3seed

Important Upates: Eight 3 Audiobook & Patreon Tier Changes

Hey all,

I have two important updates for you.

First, the audiobook version of Eight 3: Undaunted is set to publish on March 12! We’ll once again have the incredible Gary Tiedemann narrating, and pre-orders are available on Audible.

Second, I'll be changing the Patreon benefit tiers at the end of March. I've held the line for three years now, but recent developments are forcing my hand. Here's what to expect:

Levels 1 ($1) and 2 ($2) will be phased out. They...

Eight 4.16: The City of Blood IV

Even though the doors to the bridges leading to the neighbors were closed, the house’s leisteila was chilly. There was a stove at the center that Aslishtei was in the process of lighting, while Wensatsu and Krenya went around to light the candle stones. One thing about a family of magicians, there was certainly no shortage of mana.

The room itself took up the whole top floor of the house. A variety of round tables circled the stove, each with colorful cushions around them. Tapestries ...

Eight 4.15: The City of Blood III

Author's Note: I'm going to be away for a few days, so I'm posting this a day early. Enjoy.

________

This is all Heleitia’s fault; she’s turned Ikfael against me. That was my first thought. The mass of anger, disappointment, and fear swirling through me needed a target, and the stonewater serpent was the readiest one available. The Deer God also deserved some measure of blame. If not for his ambitions, I wouldn’t have been put into this situation.

A second fur...

Eight 4.14: The City of Blood II

Back downstairs, I visited the washroom twice while waiting for the messengers. The mystery herb clearly possessed mild diuretic properties—not enough to trigger a condition in my Status, though, so it wouldn’t stop me from drinking the tea or using it in my cooking. The flavor would be one that Ikfael had never tasted before.

Eventually, I made my way to the inn’s kitchen to question the staff about the source, and it turned out to be a plant called drunkard’s ease which was no...

The City of Blood I

Before we set out for Albei the next morning, the master of the Farmer’s Lodge found me and requested an update on what they could expect over the next ten days. I told him the weather would be mostly clear, with a few patchy clouds moving in. The weather system that had been gathering to the east continued to do so, however, and while there was still no rain in the forecast, it would be only a matter of time. They should get ready for a doozy of a storm.

A handful of villagers also h...

Eight 4.12: Our Good Friend, Confusion

When Yuki let Mumu know of Xefwen’s departure, she replied that the team was investigating the trail left by the Maltrans. Doing that work now would save Silasenei time later, speeding up the pursuit. Her instructions were to stay at the pool and call when the grandmaster arrived.

At first, the time passed interminably. I hid the silverlight we’d gathered earlier, then practiced some yoga to make sure my body stayed limber and meditated a while to center myself after the emotional b...

Eight 4.11: The Burden of Influence II

The next twenty minutes saw Ikfael and I sitting awkwardly together. I briefed her on what I’d seen of the Maltrans, and she acknowledged the information. Though she was clearly interested in learning about the recent invaders, the sense of distance didn’t decrease.

Yuki tried to help by acting as my sounding board. The two of us went round and round in my head talking about what to say or do, but sometimes there isn’t an easy way forward. Sometimes you have to wait for more clari...

Eight 4.10: The Burden of Influence I

Her name was apparently Heleitia. I’d previously spent three days with her and never wondered; it had never even occurred to me to ask her name while we were in the dream together. That wasn’t natural for a curious old man like myself.

When I’d asked Ikfael about her name in the past, she’d said it wasn’t her place to offer it, so I’d just bided my time and thought I’d bring it up if the opportunity ever arose. But it never had. On the summer solstices, all Heleitia had ev...

Eight 4.9: The Gloominess of Forgotten Memories III

The stonewater serpent had trapped Ikiira at the point between life and death—right at the edge of suffocation. Then, after a short while, runes arose from within the stone surrounding the young hunter. None of them looked familiar, possibly because they ran partly through the rock in addition to along the surface.

In any case, the runes didn’t seem to help. If anything, the sense of pressure emanating from where Ikiira had been buried increased. Her cries drove me forward once agai...

Eight 4.8: The Gloominess of Forgotten Memories II

Why had my Status camera shown me results for Ikiira and the stonewater serpent? Perhaps it was because they were more present within this memory than the giant snake from earlier had been? Or was this experience more dream than memory, and its internal logic required certain details?

Maybe… maybe it was the relationship between the stonewater serpent and Ikfael at work? They’d had an agreement in place that had lasted for centuries—a relationship that meant a lot, at least to Ikf...

Eight 4.7: The Gloominess of Forgotten Memories I

I dodged, rolling to my left to put distance between me and the thing that Sklein had become. Hard-earned training kept me going, turning me toward the hillside leading up to the top of the Glen’s waterfall. About halfway there, the dark creature’s Spitter talent kicked in, and a tree behind me rattled as something thunked into its trunk. I started counting.

At three seconds, he shot at me again, the missile whizzing like an angry bee flying past. I kept counting.<...

Eight 4.6: Encounter at the Glen

Over the years, there’d been rumors of “accidental” darklight poisonings in the nearby towns, and not by small amounts either—these had been massive overdoses that had sent people straight into dusk, or in the case of a famous Albei carpenter, dark. None of the victims had been trained to handle the changes that came from becoming dusk or dark, so they’d all mutated hideously. That was how the rumors went anyway.

Some in the Voorhei Hunter’s Lodge discounted the stories. I, ...

Eight 4.5: The Tao of the Status Camera

The journey to the Glen began uneventfully enough. I was annoyed with myself, but that didn’t stop me from paying attention to my surroundings. And not just because of the potential for danger; being out in the woods never got old.

The forest was vigorous with new life. The early bloomers already had their flowers out—the maples with their modest blossoms unfurled from the tips of their branches and the willows’ fuzzy catkins sprouting wild. The elms, oaks, and birches weren’t f...

Eight 4.4: Life is Change

After Aslishtei’s nieces left, my team stuck around the ritual room to hash out our concerns about taking on the job—the primary one being Asiik. There were supposedly other dangers hidden among Old Baxteiyel’s ruins, but anything too powerful for us would’ve already been swallowed by the silvered winged kalesk. It should just be small fry hiding in his shadow.

We wouldn’t count on it—that would be straight-up foolishness given what Diaksha was capable of—but ther...

No Chapter Tomorrow

I'm sorry, y'all, but there won't be a chapter tomorrow. It happens every time—my good intentions to write during a holiday are overwhelmed by the realities of travel and/or hosting family. The disruptions will end on Monday, though, so we should be okay to resume our normal schedule next week.

Eight 4.3: Untold Legends

We met in the ritual room under the lodge. The space was circular, and it hadn’t changed much from when I’d first seen it the night when I’d been initiated into the Way of the Hunter. The same, worn tapestries hung from the walls. They portrayed the woods around Voorhei and the creatures inhabiting them.

There was also a tapestry that featured a disguised Ikfael at the Glen. Not as Knight Otter—no, this was older and from the time before she’d created a sculpture based on Emma...

Eight 4.2: Lessons Learned and Given

The fighting appeared to have scared off the other beasts in the area, so the trip back to Voorhei was uneventful. As we crossed the village’s boundary, I sent Snow blinking ahead to alert the militia members guarding the wall that we were back and safe.

A handful of villagers had volunteered for the duty, mostly younger folk who needed the extra taak. Snow gave them a good scare materializing among them, and it might’ve seemed from the outside like a bit of cruel mischief, but the ...

Cast of Notable Characters from Eight 1 - 3

Patreon Digdug kindly reminded me that a cast of characters is often helpful for Eight's story, so I quickly assembled a list for you all. The people below comprise my best guess for who is likely to show up or be mentioned in Eight 4:

Earth

First Family

• Alejandro Sandoval, grandfather
• Catalina Sandoval, grandmother

Second Family

• Helen Corben-Sandoval, wife
• Alejandra Sandoval, daughter, aka Alex
• Daniel Sandoval, son<...
  2023-11-05 22:30:19 +0000 UTC View Post

Eight 4.1. Eight Years Later

In the dark of night, the forest lit with the tell-tale flashes of fire magic. That would be Wensatsu, I thought, easing myself past a thicket. Ahead, the trees clustered like old men, or maybe more like the cutouts of them, backlit with their edges traced in flickering orange-red. There came a whoosh and a whoom, and I had to blink my eyes clear of the after images.

An unhappy roar sounded in reply; the spell must’ve found its target. The trees didn’t lik...

Eight 4 Planned Release Schedule & Patreon News

All right, here we go—the first draft chapter of Eight 4 will release shortly. 

Expect chapters to be approximately 3,000 to 4,500 words long.

My plan is to publish on a once-a-week schedule like I've done in the past. Unlike before, however, the chapters will publish on Sundays.  My weeks have become so intense with work and other responsibilities lately that I'm finding I need the Saturdays to just crash. The rest day should help keep things sustainable.

To tha...