User blog comment:SaynaSLuke/Seven Tears Shed/@comment-2142396-20161211074603

Another chapter down, this time it’s chapter 28. Hood is sure knows his business if he was able to hide a weapon so well. And to think that even after almost being killed, he still had the strength and the willpower to provide Grath with what little help he could. You know, I do wonder how Hood even became an assassin – after all, he was a prince, and then later he had been with Clecky after leaving Icetor, and the woodlanders don’t exactly favor this particular ‘profession’…

I loved how you showed Clecky and Tansy’s meeting with Romsca, especially the way each of them reacted to it. I’d say that Clecky handled the fact that their potential savior is the pirate who started it all remarkably well – I especially like that he neither immediately forgave Romsca nor lashed out and rejected her, but took a somewhat neutral stance of ‘let’s see what comes out of it’. I loved Clecky’s spot-on comment about Lutran behaving more like a vermin – truly, our favorite otter needs to watch the way he treats other beasts if he doesn’t want to end up like the monster he is trying to destroy. Seriously, at this point it doesn’t seem like Lutran cares even for his own foster family, though I understand that we had only seen him in the stressed situation and through Romsca’s eyes and that he would probably behave more good-naturedly when he is alone with his foster siblings.

Wait, did I get it right that not only the fate of Romsca’s friends depends on whether or not she proves trustworthy, but Clecky and Tansy’s, too? Because I remember that the dragons said earlier that Durral and Sayna would be allowed to stay without being tested, and I thought that was because they were woodlanders, so why Clecky and Tansy are not treated the same way? I remember that the dragons don’t discriminate between woodlanders and vermin, but they did recognize the mice as oppressed and enslaved species earlier.

While I can feel Romsca’s shock and exasperation at the woodlander’s folly, their main mistake was not scouting ahead before taking action – otherwise, how were they to know that Ublaz hates otters or that the harbors are so well supervised? Anyway, they should’ve taken more careful approach regardless. But even though Romsca lashed out at Clecky, she was right in her final verdict: in the end, it was Romsca’s own fault, and while she didn’t intend for this to happen, Romsca one way or another was the reason of Grath’s plight. Also, Romsca needs to be more careful with improvisations, considering they don’t tend to end well… Though I wouldn’t say that her battle with Lask and his monitors was one, because she honestly had little choice in the matter, as it was either fighting or letting him eat the prisoners, and her raid to rescue Xzaris also didn’t meet much resistance. Though as I’ve mentioned before, the fact that Ublaz knows of at least part of the old tunnels under the city would make it more difficult for Romsca to go through with her plan.

Lol, Romsca needs to remind Rocks that he can’t swim more often. Or that he is dependent on the sun and air temperatures, or that his ancestors didn’t know how to craft things before Scound came to Sampetra, or that the furbeasts are much more agile and deft and, well, adaptable than the dragons. Really, he and Shui go on about how fragile, slow, weak, etc., furbeasts are that they need to be taken off their high horse from time to time. ;) Hmm, you know, another thing about the Monitors’ poison, it being located on their frills makes me think that the poison was originally intended as defensive measure, more like the poisonous skin of some frogs rather than the venomous fangs of snakes… and because Rocks attacking a ratguard by slashing his frills across his face doesn’t sound very convenient. :D

This rescue mission is definitely way more turbulent and exciting than the first one, which is good for us and not so good for Romsca and the crew. With so many beasts under her command the amount of things that could go wrong increase dramatically, and this time Ublaz is much more diligent about the task of guarding his prisoners. Also, I didn’t realize it until now, but currently Ublaz got his paws not only on Hood’s hair, but on Martin’s sword as well, and he is actually educated enough to know exactly what power it has. Granted, Ublaz wouldn’t be able to use the sword to its fullest and make it glow blue as Sayna and Romsca can, but that sword is still sharp enough to cut through metal, so it’s dangerous for it to be in Ublaz’s paws anyway…

Grath’s gesture of resistance toward Ublaz was Pyrrhic victory in itself, since her attack didn’t achieve anything, but still, she was the first to make Ublaz bleed in ten seasons, if not longer. And Ublaz needs to be reminded that he can be wounded and killed as any other, he needs to learn to fear again… and in that sense that scene was really good. *evil laughter* The fate Ublaz chose for Grath is indeed ironic, though I expected worse – well, Ublaz did say that he had to deal with Grath’s friends, and that forces him to act quickly. Still pretty effective, though. And the ending of the chapter… Shui, is that you, buddy? :D