All Comments on 'Life as a New Hire Ch. 40'

Yes! Stayed up waiting for this. Welcome back! Hope the health is doing better, and with some luck we'll see regular updates going forward.

41 soon? Pretty please?!?!

Hope you are well mate, Chapter 40 up to your normal very high standard, please keep well and keep up the great work, Just as a P.S. Are you still looking at your other stories to be moved on a bit

i fucking love this story, like a can't even tell you how much i love this story. i got (tried to at least) my parents and my brother (he fucking loved it) to read it… thats right i openly admitted to my conservative fundamentalist family that i regularly go on a erotic literature website to read this. I honestly think they thought that i was about to tell them i had a cocain habit when i told them that i have something that i love to do but that i know they wouldn't be happy about… i have literally been checking this web site every few hours since the last installment in what i refer to as the "best adventure to drag ones imagination through". because reading this is like taking my mind to a wonderland were all of my dreams and hopes for other stories are actually delivered… please what ever you do don't stop writing this until the story is done… and then if you can… turn this in to a movie/anime/net flix series whatever one, as i am pretty sure that the rest of the world needs to experience this.

is totally "on the money". This has risen to the top of my "must read list" and if it gets finished in the manner/style/quality already exhibited, will end up at the top of my list of favourites (and that is a very short list, even after 60 years of reading...)

Back in the saddle again!

What a way to start my day. Thanks FS for another wonder filled installment of the greatest epic adventure I have had the pleasure of reading.

Outstanding!

Great job bro... another wonderful chapter.... nice to see you are still fighting. Stay strong and take care of your self....BTW Welcome back

當心學者！

在他的畫筆的第一招

你的帝國上升。

在他的畫筆下一個行程

你的帝國下降。

到學者

所有的人類都是，但芻狗！

大師孫子

Another great chapter in a great story. My favorite part was Temujin's comment why he knew Ceal was still alive. I laughed for 5 min cause of it.

... in this chapter and for that matter, throughout the entire storyline. How do we each determine what our personal balance is between survival and morality? All of us, (yes, you also) are descended from survivors. Our ancestors did what they did and those who failed, have no descendants.

During the Rwanda Genocide, I noticed everyone studiously ignoring the historical reasons for the catastrophe. That the Hutu were determined to avenge and inflict the same horrors and oppression upon the Tutsi's. That for centuries, the Tutsi's had inflicted upon the Hutu.

Is there anyone foolish enough to believe that the present armistice is anything but the calm before the storm? A generation or two from now, the Hutu will rise again, and I'll bet your first born, that the Tutsi are preparing for that eventuality.

I once wrote: "The Motto of Western Christian Civilization, is and always has been - What is mine is mine and what is yours will be mine. Once I have murdered you for it."

A terrifically terrible example is the still prevailing Christian propaganda that the Vikings appeared out of no where and for no apparent reason descended on an innocent Christian Europe like a plague of starving rabid wolves. Like a bolt of lightning from a clear, blue sky.

Your cultural hypocrisy is to avoid the fact that it all started a thousand years before the first longship rowed up the Seine. The Latin tribes had bitter experience with fighting Celtic invaders. As Rome's military capability grew, they counter-attacked and sought to neutralize the Celtic menace with conquest of their tribal lands and subjugation of their peoples.

The Romans blamed the Druids for communicating and organizing Celtic resistance to Roman avarice. The Romans responded with ruthless campaigns of extermination against Celtic religious-aristocracy and destruction of Celtic Holy shrines and sanctuary's (not all Druid by the way). All the loot they found was yet another incentive for murder.

This ethnic/cultural/religious conflicted was inherited by the Roman Catholic Church. They continued to press for devastation of rival cults and enslavement of the survivors. This all culminated with Charlemagne's defeat of the Saxon tribal aristocracy. Many of whom refused to convert to Christianity and were slaughtered to the last man. See "Verdener Blutgericht".

Traders and skalds and roving journeymen and escaped witnesses of the butchery all brought the news, north to the Scandinavian tribes. Who were smart enough to realize they would eventually suffer the same fate as the Saxons.

So "The Code of The West is as follows, Do unto others before they can do it unto you!!"

It was not an accident that Lindisfarne was the first target of the aviking Norsemen. The treasures found, had come from religious centers pillaged by Christian robbers. A number of the monks had been children forcibly taken from non-christian families and brutally converted to the religion of Peace. They were not slaughtered as Christian apologist claim but restored to their native heritage.

As Final Stand has so eloquently put it; ..."What I'm trying to tell you - please look past your current group-think - is that any moral ascendency you think that Western Civilization has - you never had."...

There is an old saying among the Native Hawaiians. "The missionaries came to do us good. And they did very, very well .... for themselves."

Another homerun.

Its great to have you back.

Glad to see another masterpiece! But, damn! Got to page 5 and ran out of pages to read! Looking forward to the next chapter!

for another great chapter. I am also a hard core fan of your other 2015 story "Ebb Tide", and look forward to reading additional chapters of both of these.

another masterful chapter, page 1 was like a junkie getting his fix, page 5 was realizing that he's out of smack and won't get more till next payday.

What ra said. Exactly what he said.

You are moving too far away from cael's interaction with the other amazons which was the main point you started with. There is too much political text here now. Please get back to the personal stuff. You are stretching the story too thin with all the war talk and people you keep adding. If someone betrayed him why would he not confront them?

I only started reading literotica on a regular basis recently and I am so glad that I found your stories. I read all chapters of this story over the course of a week and since then have been trying to read everything else you've written. I am about 75% of the way done. I can't tell you how much I enjoy all the stories you write. I sincerely hope that your health is doing better and I look forward to whatever strikes your fancy to write next. Thank you for providing so many hours of outstanding entertainment.

Hana ' s ex better takes in a big hurry some surveving lessons , he's way of the league if he want to play with Cael .

Great chapter , like always I love it .

Another great chapter, which I burned through way too fast. Thanks, FS.

If they are loosing a war, why would they not launch some low yield tactical nuc's into the surrounding forces? It is my understanding that they have made claims to launch their nuclear weapons prior to any defeat.

While the Khanate is consolidating, what is to stop the PRC, or any nation or secret society, from launching their own strikes? It seems to me to be a good time too, as most forces are spent and recuperating. Like Alal, for instance.

I liked the land war in Asia and don't mess with a Sicilian when death is on the line references. From the Princess Bride?

Correct me if I am wrong, but the spiritual leader and the Queenship are open. Do you plan to do anything about this story line? At least one first house's descendants have been discovered along with Cael's house. What connection can be drawn from this?

I see that you are bringing Hana's story line back. Is Cael, after surviving the extraordinary circumstances that is his life, now going to have to deal with the unrelenting torture that is the Children and Family Services and Families Court? Cause that might kill him!

Thanks again,

Dan

i absolutely love this character!!!!!

What happened to Master Corporal Menner after they got back from the Atoll....and why was he there to begin with?........Thanks and Keep Healthy FS.

Henry

Why didn't China resort to tactical nuclear weapons? They were afraid that the Khanate would go to an all-out nuclear and biological response. The Chinese population is much more compact than the Khanates. Also, the PLA's strategy was to lure the Khanate's military into a war of attrition. What the PLA didn't count on was to have so many of the front-line units decimated and surrounded so rapidly. They were caught flat-footed and never really recovered mentally.

There will be sniping attacks from various factions but no major military action. The reason? The Seven Pillars is far from finished. If anything, they will rise from the chaos that is currently in China even stronger. The other factions need a strong Khanate to keep the 7P's attention focused elsewhere (the Khanate) so attacking them isn't wise. Besides, the Illuminati's strength is in Europe, Africa, North & South America with as strong foothold in India as well. They are consolidating their power with the Condotteiri. Let the Earth & Sky bludgeon each other to exhaustion while the rest of the world falls under Illuminati domination. FYI, the trillions of dollars flowing into the Khanate over the past 20 years to help them build their military was from the Illuminati with the goal stopping the 7 Pillars ... mission success so far.

Yes Henry, the reference was to the Princess Bride, one of my favorite films.

The Royal House of the Amazons was judged extinct 2700 years ago and it would take an action by the rest of the houses to judge that coming back from the dead was justification from resurrecting the Queendom. See, House Ishara never died out though they thought it had. The Royal House did die out at as did House Anat so their succession is in doubt.

The most likely solution is to wait for a High Priestess to be elected ( ~ 5 years from now) and letting her decide what the ancestors and goddesses want.

Cael is serious about getting married, but is he serious enough to stop being "Cael"? I don't know. I'll have to write that out to find out. I can say that the Hana-Cael marriage question WILL NOT be answered before the Great Hunt. They both have a long way to go before they finally decide to take the plunge. If they do, Onnela would have the chance to be raised as an Amazon until the age of twelve. Then she could elect to seek further training, or live the life of a normal girl.

As for Master Corporal Menner: when Cael went missing, Romania took the opportunity to offer up a company of the 24th battalion to aid in the search. They were assigned to the Pacific Ocean (Hawaii) to keep them out from underfoot (the main search efforts were in the Caribbean, Central and South America) and it turned out they were in the right place at the right time. Menner's half-squad volunteered to do the rescue because of their close personal ties to "their Prince". They were all part of the company that fought against Ajax on that ridge.

In the terms of "Legend", Menner and Cael are bound together by the death of Ajax. Cael could not have killed the Greek Hero without Menner's aid. Now Menner is part of that tale for centuries to come.

I can't wait for 41 hope its going smoothly. Love the story read whole story twice nowadays

The two best stories on literotica are written by you: this story and christian college sex comedy. I eagerly await the next chapter and am hoping that you'll write more of ccsc, please!!

I just hope Cael tells Buffy abiut Sten trying to hurthus daughter by taking her mother away. He wont have balls anymore.

Don't sell Hana short. She impressed both the Earth & Sky and Temujin himself with her steely resolve and those ares some hard-ass MF's. Cael wouldn't ask Buffy to do anything and Hana will make sure the Amazons won't step in. He is still Onnela's father and it is best she learn her father is a dick by experience as opposed to other people bad-mouthing him. Onnela will have Aya and her Fatal Squirts as big sisters growing up and the chance to be an Amazon-in-Training until she reaches the age of twelve. Then she gets the choice of taking her twelfth year test, or "just" being a friend of House Ishara. Basically, Sten had better watch out for his own daughter opening a can of whoop-ass on him. Amazons don't play around.

you may not know what it means!!!! but it is mine own creation. it means "Sadistic Pleasure and Self Satisfaction." I am using this particular expression at this juncture of your story-line for this story after learning about your amazon stories buddy. for every writer in his life as you remarked about certain people about their hallmark days one story (like one particular time period) will trump and all others will be judged basing on that and it will become their hallmark. I don't want this story to be your pinnacle my friend, eventhough DF/UE (my opinion) is your best story at (incomplete it may be). I believe each and every story after this adventure of your's (Cael's actually) everybody (including me) will think you have found your wheel of time. by the way I hate Egwene al'Were.

I have written a complete third and partially complete fourth chapters to this story if you are interested. They are both unedited and a bit rough. Contact me if you are interested.

Hey FS then is the next chapter of this wonderful story coming out? Also looking forward to the next chapters for EBB Tide..... You are a fantastic writer and love all of your stories you have posted

Seriously my friend, do you even have to ask?

Please sir, May we have some more?

Oh PLEASE PLEASE may I have another

It is already on its way. If you are asking for a chapter 4.5 ... ummm ... that may have to wait a while. I would like at least to get LNH 41 finished before I give it a serious look.

Katrina is always the smartest person in the room.

She got Buffy & Cael together knowing of feud with Elsa.

NOW only Desiree can be Cael's bodyguard?.....Ummn What is Katrina now planning for Cael?

Henry

PS: I can wait if its a spoiler alert?

Katrina really likes Elsa. Elsa worships the ground Katrina walks on (that may not have seemed obvious). Elsa is one of the greatest warrior of her generation. Katrina is the greatest Amazon of her generation. Given that, Katrina can only teach Elsa so much so she has purposely placed Elsa together with Cael and Buffy. Elsa trained Buffy to be in the SD at the urging of Katrina. Buffy was clearly the best student she ever had trained, but refused to recommend to Hayden that Buffy become the first Runner in the SD. First she had to get Buffy and Elsa to both respect Cael ... then she had to see who would win the fight for Cael's affections. Buffy is in the lead, but Elsa hasn't given up yet. Now she knows what it is to be on the outside looking in as Buffy is now Buffy Ishara and gets to spend more time with Cael so she gets to see what she put Buffy through by being good enough to be in the SD, but excluded. Katrina knows the Elsa can learn, if the lesson is sharp enough. FYI, Elsa has already qualified for the Great Hunt which Buffy cannot compete in. That's not too much of a spoiler.

Saw the Tibet and thought back to chapter 8. Burst out laughing. My neighbors came to complain.

I need to know what happens next

So as I reread the series I came across the planet smasher... so a quick Google search yep they exist and their t shirt is awesome and yes its on its way to my house now.

Keep it up FS

this is a great series

I can't wait any longer!!!!

My mental health has not been where I'd like it to be. That may be changing over the next month, but I've hit a TEMPORARY wall on LNH 41. For a eight days, two weeks ago, I didn't write a word on ANY story which is horrific for me. I'm back to writing about 2000 words a day while working on a back-up chapter for LNH called LNH: End of the Beginning which takes place after the Great Hunt. One thing I am avoiding in Chapter 41 is background stuff, keeping the action down to personal interactions and sex (and stuff leading up to, or after sex). I know it is a long time, but give me a month to pump out the next chapter. By the end of July my health should be getting better (I just got off a drug with an energy draining side effect) and have it done. Hopefully I will have Ebb Tide 4B done as well. I will keep to my personal schedule to not put out any new stories until the next chapter of Life as a New Hire is done to make sure this story reaches a conclusion with the Great Hunt. Whatever comes after will be a separate book. Thank for your patience.

We (at least most of us) understand health comes first. Take as much time as needed to perfect it. Just please give warning before pulling a Rothfuss. Best wishes, and good luck - Karch

Cael talking to Rachel for the first time since Charlotte's death.

**

" Ishara refused Hayden because of me. I refused to accept my place in the Host. I kept playing – pretending – I was not really one of you. I kept thinking I could divorce myself from the evil we did because I was special.”

“But you weren’t special in the way I think you are using the word,” she nodded. "You were chosen by the Ancestors to be one of us – man, or not.”

“Yeah. I stupidly put my life on the line because I wanted to be the ‘good guy’. I’ve always wanted to be the ‘good guy’, even when I hurt people. I’d tell the girl it was my fault yet I excused that behavior thinking that I hadn’t meant to hurt anyone so I was okay. I have never blamed myself for any of the shit I caused.”

“That has always been a rather annoying quality of yours,” she noted.

“When I was on the roof of Havenstone, daring Ishara with my life on the line … that’s when I felt it. I owed and owned my Amazon heritage in that moment. I finally blamed myself for something … for not accepting that sacrifices were being made for me and I was dishonoring every one of you by denying their purpose.”

“You are Ishara,” Rachel stated firmly. That was her entire argument.

“I had to believe that. I had to believe that I was nothing more than one Amazon in long time of Amazons dating back to that first night of betrayal. I had to realize that I was one of many, not someone special with special rules. I wasn’t getting to be the good guy, or the bad guy. I was just … an Amazon. One more Ishara among the hundreds that stood in my place.”

“And it took that moment for you to realize what most Amazons know from the age of five,” Rachel stroked my cheek. “It is easy for us to forget that your bravery comes from a place that is uniquely you and that you don’t grow up around the fires with tales of our mothers, grandmothers and all those who have come before. We see our honor gold and sing the songs in the First Tongue. We live as Amazons.”

**

Work is progressing very, very slowly but I'm plugging away at it.

Looks great, happy to wait until it's ready.

How come Felix is back after he helped with the the kidnapping?

Reread the kidnapping (chapter 38) Felix is playing a part in Katrina's plan, not being a traitor. Since Cáel knew nothing of her plan Felix was used not only to sale the legitimacy of the kidnapping, but as Cáel's exit should he not want to go along.

The novel FS has written called Nanites is now available on Amazon.

I just read this book, and its pretty awesome, its not erotica, at least at this point, and if it never gets there, its still a great story. Its nice to see an author of his caliber expanding his repertoire, I can't wait for the next book.

Yes, Nanites: the Awakening is by me under my name James Dosher. The story is nearly 500,000 words ... so 5 or 6 books depending on how my publisher decides to divide it up. There is very low-key sex in the story with more foreplay than actual sex. I wrote Nanites back in 2010, so don't worry about my current story lines. Literotica remains the starting point for all my erotica. Not the best business model, but I like this place.

Yes I will admit a part of me was worried about your other works, so thanks for the comforting, lol. Question: was Nanites inspired in any way by the works of Laurell K. Hamilton? It reminds me in some ways of her Anita Blake series and how they had to learn to deal with integrating supernatural beings into a world filled with "normal" people.

I've just finished reading all 40 chapters in the last 3 days. All i can say is: "Thank you, Sir! Can i have another, Sir?!" I'm definitely glad i stumbled upon this magnificent piece of art. 11/10. Will absolutely read again!

Head and shoulders above all but a very select few on this site. Imaginative, and cogent.

Chapter 41 has been submitted to the editors tonight. 16,841 words.

Great story awaiting the next book.

been missing the inanity/insanity/hilarity

Hope you're doing well FS thanks for continuing the effort on this gem.

Why was Felix not immediately killed when Cael and Aya were discovered alive?

Felix was the one at the kidnap site - now he's going to be part of the hunt? That makes no sense. He would be identified by both Cael and Aya as being part of the kidnapping, be able to identify who he was working with within Havenstone and point them out as a traitor as well.

Next, while your information on WWII and Viet Nam is text book accurate, it ignores the reality of events that have been exposed by declassified documents (WWII as early as the early 1980s, Viet Nam just from regular newspaper information).

FDR forced the Japanese into an attack. He knew the attack was coming and sacrificed American lives for his own ambitions; the Diplomatic, Naval and Army codes had all been broken well before December 1941. He knew exactly where the Japanese fleet was and when. He left only obsolete battleships at Pearl Harbor and, against normal procedure, anchored them all lined up.

The "air war" in Viet Nam was not that big a deal. There was some damage in the North, damn little in the South. Helicopters didn't make a whole lot of difference except for rapid mobility. You can't win a war you are not meant to win. Taking land and giving it back is not a recipe for success.

The US has NOT been engaged in any war since WWII. Korea, Viet Nam, et al, have all been "Police Actions."

Only Congress can lawfully declare war - they have not done that.

Why no wars? Prescott Bush was about to be tried for Treason during WWII (he was guilty). The war ended, so "what's the point? He's a good old boy, let's drop the charges." Why was Jane Fonda not tried for Treason? Treason is defined as providing aid and/or comfort to the enemy... no war, no enemy. This leaves politicians, and bankers free to make millions from both sides in a "police action" and NOT be guilty of treason.

Suggest you look up General Smedly Butler (highly decorated US Marine) and read what he as to say about war.

You should also read up on Nazi propaganda techniques (still being used today).

Notice that "US Interests" are no more than Corporate interests (making corporations money, not the US people who die for those corporations).

Your statement "Israel can be trusted" is laughable. Israel has proven, time and again, a) they are no one's friend, b) they cannot be trusted by anyone. One of the richest countries in the world and we give them billions in aid. They thank us by stealing patents, stealing classified information and selling it to our enemies (investigate Johnathan Pollard and the information he stole and was sold to the USSR - single handedly getting several agents killed, handing over key codes for communications and the information on submarine detection the US used around the world), stealing fissionable material for their own bombs, murder of men on the USS Liberty and getting the US to fight their wars for them.

Other than that, pretty good read.

US Army (retired)

Anonymous, I love history and would discuss it with you at any time. In Life as a New Hire I often write things from Cael's perspective, not my own. I often over-simplify things because while I put a great deal of background into this story (and even more the readers will never be subjected to), I am not writing a historical treatise. I'd love to.

On what FDR knew and when he knew it ... man, oh man. That's 25,000 words easy without me breaking a sweat.

Why did North Vietnam win the Vietnamese Unification/civil War ... which was just a police action to us ... again, that is a huge topic I couldn't do justice to. I do believe that in 1945 we supported the right guy and in 1963 we screwed the pooch because Kennedy couldn't be seen as being weak on Communism. We should have backed Ho and then let Communism ruin Vietnam like it did elsewhere. Sigh ... a huge topic.

Air power is one of my favorite war subject because I haven't made up my mind how useful, or useless, it has been. One thing that does strike me is how often air strategies change in the course of a war. There are also things like;

Why were Stukas still flying successful missions in 1945 when they were proven to be virtually obsolete in 1940?

How the Marine Corp developed close air support in the Pacific War.

The evolution of helicopter warfare from Korea through Vietnam and into Gulf One.

My current project is learning about the current evolution of reactive armor vs. ATM's and new munitions meant to defeat that. So far Israel seems to have had some success in that arena.

And this is enough from me for now - back to Chapter 42.

Felix was incapable of effectively betraying the Amazons. There was no way he could have organized that kind of effort on his own. After the near disaster at Summer Camp, Katrina figured out who was feeding information to the Seven Pillars and took them over. Now she feeds information to the 7Ps and is setting them up for the perfect time to pay them back for almost kidnapping/killing the Amazon children.

Felix was chosen because the 7P actually trusted a male traitor more than they would have a female. He volunteered when given the option to join Katrina's conspiracy, put himself at risk and found a way to get Aya's and Cael's phones to them while maintaining his cover. Felix earned his chance to be 'read in' to some of what Havenstone is really about and be in the Great Hunt.

Now that means Katrina put Aya and Cael at risk, cost Aya a finger and could have cost Cael his life. She did honestly believe that Cael would find a way to triumph against all odds. She has that kind of faith in him. Pamela figured out it was Katrina and ... I've been temped to write that scene between her and Katrina. Katrina's reasoning is that the 7P would NEVER believe she (Katrina) would ever put her niece at risk. Nor would any of the Amazons who weren't recruited into her conspiracy (Felix's team was made up of Amazons which was why he was the only one who could meet Mu and Zhen). As the saying goes, 'He is a bastard, but he's our bastard'.

Katrina is normally the smartest person in the room ... and one of the most ruthless Amazons that has ever lived. What wouldn't Katrina do to keep the Amazon Host alive? She has now proven she would risk the people she loves most in the world.

41 with the editors and you're working on 42. Sweetness, can't wait.

After the first world war how chi men tried to approach the us of a to get Wilson to back his push to get France out of indochina...what we now know as southeast Asia...but considering America's warm feelings at the time towards France and Wilson's personal prejudices towards Asians...he never got into the white house...not saying ho wouldn't have gone commie...but had Wilson been more of a hard ass with France, maybe the Vietnam War could have been avoided

Still pushing the FDR knew the JIN was going to attack and he failed to prevent it. Prevent it with what? Since 1920, Congress had done a pretty good job slashing US military resources to the bone. Our intelligence services were a handful of Military Attaches scattered at embassies around the world.

When you want some comic relief, read their declassified reports. Cause nobody had trained them in anything bit the most primitive of espionage and security techniques. After all, Congress said those US Navy & Army officers were gentlemen and we all KNOW that "Gentlemen would never read other gentlemens mail!"?

During the 1920's & into the 1930's, the US Army considered the most serious threat to the United States to be a British invasion through Canada, into the Mid-West and were busy drawing up and practicing war plans to combat the British threat. In addition they vocally despised the French and openly admired Hitler's reconstruction of Germany's military forces.

Meanwhile globally, the US Navy and British Royal Navy were very cooperative as they shared the same problems and threats in their efforts to pretend that the orders sent them to enforce, had any basis in reality.

Well, we all know how all this would eventually play out and the series of catastrophes that resulted. And none of our enemies have ever given a fuck about waiting around for the IS Congress to get off their fat, lazy white asses to declare war.

And now it's fifteen to twenty minutes for the warheads of a land-based ICBM launch to hit anywhere in the world. Not even considering naval and aerial attack capabilities. The Constitutional amendment designating Congress as the authority to declare war, is as obsolete as Letters of Marque.

I have noticed that when people discuss the origins of the Vietnam War they are all very careful to avoid the religious aspects that dragged us into that morass. The French were attempting to enforce Catholic domination over their colony.

The non-Catholic natives objected. As they already had a long history of fighting among themselves their opposition to cultural genocide went no where fast. The eventual result was the infiltration and subversion of anti-French & anti-Catholic anti-collaborator organizations by the Communists.

Well, that set the cat among the pigeons!. On behalf of their church hierarchy and missionary efforts in Vietnam, influential American Catholic and Protestant leaders went to Eisenhower and Kennedy and Johnson and expressed their pious horror at the growing Communist threat.

But none of you have the balls to face the consequences of that intervention.

And if you want a modern example of the same stupidity. The United States provided aide to drive the Soviet Union out of Afghanistan.Afghanistan. A continuation of the "Great Game". To prevent Russian ambitions to overrun Pakistan and India, exterminate the natives and get those ice-free ports they have craved since Peter the Great.

Among the multitude of anti-Soviet fighters were a group of seminary students called the Taliban. They wanted to purify their people of the atheist stench and restore the dignity of Islam.

Once the Russians had sullenly withdrawn, a multitude of Western business interests flooded in looking for whatever they could loot and pillage the ignorant natives out of. And that included encouragement of growing poppies for the drug trade, cause we westerners will not be deprived of our pretty shiny toys or mind-numbing booze & drugs.

Those poor Taliban religious students thought the drug trade was an evil that needed to be stopped. That in turn was interfering with western commercial interests. So the Taliban seminary students were demonized and slaughtered.

What survives today as the Taliban, is band of thugs who now engage in the drug trade themselves. Considered by western business interests a tolerable cost of doing business. And every now and then as needed for propaganda purposes the puppet Taliban are dragged out and bombed. Cause nothing can be allowed to interfere with all those lovely, lucrative profits.

The Buddhist priests burning themselves alive where in SOUTH Vietnam and they were protesting the actions of the ruling Catholic minority in their country.

Also, our nation has a bad track record in dealing with drug lords when they are acting as anti-Communist. All too often some corporation would run across native efforts that were anti-capitalistic, go to a Congressman and have the US government step in to back the current regime despite their record on Human Rights.

That being said, the totalitarianism exhibited by 'Communist' regimes is equally appalling in my mind. It has been hard in my mind to figure out which choice was the least evil. I'm glad I've never been put in that position.

"none of who talked a whole lot." should be

"none of whom talked a whole lot."

This whole story is riddled with grammitic errors and maybe once in a chapter does it actually make you pause and look again but really who gives a shit I've read this story probably 10 times over the past years and it doesn't bother me a bit and it shouldnt bother especially since you are not fuckin paying for it if it isn't praise, a question or a helpful suggestion keep it to yourself douches like you are the kind of people that are killing this site and making authors go elsewhere with thier work

I'm with Mikehunt1000. If you don't like it, then stop reading it.

We get him again.

~Enkidu

I have been wondering how he, Cael and Aya will be getting along this time around too. I'm sure he won't be in a room alone with either of them - that is for sure!

Thanks for all your commentary and take care,

James aka FinalStand

“... the Great Hunt had happened and I was dealing with the consequences of that.”

This passage keeps me coming back over and over…….

~Enkidu

Ok, I think after 40 chapters I'm allowed to be somewhat confused. Weren't Felix and Katrina behind the kidnapping?

I thank you for the wonderful story that also has me referencing a map on my second monitor. 5/5.

I've been loving the story so far. I think it's a little far fetched to say "Katrina had faith that Cael would find a way to triumph against all odds" when she set him up to be kidnapped, as we the readers see what it took for him and Aya to survive that kidnapping. Presumably Katrina knew how the enemy would act, and that they employed necromancers. Not even Cael himself knew (or could hope) that the 3 Godesses would be able to use the necromantic ritual as a way to come through the Veil. Katrina setting up the kidnapping was, for all intents and purposes, a death sentence for both Cael and Aya. Also, why would Katrina even set this whole thing up in the first place? If she was trying to get some kind of payback against 7P, it's illogical to think that allowing those two to be kidnapped would result in anything more than their deaths. What was Katrina trying to accomplish by allowing them to be kidnapped? That whole series of events is really stretching credulity, IMO.

I think this is the 3rd time I'm reading through this story and I'm pretty sure this chapter is the most confusing chronologically. The laying out of world events relating to the Khanate and it's annexation and interactions all over the world darts around all over the place, laying out events a couple of months in advance of what the actual date was in the story. Maybe there would have been a more effective way to feed the events into the story as they occurred but there was a lot of information and I can see that as it all seemed to be related and flow into each other that it was more desirable to lay it all out in one big hit. But it was still confusing. As was Cáel getting back 'home' and his week away from JIKIT getting summed up rather quickly. So that's why I think this is the most confusing chapter, and that's that.

I still liked it.

Hey Dark_Raven you apparently missed or misfiled this sentence in your memories "Just at the cusp of turning publically against the Mongol barbarians, the world suddenly got angry with their enemy, the PRC." They got angry with the PRC because they kidnapped Cael and Aya.