I won't tell all of what happens in chapter 18, but I will say this: Danival, the leader of the Techanis assimilation force, braves the dragon Vul king's lair to speak with him. It is a risky venture and one that if he hadn't come prepared would have ended with Danival a very dead man. Because of the technology afforded him he lives to tell King Aftnaar something that angers him greatly, but leads to the Vuls and Techanis forming an alliance. This is incredibly bad news for the others of Wyrme, for the Vuls harbor ill feelings towards all but their own kind and are willing to do almost anything for a chance to become rulers of the planet. The Techanis know this and because manipulation is their prime tactic when dealing with other species they use this knowledge to sway the Vuls into joining with them. Here is a brief excerpt:
“You are very brave to
challenge me in my own lair,” Aftnaar hissed angrily and rose to
stand. His eyes flashed a blood-red crimson as they looked about the
chamber for anyone else. He was rather stunned to see no one. A
one person army?
“As I said, I am not
here to fight with you,” the stranger recounted.
“What is it that you
seek?” said the Vul king, slowly circling the figure.
The stranger held up
his hand, motioning the lord to give him pause, then removed his
black mask, revealing the face underneath. It was the face of a man.
And the sight of this infuriated Lord Aftnaar.
“A Rysouri! How dare
you try and bewitch me with your foul magic! Die!”
“No, wait!” yelled
the man, but it was too late.
The king of the Vuls
inhaled deeply in preparation for his attack, however, the man knelt
and covered himself with his cloak to endure the coming assault. A
stream of white-hot fire belched forth from the dragon's mouth in a
cone of burning death engulfing the cowering figure. No mere man or
beast could have lived. But when the fiery storm had abated Lord
Aftnaar was surprised once again to find that, although his cloak
looked more scorched than before and was now smoldering, this visitor
remained upright and still breathing. He then incredulously stood up
to plead his case.
“Please Lord Aftnaar,
stop your attack and hear me out. I have things to tell you—things
you will want to hear. And I have a pact to make with you as well, if
you are willing to listen.”
The book is coming along nicely--I've started chapter 19 and think that I know how it will be going. Chapter 20 will be I think the big confrontation between the many groups (Techanis, Vuls, Rysouri & Andy Brighton himself). There may be a chapter 21, and if so it will probably not be very long--I'd imagine it would just tidy up things from chapter 20 & stuff/tie up loose ends so to speak. I'm thinking that book two will end badly. What I mean by this is that things will not be all nice & cheery and leave the reader feeling all warm & fuzzy inside. Rather I want the reader to think at the end of book two something akin to "OMG that can't happen! and, What are they gonna do now?" and it should end in a kind of cliffhanger, so that the reader wants to get book three as soon as possible & find out what's next. Otherwise, if it ended all great and wonderful, what would be the point of reading any more?
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