Shorter chapter this time around. For a serial, I prefer chapters of about equal length. The Elf's Prisoner was originally meant ot be a novel, though, so chapters were allowed to go as long as they needed. Some needed more words than others. If I intended to serialize the story, I'd have figured out chapter lengths as I wrote.
That said, the chapters have purpose. This one's was to get Nyssa healed, Kazimier brought into the main plot again, and send Wren and Jyslyn off. Kazi and Nyssa became the wise ones of the group. Both have insight into how people tick, though they learned through different ways. With three characters who are young or unfamiliar with the world, I needed them to be the leaders. I hadn't exactly planned this. It just came out of who the characters were.
The Seven Dominions are away that dark elves exist, though most of the tales are almost myths. Nyssa is somewhat out of it thanks to her wound, but she has dealt with dark elves before. Leo, not so much, but he's off on his own mission right now. Nyssa turned out to be fun to write. She's been around long enough to know when to be diplomatic and when to be a bull in a china shop. This chapter, she's on the border between the two. Nyssa knows she needs to play nice with the elves, but she's not going to be obsequious. Nor is she going to let a little thing like a poisoned, infected wound slow her down.
Kazimier's prayer brought out both the poison and the infection from Nyssa's wound. I just didn't want to say that, That "show, don't tell" thing. Plus, extra words thanks to being descriptive. Similar prayers to other deities would have a different description, depending on the god. The Lightbringer's prayers use light as the basis of the spells, with healing spells being gentle, like the morning light on a dew-laden field. The Defiler's spells, while still healing and removing poison, would cause the injury to twist painfully back into position.
Friday, Wren and Jyslyn get acquainted, in The Elf's Prisoner Chapter 9.
Also Friday, over at Psycho Drive-In, The Bond Project continues with Moonraker.
Saturday, over at The Seventh Sanctum, the year-end wrap up.
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