Chapter 30 [Both]: Calamity (Patreon)

Developments with Garfield were passing at a blistering speed. It was clear that he was the shadow leader of Drak’thul by the speed at which the army had moved. It had only been a month, and the hooves of the Man’tha army had emerged from the raging sandstorms of the Thullan Sand Dunes and decimated Fort Ambristel. King Raestaor of Rythorin had already sent a request for aid, and our warships were moving south. But it was too slow. By the time they reached the area, Garfield’s forces would’ve razed the city. It was a German Blitzkrieg. 

It was an impressive strategy. Garfield wasn’t giving me time to consolidate my political power. It was dangerous to leave. There could be revolts when I was gone or surprise attacks or betrayals when my, Marvis’s, and Queen Boudica’s forces amassed together to wipe out his forces. However, just as it was advantageous for Garfield not to give me time to consolidate, it was tantalizing to destroy him and Roslain and obtain Drak’thul in one battle. The stakes were ultimate, and the prizes were absolute. This was the type of battle that shaped history and gave birth to legends. My heart fluttered just thinking about it.

But it wasn’t a moment for celebration. The sky riders I sent to research Garfield claimed they saw some of his soldiers fighting like savage animals, rushing into battle and wielding low-level magic as if they were breathing. According to the accounts, their skin was webbed thick with varicose veins, and they killed dozens of soldiers each without a second thought. They ate in frenzies, resorting to cannibalism (assuming they were actually human). But what was most concerning about these savages was that there were one thousand of them, and despite their disturbing actions, they’d suddenly stop on a dime and follow someone’s orders like robots. That person was likely Garfield. If it was, the battle wouldn’t be as clear-cut as it ought to have been. There were a lot of unknowns.

I looked to the sky. It was a hot summer afternoon in Celestia’s equivalent of August. Sweat streaked down my neck, moving over my obsidian armor. Even though I reinforced it with cooling arrays to moderate the temperature, I felt like it would sizzle like sauna coals when it came into contact.

The number of people outside Servene’s front gates only made it hotter. There were over twenty thousand soldiers between my forces, converted Servene soldiers, Lena’s army, and Marvis’s troops. The latter two brought a different type of heat. The two sides were in a brutal gridlock before Zenith broke them off, so their trust in one another was as volatile as Lena and Marvis’s past relationship. My relationships weren’t much better. Marvis was livid when I presented Himmelskune on a platter—in exchange for their religious freedom. It was the kingly equivalent of someone telling you how to raise your children and then asking them to pay you for the advice. It was rude. I didn’t care. He was angry. We hadn’t talked outside of war council meetings since. The whole area was a melting pot of negative emotions, patched together by pride in being the victors and the necessity of dealing with the invasion from the south.

“Come on!” Marvis drawled, mounting a thunderstag. “Are we going to fuck? Or just keep touching ourselves?”

Lena snorted. “Your crudeness knows no bounds.”

“They’re just words,” Marvis said, rolling his wrist above his head. “Tiny messages that get shit across. And from my experience, asking for action has little effect. People are deaf to it. So you gotta say it in ways they’ll understand.”

“Not yet,” I said. We were ready to disembark from Syrvene and move south toward Celestium. But there was a nagging feeling I had forgotten something or something was wrong.

“Why not?” Marvis asked.

“Because he’s the leader, and he said so,” Thea said.

Marvis turned to Thea, who was standing beside me. “He’s the leader now?”

“If you aren’t aware, I’m famous for my impatience,” I said.

He presented the world with a swipe of his arm. “Then don’t just sit there, ‘leader.’ Get started.”

Lena huffed and looked at me. “When are we leaving?”

I opened my lips but closed them, swallowing slightly. I couldn’t articulate my reluctance to leave, but I couldn’t justify it much longer. I turned to Thea and squeezed her hand, leading her to our griffin. Zenith and Rema were staying in Servene to prevent problems, but they were to await signals and prepare for war in the event they were needed. So it was just us, just like the old days.

Once mounted, I turned to Marvis and Lena with a conflicted expression. “I was just making sure I wasn’t missing anything, I’ll send the word.” 

2

Sailors rushed onto the deck of a ship in the middle of the Heliana Strait, grabbing the rails around the boat to stabilize themselves. Water crashed over their faces, making the wood slick. 

“Hurry!” a sailor yelled. Despite the pelting rain that submerged the seas in darkness, they were able to catch a glimpse of a signal stating that Sundell was under attack.

“It’s no good! It’ll go out immediately!”

“Then turn the ship to Servene! We need to spread the message!”

“On it!” the captain yelled, cranking the steering wheel to the maximum degree.

3

I put my fingers into my mouth and whistled. The luges flew out of the walls as if they aimed to pierce the heavens. Then, the Swarm grouped, blotting out the light from the sky. They released lesser screeches to make their presence known before flying above us, terrifying most of the soldiers.

Lena raised an eyebrow. “You’ve already tamed them?” 

“You don’t tame them,” Thea said. “You lead them.”

Our griffin took to the air, and the Swarm reacted, circling around us in a wartime frenzy.

“Let’s go,” I said. We started flying south to meet Garfield.

4

Samson ran along the wall, carrying an order between Dad and General Moro. At first, it was exciting, but when he saw large swaths of earth explode in furious flames and heard the piercing screams of soldiers as they burned alive, he finally understood his father’s warnings. This wasn’t a “battle.” There wouldn’t even be a chance for him to unsheathe his sword. Right now, he just had to survive, and his message confirmed that:

The northern gate is cracked. Stop the calamity spell at any costs.

That’s what his father told him to relay, and it was hard to see from the amount of rain pelting him in the darkness. It was hard to hear over the sound of machine guns exploding to his right, making his ears numb. It was even hard to feel with the cold water biting at his face, making his teeth clatter. No, this wasn’t a battle. It was a two-way massacre.

Suddenly, there was a horrifying shriek, and the nighttime sky turned bright green with arrays. A second later, a terrifying gust of wind hit the wall. The barrier lit up, but wind still made it through, sending the soldiers flying backward. A flying soldier hit Samson and sent him flying over the wall, suspended over the top of Sundell, a hundred fifty-foot drop below him. As his life flashed before his eyes, a hand caught him by his throat, and Samson gasped, writhing as he gripped the arm with both hands. For a moment, he felt like he’d wet himself, squeezing back tears. But before he had the chance to do either, he found himself on level ground again.

When Samson opened his eyes, he found Iska kneeling beside him. 

“Are you okay, My Lord?”

“I-I….” Samson’s eyes welled with tears. “I’m sorry.” That was all he could say. Just fifteen minutes ago, he was telling Iska to go back to protecting Mom and Eris. Now, he had to save his life. It was shameful.

“This isn’t the time to reflect, soldier,” Iska said. “You have a message to deliver. Let’s go.”

“O-Okay!” Samson said, saluting him. Then they ran alongside the wall. 

When they reached General Moro, the message was irrelevant. The archwizards were posted above them, two guarding the wizard chanting the calamity spell. Their position made it impossible for the machine guns to hit them, so they had soldiers with snipers lifted to the sky, firing semi-automatic rounds at them. 

“Fire!” General Moro yelled.

A new volley of gunfire pierced the heavens, and there was a distant cry of one of the archwizard’s strange avians.

“Barriers up!” General Moro followed. The grand barrier was broken around them from constant attacks, so they were defenseless in that area. But on the general’s orders, mages activated five smaller barriers, piling them up like onion layers. Not a second later, a thousand ice balls hit the barriers, cracking them one after the other. When it got to the fourth barrier, he put up his hand. “When it breaks, fire!” 

The last barrier exploded, and hell broke loose. The soldiers released a volley, making a beast screech in the sky. At the same moment, ice balls hailed down on the soldiers, instantly killing a dozen in a bloody display. 

Samson barely saw. Iska immediately lifted his shield, covering him as massive attacks hit it like a drum, making his mind rattle.

“Why are you here?” General Moro yelled to Samson.

“I, um….” Samson swallowed. “To tell you that the northern gate is cracked, so we have to stop the spell.”

“I’m trying,” he replied. “Anything else?”

“No. Do you have a message for me?”

General Moro took a sharp breath. “Yeah. Ask him if you can fight. We could use a strong aerial spell right now.”

Samson swallowed hard. He had powerful magic. That was a given. But his father…. “I….”

“Go ask him,” General Moro said. “Now go. If you can’t help, you’re just asking to die in the hot zone.”

“S-Sir!” Samson said. Then he turned to Iska. “Let’s go!”

“Yes, My Lord.” Iska grabbed him in his arms and started running. This time, Samson didn’t complain. This wasn’t a game, and time was running out. 

5

Sailors ran on the water-logged deck of the ship, fighting against the wind. They were using propellers at maximum speed and wind magic to propel them forward.

“Are you ready?” the captain yelled to a man under a barrier. “We only got one shot!” If there were two fireballs, it would mean for King Everwood to send word immediately. So once they sent a fireball into the storm, they had to wait for thirty minutes.

The soldier responsible rocked back and forth on the deck, two men bracing him. He nodded and started churning mana, warping the air as a fireball developed inside the barrier. It got larger and larger until his face was sweating, and the other soldiers were covering their faces from the light and heat. Then, once it got unbearable, they released the barrier, and the soldier shot the fireball straight into the storm, creating a streak of fog as it boiled the rain in a 300-foot straight line.

6

Leon watched water from the Solsa River get sucked into the sky in a major vortex, adding to a colossal ball of water that looked like a saw blade. It was a flood spell, there was no doubt. And once it broke the barrier…. He looked down and saw the crack in the northern gate. It wasn’t much. It’d survive just about anything. Anything but that. If the Archwizards completed that spell, it would shatter the wall and flood the entire city, wiping out all the buildings at a minimum. At worst, it would crack the underground shelters and fill them with water. If that happened….

Leon gritted his teeth. Please stop them….

That was a joke goal. General Moro was trying and getting results. The archwizards protecting the chanting mage had been hit, and one had a mount that was flying erratically. There was constant healing magic, but Moro wasn’t letting up. At any moment, the beast would die, and at least one would fall to the ground. Then they had a shot. However, if they outlasted the calamity spell, it would be over. And Leon didn’t know how long it’d take to complete. Ten minutes? Five? One? It was hard to know. It was nerve-wracking.

Suddenly, Samson’s voice called through the rain.

“Dad!”

Leon’s heart panged. No more “sir.” Samson understood that this wasn’t the time to play soldier. “What is it?” he yelled back.

“They want me to fight!”

Leon’s heart froze. Samson had that power, but… if he did shoot at the archwizards, then they would see him as a threat and chase him down. There’d be barrages upon barrages until Samson was dead. How was he supposed to react to that?

Leon looked into the sky and saw that massive ball of water spinning endlessly like Solara’s whirlpool. He still didn’t know how long it would take to finish. They might all be dead if they didn’t take action. He looked at Samson and gritted his teeth, his mind contorted in anguish.

7

Five minutes into my journey, I saw it. There, over the ocean, was a single ball of fire. My heart stopped.

“Stop!” I yelled, flying sharply through the luges to get closer to the ocean. 

When I got through, I stared at the lingering fireball in horror as Thea gripped me from behind. Suddenly, I became aware of how chaffed my legs were already from the awkward saddle. I wasn’t riding Zenith. I couldn’t ride this fucking thing over the ocean. There was no change in plans. So when I waited, seeing whether Sundell was in trouble, I prayed for a second fireball to come, hoping there was a delay as they prepped another shot. But one didn’t.

I lifted my hand and developed a massive blue fireball in my friend, the size of a small sun, growing larger and larger until it maxed out its usefulness as a normal signal. But this wasn’t a normal signal. I was launching this thing over the ocean, as far as it would go.

My order: Fuck the future. Use it.

There could be devastating consequences on humanity for what I was about to unveil, but there wasn’t time. If King Elio was attacking, my family would die. That’s all there was to it. And what was the point of a future if I couldn’t protect the family I loved?

Thea grabbed my hand, and I could feel her mana pouring into my spell, increasing the size until the soldiers were screaming from the heat. Marvis and Lena started demanding an explanation, putting up barriers. I ignored them and aimed the fireball that had become as big as the Times Square Ball that Americans drop every year on New Year’s.

“Please be enough!” I screamed, pulling my hand back with all my force. Then I launched it, sending it crashing through the air like a meteorite over the ocean.

“What was that?” Marvis yelled.

“Shut the fuck up!” I yelled.

“That’s a signal!” Lena yelled, taking space and preparing for battle. It was clear that they thought that this was an ambush.

I turned my head down to them. “You’re both fucking weak! If I wanted to kill you, you’d be dead! Now shut up and return to Servene, or leave! It doesn’t matter to me. There’s news from home, and I’m not leaving until it’s settled.”

Marvis and Leon tensed up and looked at each other. I could tell that they were wary. I was sitting there for a few hours “waiting for something” in their minds. Then something came, and I responded. That was a classic setup. But I didn’t care. I wasn’t leaving until I knew my family was safe. If it broke up the alliance—so be it.

8

A blue ball of light streaked across the sky above the sailors. It must’ve been clear to see for fifty miles and would’ve gone further if it weren’t for the storm. But it was immediate and clear. The soldier who sent the fireball in the storm got up with the help of others as the captain cranked the wheel again and started moving back to their original position. This time, the tide would be in their favor.

9

Carter sat in his workshop with a special gun in his lap. It wasn’t a sniper rifle. Well, it wasn’t supposed to be. It was a Type 99 20mm Cannon that shot 7-inch bullets. It was a beast of a weapon that would usually break a person’s shoulder to fire it and thus had to be mounted. However, the immortals could wield as a sniper so he made it one.

It was a big fuckin’ gun, but that’s not what it made it powerful. Accordin’ to The Boss, this thing was a fuckin’ nightmare amongst modern weaponry, and it had the power to ruin the entire goddamn world. It was so dangerous that arch-fucking-wizards were swirling up a calamity spell outside, and they still couldn’t use it without permission. It was just that goddamn powerful. And why the hell was he holdin’ the thing? Because he had the misfortune of havin’ to build it, and no one else could know of its existence. Shit, The Boss didn’t even tell his own family about it. That’s just how crazy it was.

Carter grabbed another drink and brought it to his lips. It smelled like medicine and regret, and he wanted it. But it also smelled like death because if he fucked this up, he was gettin’ washed away in that flood.

Fuck my life, Carter said, trying to put it down. He failed, opting to take a small drink instead. It felt cool and natural like tryin’ to drink icy water in the desert, but knowin’ if you drank too much too fast, you’d get sick. But God damn, did he want it! The whole goddamn bottle and then another.

Suddenly, the door flew open. “Blue fire in the sky!”

“Son of a bitch!” Carter yelled. He grabbed the drink and slammed half. If he was gonna do this thing, he couldn’t be weak at the knees. “Take me to the kid!”

“Yes, sir!” the soldier yelled, and then they ran straight into the cyclone, a barrier protecting the weapon. It only took a glance at the five inches of water flooding Sundell to know that the calamity spell was almost over. And if they didn’t make it in time, they’d all be washed away.

10

Archwizard Emery’s face beaded with sweat. It felt like no matter how much icy water hit him, it’d just burn up like his face was a hot pan. He was going through mana deprivation. Worse, those soldiers were following them with the gun volleys, and no matter how many he killed, most just replaced them. It was bad. Luckily, the final part of the spell was just creating momentum so Archwizard Ront could hurdle it at Sundell. Even if it failed, it would unleash a Tsunami on Sundell and break through the wall regardless. Still, Emery knew better than to underestimate King Everwood’s forces now. There were only four of them left, and Archwizard Wanman, the only one on the ground, was on his last legs. That was the might of King Everwood. Emery was a fool for thinking that he’d leave Sundell without the tools to kill the archwizards.

Suddenly, something caught his eye. It was a group of soldiers running in the rain under a barrier to keep dry. He’d usually think that they were foolish cretins who didn’t understand the necessity of stealth, but the group was running to the wall, heavily armed, it seemed. Where are they going? he thought.

Suddenly, another wave of sniper fire shot at him. Emery put up a barrier, and the bullets pierced through, dulling the impact. Each one hit him and his lyconas like a punch, making him wince. Two minutes left. He only needed to protect his archwizard for two more minutes.

Emery’s eyes flitted back to the streets. The group was gone…. No. Suddenly, they shot out of a stairwell, moving onto the main wall. Where are they… no! He jerked to the side where the crack was in the wall and found Leon and his son waiting for him. At any other moment, he would’ve been thrilled to have seen such a setup. However, that bald man handed the kid something, and if Emery had learned anything in the last hour, it was that objects made by King Everwood were always lethal.

Emery developed thousands of ice balls, fighting past his mana deprivation. But before he finished, the massive guard that kept saving the boy’s life broke off. Running down the line, he yanked one of the mounted guns off the ground and aimed it at them with his bare hands. Emery instantly reacted, throwing his spell at the gunner, creating a massive explosion. At the same time, a volley of bullets shot at him.

Instant devastation. The bullets were far stronger than the normal King Killers, and they instantly shattered Emery’s barrier. Then came the sting, both hot and cold. Emery looked down and found that his left arm had been shredded, and his lycona was screeching and bucking. “Damn it!” he yelled.

Luckily, it was over. The fight was an exchange—ice for bullets. And once it was over, Emery was wounded, and the gunfire ceased. He was probably dead.

Emery looked for Leon and his son. Where are— He found them just in time to see King Everwood’s brother lifting a massive gun and aiming it at Ront. There was only a minute left before the archwizard completed the spell. He had to intervene!

Boom!

A blue streak of light left the gun and cut across the sky like a comet. Emery watched in slow motion, seeing the glowing bullet glittering off the rain. He lifted his hand. “Tralash Helk!”

A barrier shot across the sky, putting itself between the bullet and Archwizard Ront. However, instead of piercing the barrier, the bullet sharply curved around it and hit Ront in the chest. Emery watched in horror as the man’s entire chest exploded out of his back, killing him in an instant. Then another bullet sounded, and it weaved through the air, curving around the second archwizard’s barrier, hitting him in the chest. Both died in a matter of seconds.

Primal terror flooded Emery as he saw the water vortex, now in freefall after Ront died, crashing toward the ground alongside the archwizard’s bodies. He immediately kicked his dying lycona, shooting downward to escape from the strange weapon, keeping pace with the falling water. In five seconds, the water would hit the ground and unleash hell on Sundell. He just needed to escape before that happened. 

As he neared the ground and heard the thunderous boom of water crashing into the wheatfields, he lifted up on the reins and corrected himself, flying ten feet above the ground.

Soldiers screamed as he flew overhead, followed by the sound of rattling guns. It was close. Emery could feel bullets skimming the air above his head. They missed. Two more seconds, and he could survive. 

Suddenly, he heard a terrifying hiss behind him, and something hit his lycona from the back. Then, Emery could only watch in horror as its head exploded and a blue streak shot out. 

What the fuck is— He couldn’t finish his thought because the lycona crash-landed, sending him rolling. When he got up, his vision was blurry. His body was shivering from mana deprivation. But there was enough. He could still kill mortals. He just needed to make it to the forest.

His feet slogged in the mud as he stumbled forward, dry heaving. What was that? he thought, turning around. His vision was doubling as he looked at the wall. It was black as night, cutting straight lines in the rain. Suddenly, that blackness streaked with blue light, and Emery jumped out of the way, but the bullet didn’t hit him. Instead, it suddenly veered off course, hitting something else. It was like… it was aimed at him but decided of its own free will to hit another target.

Unless….

Emery’s body flooded with adrenaline at the thought that wormed its way into his head. What if… the bullet had a leader spell attached to it? There was an ancient magic known only by archwizards that played a decisive war in the battle between King Elio and Emperor Temüjin. It attracted attacks only toward the entity with the most mana. It was that spell that eventually aided the downfall of Emperor Temüjin. And now, if King Everwood had translated the magic into arrays and attached it to bullets….

I was right, Emery thought, his body shivering. He’s insane.

Suddenly, another three blue flashes streaked across the sky. Two bent off in other directions, but the third went straight for him. Emery jumped. The bullet curved. And then came the surreal feeling of an object hitting his chest. It wasn’t a king killer. It wasn’t one of the blasts that took his arm off, either. As soon as it hit his rib cage, he could feel it twisting in his chest before his entire back exploded, leaving him paralyzed as he hit the ground. He looked into the sky, his upper half convulsing in shock as blood shot out of his mouth.

Emery was dying, but King Everwood would soon die, too. Die from his own invention, an invention designed to kill the strongest. Designed to kill—

—King Everwood.

Emery had no pleasure in the thought. He had dedicated his whole life to protecting people. But this? This would destroy everything. There was no pleasure in that. Only madness…. Only….

With fear for the future of Solstice welling in his mind, he gave into the oxygen deprivation, and darkness clouded his eyes.

11

Samson slammed into another building, getting swept along a tide ripping through Sundell. It was surreal. He had squeezed off four shots in ten seconds, but by the time he confirmed all the archwizards were dead, a massive wave of water broke through the barrier and slammed into the wall, cracking it in half. Leon grabbed him as they were flung backward, using a barrier to protect them from the ground. However, they never hit the ground. Before they got there, a massive torrent of water slammed them into a warehouse, shattering the concrete and leaving their bodies glued to the steel rebar bones within. For a moment, he thought they would die there, but another current violently swept them to the right, and he and Dad were separated.

Now, he was fighting for his life.

12

“Momma!” Eris screamed as Scarlet hugged her, pulling her daughter into her bosom. Scarlet wanted to be calm, but a massive force had crashed into the bunker a minute ago, making it groan and shake. The door dented inward, and there was water slowly seeping through the bottom of the door, carrying rubble with it. Now, it was slowly filling the room.

“I’ll be okay, honey,” Scarlet said, her heart thundering in her chest. “Believe in your father and….” Her face twisted into a grimace. Her son was out there, and whatever slammed into the bunker had likely hit him. Were they okay? Would anyone help them? If not, there was likely an hour before they suffocated…. Scarlet’s eyes welled with tears as she held her screaming daughter. “It’ll be okay, honey. Believe in them, okay? Believe….”

13

Marvis and Lena decided to follow me into Servene and then all the way up to the top of the castle while I awaited the news.

“What’s going on?” Lena demanded when we got up there.

“Someone’s attacking Sundell,” I said. It was a gamble to tell people that you were weak when tensions were high, but it was a test of sorts. If they decided to attack, I’d kill them on the spot or die trying. I was the strongest there, having fed on archwizards and ancients. At least I could match Lena. And, between my magic and hers, I felt it wouldn’t be a real battle. I’d eat through the floor, and even touching her sword could dissolve it. Perhaps that was too simplistic. Either way, I was in a bad position and needed to test them.

“Did you expect that to happen?” Marvis asked.

“I have a bad feeling. It’s been nagging at me since this morning.” I trembled in rage. “Now, listen. I’m staying here until I get the next signal. If you two want to leave until I send for you, I’m okay with that. You can also move ahead, and I can catch up. Hell, if you want to dissolve the alliance, that’s fine. But I’m staying here until I get the signal.”

The gravity in the room amplified, burrowing into my bones. It felt like, at any moment, everything could spiral out of control, and we could break out into a fight.

Marvis scoffed, gripping his hand, his face bulging. “It’s too fucking convenient. It’s all too fucking convenient.”

Lena looked at him with contempt but snorted. “I agree.”

“I gave you three alternatives to waiting here,” I said. “Unless you want to make it five options and fight me, I suggest you accept one of them.”

“You’re a smart man, King Everwood,” she said. “But you need to get your attitude in check.”

“People have been telling me that since I was ten. Unfortunately for you, it keeps working out. Either way, I’ll consider it once the signal comes in.”

“Forget this,” Marvis said. “Let me know when you’re willing to act like an adult.” He strode to the door and slammed it behind him.

Lena continued staring at me.

“What?” I asked.

“What will happen if you lose? Will you give up Servene in our alliance to go home?”

I kept quiet.

“King Everwood. You’re a child. You’re not even a king, so far as I can tell. You have contempt for us and our customs. But if you leave, no leader will ever create an alliance with you again. You can’t just—“

“Then leave and keep out of my way.” I turned to her and looked her in the eye. “I’m fighting for you and Marvis and this whole damn world. All I ask for is for the people I love to live good lives. I haven’t asked for much. To marry who I want. For my friend to have the right to marry. And for my family to be safe. Kingdoms have to accept that as a condition of making an alliance with me. If they can’t do that, I will not ally with them. It’s as you say—I’m not a king. So just accept it or leave.” 

I turned around and looked out the window, staring over the ocean.

“You’re a fool,” Lena said.

“Complain somewhere else,” I said. “I’m sure Princess Redfield will listen and sympathize. Hell, I’m sure she’ll beg you to stay like a reasonable politician. 

Lena took a step forward. “King Everwood.”

“Leave,” I ordered. She took a deep breath and followed my directive. Then I stared out the window, rubbing my wrists as I paced back and forth. Please be alright, I silently pleaded. Please….

[A/N: There will be another chapter, obviously. Maybe a 6-7k-word one. I'm doing it right. Hope you're enjoying the story!]