Tag: Journey to the Water

Journey to the Water Chapter XXXV: Outside the Temple

Journey to the Water cover image: three evergreen trees stand on a hillside, shrouded in bluish fog. Subtitle reads: the sequel to Beyond the Frost-Cold Sea.

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I ducked beneath the window. The bright lights within had seared my eyes, and I could see nothing of the benighted garden without for a long moment. I held out an arm, blinking to clear the colorful spots from my vision as I groped for my harpoon with the other hand. 

“Who’s there?” I whispered. 

A human shape resolved out of the gloom, tall and slender and dressed all in black. An angular face at last came into view, and along with it, a sharp, too-wide smile reflected the light from the window. The skin of his face was a pale brown, almost like sand, and from his hood emerged a handful of shining black curls. 

I had seen this man before. “You!” I cried, remembering at the last second to keep my voice down. “Who are you? What do you want?” Now that I could see, I freed my harpoon from its sling and held it between myself and the stranger. 

“They can’t hear you,” he said. Though the voice emanated from him, his mouth did not move, maintaining its viper’s grin. “I thought I’d give us a moment to speak, while the good people of Svilsara are finishing their performance.”

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New Patreon Post/ Journey to the Water, Chapter XXXV

“I’ll warn you once,” I said. “This city may be an illusion, but my harpoon is not, and neither is the arm that wields it.”

Chapter XXXV: Outside the Temple

At last, Eske finds out what’s going on in Svilsara, but he’s still in danger. You can read this chapter by subscribing to Patreon, or by waiting until next week when it will make its appearance here.

Journey to the Water Chapter XXXIV: The Garden House

Journey to the Water cover image: three evergreen trees stand on a hillside, shrouded in bluish fog. Subtitle reads: the sequel to Beyond the Frost-Cold Sea.

Table of Contents

Alas, my mind was not like water, as the Dragon Temple acolytes had encouraged. Almost as soon as the illusion had been drawn away, it fell over my eyes again, and the filthy, smoke-filled room became clean and bright again, and its occupants were once more dressed in fine white silk and showed no evidence of their long starvation. 

I had seen enough in my brief moment of clarity. This place—the whole of Svilsara, as Fenin had acquired health and beauty upon entering the city—was under the sway of a powerful magic-worker, for whom the whole city was a ritual chamber. Such a feat was beyond my experience of magic, but I did not doubt it could be done. It had been done, one way or another, and here were four wizened men ruling Svilsara from their secret throne room underground. I looked around, searching for sigils on the walls, but there were none to be seen. 

“Please, wise elders,” Fenin said. “Help me to understand. I saw the serpent, but it vanished. I swear I did only as I was instructed.” 

She knelt at the feet of the men, upon the rich rug that I now knew was only a faded, moth-eaten scrap. If the stone beneath it hurt her knees, she made no indication. Her rich hair fell over her shoulder, catching the torchlight like volcanic glass, and it looked perfectly real. 

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New Patreon Post/ Journey to the Water Chapter XXXIV

How cruel, I thought, to create the image of a shimmering pond and a bounty of trees gleaming with ruby-red fruit, here in the middle of the sea of dust, and surround it with emaciated people who could only look and never enjoy them.

Chapter XXXIV: The Garden House

Eske is just trying to find his boyfriend, but people keep doing evil magic and oppressing others around him. You can read this chapter on Patreon right now, or wait until next week to read it here.

Journey to the Water Chapter XXXIII: The Temple of the Elders

Journey to the Water cover image: three evergreen trees stand on a hillside, shrouded in bluish fog. Subtitle reads: the sequel to Beyond the Frost-Cold Sea.

Table of Contents

Two guardsmen in polished armor escorted us into the city. I could not tell from their demeanor if they would have allowed me to leave Fenin and flee, and I decided not to test them. They stared at me, thinking I wouldn’t notice, glancing away whenever our eyes met. I was taller than they were, though not by much, and my clothing covered my tattoos—I was no stranger a sight than any other traveler in the desert. I suspected Svilsara did not receive many travelers. 

I could not say why. It was remote, yes, but so was every other waystation. Blue and white walls cast off the desert’s heat, and well-watered flowers bloomed from every window. A clothesline cast across the thoroughfare held tunics of bright, patterned silk dyed blazing orange and verdant green, floating gently in a cool breeze. Our small procession passed by a woman and her three children, all dressed in silk, gold baubles dangling from their ears and hanging around their necks. They, too, stared at me. 

I put on a confident swagger, pretending that I had planned to return their sacrificed priestess all along, and that I knew exactly why the serpent had not devoured her as planned. Of course, none of this was true, but I hoped that I could mask my uncertainty and deter the guards watching me from attempting to do me harm. 

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New Patreon Post/ Journey to the Water chapter XXXIII

And so, as Fenin knelt at the feet of the elders, her arms held up in supplication, I saw the room as it truly was.

Chapter XXXIII: The Temple of the Elders

Eske’s figuring some things out–and just in time, too, because he’s about to be in serious trouble. The latest chapter of JOURNEY TO THE WATER is now available on Patreon.

Journey to the Water Chapter XXXII: Svilsara

Journey to the Water cover image: three evergreen trees stand on a hillside, shrouded in bluish fog. Subtitle reads: the sequel to Beyond the Frost-Cold Sea.

Table of Contents

Confined by this new stranger’s grasp, his wicked knife inches from the pale veins of her emaciated arms, Fenin was surprisingly calm. Her eyes closed, and she knelt without struggling, her hands stretched upward above her captor’s curled fist, as if in supplication. 

“I’m not from Svilsara,” I said, a needless clarification that I nonetheless felt compelled to make. Whatever devilry Fenin’s city had concocted and inflicted upon its citizens, I wanted no part of it. “I am a warrior of the North. Unhand the girl, and I’ll let you depart from here in peace.”

His smile only stretched wider. “I might have known.”

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New Patreon Post/ Journey to the Water Chapter XXXII

There was magic here, crafted to deceive the senses and confuse the mind. I adjusted my grip on Bran’s halter, pulling him close. I could trust him, and I could trust my enchanted harpoon, but all else could have been an illusion. I had walked once again into danger.

Chapter XXXII: Svilsara

Eske travels to what looks like a safe haven in the desert, but all is not as it seems. You can read this chapter right now on Patreon, or wait until next week for it to make its appearance here.

Journey to the Water Interlude Four: The Land of Ghosts

Journey to the Water cover image: three evergreen trees stand on a hillside, shrouded in bluish fog. Subtitle reads: the sequel to Beyond the Frost-Cold Sea.

Table of Contents

Khalim took a breath. Cold, wet air, heavy with the scent of rain and decaying vegetation, chilled him from the inside of his chest, where his heart only shivered instead of beating, down to his feet and the tips of his fingers. He took a step back. 

The beast rose up out of the underbrush, its forelimbs thick as tree trunks. Thick, black hair covered each arm and the shadowed body, wet and shiny in the scarlet glow of its eyes. A mask of bone, the larger mirror of the one on the creature still clinging to Khalim’s back, reflected an oval of burning red light. Below the mask, two rows of sharp teeth stretched out in a sinister smile. 

Khalim had the distinct impression that this was a smile, not just an animal’s threat display in response to the sound of his approach. It could see him, and the sight of him amused it. 

“Is this your mother?” Khalim whispered to the creature on his back, “or did you just take me here to be eaten?”

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Khalim wanted to pray, but there was no one to listen. Once, he had carried a god with him, and though he did not ask for much, whatever he had asked for had been granted  to him–safety, reassurance, and the power to heal. With these gifts, he’d had nothing to fear. Nothing could harm him in any way that mattered. 

He should never have left the city.

Interlude Four: The Land of Ghosts

There is a new chapter of Journey to the Water available on Patreon. If you’re not a subscriber, why not give it a try? You get serial chapters a week early, plus access to exclusive content like The Well Below the Valley.