below are random excerpts from my novel, one from each chapter. please comment!
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The museum was quiet, closed under care of security guards. Richard didn’t know how the stranger would come but he said he would. It was all the same, he didn’t care, he wasn’t going to ask. Questions got people like him into trouble, not authority trouble but trouble with trouble itself. -ch 1
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It was the sunset that broke the silence, the sharp contrast of the shadows bouncing off the walls of the canyons and the bright glow of the rock reflecting sun. The shadows danced along the towering walls as the sun disappeared. They looked animate and moving. -ch 2
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You think a meteor killed off your ‘dinosaurs?’ Think again. Your dinosaurs were obliterated, a genocide committed by the dominant clan of dragons, the stewards of the worlds. The oldest of creatures, cunning, clever and proud they abandoned Terrene long before man was ever around. -ch 3
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seldom was such a brutal death lurking over chance of failure. He could hear his breath loudly flow, in, out, in, like the sound of crashing waves heard from under water, it resonated in his head as if he were listening to the inhale-exhale with his ears plugged. That ended abruptly as Yuki flicked Black on the nose. “Go now, up!” -ch 4
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Black almost failed to contain his audible epiphany. The idea to hide gave him hope. He still had Yuki’s box the ultimate hiding tool, maybe there was some way he could use it to get out of this mess.
Black concentrated on that one thing, getting out. Eyes tensely shut he tried to follow Yuki’s dicey directions. He pulled something out of the box. Not ready for the way it fell into his hand Black failed to catch what came out. Startled he retracted his hand as something soft and supple wriggled its way out of the box. The light from the late afternoon cast sharp shadows into the loft. He glanced nervously out the window again to make sure he was safe up there.
Warm air eddied around him as he looked out into the late October afternoon. The moon hung in the sky already and people down below finished their errands preparing for a pleasant evening at home. Black knew it was a long shot but the idea of there being something in that stupid box to help him hide from an enraged kingdom and a devious cult, was absurd. -ch 5
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The first thought to race through Black’s head was ‘I need to learn how to do magic on purpose.’ It was followed by more serious feelings and concerns. Uncomfortably he stood there wishing he wasn’t the steward of anything. He almost preferred being caught and jailed over being given rights, authorities and responsibilities. It didn’t feel like the proper response to surrender. He wanted to give back the sword, and spend long lonely nights thinking about his actions while slowly going mad in the dark dungeons. He was sorry for what he had done and he didn’t feel like an adequate or appropriate guardian of anything, let alone an entire city. -ch 6
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Nearly strutting into the emptiness he saw no trace of the rude doorman except for a drip of blood about to fall from the inside door handle. Black didn’t really feel sorry for the unfortunate and uninformed man, he just noticed. This was not the sort of company one would want to annoy. -ch 7
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“Sure.” Black agreed, handing Evo the map. The “you are here” dot changed from black to red and the letters above it now read Evyndr.
“How nice, it knows my name.” With that Evo let the Atlantic sea fall into his palm as he drew the dot labeled Capris close to the red one marking where he stood. The wall in front of him vanished and the scene shot forward to a very similar room in a tall tower somewhere in Capris. -ch8
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Black didn’t realize at first he had walked into a jewelry store, the shrunken head that hung outside over the door just didn’t seem to him like something that begged to be worn around one’s neck. - ch 9
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The next morning Black was inclined to start the day off grumpily but the bacon and French toast wouldn’t tolerate any such behavior. It was surprisingly good and the powdered sugar and hazelnut chocolate spread melted away any resentment he had for Civara. She ate her specialty breakfast in their company. Her portion seemed too light to feed a centaur, but ‘maybe,’ Black thought, ‘the idea is to get more conversation in.’ He didn’t care about motives or any awkward flirting, the egg dipped bread was so good. He ate a double portion that countered the rate at which he ate and they all finished at about the same time. -ch 10
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They had read about the tree in the heart of the underground drainage system and its restorative properties but they hadn’t imagined that the water treatment plant integrated further biological systems including moss coated tunnels and sweeping ferns to carry currents through the network of canals and tunnels.
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“I congratulate you on finding this hallowed room, but I cannot give you what you seek only point the way. It is a perfidious path. The way to wisdom is designed to lead one astray.”
“What must we do?”
“You must destroy the monster of Camelot if you wish to solve all your riddles.” -ch 12
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"...they made the international species creation committee. If you have a good idea for a new plant or animal you have to go through a rigorous approval process. And it’s no secret that great culinary promises usually get passed quicker than other requests.”
“What sort of other requests do people make?”
“Oh, all sorts of things. People want plants for medicines, animals for work, and both for any number of shady activities. The Chinese just busted a major worm fighting ring last week. It was big news.”
“Worm fighting? Really?”
“Yeah, near the Gobi desert people were illegally breeding massive sandworms with all sorts of creatures. Giant insects, man-eating beasts, you name it. They were getting out of their cages and terrorizing local villages. It was a big problem. There’s still several major rice paddies infested by deadly worm-beasts guarding rice with their lives.”
“Why rice?”
“Some guy bred his worms with bugs that love rice. Needless to say worldwide sushi prices have skyrocketed.” -ch 13
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“The beast that almost took your arm home with it, it was a hydra. Do you remember seeing the bouquet of heads joined together at the neck as it chased us down here?”.........
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His flaccid body pounded into something solid. He was caught on what he realized was some sort of grating, current sweeping past. The jolt of the collision had jostled his consciousness. Black knew there were few precious seconds to live. He reached for his block, his cube, the one thing he was certain could save his life, his magical and spacious toolbox. Black’s numb fingers withdrew a soggy piece of worn leather. He felt the soft pelt in between his fingers. He felt the edges tug away with the stream of newly cleansed water. He folded. Nothing. -ch 15
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Although he felt a distinct tug to drop kick each and every one of the burly dwarves off the nearest pier, he had a feeling it would be his own head he was in over, not theirs.
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Wait here I am just going to tell my Mama that I’m going out for a fly.”
Black sighed a little, as Ika jumped off the balcony and landed about fifty feet away on the roof of one of the small buildings that made up her house. Bending down she stuck her head upside down in a window and held a small inaudible conversation. She fell forward off the roof intentionally and somersaulted into a skyward soar. She spun gracefully around and glided over to the tree house.
“Ready?” she piped as she headed for the far side of the fort, away from her mothers’ sight.
“I have a carpet.” Black offered.
Ika only giggled. She snuggled right up next to Black and positioned him in front of her facing away. Her arms wrapped around his chest tightly and her feet curled up in front of Black’s locking his in place as she fell straight forward off the back ladder.
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“I’m telling you it was the perfect first date. What’d you and Civara do?”
“Not much, Centaur stuff I’ll tell you when you have four hooves.”
“Yea that’s code for boring. I bet you didn’t even kiss her.”
“Not on the first date! You?”
“Like you said, first date.”
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He turned and ran the drill again. This time he wasn’t so lucky. One of the bugs had crawled up his leg. Freaked out he tried to shake it off but he still stood on top of some of the bugs. More and more bugs ascended his pant leg as the leg climbing pioneer was sailing toward the far end of the room. Screaming and panicking Black thrashed and tried to swipe off as many as he could, only to introduce a shortcut to his arms. Covered neck down in snapping insects he vomited. The bugs ate it. Black crumbled when one or more of them chewed the ligaments behind his knee.
They covered his head. His scream was cut off by the taste of them. Sour bitter and everything gross all in one. Black chocked and coughed out the bugs. He managed to yell proudly, “I’ll never give in!” The bugs seemed more furious than ever and the swarm spoke in a cold quick voice. -ch 19Hope you liked em, once again please comment, ALL feedback is immeasurably helpful and appreciated. thanks
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