Authors Note: My Journey as a Writer and the Power of Readers

Author’s Note:

When I submitted the last chapter of Twinfinity: The Onyx Ravens, I also included an author’s note that let readers know that I had a published work in the same series that was on sale. I received a comment from a reader that suggested that xnxx was an inappropriate place to publicize works for sale, and I wanted to explain a little about my motives for doing that.

I now post stories on xnxx under my real name, but that wasn’t always the case. As a matter of fact I cut my teeth as a writer under a pen name on this very site. It shouldn’t come as any surprise that I have now come back to this site to post stories under my real name.

My intentions are not to take advantage of anyone. I respect everyone’s right to choose or not choose to purchase anything that I have written, and whether or not you do choose to purchase is irrelevant to me. Every reader is more than welcome to continue to read the material that I supply for free with no obligation to ever make that purchase. The stories that I submit for free are readable without ever buying the novel. I make sure that I explain everything that you need to know so that you can completely understand what is happening and you never have to buy the novel in order to get a complete sense of the story. You are more than welcome to read my stories and you do not have to buy the novel in order to do that.

I am also telling you this so that you understand that there is a hidden potential behind your readership on this site. Every time you read a story that is posted here, and especially every time you vote positive, or make a positive comment to the writer, you are also inspiring that writer to try to do more, and to try to do even better. The potential end result of that readership and commentary is that writer may then go on to do it in a more professional manner. You have the potential as a reader to positively impact a person’s life, and you have that potential by doing something that you enjoy.

I want to make it clear that I respect the readers on this site. I am not trying to milk readers for money. I am simply offering you free material, and if you so choose, also giving you the opportunity to purchase additional material at a reasonable price. I mean no disrespect to anyone.
Twinfinity

Quest for the Prim Pocket

Prologue

Bolimar

∞

“We are not alone,” is a phrase that we’ve all heard before. We hear that phrase in reference to the possibility that there is other life on far distant planets in some galaxy far from our own.

And we’re not alone. Whether or not there is life on some other distant planet is irrelevant, because there is other life much, much closer to us and is not measured in light years, but measured in veils. Two of them to be exact. One veil separates us from the nether and another separates the nether from Bolimar.

There are similarities between Bolimar and Earth and there are differences. The history of the universes that exist on the other side of both planes are different from each other. Those differences in histories have had different effects on the planet on each side of the veil. The layouts of both planets are similar, but meteors and land shift histories have been different and therefore metals and mountain masses that exist on Bolimar do not exist on earth in the same way.

And life on the other side of both veils is different. The evolutionary track of both the flora and fauna has taken a different track on Bolimar than it has on earth. There isn’t one single race of higher thinking beings on Bolimar, but many. Humans exist there, but they are the weakest of the higher thinking animals on the planet and weak, in conjunction with the deadlier beings, both higher and lower thinking, is not very conducive to survival.

The kingdom of Messolina exists in the center of the mass that we think of as North America. In comparison it exists in the center of the area we refer to as Missouri. The land surrounding Messolina is as mountainous as the Rockies, but those mountains are not made of typical rock. They are formed by a metallic substance known as correllium.

And correllium is the core of all problems and wars on Bolimar.

On Earth there are many different metals, gems, ores, and other natural resources that are very valuable. Some because of their beauty, some because of their usefulness, and these things also exist on Bolimar, but it is correllium that is most coveted. The reason for that is because it is so durable. It is so durable, as a matter of fact, that even scratching correllium cannot be accomplished by any traditional means. If you form correllium into the blade of a sword, you never have to sharpen it again and, if you know how to do it, you can make it as sharp as a razor blade.

The ancient civilizations that existed long ago on Borimar knew how to mine correllium. They could mine it, mold it, cut it, and shape it into any form they desired, but this technology was lost after the Prim lost their long and coveted control over the Kingdom of Messolina to a Moog overthrow.

Bolimar hasn’t been the same since.

Twinfinity

Quest for the Prim-Pocket

Chapter 1

The Stalking Shadows

∞

Jo-Laina sat, hands on her lap, fingers dancing, mind focused on every shadow within her range in the forest, amongst her group in their temporary camp. She wasn’t exactly connected to her bolainin (seeing companion) but she was filtering its sights and sounds into her mind, so that she could keep herself aware of what her companions were talking about (nothing much), and what they were doing (laughing, drinking, and cutting jokes as usual).

They were all capable fools to her. The dangers that surrounded them were plentiful. Their very situation dripped of danger, and their arrogance seemed ridiculous to her. Yes, they were all very capable with a sword, and yes they had all survived many surprise attacks from very skilled enemies, but letting your guard down never seemed to be a good idea when you were on the run. And taking time to get drunk, laughing it up like you were the special guest at a ball, was just plain foolish.

There were plenty of shadows surrounding them that they should all be concerned about. Most of the shadows were recognizable to her, but a couple of them weren’t, which was even more troubling to Jo-Laina. There weren’t many animals that she couldn’t put a name to and, as far as she knew, there were no higher thinking beings, which she couldn’t identify.

What was even more troubling to her was that the two shadows that she couldn’t identify seemed to have the ability to mask themselves if, and when, they wanted to. That was a phenomenon that mostly existed in Moog legends, but if those legends were true, then they were being stalked by two Tso Tsa Min; (harvesters of the Prim).

And that was especially bad news, because while it was possible for a prim to defeat a Tso Tsa Min, that fact was irrelevant because both Jo-Laina and Jo-Vanna were only five, and while they were both very skilled for five-year-olds, neither of them were so skilled as to fight off such a threat. And if they couldn’t do it, then the rest of the clan was doomed. Their mission would fail.

Jo-Laina’s finger stopped dancing in her lap. She got up from her sitting position, annoyed, crossed her hands in front of her to her sides, and drew both of her short swords. A shadow that she recognized was approaching, and it wasn’t approaching in a friendly way. It was stalking its way up to their camp. The shadow belonged to a shriek bengoi and it had obviously smelled the camp and recognized the smell as food.

∞

“Man, that girl creeps me out,” Greegus commented. He brought his wineskin to his mouth, suckled the last of his share of the drink, and passed it along like a good soldier.

The girl he was referring to, Jo-Laina, sat with her back propped against the trunk of a tree, her hands dancing in her lap in the way of a Prim. Her meerkin sat perched next to her, its whiskers flickering in the air as it continually sniffed like meerkins do, while munching on a nut that it held in its paws.

“You’re just jealous because she’s racked up more kills than you have, Greegus,” Panpar said as he took his last drink and passed the skin down the line.

“What, it doesn’t seem odd to you that a five year old can out-dice us all?” Greegus noted.

“No … Not at all. She’s a Prim. It’s what they were born to do.” Panpar returned, leaning back, staring up at the opening in the trees that half surrounded their camp, and soaking in the stars in the night sky.

“Well, Jo-Vanna here,” Greegus said as he reached over and cupped the back of Jo-Vanna’s head, “is a Prim too. She’s just not a creepy one.”

Jo-Vanna smiled at his approval. “My sister’s not so creepy,” she said. “She’s just looking out for us, you know. Like now. She’s keeping an eye out for anyone coming.”

“And?” Panpar asked. “Is anyone approaching?”

Jo-Vanna’s eyes brightened for a moment, sharpening and becoming even more silver than they had been previously, as they always did when her mind joined with her sister’s. Then they went back to their norm for a moment, and finally, brighter again, as she joined minds with her own meerkin. “There are shadows all around us. Most of them are nothing to worry about. She says we are stupid for staying here tonight. There’s only one way in and one way out. She says if we are attacked we will be bottled up inside and we will all die here.”

“Ah what does she know? She’s only five,” Greegus said. “If we are attacked our attackers will have to enter through the bottle neck! We will pick them off easily.”

“Two of them are Prim harvesters,” Jo-Vanna added. “At least that’s what she says. I can’t see their shadows, but she says they are there.”

Jo-Vanna’s comment got Panpar’s attention. His shoulders squared and his gaze turned to the young girl who sat on the other side of his first lieutenant. “She said that there are two Tso Tsa Min nearby?”

“That’s crazy Pan! They only exist in …”

Panpar raised an annoying hand at Greegus and Greegus took his hint. His lips snapped shut and he uttered not another word on the subject.

Jo-Vanna nodded her head. “That’s what she says. She says that they are keeping their distance for now, but …”

“Then the stories are true!” Panpar announced, drawing the attention of everyone else. All in all there were ten in their fighting band. Most of them had been on the verge of nodding off, but they began to stir and sit up from their laying positions. “You see!” he continued. “Our quest is not in vain like some of you have been whispering!”

“I wouldn’t get too excited, Pan,” Jo-Vanna said. “According to Jo-Laina we are being stalked. The Tso Tsa Min are not here to assist us. She says we are being followed by them, studied by them, and she expects that when their curiosities are filled they will pounce on us and our quest will end in a pool of our blood.”

“Ah,” Greegus said. “What does she know? She’s five!”

Jo-Vanna’s eyes narrowed. “You keep saying that, but you also forget that you are measuring us in purely human terms. We look five to you, but we age like the Prim. We were born before any of you were. Well … except Pan, but even he was barely old enough to hold a wine skin when we were born.”

Jo-Laina stood as if she were about to weigh in on the conversation. She did not. Instead her arms crossed in front of her and she pulled her swords from the scabbards she wore on her hips. Her silver sightless eyes glared momentarily before she turned away from them. She walked to the entrance and only exit to their camp, turned back toward them and knelt on the ground, laying her short swords in front of her as if she were studying them. She had one knee pressed into the forest bed, her other knee remained propped up. She had one wrist carefully dangled on her knee so that her hand hovered a few inches above her swords, and she kept the other one perched upon her back.

“What’s she doing?” Greegus asked.

Jo-Vanna smiled. She knew Jo-Laina as well as she knew herself, and she knew exactly what her sister was up to. “Watch and see,” she informed the group.

Jo-Laina had captured the attention of everyone in the camp and it wasn’t really necessary for Jo-Vanna to say anything to them in order to get them to watch Jo-Laina. Jo-Laina didn’t talk much, keeping to herself most of the time, sitting by herself while the rest of the group sat together in the overnight camps. During the day, when they were on the move, making their way ever onward in their quest, she also segregated herself from the group, but for an entirely different reason. During the day she either took the lead, or the rear (depending on which was more dangerous), again never saying much, but always at the ready for anything and everything that might come up. The group always knew that when Jo-Laina did move, or if and when she chose to say something, that there was a reason for it. She had moved. She had gotten up out of her position by the tree, and was crouching down near the entrance. There was no doubt in anyone’s mind, at that point, that something was about to happen.

And something did.

The action started with the meerkins that belonged to both Jo-Laina and Jo-Vanna. One second all was well. The next it wasn’t. Both of them sat perched next to their respective masters until they sensed the coming threat. Once that happened both of the meerkins bolted through the brush. They were there, and then they were gone.

“Cover your ears!” Jo-Vanna commanded, but didn’t bother to cover her own. There was no need for that, but everyone in the camp heeded her command, shoving their fingers into their ears, but watching Jo-Laina with intensity, knowing that when whatever was going to happen, happened, that it might very well be over in the blink of an eye.

A shrieking screech filled the night air, but Jo-Laina didn’t move. She remained in her crouching position, hands at the ready, but remained silent and still. Out of the seeming nowhere, the black fur of the shriek bengoi appeared in a leap, front paws extended outward, jaws open wide, teeth bared, as it flew toward its target. At the very last second, just before it pounced upon her, Jo-Laina snatched both of her swords, spun with a sweeping arc, gathering momentum as she went, and hit her mark true. One milli-second the predatory feline had its head, the next it didn’t. She rolled beneath it as its forward momentum carried it beyond her and landed with a dead thump into the middle of their camp.

Jo-Laina got to her feet. She walked over to the decapitated cat’s head, picked it up by grabbing the fur on the top of its head, and brought it over to where Greegus was sitting. “Seventy-two to sixty-one,” she said matter of fact. “You’re falling further and further behind old man.” She dropped the cat’s head into his lap and returned to her seat.

“I don’t fucking believe it,” he said as he stared at the present she had given him.

Panpar stood and walked over to the corpse. “Believe it, Greegus. You saw it for yourself and your eyes saw true. Now help me gut this thing. We might as well eat ourselves full, and thank the Gods for the bounty!” he finished with a laugh.

“Hah!” Greegus said as he stood up. “It’d take us a week to gut that thing! That’s what I can’t get through my thick skull. The fur on those retched creatures is like armor! We could sharpen our knives for a week and still have a hell of a time cutting through it.”

“Well, if she can behead the damn thing then we can gut it and remove its hide. Let’s get to it.”

∞
“Look at these fools, Picket,” Jo-Laina whispered to her meerkin with a smile. The meerkin was back in her lap, whiskers flaring up and down, as they both watched the men through the little furry critter’s eyes. “Do you think they’ll figure it out, boy?” she asked as she stroked its fur.

Greegus was bent before the huge cat, on his knees, brows dripping sweat, huffing and panting, as he tried to pierce the cat’s underbelly with his meaty hands and sharp knife. Panpar had a hold of the cat’s front paw and was holding it up to keep the cat’s underbelly exposed, and Jilkah, Greegus’ younger brother was doing the same with the cat’s large hind leg. Up until that point, the three were having no success while the rest of the group stood idly by, occasionally offering tidbits of useless advice, trying to help, but only frustrating Greegus even more than he already was.

“Not possible,” Greegus muttered under his breath. “Not possible to gut it, and not even possible to cut the damn thing’s head off in the first fuckin’ place.”

“And yet the cat has no head, Greegus! Put some ‘o’ that belly into it. Shove the damn knife in!”

“I don’t wanna spoil the damn meat! If I cut into her ‘testines then we ain’t eatin’ shit!”

“Well the night is wastin’ ‘n’ if we don’t git ‘er gutted then that belly’ll be keeping us all up the whole night, growlin’,” Panpar said mocking Greegus’ way of dropping his g’s.

“What do you think, Picket? Should we show ‘em how its done?” Jo-Laina asked her pet.

The meerkin turned toward her, wagged the stub it had for a tail as if it were a complete appendage, and licked her face. Jo-Laina got up from her seat, walked over to Greegus and drew her sword for the second time that night.

Greegus turned toward Jo-Laina, leered at her, and got up from his kneeling position. “What the hell ya gonna do with that? Can’t gut an animal with a sword! Damn ‘testines’ll spill the contents ever’where!”

“Stand back,” Jo-Laina ordered. Greegus backed off and so did Jo-Laina. She looked at the group through Picket’s eyes to make sure nobody would be within her swing plane. She went through the motions of spinning in slow motion, so she could make sure that nobody was in the way, and then took up her original position.

“She’s gonna spill the ‘testines for sure!” Greegus commented as he watched what she intended.

“Well,” Panpar said. “If she does we are no worse off than we were before she killed it. And if she does than at least we can quit fussing with the damn thing for no reason.”

Jo-Laina took a deep breath, centering her focus, allowing adrenaline to course through her veins, waking up her inner stored energy. The leaves in the trees around her began to wilt, the grasses that lined the outer edges of the campsite fell over suddenly, and Jo-Laina released her momentum. She spun, trailing her sword around her in an arc that would have pleased any professional golfer on this side of both veils, and she sliced just below the cat’s rib-cage, peeling back two inches of the cat’s pelt—not enough to spill it’s guts but it was a start.

“I’ll be damned,” Greegus said. “If I hadn’t seen that for m’self then nobody could’a ever convinced me that just happened.”

Panpar smiled, but said nothing.

Jo-Laina repeated the process a dozen more times before the cat’s intestines were spilling onto the ground in front of it. When that was done, she repeated it to hack off its front and hind legs, and then to remove its pelt. Panpar held the hide for her as she did, giving her a spot in between the meat and the hide to aim for, and within a half-hour they were all staring at a hide less carcass.

The group all watched as she worked, but they weren’t the only ones that did. Jo-Laina’s nemesis’ shadows had also moved in closer and had taken an interest.