The next several months will bring author commentaries on all six stories contained within the Tales from Portents collection. My hope is to offer insight into the decisions made in putting the project together and the challenges therein. It’s also fun to point out the little Easter eggs throughout. (I love that crap.) So, SPOILER WARNING is in effect for the duration.
The Fight Scene
I mentioned in the first part of the commentary for View From Above about Soriya’s rage and her need to hit something. This built from a lack of action as well as her anger at Mentor’s constant lecturing. So when it finally came down to it, when the first was finally in front of her at the abandoned theater at the climax of the narrative I had two choices.
Show the scene, a fight against a group of thugs with little or no skill at combat. Or skip it completely.
I skipped it.
Why?
This was one of those moments I continually went back to in order to argue with myself over my own decision. Part of me will always feel like the fight was necessary but at the end of the day I ruled against it.
The short answer for why is that I liked the irony of the moment. Soriya’s rage has built and after everything she has had no release. She needs this fight. She needs to get it out of her system. And she does.
But we don’t have to see it.
Knowing Soriya’s skill in combat from earlier with her struggle with Vlad as well as the numerous tales before this, we know these six punks have no shot. By not showing the fight my hope was to illustrate this point in full. The drama of the pitched battle is that there is no drama at all.
Puts the emphasis on the real struggle.
The other reason to ignore the fisticuffs with the Teen Brigade (super old Marvel reference for you there) is to keep the focus on the real climax to the narrative. The reveal of the Kitsune and the (mostly) verbal conflict therein is the meat and potatoes of the story.
Anything before that point distracts from the actual conflict and Soriya’s arc in the tale. Her anger comes from her burden, from the constant lessons. The Kitsune represents the opposite end of the spectrum with her need for mischief. Keeping the focus on these two for this chapter and driving it home in the conclusion with Soriya’s discussion with Vlad keeps the plot centered on character instead of needless action.
Was it the right call?
Every decision, every fight scene, every conversation or setting, all of it can be argued for and against. Always. At the end of the day I hope the majority of the choices made are the best ones for the story. As long as everything serves the story and the characters within, I know I’ve done the best I can.
And that will have to do.
Next time –
One of the principal connecting factors throughout Tales from Portents: Robert Standish.
Thanks for reading.
When I received the edited version of Signs of Portents from my editor, 
Soriya doesn’t play well with others. And when she does they typically come from a place of authority. Mentor. Loren. Ruiz.
As I pieced together the lineup for the collection, I realized I was missing something. I had solo stories with the main leads, a focus on our main supporting cast member in Ruiz and another with Vlad. There was 
At six months into the start of their partnership both characters are still feeling each other out. On Loren’s side it is much worse, his anger clouding any sense of trust in the pairing. That level of tension, that lack of comfort between the two leads compared to where they are presently in Signs was very interesting to me and something I wanted to explore fully.
Hady Ronne