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((The Monday Triple: page 1 of 3))
‘Not quite a thousand,’ said Garovel. ‘My knowledge is a bit archaic when it comes to the Undercrust, but as I recall, the average Hun’Kui can comfortably withstand temperatures of up to eight hundred degrees. In thermoregulatory terms, they’re what’s called eurytherms, meaning they can live in an extremely wide range of temperatures. But that’s all relative to the Undercrust. If you tried to take one of them back up to the surface, they’d still freeze to death.’

‘Oh.’

‘In Fahrenheit, the surface has a temperature spectrum of three hundred degrees or so. One-fifty in either direction, that is. But the Undercrust has a much, much larger temperature spectrum, beginning around five hundred degrees and ending around four thousand.’

‘That... sounds unpleasant.’

‘Just a bit, yeah. For reference, any area that’s more than three thousand degrees is generally regarded as uninhabitable by the people here. They don’t even try to mess around with temperatures that high.’ The reaper paused. ‘Or at least, that’s how it was when I last visited a few hundred years ago. Maybe they’ve made some breakthroughs while I was gone. In fact, I hope they have. I love seeing new technology.’

‘So, wait. They can deal with TWO thousand degrees? That still sounds completely insane to me.’

Garovel pointed a bony finger upward. ‘Take a look up there.’

Hector wasn’t sure what Garovel was talking about. He only saw a dark and very distant cavern ceiling amid a visibly warm haze.

But no, wait. After a few moments, he began to see it, even through his visor. There was something there. His eyes needed time to distinguish the deeper blackness from the rest, to interpret the faint contours in the darkness.

‘Holes?’ thought Hector. There seemed a few of them. Maybe five or six--he couldn’t be sure. They must’ve been gigantic to be visible at this distance.

‘Yes,’ said Garovel. ‘Heat funnels, to be precise.’

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Their eyes shone with white light, and if they had irises or pupils, then Hector couldn’t see them. It was such a strange yet familiar sight, like something out of a cartoon. Or perhaps a horror film--he wasn’t quite sure.

Everyone seemed to be completely bald, as well, even lacking eyebrows and facial hair. If not for their still very human-looking physiques, he might have thought they were from a different planet.

And boy, could he see their physiques. They barely wore any clothing at all. Occasionally, he’d spot someone entirely nude.

That much, he wished Garovel would’ve warned him about. Maybe it would’ve made him feel a modicum less uncomfortable right now. He tried not to stare.

It was difficult to discern their skin color, though. The poor lighting and the gloss on his suit’s visor didn’t help, but he was fairly certain that he saw slight variations in skin tone, at least.

As they proceeded on, however, Hector noticed changes among the crowd. More and more people wore clothes--or perhaps, harnesses was a better word for it, since the primary purpose of their clothing seemed to be in carrying things.

He supposed it made sense, though. Given the extreme temperatures down here, these people probably didn’t ever have to worry about staying warm.

‘What can you tell me about these people?’ Hector asked.

‘Well, there are several different races who live in the Undercrust,’ said Garovel privately. ‘In Mohssian, these gray folks with the glowing eyes are called the Hun’Kui--or “people of the ash.” They’re probably who you’ll be seeing the most of out in the open like this. There aren’t many other races who can withstand these temperatures as well as they can.’

Their sheer numbers made Hector curious. ‘They’re not all servants, are they?’

‘No.’

‘Then, how do they survive? Isn’t it like a thousand degrees down here or something?’

Considering a Title Change

Hey, folks. Thanks for being so patient with me. Not that I've given you much choice.

First things first: why haven't I been updating?

All cards on the table? I've been having a crisis of faith in this story--in whether or not I should keep writing it, specifically. And I know that might be a very worrying thing to hear for some of you, which is why I didn't want to post anything until I made a decision. I'm sorry if you would've preferred periodic updates on my state of mind this whole time, but I felt like making some wishy-washy post would've just muddled things up for me. Not to sound conceited, but I already knew you guys wanted me to continue, otherwise you would've quit reading a long time ago. What I needed to figure out was whether or not I wanted to continue.

So I've been thinking about it, seriously and realistically, taking both personal feelings and financial concerns into consideration, as well as my own capabilities as an author, things I've done well, things I haven't, things I can work harder on. And of course, the story itself. Different ways I could continue it, both narrative-wise and schedule-wise. Different ways I could "end" it, both permanently and "indefinitely." I mean, I have already spent nearly four years of my life on it, and maybe there are better ways for me to be spending my time, right? What if I don't wanna keep writing it, but do so anyway, and then it goes to shit? What if I'm just not a good enough writer? AHAHA, YEAH RIGHT, I'M THE BEST. Okay, but what if--SORRY, CAN'T HEAR YOU OVER HOW MUCH OF THE BEST I AM.

That was my thought process. Especially that last part. And aside from helping me reaffirm my own greatness to myself, those were some really scary questions. But also necessary ones. Pursuit of happiness 'n all that.

Ultimately, though, I did decide that I wanna continue-the-hell out of The Zombie Knight. Because of course I do. This fucking story has my soul in it, and so do its characters.

So you can expect some more story at News Years. I want to make 2017 a good year for TZK. I'm trying to think of it like a fresh start. A new beginning. A dawn of an era. A tip of an iceberg. An edge of a really long submarine sandwich. A thumb waiting patiently just outside a b-hole.

But in the meantime, I wanted to get your input on something. As a part of this new era of thumbs and sandwiches, I've been thinking that maybe I should change the title of the story. And to be honest, I'm still fairly attached to the name "The Zombie Knight," but I also kinda like the sound of just "Darksteel." So I'm not sure. What do you think? Feel free to make title suggestions of your own, if you want. I mean, I'm a super narcissist, and I probably won't listen to any idea that's not my own, but don't let that stop you.