Fiyu's Blueprints + Release Date + Preview Chapter

Well, we're running out of time, so some posts are getting crammed together. Above you see Fiyu's updated blueprints, bringing the cast up to date for Crimsoncrest. Representing her Conduit was tricky, but I think Lamsey did a good job!

Second, we have the big news: Crimsoncrest will be officially releasing on October 10. More info on that later when I do the release event, but meanwhile I wanted to offer a chapter of the upcoming book, Deadgold.

To be completely clear, I won't be starting a normal posting rate just yet. The manuscript is basically ready, but I have a book launch coming up, as well as the audiobook announcement not long after. Since these will disrupt the normal schedule, I wanted to at least get out one chapter to whet your appetite. If you prefer to read without interruption, however, you might want to wait for this chaotic period to pass.

That said, here is the first chapter of Deadgold:

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Chapter 1

Theo took up his weirkeys and stepped from one war to another.

On one side, water and blood, churning together at the edges of House Blacksilver's territory, becoming a grim mud. The long cold war was over, and now soulcrafters raiding from Tymetron were just a normal part of life, a threat he was regularly sent out to face. No one knew when the fighting would escalate again, but everyone agreed that it was only a matter of time before more than raiders arrived on the shores of the Norron continent.

On the other side, golden dunes that he now saw were covered in golden wreckage. The Gold Wastes weren't truly gold, but Theo still felt the difference as he floated above the storm of yellow dust. He'd intended to arrive in an empty region so that he didn't upset their putative allies, so he hadn't expected to see the signs of a battle so immediately.

Even though his body could easily resist the Fithan sun now, Theo instinctively used a hand to shield his eyes as he examined the region. There was no sign of a battle taking place currently, but it seemed clear that the conflict between the Gold Wastes and Tymetron was heating up as well.

That was his reason for coming here, burning some of his increasingly precious free time. Everyone else on Norron seemed content to assume that the Gold Wastes were balancing the Tymetronese empire, and it was well known that their top soulcrafter had punished Plutalgion for leaving. All of that sounded uncomfortably vague to Theo, given how much of their overall war strategy depended on an aeon-class soulcrafter whom they hadn't truly negotiated with.

He'd been concerned about that for a long time, and despite his nudges to the powers of the continent, they had yet to make real contacts with the Gold Wastes. Taking matters into his own hands had proved difficult, between his own soulcrafting, fulfilling his obligations to House Blacksilver, and engaging in battle with Tymetronese raiders. Somehow it was months later and he was only now managing to get away...

Theo's eyes unfocused as he realized that it had been fully half a year since the battle against Tymetron.

The way the time seemed to melt away reminded him of becoming an adult back on Earth, going from having a free schedule to barely having time for anyone. Fortunately, he wasn't so bitter or obsessed this time, and being elderly in spirit meant he was more adept at juggling multiple objectives instead of merely adventuring aimlessly... that wasn't the usual sort of advantage he expected travelers between worlds received, but the idea made him smile.

Aside from keeping the fighting under control and assisting Blacksilver soulcrafters, Theo had managed to keep several other plates spinning. They were in regular contact with Dave and the Mercury Court, and they'd been keeping up with the Landguard as well. He'd wanted to find more weirkeys to prepare for the war, but those were his only two successes: another Deuxan weirkey tossed out by Dave and a Tatian weirkey begrudgingly "loaned" by the Landguard.

In this case, planning meant that he hadn't simply weirkeyed to the Gold Wastes in the hopes of something happening during his limited free time. No, he'd sent someone over two Fithan months ago and arranged for this location, so in theory...

[Theo-sister!] He picked up the pheromone, exploding through the air, before he saw Krikree at the head of a dust cloud streaking toward him.

"Hey there," Theo said as she got close. "I see you look-"

Then the Slescan collided with him, claws gripping his coat as her face practically rammed into his and her antennae bounced against his face. He realized that she wasn't just excited to see him, Krikree's scouting must have had dramatic results, either good or bad.

[Good sublime! Critical danger! Haste!] Krikree's pheromones were overlapping one another with her intensity and she began pulling at his cloak for his weirkeys.

"Alright, we can go right away." Theo had a decent number of weirkeys now, so it was easy to pull out one in each hand. Krikree immediately used two free hands to wrap around his and her face went still, her antennae shooting bolt upright in concentration.

Since ascending to Authority, Krikree had struggled to use weirkeys properly and he still wasn't sure about exactly why. Theo actually hadn't been able to spend much time with her, leaving much of that to Nauda. Their current running theory was that it was partially an in-built limit in Slescan castes, partially Krikree's mind not being as well-suited to the space-warping movement.

Her work hadn't been for naught, though, because she could assist others with weirkey travel. In this case, Theo felt her will join his as he pulled them away from Fithe: a Slescan claw trying to bend the world in a specific direction. She seemed to be guiding him toward the ocean between the large island of the Gold Wastes and the continent of Tymetron itself. Not to an underwater city, he hoped, because that would be a tricky journey.

When Theo felt a cluster of soulcrafters, he was fairly certain they'd identified the right place. There were some anti-weirkey defenses in the waves, making the fabric of reality unbending, so he targeted the closest region of ocean he could manage and slipped between worlds.

And so he stepped yet closer to this war, even if the journey only brought him to an empty stretch of ocean.

[Good! There!] Krikree vaulted over his head to his back and then pointed forward. [Dust ants and gold ants! Many!]

She was right about that: Theo could feel the battle more clearly now, a mass of multiple Authorities and at least two Strongholds. This was a serious fight, kept small only by the location excluding everyone who couldn't fly. Getting involved would entangle him with the conflict, but perhaps that was what he needed in order to make the Fithans in the Gold Wastes real allies.

Even though his mind was racing with potential scenarios, Theo knew that even at his top speed he was going to take a while to reach the battle itself. He glanced over his shoulder, where Krikree crouched alertly. She would be happy to remain in scouting mode all the way to the battle, but perhaps it was a better use of his time to get an update from her now.

Alright, he'd come far enough that he could admit to himself that he just missed her and wanted to catch up.

[How have you been doing, Krikree?] he asked via pheromones.

[Fulfill mission! Scout Gold Wastes, determine beetles and ants. Not make contact, but effective scouting. Also investigate Tymetron! Many ants, many princes, very dangerous.]

That was what he'd sent her to do, and Theo would be glad for the military intelligence, but he found himself with an odd smile on his face. [And how have you been personally?]

[!!!] Krikree emitted a wordless pheromone, briefly paused with her eyes fixed on him, then her antennae wiggled oddly. [This scouting fun. Krikree think many thoughts, about roles and hives. Wants help Blacksilver beetles, must prepare for ants.]

[Have you found a gift for Nauda yet?]

[Krikree found! Krikree also has gift for Navim-thinkrock. Couldn't find gift for Theo-sister.] Krikree's antennae drooped and Theo considered reassuring her, but they perked back up a second later. [Maybe location has gift. Krikree finds tasty meats and good sublime! But Theo-sister must help convert sublime for Krikree's soulhome.]

[That's good to hear.]

[Theo-sister has finished gift for Nauda-queen?] Krikree pushed close, peering around the side of his head.

[Not quite.] Theo instinctively glanced into his soulhome, where his newest project remained in his basement. [It's strong enough, but Nauda will need to approve whether it's close enough for her soulhome.]

[Nauda-queen strong! Strength means requirements. Krikree help scout sublime.]

It seemed like she was doing well, then, and had come so far from the scout who had been crippled by Slescan pheromones. There hadn't been time to conduct tests, even if they had been ethical, but Theo thought that ever since overcoming the mental barriers that made her struggle to soulcraft bricks, Krikree had been doing a better job of dealing with new barriers herself. He liked to see that, and wondered just what observations she would be able to share with him one day once she had complete clarity.

Unfortunately, their conversation couldn't last forever, because Theo's flight was taking them toward the battle. He almost missed the first anti-weirkey devices, which were actually hidden underneath the ocean and projected their restrictive field above. In the distance, rapidly closing, he saw buoys with anti-weirkey stones and pondered if they had been released from below.

There was no more time to contemplate that strategy either: in the distance he now saw an unnatural storm, cantae flickering over the surface of the ocean. Theo had expected ships, but instead of any vessels, there were only two groups of soulcrafters circling in the air. What was tying them so closely to that point, such that neither side attempted to leave the anti-weirkey region? He couldn't find any trap keeping them in place, or determine what they could be fighting over in the middle of the ocean.

Krikree began to pull weapons from her soulhome, and she had the right idea: these last few seconds were best used to prepare. Theo reviewed his soulhome without actually stepping into it, since the conditions were more than familiar to him by now: he'd completed all his bricks and put together his Stronghold floor, which was packed with cantae from the sublime materials he'd accumulated, yet still oddly provisional because he was lacking a material for an implosion to coat the interior surface.

Still, it should be more than enough for a fight like this. The risk of failure here had nothing to do with his soulhome.

As they drew closer, the Gold Wastes faction sent out an Authority to intercept him. Theo decided that instead of being insulted by them just sending an Authority, he would take it as a compliment to his newly polished shielding wall. The Authority was a middle-aged man wearing armor that was half covered in dust, half drenched in water.

"Halt, outsiders!" The man raised a weapon in a defensive stance. "This has nothing to do with you!"

"It looks like you're fighting Tymetron," Theo said evenly. "If so, I would fight on your side."

The Authority examined him skeptically, which gave Theo the opportunity to double-check his gravitational senses. He confirmed the two armies, with one Stronghold apiece, but also noticed an extremely dense point of mass just under the waves, with several Authorities fighting over it... and something even lower. Theo forced his expression to remain neutral as he realized that there was another dense mass in the depths, and worse, more soulcrafters around it.

"What's your angle?" the Authority asked, with a glance over his shoulder at the battle.

"Tymetron threatens us too." As he spoke, Theo gave a friendly smile and folded his arms behind his back... which he used to begin generating a singularity, now that the man had finished examining him. "Let me prove that you want us as your allies."

"I don't recognize you, or even know what that outsider is. You could be here to steal the deadgold. You could be a new weapon created by Plutalgion, for all we know. Let us examine your soulhome."

"No time!" Krikree floated under her own power, lowering her weapons as she approached. "Examine Krikree!"

"Back!" The man raised his sword nervously, perhaps sensing the lethal potential within Krikree.

Fortunately, at that moment the enemy Stronghold resolved Theo's problem, as he had suspected might happen: the woman in golden armor unleashed a whirlwind that rapidly drew up water, becoming a stormy column that tore through the battlefield toward their group. Finally.

Before it could strike, Theo whipped his hands from behind his back, clasping them together and finishing his singularity. It blazed into being in the path of the whirlwind, apparently lost within the crashing water and cantae... except that the cyclone began to collapse. As it did so, the singularity emerged, a sphere of black rapidly growing larger as the remnants of the battle fell into it.

[Krikree, intercept!] Theo sent the pheromone as he examined the chaotic battlefield.

[Intercept!] She launched herself away, grabbing an Authority from the Gold Wastes who was about to be pulled into the singularity. Her rescue was a bit rough, practically spiking him into the water, but it let her rebound in the other direction, catching another of their allies who would otherwise be consumed.

With the concern of collateral damage neutralized, Theo smiled and continued ramping up the singularity. One of the enemy Authorities had already been pulled in, and he absolutely had the Stronghold's attention now. She scowled at him and raised both hands, one focusing on her cyclone and the other unleashing a bolt of cantae.

Theo bashed the bolt aside with brute force while his other hand maintained the singularity.

They locked eyes, getting a sense for one another's soulhomes. Theo thought his shielding wall would hide enough, but had to assume his opponent would have some knowledge of him after the battle in the Asplundat Movement. Her soulhome used a mix of a standard wall and the thorn-wall that many from Tymetron used, so she might have some unorthodox blueprints. While he had been approaching, he'd watched the enemy Stronghold, noting a tendency toward large techniques like the cyclone. She'd never once worked together with any of the Authorities under her command, so unless she had been holding back a secret, she'd likely fight alone.

Or she'd run. Theo blinked in surprise as the Stronghold called out a retreat and began fleeing the anti-weirkey zone at top speed. She only took the time to throw up a wall of wind behind her, which served to provide some cover for the Authorities who scrambled to follow her.

Suspicious that it might be a trap, Theo remained where he was and simply moved the singularity to the wall, consuming the barrier to reveal the fleeing army. A few of the Authorities from the Gold Wastes tried to chase after the Tymetronese soulcrafters and one was nearly pulled into the singularity, only saved at the last second by Krikree.

Just before disappearing over the horizon, the enemy Stronghold unleashed another attack, a corkscrewing beam that moved at incredible speed... yet it was aimed too low. Going on combat instincts, Theo cast a reversed gravitational field, pulling all the soulcrafters near the water into the air before it could hit.

As the beam evaporated a line of water, Theo realized that it hadn't been aimed at any of the combatants, it had been trying to destroy the point of mass just under the water. So they really had done the smart thing and fled instead of trying to fight him - he was almost disappointed. Theo had run into a few Strongholds from Tymetron who weren't as smart as Jazin and had tried to pit their cantae against his singularity, to disastrous effect.

That left the mass, which Theo had instinctively dropped up toward himself. He neutralized the gravity and found himself looking at a strange lump of dull gold rock... definitely a sublime material, but not so strong that it would automatically merit a battle like this.

Technically that was victory, but Theo realized that it wouldn't be that easy as his eyes left the material. All the soulcrafters from the Gold Wastes were looking at him now, including a very suspicious-looking Stronghold. As if that wasn't enough, the soulcrafters deep within the ocean were moving now, some of them swimming toward the surface with unclear intent.

A fight would have been easy... this had the potential to be much more challenging.