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Mood:
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Listening to: Within Temptation - Pale
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Reading: Writing a Novel and Getting Published For Dummies
I asked you my watchers if you wanted a sneak preview at first book of my series, and the votes are in.
Here's the first couple of pages from the book. Note that this might not be the final version, as I will probably go back and edit some key elements here as I progress further into the story.
If you see mistakes note them to me, so I can quickly knock them out.
Prologue
"Earth!" A thunderous roar echoed across the land as the ground split open revealing a large earthen beast with small plants growing along his back and layers upon layers of solidified granite covering the majority of his face and chest. His bright sapphire eyes snapped open and the ground around him began to warp and bend as he drew strength from the planet itself.
"Feel the ground shatter. I am...Dilong!" He roared with spine chilling power sending pillars of solid rock jutting into the sky.
"Wind!" The air began to whistle angrily as a funnel cloud descended down from the darkened sky, howling, screaming, and roaring as the long serpent like creature with bright green scales and golden helmet emerged from the swirling vortex taking his spot next to the earthen warrior. His glowing green eyes slowly opened calmly, allowing the entire field to come into view. His jaws opened wide and his long snake like fangs dripping with khaki colored venom shifted into place while ushering forth a bone numbing hiss.
"Beware, I have entered the field. Fear me, Wyvern!" Above him, lightning crashed and loud rolling thunder echoed across the barren field as the large hurricane like vortex began to increase its power.
"Fire!" A circle of of pulsing white liquid rock erupted from the ground as a single being seemed to form from the glowing rock. His pulsing crimson eyes shot open as the liquid rock that covered his hide began to drip back down to the ground, while the majority cooled into a hard rocky shell along his back and spine. His wings extended to full size and his jaw curled into a vicious snarl.
"I am the eternal hellfire. I am, Ryu!" He shouted releasing a huge stream of incredibly hot white fire that seemed to light the sky in an intimidating white glow.
"Ice!" A cold breeze sent a violent chill down down the entire battlefield. Large shards of ice began to rain down from the darkened sky and bitter cold snow blew across everyone's faces. Ryu cringed at the biting cold, but the others simply sighed as the refreshing ice blew across their scales. A harsh shriek from above broke the silence that permeated in every direction causing everyone to look up into the sky. In a flurry of sub-zero snow and shattering ice, the female landed on all fours while spreading her large icy feathered bat like wings.
"Fear the bitter north. Fear the freezing ice, I am...FrostWing!" She roared with uncontainable fury shooting a bold beam of pure concentrated ice into the sky. It exploded into a howling flurry of ice and snow sending definitive chills down everyone's spines. Even Ryu's fiery anger was cooled by her fearsome display.
As the four siblings stood close to one another, they each shot the other a glance, grinning in anticipation for the coming battle.
"No matter what happens," Wyvern began, placing a large metal ring at the base of his tail.
"give it everything you've got," Ryu commented, gritting his teeth as fire began to crawl from under his scales forming a liquid armor of glowing white heat.
"watch your backs," Dilong snorted wisely while adding more granite armoring to his scaly hide.
"and remember, we're in this together my brothers. As one, we are unbeatable, remember that and we shall come out on top." FrostWing finished as a wave of shimmering translucent ice swept over her body encasing her in a rock hard armor.
She looked back into the crowd behind her, admiring the many brave faces and allies that had come to help save their world. Each with their own abilities and strengths, weakness and purposes, each willing to die for what they loved, just like her, and her bothers. A smile among the crowd caught her attention, and she in turn smiled back at the source.
Nothing more needing be said, she turned towards the large volcano that lay in the distance and the swarms of (insert enemy species) warriors that sat between them. Her eyes narrowed into feral slits and the armor that surrounded her body began to thicken with even stronger permafrost. "It's time to bring an end to this pointless war. We shall not stop until Fafnir's head is on a pike. For Drakon, for our homes, for Atawai! Charge!" She shouted taking to the skies in a flurry of icy blue scales and varying shades of turquoise feathers. Both Wyvern and Ryu followed after her while Dilong threw himself underground as the coalition forces rushed forward towards the rumbling volcano that lay before them.
The final battle to save their home had begun.
"Let them come." Fafnir laughed aloud to himself from within the volcano, watching the shimmering mirror as the ocean of troops poured down into the valley. "It matters little. One way or another, I will be the victor." He sneered as he saw one particular individual's presence among the charging forces that were racing towards his mountain.
"So, you've decided to come as well? Good. When I kill you their spirits will be broken." The dark dragon began to laugh uncontrollably as his plan was slowly being brought to fruition without anyone suspecting otherwise. "Soon, all will be mine, as it always should have been." His laughter dimmed as his attention was brought back to the large glowing pool of volcanic rock that churned violently with each blast of dark energy he feed it. Harsh shrieks and cries erupted from the pool as strange and shifting forms swam through the molten rock bringing a smug grin of satisfaction to Fafnir's snout.
"Worry not my pets. Your wrath will be unleashed soon, and those foolish children will be destroyed." Another shriek rose from the pool before him as more of the strange forms began to rise to the surface, spitting fire and liquid rock from their beak like maws.
"My children, you shall be their undoing."
Both armies collided in a furious storm of clashing steel and tearing flesh. Arrows from both sides screamed through the air crashing into hundreds of unsuspecting soldiers on both side of the fire, raising roars of agony and death high into the sky.Boulders of solid rock and tar-covered billows of hay flew through the air only to come crashing back down into the writhing mass of bodies, crushing many or igniting them into screaming balls of living tinder. As another ball of rock came whistling towards a group of soldiers, Dilong shot out of the ground in a blur of dirt and rock into the air, attempting to intercept the boulder before it could crush his men. With a single stroke of his large mace-like tail, the rock shattered into hundreds of tiny shards casting a large cloud of dust and dirt onto the troops below. With a smug grin of mischief, Dilong sent the debris flying towards its point of origin as he came crashing back to the ground on all fours. There was a sharp crack as the shards collided with a large tower that overlooked the battlefield and sent it tumbling down to the ground in a heap of broken masonry and screaming (insert enemy species) .
As the dragon snorted in satisfaction, a body came flying by him at a speed never thought possible for a mere human. However, when the body hit the ground and blood pooled under his broken body, that's when Dilong knew something was wrong. For a moment, he sat there unsure of what to think until several troops began to shout, "Run! It's coming right at us!" Dilong broke into a full sprint, barreling towards the source of the disturbance, doing his best to avoid crushing any of his men. Fortunately, his troops were smart enough to clear out of the earth dragon's way before they could be trampled. Using his abilities, Dilong forced the ground beneath his feet to catapult him high into the air allowing him to gain a better look of what lay ahead. Another soldier came whizzing by him, skull broken in two and blood trailing behind, and he saw what was causing the disturbance.
"Blast!" He shouted as he crashed back onto the ground on all fours, still sprinting as fast as his legs could carry him. "They've got a (insert enemy species) ." He muttered mildly amused. "Well seems like I might get to bring out my full power. Haha! Big lug won't know what hit 'em!"
Fire and arrows flew in random directions as the battle raged on. The various shouts and scream of human knights, (insert ally species) archers, and (insert enemy species) berserkers filled the air with a deafening roar while the stench of blood, rotting flesh and raging fires filled the air. Huge plumes of dark foreboding and deathly smoke rose from the sprawling battlefield as countless individuals fought one another in a relentless tide of clashing swords, shattering shields and rivers of flowing blood. Flying merely a few precious feet above the blood stained chaotic volcanic rock, FrostWing with a single human astride her back dodged nimbly through the fleets of arrows while he hung onto her turquoise mane for dear life as she fired concentrated blasts of bitter cold ice in every direction an enemy appeared, freezing them solid with no effort whatsoever. The human astride her was no more then the age of twenty five, with an average build fit for the ranger he was. The robe like garment that covered his body was torn and riddled with holes from stray arrows and multiple stains of blood from different creatures including himself and the dragoness that he rode upon. His dirty brown hair was thrown back as the dragoness twisted and dove with near reckless abandon dodging in and out of the the swarms of arrows that flew up to meet her, and every time, she nimbly dodged each one. The odd stray arrow that would often come close to her body was knocked aside by the small single sided blade that the human had.
"FrostWing," He shouted desperately trying to hold onto her long serpent like neck while still knocking the arrows away with his free hand. "this is reckless! We're going to get cut off from the main force!" he pleaded trying to talk sense into the stubborn dragoness. She snorted once before firing another spear of ice into a (insert enemy species) soldier's throat. He fell to the ground gurgling as blood flowed from his wound into the black volcanic ground.
"Altar," a growl resonated from the back of her throat. "be quiet and keep those arrows away from my wings. If you don't it'll be the end of both of us!" Hearing her words confirmed what the human had figured. She was scared for her younger brother Ryu. Using his free hand, Altar gingerly rubbed the side of her thick neck, grinning sheepishly in obvious discomfort. "Frost, I know that your eager to fight, but flying headlong into battle like this will only get us both killed. Ryu may not be the most powerful dragon, but he can hold his own against Fafnir, I'm sure of it." He smiled again patting her on the neck with his leather bound hand. "Just give him a chan-" He was silenced when she rushed forward into a steep climb, beating her wings furiously trying to gain altitude. He was thrown back and only by sheer luck did he manage not to fall off her back. The rushing winds buffeted him and stung his eyes as she flew faster and faster into the sky, spiraling several times as arrows tried to pursue after them. When at last the great icy blue female began to level her body out into a hovering position miles above the battlefield, she craned her neck back towards the human riding bareback to stare into his chocolate brown eyes with her golden orbs of glimmering beauty. He couldn't hep but feel lost in them despite the dangers below.
"I know he's not defenseless," She began raising her lip up to reveal her pearly white fangs that were drenched in red (insert enemy species) blood. "but if what he told me is true, we may not have much time before Fafnir shifts the volcano's core." Fear and anger was heavily present in her voice. In fact, her breath reeked of it. "If he manages to disturb the magma chamber...?" He silenced her by placing his hand on her muzzle, scratching that 'oh so sweet' spot under her chin. She growled in satisfaction at his touch and closed those beautiful eyes allowing the tickling sensation of his movements to wash her worries away.
"That's why we won't let him succeed. We're in this together remember?" She growled again, acknowledging his words. As his fingers came away from her scales and his hand again rested itself on her snout, FrostWing sighed deeply allowing herself to relax. When she opened her eyes again, Altar sat there with his hand rubbing the tip of her snout, smiling pleasantly trying his best to keep both himself and her calm.
"I don't know what's going to happen Frost, but whatever does come to pass, I'll be here with you till the end." He held up his other hand, and removed the leather glove that covered it. Running from the very edge of his wrist and all the way up his center finger was a straight single scar. She sighed at his gesture, knowing full well what that scar was from. "That night on the beach, I made you a promise FrostWing, and I intend to keep it. I owe you my life Frost. After everything you've done for me..." She sighed quietly stopping his little speech before it could get more emotional. "Altar, just remember something will you? If you die, I'll hunt you down and kill myself." She grinned knowing he'd understand the humor to her joke. He nodded in agreement and set his glove back over his hand. "Alright!" He shouted enthusiastically. "Let's finish this then! Fly my dear FrostWing, fly like you've not done before!" At his command, FrostWing smirked with a blood thirsty grin. "With pleasure." With nothing more said between them, Altar and FrostWing dove towards the battleground again, roaring and shouting in perfect harmony.
But, despite his inspiring words and noble intentions, a great pain wracked against his heart. His thoughts kept going back to that dream that he and Drakon had shared and the inevitable ending he saw. He knew what was going to happen this day. It would be the day when his entire life would be changed...
Forever.