I didn’t realize that today is Friday. I thought it was Thursday.
“I know you’re awake.”
The fox kept its eyes closed.
“I heard the change in your breathing.”
No reaction.
“Suit yourself.”
We sat in a shallow depression in the rock, not that different from the little cave that had been the fox’s prison. After picking the fox up, I’d carried it for a few hours – I wasn’t sure how long – until eventually Bear and I had gotten hungry. It took us another hour or so to find prey and water, and then we’d bedded down in this hiding spot.
Past the cave opening a large cavern stretched into the distance. Far below a narrow stream ran through a chain of shallow ponds ringed in mauve flowers. A young lake dragon lived in the center pond. It was submerged now but we watched it nab one of goat-like herbivores earlier, when a small herd of them wandered out of a side passage to the water to take a drink.
A narrow ledge led to the right, hugging the wall, before diving down and connecting to another tunnel leading into the rock, the only way to access this cave. I had blocked the tunnel with the dial barrier. The irregular shape of the opening didn’t matter. The force barrier conveniently expanded until it met solid rock. I’d tested it out in different tunnels. As long as the opening was less than 26 feet wide, the barrier asserted itself. For the moment we were safe from everything that didn’t have wings or couldn’t climb sheer walls. If the DDC ever got their hands on this tech, the scientists would faint.
I sliced a sliver from a stalker ham and held it out to the fox on the tip of my sword. “Hungry?”
The fox opened one eye to a narrow slit, looked at the meat, then at me. Its hand shot out, and then my sword was empty. The fox held the meat up, sniffed it, and put it on a rock next to it. Bear stopped eating and watched it.
The fox rolled onto all fours. Its back arched. It strained and hacked. Its body shuddered, gripped by spasms. It hacked again, louder. A small metal object fell from its mouth.
“Lovely.” I took a bite from my own stalker tartare.
The fox tipped an imaginary cup to its lips and held its paw out to me. I passed one of the canteens to it. The fox gently unscrewed the lid and poured a little bit of water onto the thing it had regurgitated. It rubbed the object on its fur, inspected it, nodded, sipped from the canteen, and offered it back to me.
“Oh no, that’s yours now.” I shook my head.
The fox drank from the canteen, hugged it to itself, and put the metal object by its feet. It looked like a large marble with bumps on its surface. The fox must have swallowed it to keep it from being taken.
The fox snatched the meat from the rock and stuffed it into its mouth.
“More?”
The fox nodded. It was so amazingly human-like. I cut another slice from the ham.
About a pound of meat later, the fox sat back and rubbed its belly.
“Better?”
The fox eyed me, then looked at Bear gnawing on her bone.
“She won’t hurt you unless you try to hurt us first. She’s my dog and she’s a good girl.”
The fox’s eyes narrowed to slits. It leaned back and giggled. The sound was startling.
It laughed at me. The little asshole understood me.
“Which part of that was funny?”
The fox reached for the marble and squeezed it. A beam of light protruded from the sphere, expanding into an image. A fluffy Pomeranian, followed by a Golden Retriever, and then an English Bulldog.
How the hell did it have these recordings?
“Yes, all of those are dogs. Dogs like Bear.”
The fox pointed at the device and let out a tiny woof. Then it pointed at Bear and shook its head. Its paws came up, claws out, and he let out a quiet, menacing rawr.
Bear was not a dog. Bear was something scary.
“Don’t listen to it, Bear. You are the best dog ever.”
The fox laughed, then leaned forward. It put one paw on its chest. A quiet voice came from its mouth. If it was human, I would have said it was male and a tenor.
“Kiar Jovo.”
That had to be a name. I put my hand on my chest. “Ada Moore.”
Kiar Jovo squeezed the marble again. An image of a man and a woman appeared. The man blurred and turned into Kiar Jovo. Male. He was male.
I nodded.
The marble flashed again. An old fox couple, their fur grey, stood side by side, wearing jeweled sashes over one shoulder. Golden hoop earrings flashed in their ears. Behind them a multitude of fox creatures appeared, similarly dressed, most grey or black, their fur like dense smoke.
Kiar Jovo waved his arm over the image. “Kiar.” He touched his chest again. “Jovo.”
Kiar was the family or tribe. He was Jovo of the Kiar.
I touched my hand to my chest. “Ada.”
I didn’t have a marble. I looked around, grabbed a rock, and scratched a stick figure drawing into the floor: Me, Tia, Noah, Bear, and our cat. I circled the drawing with a rock. “Moore.”
Jovo nodded.
There were so many questions I wanted to ask. How did he know about us, where did he come from, how did he end up in this breach, who made the breaches and why? But right now, I had to stick to the most important one.
I pointed at his ears and the wound on his chest. “Who?”
Jovo bared his teeth in an ugly snarl. The marble flashed, and a familiar figure appeared, wrapped in a grey tattered robe with four arms, each holding a blade. A second figure stood next to it, much smaller, slimmer, its face hidden by a veil of chains. If Jovo put them in the same order as the human pair, the larger creature was male and the smaller was female. That would mean there were only male attackers at the mining site. The head and shoulders of the male matched the outline of the creature that stalked us. Our hunter was one of these. Made sense.
Jovo’s voice was a ragged snarl. “Kael’Gress.”
“I know those. I have seen them.” I pointed at myself. “Moore.” I pointed at Jovo. “Kiar.” I pointed at the four-armed assassin.
Jovo shook his head. He put his hand on his chest again. “Lees.” He pointed at me. “Hoo-man.” He pointed at the image of the creature. “Gress.” He raised his hand as if stabbing and pierced the air with an imaginary knife, mincing an invisible enemy with a flurry of stabs. “Kael.”
Gress was the species name. Kael’Gress was a gress who killed. Killer Gress.
Jovo raked his claws across the image, his fangs bared. He tried to rip the projection, pulling it apart, and looked at me.
“You want to kill this Kael’Gress?”
I drew my finger across Kael’Gress’s throat.
Jovo nodded several times, his eyes bright.
The four-armed fighters were incredibly dangerous. A memory of them spinning through the cavern flashed before me. I still remembered how one of those grey shrouds stretched trying to kill me after its owner was dead.
“Dangerous,” I said.
Jovo frowned at me. Must not have been a word he was familiar with.
I raised my hands, fingers apart, imitating him when he talked about Bear, and made a snarly noise.
Jovo nodded, then raked the image again. Right, we were still stuck on the killing.
“He almost killed you. You were chained.” I pointed to Jovo’s neck and trailed my finger indicating an imaginary cord. I pointed at the gress and drew a line across Jovo’s neck and then mine. He would kill us both.
Jovo put his hands together and bowed to me.
I shook my head. No.
Jovo bowed again, then again.
I shook my head. “No. Dangerous.”
Despair shone in Jovo’s eyes. He took a deep breath and offered the metal marble to me.
I shook my head. “No.”
Jovo shrank from me, clutching his marble with both hands. The marble was his most prized possession, his only possession. He offered me everything he had, and I said no. If he was human, I would have guessed he was close to tears. This seemed more important than just revenge.
I pointed at the gress. “Why?”
Jovo pointed at the gress and made a grabbing motion, snatching something forcefully from the air.
“He took something from you?”
Jovo squeezed his marble. A night sky flared above us, strange constellations glowing. One of the stars shone brighter. Jovo reached for it, his face full of longing.
“Home?” I guessed.
He looked at me. I pointed at my stick drawing. “Home?”
“Home,” Jovo said.
He pointed to the gress and crossed his hands forming an X.
Whatever the gress took from him, Jovo needed it to get back home. He was stuck here, alone.
I too wanted to go home, more than anything in the world.
Jovo sagged on the floor, dejected.
“Where is the gress? Where can we find him?” I made a show of looking around.
Jovo raised his hand and pointed over my shoulder. I didn’t even need to look. I knew exactly in which direction he was aiming.
Jovo was pointing at the anchor.
Everything we both wanted was at the anchor.
The gress was stalking me. I was sure of it. Three of its kind chased the woman in blue, trying to murder her. Either they wanted to kill her or to take something from her. Before she died, she passed something precious to her onto me, which made me their new target. That wasn’t a logical leap. It wasn’t even a hop.
This gress would hunt me down. He had followed me but hadn’t closed the distance so far. Perhaps he knew that my predecessor killed three of his kind. Perhaps he didn’t want to strike until he was sure that I had no escape route. If I lost him in this warren of passageways and caverns, tracking me down would be difficult.
He must’ve realized by now I was going to the anchor. He would ambush me there. Bear and I could face him alone or with Jovo.
And there was another part to it. I wanted Jovo to go home. I knew exactly how he felt, and I wanted him to get back to his clan.
“Okay.” I spread my arms in a gesture of resignation and surrender.
Jovo perked up, his eyes shining.
“We’ll try,” I told him.
The lees jumped forward, clearing the distance between us in a single leap, raised his hands and hugged me. For a second, I didn’t know what to do and then I carefully hugged him back.
1st?
Certified 🙂
Bahaha! Just this past Monday I was thinking Id never make 1st, no matter what, so no point in even trying! I work late shift so Im not usually up this early…
The stars mustv’e aligned particularly well, because even with a cat trying to sit on my face, here I am!
Today will be a good day!!!
Congrats!!!
It’s Friday, it’s Friday la la la 🎶🎶
Holy crap, a lees. Wow. Wow. Wow.
Wow! A lees!
I know right?
Ta muchly
Also I watched a reality UK tv show where a woman and a German shepherd lead a woman archeologist through caves to see ancient drawings.
Best dog ever!
Not first but close?
So fun the Lees are here. But is Ada’s earth the same earth with inn keepers, or a parallel earth? Can we take him to Texas? Good times.
top 5?
Just went back to read, ooooh, he is a Lees! Does this mean that Ada’s earth is Dina’s Earth? Or Maybe the Edge non-magic part of Earth? Or some other parallel Earth? Oh, so many questions! I can’t wait to find out!!!!
Also, I didn’t comment on the last blog post, because all the yarn looked the same to me (I’m not a knitter), but I was so excited to hear the Inheritance is finished. When can I purchase a copy; e-book, hardcover, GA…. any of the ways/all of the ways?
Preorder will be shared very soon, I believe the cover is on its way to being done!
If you’re hearing a roaring cheer, it’s just the rest of us. 😀
The Edge is on an Earth that’s a different but similar kind of Earth that’s stuck in its own pocket of the universe. I would imagine this Earth is also different to Dina’s Earth. But since George and Dina have met despite being from different Earths I imagine it’s possible that travel is possible. Especially with the intriguing nature of these breaches.
I believe it’s an Arbitrator thing.
George could go from Diana’s Earth to Edge’s Earth to get Sophie.
Klaus could go from Dina’s Earth to Edge’s Earth to get George, Jack & Gaston.
I don’t think others can do it and I think not even the Inns can open a door on Edge Earth.
Arbitrators can do it, but George didn’t use their tech to do so when getting Sophie because it isn’t allowed for an arbitrator to return to their own world. He used a store on Baha-char after Dina opened a door there. We know inns won’t open paths to an Earth that is too similar, but there are multiple tech/magic ways to do so.
Sooo, are you suggesting that a connection from Baha Char (spl ??) may be possible from this alternate earth?
That an Arbitrator may use this to tra nsport Jovo home?
I wonder what the end goal for the Arbitrator could be?
I’m pretty sure this is setting up for a Unified Earth Theory series that mixes characters from Edge, Innkeeper, Kate Daniels, Inheritance, and Hidden Legacy. It’s possible this will involve scenes in each of these Earths, as well as off-world locations such as Baha Char.
That’s a very intriguing possibility. A distinct possibility. I look forward to seeing what happens
Yes, please!
Don’t underestimate the power of the Inns. George could inexplicably find a new doorway in his own home that leads right into Oreo’s kitchen-lol
I just had a momentary flash of sympathy for any newcomers reading the blog posts and getting to this point. It would be one of those “I understand all of the words I just read but I have no understanding of what they mean.”
😂
Tak 😀
😄 !! I’ve read all of these books and I still got a little lost!
That is perfectly natural, no stress. Once you have read through each of the different series three or four times it gets easier to keep track of everything of course ;)…
Maybe what we need is a separate lexicon thing with all characters and events for easy reference?
Happy Friday!
Top 10? Yay! Thank you!
Top 10?
Top 10!
Yay!!
Ha! I was checking the calendar and making sure I did not miss a day of work when the chapter appeared.
thank you 😊
ooh, top 20!!
Thank for another amazing installment!!
*runs back to top of page to read…
Thank you!
This was so needed today! Thank you HA!
😍 yay! for once, I get to read early 😜
yuhu! in the first 30
Squee! 😊
Lees…hmmmm….could there be a crossover with another IA universe in this crossing place
I wondered too
Każde które łączy się Less jest dobre 🙂
Although he’s a Lees, i don’t think he’s from Dina’s Earth since there aren’t breaches there, but maybe he’s from the same dimension as the Edge series?
No Lees are from Dina’s Earth 🙂
Dammit, I need to know if there should have been a comma after the word no in your sentence, or if it reads as stated.
I did not intend a comma 🙂 . I thought it was clear to everyone that the Lees are an alien species and none of them are from Earth? They just visit the inns?
I read the question as more of Lees from the Innkeeper universe and not that they are from Earth. I’m guessing we realize we aren’t lucky enough (or unlucky, depending on your view) to have the cute Lees be native to Earth.
Also, thank you for the snippet! And YAY! A cross-over! We, the BDH, are much beloved and spoiled by IA! 🤗
Yeah, I didn’t mean Lees are from Earth, I meant the dimension with the Earth where Dina lives, as opposed to the dimension George and his family are originally from.
If the “cute Lees” *had* been from Earth, humans wouldn’t be. Because the Lees would have done the smart and sensible thing for their species and eradicated our species before we ever got out of the Stone Age…
🤣😂🤣
I should defend us…but, I won’t!
Chyba masz rację 😀
Could the lees be from the dimension Dina lived in? Is this story somehow associated with the Edge? It feels like a prequel.
Here’s my take (also gah! I love so much how we get to guess about stuff like this):
Similar to the Edge earth – it’s in a different pocket of reality than Innkeeper.
The breaches are pockets of Innkeepers reality.
That’s how the Lees got there.
Thank you HA for such wonderful reading. I’ll gladly pay for what you guys write. Fifty plus years of reading and the HA team is at the top of my reading list. you’re a truly amazing writing team. The breadth of your knowledge borders on the unbelievable. HA is a gift to readers everywhere.
I believe the Lees and the Innkeepers are from the same universe. The Edge is from a pocket universe. The breach world is not, I don’t think a pocket universe world. Jovo isn’t from a pocket universe (he showed Ada the hologram of his star). I think Jovo and Ada are from the same universe. I’ll have to wait to see what is really going on though.
I’ve been reliably informed that this word :crossover” has an unknown meaning and/or is possibly frowned upon. per Nod R,,and Ilona.
*Mod* stupid, fat clumsy fingers Must remember to proofread BEFORE presser “Post”
Michael, we are trying to make it exciting and fun for the BDH. That means we joke and troll the fandom in the most benign sense of that word. That includes claiming that there are no crossover and other such things.
We seek to make the experience as engaging as possible. It is all tongue firmly in cheek.
Well yeah, I knew that. I was just doing my poor best to add to the troll. My attempts at humor are not always successful. Maybe if I had a “tongue in cheek”emoji in my emoji library? I find that certain types of emotions are difficult to convey as written words.
The BDH seeing this: EVERYTHING IS CONNECTED *insert meme of that dude before the board with all the red string*
Team Facts Be Damned, it’s our moment to ✨ SHINE ✨
+1
+ 1
yay Lees and teams facts be damned
Exactly!
That’s the best birthday present EVER ! (Don’t tell my husband and family pls)
Thank you !!
Happy Birthday!!
We’re twins! And yes,best birthday ever woo hoo!!
Thank you both !! And happy birthday as well twin hehe !!
Haha, “crossover? We don’t understand this word crossover…” 😂 a Lees!
Now, what is this inheritance – is it some weird Ad-hal technology? From what I recall, Ad-hals had innate abilities.… 🤔
I thought the inheritance was the thing put in her head.
The anticipation is killing me!!! Can’t wait for Monday to see what happens next.
Yes -Lees! Happy Friday!
“Lees.”
I know people were talking about this already, but my head just exploded.
Yes!!! Agreed I didn’t believe it until I read that!
LEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS <3 *inarticulate 'chalant happy noises*
Thank you!
Yay! Confirmation that our raccoon/fox like creature is a Lees!
So, is Kiar missing a “go-home” device or a “I’m disgraced” without it thing?:)
As Lees are merchant clans, he is probably looking for new trading partners. Stumbled into the mine, meet and fought the Gress, got caught when the breach happen…. and the rest is as they history….
Maybe,similar to how Sean was able to get a device that would him to make a one way trip to BahaChar .. or Dina can give out stones/devices that allows people to signal they are staying outside of one of the Inns doors..
Jovo had a device that will allow him to travel/call home.
Or, if they stole something from him and then left him in a cave to die cruelly…it’s something of value to his clan/family? I believe the Lees have Ancestral stones that they pray to. Stealing that would match this level of cruelty…
Anywho, off to over think this…some more.
As the old TV commercial said: “MasterCard … can’t go home without it”…
Showing your age my man. As I’ve just done.
Hell man, I am so old that I remember buying American Express Travelers Checks for a trip overseas. Admittedly, it was the late 80’s.
Yep, me too… (laughing and nodding)
+1
+2!
+3
+4 for my honeymoon. We are perfectly seasoned 😉
+ 4
Yeah, I remember those. They were a pain.
Yes. I remember going on a university student exchange summer program in the early 1980s – a month at a university followed by a month of private travel.
The travel was easy because I bought a Eurail Student Pass that allowed me to travel by economy class train anywhere in Europe for the two months just by hopping on the train I wanted and wearing the pass. No further payment ever required unless I wanted to upgrade to First Class or to a sleeper cabin.
For the rest, in the days before any electronic banking with cards, I took every penny I was going to spend in various currencies of American Express Traveller’s Cheques – and mostly in small denominations.
To be safe against theft, you had to sign every cheque immediately upon receipt and then countersign them individually when you used them. I still remember the writer’s cramp I got signing hundreds of cheques…
Do Traveller’s Cheques even exist anymore?
For that matter, do Eur-Rail Passes?
Yes, indeed they do! As do Interrail passes (just back from three weeks across Europe)!
Oh you are young yet. I got mine in the mid-’70s. *willnotthinkofthat*
Oh, all of you are still Babies!!!!
I’m with Barbara, except mine were the early 70″s!
Ah, travelers checks. When we’d been married a couple years (early 90s), we took them on a trip. My husband had trouble with his because his signature is very inconsistent. The clerk finally decided we were ok, but it was close. We drove 5,000 miles and saw 3-4 national parks in 2 weeks. Yellowstone is amazing!
Lees!! Thanks HA!
Hah! Me too. We’re NOT old!!!! We’re wise(er). 🙂
Given the number of ahem, wiser, BDH members here, moi included, I am perplexed when those in their 20s or so seem surprised that I love scifi/fantasy genres….
Yep, me too!
+5 or more, traveller’s checks in 80s and 90s
Any one remember The Diners Club card? Or what MasterCard was called before it was MasterCard?
I remember Diner’s Club card. My parents didn’t have one. I remember seeing it being accepted at restaurants we went to back in the day.
Wasn’t Mastercard use to be named MasterCharge or something like that? 🧐🤔
Hey Gordon, I am so old I was still buying American Express traveler’s checks in 90s for my casino “budget” to use on Las Vegas vacations 😆
Me, too!
🙂↕️😂
OMG. Travelers Checks. That dates me as well. Lol
I though it was “Don’t leave home without it”
That’s the Terrestrial version. The Insterstellar one is “Can’t get home without it”…
It was “Mastercard. Don’t leave home without it.” Crazy that I still remember that. Also, responding to further down the thread … yes to the hand cramp from signing so many travelers checks!
Yay! Thank you very much! Have a lovely weekend! HA is the best!
Lees!! when the earrings were mentioned, I was like, could it be?? and then it was! love this crossover
Me too!
Not even close to first. But still happy.
Why can’t Ada speak to Jovo like she spoke to the spider people? curiouser and curiouser!
Love this (ahem) series? *Everything crossed Mod R will say yes!*
+1!
Perhaps because the Lees is not a part of the breach universe, thus Ada’s sadrin “ancestor” doesn’t know them.
ooh! good idea!
let’s continue to roll with the multiverse idea! Team Facts be dammed all the way!!!
Lees? Does that mean there is an Inn somewhere on this dimension of Earth? 🌎 Like the Edge and Innkeeper’s Earth?
I love this so much!! thank you!!
AAAAAAAAA! What a pleasure!
Ada has the biggest heart ever.
And no matter what that definitely-not-a-crossover-character says, Bear is the best dog ever, yes she is.
Yes, she is!!!
Lees! Woo Hoo!
Of course, now the wild speculation will really run rampant! (In my own personal head canon, Elias and George will meet and discuss strategy.)
oh love that 🙂 – a second team coming from the Inn World side … one can only dream.
+100. But whatever is House Andrews pleasure, we will love!
+ 1000!
That is a definitely scary idea. Almost as bad as George and Her Grace in cahoots…oh, wait, we’ve been there, sort of…
Ada the care bear. So, 1 clear enemy and our trio of survivors.
looking forward to Monday.
thanks IA and have a great weekend
Yay! It is officially the weekend now! That was good! I have been going back through to see which Less have been named in previous stories, as if I could find a secret back door to uncover hidden story lines, but it was just wishful thinking.
Love it!
Yes indeed, no Easter Eggs at all! 😘
Easter doesn’t even lay any eggs 😛
nice! what’s the Lees’s name? Jovo like Joe-voe?
OK, Lees. Innkeeper made clear that it was a multiverse, with multiple earths, so I guess Ada’s is just another one, not the one that Innkeeper is set in.
or maybe same earth but different time periods
maybe Ada’s time is post Innkeeper
maybe the breaches are a consequence of whatever the evil dude in the Innkeeper does to try to eliminate Inns.
ohhhh that’s interesting…I didn’t even consider that!
I was thinking breaches are from the Innkeeper multiverse.
I doubt this is Dina’s Earth. I don’t think all of the species that use the Inns would let the portals take away their access to earth. In Dina’s Earth, if the portals appeared, I see House Krawr bringing in the troops to hold line against the waves of monsters. Other travelers to Earth would bring in other forces. In a sense, the portals would be a breach of the Earth Treaty, and all the other galactic empires that want to control Dina’s Earth would invade.
I will accept your reasoning for why this isn’t Dina’s Earth…because, I agree. I do think it would be a breach of the Earth Treaty and that 10 yrs in… the assembly would have done something, intervened, or shared knowledge at this point.
I believe in The Edge world ..those in The Edge world know of other species, etc…so, again, I think if this was that world .. 10 yrs later .. people would be intervening.
I don’t know what the breaches are, but I don’t think they have anything to do with the portals Inns create.
I thought maybe the breaches were an unintentional bi-product of something else. However, IA commented on a post that monster are being loaded into the breach and sent through… so, intent is present.
Argh, never ending questions…
What if Ada’s Earth is the non-magical Earth that connects with the Edge and the people in the robes are co-conspirators of Sebastien North (corruption robes)?
If the portals shifted the magic of the bridge between the Edge and non-magical Earth then that might prevent the Edgers from getting help from George’s Earth.
Maybe this is a test-run for the destruction of Dina’s Earth and the Inns. He said he’d basically devour every Inn, Innkeeper, and human. Maybe he’s a full on zealot and going to try and kill all humans, even those in alternate Earths. The Cult of Corrupted Robes or something.
Ok, let’s read it again, but slowly 😉
What if all these people with magical Talents and these magical monsters and breaches exist in the established non-magical Earth where magical things can’t exist and manifest and people with lots of magic even have trouble crossing into? Hmmm… 😀 Anything’s possible!
I like the way your mind thinks. But that might encompass too large of an idea in what has been billed as a stand alone novella (with a possible sequel hinted at)
+1
I’m going with different dimension earths with Ada’s just being one where there may or may not be Inns. But there surely is a Lees now. I like the idea of his looking for new trading options and being waylaid by the ugly buggers who are in the dimension caverns. Who may or may not be part of the bad guys in the Innkeeper series. Orrrrr…… The mind boggles.
or maybe a prequel? Maybe the breaches are the birth of the inns? Probably not but I enjoy the infinite possibilities it could be
Dina’s earth has the Alamo and Bucees and HEB. Ada’s earth has the pancake house in Chicago. Ilona was kind enough to respond to one of my comments with a Google map pin to the actual Elmswood where this gate appears. Seems like the same Earth to me.
I fully admit I am not well versed in the multiverse concept and acknowledge many good points made against my theory.
Either way, I do think the corrupted Innkeeper caused the breaches.
from Sweep of the Heart:
Dina:“Why would I need to leave the planet?”
Sebastian North*: “Because I will devour it. Every inn, every innkeeper, every ad-hal. Every human.”
*I thought Olasard the cat was named Sebastian North but the corrupted Innkeeper calls the cat Belaud. I finally realized the evil dude is Sebastian North.
tangent: I wonder if Sebastian North caused Dina’s dad to get trapped in the Inn in the first place, before her mom buys Magnolia Green and frees him. That’s the prequel I want. There’s no way the Innkeeper Assembly didn’t know all about that when Dina’s parents and their inn go missing and they don’t even give her a clue. I have no confidence in their ability to save Earth. They can’t even save their ad-hals.
What I really want to know is, was the Inheritance always planned and intended to be an Innkeeper cross over? Was the whole blog post explaining LitRPG a red herring?
Either way it’s totally and completely amazing. Can’t wait for Monday.
Lees!! Was hoping that’s who it was..
Lees!
Lees 🙂 Yay 🙂
Thank you for this wonderful chapter 🙂
So…. now they have common goal – to get to the anchor, to whatever awaots them there. I think waiting silently for CC team isn’t option now. I don’t know why, but I don’t think their hunter is malevolent. Hmm… But maybe Elias will witness – when he finally go to the breach – an epic battle near the anchor.
I saw CC and my first thought was “What does Caitlin Clark have to do with this novella?” Oh wait, you mean Cold Chaos. No women’s basketball reference was meant.
🤣🤣🤣
Lees! Fascinating .
Also, stalking the site paid off. Though i blinked and there were 16 comments already 😆.
So satisfying! Thank you! Will be waiting for next installment as chalantly as possible 🤣. Have a great weekend!
Thank you! A friend of mine thought Thursday was today, so you’re in good company, Ilona. 😀
Lees. Interesting. Very interesting.
To be continued Monday!
Ada gets to hug a lees?!! If only she knew! Thanks for the new snippet!!
yeah it is a Lees, Ada wants to go home, he wants to go home, but different homes – so is the breech a connection between the Lees world and Ada’s Earth? … and what role will Elias play in overcoming the Grees at the anchor? …
for Monday we wait 🙂
Wait. Wait! Wait wait wait!!
Lees?!?!
As in the Lees from Innkeeper?!
Holy moly!! 📚
Is Beast and Bear related? The Lees must know about Dina’s Beast…
Beast’s breed is Shih Tzu, and Bear is a German Shepherd. Granted that they’re both supernaturally or magically enhanced, at this point we’re not even sure they’re from the same universe, or dimension, or whatever. If they’re related, it has to be seriously complicated.
Wonderful and thank you! Everybody needs a hug now and then.
Ahhhhhhhhhh….Lees! so good! yep, IA’s troll game is on point. ty ty
I wonder, could it be that gress took the device from Jovo and then Blue Lady took it from them…? Or maybe the gress that is stalking them is not a killer gress and will help them? Ada is desparate and a little bit paranoid. I believe she didn’t feel danger from this hunter, only something that she’ll need?
yeah that part confused me too – she didn’t seem to think the stalker was danger till now and when she flexed it showed up red – for something she needs …
What if what the stalker has is a thing both she and the lees need to go home. Something they can both use – they don’t have to pick who gets it.
But Ada just need to get to the gate to escape. The Lees needs this mysterious thing. I have know idea what could be so important for her.
I knew it was a lees! So exciting!
I was surprised he didn’t show a Shih Tzu, but Beast isn’t a regular dog either. 😊
oh my goodness, I was smiling soooo hard at the end 😀
Thank you for our Friday treat
Wonderful part! I hope you all have a great Friday and weekend.
This has been a very rough week – reading this brought the stress level down a notch. Thank you HA.
I loved this chapter; aaahhh a Lee’s. Happy Dance!!
Have a great weekend everyone!!!!!
I about fell out of my chair with excitement when I saw Lees. Can we get a Whoop Whoop! And does anyone else think that comparison between a Pomeranian as a dog and Bear as not a dog funny? I think this is a case of just because it looks like a dog, walks like a dog, and barks like a dog, it is most definitely not “just” a dog any longer. Or so says the Lees.
Off to do the inconceivable… wish for Monday to come faster.
That was definitely hilarious 😀
The team of the two of you write books that I do not want to stop reading.
It will be hard to go back to the book that I am currently working through.
+1
I had to retreat into a reread of hidden legacy last night, as my current read is not up to HA standards.
Thank you for another amazing installment. Hope you all have a great weekend.
Went back to re-read the installment.
This community is so engaged! When I first started reading, there were 16 comments. When I finished the 1st read through, there were 31 comments. By the time I finished going through those comments their were 67 comments. Now there are 95 comments. And its only been an hour since the installment was posted. Wow.
ModR you are so amazing. You keep up with all of this.
Loved how Ada and Bear stopped for prey and water rather than food and water. What a change for the both of them.
I’m loving how they are figuring out how to communicate with each other. Jovo has dealt with humans before. And the grey cloaks that seem to be alive feel like the ad-hal corruption.
What an amazingly satisfying crossover. Can’t wait for Monday.
Innkeeper crossover? I seem to remember some very persuasive foxes in a land very far away.
Okay, here’s my wild theory. The US government knows the gates have intelligent aliens. They have learned more about the aliens from the Innkeepers. All of this is being kept hush-hush to try to maintain earth’s neutral status and keep us safe from full-scale alien invasion.
I am hidden at work because I couldn’t wait
almost scream when I saw the name of the race
bad hiding habits that almost screaming
sooo good
is like %70 chocolate
thankyou!!!
+100. But whatever is House Andrews pleasure, we will love!
Love this, so funny!
YES! Confirmation of a Lees! So excited about this. Can’t wait to see how the story unfolds!
So satisfying.
Whoa, bargain with a lees…and Ada doesn’t know about bargaining with a lees….”Danger Will Robinson!”
🤣 +1
+💯
I knew it! The foxes are Lees!! Can’t wait to find out which reality Ada comes from.
Is Jovo the “redacted” character that definitely is ok and doesn’t die??
Yes.
Darn, I was about to be all mysterious Temple of Desire veils about it 😀
Oh, go ahead and be all mysterious if you want, Mod R…you deserve a treat for putting up with the BDH! 😂
All the veils come down in the end. 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Any excuse for Temple of Desire veils!
Thank you, Ilona! and Mod R! So excellent
GREAT installment! Thank you, House Andrews!
I can’t wait for Monday’s episode.
Lees??? Like the Innkeeper????
Oohhhhhh!!!!
The suspense!!!@@ Thank you!! Looking forward to the book!!
He is a Lees! I love it! I love this story so much. Thank you!
This was a great segment! I’d missed that The Inheritance is officially done. Who needs a cover…I will take the book as is.
My immediate thought after reading this twice is… WHAT?!
So, our hunter is one of the species from the mining site, but he didn’t register as dangerous…or, what he had of value outweighed the danger?
Is he the fourth person or is he a someone else? I noticed that it mentions three attackers against the woman in blue, is that a typo…or, just indication this is possibly the 4th attacker that Ada lost sight of?
Confirmation that Jovo is a Lees. I’m still Team not the Lees from The Innkeeper world…just as Ada isn’t a human from the Innkeeper world…though, I concede with the ability for interdimensional travel, he could be.
I wonder what the Grees could have taken from Jovo? What of value that he has for Ada? When Jovo was introduced..I did question why there wasn’t a second assurance that the hunter would make it out too, so, I did wonder if maybe unlike I’d previously thought…they were not friendly with the Sadrin. I didn’t think they were a gray robes though. I know Ada only saw their face, which we didn’t get a descriptor for…but I thought she might have recognized the robe if they were wearing one.
Anywho, does this gray robe have another bracer or device that might work something at the anchor that they took from the Sadrin?
I still hope Ada takes all of this new knowledge and technology back to help the humans in their fight against whoever the enemy is.
Bear is definitely a very good girl.
I really like Jovo and I hope we learn even more about him.
More thoughts later after they percolate a bit.
So, where is that pre-order link again?
Thank you again for another great post!
As for thinking it was Thursday….
That’s my line!
Would you tell us which yarn you decided on?
is time flowing different outside the breach than inside, now that Ada is technically not all “human”?
I feel time has passed longer for her than for the outside narrative.
Also, I’m loosing it with the crossover, this is everything I wanted!
No, time flows the same for Ada and Elias. What is distorting the time, however, is the serial nature of the narrative. It probably feels like this story has been posted for months and months but we started at the end of April. Long breaks between installments tend to distort things.
Thanks for that answer! I’ve been wondering the same thing.
Hot Damn. Jovo is a Lees? AH-MAZING. I adore all things Innkeeper Chronicles! Thank you for creating another incredible story. I am desperate for the comfort of reading about a strong and capable woman surviving through the challenges of an overwhelming world.
YAY!!!! So happy to read the Lees confirmation!!! Thank you again for this serial…it’s been one of the highlights of my summer! 🥰💕💕
This story is just so good…I really hope there will be (at the very least) a book two. HA, don’t know if anybody ever mentioned this, but you’re like good writers or something. 😉
HA, so awesome. I own thousands of books. They are everywhere in my house. I keep books I love so much that I read and reread in a bookcase by my bed. Anyone in this group could guess where I keep HA books. I can’t wait to have “The Inheritance”. SSSSOOOO eager.
Heehee. Anne McCaffrey called that her “comfort shelf.” in today’s world, I call it my sanity survival bookcase. Although, I have a LOT of overflowing bookcases. My favorite books, I order new, then get at least a library bound second copy to read over and over…. And the first power outage that also took out my kindle books, I rejoiced and patted myself on my back to have so many “hard” books.
I think it was Heinlein who wrote an apocalypse book where the main character used books as precious currency? Anyway, I took that to heart!
definitely “old fashioned” but there is nothing like a REAL book; worn pages for many reads, favorite quotes ” here Kitty Kitty ‘….etc, and no charging necessary.
When I was getting my house ready to sell, I had to move most of my books out before the open house. My Realtor wanted me to stick with one bookcase for the whole house. You know which ones I kept with me, right? SF/F all the way, with HA heavily represented.
I guess the important question is if this is the future of Dina’s Earth, an alternate dimension Earth (like George and Jack’s Ertg), or something else entirely? 🤔🤔🤔
Didn’t expect the connection, that’s for sure.
Oh happy week! A Lees is introduced and my 50th anniversary earlier in the week! Everybody stay cool and safe from the weather.
Happy Anniversary! 😁
Thank-You!
Lovely, indeed. Thank you!
Wonderful! A Lees. 😊
Oh my, a Lees, the possibilities! Such a good story! I cannot wait to order so I can have my very own copy, to be read and re-read!
Lees??? Portals???
Woohoo! Thank you!
Oh so wonderful. I will have so many things to chew on today. Monday can’t come fast enough.
If Kael Gress are Gress who kill, are there other Gress who are not Kael? Is Ada’s follower who glowed red perhaps one of those? A Gress who does not kill?
Yes, I’m wondering this as well.
Is this the 4th attacker that got away?
A different Grees that was left to monitor the anchor?
A less violent sort?
Or, just a Grees that has something of value Ada needs so it doesn’t matter how dangerous he is?
How we keep adding to the questions pile?
Lees! My heart leaps with excitement! A clue.
A lees???!! OMG this makes me SO HAPPY!!! 😁
Ada, making friends and clarifying enemies!
YESSSS!!! The Lee’s have returned to our world! I wonder how the innkeepers are dealing with the portals!
Lees?!! I read this serial aloud to dh and when that creature was first described I said it reminded me of the Lees *jumping with excitement* I was loving it before but the love is bursting now lol
I can’t communicate how much I am loving this series!!! The character building, the world building, the adventure! ***chef’s kiss*** pure bliss. House Andrews, I love you and please take my money lol
Lees!!! Hooray!
The idea that this story is part of The Inniverse makes sense. The Gress cloaks are like the corruption attacking Ad-Hal. And the ruptures could be from a group that wants to destroy the treaty protecting Earth. I can just see the Innkeeper council imitating James Cagney from Mr. Roberts. “Whoo did it? Whoo didit?”
An interspecies hug! I have goosebumps at the creepy yet thrilling image.
Lees! Squeeeeeee!
I have a question about the lees. Are they only merchants? The image Jove showed Ada of his family did not have them wearing aprons. So I’m confused.
Different clans do different things. No worries, keep reading, Jovo will clarify it later.
Thank you, Ilona and Gordon, for another engrossing installment where no word is wasted.
Hope the day of week conundrum is due to so much focus on yarn selection and/or the commencement of knitting and not something stressful….. Sending hugs and peace cuz we all need some of that these days.
The interaction between these two characters is wonderful but of all the visuals in my head I am imagining Bear transforming like the cat that wasn’t cat that swallowed the tesseract in the Captain Marvel movie. Maybe Jovo can sense something Ada can’t about Bear…
Sending peace, healing and safety to all!
May your weekend be restful and spent with those you love!
Lees???!!!
Wonder if he knows the Nuan clan…
So awesome! Thank you. I eagerly wait for more. I hope you are all well and happy
Someone else said it already, but I can’t find the comment—but I was wondering also if the destabilization that Sebastian was wreaking with the murdering of the inns had anything to do with these portals!! Whoever said that first, you rock!
Something else that came to mind is why Jovo and Ada aren’t speaking the same language; it’s possible Jovo simply isn’t practiced in English, and we know that Ada doesn’t speak galactic Common. Part of me wondered, regarding why Sean understood people speaking in Baha-Char the first time he went with Dina, if the inns have a translation magic thing, similar to what the TARDIS does. If so, that’s probably why Jovo and Ada can’t speak easily to each other; no translation magic/circuit.
I believe Sean (like Dina) has an implant for translating.
If you re-read this segment, Ada and Jovo are not really speaking to each other. Jovo clearly understands at least some of what Ada says, but the only words he has spoken were his name. Other than that, he has used a combination of pictures projected by his “marble” and charades-type pantomime to express his meaning. And Ada in turn has used English, backed by gestures and drawings created using her Leonardo da Vinci – level art skills.
I remember the Lees from Mauds novel which I must admit is my favorite in the Sweeps series so far. I have read it many times and would love a second installment (begging eyes, praying hands, wink-wink).
I am also really enjoying the Inheritance and find myself trolling the blog daily for new installments. Thank you for sharing these, and I look forward to the book.
Yes, most definitely! Sweep of the Blade is my favorite also
+1
well, at some point, even if it is just the shortest of shortest stories, I have purchased my ‘attending the double wedding of Sean + Dina and Maude + Arland’ attire, although on 2nd thought, perhaps this needs to be 2 separate ceremonies, since the vampires have a LOT of unique customs (like a red wedding option!) lololol
Ah, fluffy Lees Hug! How adorable in a deadly way 😀
Thanks for that going into this weekend – it’s much appreciated. Today has started with a lot of tough things to process.
So I saw a comment that lauded Ada as a woman of strength and action. This is a good description. I like the way that Ada has progressed, from a strong determined mother striving to provide for her children, and protect her world, and has progressed to a bad ass, care bear intent upon providing succour to all of the species she has met on her journey. And I especially like her attitude regarding the spider herders to and the Lees, not treating them as aliens, but seeing and treating them as humans.
OK love how the story is coming together, but I am stuck on the detail of how LARGE this Lee (Lees?) is. Or has he been eating stuff in this splinter universe and getting bigger as a result? Will he return to his people as a Giant????
Ada estimated him to be as large as a German shepherd. Typical length of a GS is around 42 inches or 3.5 feet. Jovo is about average for a lees.
And the crowd goes wild!!!! I enjoyed both the chapter, and the comments. I also love the marble technology, it’s so handy!
Thank you! A lees, how exciting!
A Lees! Catching up again today, thank you so much for the installments. I am very excited for this book. I hope the whole IA-team has a great weekend and a decrease in stress. Stay cool!
Wow! I’m embarrassed at how inarticulate this serial has made me.
So, since we are here now. With a Lees…unknown origin…Unknown home base.
I’m going to continue on my path of the wildest of wild speculations.
I still think the crossover angle here would be through the office of Arbitration. I also wonder if the Sadrin, while not arbitrators, are a similar type body.
Arbitrators cannot go home for 20 yrs, so Sadrin can’t be Arbitrators. 🤣 Ada is going home and her story must continue.
But, in thinking about the Arbitrators…
A question that I still have about George and Klaus.
Klaus tells George he will go through a period of extensive training, yet George is on his first assignment 1-2 yrs later.
When Dina is poisoned, he takes his staff and it glows and displays info from the arbitrators database.
I’ve often wondered if his training took place somewhere like Nexus. 1 yr of training on the galaxy and multiples species doesn’t seem sufficient… but, thinking in line with The Inheritance.
Could the arbitrators use something similar to the jewel Ada received? Or, could the jewel be something similar to the Arbitrators database?
Again…not an Arbitrator…but similar-ish.
I’ve been thinking that the jewel passed on the knowledge from the previous Sadrin and those who came before her, but also was a key for the bracer…meaning it activates the bracer for the bearer.
Mainly, so that the DDC can’t try to claim it. Yes, some of my reasonings are self-serving.
something to consider is that George has a very particular set of skills…😁 skills he has acquired over a very long career.
The Arbitrators have seen much of the Universe, but they haven’t necessarily seen the Camarines and Gaston at it hehe
True, this is true.
George’s unique skill set may have made that year’s timeframe perfectly acceptable.
Still, George reference being around 28 yrs and then Dina mused he was in his early thirties. Not the most convincing of evidence that he maybe have been training longer than a year…but …
My brain is running wild at this point.
Why did I hear that comment about George in Liam Neeson’s voice (or in Seth McFarlane’s impersonation of Kermit the Frog doing Liam Neeson’s speech from “Taken”)??
A hunting we will go . Thankyou
So I’m now dying to know if the Inheritance is in the same world as the Inn Keeper?? Will Ada and Dana ever cross paths? I do enjoy a good cross-ver.
First?
Thank you!
A Lees, hehe. What a resounding victory for team facts-be-damned XD
YAY!!! Speculations confirmed!
Squeeeeeeee!!! I knew it! I knew it!
So here is a way out theory, the Gress cloak (technology or bio hazard) is the contamination used to create the corrupt ad hals? Is this where Dina’s parents are being held? Obviously, I am way into fact be damned. Have a great weekend
Loving this so much. Thanks!
Just finished the chapter, and made the connection!! Its Cookie – well the same species as cookie (Coukie), the fox like species in the Innkeeper series. So cool – I love the Innkeeper series.
Awww!! I want him to go home, too!!
Sadrin & the speed of swordplay reminded me of Adira of the Drífan & her battle with Yastreb
The grey shroud of the Gress reaching for Ada feels just like Corruption & I have this feeling that wanting to absorb the Inheritance is like how the Mukama are compelled to absorb the magic of Maud & the children
It’s so much fun trying to guess at connections ⚔️
I apologize if this has been covered previously, but I am wondering if the destruction of the anchor destroys the beings within the breach? I don’t want the spider farmers to die!!!
Me too. The possible collateral deaths are concerning!!
Squeeeaaallll! LEES!!! YEAH!!!
I was wondering the same thing as Lydia: What happens to the beings in the breach when the anchor is destroyed?
Also, if this is a tie-in to Dina’s universe, then can breaches open there? Was that technology used to take Magnolia Green? Asking for a friend…
As a proud Facts be Damned member with spaghetti scars and relatively old, in 1980, not late 1980’s, I was retired my first time. Somewhere along the way I mentioned dropping a large deck of cards in my second job. in a BDH comment and Tink said, Henry you are showing your age. The first time I handle a foot and half long deck of cards was in 1968. Many of you were not born then. I may not be the eldest commentator, I think I’m close,
In the Innkeepers lees was spelled lower case now uppercase is used.
I like the Inheritance, I want to see a sequel, BUT, capitalization intended, I’m knocking on the door to
my tenth decade, 15 more months. I want to see the marriage in the Krahr castle before it will be too late.
Gordon, glad to see your input. It took me three months to start typing again.
That’s because Dina is a fount of information on alien cultures and has encyclopedic knowledge on species, clans, families, specialisations, history, origins, culture, and the fact that esteemed grandmother, she of great wisdom, would prefer ennui predators as a humble present.
Ada is piecing it all together from fragments of information in a different language 🙂
You keep going Henry
98 and counting
Do you get a letter from the President when you turn 100?
In Australia, we get a letter from the King (used to be the Queen).
My sister requested a letter from the Queen for my mum and dads 60th wedding anniversary (and alot of other luminaries which was really funny when read out at the big party for them)
Nah, the weatherman on one of the US National TV channels would put your name up on the screen, if you asked.
Henry you are awesome! I hope IA does a little short story on the marriage well before your birthday after next.
as one of the BDH of *ahem* years, I remember understanding that I journeyed to fantasy/sci-fi/speculative fiction, starting out with Hans Christian Anderson and the Brothers Grimm (non-sanitized version!) as a child getting my first library card. After reading everything available in the main branch, I started picking up books that seemed to have fantastical titles or blurbs (as inaccurate as blurbs are) that at least mentioned non-conventional characters (witches/fae/robots/aliens). By the time I got to high school as started reading novels that had social commentary as a primary objective, I began to discover and enjoy how much the creation of alternative worlds was a comment on our contemporary world.
So, I remember from the “It will be ok” post they said that Ada, Bear, and (redacted, but now we know it’s the Lees), will escape the breach. But they didn’t say which SIDE of the breach they will end up on when they escape it! Will it be Ada’s world? The Lees’ world? Some other world???????
Ada will go jome to her kids, so for her – it will be her Earth. For Jovo – it may be something else, I think.
We, including me, are all so excited about the Lees, did no one notice that there were “STALKERS” here. That name can’t be coincidental.
Granted it took me till this installment to figure it out. But also I don’t always read the comments – and maybe someone(s) has/have already had that realization.
Also – is it possible to tell us how many days Ada has been stranded?
Pretty please, with cream and sugar – make that whipped cream!
“I didn’t realize that today is Friday. I thought it was Thursday.”
Fortunately you realised you mistakes before the mob began to gather. 😆😆😆
Ahah!!!
Here comes Dina!!!….or Klaus, as arbitrator
It would be funny for Ada to escape with the lees and be returned to earth through an inn or a variation of it ! For the first time I have problems following the serial . Very impatient this time . It seems as if Elias will meet Asa in the last pages , she is going to the anchor and the team should already be inside . It has been more than three days . They will not be surprised to not see her body they will think she was eaten by the stalkers . I wonder what she looks like, she has not seen her reflection yet . Has she changed , evolved like bear.
I have a theory. On innkeeper Earth gained its neutral territory status becouse of its 8 or 9 cant remember intergalatic natural faster than light wormhole like hightway portals and we know that the edge Earth is a pocket dimention alternate earth and this Earth might be another one. So my theory is what if the reason innkeeper Earth has those portals its becouse they are natural reactions of the diferent pocket alternante Earths on it. That would mean we have another 6 or 7 Earths around or less depending if the edge is a territory were w diferent pocket dimention earths meet instead of its own pocket Earth. Am I making sense? What if Kate Daniels Hiden Legacy kinsmen and other IA universes could be those pocket earths. Did I just conected all IA multiverse? Yay!!! This is fanon facts be damned lmao.
The ILONAVERSE is here! ::conspiracy.gif:: 😀
😵💫🤯🤪
😂😂😂😂
Oooo, the Ilonaverse! I think we have a winner! All books eventually lead to the Ilonaverse!
I can’t pay any attention to you Sauron. You are an evil being and are trying to corrupt Middle Earth. Illuvatar knows what you’d do in Inheritance Earth, Earth Prime and the Edgy Earth.
I dont know what you are talking about I come bringing gifts. 😇
Monday can’t come soon enough for me. I hope that we will see Elias.
Lees!!! I literally yelled the word when I read it. Yes, crossover! Oh, boy. I’m so excited to read the next part. Part of House Andrews plan, I’m sure. Brilliant!
Fabulous!
A lees! I love how you are winding everyone together like this!
alright. I’ll hop on Team Facts Be Damned. Jovo is an Arbitrator and his assignment is to deal with the crystals.
I still need a why for the crystals. since the breaches simultaneously popped up in major population centers i will rule out Ada’s world. so are the Kael’Gress draining Ada’s Earth somehow? I think Ada is misinterpreting Jovo. I think Jovo’s world was destroyed by the crystals somehow.
What crystals?
Oh my goodness, a Lees. I love Lees. Love them.
I knew It!!! lol, not really. I am so excited to make all my false assumptions when I can read the serial in one go. #TFBD in a spiral, whoot. The Inheritance, will we be able to purchase all the things? (paperback, audio, ebook, graphic novel ;)? Maybe stickers?! ooh
“I want to see the marriage in the Krahr castle before it will be too late.” …Henry, don’t we all. I am also a longtime member of the BDH and of #Team Facts Be Damned, not in my 10th decade tho.
I still will be opening my closet doors with a bit of trepidation and excitement, hoping to see a Vala tree and Lord Otubar. No, No ModR you have “a Beloved by evil things” to chase. Do not be greedy.
Thank you Ilona and Gordon, this is one crazed group I am proud to be part of.
Definitely ebook, paperback and audiobook!
Wouldn’t graphic novel be just absolutely amazeballs? Omg, I can see it now!
Until news of that, I can confirm there will be Candice Slater’s fabulous original commissioned illustrations in the book – some we’ve seen and some dum-dum-duuuuuum NEW surprises!
I’ll keep my fingers crossed for you and Lord O 😉 . If Ilemina finds out, you’ll need all the help you can get!
Don’t forget Graphic Audio! Unless you count it with audiobooks.
Reading your work brings me joy.
Omg! Lees!
Okay…. does this story tie into the Innkeeper Chronicles????? Which, by the way, are my favorite books.
Lees!! There are Lees!
So needed today 😌 Thanks 😊
LEES! leeeeeeees there are leeeeees of treachery and mysterious plans are afoot. I’m so excited.
AFOOT, we say! 😀
If this is an alternate Earth, it could as easily be an alternate Lees universe as well. And it seems to me that this is what could happen on Earth if there we no treaty or Inns.
I thought it was Thursday too, and decided to just re read Mondays snippet.
Good reorientation.
I don’t care if the Lee is from the inn keeper world. Don’t care if Bear is descend from the REH dog that killed all the Pics in the Conan story. Maybe Ada is related to Jake Sullivan in Larry Correia’s world.
Just let me know when the preorder drops.
He’s a Lees? As in, Nuan Cee? Give me more!
So the spider shepherds: could the white eggs they harvested be the same eggs Dina plants in the battle against the Draziri?
And could the dead warrior be a Drifen?
I think someone’s “stalker”connection was right on.
And wasn’t there a seal blocking a door that Dina had to break? When she confronted the sphinx creature in Baha Char?
So many possibilities …
I’d completely forgotten the spider eggs. Another crossover. I’m not sure my heart can take it!!
But is this lees any relation to Nuan Cee?
No, this lees is Jovo of Clan Kiar. Unless Lee’s marry between clans, he can’t possibly be related to Cee of Clan Nuan.
Question…. Is Jackson any closer to home. or is he still stuck in airport/flight purgatory?
I love this story.
I’m not sure how you finish this as a novella. So far this serial has been appies and drinks, I’m feeling warmed up and ready to devour a 12oz steak and potatoes. I know you have all these other book commitments but really, I feel like this is only a start. No presh, but……..more please. So good !!!!!!
“DEVOUR DEVOUR DEVOUR!” the Horde never rests 💪🏻
Too true XD
I’m not nearly as old as my fellow BDH and team facts be damned member, but my memory is still Swiss cheese. But if memory serves, didn’t The Innkeeper start out as a free online serial Novella?
All the 5 Innkeepers novels and 1 novella so far have been serialized on the blog, yes 🙂
So have Blood Heir and Sanctuary! House Andrews beloves us so 😀
yes, yes, we are beloved. And we do not take that for granted!
As someone who has to *occasionally* read other authors, there is no author(s) more generous with the readers than HA.
And I am very glad to be beloved!
Since all those other serialized novels became series… I am hopeful that so will this one. 🙏
Uggh. That should read that I am very glad to be among the beloved.
And I proclaim that all the previous chapters up to this point shall be henceforth known as Chapter 1….(crazy laugh)
🤣🤣🤣
And, thus it is so! 🤣😂🤣
Love where this is going!
I’m sure all will be revealed in due time, but the thing my mind is fixating on right now is — why did Jovo’s captor keep him alive? If they wanted the marble thing, they could have killed him and cut him into little pieces to find it. Or maybe they didn’t realize Jovo had swallowed it?
Also, wow that the hunter/assassins are not just skilled in hand-to-hand combat, they also have advanced tech, like that dial?! They’d make a formidable enemy, or a valuable ally.
Excited for the coming installments. 🙏🏼
I have similar questions as to why the left him alive to die slowly and without hope.
I don’t think they wanted his marble device, I think he just hide it so they couldn’t take everything from him…but, maybe it does more than communicate and they wanted it.
I’d thought maybe the Sadrin was there to rescue Jovo before she was killed…
It would explain why she might have retrieved the combination for the locking device…but, the only reason Ada found him was because of Bear. And, when Ada flexed he didn’t light up at all. So, I’m not sure if either of those points support/detract from that theory.
I’m glad that the dial Ada is using is pointed inward, because could this Grees also have the combo?
All the questions, very few answers.
Lees!!!!!!
Amazing 😍 it just gets better and better! Thank you ❤️
I’m thoroughly enjoying this book so far. Very excited to buy it when it’s released. When I saw the word Lees, I had to come check out the comments to see if I understood it correctly. So excited for a possible connection to the innkeeper series!
To jest coraz lepsze z każdym fragmentem . Dziękuję 🙂
A Lees! A Lees! I knew it! So very happy to see him here…
Ha, I was already calling it a lees! Thank you, this is great.
So Jovo is Lees and has access to portals to Baha-char , so then that will lead to Ada having access too. Therefore Ada will be meeting the Innkeepers at some point. Which means another book!
The comments are as interesting as the serial. Wow, some of you really focus on details I never noticed. The urge to reread is rising up again!
I just love the commitment and creativity of the readers. I love reading all their theories and really makes me appreciate how curious, intelligent, and deeply (lovely) obsessed the Horde gets. They are so clever and come up with all sorts of ideas.
You are truly loved as authors. Plus Mod R, your comments are so fun to read! And yes, I also would love more books in this world. But I recognize the laundry list of other books that need finishing: Maggie 2-3, Julie book 2, Hugh book 2, Innkeeper, and Puffles (lol, one can dream for Puffles, right?). So many goodies for us to longingly w*it for! Thank you so much!
*whispering* Innkeeper weddings—
Lees 🙂 Diiiinaaa! I hope to see Ada in the Gertrude Hunt soon.
those are from Dina’s universe, right?
Yes. Stalkers too.
So excited to meet this new lees! And so worried about the Gress. Definitely a big boss! Hopefully Ada and Bear and Jovo can do it together!!
I just loved this part.
Woot Woot! Squealed out loud! This series is another E TICKET ride!
somehow I cannot wait for her to return home and try to reclaim her life although she has changed so much. how everyone reacts to her change
I think: the being stalking Ada is not an Innkeeper Stalker, which were described as sort of “hunting animals”. and I believe all 4 attackers in the beginning were killed. Must be either a 5th or someone else entirely. so far is not certain for me the cave-stalker is a killer Gress. Ada thinks so, but …
Would Like to be able to manipulate time and roll Forward to the end of the Story.
I FREAKING KNEW IT WAS A LEES!!! How did they get so big?!
all we need now is some philosophical space chickens, Arabella and that Russian prince who shape shifts, and a troop of vampires directed by Kate Daniels to wipe out the damned grays…I think Grees is just a mispronunciation of the grays.
Yesss!!!!
innkeeper innkeeper innkeeper innkeeper!
How did I not know that this was an inkeeper crossover? Was this mentioned somewhere? Am I just losing my mind?
🙂 There have been hints, but no official confirmation until this chapter.
Lees! Squeeeeee!
Jovo is a Lees? Wonder if there are breaches/ portals on his planet too, and that’s how he got here. and if so, he already is familiar with humans. And dogs. Love The Innkeeper tie-in.
Almost speechless here. Sooo good as are all the crazy, wonderful theories. No theories here. I simply sit back and w*it delighting in all the surprises.
Just wow. Looking forward to rereading the completed novel already!
Ada is a softie! I love that about her.
Wait! If we have Lees, does that mean the cloaks from gress are like the corrupt Ad-Hals and their magic reaching out to the innkeepers?
Ooh… nice catch.
Lees! Innkeeper connection! 👀💞
Ooh….I love when my wishes come true. I wished for Lee’s and lo and behold…..Thanks HA
Yay! Wonderful to encounter one of the cute/wily/smart Lees from Innkeeper series.
I love this story, and appreciate so much you sharing it. Very excited to get the book (but no rush! Rest is critical, especially in major heat waves.)
Also, wanted to thank Mod R for all the work you do for us – and blessings for all of your patience with all our BDH comments, questions & requests/demands.
Everything Regina said.
Awwww! (And it’s been confirmed! Jovo is a lees!)
Lees! Lees! I was wondering about this?
These gates go into the wilds between worlds. It’s like if Innkeeper doors led to the hazardous trail to get to the next world instead of right into the world.
Thank you for the moments of brightness that you bring into our lives, they are sorely needed.
I must have missed this…what happened to the harness & leash?
Bear has grown and is now to big for the harness. 🐶
Great installment. We have so many rich characters from all your worlds to choose from! A Lees. How interesting. How fun, no matter what you do with him in this story. Happy writing. Thx.
LEES!! I’m cracking up over the comments!
Love the way you are building this world and the characters in it…well building a breech! 😄
Thank you!
I’ve been away from the blog for awhile these past few months but I was aware there was a new serial being posted. Finally binge-read everything this week and now I’m all caught up. It’s so much fun reading a new story by IA, I forgot how magical it is to read something new by you two for the first time. 🙂 Can’t wait to keep up with the installments of whatever is left!
Yay, a lees! So happy.
A Lees? Like, Nuan Cee, Lees? Oh, my goodness!
I knew he was a Lees!!! All my wildest dreams have been achieved. An Innkeeper cross-over. Another House Andrews series that interlocks with another. The Book Devouring Horde thanks you for this gift. We will express our gratitude with an interpretive dance, to the songs of our ancestors.
Well, after this adventure all three of them are gonna need a respite, a sojourn, at the inn. With the kids of course😊
Of course I’m not the first to note that having a lees owe you a favor- or his life- is never a bad thing.
Good one! Forgot about that part – I will now be re-reading the Innkeeper series.
I’ve never commented on any author’s blog before, but I needed to stop by here and say thank you for this serial. It came at the perfect time for me. There’s a lot going on in my life right now, a mixture of happiness and sorrow, so I really needed something to take me outside of myself for a bit, to distract me a bit. This has been a joy for me to read, along with rereading your Roman and Dali/Jim novellas. Thank you.
Oh boy you got the LEES in here
Who knew ?
Its a big universe…
I am wondering (hoping really) if Bear may be a bit like Golvar – the wolf-like companion of Wilmos. Wilmos is the nanosurgeon werewolf from Auul that has a shop in Baha-char. Perhaps that is the Talent that has recently developed in Bear.
And I forgot to say thank you – the serials are always appreciated!
Can’t be Diana’s earth because the breaches change the story covenant of keeping average earthings from knowing about aliens. The Inns would no longer need to be kept a secret and, to protect earth, it could be argued that it would be necessary to earth’s survival that the Innkeepers share their knowledge and allow access to the doors to purchase items for our defences!
I wasn’t going to read it because I said previously I was going to wait for the book………… but then I did.
The Book Devouring Horde increases! Rejoice!
Wait, lees?
Like the Nuan clan of Innkeeper?
(or am I misremembering terminology?)
Yes, same species 🙂 But Jovo is of Clan Kiar.
Did anyone else immediately picked up the innkeeper series and started yet another reread after reading this chapter?!?
Aaaargh! Typos.. noooooooooo!
Yay lees! thank you!
I had a whole thing written out about what I think is happening, but if I happen to be right I don’t want to spoil the surprise for everyone else.
Doesn’t matter if I’m right or wrong, I love speculating! thanks for the great story, I love the ones I keep thinking about it for hours!
I have a million books to read, but now I want to go reread Innkeeper again lol.
I think inn keeper is the main universe. The other earths like this or silver blade, the edge, are all side branch.
Kate world is probably on a different tapestry, though.
Or Kate’s in a timeline in the future?
Maybe the magic started turning on and off and the edge magic developed as a follow up to the breaches. However – as you suggest – the different series do not have to all be connected. Maybe Kate and Dina are in different multiverses of the main universe – haha – if that is possible or makes any sense. It is fun to think about – All the series are great.
Awesome
Oh I’m emotional, this is so good. Thank you for this wonderful piece of art and Mod R for keeping the BDH wrangled.
A lees, now that’s fun. Ada better watch out, they’re crafty.
I keep thinking about what else in the breach has felt somewhat connected to the Innkeeper universe.
Do the spiders and eggs in the breach link back to the anansi pearl clutch Dina buys in Clean sweep? There are stalkers in that book and stalkers in the breach in Inheritance.
Is the thing that’s stalking Ada a Mukama? It has a connection to the Lees and hence the Innkeeper world and is obviously a sentient being. Are the breaches and Mukama somehow tied together? Or are the breaches how they escaped?
So many questions! I can’t wait for this book! 😃
I love that this tied into the innkeeper series!!! Does this mean more in the innkeeper books?
The Innkeeper series in not finished 🙂 , there was always going to be a sequel.
To check on the status of any series, you can go to the Release Schedule page and if there is no “Finished/Finished for now” update next to the title, it means a continuation is planned 🙂 https://ilona-andrews.com/release-schedule/
I am worried, am I crazy? I don’t recall where Illona Andrews live in Texas, and there is silence what with the flood and the horror of it. I hope we hear from them soon.
House Andrews are around 80 miles from the worst of the flooding and thankfully ok 🙂