Guest Posted January 29, 2015 Report Share Posted January 29, 2015 love the drawings still can't wait to see them all te together. but i'll be patient D'Artagnon 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Castle Herald Posted January 29, 2015 Report Share Posted January 29, 2015 Chapter 20 live at http://www.castleroland.net/library/author/dartagnon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark C. Posted January 30, 2015 Report Share Posted January 30, 2015 I take back all the not so complementary things I thought about you after the previous chapter, grin.. I so love a happy ending... . Excellent story, D'Artagnon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeikor Posted January 30, 2015 Report Share Posted January 30, 2015 Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!! Perfect ending! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 30, 2015 Report Share Posted January 30, 2015 D'Artangon some old cartoon said this looks like the end! But I see more in the future! LOL my crystal ball says so! And it never lies Mark C. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D'Artagnon Posted February 1, 2015 Report Share Posted February 1, 2015 Codicil- Coupe, 4 days later Ann and Dennis French watched as Robby and Kenny goofed off in the front yard. The mostly unused basketball hoop was now the subject of a surprisingly athletic competition between the two 13 year-olds. As the mother watched how her son had come completely out of his shell, the father had walked up behind her and embraced her, also watching with pride as his son seemed more alive than ever before. She leaned back into his embrace, her arms wrapped around his arms that wrapped around her middle. "He's changed so much," she said, her voice carrying a certain poignancy. "He's had to. But I sense it too. Something fundamental has shifted all around him. And it isn't just how those artifacts he wears are suddenly much stronger." The mother sighed. "Do you think he's ready?" "Ann," the father said, with some annoyance. "You know he is. I don't want to do this anymore than you do. Mitch is more than capable. And they have many other allies. He will be well protected." He kissed the side of her neck, taking the opportunity to whisper, "you know we cannot turn back now." "I know. I feel so helpless, though. This is a path he has chosen, I know. But it's so far out of our depth. I don't know how to help. Damnit, Dennis, I don't even know if I should help. This is so..." she said, gesturing out the window to where Robby and Kenny were competing for the basketball, Kenny attempting to dribble past the blonde haired boy for a shot at the basket. "So alien?" "You know me so well," she smiled, but it did nothing to dissuade the worry in her heart. "He's still so young. He's still my baby." "I feel the same way, my wife. Raising our son has been only the second greatest joy of my life. Second only to making him with you." "Are we doing the right thing?" she asked, her hands holding her husband's hands over her lower belly, their fingers from opposite hands intertwining. "He's been our sole focus for so long. Is it right for us to..." "Life finds a way," Dennis quoted. "We could probably time delay things for a short while, but once started, some things are automatic. How do you feel?" "Different this time. Very different." A tender silence drifted between them for a time as they watched their son and his friend playing in the yard. Joy and Light, he'd called Robby, and with a flash of insight, he realized that Kenny was Joy and Light for Robby as well. That they were for each other. "They are good magic together," Ann said at length. "Like we were, in fact." "I have noticed. I wonder how much of that they have noticed themselves." "One more thing to talk to Mitch about," she grinned, sighing again. "Oh, do stop with all the melodramatics, wife," Dennis chided, squeezing her through virtue of their combined hands and arms. "Just as everything else, things will play out how they were meant to. Even if we ourselves don't know that outcome." "We have put so much faith in that. That the future takes care of itself. I still don't see the logic in sending us here to this time." "Your father is a wise man, Ann. He knew what he was doing in putting us here in this time. I trust him, just as he trusts us." The boys outside sat down in the grass, under the shade of the large elm tree near the corner of the yard. They seemed to be happily joking away, even as they were continuing some conversation that only two teenagers would have any sense of understanding. Two friends who although they'd only met weeks ago, seemed to have known each other for all the ages of the Earth. "Should we tell them that we know?" "About their other relationship?" Dennis asked. "I doubt we could affect that, even if we tried. They seem happy. They seem healthy. I see no need to interfere unless they come to us for help." "Do you... do you wonder how it is for them, though?" "I briefly thought about it, then gave up trying to figure it out," the father said. "What they do when they're alone together isn't a thought I really want to dwell on. It would be like if one or both of them asked about what happens in our bedroom." "I guess. I can't help but think about it sometimes. I mean, the mechanics are, well, I can imagine that part, but which of them..." "Ann, you don't really want to go down that path, do you?" "You're right," she sighed again. "But a mother want's what's best for her son, even if that's another boy. I just don't know how to help them..." "Ah, I'm sure they do fine in that regard," Dennis interrupted. "Oh, I'm sure! But they didn't even date, or hang out or any of that. Just one day Kenny and Robby are suddenly best friends and secret lovers and changelings and warriors and... and... and God knows what else. And all of it is now out of our hands." Again a comfortable yet ominous silence hung between the two of them as they watched the boys talking on the front lawn. Kenny had rolled over onto his stomach and was searching for something in the thickening grass while Robby was still on his back, tossing the basketball up over his own face and chest, catching it as it fell back again. They seemed so deeply involved in their own conversation, punctuated here and there with peals of laughter. "They have no idea what's coming, do they?" Ann asked, one hand brushing up over the slight swell of her lower belly. Dennis' own free hand moved up to mirror her hand placement, tenderly cupping his wife's body there. "In all fairness, neither do we." "Should we tell them? "No need to worry them now. Sooner or later we wont be able to hide it. Let them have this time to grow stronger. When the time comes, and Robby's brother and sister are born, he'll need the strength and skills he builds now. We will have our hands full." "I remember," she smiled, suppressing a giggle. "If he was such a mess, imagine how much the twins will run us ragged." "Let us just enjoy this moment," Dennis suggested. "They have that tournament tomorrow at Exeter. Mitch seems to think they'll do well." "Against those blue bloods up at Phillips Academy, no less. I hope they do well. I've never seen him so alive as when he's doing all that fencing stuff. Have you watched the two of them at Jedi class?" Ann asked. "Oh, I've used far sensing a couple of times on them. They are amazing together. And from what I understand, getting even better." "I took a lunch break from the library and watched them at the end of a class. They go off, just the two of them. It's like watching a movie. And it's all spontaneous!" "I've also noticed his shoulder. In the Umbra, he's bleeding quintessence through that partly healed wound." Their conjoined hands tensed together in unspoken worry. "It is not anything I've ever seen before. The Tear seems to be sustaining him with raw magical energy, despite that the wound is constantly sapping his strength." "What can we do? If we bring him to a modern doctor and tell him our son is not really human, that he's not physically dying, but he has a magical wound that is draining his life force slowly..." she turned in his arms and buried her head on his chest. "I've tried to heal him three times, Dennis. My magic isn't working on him anymore." "I know, Beloved. All my research efforts come up blank as well. This may be something that only changeling powers can deal with." "Yet another thing to ask Mitch about. Do you think that they know about it?" "I am unsure. I don't even think Robby realizes how dangerous that situation is. For the moment, he isn't showing signs of distress, and the quintessence bleeding isn't worrisome yet. Still..." "Still?" "It is something we need to address, and soon. Kenny seems to manage him well enough." "I noticed that." "Yes, well, get your game face on, my dear. The boys seem to have hit empty on the teenage fuel tanks. Looks like they're coming inside." "I'll do some kitchen magic and find them something to devour. It'll give me a chance to clean my face up." Dennis looked down, saw the silent tears on his wife's face and gave her a quick kiss on the forehead. "I'll give you a couple of minutes," he said, releasing her. As she moved to step away, he brought her around into his arms once again, wiggling his eyes. "And then I'll give you a couple of hours later," he whispered, giving her a kiss on the lips, tenderly, but with a touch of hunger. She moved away, slapping his right butt cheek as she went. The front door opened of its own accord and Dennis turned, bent halfway over and charged out, sweeping both boys under his arms as he went out. **** Three houses away, looking down from the roof of a violently pink Victorian home, a young boy watched as Dennis wrestled with the changeling boys. He watched and took note of many things. How the blonde boy favored his left arm. How the two boys coordinated in the roughhousing at almost a militarily precise level. How the mage used subtle aspects of his own native powers to keep up with the energy level of the two youngsters. Filing away that information, the watcher took three steps away from the scene and leapt sideways onto the spreading branch of a nearby four hundred year old elm tree and vanished. *** Many miles away, something bubbled and churned deep in the center of the lake. The overlooking castle, high on the hill, seemed to shimmer and shake in the reflection of the lake. The surface broke and steam hissed forth. A figure rode up through this eruption of the lake surface, mist and fog issuing forth all around. The figure was soon followed by several others, hulking figures, some on four legs, some on two, trailing behind their leader, a tall, rail thin Red Cap with broad shoulders. The parade made it's way up to the surface of the lake, striding on the waves like snow covered ground, sinking only slightly through the surface as if stones lay just below view to form a path. The leader drew a weapon from his side. A long, hideous blade, formed it seemed of a dark metal twisted with bright. The look of the blade was of two snakes, each distinctly of separate metal, yet intertwined and then beaten into cruel edges. The Red Cap slashed the blade forwards, its tip ripping into the water before him. The waves created lifted as water does when struck, but then seemed to freeze into place. Icy particles from the spray splashed back into the lake, in places causing more freezing to occur. "Take back the castle and all the caverns beneath," the Red Cap lord commanded as his army reached shore. "Leave none enchanted alive in our wake. From here, we shall unleash hell." With a roar only audible in the Dreaming itself, Korbesh's forces invaded the former dragon's lair and established it as their own. That night, Korbesh and his shadow court feasted, and many in the countryside felt the beginnings of nightmares new. Al Norris and Mark C. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 1, 2015 Report Share Posted February 1, 2015 See told you it never lies LOL great chapter:) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benji Posted February 1, 2015 Report Share Posted February 1, 2015 Benjamin, since you live with the author, I think you need to read his stories with a handicap to be fair to the rest of us. Maybe you have to read with wearing an eye patch or read with one hand behind your back or every tenth word deleted from the story... Generally the handicap is pointing out all the errors and trying to confirm whether or not they are errors. Mark C. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark C. Posted February 2, 2015 Report Share Posted February 2, 2015 Yes, but still get to read the story fIraq and I am jealous as heck.. . Benji, does living with someone so highly regarded put any stress or pressure on you when you sit down to write? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark C. Posted February 2, 2015 Report Share Posted February 2, 2015 Flraq in post above should be "first" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark C. Posted February 2, 2015 Report Share Posted February 2, 2015 D'Artagnon, is the story the above teaser is about, already written or are you still working on it? Just wondering when I get another D'Artagnon "fix"? Maybe you should register with the FDA as a narcotic drug.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D'Artagnon Posted February 3, 2015 Report Share Posted February 3, 2015 The Codicil stories are meant to be like easter eggs at the end of Marvel Comics movies, little plot teasers that show up in other stories. Think of them as parts of the main storyline that either don't appear to the "person" who's telling that particular story, or are sub plots that influence future stories. I'm still figuring out if such need to be placed in a timeline with the other stories or added on as an appendix chapter to the story they come from or if they actually should get a library notation all their own as bracket chapters or something. Still toying with the ideas here. The "a moment of zen" would fit in with Codicil spots, i guess, so there may be precedent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark C. Posted February 3, 2015 Report Share Posted February 3, 2015 D'Artagnon, I am so glad you are on this site! If I say any more, you will just roll your eyes and have me committed... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benji Posted February 3, 2015 Report Share Posted February 3, 2015 Yes, but still get to read the story fIraq and I am jealous as heck.. . Benji, does living with someone so highly regarded put any stress or pressure on you when you sit down to write? Quite honestly, it's a little frustrating sometimes. I have a lot of stories. Most of them remain unwritten for various reasons. Some of them I just read back through and go... this sucks... some of them I read back through and wish to hell I had something that could just record a direct visualization in all its glory of what I see in my head. So, to nod to the topic of this section... Without giving anything away the next in this series with Robby and Kenny is titled Riposte. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D'Artagnon Posted February 3, 2015 Report Share Posted February 3, 2015 D'Artagnon, I am so glad you are on this site! If I say any more, you will just roll your eyes and have me committed... It's good to be committed. I once was. Wait a moment, that sounded wrong. Um, how about, commitment is a wonderful thing, as long as it's not involuntary or mandated by judicial officials or medical professionals with psychiatry degrees. still sounds a bit guilty... I was crazy once, they stuck me in a round, round room, with worms in it, I hate worms, they drove me crazy... Crazy? I was crazy once.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark C. Posted February 3, 2015 Report Share Posted February 3, 2015 Did you learn to draw with the non-sharp crayons provided you in the round room? Did you have to fight off the worms who liked to eat the brighter colored crayons? Can't wait for Riposte! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 8, 2015 Report Share Posted February 8, 2015 The Codicil stories are meant to be like easter eggs at the end of Marvel Comics movies, little plot teasers that show up in other stories. Think of them as parts of the main storyline that either don't appear to the "person" who's telling that particular story, or are sub plots that influence future stories. I'm still figuring out if such need to be placed in a timeline with the other stories or added on as an appendix chapter to the story they come from or if they actually should get a library notation all their own as bracket chapters or something. Still toying with the ideas here. The "a moment of zen" would fit in with Codicil spots, i guess, so there may be precedent. It does tie up some loose ends I can see how it is all tying together through these love them Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D'Artagnon Posted June 26, 2015 Report Share Posted June 26, 2015 My beloved Benjikat, who is always finding ways to surprise me, took one of my old Coupe pictures and decided to go color-crazy on it. And here it is! Steve T. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve T. Posted July 18, 2015 Report Share Posted July 18, 2015 I just finished reading the story of Robby and Kenny and I enjoyed it immensely! It definitely met my expectations of a D'Artangon story. Excellent job! I was a little confused near the end of chapter 19 when I didn't really see a mention of what happened with Korbesh, especially since Robyn had sworn an oath to unmake him. Then I realized that there was a sort of continuation of the tale in Riposte-Changlings. I'm assuming that there will be something about him in there. Thanks for another great story! D'Artagnon 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeikor Posted July 18, 2015 Report Share Posted July 18, 2015 Steve T. You are right there is more about Korbesh in Riposte but you have to read both versions alternately. First the Changlings that are numbered followed by the Werewolves that are lettered. So it would be 1 followed by A, then 2 followed by B and so forth. And it is D'Artagnon squared so read on. Steve T. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 19, 2015 Report Share Posted July 19, 2015 My beloved Benjikat, who is always finding ways to surprise me, took one of my old Coupe pictures and decided to go color-crazy on it. And here it is! At the Y.jpg Looks awesome!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D'Artagnon Posted August 4, 2015 Report Share Posted August 4, 2015 Psst! Hey! Jamie! Guess what? Riposte Werewolves Chapter I (aye) is in the waiting list. And it's huge, so make sure you have snacks and two drinks handy when you start reading. 'Nuff Said! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted August 4, 2015 Report Share Posted August 4, 2015 I hope my battery lasts, I'm currently in the middle of the north woods of ontario portable wifi and a generator so I have to limit usage might have to wait till we get back. Having a great time. we have had a big visitor and did you know they do sh!t in the woods! LOL But I've been watching i seen H go up LOL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zergrinch Posted August 15, 2015 Report Share Posted August 15, 2015 I just finished a marathon 3 hour reading session on the Coupe, and I have to say that the story is quite impressive. Although the narrator tends to meander at times, there is just the right mix of action, suspense, adventure, and romance to keep the pages turning. Three comments:Try as I might, I could only find one or two typos. Where? I don't remember. So kudos!I sincerely hope you are not giving cliffhanger lessons to the other authors here.Regarding the codicil, I think it should be appended to the end of Coupe as sort of an epilogue. Also, one question regarding Coupe codicil, tangential to the sequel Riposte: I've actually read about the deaths of Robin's parents before I read the codicil. Aren't many significant points, especially regarding Robin's siblings, just about undone with the deaths? I'm not sure I actually see the point of including them now, unless... Nah, dead is dead, right? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Norris Posted August 15, 2015 Report Share Posted August 15, 2015 In regards your spoiler... Is it? How sure are you? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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