The only thing the little girl could see was fire. She whimpered, trying to drag the unconscious body of an old man out of the burning teahouse.

“Wake up!” She cried. Her eyes were stinging with the heat and her throat burned from breathing smoke. “Benaz! Wake up!”

It hadn’t been her intention to do this. It was their fault, the men who tried to attack them, who had forced Benaz to fight them even though he was tired and injured. It had been days since he slipped down the ravine to save her from falling, and he refused to let her heal him. And then these bounty hunters had recognized them and tried to take her in broad daylight.

“Please… I can’t…” She coughed. She wasn’t strong enough to take him out of the building, each pull only dragging him a couple of inches. She cried out of impotence. It was the end all over again.

- o -

Continue reading ‘I. Burning Roofs’ »

Mortals worship spirits and gods, devoting their faith and reverence knowingly and thus giving their deities the power they need to fulfil their divine tasks. The beasts of the land do not know how to worship, but they too have gods that protect them; their essence, all that they are, echoes and coalesces into a being of raw power, a Beastlord.

Beastlords embody all the power of the animals they protect, taking their qualities to mythical heights. Eagle can spot Its prey from the other side of the world, while a swipe from Bear’s claws can topple entire forests if It so chooses.

Few have witnessed the anger of a Beastlord and lived to tell about it. Most people have glimpsed that anger when the animals the Beastlord rules over turn unruly and bold. But for all the savagery and might a Beastlord can bring to bear, there is only one moment in history when the Beastlords went to war.

When the armies of the Demon Princes swept throughout the lands, the Beastlords simply did as they always did: roam the land to protect the animals and the wild, with no concern for the suffering of the people at the hands of the demons. Eventually, when the gods finally routed the evil hordes, the surviving demons sought refuge by possessing the bodies of animals and plants, hoping the gods would not find them there. The gods mostly did not, but this action enraged the Beastlords and it became their turn to fight.

Continue reading ‘The Book of Turning: The Demon Paw’ »

This marks the end of the first “book” in the Hawk Furies story. The next one will start with Niriko’s and Behari’s return to Beldatz and whatever it is that Jakitza is planning will start moving. However, next week will see the first delivery of the Ollin Amo’xiu, featuring one of the legends of Nahast about the origin of a certain magical curse and disease.

After that, there are three options for the next “book”: Moonrise (the story of a young Moonshade and her head-on encounter with fate), Small Justice (the story of an exiled goddess and her quest for justice) or Dashing Hawk, Furtive Fox (the romance of a knight and a bandit princess, the parents of the comic’s protagonist). Any preference?

“You mean to tell me that not only did you let her see you, you also had chocolate at her study?” Gisako was speaking in slow and measured tones. At first she had been very pleased with Akina for her initiative in following Jakitza, but her satisfaction had gone down steadily as the young Moonshade reported her experience.

“I couldn’t just hide, mistress.” Akina was kneeling in front of Gisako. “Those… things were attacking the archmage.”

“And don’t you think an archmage would have had no problem in dealing with minor apparitions?” Gisako said. “Maybe that was just a show for your benefit.”

“Mistress, with all due respect but… why are you so mistrustful of the archmage? Isn’t she your friend?” Akina’s tone was respectful, but there was a sparkle of defiance in her eyes.

Continue reading ‘Chapter 10: Full Circle’ »

Contrary to what everyone believed, Jakitza did keep herself in shape by practicing the fighting style she had learned in her time as a Hawk Maiden. It was just that her chosen field of exercise was south of the lighthouse, where no one had any interest in settling despite the beautiful green hills that rolled down before they were cut short by the high and unclimbable cliffs by the sea.

Also, she always practiced by night. In that she was totally different than her master, who used the night to stare at the stars to divine the fate they painted in the sky.

She was running by the edge of the cliffs, wearing only her skirt and top and carrying her staff. Not only did she ever let it leave her side, but it also replaced the halberd that this exercise was intended for as she made thrusts and swings while running. The only light in the cloudy night came from the staff’s crystal head, tracing arcs and lines as Jakitza moved.

She reached the end of the even terrain before the hills gave way to mountains and stopped, panting and catching her breath. A common misconception about arcane magic was that it was a purely cerebral practice. One definitely needed a mind that could wrap around the alien concepts of spellcasting praxis, but the complex formulas and incantations only served to shape the energy of the world into the desired shape. The energy itself? The mage had to channel it through his or her body directly from the Dreamlands and the world itself.

Continue reading ‘Chapter 9: Shadows’ »

It had been three days of sailing for Behari, Niriko and Pawaht on board the Rowdy Waves, a small coastal trade ship. It wasn’t a passenger ship but it was the first to sail with Beldatz as a stop, and Pawaht had negotiated for them to work as part of the crew. Any initial misgivings the captain had on allowing two women to work the riggings were dispelled at the first show of Niriko’s nimbleness and Behari’s strength and balance.

Also, any hope from the sailors to sample the young women’s flesh was extinguished when, during dinner the first night of travel, one of the sailors tried to grab Behari and lost his ponytail to an invisible slash from her short sword, with the implied threat of where she would aim if she was forced to unsheathe the long one.

“Ship ahead!” The lookout shouted, his voice muffled by the constant crashing of the waves against the hull. The reaction from most of the sailors was to look curiously forward while keeping to their work. It wasn’t rare for ships to cross along trading routes, especially coastal ones.

Continue reading ‘Chapter 8: Friendship’ »

Gisako couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong. She made the arrangements for some “entertainment” for the governor, and Zintzi had relayed the confirmation from the ‘troupe’ of performers, who were actually the Noonshades they would confer with.

Zintzi’s tone hinted that there was something strange. Maybe not wrong, but the deal wasn’t going as expected, so Gisako posted an extra couple of regular guards in the audience hall, and six of the more experienced Moonshade agents hiding in the shadows or mingling with the courtiers.

To make things even more suspicious, Jakitza had arrived, taking advantage of her standing invitation to Palace activities. She never left the lighthouse these days unless something really interested her, and catching the attention of the youngest archmage in the Empire might not be something good.

Gisako had distanced herself from Jakitza even as she became a Hawk Maiden officer and her teammate recovered from her magical accident and retreated with Master Quitzam. Gisako worried during those days that Jakitza was losing her soul or something, but now her worries were more directed towards the young archmage’s sanity.

Gisako wasn’t the only one, of course. The courtiers gave Jakitza a lot of room, and she returned the courtesy by not paying them any attention.

“Archmage Egoski.” Gisako bowed politely when she received her once friend. “Such a rare pleasure for you to visit.”

“I needed a distraction, Lady Gizaletzi.” Jakitza smirked. She was the shorter of the two but still gave the impression to be looking down at Gisako, a hint of an amused smirk in the corner of her lips. “And I hear today’s performers are something rather… special.”

Gisako narrowed her eyes. Jakitza wouldn’t refer to today’s secret meeting like that if she didn’t know about it.

Continue reading ‘Chapter 7: Confrontations’ »

One of the most common and ancient sayings is “all roads lead to”, followed by the name of the thriving city of the times. Right now it was Jasokari, the Empire’s capital, connected to the rest of the Empire by a growing network of highways as well as rivers and sea routes.

The main highways are considered Imperial jurisdiction, while provincial roads and navigable rivers belong to the Noble House that rules the territory they cross. However, everybody knows that the true masters of the roads are the courier brotherhoods and the porter guilds. Their guides know the roads like the proverbial back of their hands, but as they are also quite familiar with their palms, they too know many shortcuts and secret paths.These half-recognized organizations charge a price for their services, a fee that depends on their reputation and proven effectiveness, and because of that, a courier, guide or caravan guild is only as good as its fame.

Suffice to say, this leads to pretty intense rivalries that are not always friendly.

Continue reading ‘Chapter 6: Roads Cross’ »

Gisako was strolling through the streets of the city, looking for all the world like a well-dressed lady out for a day of shopping. She had no important appointments until late afternoon and was more or less free to do what she wanted. And right now, she wanted to find the Noonshades.

Equinox, her real name being Akina, was with her as always, performing her roles of personal attendant, secretary and partner in crime. Gisako’s own network told her that her best bet for finding the elusive freelance spies was an information broker that operated out of one of the tea houses in the alleys around the central plaza. Most of those were decent places, if not particularly fancy.

Gisako took a long look and chose one of the houses at random. Its name was Wind Over the Mountains and was the typical three-story tea house and restaurant; its clientele consisted mostly of merchants taking a break from the comercial activity happening in the central plaza, plus a few ministers both from the nobles, the Palace and commoner guild merchants. Very few normal citizens visited this place, preferring the houses right on the plaza’s edge.

“So, you are my personal advisor, right?” Gisako asked Equinox as they walked inside.

“I’m… honored if you consider me in that light.” The girl blinked, walking briskly behind her.

“Yes, I consider you in that light. And as such, you will have to advise me on my future husband.” She chuckled and winked lightly. She was speaking out loud on purpose, both playful banter and also a means of making people talk about the fact that she was looking for a husband.

Continue reading ‘Chapter 5: Players’ »

Gisako walked through the long corridors of the Palace, followed, as always, by her personal assistant.

“There is one last thing for the day.” The girl said. She was just out of training but she could expertly hide the silvery tattoos of the Moonshades under her long sleeves. Her codename was, curiously, Equinox. Gisako remembered the original Equinox who have served in the palace before… she’d rather not go into the details on why this young girl now bore her name.

“Lord Itzalan requests an audience with the governor.” The girl finished.

“Oh, great.” Gisako moaned in a pitiful kind of way. “Well, duty is duty. When is the audience to take place?”

“During tea.” The girl said. “I hear he wants to propose his son as a suitor for Lady Tzie, but my sources could be wrong… or confused. There are many amongst the nobles talking about why the governor has not taken a husband.”

“Of course they would.” Gisako inclined her head and hid a bright smile behind a slight chortle. “They want to have that position of power and they’re uncertain why she hasn’t deemed anyone worthy. As if any of them would deserve it anyway.”

“Pardon my asking but…” The girl blinked, hurrying after Gisako. “It would be a smart political move, would it not?”

One thing Tzie had been adamant in the training of the new generation of Moonshades in their clan was to foster the agents’ ability to think for themselves and voice their opinions, regardless of rank or age. Young Equinox was the proof that the policy was working well. Despite her inexperience she had already built a network of informants all her own without the Order’s help and she’d had several good insights. Gisako suspected the girl would receive full agent status soon, and she’d have to look for a new assistant.

Continue reading ‘Chapter 4: Moonshades’ »