User blog comment:SaynaSLuke/Seven Tears Shed/@comment-2142396-20170727190712

So, it’s the time Romsca finally gets the blue streak in her hair! The whole sequence is pretty hilarious, truly. Oh, and reading the episode I got to say that Romsca kind of asked for it. Honestly, she didn’t specify it further than ‘not pink’ and ‘the warrior has to keep her dignity’, so it stands to mind that she did consider the possibility that Val wouldn’t use natural colors by default. Now Romsca’s hair is not pink, and Val took extra care to make the color especially symbolic and dignified. :D Val should get more credit for her devotion and enthusiasm, though I can follow Romsca’s train of thought, too. It’s a bit sad to see that Romsca and Grath are no closer to becoming friends than before, especially since Grath seemed to be ready to forgive Romsca in their last encounter… but such things leave deep scars and that’s, again, understandable. So far, only Val seems to be developing any real friendships with woodlanders, and I would’ve loved to see more interactions of this kind.

Xzaris’s episodes keep getting better and better. It was an interesting development that while he could see a beast’s aura, he couldn’t perceive their weapons or any other objects. That is sure going to make fighting more difficult for him than I anticipated. Probably that’s why I loved seeing him actually spar with Sayna, and be able if not to win, then at least to hold his own against her for some time… in the short run only, eventually, but we all have to start somewhere. I think that the conversation between Sayna and Xzaris about the culture of Sampetra and why exactly Sayna agreed to help Xzaris helped both of them to understand each other better, and I especially liked Sayna’s phrase that she always sides with Ignasa, not woodlander or vermin. It truly seems now that these two overgrown mentor-and-apprentice relationship and became true friends. ;P But things are looking bad now if not only Ublaz, but Malimore’s own dark wolves are on the prowl. :o On the other hand, I can’t help but be excited to see more of the spiritual side of your world and the mental warfare that would follow. And if Malimore’s wolves are out, that probably means that we can expect to meet Ignasa’s wolves as well.

I feel that this battle with the Monitors marked the beginning of the true war, as opposed to single skirmishes between Ublaz’s forces and the dragons that took place before, because now not only Romsca and her companions know what they fight against, but Ublaz knows what he is facing, too. Though maybe I should place the beginning of the war at the point when Romsca broke the woodlanders out of prison, since things really got serious after that, and this battle was Ublaz’s response to it in a way. The battle was so excellently written! I loved how it showed the heroes exploiting the Monitors’ weak points like their eyes and sides, and I like that the heroes owe large part of their victory to horses, since this alliance gives them an advantage in both speed and strength, because horses can crush the Monitors’ bones with their hoofs easier than the furbeasts can do it with weapons. Oh, and Romsca is being Romsca as usual. Do not get separated from your horse, it’s a death sentence, they said. The first thing Romsca does: jumps off her horse. :D Even then, her tactics were quite effective this time! She sure knows how to use her axe, and I admit it became such an iconic weapon for her that it would take me some time to get used to seeing her carrying a sword.

And wow, that chapter final! Ublaz is truly an evil genius, using camera drones in the warfare before either cameras or drones were even invented. :D Regardless of whether or not his Monitors would survive the battle or not, it’s still a win-win situation for Ublaz. He is a master of gambits! I didn’t expect the second attack by the ratguard and the Monitors, especially since it seemed that Romsca and the dragons had already won - that was a solid tactical move from Ublaz. And the ratguards even use poisoned arrows, making them way more dangerous and not something to disregard easily. And even though we all knew that Ublaz using Hood’s hair was kind of inevitable, I didn’t expect him to do it so soon, as I thought he’s rather save them up to use as a trump card in his sleeve. I also wonder whether Ublaz used all of Hood’s hair or just a part of it, because if he’s used only a part it would mean he may have more tricks in his store… Needless to say, I’m very engaged in this story, so keep it up!