Congratulations! You made it to the beginning of the story!

I want to take a moment for apologies, gratitude, and a poll.

First, gratitude:

I know is slightly non-standard for RR, and I'm super-grateful to everyone who stuck with it this long. It means a lot to me. As a writer I should put this more eloquently, but I'm struggling. So I'll just say: thanks so much.

Which leads to second, apologies:

Posting updates at this rate is harder than I expected. I'm not a very fast writer. So I'm putting all my energy into that, and haven't spent enough time with ... wait a minute. Apparently second is 'excuses.'

Let me try again.

The apology is this: sorry that I stopping responding to comments. If you take the time to comment, I should take the time to acknowledge that. But I'm going to keep being terrible about this, because I'd rather spend the time writing. I'm sorry.

However! If you have a question or remark to which you definitely want a response, comment here. I will read everything in this Not-a-Chapter chapter!Third, the poll ... is now close! Thanks so much to everyone who answered.

I guess that's self-explanatory. Please respond below! Also ... my plan for Meek is big.

I'm kind of not kidding about having just reached the beginning. There are swamps fetid with magic. There are mysterious chasms and abandoned cities and hell, maybe even a dungeon crawl. Terrible, warped creatures stalk the moons-light. There are secrets and monsters, politics and treasure. There's revenge (obviously) and battles, violence and, I hope, sweetness.

There's the Dreamers, the Celestials, and the Chained Angel. And of course there's Eli. Making mistakes, making friends, getting stronger. Losing his way then stumbling back onto the right path. Somewhat to my dismay, I'm not sure that this story will satisfy readers who want a steady upward arc toward power and victory. I prefer a bumpy path, with setbacks, and even some confusion and digression, on the road toward the Final Battle.

If that sounds fun to you, too, I'd absolutely love a rating, a review, a follow.