I have decided to post a little teaser from the first chapter of my yet-unnamed story. I hope some of you enjoy. Just a note: This is only the second draft, so I’m sure spelling/grammar errors abound, please forgive that, I was just TOO excited to share this! =)
Sinara gasped, squirming out of her bed roll and darting her eyes about. The campfire has long extinguished, only smoke drifting up from the ashes and towards the night sky. There was enough starlight for her to be able to see in a limited sense. She crouched in the dark, straining to hear; the night was calm, quiet, only the sounds of crickets and the occasional rustling of leaves in the wind. After a few moments of trying to calm her breathing, her ears picked up the sound; someone was coming towards them. She sucked in a breath, slowly preparing a spell for the inevitable battle. She could hear them speed up, it was one person, and she nodded to herself, pretty sure that she was right. She saw nothing however, only the dark forest, she looked around, trying to see through the heavy underbrush, but it was too thick and nigh impenetrable. Instinctually, Sinara began to back away, moving closer to Acacia, she glanced down at her. She was still asleep. The injury would have her out of commission for days. It was up to her to defend the two of them. Sinara frowned at that thought; she was not much of a protector. She decided to reason the current situation. Clearly this intruder knew that the two of them were there, so it would be logical to try and engage in conversation. She gulped, then called out “Who are you, what purpose do you have here?” Out from the bush stepped a woman, she was dressed in what looked like black leathers, with some parts of silver mail. Her clothes were trimmed in a light green, and on her rope belt, hung the emblem of the Steppe Riders. She was armed with a bow of black lacquer. Her face was obscured with a cloth mask over her mouth and a wide round hat. All Sinara could see was one eye, which even in the dark seemed to burn with intensity. She gulped. “Y-you have three bows pointed a-at you. Answer my questions or j-join those Black Talons back there” The woman said in a dark, low voice. She levelled the bow at her, her well-muscled arms pulled the string back easily. Sinara snapped up straight, holding her hands up, this was the second time she’d had a weapon aimed at her. This was really not a good omen for her trip. “I’m a…I’m Sinara, I’m a healer and travelling your fine lands to-“
“I h-haven’t even asked a question!” The woman interrupted her.
“Oh right…yes of course!” Sinara stammered nervously. “I was just being pre-emptive!” the woman before her groaned and glanced over at Acacaia lying on the ground asleep.
“Why is Acacia in-injured? Di-did you hurt her!?”
“No! No, no, as I was saying, I’m a healer. I came across Acacia fighting the bandits, and I assisted her….quite well might I add! I only threw up the once!” Sinara said as she grinned, she could not help but resist the Valhaer custom of bragging. “She was injured in the fight and I, thinking quickly, stabilized her wounds.”
“Sh-she wasn’t lying a-about Valhaer being braggarts…” The woman mumbled in an irritated tone. “I-I don’t believe you, w-wake her…w-we’ll see what Acacia has to say!” Sinara nodded nervously “Of course, I am slowly going to do that now alright? Please…do not shoot me.” She said in as calm a tone as possible. She knelt beside Acacia, gently placing a hand on her shoulder to rouse her. Acacia stirred, then blinked her eyes open, she winced and let out a groan “Sinara? What’s going on?” She said as she looked around, she spotted woman with the bow, she blinked “FeiLing? What are you doing here?” She said groggily. FeiLing looked down at her, pulling down her mask and smiling “Ch-checking up on you Acacia…y-you’re bad at staying out of t-trouble.” She said as she then looked over to Sinara. “D-did this woman help you? W-was she the one who healed you?”
“And, helped defeat the bandits!” Sinara added, earning a glare from the archer. She shrunk back “Who’s keeping track right?” She chuckled nervously. Acacia nodded her head slowly “Yeah. I didn’t see much, but by the time I came around, they were all dead, I thought she was the ring leader or something, but…no, she’s what she says she is…big mouth included.” She turned her head to Sinara, giving her a slight nod. Sinara let out a breath of relief. FeiLing put her arrow and bow away, placing her hands on her hips “O-Okay…w-we’ll, make sure the t-two of you have a safer place to r-rest than out here.” She nodded her head, looking at the brush behind Sinara. She yelped as two others stepped out from the brush, seeming to materialize from nowhere. They were dressed similar to FeiLing, dark clothes with the wide brimmed hats. They moved over to Acacia to lift her. Sinara hissed softly “Wait, hold on! You have to be very careful with her, she’s suffered a deep wound and it could open up again!” FeiLing just looked at her “W-we know what we’re d-doing” She said as she snapped her fingers, a few second later the sound of a wagon and horse could be heard. As Sinara looked over she saw a small wagon with a single horse trotting down the path. Alongside the wagon were three horses, they looked very impressive and well bred. They were adorned with the same colours as the rangers before Sinara. The horse in the lead had more elaborate reins and saddle. Sinara figured that one was FeiLing’s. As Acacia was carefully loaded onto the cart, Sinara quickly packed up all her gear, placing it neatly into her magical satchel. After a few moments of packing and checking up on Acacia, Sinara looked over to FeiLing “Well, thanks for all this, I’m glad you found us!” She said as she went to climb into the wagon. She felt a heavy hand land on her shoulder “O-Oh no! You w-walk….I-I still ba-barely trust your kind.” Sinara frowned, but hopped off, dusting her clothes, “Fair enough…I suppose I’ll do my best to keep up!” She said, trying her best to appear affable, but part of her wanted to protest. FeiLing and the other two both got onto their respective horses. Sinara opened her mouth to ask, but was cut off as the group started on their way with a slow trot. Even if they were going at a slow pace, the lone Valhaer had to struggle to catch up; she hadn’t even gotten a full night’s sleep yet.
And here’s another cast member done. This is FeiLing Goldendawn. Eldest daughter of the Goldendawn clan and heir to the throne. She is currently a commander in the Steppe Riders, basically the scouts and rangers of her land. She’s a pretty serious person, and commands a great deal of respect from the people under her.
West Coast Photographer Dave Feiling Takes Youthful Approach to ...
Lifestyle and fashion photographer Dave Feiling OMP Member #3407 started doing photography when he bought a camera while in the military service, and has been shooting ever since. He subsequently attended Brooks …I remember a young model had issues with…
