All right - I'll take a moment to have a bit of a chat here.

At this stage, we've now caught up to current material, so updates will be a bit slower than during the launch portion. Normally, I try for a chapter every 3-4 days, so that's what you should expect.

Regarding the series itself and some of what's available - Reverie is actually the prequel to an existing four-book series I've written, the Flameweaver Saga. That's not available for free, so I won't link it, but if this is a world you like, that's available if you search for that name. Be aware that this series will spoil some of the stuff in Flameweaver, and Flameweaver will spoil some stuff about how this series goes. They're written to be a bit circular like that. And through that series, I do have some resources that I think will be increasingly helpful - I'll be playing a bit more hard and fast with location names, because I do have maps for this series/universe xD Those are available in both traditional and political boundaries.

So, might be useful.

At this stage we're mostly through the introduction portion and starting to actually get to the bones of what the story will grow from, so hopefully we'll get things moving more and more Just as a general informational statement, I'm planning this prequel as a series of probably three books. I don't do anything short. That's part of why this first section has been more character-driven and laying the groundwork.

Anyway! Just wanted to take a minute and talk about what exactly I'm doing with it. Thanks for reading!

“...Thrice-damned, stupid, incessant-”

“Kassien, give it a rest,” Takio said, hunching his shoulders higher.

“I’m just saying,” Kassien grumbled, one final offering on the matter, and then shut up.

Takio sighed, lifting his head to glance around. It was raining. It’d been raining for most of the afternoon, in fact - a fact that all of them were beginning to tire of.

“At least we’re getting closer,” he heard Antiel echo from his other side. The whole group was packed into a tight formation, the horses plodding along through the growing muck.

It wasn’t just to ward off the loneliness and damp, Takio knew. Somewhere along the line over the last few days, the transition between woodlands and mountain had completed. No more were they passing villages and hamlets, meandering their way through forests and fields. Now, craggy cliffs rose up on either side of their path, falling away to reveal gorges and steppes.

And through the middle of it, the road wound onward. It looked stable enough, for the time being, but each of them knew better than to trust it. Even the sweepriders had tucked in close, foregoing any attempt at navigating the wilderness.

Kassien leaned over, spitting between Takio and him. “Not close enough.”

“Charming,” Takio heard Reimm say with a sigh. He chuckled. The archer hadn’t said a word when Antiel called off the patrols, hadn’t celebrated his break in the slightest - but the satisfaction that washed off him in waves was all of the answer they needed. The hood of his cloak was pulled up so high that only is eyes and a few tufts of brown hair were visible.

“We’re most of the way already,” Takio said, glaring at Kassien. And then he glanced back to Antiel, a bit of the confidence seeping out of his expression. “And, uh...where, exactly-”

“At last reports, Mian’s clan was holed up in the fields south of Jaimar,” Antiel said, casting a tolerant look back over his shoulder.

Takio’s scowl deepened. “So he’s still not moving.”

Antiel winced, but nodded begrudgingly. “Well….yes. It looks that way. But I’m sure that Hearthfire has sent scouts to meet us on the road. They’ll know more.”

Antiel was right, Takio knew. And it had all been held in the note, the slip of paper Juro had handed him. The fact he didn’t like what it said didn’t make it any less true.

Damn that Mian.

A hand slipped down his shoulder, matched by a warm presence that pressed against his back. “I understand your frustrations, Takio. But you must-”

I’ll handle it. Properly. Takio didn’t glance back, didn’t react at all to Shiina’s return. Even though she had other followers, it wasn’t as though she’d ever been more than a few moments away.

This, though…

Mian had been a problem from the start. He nudged his horse onward, murmuring quietly to it. His words vanished in the din of the rain that still pounded down on their heads. It had been so simple, when he’d first gotten word. It was just a clanleader overstaying their welcome, he’d been told. The mountains around Shiina’s home were far from hospitable during the winter - and so the nomadic clans would gather at the base of the crags, weathering the snow and wind in the comparatively temperate lowlands.

Most of them left, however. Most of them returned to their ranges, leaving the communities of miners and craftsmen that had established actual towns to go about their business in peace. There were a lot of Narai, but Naraan was a big place.

Clans were still expected to share the wintering grounds. Takio shook his head slowly, feeling his hands tighten on the reins second by second. He’d ridden all the way out there, once the snow melted. When the complaints had been lodged with him, stories of stolen grazeland and herdbeasts vanishing only for Mian’s flocks to swell, he’d done the good, responsible thing. He’d plunged into the heartlands to assess the matter for himself.

Mian had smiled at him. Bowed. Said all the right things, offered all the right apologies. And then he was going to turn around and keep right at his same games?

“Anger will not help the situation.”

*It’s only natural,” he shot back, fighting to keep from rolling his eyes. His blood simmered, his frustrations growing with every moment.

“I did not say otherwise.”

How is it that you’re the one trying to preach calm?

Shiina giggled, shaking her head. “Are you so surprised? This is not the first time my children have dared to challenge their instructions. You should prepare yourself. I doubt it will be the last.”

Yes, mistress, Takio echoed, letting his shoulders slump. But left alone, without them being brought into check-

“I did not say you should be merciful.”

Oh.

Her sigh echoed to the tops of the trees around him. From the corner of his eye, Takio saw Antiel jump. “Really, Takio. Must I explain such matters to you?”

I...well, I think I can-

“Naturally, I don’t believe that you should needlessly terrorize my followers. They’re simply...misguided. We must then offer them a bit of...correction. Set them back on the proper path.”

Yes, I-

“And if you do nothing, little cinder, if you allow them to continue flaunting your orders, well.” She laughed, and all of the earlier humor was gone. “Then I daresay they’ll stop taking your word to mean much of anything at all. And since you speak for me-”

I understand, Takio forced out, cutting Shiina off before she could continue her lecture. He did understand. He did. As the Charred, the Narai saw him as Shiina’s arm in their world. Her face, the one who acted as her vessel. If they stopped respecting his word, then they’d stop respecting her. Gods that no longer seemed worthy of their worshippers’ respect did not have worshippers for long.

And Divines without worshippers would waste away entirely.

I’ll handle it, Takio thought to her, bringing his hand up to clasp over hers. Her hand was tiny under his, but even through the layers of cloth and leather he wore the heat of it burned like a coal. It won’t go any farther. Mian will come back into line.

“See that he does,” Shiina murmured, leaning forward again. Her feet kicked, hanging off the side of the horse. It plodded along, none the wiser that it carried a second passenger.

Takio’s sigh vanished into the rains as they inched deeper and deeper into Naraan.

Antiel was right. When they passed Ranctur Peak, staring up at the towering spire of bare-sided stone, a rider waited in the road. His red cloak clearly marked him as belonging to Hearthfire’s service, with gold runes at the hem putting him among the ranks of one of the minor clans. He’d kicked his horse to a trot as soon as he saw their group, pulling up alongside Antiel before they could stop.

What passed next was a flurry of words and information with more than a few maps pulled from inner pockets. The scout and Antiel had been pressed head-to-head from the moment they were within arm’s reach of each other, and Antiel had waved Juro over within moments.

Takio watched, biting back his impatience, as they chattered away. And finally, when he’d about had enough of watching, they broke apart.

The scout hung back, caught halfway between his horse and Takio. “I should-”

“We’ll be fine,” Antiel said, glancing back. “Go report to the elders.”

“But you’ll need someone to-”

“I can take us,” Juro said, beaming at him. “No problem. We’ve got it handled.”

He melted under the sheer force of the look she fixed on him, her smile aside. “A-All right.”

“We good?” Takio murmured as Antiel came back into range. His advisor nodded.

“More riding,” he heard Reimm say, sighing dramatically a moment later. When Takio glanced back, glaring daggers, he found the archer smiling up at him like he’d won.

Tikeya just stood like a statue, watching him.

Reimm had been right. They rode, pushing their mounts for every ounce of speed they could. The weather had turned, pushing away the dark clouds and dripping rain, and there was no telling how long it’d last.

Despite the pressure of the situation and how close they were to their destination, Takio had to smile. Here and there he’d see a wayfarer’s inn poking out from the trees, or catch sight of a few homes thrown up around the first slopes of the mountain. After so long away, it was good to be home.

At last, when darkness fell, Antiel whistled them to a halt. None of them protested. Even Takio piled off his horse, however reluctantly. There was no sense in pushing their horses so hard they risked injury, after all.

Takio just stood, looking down off the ridgeline - and watched the glow of fires staring back at him.

“About time,” he heard someone grumble beside him. When he turned, Kassien trudged up alongside. The man’s cloak was still pulled snug around his neck, so Takio could only assume it was cold. He smiled to himself, not for the first time enjoying the benefits of being tied to a fire goddess.

“Yeah,” Takio echoed simply, turning back to the plains below them.

“Lots of clans.”

“There are,” he was forced to agree, letting his eyes drag across the field. The mountains rose up where they stood, but below them, there was only gentle grassland. It was a rare sight in Naraan - and one that should have been mostly deserted, by this time.

Mian’s clan wasn’t the only one lingering after winter’s end, he realized. The sick, churning feeling in the pit of his stomach worsened.

“You’ll be fine,” Kassien said.

Takio blinked, more than a little caught off guard - and jumped as his friend’s hand clapped down on his shoulder. “I-I know,” he said, glancing over.

“Eyes sharp, tomorrow,” Kassien said simply, offering him a low, tight smile. “Hate to see you lose more of that ear.”

Takio batted away the hand that reached for his earlobe. “Oh, shove it up your-”

“Anyway. Don’t stay up too late.”

His friend was already stepping away, inching back towards the rest of camp. Takio hesitated, his hand still upraised, but let him go.

As the quiet closed back in around him, he turned back towards the distant lights on the plains below.

The uneasy feeling growing within him didn’t fade.

The roar of hooves on hard-packed dirt and stone rang in their ears. The mountains were behind them, leaving them to run across the flatlands. In the foothills, Takio caught sight of more than a few encampments that looked more permanent. You couldn’t move a mine, after all, he thought with a smile. And somewhere to the north, Jaimar waited along the shoreline to carry the Narai’s fine-worked goods off to Ondria and Drenwell.

Ahead, though, lay only a cluster of sun-bleached tents gleaming in the afternoon sun.

“Slow,” he heard Antiel call, his voice hushed enough it didn’t carry beyond their group. As one, they reined in, coming back to a walk.

Takio nudged his mount forward, joining Antiel at the head of the line. Juro followed him, right at his flank - and Kassien pressed in close at his other side. Reimm and Tikeya swung wide. Neither said a word, even the normally-vocal archer, but he caught the way their eyes swept back and forth over the tent camp.

Antiel shifted, glancing back at him. “Now, Takio, you should let me-”

“We’ll manage,” Takio said, kicking his horse onward. Antiel slipped past him. His advisor opened his mouth, ready to argue - but vanished behind the first of the tents.

Step by step, he picked his way deeper into the clan’s camp. The fabric was faded, but he picked out enough of the lettering and runes to know that they’d found their destination.

They’d found Mian’s clan.

Like most of the Narai, surviving off herding and hunting, the clan would be ready to travel at a moment’s notice. The sight of a few dozen tents pressed into close quarters and dotted with fires wasn’t unusual. On any other day, Takio would have been completely at ease among his own kin.

At that moment, though, all he could see were the faces. The people who crept from their tents to watch him, stone-faced and silent. Normally they’d have smiled, or waved, or just gaped. He’d gotten used to all of that, over the years.

These Narai were dead silent. The effect sent shivers down his spine.

The others felt the same, he knew. Within seconds, Antiel had rejoined him, shooting him irritated looks all the while. And from the corner of his eye, Takio could see Elintel and Reimm picking their way through the tents farther down. They’d be setting up a net, keeping a watchful eye for anyone looking to get the jump on them.

This feels wrong, he whispered silently, allowing himself a moment’s worry. It’s not right to be so fearful about all this. They should act more normal. I can-

Allow them this. It will set them at ease - and this situation is more complicated than most. He didn’t see her appear, but her presence pressed against his mind all the same. Focus on the task at hand, child.

His nose wrinkled at the term, however affectionately it was used. Her tone was different, though, tinged with a worry that was entirely foreign for the goddess. So he let it slide, turning his eyes back forward.

With every step they took, Kassien and Juro closed in a little tighter, until he thought he might kick them. He sighed, debating telling them to back off. He was the Charred, after all. It wouldn’t do to look like he was afraid. But the more tents they passed, the more people came out to stare.

Silently.

Takio decided his bodyguards were fine where they were.

With a few final strides, they came out from around the last row of tents - and were brought face to face with the one that stood at the very center. A fire burned alongside it, bright and hot even during the day.

More than anything, the symbols painted onto the tent’s walls told him everything he needed to know about its owner.

Letting a deep breath slip between his lips, Takio stared at it as though he could see straight through the fabric to the inhabitant. And then he pushed off the stirrups, throwing his leg over the saddle.

The crowd was still watching as he straightened. Their eyes burned on the back of his neck. “Mian,” he said instead, raising his voice enough to be heard. “You know why I’m here. A word.”

The wind rustled overhead, sending his pale hair blowing past his eyes. He resisted the urge to brush it away, instead keeping every fiber of his being focused on the tent.

But the only sound that reached his ears were the steadily growing whispers. The gentle scrape of boots on dirt broke the quiet as Antiel stepped closer. Tikeya and Reimm were distant figures, little more than heads moving through the crowd. Where they went, he saw more than a few Narai step away - and start leaving.

And still the tent in front of him lay still and quiet.

Fine. So be it.

Reaching over towards his horse, still patiently waiting alongside him, Takio wrapped his hand around the scabbard of his sword. A few tugs freed it from the straps pinning it to the front of his saddle.

The sound of metal on stone shrieked out, silencing the whispers instantly as he slammed the tip of the scabbard onto the ground before him.

“Don’t try and pretend you’re not there,” Takio said, spitting each word out. “I’m not fooled - and I’ve traveled too far to be patient with you.” He forced himself to be still, to stand straight-backed and unflinching. He smiled, the expression lazy and confident.

“No more games.”