Chap 7.4 teaser

Hello you folks.  I believe Chap 7.4 to be largely finished.  I still have to read over it and edit, but here's something to tide you over:

She shut the door and I heard the snap of the lock.  I picked myself off the floor and wiped at my swollen eyes.  Elmiryn turned to stare at me from across the room, and we both fell quiet as our gazes met.  The firewood cracked and popped in the fireplace as a glowing peice fell away to the ash covered floor.  My hands raised to touch the collar of my tunic before I once again became aware of the layout of the room.  Not wanting the bed between us as I undressed, I gestured for the woman to come closer.

"You'll see better with the firelight." I said quietly.

Elmiryn came closer, a soft frown on her face as she moved around the bed to stand near me.  She stopped a foot away and placed her hands on her hips.

I bowed my head and turned so that my back was to her.  "It took them a little over a day to finish the design.  The man who did it...I grew up with him.  He was an apprentice learning the ways of the shamanites.  He wasn't allowed to stop or rest until the Mark was finished." I pulled the tunic over my head.  My arms felt weak and shook as I struggled to be freed from the fabric.  The air felt unwelcoming to my shoulders, and goosebumps spread across my skin.  When my tunic fell before my feet I stopped and took a deep breath.

I couldn't deny it, I still felt hesitant.  All that was left to remove was the bandage that wrapped my breasts.  It wasn't too late to try and stop this.  Unless the bandage was removed, the most important aspect of my brand would not be seen.

But my hands were already moving without my consent.  They undid the bandage with fumbling fingers, and before I registered it, the wraps had fallen away.  My arms crossed over my front and I squeezed my eyes shut.

Am I being a tease?  

.....NAH.

I haven't really much to add.  Just remember to follow my twitter account for day-to-day updates on Eikasia...as well as whatever the heck else that may be distracting me.

Apologies!

So I guess I was thrown for more of a loop then I thought, and as is usually the case with me, my weekend was rather busy.  I think part of the reason I dislike the chapter as it is right now is because it feels like its lacking some scenes, and it's also feeling like it needs a POV change.  (I've been doing it from Elmiryn's POV the whole time)

Here's a portion of what I have so far:

Elmiryn's hands still tingled with the feeling of her companion's throat in her hands, the pulse against her thumb, the light sheen of sweat that had made her palms cool when the air kissed it. Involuntarily, she imagined how the throat would hum under her hand if the girl could speak without impediment. Maybe it was indeed possible to catch sound by hand? To possess that voice and keep it as a pet, when the nights got cold and the hours long...it was such an enticing idea. Once it was in her possession, she could use it when she didn't feel like being herself.

Then moral sensibilities, stunted, but still present, objected.

Nyx had carried her unconscious body more than a mile, and had remained at her side when she was comatose--what kind of repayment was strangulation?

But those memories...those precious, vivid memories. They were so real to Elmiryn, moreso than the world she drifted through now. In them, she had felt connection; in them, she had a voice that carried sincerity.  

At seeing that these things were no longer hers to have, she had hollered for wine and drank half-a-bottle's worth with little pause. Then she vomited it all up, because she thought the wine was blood. She had tried to stand, and lost her balance. Nyx tried to keep her in bed but Elmiryn became agitated, wild-eyed, and asked why the covers were so dangerously heavy. 

That first day, she refused to lay in the bed. Instead, she sat in the corner on the floor and alternated between drinking rum and water. Food was repulsive to her. She thought the steak they gave her had pulsed in her mouth, and the rice felt like ants on her tongue.

I apologize guys.  Like I said, I just got really thrown for a loop.

Because twitter fails to illustrate...

...I'd just like to clarify (for those who follow my twitter account) that the past two days have been weighed down with economic troubles, family feuds, emotional breakdowns, medical bad news, and the looming fear that I may get sued or fired from my new job over a stupid misunderstanding.

There.  :)

Update will be up before Monday!  (I mean, why let some bad luck ruin a good thing?)

Oh yeah!

Whoops.  Forgot to post this here.  Did a drawing of Nyx in her new tunic a few days ago.  Nothing too grand.

Hope you guys enjoy the new chapter.  As I said in Twitter, I made a lot of last minute changes, so if you see something odd (grammatical or otherwise) just tell me so.

"Courier's Creed" by Gabriel Gadfly

I just got through writing up a review for "Courier's Creed", which is a pretty neat story for anyone into coming-of-age fantasy adventures.  As a fellow webnovelist, I enjoyed this alot.  Please check it out if you haven't already.

Hip Hip...

Hurray! I updated!

Am I short, or is this horse just too damn big...?

So hopefully some of you are still sticking around.  If not, I'd understand--a site that doesn't update just doesn't seem worth bothering with.  But I'd like to let you all know that I'm making efforts to resume work editing.  I'm also going to make an effort to resume the story.  Probably more effort for the latter considering the amount of time that has passed.

Gosh, so what the heck have I been up to!?  To be honest, not much...job hunting, like so many in America.  Making plans for community college.  Making books and journals from scratch.  Perhaps spending more creative energy than I should into LARPing (live-action-roleplaying).  I've also been healthily distracted by movies, games, books, boys and the silly messes they bring with them...

BUT!  (and this is one hell of a 'but', my friends) I've been making gradual progress over the last month in getting the next installment done.  It's sad that this couldn't have atleast happened BETWEEN adventures instead of near the tail-end of one.  Though I think I made some progress in my editing, and perhaps even improved my understanding of Nyx and Elle.

Now I'm not just blowing smoke up your asses.  Really, just see for yourself:

I was the defiler, there. The clumsy heathen whose ragged breath and befuddled feet made a mess of things. All around me was dead. I was a perversity whose future was mirrored in the gray stunted world. My trail was marked by the clouds of ash that came up into the air. These little clouds drifted a yard or two as swirls of currents that traced pale lines through the air, before they blanketed the corpses of animals. Milky eyes glared at me accusingly as I made my way.

Blood stained me. The quilted weave of my gambeson was tainted, the rips that marred it like wounds themselves. I could even feel a breeze in my left boot. The sole had begun to separate at the tip.

My muscles loathed me, and quivered beneath the strains of my commands, as if they had to remember that I was their master. When exhaustion sought to overcome me, I would kneel in the desolation and try to catch my breath. My eyes tunneled, and sweat dripped from the dip of my nose. In my arms, Elmiryn's lanky body barely seemed to fit into my grip. Her head was cradled against my bosom, eyes shut and her breath faint. Her eyes were red and raw, and her skin a terrible pale complexion. If I stared at her long enough, I thought I could make out her eye sockets shifting...but then it occured to me that it could just be a trick of my eyes.

All the while, in my head, things that were not mine prodded me. I saw battles, recalled feelings, felt sensations that were not mine--not even my counterpart's. Some of these things, these memories, were Elmiryn's, I knew...but I made an effort not to pay it any mind. It threatened me, revulted me. My head seemed barely capable handling two personas, how could I stand the memories of others, however feeble?

Every time I felt myself too enthralled with a particular thought, every time I felt myself come too close to empathizing with a memory, I moved. Forced myself forward in sloppy standard, like a drunkard startled out of his settlement. It worked, to some degree. I didn't drown in what wasn't mine. But still, things slipped through, and I kept returning to nagging details...

I'm going to put a big phat general disclaimer on that one.  It's subject to change and edits, as always.

One thing that helped me get my groove back was an awesome music playlist...which I worked tirelessly to perfect over the course of four days.  Some of the songs I chose on the basis of mood, subject matter, and style.  Clearly, some of those songs seem out of place (Nirvana, what?) but some of them reminded me of things completely relevant.  I avoided songs that just sounded cool or catchy.  I had other playlists for that.  This one was put together with a goal.  There's an art to getting the chemistry of music just right.  For the curious birdies, here's my playlist, in order--plus three songs from the list to hear:

1.  "The Creep Out" by The Dandy Warhols
2.  "Love is an Unfamilar Name" by The Duke Spirit
3.  "Joker & The Thief" by Wolfmother
4.  "The Devil In The Kitchen" by Ashley MacIsaac
5.  "Psycho" by Puddle of Mudd
6.  "So I need some fine wine, and you, you need to be nicer" by The Cardigans
7.  "Strange And Beautiful (I'll Put A Spell On You)" by Aqualung
8.  "First Love" by Adele 
9.  "The Cave" by Jorane
10.  "La princesa Dolça de Provença" by Trobar de Morte
11.  "Wake the Dead" by A Perfect Circle
12.  "Natural Blues" by Moby
13.  "Face in a Cloud" by Audio Bullys
14.  "Bottom Of The Lake" by The Builders And The Butchers
15.  "All Apologies" by Nirvana
16.  "The Hollow" by A Perfect Circle
17.  "Here Come the Bastards" by Primus
18.  "The Rage" by Judas Priest
19.  "The Trooper" by Iron Maiden
20.  "Jack Of Diamonds" by Sonic Syndicate
21.  "War?" by System Of A Down 
22.  "I Disappear (Metallica Goth Remix)" by Public
23.  "Wildcat" by Ratatat
24.  "May Day" by Unkle (featuring The Duke Spirit)
25.  "My Own Dirge" by Sxip Shirey

"The Cave" by Jorane

This one made me think a lot about Nyx and an important moment in her past...which you'll all be familiar with soon enough.

"The Trooper" by Iron Maiden

This one makes me think alot of Elmiryn and the battles she's experienced...but it also made me think of the time Nyx snuck to a battlefield when she was young and saw the dead and dying.

"So I Need Some Fine Wine And You, You Need To Be Nicer" by The Cardigans

Elmiryn's drinking habits. Easy.

Okay, that's all the chatter I've got left in me. With luck, I'll get this chapter up before another month goes by. (no, really, I'm trying for this Friday.) Till next time, remember to check twitter and the RSS feed for updates!

EDIT:  Wow, I sound like a grade schooler giving automatic answers..."This story made me think of the, uh, stuff that was...y'know, important."  It's almost midnight, I'm allowed some ineloquence, darnit!  Oh, but I meant to pip in that the embed players are being a little weird, so if they aren't working for you, just try reloading the page...or going here, where coincidentally I have two more songs to listen to--  http://soundcloud.com/cajeck