EARLY ACCESS | Unreleased Chapter Excerpt #2
The below introduction is the same for all 3 unreleased Flights of Foundry excerpts. Feel free to skip ahead to read!
Hi all!
Below is a segment of writing that I am presenting this Sunday, September 20th, 2026, as part of a reading of Thicker Than Blood at the annual speculative fiction convention, Flights of Foundry! I have been invited to share my work and speak on my design and illustration process throughout the convention weekend, closing on Sunday with this reading.
I've picked excerpts from three unreleased chapters to share at this event, and I figured it was only fair to let Patreon supporters take the first look at it. Bear in mind that this piece of writing and its two companions are excerpts, so don't worry if you feel you've missed some context. Don't fret though, all three of them are from the first third of the story, so you won't be needing your context hat for too long (I find this meme very amusing and very pertinent).
If you've never heard of Flights of Foundry, I highly suggest you check them out! They are an annual, weekend-long, virtual convention touching on all aspects of the speculative arts—that is to say, writing, drawing and painting, poetry, editing, sound, comics and any other form of art, that all contain subject matter pertaining to the genre of speculative fiction (sci-fi, horror, fantasy, dystopian... essentially anything not based in strict realism). This year, there are over 200 panels spanning Friday to Sunday, with programming around the clock so that everyone all over the world can participate! This will be my first year not only speaking at but attending the convention and I'm really excited to share what I have with all of you.
If you are a writer, artist, creative, or just generally interested in anything I just said, you can register for the convention at flights-of-foundry.org/registration ! Free and by donation tickets are available, but this event is a fundraiser to support more programming for the speculative arts, so if you have the means, please consider including a donation with your ticket.
Okay, that's everything! The first excerpt is below, available to lovely paid Insider supporters <3
Breanna is quiet for a moment. I listen to the rhythmic sounds of the train car going over the tracks, the rattling of the window in its frame before turning to look at her. Three minutes apart, yet we couldn’t be more different. I can imagine the room deflating when she was born first, beige skin and brown hair and not a trace of a feather on her. No fire trait, which means no use to the lineage. All she can do is work where she is only seen and never heard, at least when it comes to dealing with the public. No wonder she doesn’t mind travelling to a whole other region if our father wishes it, because he hardly wishes anything of her to start with.
“You don’t feel… I don’t know… like you deserve better?” I ask. “It really doesn’t matter to you that he’s ordering you around as long as it’s him doing it?”
She shrugs. “I feel useful. If it’s something I can do for the family, I want to do it.”
“What about your friends at Evera?” I can’t understand how someone would be okay with this. I’m certainly not, on her behalf. I was so angry when I found out she had been sent to accompany me—accompany. Her entire purpose here revolves around me. It makes me fume.
“My friends are excited for me, actually,” Breanna says with a smile. “They think I’m doing something big and important. Don’t worry, I didn’t tell them it’s just a glorified babysitting job.” She laughs into her mug. “Sibling bonding time, right?” We both know she’s being sarcastic; our father would never include space in his great plan for trivial things such as that.
I turn to the window again. We are crossing a river which snakes away towards the horizon, glass towers in the distance reflecting the sun. It will still be half an hour before we get to Rosalva, but small villages have been gradually breaking up the countryside the closer we get.
“Did he tell you if you’re also supposed to be talking to investors? Like, to get them to make a donation to the business and stuff?” I ask, because I genuinely need to know. My father didn’t really tell me how to execute this task, just that I would find enough options in Rosalva. He wants me to be independent, I think. Which is ironic because I feel just as sheltered as ever.
“Not really,” says Breanna, inspecting her now-empty mug. “I mean, he kinda briefly touched on it. Said I should probably shadow you or offer support, but he didn’t really say if I should also be doing any talking.” She huffs and sinks into the soft velvet of our seat. “I’m pretty sure I’m just here to report back anything you do, Kaz.”
Kaz. When she says it it’s different. She doesn’t say it like my father does, uncertain and biting back other remarks. He says the nickname like he’s scared of saying it wrong, even though my family has called me Kaz for years. And despite that, when he says it, there’s a slight tone to his voice that tells me he doesn’t quite believe what he’s saying. The word leaves his mouth, but it’s empty; there’s no conviction behind it. On the other hand, Breanna says the name as if that’s how she’s always known me. When she says Kaz, it’s short for Cassius, nothing more, nothing less. The word is full and carries care and respect. I know that she says it because she loves me, not because she’s avoiding something else.
“I wonder what he’d do if I just genuinely never came back,” I mumble out the window. The train moves into a bright patch of sunlight and I see it carve out the shape of my face in the reflection of the glass. The feathers, the sharp cheekbones, the pure white hair, the golden ring on my lip that labels me a Flores—all just like him. If I don’t go back, I wonder how long it would take for him to replace me.
Instead of feeding my wistfulness, Breanna just laughs at me. “We’re talking about the richest man in Agnacia here, Kaz. You’re going back whether you like it or not.”
There’s a silence between us. I can tell she has more to say. She’s doing the thing she always does where she weighs the consequences of something she wants to say against the value it would possibly bring to the conversation. It manifests as a fidgeting kind of thing with her mouth.
“Buuuut…” she finally says, really dragging out the silence. “While we’re out here… he technically won’t ever know if you manage to pin down any investors or not… if nobody ever fills him in on what happens.” She glances at me, then continues with a sly smile. “So if I were to… happen to request a new dorm room… and if I were to happen to be completely busy outside of school hours… and since I happen to have all my classes in a different part of the school…” She grins. “Well, until we get home, Dad would never really know at all.”
The train dips into a shadow outside and my clear-cut reflection is replaced with a murky mess of colours from inside the train car. I turn away from it and fully towards Breanna and flash a smile back. Finally, an arrangement I’m happy to make.