[This is just a slaughter, huh?] Ursula remarked as they watched yet another wave of Clockworks get torn to shreds, [What’s the Forgeheart’s plan, here?]

Zhanuk watched as the defenders scrambled to salvage the vehicles and bots laid low on the battlefield with the same question running through his mind. There was no logical explanation for the Forgeheart sending waves upon waves of units just to be slaughtered, [I haven’t a clue. Vunka hasn’t reappeared, so I can only assume that its crush is fighting like hell right now.]

Ursula leaned back, looking up into the dawn sky, [When will this end? I mean, I’m not upset about the deal I made, but there isn’t any danger, no action, barely any drama, and it’s just become… monotonous. I haven’t even eaten anything in weeks! I know it’s because I’m now a thaumavore and whatnot, but I still want to do something more…]

[Ursula… I know it’s boring. But at least we both have someone to talk to,] he said, [Think about the poor fire sprites or living statues that also have to watch this battle alone. Speaking of, have you seen any of them since we started hanging out?]

Ursula thought for a moment, shrugging, [Well, I’ve seen them around all the time-- higher temperature than normal here, off-color sand there, that sort of thing. But they’re the ones choosing to be anti-social jerks. If they came over here, then I wouldn’t mind. But they’re just staying in their little corners and doing a whole lot of nothing. Why should I care about what they’re doing? They- Hey!]

Zhanuk pecked her on the head, landing on her shoulder a moment later, [Hey, I know you’re the type of person who takes deals from Hel’ga’thra, but come on! Have some empathy for them! They’re people just like we are. They’re also not supposed to mingle with each other. Believe it or not, but you’re the only scout here from a neutral god.]

[Oh, this reeks of politics,] Ursula remarked, [So what is a neutral god?]

Zhanuk hopped off of her shoulder and landed into her lap, [Don’t change the subject,] he said, [Will you be nice to other people if they haven’t done anything to you or will you be rude and crass because you can?]

[Fine, I’ll be nice,] she said, pouting, [Now, tell me about the politics!]

[You… Fine, I will. Basically, it starts with the fact that there are not many alliances between fighting gods. There is the Ve alliance, since those four were born at the same time, the alliance between Sa’ar’kik and Kel’rk’ath, and the alliance between Vul’cel’rk and Dy’jul’ia. Those two are meditation partners. And neutral. Basically, this war has been a free for all for the most part, and plenty of the gods chose not to join in,] he explained.

[This whole thing is a free for all, then?] Ursula asked, [What are they fighting for? Why would they do any of this?]

Zhanuk shifted uncomfortably, worried about touching such a sensitive subject, [Well… it started as a disagreement between most of the gods and En’gem’ia, then devolved from there. Or so it is rumored. Getting solid information from that era is difficult since only a few of the angels alive were born before then and the ones that were from then don’t exactly want to talk about it. It’s… a painful time for them. Or at least the ones I know about.]

[So… it’s about a minor disagreement gone too far… I don’t know what to think about that…]

[Well, whatever the case-] They both stopped in an instant as, at the same time, they sensed something. Ursula pulled Zhanuk into a roll as a trio of shots slammed into the mesa cliff they were seated at. Without hesitating, she drew her pistol and fired round after round into the figure that snuck up on them. Metal slammed into metal with a much more explosive sound than a normal gun would produce and the figure soon fell.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Ursula paused, listening to the wind and the distant sounds of gunfire. She quickly approached the body and immediately noticed that it was a Clockwork husk, torn through many times. [Looks like someone’s been watching us,] she hissed, turning and aiming her gun at the newcomer. It was a fire sprite, a humanoid made entirely of fire and mana, with his hands up. Zhanuk took the liberty to offer a Connection with the sprite.

It seemed surprised for a moment before Connecting, [We need to leave. The heart sent an army after us and it’ll be here in a few minutes,] it said quickly, [Come on!] It leapt from the mesa and turned its head to see if they followed. Zhanuk was about to take flight from Ursula’s grasp, but she held him close as she ran up to the ledge and leapt.

Zhanuk was not afraid of heights-- he was a bird, after all-- but he was a bit concerned for Ursula’s well-being. That lasted until she began to spew mana from her feet and free hand to slow their descent. With a dull thud, she launched forwards with speed expected from a vengeance-seeker and caught up with the sprite in an instant. It nodded to them and led them through the desert.

Then bullets began to fly, thumping into the sand around them. They were inaccurate, but it put more pressure on them. Zhanuk, with his avian sight, could see the Snipers on the mesa. They were less lithe than he expected. Less coordinated and more aimless in its movements.

Nevertheless, they had enough volume of fire to hit them. And he could not allow that. He gathered mana into a ball, after giving it a type, and sent it flying with the speed of a bullet. A moment later, the ball slammed into the mesa and collapsed the cliff, sending the bots careening to the ground.

Ursula did not stop running as he cast his spell, and they were soon beyond the sight of the mesa. They slowed to a walk, but none of them were in the mood to talk or banter, so it was silent. Until they reached a campfire. There, a group of people he thought would have been impossible to find both together and alive were gathered. A pair of humans, a stone man, and a shadowy figure all sat around the fire, arguing. Ursula did not waste time in killing the mood, “About time we found you guys! How have you all been since I last saw you?”

As the awkward silence stretched on, Zhanuk prayed to his god that he would make it through the ensuing who-knew-how-long.

*=====*

Yeah… I know. This is about half of a normal chapter, but on the day I wrote this, I had a bit of writer's block. I won’t make any other excuses, but please don’t be mad. By the time you’re reading this, I should be writing at full capacity.

Now, I was going to end it there, but I thought ‘hey, might as well mention the reason that I’ve been writing more than twice what I normally write daily,’ so here it is: Blueshift. The reason why I’m letting this project slip so early is because, one, not as many people read the side chapters, and two, I’m setting a time limit.

By the time this is on patreon, the first chapter of Blueshift will be up. Now, this won’t be a normal chapter, but a rough draft. In my time writing Boneclock, I realized something: The biggest breaking point for people was the rocky beginning. After about chapter 20, most would stay the course, but before that, it was anyone’s guess. The biggest breaking point was the GB stuff. The second one was my inability to write a properly developing relationship between Mori and Fara.

Now, these two are not the sole focus of the story, but they aren’t anywhere near insignificant parts either. I can respect every critique of the latter problem. Only half of the first one. I won’t vent, but just read some of the comments for chapter 3 on royal road. It ranges from respectable writing philosophy to plain degrading.

Anyway, the reason why this is going up review on patreon is so I can gauge the problems with the story I plan to write before I’m fifty chapters in and I can’t fix anything without doing massive rewrites. And, just a heads up, I don’t plan on making the first chapter patreon exclusive. After that, normal rules apply, but once this goes live on patreon, anyone who wants to get a look can.

Also, please provide criticism. Please.

Anyway, sorry for the short chapter today and thanks for sticking with me throughout Boneclock. Hope you enjoyed.