Happy Halloween folks!

It's been a few months since I gave you all an update on what I'm working on, but this time, I bring treats, no tricks!
First off, progress on Cold Reception is going well! I've made a lot more progress than I thought I would compared to the last time I made an update. Still don't want to fully commit to a release schedule yet as it's still early days, but just know, things are on the up!

But, as it's Halloween, how about I treat you all to a sneak peek at Mlinzi Cold Reception?
Well, I've been thinking for a while. It'll be nice to share just a snippet of what I've been working on, so why not now XD

I have to say, though, this is still the first draft of the story, and so things may change in time, so don't be surprised if the extract you're about to read is different to what will eventually be released.

With that being said, enjoy! :)

As soon as the lionesses left, Kopa and Karimu returned to a huddled posture. Their furs riddled with the bitter sting of abandonment and frostbite. All they had was the hope his mother and aunts would find a way to them, and each other’s combined body heat.
“Everything will be fine, Karimu.” Kopa reassured the lioness cub, though he wouldn’t be surprised if he was trying to reassure himself. A gentle nudge from her soft-furred paw comforted him. The floral scent woven into her fur soothed the male cub. He rested his head against her body, drifting off in the coastal tide of comfort.
“Heh, you really like resting up against me, huh?” Kopa felt his cheeks burn; a swelling sense of embarrassment pooled in her chest. He jolted off the young lioness, who chuckled sweetly at the young male’s reaction.
“No! Of course not!” He retaliated, refusing to let his pride dip further into the ocean of insecurity. He stuttered. “I just… We… Need to use our body heat to survive, is all.” Karimu nodded her head heavily, smirking faintly as she flopped to her side. With a sigh of relief, Kopa joined her, resting against her. He felt the tips of her paws brush against his back, wiggling and kicking gently as she giggled.
“I’m only kidding, ya know!” She wrapped a paw around his neck, pulling him into a gentle cuddle. “You can have all the warmth you want!” Unsure if she meant it, Kopa hesitantly wiggled closer, gritting his teeth in uncertainty. Much to his surprise, Karimu just lay there, cuddled up to him. Her tail flopped against his. His cheeks burned red, pupils dilated.
As he slowly began to close his eyes, a faint blue shimmer caught Kopa’s attention. Raising his sleepy head, the young male cub noticed a strange formation of ice buried in the wall. He arose, causing Karimu’s paws to slide off him. The young lioness rolled onto her stomach, watching as her new friend slowly approached the wall.
“Wait! Kopa! Stop!” She rushed to her feet, kicking through the thin layer of snow and ice to beat him to the wall. Her claws scraped into the ice, leaving marks back to their pace of rest. She admired the wall, curiosity and trepidation sprinkling her mind in equal measures. Kopa’s presence beside her sent a shiver down her spine.
“I think… that’s Uasi Crystal!” The cub’s hazel eyes shot open, a shiver wiggled its way down her spine as her claws froze in the soft powdered snow. “My dad says to be careful around it, especially away from home.”
“Why? Kopa tilted his head in confusion. He stepped closer, admiring the reverberating glow of the substance. “It’s just a shiny rock! Why would it be dangerous?” His muzzle raised towards the translucent rock, taking short, inquisitive sniffs. The hairs on his scruff stood up firm, rippling shudders through his muscles. An unfamiliar scent flooded his nostrils; bland, piercing. The crystal’s hue changed, darkening into a dull green. The young cub was enthralled, captivated as the hue grew stronger, coupling his mind to its resonance.
Flashes of hazy images flooded his sight, various shades of spectral colours transitioned between them. Some of them he recognised. Bones, water, a field of flowers. Others remained blurred in incomprehensibility. The sound of water rushing, growls of a lioness. Birds chirping, cut off by an emptying nothingness. His vision blackened. The cub stood alone, afraid, lost in nothingness. With a sharp inhale, he found himself somewhere else.
A vast body of miscoloured water stretched out before him, the horizon invisible in its infinite grasp. The strange scent returned, washing through his nasal canals as waves crashed onto the sandy land mere strides ahead. His chest pounded as the hairs on his scruff stood on end once again.
Agonised growls, grunts and howls echoed across the known space, rising and falling as the waves crashed against the shore. His cheek became moist with worry, trembling his leg muscles as the sound of something arising behind him intensified. He tried to turn around, but found himself frozen, his neck refusing to turn.
He was trapped, unable to do anything but sit there, staring forward at the event horizon of an endless ocean as something crept up to him. The poignant stench of putrified carrion scarred his olfactory cortex, sending his heart racing as the creature’s shadow loomed over him. It's cold, arid exhalan,t chilling his spine. It inhaled, sampling the cub’s scent like a zebra at a watering hole. A droplet rolled down Kopa’s cheek, forcing the sand beneath him to part. His body jolted to life instinctively as he fell, consumed again by a deep blackness. A familiar, panicked voice called out to him, growing louder as he fell.
“Kopa? Kopa! KOPA!”

That was just a snippet of Mlinzi Cold Reception. A story of loss, grief and how they can form the tightest of bonds. I'm really excited to share more in the coming months and years.

I hope you enjoyed it :)

Take care and stay safe, everyone.

J.D.Taylor