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poopraven · 11 months

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Hello! I'd like to tell you about a book I wrote. It'll be coming out on Friday the 26th of May 2023.

I'm extremely proud of this one. I'm proud of them all, of course, but I think in this one I let myself get angry for, well, pretty much the whole book to be honest. Previous books in the series have bursts of queer rage, but this one definitely sustained it.

At its heart, it's a book that demands to know just how long we're supposed to do nothing while fascists kill us.

Now, fair warning, it is book 9 in an ongoing series. It won't make a whole lot of sense if you haven't read the previous eight books. I'll get to that at the end of the post, but for now I want to stick with Runes of Fall.

No storm bows to reason.

Quentin's trip to the desert with his chosen family is supposed to be two days of testing the limits of their powers. Instead, a violent storm looms on the horizon, and nothing will alter its course.

The storm has a name: Nate Anderson. Demigod, supremacist, leader of a neo-Nazi Übermensch cabal... and father to Quentin's latest ward, Mel. He means to take her home, and won't let a ragtag group of "inferior" psychics get in his way.

Besieged and outgunned, Quentin is trapped in a no-win scenario. No matter which way he turns, one fateful night will change him forever.

Inheritance is a series best read in order, so if this is the first you've heard of it I strongly recommend that you start with Jack of Thorns, but keep going and I'll let you know how you can grab that for free. First, let me tell you more about it.

In Jack of Thorns, we meet Laurence and Quentin, two men with astonishing powers but little to no control over them. They are both adrift, traumatised, and doing what they can to get by one day at a time. Laurence is struggling to escape a toxic, abusive boyfriend who refuses to accept that their relationship is over, and Quentin spends as much of his time drunk as he possibly can.

Do they start out likeable? Opinion varies. But they learn, they grow, and they put in the work to improve themselves. They do their best, and sometimes they make mistakes, but the Laurence and Quentin in Runes of Fall are a world away from the Laurence and Quentin you first meet.

Heads up, there are some content warnings to take note of. In random order, they are: sexual intimacy, addiction, drug use, sexual assault, childhood sexual abuse, incest, gaslighting, bullying, coercive control, kidnapping, domestic abuse, bigotry, classism, torture, post-traumatic stress, therapy, violence, peril, and death.

If you're still here, thank you for reading this far. I'd like to give you some links if you're interested in finding out more!

Jack of Thorns: https://books2read.com/jackofthorns

Runes of Fall: https://discoverinheritance.com/books/runes-of-fall

Discord server: https://discord.gg/reYUyTH9DJ

And, if you'd like, you can get all nine books at once - whether as ebooks, paperbacks (signed or unsigned), or audiobooks - from Kickstarter:

kickstarter

Thank you so much for your time. Please feel free to ask questions if you have them!

- AK.

#book recs #urban fantasy #indie books #lgbt books #lgbt author #indie author #queer books #books and novels #indie writers #indie writer #inheritance #ak faulkner #new release #mlm books #autistic adult #bisexual fiction #demisexual fiction

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razmahdaz-art · 5 months

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HEY, I WORKED ON A DND MODULE

My friend over at Imp Games on Twitter and I (and a small team of artists) Worked a DnD 5e Module! And I also Playtested it forever ago and HEY IT'S GOOD.

Twice Dead In Terminus is a great mini-campaign, filled with Undead Cowboys, Moral Quandaries, and Gun-Slinging Subclasses to Add To Your Game! Please got Support my Buddy Evan and Keep an Eye Out For It once it gets Released!

This took like, 6 months to make because Art is hard. So GO LOOK AT IT.

#my art #digital art #clip studio paint #dungeons and dragons #art #Dungeons and Dragoons 5e #TTRPG #DnD modules #Indie Writers #Writers of Tumblr #Self Promo #Cowboys #In MY dnd setting?#Genuinely can't wait for the squeal because it is just actually so fucking good to play

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cmoroneybooks · 1 year

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When seeking commercial success with writing you need to be realistic. Just because something shouldn’t be the way it is doesn’t mean you can ignore that reality.

What I mean:

People do judge a book by it’s cover, unless you’re talented and have done your research it will negatively impact you not to pay a professional.

Marketing a book isn’t about how good your book is. It’s an entirely different skillset you’ll need to pick up whether you get indie published or traditionally published.

If you’re writing something niche you can’t expect the marketing advice of people writing and selling something with wide scale appeal to work for you. You’ll need to find a way to advertise directly to the communities that surround your niche.

Bigots read and buy books.

Publishing a book is fucking expensive but cutting corners is quickly noticeable.

Publishers don’t take as many risks as they should, they’re increasingly letting indie authors take risks and prove that certain types of story can make it. You might have to wait for someone else to prove your kind of story works in the indie space to get any traction in the trad space.

I doubt any of these really surprise anyone. But anytime something is unfair or wrong in publishing whether indie or trad I see a lot of writers say something like ‘well people shouldn’t judge a book by it’s cover so I’m making my own anyway’ as if saying that somehow changes reality. Let’s be realistic but hopeful and defiant as we head into 2023. Like the pragmatic side character who’s with the hero till the bitter end.

(Also how else are we meant to judge your book in a sea of others, when there’s so many that picking one off the shelf or clicking on to see the blurb is a decision of itself??)

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crooked-wasteland · 5 months

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Lackadaisy Tracy has hired Far-Fetched Co-creator Dave Capdevielle as a writer for the series. Hopefully, the indie animation sphere can learn from the criticisms towards the current big name dominating the community and make a push to incorporate a budget for writers on their shows! I am so excited and hopeful to see what the Iron Circus crew presents.

#lackadaisy #indie animation #indie animation needs to hire writers #indie writers #actually revolutionize media #take power from the large studios #fairer labor #writers and animators and actors unite

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winterandwords · 8 months

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✍🏻 WRITEBLR INTRO

👋🏻 Hi, I’m Winter. I write emotionally intense character-driven fiction inspired by city streets and stormy seas, scars and synchronicity, synesthesia and l’appel du vide.

📲 I'm writing-related ask and tag game friendly and I love reblogging your WIP snippets.

📚 You can download my books at 🔗winterandwords.com. It's the only place they're available. More information about each book can also be found further down this post.

☕ If you enjoy my writing and would like to offer support, you can do that via 🔗Ko-fi. I share my books for free with the option to donate if you can afford to rather than selling them for an upfront payment, so your contributions are super appreciated!

🌈 It always makes happy to encounter queer characters whose identity and narrative aren’t limited to or by their queerness, so I’m writing the characters I want to see in the stories I want to read.

📝 I write for an adult audience, but my stories don’t include explicit sexual content because it’s not my vibe (not a genital in sight here, folks). That said, if you’re uncomfortable with fiction that's frequently dark, sometimes spicy, and often chemically enhanced, I might not be the ideal writer for you to follow. Not everything is for everyone and that’s OK.

🛑 I would prefer if minors didn't follow me. I don't follow minors, at least not intentionally. Sometimes it's not obvious and I'm not the age-in-bio police. In the kindest possible way, if you're under eighteen, my writing is not for you and I'd rather engage with other adults only.

💜 My reblogs tend to be writing-related, with a few exceptions. My likes are (mostly) non-writing-related things I get a kick out of, or personal posts that I want to acknowledge but that don’t feel appropriate to reblog.

💌 If, for some reason, you need to contact me outside of the hellsite, you can do that at winterandwords[at]gmail[dot]com

🌊 NOVEMBER BREAKS (complete)

BASICS Genre: Transgressive, literary Audience: Adult Length: Approx 52k words Working title: Project Storm Tags: #november breaks and #project storm More: Book summary

💻 To download as a PDF and EPUB, please visit winterandwords.com

VIBE Crime, weather symbolism and questionable life choices. Hurt me, I need to feel alive. Violence is a drug. Also, drugs are drugs. This is a love story like crude oil is a tea. #ThatShouldNotBeHot. Nothing’s real anyway.

INTRO No conscience, no problem. Noah kills for money. Brett hides a life of crime behind a successful career. Officially, they both protect people from people like themselves. Unofficially, everything is falling apart. Until they meet. And it all gets worse.

🔪 BRIDGE FROM ASHES (complete)

BASICS Genre: Cyberpunk, neon-noir Audience: Adult Length: Approx 70k words Working title: Project Frequency Tags: #bridge from ashes and #project frequency More: Book summary

💻 To download as a PDF and EPUB, please visit winterandwords.com

VIBE High-rise buildings and low-life scum. Everything hurts, but not enough to feel good. Yes, that’s a gun in my pocket and no, I’m not pleased to see you. If mind control is real, why do I still have to make decisions?

INTRO Too useful for prison and too dangerous for freedom, underworld assassin Rafael Turner is sentenced to serve in a secretive military agency. When a mission to infiltrate a criminal operation drags his past to the surface and someone he thought he’d lost forever unexpectedly returns, how much is Rafe willing to risk to settle old scores and have a chance at a future he’d given up hoping for?

💀 FIVE (complete)

Genre: Various Audience: Adult Length: Approx 6.5k words Tags: #five More: Book summary

💻 To download as a PDF and EPUB, please visit winterandwords.com

INTRO A collection of short science fiction, experimental, urban fantasy, and horror stories exploring themes of loss, transition, and altered states.

🚬 SPIN CYLINDER (WIP)

BASICS Genre: Transgressive, literary Audience: Adult Tags: #spin cylinder More: WIP summary

Spin Cylinder is the sequel to November Breaks.

VIBE Slice of life, but life is drugs and crime. They deserve each other (derogatory). Violence as a substitute for therapy. Very elegantly wasted. My favourite mistake, my weapon of choice and the parts of ourselves that we can’t leave behind.

INTRO Contract killer Noah and white-collar criminal Brett retire from successful but stressful careers to build a home together on a foundation of obsession, shared secrets and murder. But when they start to feel restless and the downward spiral beckons them deeper, how far will they go to find their way back to themselves?

🔫 NAME FROM NOWHERE (WIP)

BASICS Genre: Cyberpunk, neon-noir Audience: Adult Working title: Project Aria Tags: #name from nowhere and #project aria More: WIP summary

Name From Nowhere takes place in the same world as Bridge From Ashes.

VIBE Found crime family. Memory is a curse, but it’s also a weapon. What doesn’t kill you makes you deadly. No identity, still a crisis. Life may be more than survival, but survival is a good place to start. Because fuck you, that’s why.

INTRO Imprisoned for a crime or five that she definitely committed, Aria made it through her sentence remembering more than she was supposed to but not enough to make sense. An illicit trade syndicate gives her a fresh start and the acceptance she won’t admit she craves, but her blood family’s betrayal is seared into her mind and revenge is only ever an opportunity away.

📇 TAG INDEX

#the shit in my head | rants, rambles and writer life

#november breaks and #project storm | WIP excerpts, updates etc for November Breaks (working title Project Storm), the prequel to Spin Cylinder

#spin cylinder | WIP excerpts, updates etc for Spin Cylinder, the sequel to November Breaks

#bridge from ashes and #project frequency | WIP excerpts, updates etc for Bridge From Ashes (working title Project Frequency), set in the same world as Name From Nowhere

#name from nowhere and #project aria | WIP excerpts, updates etc for Name From Nowhere (working title Project Aria), set in the same world as Bridge From Ashes

#five | excerpts from and references to Five

#my writing | snippets and other wordstuff

#your writing | other people’s words

#writeblr tags | tag games and memes

#answered asks | replies to your questions and messages

#writeblr connect | boosting writeblrs for the community

#reblogs | what it says on the tin

#reblogs plus | reblogs with my additions

#tumblr meta | hellsite stuff'n'things

#calmwrimo | info, updates and reblogs for CalmWriMo, a chilled-out November writing and self-care experience

📸 IMAGE CREDITS

Profile picture My own

Header and background Original photo by Yaroslav Shuraev on Pexels, edited under license

Five My own

November Breaks My own

Bridge From Ashes Original photo by Drew Dizzy Graham on Unsplash, edited under license

Spin Cylinder Original photo by Jeremy Bishop on Unsplash, edited under license

Name from Nowhere Original photo by Wilmer Martinez on Unsplash, edited under license

#writeblr #writeblr intro #writeblr community #writers #writers on tumblr #writers of tumblr #writing community #writer community #writeblr introduction #writer introduction #am writing #writers community #tumblr writers #writer intro #writing a book #indie writers #indie authors

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jellogram · 2 years

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HELLO WRITERS AND POETS OF TUMBLR! DO YOU WANT TO GET PUBLISHED IN A LITERARY JOURNAL?

For years I've been submitting to literary journals and gotten fed up with the process, so I've decided to start my own! It's called Goosewax! There is NO submission fee and NO long waiting period! Already published your work to Tumblr, Wattpad, Substack, etc? Not a problem. I have no issues with accepting previously published work!

Obviously this journal is brand new, so I can't claim any kind of prestige, but it is an official literary journal and your work would be considered published! This means that in all your cover letters from now on, you could list publication in a journal. You'd also be helping an independent journal get its feet off the ground.

There are very few rules to submit, but be sure to read them on the Submissions page linked below. Basically I accept short stories, creative nonfiction, and poetry all with a maximum of 5k words (no fanfiction please, only works that don't require knowledge of particular media). Since I don't have a backlog to get through right now, turnaround time will be lightning fast and if you choose to provide an email (optional) you'll hear back about your submission in a day or two. Here's the submission page:

You can also email me at [email protected] with your submission attached, if you prefer. If you have trouble with either of these, feel free to DM me on Tumblr. You can also remain entirely anonymous if you'd like, or be published under a username. It's up to you! If you don't wish to submit, reblogs are GREATLY appreciated as I try to get this thing going. I am super excited about this project and I can't wait to read your submissions!

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kjscottwrites · 2 years

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I wanna help get LGBTQ indie writers paid this month so let's start a thread! If you've got a piece of writing (be it a novel, a collection, a book of poetry, a short story, erotica, whatever!) for sale online or in bookstores that u would love for more people to read, HERES YOUR SIGN to reblog this with links to your work <3

#writing #indie writers #pride month #support indie authors #writers on tumblr #writeblr #lgbtq writer #bookblr #book recommendations #reading

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yvesdot · 7 months

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SOMETHING'S NOT RIGHT IS AVAILABLE TO PREORDER!

The debut collection returns in a special fifth anniversary edition, repackaged with three new short stories, a new cover, and additional bonus content. A vampire is forced into a compromising situation; a father fears his child's growing plant collection; the undead go to high school; a butcher contemplates whether or not she can be loved. In a captivating debut, yves. opens the door to our world, slightly askew-- a world where the crows work for witches and the telephone booths serve as secret channels for prophecy; a world where a diverse cast of monsters and humans alike are forced to contend with what the world believes is right.

Something's Not Right, described by GoodReads reviewers as "delicious," "expertly crafted," and "relentlessly queer," may be releasing in a week on October 10, 2023... but did you know you can preorder digital copies on Amazon and itch.io right now? As for physical, you can now preorder SIGNED copies from Bookshop Santa Cruz! There's a virtual launch party day of, an in-person book talk that Thursday (the 12th), and all sorts of surprises to come. (And if you can't afford a copy, ARCs are available for request up to release!)

To celebrate, we're having a little blog tour across several beloved writeblrs, each of whom have their own contributions. I'm so excited to be able to geek out over their posts in public!!

Posting schedule:

October 4th - Emma @lazarusemma (moodboard)

October 5th - Rook @peppermintlark (recipes)

October 6th - Piya @onomatopiya (top 5 stories)

October 7th - שבת קודש

October 8th - Max @goose-books (fan presentation)

October 9th - Yah Yah @fluoresensitive (playlist)

Thank you so much to everyone who volunteered! An extra special thank you to Emma @lazarusemma and Rook @peppermintlark specifically, as they were pinch hitters and rather than signing up they merely, so to speak, had greatness thrust upon them. Please send them many chocolates.

It's a magical world out there, Dear Readers—let's go on tour!

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jacqueswriteblrlibrary · 3 months

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hey writeblr! reblog this with some snippets / writing you think deserves more attention! attach as many as you like! I'll reblog as many as I can!

and yes, this is also an invitation for anyone to add me to their writing tag lists!

#writeblr #wtw community #writing #writers on tumblr #writing community #indie writers #writblr #this blog is dedicated to you all and I would love to reblog as many writers as I can!

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theboarsbride · 4 months

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2024 writing goals🤭✍💛

#jojo writes #writeblr #writers of tumblr #looking for writers #looking for writer friends #writing goals #wip intro #indie writers

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cmrosens · 1 year

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Fantasy Castle Thoughts

Wandering around castle ruins on the weekend while thinking about my fantasy WIP had me thinking about more worldbuilding stuff in fantasy (the obvious ones being covered by others, such as, where does the shit go? How do they get water? How do they not poison themselves while answering Qu 1?):

That film where they erased the entire town and the castle was sat there for no reason (meant to be Rochester) - look, even if your castle is a strategic fortress in the back of beyond, it will have some kind of nearby settlement. Because: who is building it and how long does it take and where do they all live while they're constructing it? Where do they go afterwards? How do the garrison get food (easier to grow crops and raise livestock nearby than have vulnerable wagons bringing it in and being ambushed).

A lot of castles were not built by locals, because you can't trust the fucking locals, that's (usually) why the castle is THERE. If you don't need a defensive structure you build a manor or a stately home. If you're building a castle, it's usually to subdue the population or to defend against the neighbours, but either way, what often happens is that the king or whoever will round up people from his patrimony he knows he's already whipped into shape and can trust, then force-marches them across country and re-settles them in the area the castle is meant to be. They are the ones who then farm and raise livestock, and push out the locals to do so. Over time, you get some intermingling and after a few gens it's a very different demographic, but you have a story of settlement going on with tensions bubbling under the surface. See also: William Rufus wanting to subdue the North of England, forcibly uprooting his tenants in the South of England and making them build and settle in Carlisle, where he built his castle (11thC); the Earl of Lincoln dragging a load of Yorkshire and Lancashire and Lincolnshire men to re-settle his newly bestowed North Welsh lordships, pushing the Welsh into the uplands while the settlers took over the lowlands (12th-13thC).

The settlers around castles bring their own forms of folk religion, superstition, folklore, dialect, and naming patterns, which are specific to their original region. These may be very similar to the ones where they've been settled. What does that look like? Is the culture of particular villages and settlements a little bit different or maybe strikingly so the closer you get to the castles in your world because of this? What are the issues faced by settlers and by local people, how do they get resolved (or do they)? You'd imagine settlers are favoured in court disputes, but depending on the politics, they may actually be overlooked in efforts to appease the locals, leading to some lords really upsetting the very people they took for granted that they could trust. What's going on with all this local level stuff? By the way:: 21stC "my religion is better than yours" is so fucking boring and overdone imo from Western fantasy. Not every fantasy people has to have a US Evangelical approach to faith. Maybe they just don't care, or as soon as they hear something new they're like oooh this is interesting let's incorporate that! And they do. And it's fine. And that's a normal attitude to have. That might be a lot more fun, because then you get multiple variations on a theme, which create lots of little layers and nuance to your world, rather than a very one-dimensional impression of "homogeneity" with the danger of slipping into ye olde "X Bad, Y Good" dichotomy.

Technology and adapting tech: building castles requires tech, and once you know how long something took to build, you know what the tech was and can work out how it may have developed since then. Also think about how it can be adapted. If you've got a world where castles are required because fighting happens, you have a world full of disabled people. War causes disability. Even tournaments were EXCEEDINGLY dangerous. Henry VIII got permanent brain damage at one. Other knights were left paralysed, many died, some were amputees as a result. People get their legs hacked off due to gangrene from wounds. People get arrows lodged in their spines. People get sick from malnutrition and develop conditions like osteoarthritis, osteoporosis, etc. Picture this: your lord gets severely injured and may never walk again just by falling from his horse (common). Unfortunately, the castle steps are DESIGNED to be difficult to get up and down, because it's a defensive structure, and you DO NOT want to make it easy for enemies to just stroll up to the upper levels which are the most defensible. Bear in mind that the majority of a castle is empty space: the ward. The domestic quarters are built into the walls, usually the inner walls of a concentric castle. Your lord had an upper floor room. In a castle, space is at a premium. You need all the space on the ground floor and it's already occupied. What do you do? Well - you remember that pulley system for heaving big tons of dressed stone up to the top of the scaffolding when constructing the tower? Yeah. Yeah you're going to use that. And if your lord is now permanently disabled and cannot use the stairs, you can work out how to refine that. But right now, you need to get him into bed so the physician can look him over, because if he dies right now this would be terribly politically inconvenient . Even if this hasn't happened in your current story right now, if this was the case for the lord or two BEFORE, the equipment may all still be there, and still be in place.

Anyway if you like this, you might like my newsletter and podcast, and the books I write.

#world building #fantasy castle #things i think about #worldbuilding #writblr #indie writers #writeblr #creative writing

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warthogreporter · 1 month

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Very blunt article on one example of how difficult it is to make a living as a writer. I'll highlight one section from the article below but advise reading the whole thing.

That's all he's asking for, and what he's frustrated by: the inability to turn talent and creativity into a reasonably untroubled living. Those last 84 sign-ups are the equivalent of a public television pledge drive, where he started a few weeks ago with a goal of 100. "The way my life works," he says, "that's my rent."

#oc #indie writers

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minutiaewriter · 3 months

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Hera: To Touch the Heavens First Look - Chapter One

The release of Hera: To Touch the Heavens is right around the corner, so as a little thank you for your support I'm releasing the first chapter below the cut!

A tear slid down the old woman’s cheek, illuminated like a drop of sunshine in the light of the lanterns. Her gaze passed from Rynn to Kilderan, and that was when she had begun to weep, otherwise silent in the wooden chair she had seated herself in.

Rynn reached for Kilderan’s soft hand and felt reassured when his brother clutched his hand back.

The four of them bowed low and silent as the high priestess’ gray eyes flooded with tears. Her breathing was faint, and she never removed her gaze from Kilderan.

Rynn did not understand why she was staring so intently at Kilderan, but he felt even more confused watching them; so he instead studied her robe and the string of glinting beads around her wrist.

She muttered something Rynn did not hear, but Kilderan dipped his head further behind the boy.

Velle Deka then spread her arms and looked up at Aome.

“Mother Deka,” Aome murmured, falling into the woman’s outstretched arms.

Though she embraced the young woman, the high priestess’ gaze bore into Rynn. When Aome pulled away, Velle Deka spoke. “Daughter...Aome… We thought your mission went awry. When we didn’t hear word… Ah, well, no use dwelling on what didn’t happen. Have you come all this way with the celestial children?”

The priestess began to nod but then halted. “Well, almost.”

“Wait,” Yojackson said. “You know that Kip’s also a celestial child?”

Velle Deka nodded solemnly, dabbing at her eyes with a cream-colored handkerchief she produced from the folds of her garb. “You have united the two celestial sons.”

Aome’s lips parted. “Kilderan found his brother and brought him away from Arsteine.” She lowered her gaze. “I was the one who told them about you and encouraged them to return.”

Velle nodded in understanding. “Show me the blood,” the old woman muttered, turning to Rynn. “Let me see the luster.”

Rynn swallowed and glanced over his shoulder up at Kilderan, who pressed his lips into a firm line.

“Is that really necessary?” Kilderan asked faintly.

Velle Deka eyed him and then held out her hands towards Rynn.

The boy turned to his brother. After a few heartbeats of morose hesitation, Kilderan bent, brandishing his dagger. He gingerly clasped Rynn’s wrist and pressed the cold blade into his flesh.

“Ow,” Rynn whimpered. He looked up at Kilderan, whose eyes had flashed.

Soon the pale skin was broken, but as little as possible, and a flood of deep crimson blood, faintly glittering, gushed forth from his arm.

Rynn had forgotten that the blood of the stars flowed in excess, and once he remembered, he winced.

Kilderan’s fingers lingered on Rynn’s arm and Rynn continued to look up into the wide, pale blue eyes that stared upon him before turning to Velle Deka.

She sighed contentedly and took his arm in her ancient hands, studying the celestial blood. Her eyelashes were dotted with teardrops, minuscule diamonds twinkling in the light. She looked up at Kilderan again. “After this, never let those veins bleed again.”

Kilderan frowned, which diminished his now-soft expression.

Yojackson shoved past Kilderan and placed his hands on his hips, staring down at the seated priestess. “We need to know where the celestial spring is in order for that to happen.”

“You have the pendant?” Velle Deka asked.

Aome promptly lifted the silver chain from her neck and handed it to the elderly lady.

Rynn studied the ivory pendant that was carved with an image of the galaxy’s three suns. He wondered how the high priestess would be able to use it to disclose the location of the spring that Kilderan so desperately needed to take him to.

The high priestess turned the pendant in her hands, examining it sentimentally and almost lovingly.

“Aren’t you going to, I don’t know, read the necklace or something?” He had meant no offense, and his eyes were round in innocence. “We need to know the spring’s location as soon as possible.”

The woman used her handkerchief again before her eyes brightened and she began to chuckle at Yojackson, the cracked sound filling the small safe room.

The criminal frowned and glanced at Aome.

Velle Deka continued to laugh for a long moment and eventually she said, “The pendant has nothing to do with the location of the spring.”

Yojackson’s mouth fell open. “You mean to tell me that we just risked our necks in that blasted palace to get a worthless piece of junk?”

Aome glared at him and then said, “Mother, there has to be some explanation.”

Velle Deka blinked. “I need that pendant as much as you need me to divulge the location of the celestial spring. That pendant is the only way I can be certain that I will be safe when I reach my next destination.”

Aome’s brow creased. “You’re not staying in the hiding place? What about…about the temple?” She grew somber.

Velle tilted her chin towards the priestess. “This is only a temporary safe place. I cannot stay here forever. But there is somewhere, someone, who will allow me to take refuge with them if I show them that pendant.” She tapped a frail finger to the necklace in her palm.

“Will you tell us where the spring is? We can’t stay here either,” Kilderan said.

Velle Deka brushed her long, silver waves over her shoulder and pulled back the sleeve of her robe, revealing her fair skin.

Rynn squinted. Tattooed on the high priestess’ arm was a curious cluster of stars and planets. Altogether it was a brilliant, intricate masterpiece that was stitched into the old woman’s skin, but he did not comprehend its significance.

The elder ran her finger along the tattoo until she reached a constellation sitting amongst legions of ink specks, fainter than the rest of the design. “This is the constellation, Ormena, over the celestial pool. This is what you’re looking for. Reach Ormena’s lucida and you’ve reached the spring.”

Rynn turned to look upon Kilderan, whose gaze had become distant, pondering.

“The most highly guarded secret in the entire galaxy and it’s tattooed on your arm?” Yojackson asked rather curtly.

Aome made a face at him. “In plain sight,” she mused, “where no one would ever consider. This whole time…”

“How far is it?” Kilderan asked, stepping closer to the priestess, though he limped. “How far from where we’re standing right this instant?”

Velle Deka shook her head. “No one knows where it is, no one has ever been able to locate it.”

“Then how do you know it even exists?” asked Kilderan.

“Because of you and your brother.” Velle Deka’s eyes shone.

“Forgive my ignorance,” Yojackson began, milder after two glowers from Aome, “But what exactly is this spring anyway? I’ve heard the stories, but always sort of believed them to be just that. —Until I met Kip, of course,” he quickly added.

The high priestess folded her hands. “The celestial spring is a mystery I believe not even the goddesses understood. It is the gateway between the world of light and stardust and the world of flesh and blood.” She glanced at Kilderan, and then at Rynn. “It is what allowed the goddesses to assume their mortal forms and rule over the planets in the first place. By delivering Rynn to the spring, you are enabling him to pass into the realm of the stars.”

Yojackson scratched his chin and inhaled, preparing to speak, but Velle Deka silenced him, peering at the criminal as if she knew what he was about to say.

The high priestess stood and began to rummage through the charred satchel sitting against the wall. Soon she turned back to them with a small pot of ink and a slender brush. She beckoned to Kilderan, and he sidled up to her, dragging his injured leg behind him.

Rynn watched as the old woman rolled up the sleeve of Kilderan’s shirt and swirled the brush in the ink. He glimpsed the faint bruises on Kilderan’s wrist, as well as the staining bandage. Velle Deka brushed one of his bruises gingerly with the pad of her finger, and she gazed empathetically into his eyes. “You’re safe now.”

Rynn found himself pinned under the stare of his brother’s cold blue eyes, and so he stepped towards Kilderan and watched as Velle Deka painted the image of the constellation Ormena onto Kilderan’s skin with the dark ink.

After she had finished, Kilderan’s forearm bore the lines and dots of the constellation’s peculiar arrangement. “The constellation, as I said, has never been found in the sky by the priestesses, by anyone. But when you see it, it will be unmistakable. But do not go at this moment. Rest here for the night and in the morning, leave as soon as possible,” the high priestess instructed them.

Aome approached the high priestess and the celestial children. “Thank you, Mother Deka. We’ll never be able to repay you.”

“Honoring the goddesses’ memory is enough, Daughter. What have I been telling you your entire life?” She smiled at the young woman.

Aome lifted her head and a smile came to her lips before she dipped her head to the celestial priestess and joined Rynn, Kilderan, and Yojackson in settling into the small room.

Rynn’s eyes shot open, though he was still half asleep. His ears were filled with a furious pounding overhead that was coming from the world outside the hiding place. He believed it to be torrents of rain, but a dizzying sensation seized his head and his veins pulsed, making it seem otherworldly. Rynn swallowed and gripped the thin blanket Velle Deka’s entourage had provided for him.

The storm continued to assail the roof of the tunnel—which was really the ground—with heavy raindrops and pieces of debris that made an awful clamor when they collided with the hidden tunnel.

Rynn sat up, fearful. His veins seemed to writhe beneath his flesh. He glanced over at where Kilderan was sleeping on the floor, with Yojackson and Aome lying in their respective bedrolls a little ways away—Rynn had been given the cot. He started when a loud clang sounded overhead.

Rynn swung his legs over the edge of the cot before tearing the blanket off of them and slinking to the other side of the small room.

Quietly and carefully, he spread the bedding next to Kilderan, whose face was drowning in his long, mussed-up hair.

Rynn glanced up at the ceiling when the thunder shook the ground above them, but he felt safe sleeping closer to his companions and his brother.

“Rynn,” Kilderan whispered, though his eyes were still closed.

Rynn jumped before rolling onto his side to face Kilderan. “I can’t sleep. It’s too loud out there.” He did not want to tell Kilderan that a storm and the unfamiliar crumbling tunnel frightened him, if only slightly. Because despite the eerie phantasms that sleep twisted the shadows and the rain into, Rynn knew he was undoubtedly safe here.

“All right,” Kilderan muttered. “But try to fall back asleep. We have to leave very soon.”

Hera: To Touch the Heavens releases THIS SPRING! Reblog to spread the word and stay tuned for more updates and pre-release content <3

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