When Hunter Met Missy (EB Cut Scene)

Due to some plot changes, this hilarious scene was cut from the manuscript... enjoy! Unedited.

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There was a knife, a big, flipping huge knife with engraving on it in Keel’s hand and for some reason he had pulled Hunter’s sleeve up. Hunter stared at the knife, than at Keel’s naked arm, then at his and several things clicked together. Firstly, he decided, Keel had just gone spontaneously psychotic again and probably wanted to kill him. Secondly, Keel looked nervous for some reason, which could not be good, because bad things like crazy Dart Feather drakoon appeared usually when Keel was nervous. Third, Hunter thought now might be the time if there ever was one to take his life into his own hands and run like hell.

“Er yeeeah Keel. Whatever.” said Hunter, hearing the drakoon talking nervously to himself like it was scared of the knife it was holding. The knife was almost long enough to be a short sword, Hunter thought. Anything that big was clearly meant for stabbing things. Hunter did not want to find out why their arms were bare. Keel reached for his hand and Hunter hardly thought; before Keel could get him with the knife he threw the second greatest punch of his life, hitting Keel’s arm holding the knife to send it flying. Hunter did not wait to see where it went, sprinting off with no idea what he was going to do besides his will to live.

“BYE MYSTAYA!” yelled Hunter, bounding through the streambed as fast as his legs could carry him. Behind him Keel started digging desperately around in the water for the knife, apparently thinking that it was more important than keeping Hunter from his grand escape. Hunter sloshed up onto the bank, then headed for the undergrowth, trying to get a solid wall of it between him and the stream before Keel started chasing him. Somehow it worked. He did not hear Keel behind him, even though he was pretty sure Keel could hear him, crashing through the bush like he was with no regard for any of the branches slapping into his face.

Hunter! Come back! cried Mystaya, whinnying somewhere on the other side of the stream. Hunter didn’t answer, leaping over some logs. The trees opened up and he sprinted, twigs that had gotten stuck in his hair flying out. He looked back, but all he could see was forest and he felt a little hopeful, maybe he had made his point clear, maybe Keel had changed his mind -

“YEEAGH!” The embankment appeared out of nowhere, Hunter hardly having time to throw out his arms before he was falling down the hill. A root caught his foot sending him head over heels into a bunch of the thorny broad leafed plants that he had seen in the old growth forest of Sloveniska’s lower elevation regions, tiny prickles immediately hooking into his clothes and skin. Sitting up and groaning he looked up the embankment desperately to see if Keel was there, but he wasn’t. Grabbing a nearby root he hauled himself up, staggering for a moment, then he started running again, down the ravine he had fallen into, eventually dragging himself up the opposite side of it to avoid the nasty thorn leaf plants.

“I’ll find some place with no drakoon and maybe I’ll find a nice little horse or cat or something that doesn’t like drakoon to be my buddy. We’ll live happily ever after and invent a pesticide that only kills those stupid thorn plants because those things are evil.” muttered Hunter, still painfully picking leaves off of himself as he trotted through the brush. “Oh yes. It will be grand.”

Nearby there was a mewing sound and he jumped. “Marl? Marl is that you? Listen bo, I’m not going back, not if Keel’s going to wave nasty looking knives around like that in my face. I have no idea what his problem is, but I’ve decided; I don’t want to die. I want to live damn it. Is that too much to ask?”

The mewing quieted for a moment, then it started again. It did not sound like Marl. Marl had a big cat’s meow. Hunter slowed down and moved in the direction of the mew. “Hey, you’re not Marl are you? Who are you kitty? Are you a kitty?”

“Meow.” said the invisible cat pitifully. Something rustled; the cat. It sounded like a kitten.

“It’s okay kitty. I’m not like those turd-bags back there. I don’t wave knives around or nothing. I’m a human. My name is Hunter.” said Hunter, glimpsing some white fur in the underbrush and a pair of wild blue feline eyes. “Are you alright there kitty?”

A whiskery little white face with huge kitten ears poked out from under a fern, staring at him and he chirruped, trying to lure it closer so he could pet it. “Hey, you’re a pretty kitty aren’t you? Gorgeous eyes!”

“Mew?” asked the kitten. It looked about four months old and pure white. It squeezed out from under its fern and flipped its fluffy tail up in the air.

“Aww, you’re so cute.” fawned Hunter.

“Mew.” said the kitten, almost as if it agreed with him. It bandied over to him and rubbed its face against his outstretched hand, then jumped onto his legs to nudge against his chin. Flustered, Hunter scratched its ears, unable to think of any cat he had ever seen that was more adorable than this one.

“Aw you’re so friendly!” gushed Hunter as the kitten flopped down on his lap, kneading his leg and starting to purr loudly. It looked up at him adoringly, blinking slowly and seeming to grin with its whiskers. “Pretty and friendly! Aww!”

Hunter hugged the kitten, picking it up in his arms and it didn’t resist or struggle. “You want to come with me kitten? Well you can if you want! I don’t mind, but I have to run right now, that okay?”

“Mew.” said the kitten. Hunter objectively decided that that might mean yes and started moving again, lugging the young, still purring little creature under his arm. Hunter kept petting it as he hiked, moving as swiftly as he could and trying to conserve energy. It seemed kind of peculiar that he had not heard Keel behind him yet, but maybe him running off had been what the drakoon had wanted, or maybe he had just wanted to get rid of him. Hunter was a little choked that Mystaya hadn’t followed him; he had thought they were buddies, but of course Keel probably came first in her books.

“Ah well, probably another horse out there somewhere in the world we can be buddies with, eh little miss?” said Hunter to the kitten, who just seemed like a girl to him. He sincerely hoped it was. A pure white boy cat just seemed a bit weird to him. The kitten continued to purr as he hiked, careful to pick up his feet and be stealthy about leaving tracks, thinking carefully about each step that he took. Time passed and still there was no sign of Keel, making Hunter almost feel a bit dejected. Hadn’t they been friends at least a little at all after all that being chased and stuff? In his arms the kitten stopped purring, staring at something in the bush with her ears up. Hunter stopped and looked too, then froze.

A shaggy, black and white bicoloured, predatory looking animal was stalking towards him.

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Little does Hunter know that he has met the world's most prissy cat. And that she is his. (Or, more properly, he is now her eternal slave. Luckily, Missy is useful.)

In the canonical version, their meeting is a little less funny, but still pretty amusing regardless.

Long Time, No Updates...

Sorry for the lack of any updates! The unexpected hiatus has been mainly due to:

- I suddenly moved back to my parent's house. (And I MEAN 'sudden!' I spoke to my folks one day and moved the next - a move of over 600 kilometres, back to the Okanagan!)
- Almost immediately after I arrived in the Okanagan I got not just one, but TWO part time jobs - due to my lack of luck job hunting in Vancouver, I guess this means it was meant to be that I came home here!
- Due to those part time jobs plus a regimen of cooking meals for my night shifting parents (so that they don't have to eat nasty sandwiches at work) I've been really busy and tired. This doesn't mean I haven't been working on my manuscripts though!
- I kind of hit my photo capacity for blogger and I like pictures in my posts. I tried buying more space for my pictures, but somehow that didn't work, so I dunno. I still have photobucket, but it's a huge pain in the ass re-coding every single picture that I want to upload!

So, as you can guess, lots of stuff has gone on. Here's a summery of things which have happened beyond the stuff keeping me super busy.... (as usual; do I EVER truly take a break?!)

- I've been hiking THREE times since I moved here! All have been pretty great hikes. The last one was a 9 kilometre hike and I didn't feel a lick of pain ANYWHERE in my body until the last kilometre (the tendon in my left arm that likes to act up - it's some stupid genetic thing I got from my mother that kind of ache-hurts) and I was never out of breath the entire hike. What really helped with controlling my speed was letting my Dad take point, instead of galloping off ahead of him and using all my energy way too fast. (He's not slow but he takes like 10 billion pictures when we hike - which is awesome - but it means we stop a lot, which is sort of a good thing I guess!)
- I'm slowly, slooooowly, getting sound. My irritable bowel syndrome has been acting up because I've been eating blacklisted items (like too much cheese and eggs - all animal products are no-nos) but because I walk up to 8 kilometres every day, I'm starting to build up my wind again, which means that I'll possibly be strong enough to do some backpacking next summer!
- My cats like it here! They're getting along okay-ish with my other older cat Smoky. Unfortunately, they gave her fleas, but I'm working on that. (How two indoor cats got fleas sort of escapes me, but they did and they got them back in Vancouver. I couldn't afford any flea treatment back then.)
- I'm still mourning Sunny. I'll probably be mourning him for the entire rest of my life. (He was just that special!)
- I'm getting some more solidified ideas about my future, living here. I've learned a lot about myself in this past year and I'm really hoping that I can apply all of it to making the right choices from now on and ignoring that damn Coyote! (I'll explain Coyote.) I've got several demons to take on though before I can get anywhere. Luckily, they're identified demons!
- Speaking of Coyote, I had a medicine card reading in which I learned that I have more totems than previously thought. Some were unexpected (like Coyote, which is a double-edged knife) and some were previously known or expected (like Wolf and Dog - yep, I am both a Wolf AND a Dog!) I'm not going to mention all of the spirits who follow me here, because I hear you're not supposed to, but among the spirits who govern me, there are Dog, Alligator, Wolf, Coyote and Rabbit, the evil one. (There is absolutely NOTHING good about having a rabbit totem because they represent Fear.)

Thanks to the medicine cards, I've gotten some good ideas about how I should proceed with my life. Wolf is my Teacher and because he's been known to me all my life, I feel this means that I am meant to teach others too - and Dog reaffirms that - dog is Loyalty, the servant. I must do something that serves and aids my beliefs to be happy as Dog. Because I am also Wolf, I have the power to teach people, so I must assume that I will serve through teaching - I am meant to be a teacher. No, not a classroom one. I think I need to do something with nature, such as the biology thing or working for Parks Canada in a national park or educating people through eco-tourism. Thus, right now, my goals look like this:

- Learn to drive. (Currently studying for my Learner's license or 'L.')
- Take a NOLS course. No matter what I end up doing, be it guiding on horses, being a warden, a field biologist, a ranger or just a park interpreter, getting trained with NOLS will help me survive in those fields as well as get a job in those fields.
- (Possibly) Learn French (because French is Canada's second language.)

I can't do anything about my future loneliness (when I move out from my parents') right now. It's impossible to know what will happen with me socially in the future. For now I'm home and because of that I'm emotionally stable (aka not lonely) because I'm getting the social interaction which I so desperately needed from my parents (like Dog, I desperately require companionship and cannot live or thrive without it). Right now the only idea I have for my future predicament is to get a dog, because dogs, unlike cats, can go hiking with you and go on trips with you. A dog would keep me active, which is important, because I need to stay sound and the only way I will will be through excersize. Right now, the breeds under consideration (also which I just plain like the best) are:

- The German Shepherd - there aren't many disadvantages to this breed. They have been known to do just fine in apartments (provided they get enough stimulation and walkies) and they've been a favourite of mine for probably my entire life. I love GSDs, plain and simple, but some stuff to consider are that if I have a GSD, I would like to give it a job (such as teach it Shutzhund or tracking) as these are extremely smart animals (third smartest breed in the world) and I would have to make doubly sure that I socialize it well as a puppy. (And I think I would get a puppy, because I want my dog to be fine with my cats and to my cats to be okay with it, which I think would be better if they meet it when it's still a small size close to their own so that they're less intimidated by it.) Some considerations are that GSDs can be prone to hip displacia (damn you improper breeding!) so I would have to make doubly sure to get my dog from a reputable breeder using German working stock. (NOT crappy American show stock!)

- The Canaan Dog - I never even considered this bloody dog before I started getting it as a suggestion on almost every 'breed selector' test that I've taken. Reading up on them, there's some pretty great aspects to this breed, such as them being a very healthy, ancient, long lived breed with almost no health problems. They're also extremely smart (like the German Shepherd) and have been used as herding dogs for thousands of years in Israel (aka Canaan) while in more recent years, they have been employed as war time sniffer dogs, sniffing out landmines (again, like the German Shepherd!) The only real disadvantage to this breed as far as I can see (its temperament being similiar to a GSD but its health being sounder) is that it's pretty rare, so a puppy would be hard to find. Also, it's not really recommended for first time owners, but really, it doesn't seem like ANY dog is recommended for first time owners! (I think, judging from my personal studies of canine psychology I have a leg up over most first timer people who are thinking about getting a dog.) Another good point for these dogs is that they're a spitz, (like a husky or an akita) so they look cool. Also, they might be pretty easy on the wallet in regards to feeding; they are easy keepers, expense wise.

- Swiss Mountain Dog - big, lovable and completely gorgeous! Sweet tempered, they love people and would probably make the best first time pet of my list (according to most dog people anyway) but disadvantages abound for them, despite their beautiful nature. Firstly, they don't live long with a projected natural lifespan of 6-8 years. Second, they have some health problems and third, they're really big dogs, which means they might have really big appetites, which might not be so friendly for my wallet. Despite disadvantages, these low key dogs would probably be quite happy going hiking with me and packing their own stuff.

- Rottweiler - I love rotties for the same reason I love pit bulls (though I don't like the looks of pitties as much) - they have a very sweet and loving nature, provided they are raised properly. Rottweilers, like German Shepherds and Canaan Dogs, were originally herding dogs, used by the Romans to herd their cattle, so this makes them not only smart, but also, yes, naturally protective of their 'flock.' If I had a rottie, I wouldn't get one with a docked tail because I believe that while undoubtably cruel, the docking of a rottweiler's tail also contributes to its 'mean look.' All dogs look better WITH tails! (Unless they were actually born without one!) Rotties have some of the same health issues as GSDs (though maybe not as severe) and to get one with a good temperament, I would have to be very sure to seek out a good breeder and it would be of extra importance to meet the parents of my dog.

- Jack Russel Terrier - I have some experience with these; my old best friend had a pack of four and I used to spend quite a few weeks every year living with them, so I'm accustomed to these spirited dogs. Personally, I'm not really into small dogs, but I am making myself consider Jack Russels because financially, a small dog would be easier to take care of than a large one. Jack Russel Terriers are great little dogs with enough energy and spunk to go the distance on a hike for their size, though if I got one I would do well to find a breeder who is mindful of good genetics and does not dock tails. I will not have a dog with a docked tail. I will not support that disgusting fad and Jack Russels look cuter WITH a tail anyway!

- Cairn Terrier - CUTE. They look like little wiry foxes with cute stubby puppy tails. As terriers they're feisty little things and they have a good coat that would keep them warm in cold conditions. Cairn Terriers are best recognized for the character Toto, who is the dog in the Wizard of Oz. Besides possibly being more economical than a big dog feed-wise, they are also comparable to the size of my cats, which could be a good thing if the animals decide to have an argument.

So anyway, those are my dog ideas. I don't plan on getting a dog until I'm settled into whatever career that I'm going to have, so it will be a while, probably years before I have a pooch. For now, I'm pretty happy with my cats.

Right now (away from the dog topic) I'm working on a self-imposed production deadline of finishing the first book of Emperor's Blood by Christmas (and if not Christmas, than December 31st.) After that, I'm supposed to work on spiffing up the manuscript of Ashes of Hope for three months before beginning the writing of Kill Copper, the second book in the EB trilogy. I'm giving myself a year for that and I have to shop out AOH while I write it. After KC is done, I will (if I stay on target) begin writing Imperial Spirit in March 2013. That's the goal. After that, I will spend up to six months (but hopefully only three) editing the trilogy together for continuity, flow and characterization. Hopefully I can keep these deadlines!

Graphic Novel Production News!

As some of you may know, I've recently been producing a graphic short called 'My Brother is Weird' (which is still in production and shall remain so until completed, which will not take very long once I have time for it) as practice for larger projects. For a long time, that project was a graphic short compilation called 'The Prayer Fulfilled,' however, due to lack of plot development on that project, 'Prayer' has been postponed. Instead, you guys are going to be getting something much better and much more killer badass. It's going to be multi-volume. It's going to be full length. We're talking - a REAL graphic novel and one I am very excited about. The only clue I'll give you guys for now is the above snippet of concept art. (Which is also concept art for Emperor's Blood which will be kept being produced at the same time, so good luck telling what concept art is for what!)

Special thanks to my buddy Rachel Stolberg for helping me make what I hope is a very good decision.

The graphic novel will in time have its own blog/website.

Hunter Adapts - EBV3 Excerpt

Unfortunately, there were some spoilers right before this part, so I had to cut the stuff before this out. It was really good though!

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Hunter had not taken Keel’s possessive inflection askance and presently he made a face at it. His poor brother; surrounded by people who thought that he was livestock. It was disgusting. Hunter had to rescue him somehow. He had no idea how he could ever accomplish that, but he would rather his brother be treated like a person, not like a cow. Grouchy from his empty stomach and Keel’s natterings, Hunter started tromping back to the cave, shoving aside ferns from his path with careless vendetta. Nothing was good in Sloveniska, not for him or Ki. He had hoped the place would be an improvement for his brother, but thus far it seemed more like Ki was being held captive, for all that he was apparently a prince.

“Sloveniska, you’re a horrible place.” growled Hunter, then he questioned why he was talking to a country. Water dripped constantly on his head, dribbling down his greasy hair into the prodigious new beard that he had been unwillingly growing. Hunter didn’t like the beard, it was too itchy, but his knife was too scarily sharp for him to risk shaving it off. He thought he might cut himself bad enough to bleed to death, knowing his luck. Hunter slipped a little, as if to prove his ill luck. Yes, his luck was horrible. Just the fact that he was wintering in the world’s wettest environ was proof of that. His socks had not been dry or clean for a month and if he could have gotten new ones, he would have burned the ones he had. Within those dreadful socks his feet were always waterlogged, like overcooked vegetables. It was horrible. Sometimes he sniffed his feet and thought they smelled bad enough to provoke fainting.

“Hensynaik!” cursed Hunter as he stumbled over a root. His day wasn’t going well. That he was stumbling proved that. Hunter resisted the urge to kick vindictively at the root and stepped over it, then in a whirl of confusing green, painfully found himself on a smarting rump, his metal shod heel having slipped in the soft loam. Swearing liberally, he struggled up using his spear, rubbing his muddy posterior and wincing, not really noticing around the sound of his own cursing that the forest had gone unexpectedly silent. The animals had gotten used to his harmless passage through this area and usually ignored him, whereas they squealed bloody murder for Keel. But Keel wasn’t with Hunter, he was back at the cave, so the forest should not of gone silent, yet it had, as unnervingly silent as the nerveless silence that proceeds the knowledge that somebody you know is dead.

“Stupid root!” snarled Hunter, turning and whacking at the invisible annoyance with the butt of his spear through the covering veil of leaves. “Flaming thing! Stay out of my w…”

Hunter’s anger turned to fear in an instant. Something didn’t feel right; something was horribly wrong. Something big, that made him feel like perhaps he should run. He couldn’t place what it was. There was no obvious cause for the feeling; it made the back of his neck prickle. Hunter took a firmer hold of the spear in both hands and whirled around, looking in all directions, half expecting to see Keel, but Keel wasn’t there. Nothing was. It was silent - too silent. Hunter realized that now with dread. Something very bad was very close by. Something watching him, its eyes burning into his head.

He looked around again, not just side to side and behind, but up and down, but nothing was there. Everything was telling him to run, yet all he had ever been taught about predators was telling him he should go up a tree. Most four-legged animals cannot climb, but it didn’t matter anyway, because all the trees around him were slick bark trees, the kind that Ki had once been caught in, the kind which was impossible to climb and which Keel favoured for his traps, even morbidly joking once that he would never catch anything as good as what the enemy Cyslo had caught that day in his when Ki had been trapped. Hunter looked up a nearby tree, hoping he could shimmy and thought better - no. No there was nothing really that he could do - besides pray.

Hunter started walking again. Maybe if he walked fast enough, he could avoid whatever was stalking him somehow. It was a struggle not to burst into a run; Hunter was too afraid to walk slowly, but he was also too afraid to bolt. His school teachers had all taught him that if he ran from a predator he would be dead. Running made a predatory animal want you more; it made them excited. He mustn’t run.

He stumbled and nearly had a heart attack, then he looked around in a shock of paranoia, but again nothing was there. Nothing was nearby, yet something was watching him. He couldn’t see it, but he could feel it like its teeth were already grasping his throat. Something was there. He started walking again, struggling even harder not to run. He was only about a kilometre from home, but that kilometre might be too far. He wasn’t sure if he could make it with the creature chasing him. His heart was flip-flopping, his stomach twisting with the knowledge that something unseen wanted to eat him. Something big. He wished he knew what it was.

Hunter froze as something rustled up ahead, then a familiar long black face nosed out from a patch of ferns into his path.

“Keel! Keel it’s you! Hensynaik, that almost killed me!” gasped Hunter in relief, running up to the drakoon and feeling like the sun had come out, for he was undoubtedly saved. What if it had been Keel stalking him all along? Hunter wouldn’t of been surprised. He laughed; he was okay now. The nightmare was over. “Keel, were you sneaking up on me? That’s a bad trick bo. Nearly scared me to death!”

Keel wasn’t looking at him for some reason. He was looking past Hunter, back the way Hunter had come and his tail was twitching, his focus on the trees from which Hunter had came, as deviously sharp as if he were shooting arrows with his eyes there. As Hunter passed him, looking back, Keel peeled back his lips and growled, narrowing his eyes.

“What is it?” asked Hunter, his heart pounding again. Whatever it was, it was still there and now that Keel was growling, Hunter knew it was real. Hunter gulped and levelled his spear, just as he had been taught, yelping as Keel started slowly stalking towards where the unseen monster was. Too scared to run home without the dragon, Hunter scurried after him, keeping his spear ready, his stance apart. Keel half spread his wings over his back as if to make himself look bigger, growling ever louder, stalking purposefully. Whatever something was there, it should be ready.

A monstrously shaggy head, yellowed white on top and black on the bottom, a huge muscled skull with short round ears pushed out of the leaves. To Hunter it almost looked like a doggish or Fallan creature, but for the fact that it was so big, as big nearly as Keel. The big stocky beast waded out of the brush on legs that seemed as thick as young trees, a long tail like a fern leaf fanning after it, bicolour like the rest of it. Hunter had never seen such long ugly claws on any animal, nor such long carnassials or fangs as the beast opened its mouth, roaring back at Keel. Its underside was muddy black, its top stained white, making it one of the strangest looking animals that Hunter had ever seen. The beast’s furry hackles stood up in a spiny looking ridge, seeming to make it twice as big as it really was and as Keel lifted a paw to step closer to it, Hunter felt a horrific sense of foreboding. This thing was almost as big as Keel; it was going to kill him if they fought, which Keel seemed to intend to do.

As the beast roared again, Keel answered back with a long, low keen, a shrilling sound that seemed more scared than brave, yet the monster seemed to pause at it and
Keel spread his wings higher, thrashing his deadly tail around their legs.

“Keel. Maybe we should go yes? Keel!” squeaked Hunter. The drakoon wasn’t listening. He snarled again, every single one of his teeth ferociously visible, lashing the air with his tongue, half crouching, legs apart. The beast flattened its ears and came closer, yowling furiously, shaking its head aggressively. It came so close that Hunter could see the whites of its menacing beady yellow eyes and then it paused, its lethal gaze shifting from Keel’s angry face, to Hunter’s and suddenly Hunter knew which of the two of them it was going to go for. Who would he have attacked, if he were a hungry predator?

Hunter just managed to get the point of his spear up at a proper angle before it charged, its claws ripping towards his arms. It tried to ducked under the swipe Hunter took at it and whirled as Keel charged in, snapping at its shaggy throat. The smell of the thing’s breath was ghastly on the air and Hunter scrambled out of the way, watching as the forest titan turned snarling upon Keel, their teeth slashing together, the pair of beasts grappling. For some reason, as Hunter watched, the animal trying again to go for Hunter, Keel instantly distracting it with a nip, it seemed to Hunter that he was supposed to do something. He had never been so dangerously close to such a vicious animal confrontation before and it was scaring the tar out of him, Keel’s furious shrills stinging his eardrums, the beast’s yowls echoing to terrifying effect all around them.

As the Keel forced the beast to back towards Hunter, Hunter suddenly knew exactly what he should do, which was surprising because he was so terrified. The big feathery tail hit him in the legs and with barely any hesitation, Hunter gritted his teeth, then drove his spear point down through the base of the monster’s tail with all of his strength, the beast screaming in pain. In a flash the animal was spinning around to get at him, but in that moment, that bizarre, shaken moment as Hunter stumbled back, falling on his rump again, drawing his pitiful little knife, Keel jumped onto the back of the beast before it could remember that it had a greater foe. Hunter just managed to get up as Keel grappled the screaming beast that vainly tried to throw him off, Keel’s hooked claws loosing rivulets of scarlet across the beast’s thick disgusting fur. Snarling, the animal tried to get him off, but it couldn’t with its tail stuck; it couldn’t even buck. It screamed and moaned, the cries of its pain the worst sound that Hunter had ever heard.

Then Keel got his jaws clasped around the back of the beast’s head and with a violent jerk punctuated by a crackling of snapping vertebrae, the animal collapsed, a limp mountain of hair. Hunter stared at it, shocked that anything so horrifically animated, so real, could suddenly look almost fake. Keel bent around its throat and almost casually bit its neck, making its blood flow in a sheet across the muddy, trampled forest floor, blood mixing in with the damp cake of the loam. Keel let go of the creature’s neck and looked up at Hunter, licking his chops.

“Gods.” intoned Hunter, this time in English, his knees shaking. He was so relieved. The thing was dead. Keel transformed and Hunter mutely watched him pull his spear out of the ground and the beast’s tail, making it bleed heavily again all over the prior drenched tail.

“Catch.” said Keel, tossing Hunter the spear. He barely caught it. The drakoon unsheathed the knife he had with the engravings on its blade and started butchering the carcass, skinning the hide off. “Good pelt. We didn’t ruin it too much. A few holes, but it’ll do for lining your cloak. Those can be patched.”

Hunter almost felt sick at the very mention. Why did Keel always have to make so much morbid sense about things like this? Why was he obsessed with Hunter using hides for things? They worked; they were very warm, but still… it was rather creepy. He had seen the animals who gave them die - he had eaten parts of them.

Yet back home he used leather all the time. That wasn’t any different, but it felt that way.

“W-what is it?” yelped Hunter weakly, relieved at least that Keel wasn’t making him skin the animal.

“Fugara. You should be grateful I came out looking for you, or you would be the one losing your hide now and getting eaten. Good job with the spear yes?” said Keel, hacking off a chunk of flesh, then tearing it with his teeth. He ate it, blood dripping down his chin and Hunter flinched. Keel grinned at Hunter, a horrible red smile that made him sick. “Did you have any luck with the foraging?”

“No.” said Hunter. Keel snickered.

“Ready to stop starving yet human, or do you actually want to die? I heard your species has a perchant for suicide. It makes me wonder, what kind of species would evolve an ability to be self destructive? What a flaw in evolution.” mocked Keel, hacking off another piece of meat and gobbling it. Hunter grimaced, yet his stomach growled. Even raw meat looked good now. Keel smirked and cut out a piece. “Want some human? You helped kill it. You should have some. It’s better than starving yes? Better than eating plants!”

“Mystaya wouldn’t agree.” said Hunter weakly.

“Mistaya’s a horse idiot. Mystaya will never agree.” said Keel, eating another piece. “But you Hunter - you’re an omnivore. You have a choice yes? Be smart. You’ll die if you refuse to eat.”

“In my society, meat is for dogs.” said Hunter. Keel snorted and cackled at him.

“Meat is for dogs? Perfect! Here Dog - eat some! It’s disrespectful to the animal if you don’t!”

Hunter walked a few steps closer and stopped. “That thing was stalking me.”
Keel smirked. “That’s the best part isn’t it? It wanted to eat you, but now you will eat it. Come here Dog-human. Live. Vininiska would eat it.”

Hunter wrinkled his nose. “Not after he’d seen that.”

“Yes he would.” said Keel nonchalantly.

“You don’t know him.” said Hunter, grimly taking the grisly piece of muscle meat, his stomach heaving at the sight of it.

“No, not yet.” agreed Keel, some of his bravado fading away. “Let’s not talk about Vininiska.”

Hunter closed his eyes, took a deep breath, then put the end of the meat in his mouth, biting down hard in order to tear off a piece of it. The meat was extremely bloody and tough and he had to chew it repeatedly to make it go down, his gag reflex making him ill. But he survived that first horrible piece of meat. When he opened his eyes, Keel was holding out another one to him.

“Here human. Eat more.” ordered Keel. Hunter did, staring at the ground this time, sitting in the drenched ferns beside the corpse. It was disgusting if he thought about the body being a corpse, but that was what it was. He chewed and Keel had another piece for him.

“N-no. I’m full.” lied Hunter, not wanting any more to do with the ordeal.

“Here Hunter. Eat.” said Keel, as if he hadn’t heard. The drakoon leaned closer, smiling putridly into Hunter’s face. “Eat or I’ll make you Dog-human. Don’t forget what I was willing to do with Vininiska.”

The memory of seeing Keel’s arm buried in Ki’s mouth made Hunter choke and so he kept eating, thinking that his throat probably would not handle such a happening. He ate, grinding at the meat with his teeth until his jaw ached, then and only then did Keel let him go, piling the raw pelt around his shoulders.

“Aren’t you coming?” Hunter had fearfully asked.

“No. I’ll be eating the rest now.” said Keel. Hunter stared at him.

“The rest? You can’t possibly eat that entire fugara.”

“Maybe not all at once, but there won’t be much left, Dog-human. Go home. I’ll bring some more for you later.” said Keel.

Hunter did not think he could ever eat any more of the gristly fugara meat, but he nodded and went, preparing the pelt as he got home, then stoking the fire up to try to warm up the cave while he washed the fur along with his clothes. Wrapped in furs and shivering he laid visual to the slight twisted pain in his stomach, knowing that it was probably food poisoning from the meat. He wanted to be ill, but he was scared Keel would find out and there was nothing else to eat, besides the meat. He tried to make himself feel better with water and bundled himself in hides beside the fire, watching it flicker, thinking about life. He did not think that he was doing very well. It had been a long time since he had been dry or full or since he had enjoyed his food. Keel wouldn’t help him. Keel was trying to force him to live the way he lived, but from Hunter’s aching stomach, he knew that way of living was impossible for him. A human could not eat raw meat like a carnivore. He had heard it said that carnivores could eat carrion because the hydrochloric acid in their stomach was strong enough to burn through nearly anything. Humans had hydrochloric acid in their stomachs too, but it was weak, water compared to what predators had in theirs, acid capable of killing all but the strongest of bacterium that entered their digestive tracts.

He had to find a way to live. He had to find a way to live that pleased Keel, but which wouldn’t kill him. Hunter gritted his teeth; there had to be a way to do it. A way to soldier on and make the best of what was around him better. His eyes fell on the spear, fugara blood staining its wood.

“I can make this life better. I’m a human - I can do this.” said Hunter firmly, bolstering himself. “Humans can do anything - I’m here on Rimer aren’t I? Humans didn’t come from here! They came from Gaia! I’m living with an alien shape shifter thing and his alien horse. He’s right - I can do this. I can adapt!”

Hunter looked out side and scowled at the rain. “Do you hear me rain? I CAN ADAPT!”

In the distance, there was a thunder rumble.

____________________________________

Actually Hunter, considering Big Hairy and Ugly only JUST died, you're probably safe from the food poisoning this time, though I do question what kind of residue might be on Keel's gloves when he handed you that meat!

The upset stomach Hunter has is from his vegetarianism; his stomach is shocked by the meat. Escavians, like I said, only rarely eat meat, though in Hunter's area they do have some fish, so he's not completely new to this animal flesh thing.

Also, coincidentally did you know that most deaths by choking result from choking on meat and that most people who are choking are found dead in the bathroom, because for some reason they're too embarrassed to admit that they're choking, so they go hide and then nobody is there to help them, so they die? Yep. Great fact for you.

Keel's so hilariously snobby and racist to Hunter in Emperor's Blood. I love writing him. He's definitely got a 'higher than thou' complex going on. Luckily he's got a lot of redeeming qualities or he'd be one gigantic asshole.

I hope you guys enjoyed this sequence from Hunter and Keel's side of the story!

Ki and Keel Have a Serious Discussion

...concept art for their FIRST discussion! This conceptual art depicts their very first conversation with Ki speaking Sloveniskan with Keel, which sadly, will not be a very informal or light-hearted conversation at all. Poor Ki doesn't look like he likes whatever Keel is trying to convince him of...

I usually prefer putting concept art only on my sketch blog, but the true conceptual nature of this one just cried that I put it here!

Safe - EBV3 Excerpt

This one's especially for you Rachel! I've been at a loss lately for finding pieces that I can post on here, because I'm past the sequences where I can really post things for a lot of the characters, but here's a part early in Ki's living with the Everska Sxyarne that is a bit of a very small turning point concerning how he views his new world. Also, this is the first time in a long time that I get to post a scene in its entirety! Hopefully you enjoy.

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It felt like his stomach was boiling, the walls of his stomach oozing with almost painful discomfort. Ki’s feeling of being healthy had evaporated the moment he had fainted and woken up to the smell of blood still heavy on the air. Limp in the mound of blankets with Kelveniska standing over him, Ki had felt well enough at first, considering he had just fainted, only really feeling confused, but as he had remembered why he smelled blood, he had started feeling sick again. The door to the room had clattered open then with such brusqueness that he had jumped, his heart almost stopping and in through the doors had come Sukra and Alkane, covered in scarlet. They had turned to look expectantly at Ki, blood smeared on their bodies so liberally it was as if they had rolled in it, their hands gripping the hilts of swords wet with fresh greasy redness.


Ki had been transfixed. Not even the butcher had ever had that much blood on himself. He certainly hadn’t had it around his mouth, painted on theirs like gross icing. They could have been eating something messy, like stew, but Ki knew, staring at them, that they hadn’t been, the arterial stench of them making them look even more like murderers. He had never seen anything so grotesque or terror-inducing. Thick in his mind like the smell of the blood was the thought that the two drakoon had just killed somebody and from their slight smiles, they had liked it.

He had been unable to stop staring at them, his body beginning to shake, the world seeming to move around him more slowly than usual and in silence. He had a vague idea that Kelveniska had started yelling at the guard pair, that he was telling them off for something, but he could not hear anything, his ears ringing. Sukra and Alkane had looked startled, then almost insulted and they had walked off into the privy, miffed but they had moved slowly, so slowly that they almost stood still. Their departure had not helped Ki. He was still frozen, the blood smell bitter on his tongue. He could taste the blood. Instinctually he recognized the wretched smell of demise. Kelveniska had crouched down to watch him, blocking Ki’s view, but the sight of the two men covered in blood had already been embroidered into his memories. Shivering, Ki had scrambled up to Kelveniska like a terrified baby puppy and the drakoon had let him, holding him close until the blood smell had started to go away. Feeling weak, Ki had leaned up against the man until he had fallen asleep and he had awoken with the drakoon still watching over him.

Almost, he had been okay, huddled under several blankets and a mat like he was still five but something had felt wrong with his stomach. Kelveniska, noticing that he was awake had made to touch him and Ki had abruptly found himself facing the personal reality that he was not human. Hunter probably would have felt okay after a bit of sleep after smelling and seeing what Ki had seen, because Hunter just adapted to those sorts of things. Hunter had always been easygoing and positive. He would have tried to figure out the reason why the drakoon had been killed in the night and wouldn’t agonized like Ki on the point that it was dead, that Sukra and Alkane had killed it. Hunter would have agreed that it was bad that it had been killed, but maybe it had been done for a reason, maybe in defence?

Ki didn’t think like that, though for a long time he had been trained to. Now Ki was afraid, in a place where strangers who were killers lived and he was trapped with them as his cavalier neighbours. As Kelveniska reached for him, Ki shrank back, becoming as-dragon without even electing it and hissed, curling under a ball in his den of blankets. He forgot reason. The scared little animal that had always been inside of him was instructing him to hide away from the predators of his world. Other drakoon, specifically older ones were his mortal enemies. His panicked mind told him that he was in grave danger.


Hours passed, then two days and Ki remained perpetually terrified. Every move, sound and smell made his heart race. Kelveniska kept whispering to him, trying to reassure him, but Ki had not been rational enough to believe him even when he had been sane. Ki trembled constantly in his blanket den, eyes wide, heart hammering against his ribs. His stomach felt like it was twisting inside of him he was so sick with fear. Kelveniska offered Ki food again and again, but the smell of it was too alike to blood and Ki was too nauseous let alone mistrusting to take it. He growled at it and flicked his tail, seeing the meat not as food, but as a predator. He had no interest in food or water, even though his belly was empty and his throat was parched, his body weak. Ki’s muscles ached from being poised so long and at some point his injured hindleg had started bleeding for a while, but he ignored it. His bodily discomfort mattered not when he was so afraid. Everything was a predator, poised to kill him. Ki would not have trusted his own shadow if he had been able to see it. His entire being was focused on avoiding being killed by a predator and in his mind he was cornered. If he moved, if he broke cover, he would die…

Kelveniska laid down on his stomach in front of him and watched him worriedly. The emperor was not doing his paperwork today nor had he done it yesterday, not that Ki remembered what paperwork was. He watched Kelveniska with extreme suspicion, his muscle twitching half into a growl.

“Vininiska. Vininiska qytqe yz.” said the drakoon, but his attempt at easing Ki’s mind was again lost. ‘Qytqe yz - it’s okay’ just sounded like a nonsensical rival noise to Ki and he curled back his lip, voicing a livid threat.

The door opened and Ki smelled Sukra come in, but he did not look. He and Alkane had been banished by Kelveniska for scaring him and he could smell that they were annoyed, which only made him more petrified.

“Kelveniska.” said Sukra in a short voice. “Kelveniska qoai hensimk…”

“Na.” growled Kelveniska, disagreeing with whatever Sukra was saying without looking at him.

“Kelveniska.” snapped Sukra, arguing something. Ki heard his name and the word ‘kinton’ a lot, then Medyq mentioned several times, but he did not register the meaning. Sukra came into his view, a syringe cocked in the drakoon’s hand, its lethal point glistening and Ki remembered Medyq drugging him to transform. That had hurt… Ki slowly and unsteadily got to his paws, shaking off the blankets to free himself, twitching out his lethal tail, watching the syringe from under the bone ridges that scuted out over his eyes. He raised his wings, trying to make himself look bigger and stretched his legs, ignoring the twinge in his sore quarter. He would not be hurt by a syringe again. He would attack first and destroy it. The drakoon stopped arguing and Sukra muttered a pensive warning, pulling from a pouch on his sword belt a coil of leather and chain that Ki’s sharpening brain knew as a lead. Kelveniska got up slowly, staring at Ki.

“Vininiska, hana…” said Sukra, the words sounding like a challenge. Ki bared his teeth and growled louder, his voice a menacing rattle. Sukra’s expression hardened and he seemed to ready himself, the clip of the brutal braided lead in one hand, the end of it and the deadly looking syringe in the other. Sukra might as well of been holding a knife, for how Ki took the sight of it. Kelveniska backed out of the way, back behind Sukra, looking alarmed.

“Qoai Vininiska.” muttered Sukra dankly. Ki shifted his weight, almost kneading the blankets beneath his paws like a cat and then went still. All he could see now was his enemy. Sukra smirked, baring his teeth. “Qoai…”

Ki jumped, snarling as he leapt towards the syringe, jaws wide open, reaching paws hitting Sukra’s arm. Ki swung his head, distracted as he felt Sukra wrap his other arm with the lead around his neck, the adult drakoon growling something in his ear, then he felt the needle point pierce his hide and he thrashed, trying to get away, but he had miscalculated. Ki’s animal mind reeled. He had not thought Sukra would be so fast, faster than him and as his hurt hindquarter gave under his weight, he realized drearily that he had not counted on that either. He should have been panicking, trying to rip into Sukra’s face with his teeth, but the shaft of the syringe’s point was being pushed deeper under his skin and suddenly he was only nervous, the blind panic pushed away then conquered by the new sedative in his blood. Sukra gently put him down on the floor and Ki stood shakily by his leg, staring dazedly at a random crate along the wall, shivering. Sukra held the needle in his neck for a moment longer then pulled it out of Ki’s flesh, putting it away then calling to Kelveniska, who came and hugged Ki tightly about his shoulders.

Overcome, Ki started to whimper as the painful knot in his stomach came undone and unbidden he tried to get as close to Kelveniska as he could, huddling against him. The fear trickled away, the scared animal becoming less scared until it was calm enough to smell the creature holding it and relax. He leaned against Kelveniska until Sukra muttered a suggestion that Kelveniska transform, then the drakoon did, but Ki was not afraid. Kelveniska smelled no different as-dragon or as-elf. He was the same creature. Instinct, strong and undeniable made him scramble close, holding still as the drakoon turned and roughly licked his face. Ki was hardly aware of Sukra bending over his injured leg to look after it. Pinned under one of Kelveniska’s front paws and his wing against the drakoon’s side, Ki started to feel what the drakoon had been insisting that he was.

Safe.

Sniff Him on The Nose (EBV3 Excerpt)

After three posts for Sunny, I thought I should treat you brave few readers with an excerpt. In honour of Sunny, it's cat centered and as such, hopefully you'll find it amusing, as cats can be pretty charming animals. Elven cats may be able to speak in mindspeech, but they're still quite alike to the fiendish little house devils that cat lovers adore. Dansen, in particular, is very idiosyncratic and deserves his own youtube channel, but unfortunately, he's not a real cat, so I can't film him. In this part, Ki tries to get information out of Dansen, but Dansen won't budge, not unless Ki plunges his head in the cold waters of culture shock... slightly edited.



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Sukra got up and he followed him out the door and Sukra let him follow him all the way across the office to the doors at the other end of the hallway, where there was some mail waiting, pushed under the door by the guards on the other side. Ki stood beside Sukra and watched him sort through the mess of letters, tossing some aside to Alkane who looked disapproving, opening others to read them while not looking at some of the letters at all. He held an unintelligable letter up in front of Ki’s face and said something the man obviously found personally amusing then went to his post by the door, leaving the messy stack of letters waiting for Kelveniska on the desk. Ki looked at the letter again and felt a little ill as he realized that human hands had written it, for in the bottom left corner there was stamped the Escavian Coat of Arms. Under that was the name of the Escavian Viceroy, Samuel Fletch.


The letter was very long, the hand writing cramped and rough compared to the more fluidly written drakoon letters around it. Ki felt a hollow feeling inside looking at it. This was a communication from home, but he couldn’t even read it to figure out what was going on because it was written in a language that he still couldn’t understand. He couldn’t even write anything back. He couldn’t send anything, any message asking for help to save him and his brother from this place. Ki couldn’t look at it anymore. He looked up and Sukra was smirking at him maddeningly, Ki comprehending at once what the drakoon had found so funny about the letter. All at once Sukra seemed incredibly cruel; how could any decent person find it amusing than another being was trapped somewhere where they did not want to be, that they couldn’t even call for help when a letter from their homeland came?


“I hate them all.” muttered Ki crouching down in his place beside the desk and glaring over his knees.

Kelveniska scolded Ki for sitting the way he was and told him to transform when he came in. On went Ki’s halter, then the day persisted, Kelveniska answering all of his letters including the human one (Ki noticed he took a little longer than usual reading that one, grimacing as if he found reading it painful) and then went to work again on his machinery schematic. Ki was intensely bored, every single hour a torment. Was sitting here going to be his existence for the rest of his life? Didn’t drakoon ever go outside? He was sick of being inside and of seeing these walls. He wanted to see something new and he wanted to run. All his keepers ever let him do was eat, sleep and follow their commands. It was an immensely dissatisfying life and since it was always dark in the dreary barren windowless office, Ki felt rather depressed. He could almost feel himself going insane from it. No wonder he was so grumpy, when he was essentially living like a prisoner in captivity.

SERIOUSLY, do you ever do anything other than write or draw? Ki growled at Kelveniska halfway through the painful day. Kelveniska told him to be quiet and gave a sharp reinforcing tug on the lead. Ki rolled his eyes and flopped down, putting his head between his paws. That man never does anything interesting. Doesn’t he have secretaries or something who could do all this writing for him? He’s rich. He should.

Yet Kelveniska did not have any secretaries and except for mail retrieval, the sketzine did almost nothing to help him in his never ending flow of paperwork. Ki pitied Kelveniska, but he knew that he himself actually had it worse; his only current job was to eat food and, evident from their imposed lack of activity upon him, to get fat. Ki drearily cast a look across his thin hindquarters and ribs, every bone in his body seeming to stick out to him. Yes, he needed to get fatter he supposed, but he also needed excersize too. He didn’t want to turn from a weak scrawny creature into a weak portly one. He looked across at Sukra and Alkane. How do they keep so trim, when all they do is stand there?

“Vininiska, larx!” ordered Kelveniska, shaking the lead at him. Ki had been growling under his breath. He turned his head as he smelled Dansen coming and hissed at the cat, who dared to come and rub up against him anyway.

Vyze Vininiska, you seem to be growling a lot. Why are you in such difficulty? asked the cat, sitting down infuriatingly in front of him.

Why is it that a stupid cat is the only thing I have to talk to? grated Ki mentally. Dansen cocked his head.

I, stupid? I don’t think so. You should put a better guard on your thoughts Vininiska, thinking like that isn’t seemly. said Dansen. Ki growled. I can’t help but hear when you think so loudly.

I think loudly? demanded Ki, feeling violated at having his thoughts read.

Oh yes. You should think much quieter and be more specific about if you’re just thinking to yourself or not, or else anybody can hear. said Dansen, looking as smug as the Cheshire cat. Obviously though, growing up in that dreadful human place you never had to learn because nobody there had the capacity to listen to you. From what I’ve heard, humans don’t have magic like us.

The cat licked a paw. You never had anybody to talk to who understood, did you?

I don’t want to talk to you. snarled Ki. Get away from me.

No, I don’t think I will. I had news, you know, considering that human, but since you’re so rude, I don’t think I’ll tell you. said Dansen, still cleaning himself, wiping his face with his dampened paw.

That human? repeated Ki, his heart suddenly pounding.

The only one in Sloveniska. said Dansen amusedly, licking his back leg and tail now. My mate knows all about that one. She’s been following him with quite a lot of interest.

Is Hunter alright?! cried Ki, the sound he made a high pitched keening shriek.

That hurts my ears. said Dansen, getting up and stretching exuberantly, curling his fluffy tail over his back. The cat padded over to Kelveniska and pawed at his leg. Kelveniska, Kelveniska, let me into my den please.

Kelveniska pulled open the biggest bottom drawer of the desk and Dansen jumped inside, sticking out his head for a moment. Thank you Kelveniska. I’m going to sleep now, you have a nice day. Don’t worry about keeping Vininiska quiet for me, you know I can sleep through anything.

“Aya Dansen, cwid hensin.” said Kelveniska and as Dansen popped his head down Kelveniska pushed the drawer closed, then immediately went back to work. Ki stared.

Alright, that might have just been the most peculiar thing I have ever seen. thought Ki, trying to say it to himself. A cat that lives in a desk…

Ki tried to be patient waiting for the cat to finish his nap, but after only ten minutes he couldn’t stand waiting anymore. He sidled up beside Kelveniska and pawed at the desk drawer where Dansen was, trying to wake him up.

Dansen! Dansen what about Hunter? Please tell me! said Ki, switching paws to scratch with his other as the first got too tired. Dansen didn’t answer. He didn’t even meow.

DANSEN! chirred Ki. Dansen! Wake up! Please! I can’t stand it, I need to know! Is Hunter okay?

For at least a minute, nothing happened, then an aggravated, drowsy yowl echoed from within the drawer. Stop scratching, you’re hurting the desk. Kelveniska; open the drawer. I must speak to Vininiska where I can see him.

Kelveniska sighed heavily and opened the drawer, Dansen slowly peeking his head out until he and Ki were nose to nose.

Alright Vininiska, I shall admit now that you have a stupendous capacity to be greatly annoying. said Dansen levelly. He seemed tired. If I tell you something of what my mate Manuska told me and you do something for me, will you leave me alone?

Ki cocked his head. That didn’t sound like a good deal. He wanted to know everything that Manuska knew about Hunter.

Oh I can’t tell you all of that. Some of it’s quite controversial, Sukra would have a fit if he discovered I’d told you and Kelveniska isn’t very pleased with the idea either. said Dansen. But I can tell you a little. Now, will you agree to that?

What’s so controversial about Hunter? demanded Ki.

Well firstly, the fact that he’s in our territory. Humans don’t belong here Vininiska. It’s very dangerous. said Dansen. The cat cocked his head. So?

Ki shifted his weight and looked aside. He really, really needed to know about Hunter. Even if it was only a little bit of information, it would be something right?

Fine. What do you want me to do? asked Ki.

Dansen inclined his head towards the blandly watching Kelveniska. Stand up on your hind legs and sniff noses with him.

Ki recoiled, disgusted. I’m not doing that!

Dansen flattened his ears. You are if you want to know about the dog-human! Why are you disgusted by it? It’s how your species says ‘vyze’ when they’re dragons you dolt. It’s like both individuals saying ‘Vyze, how are you’ and answering ‘oh fine’ without actually speaking it. You have to learn this Vininiska, it’s how you can gage health in another animal.

Why would I want to know that? snapped Ki.

Well, firstly because it’s a way that you can determine where you yourself stands within the hierarchy of a group and secondly because if they’re an opponent you can learn whether or not you have any advantage. Also, every animal species in the world but humans do it.

Ki grimaced. How badly did he need to know?

Really badly; Ki turned towards Kelveniska and tensed his hindquarters, ready to stand on them, then it occurred that he had no idea what he was doing. He looked back at Dansen. What do I do?

Sniff him on the nose. Isn’t it self explanatory?

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Easier said than done Dansen! Humans don't sniff noses with each other, so while what Dansen is asking of Ki is completely innocent, Ki has a habit of thinking of everything in human terms - in this case, innocent nose snuffling gets turned into something more akin to a kiss in Ki's poor humanized brain, so the prospect of sniffing noses with Kelveniska - another dude and an older one - freaks the hell out of him. One of the best things about Ki is his ability to tell right from wrong - surprising amongst drakoon - but at the same time, he often gets things wrong, especially when cross culture stuff is concerned. Eventually though, with a lot of pushing and shoving, the little guy adapts and conquers the strange situations that he encounters...

New Name; New Look; New Content Soon!

Yay! So I upped and changed a lot. I have a new banner in mind as well (once I get photoshop going on my new computer which I have named MountainHorse in the hopes that it will be as reliable as a mountain hossy) and pretteh soon I'm gonna put new content up. For now, enjoy the new links and this trailer for the new Assassin's Creed game which is so badass inspiring that it makes me want to cry. (Okay, maybe not to that extent, but it makes my Emperor's Blood obsessed heart re-imagine the music in the trailer to an EB music video - yes, I am just that obsessed with my books. My head makes up videos to songs. Is that sad?)



Damn, MountainHorse is quiet! It's crazyyyyy. I'm so used to noisy ass computers that this thing is a bit strange!

Also, my cat Sunny isn't doing so well. Please send him your kind thoughts.

IN OTHER NEWS: I'm almost done writing this draft of Emperor's Blood, which means I get to start writing the next book (aka way more fun to write book), 'Kill Copper.' The most frustrating thing about EB thus far has been Ki's lack of control over his wildly out of control life, but in KC he grabs the reins and takes it by the head. I'm looking forward to him getting his chance to shine again, as I've missed his awesomeness.

Here's a summery of the trilogy I'm writing, in one word for each book:

1. Emperor's Blood - Survival
2. Kill Copper - Insanity
3. Imperial Spirit - Ghosts

Meow!

Thinking of Ending/Changing this Blog.

I'm too opinionated for my tastes here I think. I'll probably make a new writing blog, probably even out of this one (heck I might just change the subject matter I write about) but I think that I've lost the essence of a writing blog... I'd like it if this place was for everyone to read, not just for people who can stand my annoying opinions. (Though damn, this blog has really helped me feel less angry about things in the world!) Maybe it would be good if this blog was an actual journal, telling of my adventures in writing and my inspirations... I don't know. But I want a change.

New laptop today! Its name is Mountain Horse, because mountain horsies are usually very reliable and that's what I want this computer to be. It's a Gateway, which is a line of computers made by Acer. Acers are supposed to be nice and sturdy, so I'm hoping that Gateways are too. Plus I sort of like the cow print box logo.

Maybe if I just changed the look of this blog? I dunno. Look for some new links that I've added like Braymere Tack and Saddlery (my secret passion is custom model horses and I just got my first scale custom bridle), Purdy Horse Farm, Fanfreakingtastic and Behind the Bit. This blog really shows my horse obsession lol... anyway, I think a transformation is needed here. Also, it would be good if I posted some Raider which is the short novella about my EB character Ykaren which I may just finish someday.... (of course I said that about Kingdom of Spirits and that hasn't gone anywhere in years.)

So, I'll be editing my links and maybe adding some suggested reading material like books I like. :)

EBV3 Excerpt - Dream - Chapter 52 Start

Whenever I read parts of my manuscript now, I try to think of how I'd conceptualize them in my development art project. I just read a part before this where I thought I would show the change in season by a classic change in colour palette, from soft green to orange, to blue grey and in this, I think I would use very bold tones of red in green, like what I used in some of my older paintings. When I work with acrylics I often enjoy the use of bolder, harder colours than when I normally colour things, which I think is kind of interesting. (Of course that's partially because paint kind of infuriates me.) In any case, enjoy this excerpt from Emperor's Blood where we get to see some interaction between Ki and another character. Draft.


Summery fields stretched as far away as the horizon, rows upon rows of potatoes and squash roasting under a warm dry sun. Ki could taste the heat in the air and there was a divine odour of dry greenery that he had always liked, combined with the flavour of ripening apples. Horses grazed nearby in a paddock fenced with white washed boards, chestnut, sorrel and bay, express horses like Snip had been, fine boned but shaggy, small yet swift with feathering on their slender legs. Ki leaned back in the scratchy old grey wooden rocking chair on the veranda of the red painted farmhouse. It wasn’t his farm, the one he had grown up on, but it was comfortable and soothing and nobody was there but him. There was a scruffy black dog resting at his feet on top of an old scrap rug woven of tidbits of fabric and on top of the veranda railing there sat a ginger tabby cat that was washing itself. If Ki breathed in deep enough he could smell a lake nearby and the sand on the road that led to it beyond the orchard trees that shaded the property. In the yard a flock of little red chickens clucked under a fairytale blue sky that had been swirled with clouds.

Nobody there but him and his animals. Ki sighed heavily in relief. This place was paradise. If he never had to leave it he would be extremely happy.

“It’s not real you know.” said a voice from in front of the door. Ki lazily looked over, recognizing his friend the dragon.

“This place? Yeah. I know. It’s too good to be real.” said Ki, slowly rocking the chair, the motion soothing him. The world seemed real enough as the dog looked up at him with big soft brown eyes and wagged its tail. Ki stopped rocking to reach down and pet it and felt reassuringly fine black fur sweep against his fingertips. The dog put its head back down and moaned contentedly as the dragon came closer, its sharp claws clicking against the wood of the porch.

“You have a vivid imagination Vininiska.” said the dragon, sitting down and staring contemplatively at the dog. “Is that a dog? A real dog?”

“Yep.” said Ki, smiling sleepily at the paddock where the horses were and beginning to rock again. Everything was so green and lovely. There were white flowers planted near the pasture and one of the horses was straining to get at them through the fence. “That’s a real dog.”

“I’ve never seen a dog. They’re not something from here you know. We don’t have them.” said the dragon, twitching its tail as it peered at the cat. “And that, Vininiska, is the oddest looking cat that I have ever seen. I can’t help but disapprove of the colouring of it. Shouldn’t it be black? Or grey? Or white? Shouldn’t its fur be longer?”

“Nope. That’s a real cat.” said Ki fondly. “Not like your cats. He doesn’t speak. He doesn’t listen. All he does is purr and ask for pets. He’s a good cat. A normal cat.”

“Doesn’t look normal at all to me.” said the dragon, peering at the horses. “Those horses are peculiar as well. What are those little red things? Food?”

“Chickens. They lay eggs. Nice animals.” said Ki. The dragon recoiled.

“You don’t eat them? That’s very strange Vininiska. Very strange.” said the dragon. Ki did not have the energy to glare at it.

“You’re much stranger than the chickens. I don’t even know who you are.” said Ki. “You just appeared one day. Who are you?”

The dragon seemed to grin at him. “Who am I…? What sort of question is that? We met a long time ago.”

“I don’t remember.” said Ki. “Do you know where Hunter is? There‘s nobody I can really ask besides you.”

“The not-dog? I know. Of course I know. I know everything - almost - didn’t you know that?” asked the dragon, quirking its head. Its lips did not move when it spoke; it simply held its mouth open.

“No.” said Ki, running a hand through his hair. In this dream, it was perfect hair, not short ticked drakoon hair that stood up impossibly, but longer, silkier hair like a human’s, like Hunter’s but as black as soot.

“Well. You’re very strange you know.” said the dragon. “Yes but… ah, yes. Hunter. He’s fine. He’s doing better now. For a while I was not sure if he would live, but he came through in the end. He’s actually managed to make himself quite happy, so I would not worry about him. He lives by a waterfall. The one I worry about is you… are you doing any better? It’s been almost four and a half months since you came home to us.”

Ki sat up and in the distance, his idyllic dream of a farm with no problems started chipping away, the details going first, the landscape, then the animals, then the chair Ki sat on, then the smells. The dragon remained, its yellow eyes and pink mouth stark against the colourless world of the dream. Ki had the strangest feeling that it was real, that unlike the farm of his imaginings the dragon was truly there, sitting there with him in his mind, touchable, reachable, like he could have met it in the real world and continued a discussion with it. He wasn’t dictating what it was saying or what it was doing. It had no smell, yet for some reason Ki did not expect it to have any smell. It was not really a creature that should have one.

“I suppose… I suppose I’m getting better.” said Ki hesitantly. “But… you know I don’t really know what better is. Better just feels different to me. Was I ever really healthy?”

“You were when you were born. You were very strong then.” said the dragon, as if it had been there.

“Well. I can run while holding my wings up now without falling over. My tail barely makes me trip at all anymore and I can outrun both of Kelveniska’s sketzine. I can almost write my name. Um. I suppose you don’t care about that.” said Ki.

“Not particularly, but I’m gladdened to hear that you are improving.” said the dragon sighing as it stood up. “I’m afraid I have to go prematurely Vininiska. Be good today. I’ll keep looking out for that human of yours if you concentrate getting ready for the war that’s coming.”

“Wait!” said Ki, standing up. “Why are you going? You’re the only person besides Dansen that I can talk to! What war? Please stay and tell me! Why do I have to get ready for war?”

“This land is always at war with somebody.” shrugged the dragon. “Hasn’t anybody told you that?”

“No!” yelped Ki. “I got deported here just so that I could be a soldier in some war?!

“No. You’re the one who’s going to make the war.” said the dragon, staring at him speculatively, pausing in mid step. “Well, I’d love to stay and talk to you longer, but you’re waking up. Goodbye for now Vininiska. Be good. Be ready.”

The Other Way Pt 2

I figured it was time for another installment of my alternate reality short of my trilogy Emperor's Blood, 'The Other Way.' In this regrettably last part, we get to see into Eva's head a little and we start to find out how a carnivorous drakoon kitten (the drakoon word for baby cat and for baby drakoon is one and the same - their language is so much more simple than ours) survived without its own kind, especially its parents to look after it. It was from this story and pondering Ki's remarkable survival as an infant without his real parents that I decided that drakoon are born independent, as reptiles are though still needy enough that they need the protection of their parent(s).

These are the glory days of Ki's young life. It is here, in his youth that he is strongest and most capable, but this is also the turning point, because like the dinosaurs in at the end of the Late Cretaceous, traumatic change is coming for him...
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The paper in her hands wasn’t promising. Eva bit her lip, noting direly that her foster son was still barely managing to keep above failing in most of his academic courses, though he had excelled, getting the top grades in the entire school at Equestrian where his instructor commented that Ki should really be in a grade or two above, he was so good. He certainly wasn’t being challenged by his equestrian course. The instructor recommended the seven year old as a potential for making his career with horses. He’d be good at it. Meanwhile in Art, Ki’s grades were very strong, but not the best and the instructor comment was ‘…shows general disinterest in drawing anything besides horses, which he is very good at for a seven year old, but I’d like to see him draw other things too. His dragon was good, even though it was purple. It had a striking resemblance to the Fallan God Riveera, the sky dragon god of the afterlife with the tail spines Ki drew it having.’

Ki was ever a peculiar child. He was moody, as highstrung and flighty as a sand horse yet as stubborn as a cow while at the same time he was quiet, so quiet that sometimes you could forget that he was there. He had always been quiet though, for as a baby he had been unnaturally silent, so silent that Eva and Mattie had both worried, but all for not, because eventually when he had spoken – he never cried or bawled; you had to gage his mood from his facial expressions to see if he needed anything – he had spoken better than most four year olds, at only six months from his adoption. Of course they had had no idea how old Ki really was, but from his tiny size, Eva had guessed not much older than Hunter. At first the baby Ki had seemed rather put off by his new surroundings and had crawled under the bed many times before they had thought to block it off. Now, at seven, Ki was still crawling under the bed to hide and worse, because recently he had discovered a way onto the roof and there was simply no coercing him down from there.

He was also a very picky child. As a baby when they had offered him milk he had turned his nose aside just like a food critic. Ki had refused to drink any of it and had clamped his tiny jaws shut when they had tried to give it to him anyway. Eventually Eva had given up; perhaps Ki was older than she thought – and she had soft boiled an egg up and while not altogether sure that what she was to try was healthy at all for the tiny orphan, she had mashed the egg up, than offered it to Ki who had barely sniffed it before gobbling it up. This had seemed alright, until Eva had gone to Seamist to ask for advice with feeding the fussy baby to make sure the egg was alright and a woman had told her she’d be better off with carrots. Ki had taken only one bite of that, barely a lick before he had rejected the rest of it and refused to ever eat anymore until at least a year later. Eva had tried all matter of vegetables with him, since they were supposedly better, but her son had not wanted vegetables. He had wanted egg. Worried that he might not be getting his proper nutrition, Eva had then cut up some fish from her own dinner one night, very fine and against the better judgment of mothers everywhere, she had given it to the seemingly newborn orphan, who, Eva realized in a heartbeat, liked fish even better than he liked egg. Deciding to trust that the baby knew what was good for him, for he would have turned aside from anything else, Eva had next tried chicken with him, then a bit of beef and mutton.

Ki had taken to meat like a falcolf to the sky.

Next Eva tried mixing small amounts of vegetable into Ki’s eggs, which worked, but the baby didn’t seem to like it as much. While Hunter was still being nursed Ki was getting a full set of teeth and Eva set out to introduce him to more solid food which Ki rarely liked unless it was heavy in protein like the egg. He didn’t like bread or grain. He hated oatmeal. He did eat cheese, after a careful introduction grew to love it, so long as it was the tasty, salty kind that wasn’t bitter. Ki absolutely refused to consume anything bitter. As he had grown up he had stayed picky, disliking raw vegetables and constantly trying to sneak anything they gave him that was vegetarian to his brother, complaining that it would make his stomach hurt. Hunter never complained, but Hunter was large and hale, as healthy as a horse with an appetite to match. Hunter ate nearly anything. Eva was lucky if she could convince Ki to take a lettuce and salted butter sandwich, even with threat of punishment hanging over his ears and it was becoming painfully apparent that Ki would rather starve than eat even the most well dressed of salads. If there was any egg or cheese cubes in the salad, Ki could be trusted to ferret them out from the humble greens which he would then do everything in his power to ignore as he ate the tastier bits.

Ki was an abnormally finicky eater, Eva had long decided, but there were other things which were strange about him which she had no explanation for. She could not explain how he had never caught even a mild sniffle, all the times that Hunter had been sick. She could not explain that dreadful incident the first Krissmus when she had turned around to see him standing under the turkey in the fireplace, his socks aflame yet seemingly unaware of the fact. She had screamed and had been terribly relieved when she had seen that his feet were completely unscathed, but then she had been a little disconcerted by this later, for time and time again Ki demonstrated that he did not have even the slightest notion of when things were hot or when they were cold. He didn’t seem able to feel temperature. More confusingly, he didn’t seem effected by it at all and he could go out in mid winter wearing next to nothing for hours when the temperatures were at their worst when most children would have froze and come back absolutely unaffected, as if it was summer with not even any frost in his hair. His nose never ran when it was cold. Hunter always returned with his nostrils running like a broken well pump and hoarfrost stuck to his hair, but Ki always returned pristine. He never even got cold hands.


Eva had to make Ki layer up in the winter, fearing that people would call her a bad mother and whisper that she was an unfit parent for the orphan if she let him go about as he wanted. In summer it was a struggle to keep a shirt on the boy, because she didn’t want anyone to see how his ribs stuck out, or how painfully thin he was no matter how much she fed him. Ki seemed unable to get fat, even enough to cover his sharp bones. Eva made a compromise with the child by making him very light summer clothes, enough to cover him but still let him feel the wind. Ki seemed to very dearly like feeling the wind though Eva had no idea how he still could with no sense of temperature.

Eva put down Ki’s grade paper and rubbed at her temple. So many of his grades were close to failing. She knew he was smart – he could beat her at chess, which everyone agreed was very difficult – but he didn’t seem able to apply his intelligence to most of what was taught in his schooling. Eva gloomily checked his score for Fallan and saw that that at least was one academic course that he was good at. He wasn’t terribly awful at Science or Biology or History either, but he wasn’t great. He was rated very good at English, so long as no serious grammar or creative writing were involved. Ki didn’t care for technical things.

The subject of all her thoughts rushed in like a hurricane, skidded to a halt beside her, heaving and panting, then opened his hands to show her that he had caught a little green grass bug. Eva barely had a chance to look at it before he was rushing off to show her sister, than throw it out the window, all the while breathing as hard as horse after an entire day of hard riding. Eva frowned at that, stepping out to catch him as he came back and feeling his skin beneath her fingers burn, as warm as it was stone if heated by a fire, an unnatural heat. Nobody normal got this warm after merely running. Ki giggled at being caught and hugged her arm, clearly wanting to play with her, but Eva was worried.

“That’s enough roughhousing Ki. Come help me make dinner.” said Eva, hugging him from behind so that he couldn’t see the worry on her face.

“But I wanna play!” complained Ki, writhing in her arms like a puppy. A very, very warm puppy. Eva could feel his body heat through her thick woolen sweater.

“After dinner.” promised Eva. Ki twisted and peered at her, his large inquisitive eyes as golden as the twenty-four karats that her mother’s wedding ring had been made of, a ring lost in Eva and her sister’s childhood. The loss of the relic had always haunted Eva’s father – it had come from Earth and had been a family heirloom. Ki stared at her, sniffing, suddenly no longer hyper.

“Momma what’s wrong?” asked Ki and Eva blinked, astonished as always by her foster son’s uncanny perceptiveness. He always knew exactly how she was feeling. Exactly. Mattie and Hunter too. Ki never just asked how any of them were feeling – he just seemed to already know. When Mattie had been angry at Ki for chasing the chickens when he was three Ki had somehow avoided her for a week straight, hiding in all manner of places until Eva had finally managed to trap him so that Mattie could reassure him that she didn’t hate him. Ki had been so emotionally wounded and traumatized from that experience that for a year he had barely gone within twenty feet of the chicken coop and had absolutely refused to collect the eggs for another two, going in through the gate to the run like he was walking to his death, all the while acting like a cowering dog fearing a beating. As far as Mattie had said, all she’d done was yell at him for spooking the biddies. Instead it seemed she’d put a fear of divine retribution into Ki’s heart. He still wouldn’t touch a chicken unless it was dead, which was rare, since they only ate the cockerals that they didn’t want. The hens they kept until they died of natural causes, then they traded them to be made into dog food.

“What are you worrying about Mom?” asked Ki, his face turned to hers, tucked under her chin.

“Nothing you should worry about.” said Eva as gently as possible, putting him down and kissing him on the head, then spreading her arms to try to make him excited. “Come help me wash potatoes!”

“I hope you’re okay.” said Ki worriedly, staring at her gesture rather blankly. Eva grabbed his hand and led him to the sink, grabbing a stool and putting it down so that he had a leg up. She turned the crank on the water pump that loomed over the stoppered brass sink and good spring water gushed out. They both drank a glass of water each as the sink filled up, then in went the potatoes to be scrubbed, golds from the autumn before, a bit wrinkly and eyed, but still good enough for the frying pan. Ki scrubbed them with the dish brush while Eva set to work cutting away the bad bits from the potatoes that passed her foster son’s meticulous inspections, putting the potatoes she finished in a bowl with a bit of water to keep them from browning from oxygen exposure. After all the potatoes were clean and edited of inedible parts Eva gave Ki a plate and a grater at the table while she built up the fire in the stove from the morning meal’s embers, then with fresh butter she greased the big old cast iron frying pan that her mother had taken so much pride in. Flicking water onto the stove’s metal surface, she tested it for heat and when the water spat back at her, she moved on the frying pan, throwing in another spoonful of butter. Ki gave her his first plate of potatoes which she threw in the pan, tossing in some dill weed and sea salt for seasoning.

“More potatoes Ki!” said Eva and Ki quickly brought her plate after plate of gratings until all the potatoes were grated and in the frying pan, sizzling in the butter. Eva turned the potatoes over and over, making sure they were evenly seasoned and crispy on all sides, than she directed Ki to go get Hunter and Mattie, as well as some eggs. Ki was torn between being leery and excited about the latter demand, but he obeyed anyway and soon as their family was sitting down Eva was cracking tiny bantam eggs into the frying pan beside the potatoes, the yokes as orange as sunset. One more dash of seasoning, a flip, than Eva served everything out onto four plates and placed them before each member of her family. Making sure everyone was seated and comfortable, Eva took her place, than they held hands and thanked the planet and the horse goddess Spiira for the bounty before them. They thanked the god of catastrophe for letting them have it.

And, I pray, Eva added silently, that my son gets better someday.

In the flickering light of the tapers, dyed green for Spiira, they ate their dinner.

Eva tried not to notice how the candlelight made her son’s eyes glitter like a cat’s.

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In this sequence, one other thing which I got to do was explore the diet of northern Escavians and think about how they lived. Like the Irish in historical times, Escavians use potatoes as well as other hardy vegetables that keep well for survival and the recipe described for fried potatoes is actually one that I use, only I use olive oil for my pan instead of butter. Olive oil wouldn't be very common on Rimer, if it exists there at all, so since there are plenty of cows and sheep about, Eva uses butter. I thought pretty hard about this part; potatoes are plants after all, and thinking about Ki's carnivorous biology, I wondered if this would be okay. In the end I decided it was; potatoes in this sense are 'predigested' - aka cooked, so the starch in them has been broken down, so while the carbs in the potatoes do nothing for him, he can at least have them run through his digestive tract without them causing him any pain. Also, he's eating eggs here too, the item from which he has mostly survived his childhood through. Eggs are a perfect protein rich food, so by eating them, Ki's at least somewhat meeting his youthful need for protein and luckily, if there is one thing which farms have a lot of, it's eggs. Ki has access to an almost limitless supply of them and I can imagine that on nice days, when the tide is out, Ki and Hunter might run out onto the tidal flat and gather food there.

Time and time again I've questioned Ki's survival and what he can and cannot eat. The answer is, he can't metabolize most of what humans eat, because most of what Escavians eat is imported from Earth. Just like chocolate, garlic and onions are all deadly toxic to dogs and cats (NEVER feed them to your pet - NEVER!) there's a great many alien things from Earth which just don't sit well with Ki's stomach or the stomachs of most other native carnivorous Rimarians. Come on - it's logical. Humans are still basically eating a diet from another planet, so why would specialized creatures like the native carnivores be able to eat their food? Carbohydrates of any kind do nothing for carnivores (that's right and that's why your pets should be eating grain free diets) and carnivores don't have the capacity to digest starches, (only hardcore herbivores can really do that) so it makes sense that Ki would be allergic to a lot of the things which the humans would be eating, especially the salad greens, which are raw. His poor digestive tract just can't handle the hellish culinary roughage known as salad, nor could he eat a potato if it was raw.

To date, I have firmly decided that drakoon are allergic to at least spinach, possibly also garlic, onions and cacao as our pets are.

Also, the reason Ki won't eat anything bitter? Bitter things are often poisonous!

The Other Way - Part 1

The following comes from a brilliantly written unfinished short story that was based on the concept of actions and choices having resonating consequences in history. The idea of this story, 'The Other Way' was a second generation of this idea, coming from the original 'The Way it Should Have Been' in which the choice one character makes completely changes the outcome of the story (Emperor's Blood) in a seperate reality. This is how much I think about my stories. 'The Way it Should Have Been' was rather mystical in a way, while 'The Other Way' was based upon the choices of the human character Evangaline Chard or 'Eva.' Eva plays a fairly big role in EB, even if she rarely if ever appears - she is Ki, the protagonist's surrogate mother and it was in thinking about her during the writing of my graphic short 'My Brother is Weird' that I thought that her choices would have had a huge influence on Ki's life - and how it turned out the way it does. Eva, being Ki's foster mother, is responsible for his health, but she doesn't know that he is not human so she has no idea that his needs as a carnivore are very different from a normal human child's like Hunter's. Thinking about her, I tried to figure out why this character, this caretaker guardian, doesn't do something about the fact that something is obviously wrong with Ki as he suffers under the heavy yoke of how humans live their lives. You would think that any logical mother would call a doctor when their young son's body temperature rises above 100, yet Eva doesn't. In the end, I came to the conclusion that some legends from our modern culture, such as governments dissecting new species such as aliens if they find them, would transcend into Rimarian culture and thus into Eva. Eva knows something is gravely wrong with Ki, but because she is afraid of what the government might do to him, she doesn't tell them. She doesn't take him to the doctor.

But that is all canonical - the concept behind 'The Other Way' is that Eva does bite the bullet. She does take Ki to a doctor - and ultimately, he is discovered by his own species, far sooner than he is in the real story. This is particularly interesting, because when Ki is a child - or rather, a kitten, he's a very different person than when he is older. As a kitten, Ki's still waiting for his real parents to come for him and he is in fact very cynical of his human family, but as he gets older and he gives up on his blood family finding him, he loses that cynicism, turning it towards his unknown relations who in his head never bothered to even look for him. That's Ki. Imagine how affronted he is, as a near adult when his own species comes to town and he is forced to face them - as well as his own identity. In this story, Ki is in the transition between feeling cynicism towards his human family and to his real one.

'The Other Way' is incomplete. However, the parts that are, are written quite beautifully and are a personal model for how I want EB to be written, so here's the first chapter.

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It just didn’t look right. Even with looking at illustrations of dragons, Ki’s dragon didn’t look like he wanted it to, but there laid the problem, because he was not sure what it was supposed to look like, just that everything he was doing was wrong. He was trying to draw a particular type of dragon he knew, but he had no idea what kind it was. He had tried describing it, but he didn’t even know what colour it was, just how it felt, big, full of teeth and powerful, a king predator of predators.

Perhaps the problem was that he usually drew horses. He wasn’t used to drawing dragons. Dragons were different; they had wings, spines, claws and teeth where horses were gentle and hoofed. You couldn’t make a horse scary, at least in Ki’s opinion, but he had never been afraid of a horse and he was afraid of a dragon. How did a dragon make itself scary? Just by walking up to you and hissing? Maybe you didn’t even see it coming. Maybe a dragon would come from behind and bite the back of your neck like some falla did. Maybe dragons just seared you dead in an instance with their fire, than ate your cooked flesh. Was that how dragons hunted? Was that how they killed?

Ki usually didn’t really care much for dragons, but drawing a dragon was his homework for Art Class, so he wanted it to be better than everybody else’s. Hunter’s dragon was horrible looking, a big ugly red thing that didn’t even look remotely real. Its jaws were twisted and gnarly and a gusher of drool was falling from them, while a spurt of orange colour represented fire. Its eyes were yellow.

Yellow. Ki thought that that might be right. Dragons and predatory animals usually had yellow eyes didn’t they? He grimaced. He didn’t know for sure. He didn’t like adding a detail if he didn’t know for sure that it was real and factual. What would become of his standards if he just used any old colour? He might be too clumsy to draw something absolutely realistic, but he could at least give it realistic colours. He owed it to himself and common sense. Ki hated things which didn’t make sense. Mathematics was a good example of nonsensical things which he hated, which also happened to be the homework that he should have been working on but wasn’t, preferring the dragon assignment.

But what colour is a sky dragon? wondered Ki in frustration. All his references were black and white. It said in the description of the Tarnese Indigo Dragon or Sky Wolf that those were blue, but so were Wind Drakes. Tiger Dragons weren’t blue. They were green or grey, with splotchy, stripey markings to make them blend in with the old growth forests where they lived. Ki liked the idea of tiger dragons, but they looked nothing like his dragon, whatever it was. It didn’t feel like his dragon was blue. He would have known if it was blue, but what other colour could it be? Wraith Dragons were tawny and grey. Ki’s dragon looked nothing like a wraith. He frowned at the heavy spines he’d put on its tail, wondering if they were right, laboring yet again over the addition of them. Why couldn’t he just decide and be simple like other children?


“Ki! Are you doing your homework?” called his adoptive mother Eva.

“Yes!” said Ki, staring angrily at his drawing. Why can’t I get this right? It’s going to bother me for ages if I can’t!

“Are you working on your math?” called Eva again.

“I’m not done with Art!”

“Ki, it’s almost time for bed, you know you should work on your math!” called Eva.

“Yes Mom!” said Ki, ignoring her suggestion as he continued to eye the paper. He had no idea what colour to make his dragon, though he was pretty sure he wanted to make its eyes yellow. Beautiful, golden yellow with a hint of orange, like his eyes. Ki grimaced; he really wasn’t sure whether to hate or like his eyes. They were too unique. He’d never seen another person with eyes like his.

A cacophony on the stairs announced the arrival of his brother, Hunter, raced into their attic room and leaped up onto Ki’s bed, displacing some of the mattress’ lumpy stuffing as he leaned over Ki’s shoulder.

“I knew it! Momma sent me to see if you’d switched to math yet!” hissed Hunter. “Why haven’t you coloured your dragon yet? Just pick a colour! Teacher won’t care if it looks real or not!”

“I care.” grumbled Ki. “Hunter, can you tell Eva and Mattie I’m on math anyway?”

“Nooo.” said Hunter, hugging Ki around the waist. Ki tried to wriggle free, grabbing at Hunter’s wrists, but Hunter was stronger than him and squeezed him instead of letting go.

“Hey let go!” hissed Ki.

“Work on math then. Colour the dragon purple.” said Hunter.

“Dragons aren’t purple.” snipped Ki.

“Do you want a mark in art or not? Colour it purple.”

Ki wanted to kick Hunter in the crotch. “Dragons aren’t stupid purple! I’m not colouring it purple! Absolutely not!”

“So it’s a white dragon?”

“Shuddup! It’s dark I think.” said Ki angrily, almost crying.

“Hey Ki it’s alright.” said Hunter, loosening his grip and rubbing his face in Ki’s hair. Ki shook him off grumpily.

“No it’s not! I have to get this dragon right! I have to!” snapped Ki. He gulped, realized Hunter had been apologizing and immediately felt bad. “’m sorry Hunter. I’m just frustrated.”

“I know. Why don’t you leave your drawing and sleep on what colour it is?” suggested Hunter.

“Mattie told you to say that.” grumbled Ki.

“Momma’s smart.” said Hunter. “Now do math!”

“Can’t I sleep on it?” demanded Ki.

“Momma said if you sleep on it you won’t do it. She also told me to hug you and help you get it done an’ that you can’t go to bed until it’s done.” said Hunter bossily.

“She never said that.” said Ki, crossing his arms. “That’s all you.”

“Yeah but it’s better than me tackling you right?” grinned Hunter. Ki giggled.

“Maybe, but no hugs! I don’t like them!” said Ki. Hunter stuck out his tongue at him.

“Hug’s the trade for the help. Y’gotta let me hug you or I’ll give you no help.” said Hunter stubbornly. “You should like hugs. Hugs mean you’re loved.”

“I know I’m loved without being touched.” said Ki, wrinkling his nose. “Besides, your armpits smell. I don’t want to smell like your armpits because you hugged me.”

Hunter glared at him. “My pits don’t smell! I sniff them all the time and I never smell anything!”

“Well your nose doesn’t work.” Ki pointed out. “If it did you’d know day old fish still smells good.”

“No it doesn’t. It smells rotten, like feet but worse.” said Hunter. “Only you’d eat nasty rotten day old fish Ki.”

“Why not? It’s free and I’m hungry.”

“It’s gross!”

“No it’s not!”

With a cry Hunter tackled Ki, who was pinned against the bed and Ki had to struggle madly to get loose, only eventually achieving freedom because Hunter gave it to him. Next Ki thumped Hunter in the head with his pillow and then it was a war, Ki chasing Hunter around the room as Hunter tried to find something to hit him back with. Almost crying with laughter they fell in a tangle and could not stop in time as Hunter’s stout, pudgy mother made it up the stairs. Before they could move she had swept them both into a huge hug from which there was no escape, but Ki didn’t mind, not really. He hugged Hunter and his mother with all the small might that he could muster until Mattie put them down, smiling from ear to ear. She brushed each of their cheeks with the back of her hand ever so gently, than she hugged them again, tenderly this time.

“Now then my sillies, what caused the riot?” asked Mattie gently.

“Hunter’s armpits stink.” declared Ki.

“Ki’s not doing his math an’ I offered to help him, then we roughhoused.” said Hunter more factually.

“Neither of you are old enough for stinky armpits.” said Mattie, shaking her head. “And you need to do your math homework. What if both Hunter and I help you?”

“I guess so, but th’won’t make me like it.” said Ki boldly.

“I know, but it has to be done little one. Won’t your teacher be unhappy if you don’t do it?” said Mattie.

“’an we have a test tomorrow.” said Hunter.

“Right, so if you do your homework with us now, it’ll make the test easier.” said Mattie, nodding. Ki didn’t believe her even minutely, for math was always ridiculously hard, but he knew the homework would be less painful if they helped him. They spread out their work on the floor, the boys sitting on either side of Mattie, who very patiently walked Ki through his homework, always making sure he thoroughly understood a question before moving forwards beyond it. When it got dark in the attic they moved down to the kitchen table and by candlelight they worked with mugs of sweetened peppermint tea in hand, until Eva came around to see why Hunter and Ki had yet to go to bed. Ki finished his last question, roughed in some purple crayon into his dragon drawing as he ceded to Hunter’s logic regarding the matter, then they all shared some celebratory cookies and drank the last of their tea before they went to bed with a story about a friendly magic dragon named Puff.

Ki fell asleep wondering if dragons really could be friendly and smiled into his pillow at the crazy little thought. Still, at least it was a cheerful idea.

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Another concept I explored in this piece was the concept that while Ki has absolutely no memories of his past (this is not like J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter) he might still subconsciously know that he is a dragon. The dragon Ki struggles to draw in this piece is an as-dragon drakoon - Ki's own kind, a species which bares a distinct resemblance to the death god Riveera's species because it is from Riveera's extinct species that Ki's sprang. Ki's even right when he says his dragon is a dark coloured one, because his species are black when they are dragons. I have noticed, watching my own art, that when I draw things, I often end up drawing somewhat to my own emotions - and this can colour my writing too. If I am very lonely, I draw lonely things and write of characters who love each other, because I miss loving. In this, Ki draws a dragon not because it's his art class project really, but because he misses his own kind, whether he knows it or not and is trying to bridge a connection, whether he knows it or not. As a child, before he is fully 'domesticated' by Eva and Mattie, Ki's survival instincts are a lot sharper than when he is older. Ki chases chickens. He doesn't know what to do with them, yet he still chases them, just like a kitten plays with a fly or a border collie puppy herds a duck across a yard. It's in his instincts and it's in his subconscious. This is a huge difference between what we understand (humans) and what we don't understand (animals.) What does it feel like to have a strong driving instinct to do something like hunt? We cannot really know. Our instincts as humans tend to be very muted, at least from my asexual female perspective.

I hope you enjoyed this installment of 'The Other Way.'