I'm still working on the next chapter of the story. Unfortunately, I have other things to do and take care of, and full time work is one of those things, so writing is taking longer than I like but it will be completed - my aim is before I go away on holiday on 20th. Until then, to prove the sage will go on, here's a little teaser from an unsual perspective. It takes place just after chapter 7 and somewhat in parallel to what comes after. Watch this space.
Elsewhere,
a good way behind, a man, the hood cast back from his bald head, stood
in a dimly lit room. The wood of the beams that held the ceiling as well
as the walls were blackened with ages of soot. The air was thick with
the heady scent of a multitude of substances ranging from common herbs to exotic powders and salves. The only
illumination came from a large fire pit at one end of the room and it barely
lit up the various odd items that lined the walls. In the middle of all
this the man was stooped over a large basin of clear water. His rasping
voice began a deep growl of a chant intoning syllable by syllable of an
ancient language that few now knew. The water in the basin clouded
over. While the surface remained as still as a mirror the clouds
underneath began to swirl. Runes on the basin glowed and pulsed faintly
in the rhythm of his incantations. Then the swirls distilled into a
shape, a man, a man-like shape. The eyes sat too high on a head too
squat and the mouth was too wide making him look almost reptilian. The
details, however, were mercifully hidden by the billowing swirls. Only his eyes, sparkling like gems in a deep
underground vault, pierced the shadow and the dullness of his image in
the water. The bald man on this side of the link fell silent.
When the apparition spoke it did so with a bodiless voice that rumbled in the bald man's belly.
"What have you to report?"
"She has escaped."
The response droned flatly: "I know."
He had his eyes everywhere.
"My best men are making after her. We will have her back soon."
"Good. Failure at this moment is intolerable."
The bald man nodded, swallowed. Bad news first. Then he took a breath and allowed himself a smile before he announced: "She has been given the dream."
The figure seemed to ponder this for a moment.
Then it said: "At last."