C.B. Ash's Blog: Scribbled Notes

Did you know I have a newsletter? With serial fiction?

As I'm a bit quiet here on this space, I'm not so quiet elsewhere. Did you know I have a newsletter? Well, I do!

I keep that over on Substack called " Worlds of Kummer Wolfe " Yep, Kummer Wolfe is my pen name, what's it mean? Well... if you're a paid subscriber, we can chat about it. Otherwise, you'll have to guess!

In any case, have a link to the newsletter: kummerwolfe.substack.com/

Over on my Substack you'll find fresh serial fiction, streamed weekly. Paid subscribers on occasion get tapped as Bet...

Dark Device of the Great Chasm is in Print!

I know I've been quiet here for awhile, but I thought I'd share some news! Dark Device of the Great Chasm is finished, published, and out live! You can find it here (no these aren't affiliate links... just links to where the book is)

- Amazon
- Barnes and Nobles
- Kobo

But also about 25 to 50 other book retailers! Also! If you know how to upload an ebook to your own device, you can buy the ebook from my Ko-fi shop here:  Ko-Fi Shop

This has been a wild ride, getting this from notes, through writing, p...

The Dark Device of the Great Chasm, Chapter 32

Amates 31, 1277. Past the panels and below. We didn’t find trouble; it came looking for us. 

The room spun three more times to the sound of rattling gears before a way out opened up. It wasn’t the spiral staircase. That stayed a spring-loaded, hungry meat grinder. Instead, the way out was a dark, dusty door hidden behind one of the medical cabinets. There was another spiral staircase behind it, only without the spring blades ready to snap out at us from all directions. 

All told, it was a good sig...

A Little Detour

Well, yes, and no.

Don't get me wrong. Dark Device of the Great Chasm will be finished, properly edited, bound and published. If there is such a thing as "properly published" in 2023? Is there? I'm never sure. So, we'll go with 'published' and leave the 'properly' at the door.

Honestly, I'm not sure I've ever been 'proper' about anything, anyway.

Recently, I was encouraged to try my hand on a new type of project: a tabletop roleplaying game. Not that I'm a stranger to that, but making one? That's a...

The Dark Device of the Great Chasm, Chapter 31

Amates 31, 1277. Past the double doors, where we found some answers, and a little bit of a surprise. 

“Tela! Can you hear me?” 

Ki’s voice sounded muffled. Like he was yelling out of a deep well or from the bottom of a canyon. 

“Blink if you know what I’m saying.” 

That made no sense to me at all. I would’ve scowled at him, then shooed him away, but I couldn’t figure out where he was. It was dark and thoughts felt a little thick. I shook my head, which felt like I was sunk in mud up to my ears, but ...

The Dark Device of the Great Chasm, Chapter 30

Amates 31, 1277. Still underground in the ruins. Felt like mid-afternoon to my stomach. 

    Using the bridges was a good plan. It was a great plan. Unfortunately, everyone else had the same plan. 

    ”Did they see us?” Mikasi panted while he ran. Nicodemus trotted easily along beside him. 

   An arrow shattered against the bridge next to him. Mikasi yelped while the splinters shattered around us. I skid to a stop long enough to flip a middle finger at the archer on the bridge overhead. It didn’t ...

The Dark Device of the Great Chasm, Chapter 29

Amates 31, 1277. Finding new lows to our highs. 

   The marble gray platform trembled like it might shake off its support chains. Fortunately, the rusted chains held on while they lowered us down in a light cloud of ancient dust. But the clank and rattle were bad enough to wake the dead, if any were nearby. I hoped not. 

   I landed harder on the platform than I wanted to after my dive through the door above. It hadn’t been a long drop, but it was enough to rattle my joints. Worst of all was the l...

The Dark Device of the Great Chasm, Chapter 28

 Amates 31, 1277. Taking a wrong turn for the right reasons.

      There's distracted. Then there's what happened at the campsite behind us. 

    Miksai, his cheetah, and I reached Kiyosi at the weathered gray-white marble doorway, when a muted crash echoed through the canyon. Angry shouts far behind us were icing on the cake. I knelt down at the collection of canvas bags next to Ki, fished out my worn canvas shoulder bag, and slipped it on. 

    Kiyosi had pulled his attention away from the inscri...

The Dark Device of the Great Chasm, Chapter 27

Amates 31, 1277. Later that same morning. A brief hike between the rocks and into the lion’s den...

   The wind howled like an angry ghost by the time we reached the bottom of the canyon. We moved quietly, or as quiet as the occasional loose rock allowed. Fortunately, the silvery-white fog covered our hike and muffled most of the sound. The closer we got to the canyon floor, the thicker the fog became. I had never seen fog this thick. It was almost like smoke. At one point, I wondered if it was f...

The Dark Device of the Great Chasm, Chapter 26

Amates 31, 1277. Mid-morning. Depths of the Great Chasm, on the way to the Long Deep ruins. Not exactly a walk in the park.

     I thanked all the gods of the high tides that the meeting didn’t last long. If one sentinel of the Slate Watch was unnerving, an entire council of them staring at me? That was worse. But it was better than being stared at by a three eyed chicken floating in a jar, so there was that.

    They wanted to help after hearing my story. It meant more people looking for the Crim...