Memory Excerpt, Book II

A few weeks ago, I did an Author's Spotlight interview with the local Library. Toward the end, I was asked to read a book excerpt. Rather than drawing from the one that was already published, I went for something out of Book II, Chronicles of Ardis: Reckonings. 

Admittedly, a few things did come to my attention as I read it; both dialogue and narration felt a little off. Therefore, I sought to rectify that issue with a few tweaks. Thankfully, my publisher at the time hadn't begun working on my trio, so I was able to send it to him without issue. 

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“Well, Kemlir, did you, do it?”
            “You know he did, Sarnas, why bother asking?”
            “The question was a matter of formality, little brother,” she lightly chided. “there’s no real harm in asking. So… you did transform, right?”
The sixteen-year-old blondish-haired teenager glanced up at his eighteen-year-old sister, who was joined abruptly by their ten-and-a-half-year-old brother in a flash of orange light that flickered vividly like a flame. Kemlir raised a brow briefly toward the smiling kid and then looked back at his perceptive sister as if she already knew the answer. The middle child of the trio lingered on her face a few more seconds in thought, glanced one more to their brother, and then turned away.
            “No,” he swallowed. “I couldn’t. I just… I know I can, I can feel myself trying to change, but each time I do, I overthink and it just… it fails.”
            The three stood quietly in the courtyard of Wuldred Fortress. Around them, soldiers and other personnel went about their daily routines, some stopping briefly to take note of the Ice Fang siblings, with an occasional nod and gesture before wandering on. A few caught Kemlir’s pained expression, hesitating at first before continuing on their way, even speeding up out of the courtyard in due haste. His siblings were there, they reasoned, there was no need to approach, much less bother them, unless something was required. And being who they were, it was reckoned that they were reasonably self-sufficient enough to handle whatever came their way.       
            “Then, you’ll do it again next week.” Vordril decided.
            “And you’ll succeed.” Sarnas nodded confidently.
            “Wait, what?” Kemlir almost stammered. “I’ve tried three times already—and failed each time!”
            “Because you’ve anticipated it,” his sister intoned gently. “you need to let it happen; don’t bring the transformation about forcefully, just allow it to take place.”
            “But you also need to take everything you’ve learned from those attempts, reflect, set yourself aright, and you’ll succeed on the next go around.” Their brother added in an almost sing-song fashion. “Simple as that!”
            “Well, if you think it’s so easy, why don’t you do it!?”
            “Actually, Vordril’s incapable of the transformation.” Sarnas glanced toward their little brother thoughtfully. “Mother said he possesses the trait but is unable to utilize it. However, if he were to marry and father any sons, there’s an almost certain chance that they could.”
            “He can’t because he’s Thashinir… like you, Sarnas.” Kemlir half-whispered enviously and glanced over at the young Degnan off in his own little world.”
            “Wait… me… married!?” The hazel-eyed kid wrinkled his nose at the thought. “Ewww, you can’t be serious! Aren’t girls covered in weird diseases and carrying like seven kinds of plague?”
            Kemlir chuckled.
            “Yeah,” Sarnas lunged forward with full intent on putting Vordril in a headlock, only to find him on the other side of the courtyard with his tongue sticking out. “I can do that too you know!”
            “Is that so?” The boy grinned wickedly. “Seems I recall someone being too busy for such ‘childish games.’” Vordril intoned in a mock-serious fashion. “Or was that too old? Anyways,” he smirked. “You never could catch me, why, I bet Kemlir could do a far better job than you!”
            Sarnas’s eyes narrowed. A smile slowly crept across her face as she glanced back at Kemlir who nodded, and then back at Vordril. “You’re on little brother; ready or not, here we come!”
            The sounds of laughter echoed throughout the courtyard and the game was afoot. Edrim, joined by his wife Alceris, watched quietly from the window, smiles playing lightly on their faces. Flashes of fire—a combination of deep yellow, orange, and reddish-orange flame—signaling translocation events, danced lively across the courtyard as the intermittent teasing continued. Though comparatively a novice to his translocative-adept siblings, Kemlir was demonstrating marked improvement after the formal lessons he received. Reflecting, the High Chief of the Southern Wastes concluded that his eldest son would inevitably succeed in taking on the semblance of their totem animal. He too took a little longer than expected after which it became as natural as breathing. Let time work its perfect way; there was no reason to rush into things right now…

The Dorastis Stellar System: Take II, and the Moons of Ardis.

Back in 2017, I composed a post titled ‘The Dorastis Solar System,’ attaching a Facts and Figures Chart below it. Since then, I had returned to that post multiple times to correct a few errors before eventually giving up. There was always something I found a little off every time I went back to examine it. Since then, I managed to look over it a few more times until finally deciding to give one more update before attaching it here. As was stated there, so here, I used such software as AstroSynthesis and Gravity Simulator to make sure the system was remotely viable, along with world-builders.org for several equations to establish further realism.

 For miscellaneous things, such as orbital eccentricity, magnetosphere, radii extension, and solar intensity, this was done through a combination of studying real-world examples and equations (specifically solar intensity), to give the numbers displayed on the chart. I also had to rethink natural satellite placement such as moons (if any,) around the first and second planets in the system utilizing concepts such as Lagrange Points and the Hill/Roche Sphere.

Two things of note. First is the use of a G4V Star (Sol is a G2V,) for the parent star. I’ve periodically considered a K0V, but with the figures generated below, it wasn’t viable. Secondly, both the masses and Mean Orbital Velocities have been updated. Hopefully, this is the last time (for a long time,) that I will remotely bother to correct anything.

Another facts and figures table that I'd been working on was for Nersis and Kesis, the moons of Ardis, where ‘Chronicles of Ardis’ takes place: 

Colloquially referred to at times as the Red and Orange Daughters for their predominant coloration, Nersis and Kesis were somewhat modeled on Jupiter’s moon Io, with Nersis being volcanic and Kesis quiescent. Though they were balanced using Earth (as was the rest of the Stellar system for that matter,) it worked. Other equations were done utilizing fxSolver; it was something of a blessing to find. 

Much like Jupiter and Io, Ardis and Nersis have a similar relationship, whereby thanks to tidal heating, is not only volcanically active but contributes to the overall size of the Ardan magnetosphere, nearly doubling it and imparting an overall elliptical appearance to its structure due to plasma loading. Book II goes into a little more detail regarding all of this, which, along with the edited/revised version of my first book and the third one will hopefully come up soon to be crowdsourced and hopefully released…

Meanwhile I still very slowly and agonizingly press on with Book IV.

Book Musings and Other Things…

As it stands, officially, I have one book published. Unofficially, I have two books—subtitled Reckonings and Convergence—submitted, along with the Revised/Edited version of Book I. They were placed into a single document and sent to Battlefield Press. Hopefully, in the next couple of months, there should be a Kickstarter for an omnibus… hopefully!

For explanation, Book I was published with issues in terms of editing. Originally written in word 2007, it was reopened in Word 2016, and through it and Grammarly, going over the work multiple times, I corrected in upwards of 1800+ grammatical errors alone. Along with these corrections, came scene transitions and several scenes scattered throughout the book which were reworked and cleanup to read better than before. Lastly, I did my best to fix whatever dialogue errors that were present.

Obviously, there are some things that might have escaped in some form or fashion because it was too minor to be noticed. However, Book I reads better than before.

Book II received double-fold treatment, first in the form of a young man who offered to edit after reading my first book—and happily wrote him a letter of recommendation for that. The other was through Grammarly; there’s always something that could be missed, and it was combed through to fix any possible error. I had fun writing Reckonings and look forward to seeing it in print!

Book III was a small challenge, partially because it was a change of pace, and partially because work and health had gotten in the way. At first, I considered it a train wreck of a story, but as I put everything together, it read better than I expected. It received a heavy-handed editing treatment to make sure things everything was as grammatically sound as I could make it. In the end, I found myself enjoying the book, even becoming a little sentimental over it.   

Which leaves Book IV. I have plot, subplot, and even metaplot worked out, with a few minor things shifting here and there. It’s just a matter of stop getting distracted and use the time that I have to type. Though I think some of that distraction has come in the form of waiting for the first three to be published. I just have to keep my head afloat, one word and sentence at a time.   

Working Prologue for Book IV

It's been well over a month, I think since I've done any serious writing beyond compiling notes, but I finally have a working prologue. It's not perfect by any means, but it suffices for now. At some point, I'll go back and edit it ad nauseam, but for now, I'm relatively okay at how it turned out. 

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Prologue

 

Kaderis smiled; victory had been assured…
 
All of it began with the spark of an idea. And this idea gave rise to possibility into the exploration of things not meant to be looked upon, at least, not directly. First though were barriers that needed breaching, namely in the form of tireless, philosophical debate. Adamantly, ceaselessly, she was reminded that there were some corners beyond reality not meant to be physically entered. Meditation and contemplation were more than enough to satiate harmful curiosity. Entering this shaded abode, home of everything antithetical to life would be her undoing—her untimely death. To gaze and even briefly project their consciousness through the gateway and into that horrific place was more than ample enough for whatever study might be required. Anything further would reduce the strongest mind to incoherent madness. And, after a decade of lengthy debates on the matter, the ashen-blonde priestess was done; it was time to take matters into her own hands.
            Though her prowess was near-unrivaled by anyone within their order, Kaderis wasn’t given into reckless abandon; hers was the long game. Over the years she had spent countless hours gazing unflinchingly into the terrible nothingness to glean what lay beyond so that it could be manifested into this world. Each passing moment peering into the formless depths was a period of reflection, seeing what others were unable to see, or possibly turning a blind eye to. But even the practice of mental projection was only so good. She needed to go further than anyone else in the history of their order and survive that ordeal… intact.
            “Kaderis!” An approaching furious voice boomed. “Stop this madness! What you’re doing, what you’ve done, is absolute folly! You’ve damned yourself and doomed the very integrity of our order!”
            “Integrity of our order?” Whatever expression that might have been on her face was hidden by a featureless ebon mask. Enshrouded in equally matching robes, she loomed amidst a series of thirteen black pillars, light blue eyes brimming with mirth. “I passed through the gateway between realities, returned within a deeper understanding of the abyssal nothingness beyond our homeworld, and you speak to me of integrity!? Bring Ebren forward… respectfully of course. He is—was—the high priest of our order.”
            Decades of research had been done within their order’s library, with every ounce of material poured over by priestess regarding the gateway and what lay beyond it. Long days turned into sleepless nights which unexpectedly found her rewarded with several publications added to their library from all the intensive work she had done. After reflecting on all of that information, the Cestrin-born woman did what so very few had successfully accomplished since their order’s founding. Only, she was determined to succeed no matter the cost.   
 “I’m curious… what exactly will my death serve, Kaderis?” The gray-haired man questioned in between the rustling of chains as he ascended the stairs.
            “As an object lesson,” She returned simply. “You and your inner circle have held the Shadowsworn back for too long. You’ve failed to realize that there’s more to be had than simply gazing into the lightless depths. I have seen where our path leads, a path that can no longer be stifled by backward dogma!”
            “Dogma set into place at the founding of our order, dogma which has served us well, a dogma which has allowed us to preserve, despite how we’re seen, a dogma—”
            “Which has held us back from becoming what we could be!” Shadows snaked toward them, solidifying into a scimitar in her hands. “And now… we will become the darkness, Ebren, that we so emulate.”     
            Forced to the ground, Ebren sneered angrily at the rebel priestess, before slowly lowering his head. Savoring the moment the ashen-blonde woman raised the blade high into the air, and with a soul-rending shout, brought the blade down upon his neck… and blinked in utter bewilderment as the weapon lost all substance, dissolving back into the shadow where it came from. Casting a murderous glare toward the four confused acolytes, she looked across the crowd waiting expectantly for something to happen. There was only one person that could have possibly undone her weaving, and they were out of the country on business.    
            “Kaderis… Kaderis… KADERIS…”
            Initially incoherent, it began to reverberate through the caverns gradually growing louder with each utterance. Little by little the words echoed outward, resonating into the unseen corner of reality, and filling the spaces in between. Looking back, she glimpsed the induced unnatural undulation of the voidal gateway and could do nothing to calm it. Wraithly whispers soon joined, filling the cavern with a spectral cacophony as they called out her name in a mocking fashion. Feeling a little uneasy, the priestess looked toward Ebren who was now standing and clearly confused and once more to the cavern. The echoing voices continued to move higher and higher into the upper reaches of reality until it seemed that the whole of creation called out her name before falling deathly quiet, leaving the room in a thick pervasive silence.
            “Too afraid to face me, are you?” She seethed, her voice echoing throughout as much of the fabric of reality as her will would allow. “Show yourself—name yourself!”
           A figure appeared at the entrance. It looked… wreathed—no—formed, from nightmarish blackness. Every head in the room turned to see it silently stalking forward with people already moving to intercept. Within seconds of nearing it, they fell to the floor, screaming as their bodies were torn apart from within. Numerous shadowy claws exploded outward revealing themselves and soaking those nearest with their unholy carnage. Several more rushed forward, creating interlocking walls of shadowy force to prevent its advance. The abyssal specter moved through them uninterrupted and graciously allowed their creators to share in the same fate as their brethren.
            “Kaderis…”
            Diving from top of the stairs as menacing arcs of sanguine lightning passed through the shade, she imprinted the ground with a three-point landing, reached out with gripping motion, and wrapped the entity in ghostly chains manifested from the ether to immobilize it. Satisfied, Kaderis stood, looked toward the gruesome path it had made with the blood of her order, and stalked toward the unmoving thing.   
            “I don’t know who or what you are, nor where you came from, but you’ll be gone soon enough!”
            The cavern reverberated with an unnerving chuckle coupled with the undertones a draconic growl. Awashed in black-tinged violet, the chains faded. Calling upon every ounce of strength and knowledge, she watched in stubborn futility as the bonds were rendered to nothingness. It tilted an approximation of a head toward Kaderis and seemed to smile. Blinking, she began to step back until her feet were dashing against the first step.
            “Normally things can be overlooked for the sake of progress… innovation… growth. Other things… well… cannot be absolved quite so easily.”
            “What? Who… what are you?”
            “That’s his avatar,” answered Ebren. Freed from his chains, the old priest looked toward it with uncertainty.
            “I…” Looking up at the old priest, Kaderis tuned back, blinking rapidly, hearts thumping loudly in her ears at the answer. “I bid you welcome, and have it known that all that has been done, was in the dark glory of your revered name.”
            “Spare me your entreaties, I know everything.” The voice echoed as loudly in their ears as it did their thoughts. “You passed through the gateway and returned unscathed… commendable. But the schism you created was foolish… unwise. Penance must be exacted.”
           “But… but I…” Looking across the cavern of masked faces and reflecting on everything she had achieved, her fists clenched. Swallowing slowly, the priestess told herself she wouldn’t go down like an animal, instead, standing tall, proud, and resolute for what was to come. They had her notes; others would pick up where she left off. “Fine… I… accept. Let it be done.”
            “You think I’m going to let you off that easy?” Questioned the abyssal presence with a darkened smile. “No. You and your followers are banished from Cestrin. You have three days and three nights to gather your things, say your goodbyes, and leave.”
            The priestess blinked in confusion by the pronouncement; even Ebren was taken aback by the entity’s utterance. A dull roar of whispers cascaded through the cavern for almost a minute before becoming snuffed out by the velvety voice of Kaderis.”
            “And what’s to become of us, we who will no longer be within your hallowed shadow? Are we to be cast out in exile with no hope of feeling your tenebrous presence among us again?”
            “Oh, my priestess,” the form sighed softly. “There is nowhere you can dwell where my darkness cannot find you. There is no corner of this world, no matter how remote, that you can go where I cannot see you. If you truly wish to forge a new path, then you do so with my blessing. You are Shadowsworn, remember that…”
            An icy chill filled the cavern, lights flickered, shadows ebbed to-and-fro, and the Shadowed One’s avatar vanished. Looking back to Ebren descending the stairs, she cast her gaze toward the order as a whole. Taking a deep breath, with much to consider, the ashen-blonde Ardan realized they had little time to prepare for departure. Whether they were ready for the journey didn’t matter. All that was needed was a new home, and Kaderis decided, she a new name…

 

Working Back Cover Blurb for Book III

This will most likely be polished in the days to follow,  this is the working blurb for the Back Cover to Book III

Back Cover Blurb

“Understand that both our guilds have a deep enmity for one another that stretches back a thousand years. The Chemist Guild was founded due to the exclusiveness of the Alchemy Guild. Their resilience and passion for what they do have had a benefit of challenging and pushing us further than we’ve anticipated.”

With the retirement of the Head of the Sect of Life Alchemy imminent, a prodigy within the Alchemist Guild, Arnashir Pahlarz, is named his successor. But not everyone is pleased with that decision. Feelings of resentment have opened a festering wound, leaving Arnashir to prove himself the right person for the position when the need arises…

A long-standing member of the Chemist Guild, Doctor Leerna Arjhandor is given an important assignment by her guild leader. A mysterious illness has gripped the city of Marodst; its apothecarium is in dire need of supplies and personnel. She accepts with little hesitation, taking her two most trusted apothecaries, Kazael Bahlad and Sahmrin Hasnik. Though little does she know or understand the cost that awaits her…

And amidst all of this and more, a deranged figure moves across Dielberen, using forbidden practices to collect souls and knowledge needed for a ritual to end a curse that was set into place ages past…

There is contagion, one that needs to be excised before it’s too late…

Updates

Beyond sharing awesome works from other authors, and periodically linking my first book, I’ve been relatively quiet regarding any real updates on my part.

As it stands, I have 3½ chapters left on Book III: Chronicles of Ardis: Convergence. Due to some of the things going on within that book, I’ve been considering changing that subtitle to Contagion. I hope to have the draft fully completed by the end of the week. After that, the real fun begins with edits, sighing, more edits, grumbling, more edits, crying, and then hopefully, it will be done!

Book II, 'Chronicles of Ardis: Reckonings' has already been submitted, along with the Revised Version of Book I, 'Chronicles of Ardis: Concordance', all of which will be crowdsourced as an omnibus hopefully sometime later this year. I’ll do my utmost to keep everyone up to date on this and any changes that might arise.

Thank you!

~Tracy L. Reeves

Gemstone Lexicon

Originally, this was going to be more of a simple mineral index but turned into what you see below. In essence, Ardans have different names than we have for their precious and semi-precious stone. Using cut and dry definitions, I then added a ‘real-world’ analog to give an idea of what we would call it here on Earth. Whether I include the lexicon going into the third book and beyond, and/or possibly expand it, is up in the air. I figure, should someone have the first or second book, they could easily flip back to the previous books, find the stone in question and be good.      

As an aside, What might command a higher value, or be considered of less value on Earth, is not necessarily true on Ardis. 

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Gemstone Lexicon

Avideriil: An incredibly rare and highly prized gemstone of the Silicon Carbide variety. Real world analog: Moissanite 

Bineel: is a metastable allotrope of carbon, where the carbon atoms are arranged in a variation of the face-centered cubic crystal structure. Real world analog: Colorless Diamond

Dathorite: A gemstone variety of the mineral corundum, an aluminum oxide with trace amounts of vanadium. The color ranges from light to deep purple, the latter of which commands the highest value. Real world analog: Purple Sapphire

Dorreth: A hard object produced within the mantle of a shelled mollusk, composed primarily of calcium carbonate. Relatively spheroid, they can be round, semi-round, button, drop, pear, oval, baroque, circled and double bouldered. They come in several colors with black being the rarest and considered highly prized. Real world analog: Pearl

Ederim: a microcrystalline variety of silica, chiefly chalcedony, characterized by its fineness of grain and brightness of color. Colors can range from white to grey, light blue to dark green, yellow, orange to red and purple to black and is predominantly banded. Real world analog: Agate   

Edrasil: A feldspar mineral, found in igneous rocks, such as basalt, gabbro, and norite. It exhibits a strong play of iridescent blue, green, red, orange, and yellow colors. Specimens of the highest quality are known for their vivid displays of color. Real world analog: Labradorite 

Ilthidim: A gemstone variety of beryl with colors ranging from pure yellow to golden yellow. Real world analog: Heliodor 

Kyanite: A gemstone variety of orange beryl, with colors ranging from pale to dark orange. Real world analog: A variety of Golden Beryl.

Lightning Stone: A hydrated amorphous form of silica only found on the Island of Navinas. Black in appearance, it has a resinous luster akin to blue fire. Real world analog: Black/Lightning Opal.

Nerdravel: A gemstone variety of red beryl, with colors ranging from pink to scarlet. Real world analog: Red/Scarlet Emerald

Nersite: A gemstone variety of corundum, whose colors range from pink to blood-red. Real world analog: Ruby  

Pal’ástrine: a deep blue metamorphic rock used as a semi-precious stone prized for its intense color. Real world analog: Lapis Lazuli

Pallexite: A gemstone variety of the mineral corundum whose colors range from crystal to midnight blue and highly prized for its asterisms. Real world analog: Sapphire

Pallgramite: A gemstone variety of beryl, light bluish-green to blue. Real world analog: Aquamarine

Pallsiret: A mineral of the copper variety, deep blue to violet-blue in color. Is in limited use as a gemstone as it can easily weather to Vemelel. Real world analog: Azurite 

Seredem: An aluminum silicate that contains fluorine and hydroxyl and used as a gemstone and comes in blue, green, yellow, orange, red, pink, and purple. Reddish-gold or Imperial Seredem, commands higher prices than the other colors. Real world analog: Topaz

Shorasnim: A hydrated amorphous form of silica, which can range in the following colors: white, gray, red, orange, yellow, green, blue, magenta, rose, pink, slate, olive, brown, and black. Real world analog: Opal

Telleel: A black, metastable allotrope of carbon. Real world analog: Black Diamond

Telthramin:  Volcanic glass created when felsic lava cools rapidly. Real world analog: Obsidian

Telshir: A black variety of the mineral, chalcedony. It can be black, white, or banded. Real world analog: Onyx

Togrim: A gemstone variety of Olivine, primarily olive green in color, but can range from yellow to brownish-green. Real world analog: Peridot. 

Togurad: A gemstone variety of green beryl, whose colors range from light to dark green, often possessing fine inclusions within the stone. Real world analog: Emerald   

Thamalos: A violet semiprecious variety of quartz.  Its colors and hues range from a light pinkish violet to a deep purple, and exhibit one or both secondary hues of red and blue. Real world analog: Amethyst 

Vadador: A gemstone variant of the metastable allotrope of carbon whose colors range from pale to dark red and every hue in between. Real world analog: Red Diamond.

Vemelel: A banded copper mineral ranging in color from pastel green, to a bright green, to an extremely dark green that is almost black. It exhibits banding similar to Ederim. Real world analog: Malachite

Venekel: A feldspar mineral, ethereal in appearance that displays a billowy, ghost-like reflection with a bluish-whitish color emanating from the surface, similar to that of Dorasnim. Real world analog: Moonstone 

Zophrite: Fossilized tree resin, which can range from yellow-orange-brown, to whitish color through a pale lemon yellow, to brown and almost black. Other, less common colors include red, green, and blue, of which are highly prized. Real world analog: Amber