Bite-Sized Reading

North of Border Port lies a beach. Its serene beauty belies its bloody history.

It is here that, on half a dozen occasions, the Daxions beat back the Emorian armies that were intent on conquering Daxis. Finally frustrated by all these attacks over the border, the Daxions undertook an amazing task of landscaping, bringing the Western Ocean several miles inland from where it had lain before. Once the Daxions were finished, their border with Emor had narrowed to a brief passageway between a mountain and the deep Ocean.

Guarding the border has been exceedingly simple since then. Indeed, on the one occasion on which Daxions permitted Emorian soldiers to cross the border – in 976, when Daxis agreed to allow the Emorians to travel south in order to attack the Koretian capital from its naked back – it took so long for Emor's vanguard to pass over the border, one horse at a time, that a concerned Koretian borderlander was able to alert Koretia's council in the south to the coming attack. Alas, his message was not heeded, and Koretia fell to the Emorians.

The Daxions, on the other hand, have not been attacked from the north since they persuaded the Ocean to guard them. Their true vulnerability lies now to the east, which is why Daxis attempts to maintain good relations with Koretia these days.

Because the border is so narrow, you will likely have to wait several hours to cross the border into Emor, during the busy season. You may wish to spend your time exploring the caves nearby.

[Translator's note: That narrow little border causes some trouble for travellers in Breached Boundaries.]

ONLINE E-BOOK (html, epub, mobi, pdf, and xhtml)

Free at my website.

The Motley Crew (The Thousand Nations). When a young man named Dolan flees from the north, he faces danger on all sides. The Northern Army wants him back. The Empire of Emor wants him dead. His native homeland of Koretia may not want him at all. And his only protection is a man with motives that are mysterious and possibly deadly.

New installment:

2 | Flight Through the Forest. When you're fleeing from high danger, you have little choice in your companions.

EARLY ACCESS

My readers at Patreon and Ream get the first look at Twisted (The Thousand Nations: The Motley Crew side story). That short story will go into general release next month.

BLOG FICTION

Tempestuous Tours (Crossing Worlds: A Visitor's Guide to the Three Lands #2). A whirlwind tour of the sites in the Three Lands that are most steeped in history, culture, and the occasional pickpocket.

New installments:

• Royal chapel.
• Ambassador's Balcony.
• Introduction to the borderland.
• Border Port.

NEWS & UPCOMING FICTION

As some of you already know, I posted last month's update two days after I tripped on an uneven sidewalk, banged my head three times against a metal fence, and acquired a concussion, not to mention a broken leg. (I consider that update to be one of the greatest accomplishments of my life.)

Unfortunately, the concussion delayed my completion of "Heir" and its accompanying Blood Vow omnibus, since putting together an omnibus requires a concentrated mind I just don't have at the moment. I've moved those two projects to next year's schedule. In their place, I've juggled my release schedule in order to offer my Ream and Patreon readers a side story this month from The Motley Crew.

The timing of my next e-book installment release is a little uncertain at the moment, since my recovering head is still at the stage where, every time I edit a story, I introduce more errors than I correct. However, I hold out hope that I'll be able to get a new e-book installment out in January. In the meantime, as you can see, I'm continuing to bring out blog fiction.

Fortunately, the concussion hasn't stopping me from writing stories. Among other things, I've finished composing Motley Mayhem, the third novel in the Thousand Nations series.

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