Chapter Twenty

Well chapter 20 went up last night.  Getting that chapter right took longer than I thought, largely because something just felt 'wrong' about the characters of Seyi, Kelo, and then then not yet named woman that Seyi went to sleep with.

As you know, I tend to write strong female characters, but how that strength is expressed can come in wildly different ways.  Neia was a force of raw intimidation, Vanysa was cunning and strong willed.  Nua was patient and enduring.  Enri determined and cooperative without being 'weak'.  

Ayente is a genius who is simply uneducated as a result of the time in which she lives.  In introducing Raena, I wanted a character who was, if not at odds with herself, or at odds with her tribe the way Ayente is, but rather someone who is simply seeking a place in the world in which she can be happy.  She's well aware of the position she's in, and has spent her life trying to get out of it, the way in which she's taught she can, it's the only option she knows, but one which she has also seen 'work'.  

But she's not without her other strengths, and that plays well into the character of Seyi, they're both natural merchants, bargainers of a sort, and it creates a chemistry between the two.  He comes in at a stronger position because he's already got an established position of security within his tribe, but she hasn't secured one for herself.  So she's bold, and takes the initiative and deprives Malach of the control over her that he thinks he not only has, but thinks of as his due.  

She's kept a measure of her autonomy, and when she's ready the next morning, after having felt him out, when he questions her, she contradicts what Malach would no doubt want her to say.  She's exacting some revenge and feeling out another path to escaping her unhappy conditions.  

But now a little more about the story... this is really a story of change, a society in transition, yes the arrival of a well educated dragon shifts things, but... and this is the most important factor...

Even if he'd never come to that world, the story would still be compelling.

Elves have invented bows and become threats to terrible wolves that once could make anyone they wanted, into prey.  Vyka and Vira represent  a change in violent tribalism that kept cooperation minimal, since he not only forms a friendship with the tribe he took his bride from, but encourages her to maintain family ties that were once certainly almost completely broken by leaving one tribe for another.  Ayente is inventing tools, agriculture, and her people are at least semisettled.  She also invented the concept of war, and the Spirit Horse people are on the verge of taming horses, while the Red Ax taking a wolf into their numbers represents the domestication of dogs.  If you don't know, hunting yields jumped 70% or more with the inclusion of dogs in human hunting parties.  Greater success means more free time...  and there is more ahead.

Archos uniquely enough, can 'see' the implications in their changes that they can't.  It's a world of changes that can only continue to spread.  Their world is changing, and while some great obstacles remain...

For example if Makine kills Ayente, agriculture as an idea dies with her crops... or if Seyi dies while trading, the tribe may decide that individual trading is simply to dangerous, and that dies off.  If the Cave Children and Spirit Horse people fall to fighting, formal diplomacy and cooperation will die out at its inception.  Lots can still go wrong, change is walking on a knife's edge, and that's what the story really is.  At least in my view. :)

Anyway, I believe I nailed Raena and Seyi's interactions (finally) and the chapter is up on Royal Road as of late last night.  Thank you for your support, and feel free to spread the story to others.  The more widely read it is, the better, and the more support I draw, the sooner I can write all day every day.