The stench of decomposition started as a faint whiff of cloying odor. It drifted from the warren of passages and tunnels. The farther we walked, the stronger it became.
Jovo waved his hand in front of his nose.
I nodded. It stank.
We kept moving. This part of the breach resembled the inside of a sponge: short roundish chambers connected by a myriad of shorter tunnels, endlessly intersecting. My senses told me we were getting closer and closer to the anchor. It had to be less than a mile away.
This area should have been filled with monsters. The closer to the anchor, the higher the density of creatures. That was a hard and fast rule that had been proven over and over again in the last ten years. This distribution was exactly why the miners stuck to the sites in close proximity to the gates.
The Sponge was deserted. And the stench kept getting thicker.
Nothing in this breach went the way it was supposed to. I wanted answers.
Another hundred yards.
The odor was almost unbearable now.
Our tunnel turned and opened. An enormous cavern unrolled in front of us, its ceiling three hundred feet high and studded with glowing crystals. A narrow river wound its way through the cavern’s floor.
Monster corpses littered the ground.
Huge, spiked, armored, grotesque, they sprawled along the banks. There had to be hundreds of them. The scale of the slaughter was horrifying. My mind refused to accept it.
This was too much for any being to kill alone. Had a bomb gone off here? But nothing except the monsters was damaged. The walls weren’t scorched, there was no crater, and flowers still bloomed along the banks.
Jovo clamped his hand over his nose and pulled on my sleeve. I glanced down at him. He pointed into the cavern.
I looked in the direction he indicated and flexed. A complex metal device sat in the center of the cavern, opened almost like a flower with concentric ridges forming petals.
Jovo let go of his nose and opened the fingers of both hands raising his arms. “Boom!”
Someone had deployed a literal weapon of mass destruction, but instead of destruction, it was just death. Mass death on an unprecedented scale.
I concentrated on the bodies. They didn’t look native to the breach. Too large, too many of them, and all were clearly nasty in a fight. The mechanism of the breaches was becoming a little clearer. Whoever built them took a section of an actual ecosystem, wedged it between our worlds, and then dumped a large number of predators into it. I had no idea how they transported them in or kept them from immediately killing each other, but it was clear that the monsters were plonked here and then expected to spread through the caves. There was probably enough wildlife for them to survive for the next couple of weeks, but by the time the gate burst, they would be ravenous.
It made no sense for whoever built the breach to stuff it with monsters and then nuke them. This felt like the work of a third party. There were the creators of the breach, us, and then there was the alien woman and the gress.
“Gress?” I asked Jovo.
He shrugged. He didn’t know.
It had to be the gress. If the alien woman entered the breach and the gress were pursuing her for some reason, clearing the monsters would make that pursuit much easier. The gress must’ve killed them shortly after the breach was created, if not right away, because the creatures didn’t even have a chance to spread.
But why did the woman enter? Was she escaping? Was she supposed to do something here?
I pointed at the cavern and made a walking motion with my fingers. “Dangerous?”
Jovo took an exaggerated sniff and shook his head.
The anchor lay on the other side of the cavern, through one of the passages puncturing the opposite wall. I took a breath, gagged, and started forward.
#
Jovo squeezed his marble. A gathering of lees appeared, most of them white furred and green eyed. “Sai. Phff!”
He had started this halfway into the monster slaughter, probably out of sheer self-preservation against the horror and the stench. Apparently, the lees existed in large family groups, and there were a lot of them. They greatly varied in fur color, markings, and eye color. A lot of the clans must have been wealthy, because the lees wore jewelry and elaborately decorated sashes, aprons, and kilts. There had to be some pattern to clothes, but I couldn’t decipher it. Perhaps it was regional.
The one thing Jovo made absolutely clear was that Clan Kiar was far superior to all others. We’d left the monster mass graveyard behind ten minutes ago, and he was still going.
I was still struggling with the odor. It seemed to stick to us, coating our clothes, skin, and hair. I should’ve gotten used to it by now, but it kept bothering me. My hearing and eyesight had gotten better. My olfactory sense probably got an upgrade as well, and right now it felt like a mixed blessing.
Bear sneezed next to me. She hadn’t even tried to investigate the bodies. All of that stench must have been hell on her sensitive nose.
Another squeeze of the marble. A new clan, this one with white, grey, and blue fur colors and turquoise and gold eyes.
“Nuan. Blah.”
“Blah?”
Jovo squeezed the marble, projecting an image of a plump blue pillow and made a squishing motion. “Nuan. Phah!”
Clearly, Clan Nuan was soft like a cushion.
I humored him. “Kiar not phah?”
Jovo pulled his knives out and spun through the tunnel in front of us, slashing left and right. “Kiar!”
Bear barked.
“He is exciting, isn’t he?”
Bear was the smartest girl ever, because any other dog would’ve chased him by now.
Jovo paused, posing on one foot.
I nodded solemnly, acknowledging the warrior badassery of Clan Kiar.
Jovo flipped backwards, slicing with his weapons, pirouetted to the end of the tunnel, and stopped, dropping into a crouch.
Uh oh.
Bear and I closed in. The tunnel opened into a large space, about a hundred and fifty feet wide and about seventy-five feet deep. Multiple openings gaped on the sides, probably leading back to the Sponge. Straight ahead a thick wall rose, with a rectangular doorway dead center.
Jovo hissed.
I flexed on the doorway. Beyond it lay a large room. I glimpsed an identical doorway at the other end. Between them a short pillar rose from the floor. It was rectangular and cut from a single block of black stone that seemed to swallow the light around it. White glyphs shone on its sides, carved into the cosmic blackness, and then painted over with an even glow. My eyes told me that the pillar was only three and a half feet tall, but in my mind it loomed, an enormous obelisk, a towering monolith brimming with malevolent power.
We had found the anchor.
The vision of the giant anchor filled my brain. The urge to dash across the open space and into that room gripped me. The anchor was an abomination. I had to crush it.
The pillar throbbed, sending pulses of concentrated power through me. I gritted my teeth.
Get out of my head.
Bear licked my hand.
The connection broke. I reeled, suddenly free. That destructive urge hadn’t come from the gem. No, that was something born of my humanity.
I petted Bear’s head and forced myself to focus. Something hung above the anchor. Something foreign that didn’t belong in that room.
I risked another flex and scanned the object. A knapsack, suspended by a familiar metal-plastic cord. I glanced at Jovo. He was laser-locked on it, his body rigid, compressed like a tightly coiled spring.
This was a trap. The Sponge was a labyrinth. Our hunter didn’t want to chase us through it. He wanted us in that room. That was where the last fight would be.
There might have been a way to go around the anchor chamber, but it would take a long time to find it and I didn’t want to look for it. I wanted answers. And I wanted this to be over. Every instinct I had assured me that the way to the gate lay through that room.
A faint whisper of a movement made me spin. A dark form appeared behind us, at the entrance of the tunnel. Darkness pulsed and the form fluttered away like a piece of fabric jerked out of sight, leaving a bone barrier dial hanging in its place. The gress had blocked our escape. It was trying to trap us in the tunnel.
I dashed forward, to the opening that led to the anchor room, pulling my stolen dial out of the pack. Jovo tried to rush past me, and I shoved him back, thrust the dial where the passageway met the wider chamber, and activated it. My barrier pulsed with darkness and settled at the mouth of the tunnel, blocking the exit to the anchor room.
Even if the gress showed up now, he wouldn’t be able to place another barrier on top of this one. The forcefield had a 26-foot limit, and it had to reach something solid to activate. Since I blocked the tunnel, the gress’ only option would be to set his barrier in the outer chamber, but that space was too wide.
Either the gress wanted to trap us in this small tunnel so he could wait until we ran out of water or food and died, or he wanted to panic us and force us to the anchor. Impulsively charging into the anchor chamber, with Jovo keyed up so high he was practically bouncing off the walls, would be suicide. We needed to be calm and calculating if we had any chance of winning. My barrier bought us temporary safety and time.
Jovo thrust himself in front of me, his face furious, and stabbed his finger at the anchor.
“I know,” I told him. “We will go.”
He pointed at the anchor again. I pointed at him and waved my arms frantically, then moved my hands down slowly, spreading them. “Calm down.”
Jovo trembled.
“It’s a trap.” I clamped my hands together, imitating a bear trap closing.
Jovo bounced up and down, slashing with his knives.
“Kiar Jovo!” I went straight to the mom voice. “Calm down.”
He blinked, stunned for a second, spun around, and started pacing from one side of the tunnel to the other. Score one for the universal parent voice.
I sat down on the stone floor. The anchor chamber was right in front of me with the dial hanging there in the empty air like some bone spider. The gress was nowhere to be seen. He was biding his time. Sooner or later, we would have to leave the tunnel.
If I ever hoped to see my children again, I had to be smart. I had to find out as much about the gress as I could.
“Jovo.”
The lees turned to me, his eyes hot.
“Gress.” I imitated him squeezing the marble.
Jovo pulled the marble out, put it in front of me, and squeezed it. The image of the gress pair spilled out. I focused on it and tried to relax.
I was never successful with meditation. As soon as I closed my eyes and let my mind off its leash, my thoughts ran in all directions, floating from one topic to another. I would start with something mundane like Noah needing a new pair of glasses, and move on to the car needing gas, then the oil change, then the calendar, then the upcoming meetings, and so it usually devolved into a mess that left me more stressed than when I started it.
This time had to be different. I sensed the power hidden deep inside me. So far it showed me flashes of visions, little fragments, and hints, but it contained so much more. I hadn’t even scratched the surface. It knew about the gress. I felt it when it showed me how to open the dial. I had to convince it to let me in. There had to be something there, some information about their weakness. Something that we could use.
Jovo lowered himself on the floor to the left of me. He leaned forward and placed his hands in front of him, like a cat sitting. The lees took a deep breath and closed his eyes.
Bear padded over and lowered herself, curling around me, her big body bracing mine.
I closed my eyes and flexed. This time I wasn’t focused on anything. I wasn’t measuring distance or trying to determine the properties of an object. I simply entered the state of flexing. My talent splayed out of me like flames of a bonfire. I let it flail.
My time was almost never my own. I loved my children with all my heart, but they made constant demands on my time. They required attention, especially when they wanted to be ignored. Work generated cycles of mind-numbing reports, physical fitness tests, and short, intense bursts of pressure when entering the breaches. The carousel of household bills went round and round, from the expected utilities to the inconvenient emergencies of broken appliances and annual repairs. Everything had to be done. Everything had to be taken care of. My life was so busy, at times it felt like I dissolved into it. I was getting older and older, time was flying by, and I was powerless to stop it. Millions of moments and all of them taken.
But now my life was empty. There were no children in this breach, no tasks, no bills. There were no stalkers, dragons, or gress in this tunnel. There was only my dog, the alien creature I rescued, and me. My body. My senses. My thoughts. This moment was mine. I owned it.
Slowly, carefully, the invisible glow of my talent subsided, until it radiated from within me like soft heat from a low fire. My power stabilized and I let myself sink into it.
First?
Certified 🙂
nice! Mom voice for the win! Thanks for the full chapter.
Top 10?
So all Ada needed to do to get time to herself was get locked in an alien cave system full of monsters?
Jealous? 🤣
Sounds about right.
Thanks to HA and Mod. R! So good!
I’m I’m in the top 10?
hehehehe
Who does clan Nuan think they are??? Those softies, they had to rely on an alpha werewolf to protect their interests….
lol
Amazing!
yay top 10
first? first time ever commenting here?
Yayy!
Yeah! Break time
First?
second?
YAY! thank you!
Not first, but maybe top 10?
Loving this story!
I am so stupid. I read that he was a lees, he is described as a lees, but I did not catch that he is, in fact, a lees.
Maybe Ada will exit through an Inn!
same here!
That thought crossed my mind too! Also, I think the giant cat-like creature has a counterpart in the Hidden Legacy series, unless I’m getting my arcs crossed. I love these stories so much!!
+1
Not first! Now to read the installment…
I am proud to be so close to “Certified”. (A good feeling. Als,it as good as when I used to get the Fairy Stamp on my hand in Gr. 1.)
“Almost”. Jeezeloueeze
first?
Yesss, Happiness!
Thanks for the post.
I so relate to Ada. 100%. Any attempt to meditate disintegrates into the 1,000 items on the to do or interruptions from the kids.
Can’t wait until Friday for answers!
Same! Its oddly comforting that mom voice and mom brain spirals are experienced by others
I’m a Fire/Med dispatch supervisor and I have to use mom voice on the radio sometimes when units aren’t answering me. Sometimes they don’t hear me until I use my mom voice.
E16, San Jose?
No response
E16, San Jose?
No response
ENGINE (first name) SIXTEEN (last name), San Jose?
Go ahead to E16
mmhmmm.
Mom voice works every time. I’m an AD over Maintenance/Grounds, and sometimes I have to employ it to get the guys’ attention.
🙂
And described so well, one of many benefits of reading HA stories! It’s that unique blend of imaginative situations, punchy dialog, heart-pounding action, believable characters with strong family connections, and everyday life details (like mom voice and mom brain, or I’m doing this dangerous job for the health insurance) that I love about their books.
+1
Only a thousand? How the delete did you get that redacted lucky?
Oh wait. Pathetically Human Condition applies.
Sigh….
No returns. No rebates. No refunds.
And no rest for the wicket (clever Stasheff reference there).
Even the ancient ritual acknowledgment of the influence of Murphy cannot save us from having to clean it all up.
By ourselves.
With a bucket of lukewarm soapy water.
And a toothbrush.
Omg, house Andrews, how much more?!?
The last blog post they said 7 more installments, unless they put some sections together. So, now 6 (or maybe less), plus the finale in the purchased version. July 28th..
Thanks!
Now comments:
The Dance of Destruction will start soon. Looks like Ada got there first.
I presume Elias and his party will get into the cave through one of the tunnels or whatever without a dial. Maybe get there while Ada and Jovo and Bear are fighting. Will he and his people need to move in and help? Or will AJB take care of everything themselves?
Friday is soooo far away.
Well Jovo will be dancing with his knives/claws 🙂 giggle, giggle… hum remindes of the renders in Kate D world… or the boudas in a pack, don’t they giggle? Well, laugh anyway?
Oh wow. He clearly mentioned clans Nuan and Sai. He’s from Dina’s earth?
Thank you for another great installment!
Jovo is an alien in the IC world 😉
I’m getting a weird feeling that this is tying into innkeeper. We have a guy in innkeeper that clearly wants to expose/ kill/eliminate adhals, inns, and innkeepers. He’s clearly able to transport large areas of other planets ie Earth to other nasty dimensions, what not the nasties here? We’ve got a Lees (multiple clans) connection, other scary monster connections, and people who are able to gain “magical powers” in these areas – see Dina’s mom when she moved into an Inn. Swords/speed seem to be main ways of killing – do I sense the vampires coming through the new doorway in Gurturde Hunt? We already know a disaster is coming, Dina’s brother hinted it. Is this a prequal/post Inn book?
Food for thought. And it clearly isn’t Oreos
don’t follow 100% but ok… did Dina’s parents and their Inn disapear into a breach?
the options…
We also have the enemies of the one who gave Ada the gem. They seem like they could be a lot like the corrupted innkeepers to me.
Here’s a theory for you. The force that’s trying to destroy the Inns wants to get rid of the treaty. So they created the breaches in order to yank Earth into the greater galaxy. The Innkeeper council, the Arbitrators, and the various alien races that want to keep their neutral intergalactic Atlanta Airport and affiliated hotels are searching for the breach makers. And somehow an Inn will get involved.
Not a bad theory. Doubling down, when the Vampire Wedding of the Century happens …we will see the Kai (?) clan of lees partying down … along with all our other good guys (maybe even catch sight of a rare Sun Cat in full fur form imagine shifting into an SUV sized cat, here kitty kitty! that’s if any are still left alive), the Wet Work Wolves the Hope Crushing Hordes (sp), and all diverse mayhem loving species putting forth efforts to neutralize… the baddies the Grees and the fungi/fungal corruption, and the Mkama (sp) who are driven to devour magical potential aka the young eg children who can are sensitive to the magic of inns (maybe breaches too?)…what an amazing event! Arland is very enthusiastic about wedding planning now, LOL He says they need to go Bigger, invite EVERYONE, LOL
That actually sounds plausible.
This was so good!! What a way to start my week back to work!!
Thanks.
Yep, mom voice works on any normal children & childless young adults. Well, mostly…
If the situation justifies it, probably.
Looking forward to whatever is revealed to her. Also what is that blue orb now? A separate something / unlockable memories plus evolving abilities?
Thank you for the parts! It will be interesting to see what her meditation results in.
Meditation? What is this meditation you talk of – is it similar to challant?
These snippets are such a nice start to the week 🙂 thanks
Jovo had best check his next cup of tea very carefully after that dis to clan Nuan. Phah? *snort* (Tips vial into teapot)
If Nuan is soft, what does that make his clan? Cause we know that Nuan isn’t exactly fluffy puppies in the greater scheme of things.
I read it as Jovo’s disdain for Clan Nuan’s methods. They’re not up-front warriors. They don’t fight physically. He either doesn’t know or doesn’t care that they are formidably skilled with poisons- and he may not yet have an appreciation for how much a savvy business move can ruin someone else’s day. Jovo strikes me as young/adolescent. I don’t think he does much strategic thinking- his elders/clan leaders may well have more respect for Nuan (and Sai- another trade clan).
Clan Nuan was /is a clan of out casts. Which is why Nexus was so important to them
No, no they really aren’t 🙂.
Clan Nuan are a very powerful and rich clan.
Nuan Cee’s mother is from Clan Nuan. When she fell in love with Nuan Cee’s father, the family paid a galactic fortune, the worth of a planet, to ransom him from the Kuan, the clanless lees outcasts.
The Nexus is important to the Kuan.
+1
Good points, but who says Clan Kiar is not excellent with poisons? Look at his knife choice…. fast and light slashers
Thank you so much for this! Really loving the story and the worlds it’s creating! 🤗
+1
The reason I can continue to read and wait is that we were assured that Bear does not die. Otherwise, this is a bit too intense for me to read and have to wait days until a new chapter.
I can hardly wait until the book comes out so I can read without waiting.
Bear does not die 🙂. The InBearatance would never betray us!
Nuan. Phah! Kiar. Warrior! 😂😂. A little rivalry between clans. Thank you, made me smile.
The power of the Mom voice is a force across all species lol
Amen, all we needed was a third name. Three names and every child knows that moms around the world are on the warpath.
In my family, the mothers upped the ante by giving kids 4 names (unique first name, two run-in-the-family second names (one from each side, obviously, to avoid hurt feelings either side 😉) plus a last name). So there’s always that extra escalation from 3 first names to the full set of 4 😂😂
I really really don’t understand this “three names” theory. No-one in my family has a middle name, and I can guarantee the “mom voice” still works a treat. The first name is actually enough !
Sometimes children ignore their moms when only the first name is used. Then the mom will use the child’s middle name (if they have one) if the child still ignores the mom. The full blown first, middle, and last name from the mom to the child usually gets the child’s attention, especially when the mom uses a certain tone to her voice.
I almost saluted my mom a few times when she would use her mom voice and the three name with me. Those times she was not to be messed with.
on the other hand… I don’t have a middle name but that didn’t stop my Mom from adding one when necessary (i.e. 3-name time) 😉
Maybe the four of us were exceptionnally well-behaved (lmao) but my mother never had to use more than our one-and-only first name, at worst with a “swear word” in Italian for emphasis.
Tone of voice is imho more important than a litany of names, hence the universality of the “mom voice”
hahaha my husband and I were not fortunate enough to have children, but all our dogs carried the same middle name -“dammit”. The little miscreants would stop dead in their tracks when they heard their formal name.
No no no. The “litany of names” serves the dual purpose of letting you know just how close you are to apocalyptic destruction, and thankfully, slows Mama down…just a smidge….from getting the erring child between her grasping, rending hands of parental consequences.
Ah now that makes sense ! Slowing down the arrival of consequences (however well deserved) does give the miscreant time to abase themself in abject apologies and thus a chance to reduce punishment…
In the US, a middle name is assumed and expected. So much so that if you do not have a middle name, it totally freaks out official forms. I know a couple of people this happened to. When Officialdom finally caught up the the idea that Not All People Are The Same, there still existed the field for Middle Name, but now if a person is bereft of such an important thing, then they are allowed (i.e., required) to fill that field with No Middle Name. It is so weird here.
What, for real?! Then again, here the issue is with double-barrelled surnames. They have been made officially possible by law, but bureaucracy has _not_ caught up with the trend yet 😅
oooooh Friday will be a spectrum upload of knowledge 💖
Nuan a cushy? lol
Looking forward to the incoming fight scenes.
I want it to be Friday now!!!
Will there be “ripper-cushions” for the dismissal of Nuan’s deadly poisoning skills? 🤔 🤨 😤😡 😁
🤣💕
I immediately thought of poison. 🍯☠️☣️😂
Clan Nuan counts on being underestimated….
Loved it! Thank you!!!
Will buy the book today if it becomes available. Please oh please
I’m so enjoying this story! Thank you for a great start to the week!
So the breaches are manufactured. Interesting. Does this mean monsters only spew out into Earth? Or are other worlds similarly infected? If it’s just Earth then the attack is personal and possibly home grown. Unless of course it’s a bona fide invasion. The old “we like your planet and we want to keep it thank you very much” motive. Are the gress responsible or hired muscle, planetary assassins? Did the original bearer of the jewel start off as human and has she been fighting all the breaches from the inside? Hunting the gress? Is that Ada’s inheritance?
So many questions and three weeks to go before we get any answers
Also how do Dina’s Earth and Ada’s Earth both fit into this puzzle?
What great questions.
Easter egg of 2001 Space Odyssey with the alien monolith pillar vision?
Love it! Thank you for this gift
Mom voice for the win!
Such a great start to Monday . . . which I know have to return to and do actual things. Pffft.
Haha, I wondered what was up with the blue pillow before I started reading. Like what, are they doing Restoration Hardware ads on their site? Turns out, that’s not a pillow, that’s Nuan Cee! :-):-)
Me too! Always the clues…
This installment feels so satisfying!
Lees shade, heh!
Interesting! If all the monsters are dead, there is no need to destroy the anchor…
Sure there is… more monsters can be added. Or worse
It took being in a blocked tunnel, away from all distractions to get to her zen place…all it took for me was to open the blog post and start reading.
Thank you, team Andrews, for yet another journey into your worlds.
Thanks for the update ^^
I haven’t read yet, the fluffy pillow icon fills me with dread. I will be back after reading to comment on if the dread was justified.
Ha! Ha ha! Oh the Nuan clan. No need for dread.
How is a soft pillow dreadful? Is there a fluffyphobia I need to know of for the trigger warnings? 🫣
Beware the dreaded pillow fight! 😂
Blue pillow trigger warning!
Hmmm The Rippercushions pillow is blue…..
You guys! This thread is cracking me up but Melissa V-your comment sent me right over the edge….
…Ya know? The Edge. I’ll see myself out
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Beware the pillow (feather or polyester)!
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤪
Well there is always the dread threat of the ‘comfy cushions’ – see Monty Python ‘No One Expects the Spanish Inquisition’ sketch.
We need some sort of BDH equivalent of that like “Smile! Not every cushion is a Ripper Cushion” or something 😀
+1! Love it.
Hmm now I am envisioning an army of snarling cushions armed with half moon knives. Deploy the Ripper Cushions!
When things get desperate and you have no other options, you call on the Ripper Cushions.
Oh you were in the Green Beretes? Me? I was in the Ripper Cushions. 🤫
That sounds like something Soren would build on Daesyn or Curran would have in the new place in their new Keep.
Ripper Cushions for the win! 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
However, when we hit middle evil, stuff’s gonna get real. Incoming blades and void fields.
I love this story! I can’t wait for the full novel to come out. I’m also curiously awaiting how much it will tie in to the Innkeeper universe. “Clan Nuan. Blah!” Nuan Cee would be offended 😂
He would be happy to be under estimated
+1
This was great, than you, House Andrews!
On the one hand I can’t wait for Cold Chaos to show up, but then I actually want Ada to not need them except to guide her home. She deserves to defeat the enemy on her own (with a little backup from Bear and Jovo, of course) after all she’s been through.
I like to call my Mom voice, the “voice of command”. Sometimes accompanied by the “evil eye”. I loved this chapter!
Yes, The Mom Voice is often replaced by The Mom Look in my house too! Both my daughter and my hubby know I mean business when I use both! 😂
Thank you!
thank you!
You have no idea how much I needed this today. I was crying my eyes out and really desperate. You saved the day 💞
May I ask? What time zone are you posting in? I log on at 8 EST but never see it logged.
It’s not the exact same time every day 🙂. Generally, between 9 and 11 am Central Time.
Curiously, these always show up in my email around 5 AM the next day (Tues or Sat). I’m in the Eastern US time zone, just an hour earlier than Central time. I wonder why?
It’s kinda nice, actually, I always have something fun to wake up to.
The newsletter can take up to 24 hours to be delivered in your inbox. It doesn’t really matter where you live 🙂
OP asked about when the article goes live on the blog, which is a different thing to when the newsletter takes the blog article and delivers it directly in the email.
It is 10:00 our time…they are in Texas.
If we are, as we seem to be, operating in the Innkeeper Universe, then whoever created the breaches is clearly in violation of the Intergalactic Treaty that designated Earth as neutral territory. Will an Arbitrator show up next?
Or an ad hal?
George?
I think the Innkeeper Universe is on different branch of the multiverse and these pockets can pull from multiple verses.
Amazing….I am trying very hard to be p*tient, but it’s soooooo hard!!!! 😂This serial is just so exciting (and in the beginning I wasn’t even sure I would like it. Silly me…it is a IA story after all, I should have known I’d love it!)
On a side note, have the gress never met a mom who is trying to get back to and protect her kids? Silly, silly gress….they don’t stand a chance! Go Ada!!!!!
I laughed at Jovo’s different clan reactions. Clan Nuan a blue cushion? 🤣🤣🤣🤣 Well, they did have to get a bodyguard to help them on Nexus.
Onward to Friday!
Yes thanks
If this is Dina’s Earth, are the breaches a way around the treaty?
I once used my mom voice at work when everyone was talking loudly while I was on a call. I, of course, apologized after my call to a lot of laughter. But they never did it again!!
Thanks HA—totally invested here.
I wasn’t prepared for the end. Where is part 2? I need a sign post as I go by.
(Thank you for the lovely long chapter).
Thank you!
Wonderful, thank you!
Clan Nuan… LOL
Love the tie into the Inn Keeper world.
Oooh, Ada is learning to control her power… I love to see it!
Also, Nuan phah! love it.
Nuan, soft like cushion! *chef’s kiss*
Thanks for the story.
That “cushion” is a pincushion. And all the pointy bits are poisoned!
I like that image!
Okay, I’m trying to see if the picture in my head is the picture Ilona drew. Sometimes a single sentence will totally change that picture or reorient my POV to across the scene from where I was at. I went back and had to STUDY what was written, trying to bring the picture into focus. What was confusing me was what direction they were approaching the anchor from. Up until today, I thought they were approaching it from the same direction as the assault team, but on a different route. What today’s installment did was spin things around 180 degrees. Ada saw the assault team so I saw her and Jovo apparently approaching the anchor from the same direction. What happened today seems to indicate that either the assault team’s path or Ada’s has put them approaching the anchor from two different directions. Okay, got it. The anchor room is a trap. Not sure if it’s a trap specifically for Ada, or the anchor assault team, or both. The gress has trapped Ada and Jovo from backtracking with his force field barrier, to force them to enter the trap. Presumably he is on his way around the anchor room to pin them in and prevent Ada from heading back to the breach. Okay, got it. The picture is in focus, I’m looking at it right side up (finally) and unfortunately, everything else is out of frame. The next picture will be Friday. I propose that this episode be considered a cliffhanger. I have a sneaky suspicion that my long awaited wish for an Elias POV will be answered this Friday. Be careful what you wish for. What? Wait, no, not now! Too late. Elias is next. Not only is it about time for a look at what he’s doing, but that’s how Ilona rolls. torture time for the BDH while we wait with baited breath to see if Ada will fall from the cliff, or save herself from a fatal fall. The suspense is killing me.
Yeah I was thinking the exact same thing. How did she get from going past the assault team to the “wrong” side of the anchor room? My internal map is so turned around…..
You are thinking in 2D, but remember she is going up and down. She passed above the team. So imagine a loop, like an circular exit from and overpass. Ada is on the overpass, the bodies are below on the main highway, and the anchor is somewhere ahead.
I’m still sitting in the daycare parking lot. This is my stolen moment of morning meditation.
I have so many questions about the *gestures wildly* everything! Thank you for another fun installment.
Love this installment!
So Glad I was wrong (referring to my comment made under the last chapter, today 7/7/25)! I didn’t see this upload at the time and so thought there was no upload, and I continue to feel a great concern about the flood and the authors. I continue to note nothing personal has been uploaded about the flood. I Hope all their family and friends are ok. I can’t imagine such disasters. If I missed any upload of a personal nature, let me know please.
Hi Edith,
Our part of Texas did not flood severely and our house is on a hill. Thank you for worrying.
Good to know. I have seen that your area was under a Flash Flood watch yesterday, so I was also wondering.
Stay safe down there!
Hills are good. Hills are great. I am very glad to hear that your house is built on one.
Our long-time family house was on a slight rise and never had any flooding issues. The houses a couple blocks from us were only a few feet lower — but were built on a drained swamp.
I remember my parents talking about some friends who planned to buy a house there and gushed to my parents that it was so well built and equipped that it even had TWO sump pumps in the basement. Dad gently pointed out to them that our house didn’t have any sump pumps in the basement — because it didn’t need any being built on the highest point in the area. Instead, whenever there was a heavy rainfall, the water from our area drained straight down into the area where the house they were looking at was located … the house built on a drained swamp … that had two sump pumps in the basement…
The friends took the hint and bought their dream house elsewhere.
OK. After more thinking:
Could the cloaks on the Gress and the cloaks on the corrupted Ad-hals be the same? Some kind of parasitic phage but an evil, thinking one? So once it grabs a hold, it does corrupt you and uses you powers to advance its agenda: taking over new worlds? So it invented the Anchors, using its various corrupted entities, and it keeps spreading?
Through the Sebastian North guy, it pulled Dinah’s parents’Inn into that weird world that Dina and Sean needed the Barsa Barsas to get too. Then it attempted to corrupt the Inn and it was winning 7ntil Dina saved it.
Ooooo. Team Facts Be Damned wins again!
Arghgh. I know grammar and spelling. Sometimes I type too fast and the dumb AI or predictive txt Monster changes my words and when I re-read it, it seems like I never went to school. Drives me 🥜 🥜
I know, right? It’s one thing when my fat finger hits b, n, or m instead of the space bar, but that autocorrect fixing my mistake is even more maddening. What was wrong with spell check? Underline a word it thinks you stupidly misspelled, and let YOU decide that you are, or are not, an idiot. I DO like predictive AI, I like to keep it in the corner of my eye, and use it to save me from typing out the whole word I’ve started. Or use it to keep spelling errors from being committed.
I don’t think that the corrupted Ad Hals are intent upon taking over new worlds. I think that their intent is on destroying the Inns and the the system the Inns are designed to protect.
I am thinking along similar lines. Are the breaches corruptions done by the corrupted innkeeper? Will George step in? Will we get to know what happened to Dina’s parents’ inn and her parents? I am brimming with anticipation, can’t wait for the book. The upcoming book is a priceless gift 🙂
thank you 😊
I know, I know, exciting full chapter…at this point in the story I REALLY NEED MORE!! Sob, I will w**t chalantly with hard earned … p*tience. (double sob). ps: thank you so much, really loving the story.
Thank you!
Oh, this just gets better and better! Looking forward to when we have the whole thing.
Sooo… Jovo isn’tinto poisoning, he likes slashing and cutting better? I believe Clan Sai was mentioned in Sweep of the Heart as rivals of Clan Nuan. I wasn’t so sure, that the breaches were manufactured, I thought it was some kind of spontaneous manifestation. The spider herders seemed to be native to their cave. So maybe… only the gate is manufactured, not the whole breach? This mass killing site was… dreadful. Even with monsters, it’s sad…
Thank you for this great chapter!
This is what House Andrews put in to explain it- “The mechanism of the breaches was becoming a little clearer. Whoever built them took a section of an actual ecosystem, wedged it between our worlds, and then dumped a large number of predators into it. I had no idea how they transported them in or kept them from immediately killing each other, but it was clear that the monsters were plonked here and then expected to spread through the caves. There was probably enough wildlife for them to survive for the next couple of weeks, but by the time the gate burst, they would be ravenous.” So some unknown group, maybe the grey cloak wearing evil folks (some speculate in comments above that they are corrupted Innkeepers or evil cloaks make them the same as corrupted Innkeepers) are linking the worlds via these reality chunks and then essentially setting starving monsters loose on Earth to… weaken it? or distract from attacks on Inns (if same world as Innkeeper/same reality)? Who knows…all will be revealed by the end of July (hopefully!) 🙂
Yeah, that is what Ada thought. I’m just wondering, if she is right 🙂 The spider herders – in my opinion, but I may be wrong – don’t fit into this.
Visualizing the breach: one portal connecting the Earth into the breach, the actual (pretty large) area inside the breach (with the anchor in the middle, somewhere), and do we know if there is another portal to somewhere else? And can we go thru to the other world?
Getting better and better!! Thank you!
Klan Nuan , jakże znajomo 🙂 Z okazji krótkiego urlopu odświeżę sobie cała historię Diny i jednocześnie powiązań klanowych Lees 🙂 To zdanie typowej matki — Mój czas nie należał do mnie — jakie prawdziwe …Dziękuję szaleńczo za kolejny fragment 🙂
I am loving this.
Nuan soft. Phah. The temerity. I am so telling on him.
And then there will be ripper cushions — soft, plump blue ripper cushions…
Cookie would not be happy with this analysis! Love this, thanks!
Cookie would love it Clan Nuan works very hard to be under estimated
Oh – Clan Nuan. Blah.
I feel like my whole leese knowledge was just assaulted 😂😂😂😂
Mind over matter dear Jovo 🤷♀️
OMG OMG OMG! Amazing! TYVM!
Thank you! Thank you! Thank you for another detailed engrossing emotional chapter! Universal Mom Voice for The Win! So wonderful that Ada realizes that all the answers are already within her and that calming clearing and turning inward will reveal all that she is seeking…. Go Ada!
Sending peace, health and safety to all!
Great! Love it!
Thank you!
So. Good.
Great episode!
This weekend I traveled for a family friend’s funeral. As I was getting ready to leave for the trip home this episode was posted. I tried to read it while getting ready to get on the road but kept getting interrupted and couldn’t finish before leaving. It is now about 4 hours later and I am at my first rest stop. 😂 First thing I did was pull the blog up so I could finish reading this installment.
House Andrews for the driving win. I just finished a relisten of Diamond Fire and have moved onto Sapphire Flames. Roughly 5 more driving hours to go.
Looking forward to being home for Friday’s installment.
Condolences.
Thank you
While I was waiting for this installment, a thought had occurred to me. One of Elias’ tasks is to recover all of the bodies from the mining team and (presumably) the assault team. That’s a lot of bodies. That’s 28 people. Anyone that’s tried to pick up another person knows that lifting another person is HARD. And we’re talking about 28 dead bodies. They don’t call it dead weight for nothing. Sure, it’s probably bodies AND/OR body parts , but they still need to be collected, put in the appropriately labeled “body bags” and transported back to the breach. The miners use carts to move their tools and support equipment into the breach, so that is probably how they’re planning to move the bodies. But as we’ve seen, in Ada’s case anyway, is that the terrain, the farther you go into the breach, is not so transport friendly. It doesn’t say if the carts are self propelled, or need to be pulled, or guided by a team member, so there’s another potential complications as well.
The mining sites are chosen to b close to the entrance. The carts transport a variety of stuff, but it clearly includes gold, which is very heavy. I’m sure the mining carts are heavy duty and adapted to rough conditions,so that part will b straightforward. Transporting the assault team’s remains is likely to b a bigger challenge(not just because of the giant attack cat), although I believe they will b within a 2 hour walk of the portal. Even if they can’t get the carts all the way there, they’ll no doubt bring them as close as possible.
“Bear was the smartest girl ever, because any other dog would’ve chased him by now.”
Made me Smile!
I didn’t want to go back to look for it (I’m waiting for right before the last installment to re-read from start to finish) but am I remembering correctly that the locations that exist within the breach are not necessarily all caves or environments that are as limited as caves? Somewhere in the initial chapters, Ada? Elias? Ilona? says/describes that there are also environments that appear to be outdoors in another world. I’m nearing 70, and I’ve heard that as you get older memory is one of the first thing that goes. I really can’t remember the second thing.
Each breach was unique. Open air biomes required larger groups. Cave biomes called for a smaller force with higher individual firepower. Some people didn’t do well in dark enclosed spaces. Others couldn’t swim or had trouble with heights. The assault team reshuffled its roster based on their findings.
It’s in Chapter 5 🙂 https://ilona-andrews.com/blog/the-inheritance-chapter-5-part-1/
This is so excellent! Fresh and new, but with lovely touches of familiarity…lees clans Nuan and Sai. I can hardly wait for the resolution and yet I want the story to go on and on and on! Thank you, HA!
I can tell you already that I will want more interaction between Ada and Elias, though. There aren’t enough chapters left for that to be more than a glimmer of excitement. Here’s my vote for book 2, although if I have to pick between this and Hugh 2, Hugh 2 would win.
Can hardly wait to preorder! I already preordered Maggie 1. Inheritance (1, I hope) here I come!
Oh yeah…the mom voice! The mom voice said with the full name! I can still get my adult son with that one!
Ha! Once I became a Mom, I discovered that the Mom voice worked on my father-in-law if I used his full first name instead of his usual nickname! Didn’t even need to 3-name him. In kindness, I save it for very rare occasions, file under desperate measures. I found it a fun surprise.
With time I discovered that the mom.voice also works on my own mom!
Happy house Andrews is safe, listening to the news here, the whole of Texas was under water and I worried.
on more than one occasion, using my “Mom” voice (which also has 2 generations of teachers behind it) and saying “one” has gotten adult strangers of certain ages to stand up straight, put their hands behind their backs, and look around guiltily. It is very hard to maintain the correct stern aspect for the actual perpetrator when this happens.
Ahhhh… the only good thing about Mondays! Thank you!
I saw the pillow and thought, oh someone gets to take a nap!?
Also I teared up a little at Ada’s description of her mom brain spiraling thoughts.
I think I need a nap 😂😂
If this is the Innkeeper universe – and it certainly seems like it is with the mention of the Nuan clan – does that mean big changes for Innkeeper?
Does Sean go into the breaches with the remaining Alphas to close them in Texas? Seems like something he’d be drawn to do. Defend his world from the alien portal.
I don’t necessarily think this is in the Innkeeper’s world. There is know dimensional hopping and we have this anchor pulling creatures into it. This might be a case similar to the Edge. Just thinking…
+1
Perfect. Thank you. x
Okay, here’s my latest unhinged member of the BDH prediction—Ada and Elias fall in love, retire from dungeon hunting, and take over running the Loch Broom Inn. Oh, and maybe the gates are being caused by Sebastien North as part of his plans to destroy everything.
Beware the soft, squishy, harmless-appearing cushion of Nuan; It will suffocate you in your sleep.
There are ripper cushions and there are squisher cushions — Clan Nuan has a wide-ranging arsenal at its disposal!
Man I love this story
Wait until clan Nuan hears about this !
They’d laugh
Thank you for the post House Andrews.
Wow, a lot to take in here.
We have the Mom voice!
Arrived at the anchor chamber. The monsters guarding it are all dead!
A machine that reminds me of the one the arbitrator brought in during one of The Innkeeper’s series that chopped down some of Dina’s Apple trees.
Now, we sit down and meditate to be one with our enter self.
Whoopee, Friday is a coming!!!
Ahhh! Just keeps getting better! Bear continues to be the bestest and smartest girl ever!
Awesome!
I really like Jovo. 💖
Thank you for this chapter!! 📚
Question….Are the spider herders the species Tachi? Any idea, trying to find the part that describes them in Sweep of the Blade. Or if they might be a related species to the Tachi
As I recall, Tachi are like large Mantis, and the herders appear to be spiders that walk on some legs and use other legs as arms, yet still basically large sentient spiders. That talk, and make deals, so they have probably lost money to the Lees😂.
So maybe Ada’s inheritance is this quest to destroy the anchor. Maybe it is a Prime Anchor upon which all other anchors depend and maybe once it is destroyed along with the Gres Keeper behind it, Dina and Maude can find their mum and dad!
Thus Ada’s power will be less noticeable after the fulfillment of her quest while Bear will still be the smartest and best girl!
Just some chalanting thoughts while we wait…
Thank you!
Thank you so much for todays installment! So many things coming into focus.
I also have to say that I have always trusted HA that Bear would be ok! Thank you!
what is this first thing? I want the book now! LOL
It’s just a game to be the first comment 🙂
? Ada, Jovo & Bear comes into anchor in time to save Elias’ team??? I want to mention that it is taking A Day! to show up in my email. I have to go to an old email and pull the site (or go there when I’m actually home w computer). :/ can’t wait for the book!!
The newsletter taking up to 24 hours to arrive is normal 🙂
Still laughing over the diss of Clan Nuan
I have not yet read this series until yesterday and oh my god I was missing so much! Can I just say, the Innkeeper crossover even slightly made me squeel. And hearing the smack talk about the Nuan clan was absolutely hilarious. I’m loving this!
Top 200…. Ha, ha, ha!
Wow! Merchant lees versus the fighter lees… hm. Wonder who would win? Of course, there might also be fines levied between the clans for such unwarranted behavior… hee, hee!
I can’t wait to find out if the gress are trying to kidnap a human (any assault team member), or Ada in particular. And that’s another “Who would win?” question.
This is definitely a departure from the details of other breach closures.
Pondering, pondering… lots to meditate on.
And where to London and Melissa fit in all this?
Strings and strings and strings and things!
Yeeha!
Thank you for another twist on this rock-n-roll rollercoaster!
Toodles!
Very exciting as we approach the conclusion! I finished re-reading Sweep of the Blade today. Just. So. Good! Sigh. Grateful for your stories!
ooooo this is going to be good! I cannot wait to know what upgraded Ada can do with quiet and the bested bear girl by her side. Trap schmap.
Cliff hanger!
I’m just getting to the chapter now, this was so great! I’m in awe of Ilona and Gordon, what a world they are building! Thank you so much!
Since it seems this is a crossover with INNKEEPER, what the DDC needs to defend against a breach is someone specialized in holding a gate against all threats. Sean….are you busy?
My goodness, I want more…. Can’t wait to the end of the week.. 🙏
Delicious! And so, as the Fog of War, errr, confusion in the breach gets thicker, other factors become clear. Elegant!
Thank you!
These chapters are great, thank you.
I guess if the breaches are non-stationary and a root of an inn passed through a breach, could this have been the thing that had Magnolia Green “suddenly disappear”? That it was pulled into a breech?
Should we consider this a tie-in to Dina’s story or is it a stand alone? The only connection to Dina’s universe is the Lees species (which could have been pulled out of Dina’s universe into a breach). When the breaches open, it would render the Treaty meaningless, but the innkeepers did not seem to come forward. Instead, the breaches triggered an evolution in some humans so they had a fighting chance. Ada’s evolution seemed to be enhanced when she was given her inheritance…🤯
Wow, just wow. Can hardly wait for the book, which seems so close, yet so far away…
No, ixnay on the above, Magnolia Green was taken to a specific place, for a specific purpose, ***sigh***. Just wait for the book…(easier said than done!)
I’d like to re-read: where is the origin of the Ripper Cushions? Thanks.
Maud’s story “Sweep of the Blade”
Why is there a picture of a pillow on the post? Is this what is called a “clue”, a “hint”, an “Easter Egg”???
If you read the chapter, it will be revealed 🙂
I guess will have to reread … mind blew past that part.
Found it. Flew right past it on the first read.
This story continues to be amazing! I just don’t know how HA creates these intense and engaging worlds.
So grateful for the gift and also looking forward to the audiobook!
Good story
I know it’s not relevant to destroying the anchors or getting out of the breach but I want to find out what Ada’s Inheritance Gem or what Jovo’s marble knows about “humans”. I wish I could step into the scene and say Jovo, Hoo-man and imitate him squeezing the marble.
Thank you. Badassery?? A new one for the BDH dictionary? 🤣🤣
Fantastic! I love Ida…and Bear and Jovo!
Thank you!!!
Wow thank you!
Great episode. I might use this technique to meditate/pray. This is soooo good. Thx for this installment. I can see the breach tunnels and caverns. Great imagery. Out of the park with this one. Can’t wait to buy it.
Terrific thankyou
absolutely loving this story/world!! so glad to be back in the hands of the master storytellers HA!
and so many wonderful books to look forward to 😍
Okay, you got me. I skipped right over the lees reference. Until you said Clan Nuan and then I made a loud noise in the library (because I’m reading on the job, LOL.)
Shivers.
Hot damn, Ada. You’re going to blow them all away when you get back home.
I’ve got this vision: Ada with her new powers (and extensive knowledge from the gem) will be able to safely manage every breach. So she will be a special agent – one in mission to navigate breaches and liason with alien civilizations. Of course, with Bear as her backup 🙂
Oh my God I started reading the chapters 2 days ago and I am finished! I love this book so much, can’t wait to buy it! I loved that the comments at the start of the chapters showed me people were thinking the same as me hehe (time distortion etc etc) 😀
Thank you House of Andrews this is a gem! 🙂 😀
That Lee sphere dictionary/encyclopedia (?) orb is so useful for communication when you don’t speak each other’s language. 😄
Also, please, I’d like some more?
Finally, some peace and quiet (dungeon diving) 😉