So much for having my brother pose for me yesterday... I decided to go a different route. And I'm happier with it. Fits the interior art really well too.
I found some reference of scared children online and they really helped me get the eyes to look right. Each feather was originally going to be illustrated, but I felt it took away from the eyes. So, just those near the eyes are detailed. I feel that this helps with the image of a black cloud of feathers. 
I'm on the fence about it being in color. Guess we'll see how I feel when I have to print it out. 

With most of the comic pages at least 80% done, I feel like it's time to start on my next attempt at the cover. I want something that is a bit more exciting than what I originally had. A big thank you to my brother who often models for me. Here are some of the poses that we came up with.

Four of the pages that are pretty close to being done. Each needs maybe an hour more of work. I need to clean up the lines and finish illustrating certain areas, ie, Lan's face in 12. Add some background imagery. I've also got 1-3, and 13-16 in the same semi-finished state. That leaves five more pages to to totally ink and add text too. And a cover to do. Can't forget that.