Saturday, July 20, 2013

Bonus Chapter: On Your Altar of Solitude


"Is it---is it truly Talfryn's?" Evenfall asks, falling to her knees before the dragon's tooth laying on Rory's coffee table, her voice barely a whisper, almost inaudible.

"Iola Hawksquill assured me it was his," Rory answers, holding his hands behind his back, checking his impulse to reach out to her.


"I admit, I was surprised you would do this for me," Evenfall says as she rises to stand in front of him, "You refused to even try when I asked it of you, and you were so angry when we last parted."

Rory bites his lip, ashamed at the memory of his past behavior. "The way you used to look at me," he says remembering their sad, ill-fated relationship, "I always knew you were searching for traces of him in my features. I hated being a less than adequate replacement for another. When you asked if I could find and steal Talfryn's tooth for you, my resentment boiled over. Unjustly. This was my way of apologizing, I suppose. I'm sorry it took me so long to do as you asked."


"This must have been difficult for you," Evie says hesitantly.

"Actually, it was a remarkably easy job," Rory answers, deliberately misunderstanding her to move the conversation away from uncomfortable talk about the difficulties of overcoming his feelings, "The Landgraab just opened the vaults for us to take what we wanted."

"Are you joking?" Evenfall asks. It's been so long since she's been among the dragon or human kinds, she has only a vague memory of how their sense of humor works.

"No, that actually happened," Rory says, and tells her how the operation went down.

"And you trusted him?" Evie asks in disbelief when his tale is done.

"Trust him? No, not a chance," Rory says, "But Iola confirmed that the tooth was genuine, so I took what was offered. If he has some ulterior motive...I suppose we'll find out when he's ready, and deal with it as it comes."


She never officially accepted his apology or said she forgave him, but that wouldn't be a very fae response; they simply go with whatever they are feeling at the moment, and Evenfall is obviously feeling kindly enough toward him now, enough that Rory has the confidence to ask,"And you think you can really bring him back?"

"If humans can be resurrected, then surely dragons can be," Evenfall answers, smiling hopefully, "Fae don't truly ever die; if our bodies are killed our spirit return to my father's realm. Human spirits have a realm of their own. My brother is one who walks both worlds, the living and the dead, and he's helped me in my search to find the realm of the dragon spirits. With Talfryn's tooth, my brother's knowledge and my magic, I will be able to call him back to this realm, to his bodily form."

______________________________________


"I'm going to the office," Geoffrey says, turning off his computer and rolling his chair away from the desk.

"Has something happened?" Peridot asks.



"I'll be back in a few hours," is all the response he gives her.



"Geoffrey, please," Peridot begs as he continues out the door without speaking another word to her.


Shut out. After her botched attempt to capture the Brannons for him in Aurora Skies, he completely shut her out, replaced her with a new assistant, forced her into retirement.

He also told her he still loved her, and would always have a place for her, but his words rang hollow. The only place he had any use for her anymore was in his bed. Because of her failure, she lost his trust, so he tells her nothing about his work. But more than that, he's closed himself off from her emotionally, barely speaking to her about even the most inconsequential things. 

She was created for one purpose, and she failed. And now she serves no purpose at all.


Geoffrey finds her body, bruised and battered against the rocks on the shore of his private beach. Her death is on him; he created her and he destroyed her, though that hadn't been his intention. He wields the power of god, and sometimes forgets that he truly is only human. A god wouldn't mourn the death of his creation.


"Have you come to gloat at my misfortune?" he asks, not needing to turn his head to identify the intruder. He hasn't seen her since she laid her curse on him, but he can still feel the strangling tendrils of her wrath.

"It was just my luck to come upon you as you're discovering the corpse of a dead lover," the fairy answers, her voice gloating despite her denial, "True Love still eludes you?"


"What would you know about love, true or otherwise?" Geoffrey snaps, uncharacteristically bitter.

"I know that it sacrifices all in its name. While you seem to have a knack for sacrificing those who love you on your altar of solitude."

"What do you want?" Geoffrey demands, refusing to play her game, respond to her taunts.

"I want to know why you let Rory Bowman take what you refused to give me all those years ago," the fairy answers.

Geoffrey is stunned into silence by the revelation, for just a brief moment, before he can respond, "You wanted a dragon's tooth?" he asks when he's finally able to speak. "You weren't so specific about what you wanted when you demanded that I open MorcuCorp's vaults to you. Not that it would have made any difference. My father was in control of all that, I didn't have the access you were looking for, and even if I had, you were just some woman I'd slept with. I didn't know you were fae until you started hurling curses at me. I didn't know that such things as fairies existed until you enlightened me. But even if I had known what you were, or what you could do to me, I wouldn't have opened the vaults for you."

"And what has changed that you would open your vaults for Bowman?"

"What changed is that my father is long dead and I no longer crave his approval; I live and do as I please. What Rory wanted was his by rights, and of no use to either myself or MorcuCorp." Any other motives Geoff may have had for his generosity are none of the fairy's business. "So, now that the relic you wanted is back where it belongs, will you end this curse?"

"You know it doesn't work that way. There is only way to break the curse. You must find true love, or suffer your lonely existence forever. Tell me, are you so eager to lose your immortality? Has your solitude become so unbearable so soon?" she asks, the gloating unmistakable.

Geoff's glance moves from Peridot's still body to the vast expanse of the ocean, seemingly unending, but he knows another shore lies unseen beyond the horizon. It doesn't go on forever. 

He doesn't give the fairy the satisfaction of a response. "I hope you live for a long time yet," she says, getting in the final words before disappearing in a glimmer of fiery red sparkles, "And I hope that each year brings you greater suffering, dragonslayer."


Dragonslayer? he thinks as he rises, pulling his phone from his pocket. There hasn't been a Landgraab in generations who'd earned the right to such an epithet. Of all the crimes for which he could be held to account, all the wrongs he'd committed against her kind as well as his own, the fairy had ultimately chosen to punish him for the actions of his long dead ancestors. Typical fairy.

"I need a clean up team here ASAP," he says into his phone when his new assistant picks up,not bothering with any unnecessary explanations.



_________________________________

Extra special thanks to Ali for this chapter. When I originally came up with the plan to have Rory steal back Talfryn's tooth for Evie, I had in mind that they had some kind of romantic involvement that had ended badly (I had hinted at that in previous chapters) and I was going to use this mission as his way of reuniting with her, and giving her some kind of closure for the death of Talfryn. But I couldn't get past the feeling that any interest Evie had in Rory was due to his resemblance to Talfryn, and they weren't clicking for me as a couple, so I kind of let that subplot go and left the fate of the tooth out there.
Then Ali asked me if it would be okay for to have Evie resurrect Talfryn in her legacy (The Clemetis Legacy) where they are both side characters. Her idea solved my own problem of what to do with the tooth, so I asked if I could use it in my story as well.

Next chapter, Generation 4 officially begins.


22 comments:

  1. Ooh, well done Ali!

    I do kinda feel sorry for Peridot. She wasn't a bad person, she was only trying to impress her boss/lover/thing.

    Geoff, on the other hand... Dragonslayer?
    Well, if that means what I think it means, I was right when I first set eyes on him and assumed something...

    Excited for gen 4 now! :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yeah, I owe Ali a lot for this chapter.

      I feel bad for Peridot too, she didn't have much of a life.

      The 'dragonslayer' bit probably doesn't mean what you think it means. It was more to show how deep the resentment goes against Landgraabs that the fairy would call Geoff that even though he personally has never killed a dragon.

      I'm pretty excited for Gen 4, too. I think it will surprise everyone. =D

      Delete
  2. Talfryn, possibly coming back?!? I was confused about Evie and Rory so I'm glad you explained. I was trying to figure out if I missed their relationship in a previous story (she wasn't in the Romans) and I don't remember him in Summerdream. But I forget people sometimes so I really could be missing it.

    How horrible for Peridot. Don't get me wrong, I don't like either of them but it's such a cold, meaningless end.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. There's a lot of stuff that happens in my head that doesn't get into the stories, lol, Rory and Evie being one of those things. There were a couple of little hints that Evie and Rory might have had something in the past (the past being in the time before this legacy but not as far back as the Roman legacy) but they were subtle hints at best because I never could really commit to the idea. I felt bad about Evie's loneliness and wanted to give her Rory to fix that, but they just didn't work for me as a couple. So it became a broken romance that happened off screen and satisfied neither of them.
      Gosh, that's pretty sad. But, if Evie is successful, she'll get Talfryn back.

      Yeah, Peridot had a pretty sad, empty end there.

      Delete
  3. Oh Evie! How she's pined for so long is really heartbreaking. I'm really hoping she can find some closure.

    Well... and this is awful, but it looks like Geoffrey did indeed find a way to neutralize Peridot. He broke her. How awful. And just who is this fairy and why did she also want Talfryn's tooth? And why curse Geoffrey if it was his father she was so angry with?

    WTG Ali! That's awesome.

    Generation 4 is already quite tantalizing with the questions and stories right off the bat!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. In Geoffrey's defense, he didn't intentionally drive Peridot to suicide. He was being pretty crappy to her, though.

      The fairy wasn't angry at Geoff's father, it was Geoff she was trying to seduce into letting her into the MorcuCorp vaults. She does however have an intense animosity to all Landgraabs, which is why she referred to Geoff as 'dragonslayer'. It doesn't matter how many generations have passed since the last actual dragonslayer died, she sees all Landgraabs as dragonslayers. So it really wouldn't take much to get her to curse any of them.

      Who she is is my secret for now. But there are a few clues in her appearance, maybe.

      Delete
  4. Poor Peridot. I didn't necessarily like her, but I don't think she deserved to go out like that. Geoffrey's non-response, although not surprising, still made me angry. What an ass.

    What a great little chapter! I love the weaving plots, that you've always been particularly adept at, and the characterization (ditto). I can't wait to read generation 4 and what plots you have lurking in that sneaky, brilliant brain of yours.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Missed one part of my comment, but thanks goes to Ali for helping you develop this awesome bonus chapter. You both rock!

      Delete
    2. Peridot did meet a sad end, and Geoffrey was pretty cold about it.

      Thank you so much, Krista! I'm really looking forward to Gen 4, too.

      Delete
  5. Aw, I'm a bit sad for Rory. :( It's annoying, I can't quite feel sad because I'm excited about the possibility of Evie getting Talfryn back...torn between two emotions on that one. Does Rory at least get a happy ending somewhere along the storyline?

    Peridot's suicide was a bit of a surprise. Again I can't quite decide how I feel about it. Didn't like her, but it was a sad ending. The fairy was definitely interesting though! I feel like she's familiar and that I should know who she is, but that could be because she's reminding me of the dragon Kelyn for some reason. Possibly just because of her whole dragonhunter vendetta.

    This was a bonus chapter full of mixed emotions for me lol.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I know, I feel sorry for Rory, too. He still cared enough for Evie to get Talfryn's tooth for her, knowing he was giving up any chance with her. I don't have any plans for Rory at the moment, but I would like for him to get his happy ending eventually, so maybe.

      Peridot's death was a sad way to go even for a unliked character.
      The fairy does have a bit of a Kelyn vibe, with her animosity toward dragonslayers.

      Thanks, SummerRaine!

      Delete
  6. Talfryn coming back! *celebrates* Yay! That would be awesome! (Thank you Ali!) I feel bad for Rory though, I hope he gets a happy ending too!

    The life of a clone, poor Peridot. The attitude that both Geoff and she portrayed reminded me a bit like the Japanese and their sense of honor. There were a lot of suicides when Japan lost the war, because of their beliefs. Geoff proves that underneath that civilized exterior of his, he is a true Landgraab, just like his ancestor the Dragon Slayer. I also found it interesting that both of them were not wearing only white clothes---there was some color there!

    I was afraid you were going to keep the red fairy's identity a secret. I looked at her, and I thought she reminded me of someone, but my memory is not helping me out on that today. So now that is going to bug me all day, lol Who else would be so interested in Talfryn's tooth? *speculates*
    I'm really looking forward to your next generation! =)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I've always felt really bad about killing off Talfryn, and I loved that Ali resurrected him. Rory still needs his happy ending though.

      Yeah, I guess Peridot's suicide for her failure was kind of like a samurai's bushido code. I wasn't thinking that consciously, but I see how that idea might have crept in there.
      Geoff is definitely a Landgraab, all right.

      I am keeping the fairy's identity a secret, for now. But she should be a little familiar.

      Thanks, Nirar! I'm looking forward to the next gen, too.

      Delete
  7. Yay bonus chapter! Good work on that subplot change. I like it. I'm also intrigued by the dragon fairy, and have a theory about who she is. Can't wait to find out if I'm right :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, AyB87!
      Rory & Evie just weren't working for me. Even though it had been thousands of years, I just couldn't see Evie with anyone but Ta;fryn. So when Ali reunited them in her story, I just had to adopt that as canon.

      I'm happy to see speculation about who the fairy is. =D

      Delete
  8. I don't really know what to say about Rory and Evie.

    I really do feel kinda sad for Geoffrey now. He thought he found love, but if he loved her, he would've found a way to forgive her for her overzealous mission that he didn't want her to do.

    That fairy was wearing dragon skin. Am I right?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, exactly, if Geoff had truly loved her, he wouldn't have been as hard on her fo her mistake. In fact, I think his disappointment in realizing she was not the one made him go harder on her than if they'd just maintained a professional relationship, though I don't think it was intentional on his part. She 'failed' him on a much deeper level, and it just kind of broke him, in a way.
      I glad he has one sympathizer. Though he is still kind of an ass, I feel for him. The same as I feel for Reinier.

      The fairy isn't wearing dragonskin, but it is the same kind of reptile skin attire that my dragons wear in Summerdream, and that and the markings on her arm are big clues about who she is.

      Delete
    2. I guessed that the outfit and the markings were big clue as to who she is, but I'm too much of a airhead to figure it out. I suppose it'll come to light eventually, and I'll simply enjoy it then. :)

      Geoffrey is the type of bad guy I like to like. Strange, but yeah.

      Delete
  9. Geoff and Peridot didn't click as a couple in my mind... even though they had potential, there was too much to work past, once it was revealed that she was his genetically engineered attack puppy and he was several generations old. They couldn't be equals. So I'm glad that wasn't forced, though I do feel bad for Peridot, as I should.

    Evie and Rory was way creepy yo so I'm secretly glad that also failed. >=)

    Great story. Sorry I haven't been commenting much, but, yeah. I'm probably just jealous you guys can play and I can't. xD

    The fairy is wearing dragonish garb. And the tattoo. Hum. I'll contemplate that later.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Something happened with Geoff and Peridot in the writing. I had something for them, but scrapped it for sappiness, and what was left was this cold, dead relationship. And now a cold dead woman. Uh, I hope I'm not creeping you out, lol. But yeah, their romance was dead in the water...oh, am I doing it again? =P

      So *clears throat* Rory and Evie, also not a great match. I had two characters who were alone and tried to set them up like an obnoxious best friend. But they didn't want to be set up and resisted the whole thing.

      I'm bummed you can't play, too. I miss the Archers. It's always great to hear from you, I miss you when you are not around.

      The fairy does dress in dragon style and has traditional dragon marks on her arm. And she's really pissed at all Landgraabs everywhere.

      Delete
  10. Yay for resurrecting Talfryn! I'm so glad I was able to give you that idea and you like it enough to use it :)

    Definitely fascinated by this fairy with the red hair and the dragon markings, she does feel familiar but I can't quite pin her down... I'm guessing so far that she's the offspring of a dragon and a fairy, but I'm not sure who, although her hair seems to be a similar shade to Talfryn's... I shall look forward to finding out who she is and why she hates Landgraabs so fiercely

    As for Geoffrey and Peridot, I feel sorry for Peridot, Geoffrey didn't really love her did he, even if at one point he thought he might? I'm not sure how I feel about Geoffrey, he seems to be to hurting himself even as he hurts those around him, but I don't know if he has what it takes to change

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you so much Ali! As soon as you told me you wanted to resurrect Talfryn, my mind started turning. I was afraidI was going to just be letting the stolen dragon tooth be a loose end since I couldn't work Evie and Rory out properly.

      The red fairy's hair is very similar to Talfryn's and you are right in your guess that she's the offspring of a dragon/fairy pairing. And she really hates Landgraabs, lol.

      I think that Geoffrey did want to love Peridot and he thought at one point that he might, but he didn't. He can't quite put his finger on what love actually, but it is the condition for him being freed of the 'curse' of immortality. I love your thoughts about him, that he's hurting himself as he hurts others. I think he'd like to change things quite a bit, but he's been on the same path for a human lifetimes now, so change will be difficult and perhaps drastic.

      Delete