Mod R edit: If your preorder for This Kingdom Will Not Kill Me was cancelled, please do not panic! There is now a UK and Commonwealth edition of the book, previously announced and explained here. You will need to re-preorder the relevant edition for your region.
Bear and I trudged across another stone bridge, a vast drop below us. This part of the breach seemed to consist of massive caverns and deep shafts connected by short tunnels. Natural stone bridges crisscrossed the sheer drops. Water was scarce. I’d filled our canteens when we killed the lake dragon, and half of our water supply was gone. It made me nervous. I kept hoping for streams and not finding any.
We could probably get some moisture from the blood of the monsters we killed, but they had grown scarce too. Nobody barred our path. Maybe the inhabitants of the breach simultaneously decided that we were too much of a threat, but I doubted it. A few times I glimpsed creature corpses below, broken as if they had fallen from a great height. The fall wasn’t the only thing that killed them. The bodies were torn, shredded by something with terrible claws. And worse, nothing had touched them since their death. This place was full of scavengers, yet all of that meat was going to waste. There was only one answer: whatever slaughtered the creatures was so frightening, that nothing else dared to touch their kill.
The anchor was ahead and slightly to the right. We had been drawing closer, but our route didn’t run in a straight line. We were making circles around it, getting nearer in a spiral that became tighter and tighter.
Behind me, Bear halted. I turned. She was looking to our right, across the cavern. That side of the chamber lay shrouded in gloom.
Bear let out a quiet, deliberate woof.
Something was definitely there, in the darkness.
I flexed. My talent rolled outward, trying to measure the distance to the gloom, and falling short.
Woof.
Another stone bridge ran below us, leading to the right. It was a twenty-foot drop. If we got down there, I could use my rope to climb back up.
Woof.
“Okay. We’ll go check it out. Up!”
Bear leaped into my arms. I held her the same way I carried Mellow, my cream cat, and jumped down. We landed on the lower stone bridge. The impact punched through the soles of my feet into my legs. I stuck the landing like an Olympic gymnast. Maybe once I got out of here, I would go for a career change. Not many forty-year-old acrobats debuting out there. I’d be a sensation.
I let Bear down, and we headed toward the shadows.
What the hell would I do once I got out? First, I’d need to make sure Cold Chaos didn’t have a chance to unalive me as Tia would put it. I was living proof of their fuckup. A huge liability. A week ago, or however long it had been since we entered, I would have said that a major guild wouldn’t stoop that low. The risks were too great. But now I didn’t just expect the worst, I counted on it.
Assuming that we made it out alive and jumped the Cold Chaos hurdle, DDC would want the full account of what happened. I had two choices. First, I could demonstrate my newfound powers and come clean. Second, I could hide.
The first option meant … End of my life as I knew it. Possibly in more ways than one. I had encountered sentient, sapient lifeforms. I communicated with them, I traded with them, and I witnessed irrefutable evidence of other civilizations. Not just one vague amorphous enemy, but an entire constellation of different sophont species. Not beasts, not monsters. Thinking, feeling beings.
I couldn’t have been the first. The breaches had been active for nearly a decade. Thousands of gates, maybe a hundred thousand gate divers worldwide. Someone had to have seen what I’d seen, and yet there was no mention of it anywhere in the DDC archives. I worked for the fucking government. I had Top Secret clearance when it came to breach intel, and I had never come across anything like this. Which meant that somewhere, very high up, a decision was made to keep all of this suppressed.
It made sense in a way. As long as the breaches were populated with monsters, the public could deal with it. We all united in an effort to close them. The moment the evidence of alien civilizations and their representatives came to light, the defensive front would fracture. Some people would advocate for communication over violence. Some would try to broker peace, others to profit, a few would try to defect. It would be a mess wrapped in doubt and ethical navel gazing. People would enter the breaches with the best of intentions and die there.
If I opened that door or my mouth, the government, my employers, would disappear me. They probably wouldn’t kill me right away. First, they would confine me. I would be interrogated, studied, analyzed, and either quietly disposed of or made into a weapon. I was ridiculously easy to control. As long as the DDC held Tia and Noah hostage, I would do whatever they wanted. The lives of my children would be hanging in the balance.
No, hiding was my only option. When we walked out of that gate, I had to convince everyone that I was still Adaline Moore, an assessor and non-combatant, who wandered out of the breach by pure luck. Except that I probably looked different, I carried a magic sword, my dog was 25% larger than when we went in, and I would’ve survived in the breach for at least a week with no supplies, weapons, or combat Talents to protect me. Now that was truly unheard of.
Piece of cake. Right.
I had no idea how to pull that off. And worrying about it was premature. I had plenty of time to think of some kind of plan.
After five minutes of walking, we stopped before a hole in the wall. It was about ten feet across and roughly semicircular, as if cut in the rock. It reminded me of the small cave where Bear and I took shelter to fight off the mauve flowers. The hole looked empty and dark, except for one thing. A complex dial the size of a dessert plate hung in mid-air in the exact center of the opening.
I flexed. The entire entrance fluoresced with bright electric orange. No touching. A barrier, invisible to my normal vision. Only the dial was free of the glow. It had to be the source of the barrier.
I stared at the dial. Five concentric circles carved out of bone and inlaid with a metal the color of rose gold. Each of the circles was marked with eight smaller round indentations, spaced at even intervals. The top indentation was dark, the second going clockwise was mostly dark with a pale rose gold crescent on the right side, the third was half gold, half dark… Phases of the moon.
Five circles, five moons, eight phases each.
Hundreds of thousands of combinations.
Something stirred in my mind. A vision flooded me. I saw a hand with slender fingers and brindled skin reach for an identical dial and manipulate the circles with its red claws, selecting the phases. A vision of a night sky unfolded with five moons of different colors in different phases. A holy cosmic combination, part of a twisted faith and a lynchpin of a sacred ritual known only to the initiated.
The vision faded. I had the key now, but not the explanation. Who left the dial barrier here, what was behind it, and most importantly, should I open it?
Was there something dangerous locked in that hole? It could contain treasure, valuable knowledge, or some kind of eldritch horror that would disintegrate us.
I could just keep walking.
I searched my mind for anything else, any other knowledge relating to the barrier or its originator. I found nothing.
This was so frustrating. I knew there was more there, hidden in that glowing gem that somehow lived inside of me, but I just couldn’t access it. It showed me glimpses and only when it wanted to.
I stared at the dial. I had to know. If I walked away now, the barrier would eat at me until I doubled back and opened it. It would be a waste of time and effort. And if I walked away, there was no telling if I would ever get the chance to return.
I reached for the dial and turned the top circle. The first moon in the waxing gibbous, the second in a waning crescent, the third full, the fourth in a third quarter, and the last a dark new moon. The five moon irregular pentagon.
The circles of the dial slid spinning on their own. The opening flashed with green, and the dial clattered to the ground. The way was open.
First?
Certified 🙂
First?
First?
First
1st
yay!
first?
Thank you very much! Have a wonderful weekend! Really enjoying this.
well top 6 not bad – and first time i posted before reading 🙂 as i had just checked 1min ago and the post was not yet there 🙂
happy Friday BDH
Thanks for the instalment IA
Amazing as usual, thank you authorlords!
Woo hoo! Thank you.
top 10?
Ada’s dilemma is truly a Gordian knot, fortunately Elias is a Blade Warden! Top ten?
On the one hand, she could be right and it would be just like the government to suppress this information and threaten others into compliance.
On the other hand, our girl is overwrought, paranoid and expecting the worst of everything and everyone.
She’s spent god knows how long wandering the dungeon with no one to talk her out of her paranoia. She’s being hunted, she was betrayed, she’s had her trauma of abandonment dredged up. She hasn’t had a proper meal or sleep in ages.
She’s not exactly an example of calm and rational thinking right now.
Not that I’d outright go blabbing everything to the government without consideration, but it might be worth coming up with a reasonable story.
Like “weird aliens killed each other, I took a sword off the corpse of one which works a bit like magic. My dog ate some stalkers when I wasn’t watching and grew a bit. She protected me while I walked out. Anyway, let me tell you what I saw while I was in there, it was wild…”
No need to mention the herders. She might not have gone past them. She was lost and that place is a maze. /shrug
With the right earnestness and maybe a well timed refusal to talk to anyone below head honcho level (“I didn’t want to spread this around, it seemed like the kind of information that might be best kept restricted”). She might be able to get out relatively ok.
After all, we know she’s one of the best assessors the government has and that they’re extremely valuable. It would be a stupid move to alienate her if she seems trusting and loyal to the government and likely to keep her mouth shut.
Most likely Ethan will help out but I do think she could finagle her way out of the situation herself. It just needs a little cunning and some understanding of her handlers.
Which would go much better if she gets a few hours to recuperate before she faces them.
I like this theory. Beats mine that she needs to fake her death. 🤣
I believe there is another solution to her problem, one completely different way and for now only HA now about it 🙂
If there are another who encountered alien civilization, maybe the goverment is running super secret program with them. It may be the way to understand the gates.
Well it’s looking like a good thing Elias has her children instead of the government…
I was thinking the same thing. And maybe he could help her figure out a plausible story to tell the government.
He does owe her. He didn’t order what happened, but it was his people.
And he has ethics, which are in short supply between London, Melissa, and likely the DDC.
But Ada doesn’t know 🙂
More, please!
Thank you!
Can’t wait to see what’s inside on Monday! Fingers crossed
+1
Yay! Friday…
Oh no, another cliffhanger :D. Happy Midsummer to everybody who celebrates!
Happy Midsummer!
If this story is a roller coaster, this snippet is an incline slowly climbing to the next drop-off.
Absolutely wonderful and absorbing.
wow – when you think we are heading to the end of the story, – HA throws in a new thing – to puzzle out for Ada and us – how do they want to finish this in a few sequences like 3 more chapters 3-8 posts … how are we going to unravel all the mysteries in just one book from here?
LOL. I know, right?
Yeah – more twists than an alien moon dial! 😉
oOOH soo good!
Thank you very much, have a great weekend
The way was open
. . . and we walked into the weekend, waiting patiently and chalantly for Monday’s installment.
Definitely NOT like sugar-high toddlers wanting MORE. NOW. Nope, not us. Just all the fluffiness.
Complete agree. However, may I make another salient point: IS IT HERE YEEEEEEEEEEEET?!
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
+10000!!
You are the only people who make me wish it was Monday. I need more….. but thanks for that, I’ll be thinking of it all weekend.
Excellent! Loving this!
I’m trying to imagine how this will all get wrapped up in a few more instalments and be left as a stand-alone… Ada raises some good points about the government having to be aware of something more going on with the gates and the risks to her if she pops out with special powers and suppressed intel. My Horde brain feels very strongly this could be an opening for a series to answer this and other questions! Also to keep shipping Ada and Elias, lol 😂
Please please please! An inheritance series would be so cool! I want mooore – already dreading the final installment! Also, very much hoping for a lot more chapters for Ada and Elias content!
I know. There isn’t really time for romance lol. Just the love of a good dog! But maybe that’s all a woman needs. Also, in all the fluffiness of a relaxed space chicken on his perch, this world and all the implications are way too interesting for a one and done!!
It’s sooo frustrating when you know the answer but can’t access it! Thank you HA for another riveting installment. Come on, July! 😉
Thank you for another installment of Bear and friends:-)
Have a great weekend!
I was telling my eldest about this story and I think we have a new member of the BDH 😝
I’m curious what will happen next. I can’t wait to see Ada and Elias
Uh oh. 🫣 Cliffhanger until Monday. Unless Monday’s read is with the Elias group.
Thank you!
To be continued…😁
I love this so much!
Thanks for the update.
So Ada thinks she needs to hide her newfound powers… How is she going to achieve that? He he he…
What did she open?
Curiosity is driving me.
I am waiting for the book to be published but I want more and so wish the story won’t be a standalone.
Thank you!
I think I’m top 50? yay
Thanks!
This is where I am in the Horde Pack: I saw those moons, and I knew I was about to step into a test of my p@t!*nc*. I tried to w@!t. I reasoned, I bargained, I logic’d, and I failed. Total failure of chalance.
WHAT! What is the hoard she stepped into?! What mystical whodunit has she uncovered?!
I shall sit with my shame until the day which must not be named.
You are not alone in your shame. I feel like that would be a really crowded room. 🤣
Thank you!
Wow, I’m so invested in Ada and Bear. Great Story, can’t wait to buy it.
Thank you HA for another great installment. Loved that jump with a 99 lb dog in her arms. She totally stuck the landing.
I also love how she knows she can’t resist knowing what’s inside, so she better check it out. Again, what a change since she first arrived in this breach.
I’ve been stressing about her fate post breach. She has huge secrets in her head. I wonder if Elias could help her fake her death. He already has her kids. They could assume new identities.
Happy Solstice everyone. Hope you all have a great weekend.
😲 Amazing, I’m totally hooked 😃
Thank you and Happy Friday all
Thank you! So if we compare where this is, in something like Solo Leveling’s plot progression those of us Anime and Manga fans expect there to be something like 19 more books in this series. Please please make it at least a trilogy.
Omg what next? And to some extent I completely understand Ada’s thinking, especially with regard to the government. But she’s judging everyone in the company on the basis of the bad apple. Granted he’s a really bad apple, and greed certainly seems to be a driving force everywhere, but still. Thank you! Looking forward to the next installment!
ARGH!!!! I fully intended to be patient and not add to the “book book book” mass of barely sentient horde. I did, I really DID! The stop here, you stopped HERE?!?! you are trying to reduce me to a groveling “book book book” zombie aren’t you?
Argggghhh! Can I buy the book Now? pretty pretty please with a cherry on top? lol. This is such delicious torture lmao I guess this gives me a reason to look forward to Mondays 😆
Do you think that she’ll be able to keep and reuse that barrier?
“stand alone” sure. right.
i love this. thank you!
I now know how my children felt when we took road trips when they were young. Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Such sweet torture reading this twice a week. I just can’t wait to buy the whole thing!
Oh Thank you!!! I have been refreshing the page religiously, every day!!! I am hooked!!
Thank you for yet. Another satisfying addition. It never occurred to me that Ada would consider that her Guild might be an enemy. Hmmm…
Monday is a long way away.
Ada has been operating under the assumption that the Guild is not on her side ever since Chapter 3, where she explained her reasoning 🙂 https://ilona-andrews.com/blog/the-inheritance-chapter-3-part-1/
… and ultimately, it isn’t “her” guild. She works for the government, she’s kind of “on loan” to the guild like a contractor. I don’t think we heard about any of her interactions with the Cold Chaos guild other than with London, Melissa, etc… the only ones that are alive that she knows are the ones who abandoned her.
If these people that betrayed her are representative of who works there, it doesn’t bode well for her and makes sense that she doesn’t trust them. She may have no other experience with people from this guild, so no other basis for interpretation of how the guild itself could react. With no trusted point of contact, she’s absolutely right to be wary.
Ada also has the right to be wary of the government she works for within the Cold Chaos Guild.
I am finding the name of the guild to be an interesting one throughout the readings. Everything is in chaos on both sides. Ada and Bear. Elias and the rest of the guild. Cold is spot on with London, Melissa, and Malcolm. I don’t know if cold would be better than hot, as in Hot Chaos. Hot Mess Guild would be more like it. 😀
Ooo mysterious!!!
Monday can’t get here fast enough.
Thanks
I wanted to say Thank you, thank you, thank you for this serial. It gives me something to look forward to each week
And I thought we were getting close to wrapping this up with a nice bow. Looking forward to future installments. so thankful for the bi-weekly schedule.
Thank You ♥️
Can I have a little bit more, pretty please? Monday never seemed so far from Friday until now..
Must wait, must be patient, must wait, must wait….
What a stopping point! Happy Friday
She isn’t going to get to go home, is she? It’s the only obvious outcome where she keeps her freedom.
I want to play this tale as one of those interactive story video games!
Onward! Thanks, HA. This is really fun!
BTW, Mod R, that reminds me about the answer to your email salutation and closing question…I didn’t have a chance to respond then, but I have a colleague that always ends with Upward! or Onward! or Forward! It could sound sarcastic, but she’s a genuine cheerleader of our team and it works.
Ack!!!!! The way is open!?!?!?! Cliff hanger to end all cliff hangers! Thank you for the pretty chapter! Can’t wait for more!
I smell a book 2. 😄
The way was open…. I hope that is a Return of The King reference! Love it ! Thanks
Now it is getting scary!!
😱
Potential betrayal by her employer on a grand scale in front of her, a mystery pursuer behind her, and a potential for a multiverse to potentially explore but only if she is not. Worried about losing her children and cat.
The inner danger is a bigger worry than the actual physical challenges!
Changes in herself and the dog she has adopted as her partner which would identify them as ‘other’, which could create conflict and danger from her own people.
How far can she trust the ethics and goals of her own folk, and is she willing to expose others to the hazards she has survived due to the intercession of one she met and tried to help who gifted her with a mystery ball of glowing mystery and knowledge shoved into her head?
She has been betrayed already by a team mate she should have been able to trust, so now the GOALS OF ALL SHE MEETS are in question.
It’s simple when thing just wants to eat you.
This reminds me of that radio show with the screeching door hinge – inner Sanctum – from back in the late 1940’s.
As Hugh would say, “Fun!”
Wonderful
Is Ada now her own Blade Warden??
Okay, I’ve been thinking about this all week and I’m glad to see Ada thinking about plan/options for how she is going to deal with the DDC. It would be totally unfair to her, and especially her kids, for them to have to go into hiding by faking her death. She and the kids have the right to live their lives safe and to express her rad talents.
Ada could say she survived bc she had a new “talent” suddenly emerged and now she is a combat talent. No one seems to know what triggers a talent but combat talents get to be in guilds, therefore be under different rules. It’s pretty bullshit that the government limited Assessors to be strictly employed by government… and I wonder if that is same as other countries?
My fave scenario: Ada should start a new guild for Assessors: they could protect themselves, train future apprentice assessors, get paid their worth (more bullshit that they don’t get a percentage) and they would could make better decisions about how they shld be implemented in the field, like actually train them with survival skills and weapons. Being solely reliant on outside persons for your safety left her hella vulnerable. Personal safety knowledge is self care. Assessor guild should be treated like Healers in status. Off limits and independent.
Other guilds would be in support and help lobby too since in their interest for assessor talent to be part of free market AND Elias owes her one- he’ll want to try to makeup for what happened with London. He can help by using his political clout plus he can help her setup a guild.
2nd scenario: Government can either cooperate by changing the law and let her start her guild, or she could quit as Assessor and register as combat talent. Then, she could be independent contractor or join a guild, maybe be the Scout for the initial team that maps a new gate…she ends up at Cold Chaos (of course, bc hello book troupe) she keeps them safe by sensing monsters as they locate the anchor and help select the mining routes…just so happens any team she is on, they are the safest and their gates are the most profitable! Mwa hahaha!