” She was finally able to focus and immediately wished she wasn’t, finding there was a long, thin tube running into her foreleg just above her talons, where her fur had been shaved from an area. It was thin, clear and flexible, held to her bare skin with some odd adhesive strips. And at the point it met her arm...
A wave of nausea shot through her as she realized what was happening—they were pouring fluid into her body… through a needle in her foreleg!
She had to stifle a sudden urge to vomit and faint, suddenly feeling in danger of falling right off the low table. “Get… that… thing… out of me!” she tried to reach over to rip it out, only to be firmly restrained by a pair of human hands on her weakened foreleg and torso, which held them fast.
“Lie still!” she was ordered again by the human healer. “I’m sorry, Decurion, but for now, it has to stay. When we found you, you and the others were so badly dehydrated we had to get fluids into you quickly, and then leave them in to keep you hydrated afterwards while you were asleep,” he explained shortly, not letting go.
“It’s not going to hurt you… unless you rip it out. It’s there for a good reason. If you don’t want to see it, I can hide it, at least.” He began to wrap the area with a soft bandage made of some form of stretchy fabric. “When you feel ready, we can try feeding you some soft foods and fluids, but until you can eat and drink on your own without throwing it back up, the tube stays.”
“Crows take it…” Gilda groused, realizing she was too weak to remove it anyway. “Just cover it.”
“I thank you for your care of my stricken soldiers, Sergeant First Class Cullen,” Narada acknowledged. “With your permission, I would like to speak with her privately now.”
“I’m afraid I can’t permit that, ma’am,” the dark-skinned human replied apologetically. “Orders from the Captain. We are not to allow her or your other soldiers to be interviewed without him present.”
“Then please summon him,” she requested somewhat shortly, not used to having her wishes denied. But the Inn was what amounted to a foreign consulate, and thus, she had no jurisdiction over those inside it—not even her own Auxiliary Guard soldiers. “As well as the Ambassador and Senior Sparrow, if you would.”
“Yes, ma’am,” he replied to a startled look from Narada. The odd address also caused Gilda to blink as he nodded to a sentry, who pulled out some form of communication device and spoke into it.
Ma’am? she repeated the Equish word, which as far as she knew, was a pony form of address used strictly for teachers or female managers. Never heard it used on a military officer! She could scarcely imagine Narada’s response to being called that by a griffon, imagining latrine duty would be the least of the punishments she would impose.
Several minutes later, Ambassador Strenus entered, followed by another Marine officer—a higher ranked one than Nantz, to judge by the two silver bars on the side of his immaculately creased uniform shirt lapels as opposed to the single silver bar the Lieutenant had. He was wearing the same kind of tool-equipped utility belt seen on the Marine sentries standing at the door of the makeshift infirmary, who were now armed with the longer black tubes that the ones outside were equipped with.
He was a tall human with fair features and a more weathered face than Nantz, with hair nearly as blonde as Tara’s. He looked a bit more trim in comparison to Nantz’s bulky arm, giving Gilda the impression that the difference between the two physically was somewhat akin to that between Earth and Sky Griffons—one being stronger and the other being swifter.
Her thoughts were cut short as he spotted Narada first and went up to her to introduce himself.
“Greetings, Tribune. I’m Captain Miles Moran, overall commanding officer of the Ambassador’s Marine security forces.” He gave her a human-style salute. “I believe we met once before, on the day of our arrival.”
“Yes, I recall,” Narada replied as she returned the honor. “I am truly sorry for the circumstances, Captain, though I do thank your soldiers for their professionalism in taking such good care of my griffons. As I’m sure you’re already aware, this is my subordinate, Decurion Grizelda Behertz.” She motioned to where Gilda lay, who turned over just enough to offer a shaky salute, wondering if she’d ever feel anything but weak again.
He returned the salute crisply with his straightened hand and talons held at an angle to his forehead. “A pleasure, Decurion. You have my sympathies and sincerest apologies for whatever happened. But now that I’m here, at least I can report that on one point, you are very much praiseworthy.”
“Oh?” Narada said with a glance up at him.
“Yes. You will be happy to know, Tribune, that even under the influence of whatever unholy magical cocktail she drank, she was conscientious of her duties, as she took great pains to write a report on… something she learned about us. We found her report scroll on a desk in the civilian suite, carefully rolled up and sealed, awaiting delivery to you. With apologies, we had to confiscate that report, as it contained what we consider sensitive information.”
“I… did?” Gilda blinked. “Am I really… that dweeby…?”
So another important milestone is reached in the side story saga, where I now have the bookend chapter of the main story available to help launch it with as well as continue the main story forward from there. There’s five side story chapters finished (though there will probably be additional edits) with a sixth in progress and three more yet to write. I want to have at *least* six or seven finished before the side story launches, so I can publish the first three chapters immediately and then release the other finished chapters one by one over the next few days to keep the story heat on.
Basically, whatever I have ready by Memorial Day here in the U.S. (Monday, May 24th) is what will be launched, whether it’s six or seven chapters or more in what now looks like a 9-10 chapter side story arc. I’ll say again that I can’t remember the last time a story just grabbed hold of my me and my muse like this, as I can’t recall ever being this prolific on anything else. But it’s to the benefit of me, and my readers.
Once another M-rated chapter is complete, I’ll update again, and this time give you some idea of what to expect in the side story in terms of scenes and themes. I’ve got a couple major ones that seem to be running through the entire side story, and I can’t say I mind them! 
That last line.
Very engrossing writing. I like the atmosphere of this chapter a lot. Reminds me of reading a Richard Marcinko novel... except with more heavily implied orgies.
inb4 the report is about guns and not the fun times they had lol
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Gilda will never NOT be Gilda!
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Thanks! I consider it high compliment for my writings to be compared to his. I should introduce his Seal Team Six to the Ravens someday.
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Why not both?