Thoughts on chapters 56 and 57? (Patreon)

SPOILERS AHEAD!

If you haven't read these chapters yet, (tuhli, Masters,) then please skip this post. (It's easier for me to leave this accessible to all tiers than to edit it later.)

Now then, Vincent finally came face to face with the villain. I've been building up to it throughout the whole book.

But I'm not quite pleased with how it turned out. I don't know if it's the initial dialogue Vincent has with it or whether the encounter is too brief. I just went back and polished up the first few exchanges to make them feel more natural.

I think the biggest challenge I'm facing is that I don't exactly know how Vincent would react to such an entity. He's there for answers, but he's also terrified and in shock. So, he flusters and his line of questioning is unnatural. (I just tweaked and rearranged a few lines to improve this.)

I'm also struggling with the entity's dialogue. It feels too familiar. And the answers it gives, I'm worried readers won't find them satisfying. There's a lot of lore behind this villain, but I don't want to reveal it yet, so I kept it rather ambiguous, it's motives, what it is, etc. Yet there's something missing from its interactions. I don't know what.

I'd be very curious to hear your thoughts, because sometimes a reader's perspective is invaluable to me. I'll know there's a problem with something, but it won't be until I get an outside voice telling me what. Then it will click. So if you have any thoughts on these chapters, feel free to share them! I'm wondering if you're on the same page as me.