Trick or Treat, Feathered Hearts readers... · 2:11pm Oct 12th, 2022
You’re going to get an enormous new chapter of Continuation and Chronicles by this weekend, as I’ve worked obsessively on the latest entry over the past couple days and now have it draft complete at nearly 14,000 words. Which means it’ll probably be up over 15k when all prereads are complete and my various editing passes are done. But with this comes a warning.
I’m going to push an R-rating very hard in the coming chapter as you’re going to get an intense battle scene followed by an equally intense buildup to sex including plenty of foreplay. My recent work on an M-rated griffon chapter of Midnight Rising has undoubtedly influenced me there, and I’m worried I might have to bump C&C from T-rated to M because of it (stories need an R-rating, mods!). We’ll see what prereaders say.
As for why I would do that here and not in Eros? Because just like the bookend scenes when Marco got together with Gilda, it’s organic to the story. By which I mean that in my humble estimation as the author, it needs to be seen by readers as both a part of ongoing character development and a surprisingly natural consequence to what came before it. As it sits squarely at the end of the chapter, those who don’t want to read it can simply skip it.
That aside, I did promise folks a teaser in an earlier blog. So here it is:
Gilda watched impatiently as her improvised century and a half of forces scrambled, readying themselves for the coming Cloven assault.
In the end, she’d had to at least partially compromise her original plan, placing the two Talon Turmas at the edge of the plateau—all it realistically had room for—while using the third to cover the rear of the hill and prevent any attempt to flank its defenders. She wasn’t too worried about it given its slope was not only steeper, but lacking openings and flat areas, it would be difficult to use for an attack and Cloven ground forces would be at a sharp disadvantage there.
Difficult but not impossible, so at Giraldi’s suggestion, they left the lower half of the slope unburned so the dragon females could incinerate it as the Cloven tried to charge through it, bathing them in escapable flames.
The drakinas themselves were impatient to begin the battle, chafing at being held back while waiting for Cloven columns to appear. They were also unhappy at having to hide in the woods while the Ravens easily took out the few initial flyers that approached, claiming that their tough hides were nearly immune to fired spikes and they could kill the razorbat Cloven forms quite easily with their talons alone.
But Gilda emphatically told them no, informing Obsidian Ire in no uncertain terms that the four of them were to wait in the woods with the Ravens and keep watching the approaches, ready to ambush and help grind down the Cloven ground columns when they finally arrived. She grudgingly agreed, but left behind the smallest of their group, who was the pink-hued dragon named Rose Ruby. She volunteered to stay behind to provide at least one source of flame and close defense if the Cloven attempted an airdrop with corrupted flyers onto the plateau, claiming that she alone could defend it.
Though Gilda didn’t believe that for a second given the drakina’s small size—she didn’t even stand as tall as Lance Corporal Henderson, who was easily the smallest Marine present, so how could she possibly be good at close combat?—she acceded, deciding she could at least burn the remaining brush on the rear of the hill if needed.
And by all the Crows, what kind of warrior ever wields a scythe? That’s for harvesting grain, not hacking off heads! She shook her head but gave it no further mind as she next asked the two Ibex what skills and spellwork they could offer the defense.
The reply she got from Karin Kazal was that given their wounds and still-limited power, they had little in the way of ranged weapons or more powerful magics available. They were also unable to safely teleport more than very short distances with their still-healing antlers, but being able to scale the hillside with ease, he and the less injured doe could reach and carry wounded from anywhere on the hill as well as provide at least a few weak shields and other wards.
And when she asked him what they could do when it came to close combat, he ignited his antlers to produce magical blades of the same type he’d demonstrated briefly before during his first confrontation with the Senior Scimitar, saying they were quite skilled with them, and particularly deadly in close quarters like the caves.
“In that, at least, he speaks true,” the Senior Scimitar said grudgingly. “But I still don’t trust you, Starshina.”
“Then don’t. It matters not,” the Ibex buck replied coolly. “But as the humans must be kept from the Cloven at all costs, I will fight to defend them.”
“The humans? And what about the Kingdom?” Gilda challenged.
“It can rot,” he replied in perfect honesty, turning to face her glare head-on. “I will help you so long as I feel it helps the Ascendancy, Centurion, which means working together to defeat our mutual foe. Once the Cloven are beaten, we can go back to our more personal squabbles, but I swear on the Ancient Rams themselves that myself and my brethren will aid you to the best of our abilities until then.”
“And after that?” she prompted, to which he gave her a level look.
“And after that, I will do my best to escape and get all the intelligence I have gathered back to the Ascendancy. And don’t pretend you would do any differently in my place...”
For those of you wondering about the character of Rose Ruby, she’s exactly who you think she is. And before anyone asks, the question of whether there are analogs to three certain other girls from a certain popular series in this verse remains to be seen. But if so, they aren’t among her four clan sisters there.
That’s all for now. With prereads already flowing in, there’s a good chance this new chapter will launch by Friday, so be looking for it. Trick or Treat, folks. Because you’re going to get both big time in the coming chapter.
The trick is to enjoy the hole treat without dying out of hype before its released
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I promise you won’t have that long to wait! It’s coming and coming soon, within hopefully the next couple days.
Would anyone be able to tell me unit sizes of the Griffins and unit types? (Like companies, brigades, regiments. And unit types like Light Infantry, Heavy Infantry, Grenadiers, Special Forces, etc.)
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For that, my friend, I turn you to one of my other stories, which I strongly encourage you to read as well. My Firefly series tells the story of the Great Pony/Griffon War, and there’s a couple appendixes in it which answers your questions:
- MLP: FiM
- Dark
- Adventure
Before the Wonderbolts, there were the Bolt Knights. And before Rainbow Dash, there was Firefly. The story of Rainbow Dash's ancestor, the origin of the Wonderbolts, and the coming of the Great Pony/Gryphon War.