(...so. So far my attempts to get in a good headspace to finish this book's second draft have not gone well, which means it's time to take drastic action. Hence, sharing the first handful of chapters here, and seeing if my friends having someplace to screech and ask what's next will help)
Dawn bloomed.
In the southern plains, sitting near the very top of a cottonwood tree, a girl admired how light spread across the land, transforming everything by simple use of illumination. When enough time had passed that she could see her surroundings clearly, the fourteen year old turned and looked down.
“Fren! Time to get up, lazy-bones!” A muffled grunt was the only response. Rolling her eyes, the girl started to climb downward, swiftly passing her own hammock to crouch beside the one below. With a teasing grin, she started to push at it, swinging the cloth and its inhabitant from side to side. “Frennnn.”
“Mm’up.” A hand and arm were stretched up out of the mess of blankets, before flopping back over.
“Freniden Brusan, if you don’t wake up in the next thirty seconds, I’m tipping this thing over and dumping you out of it.”
Bunched-up cloth and curly black hair were pushed aside so that her friend could direct his glare towards the girl. “You wouldn’t.”
“I most certainly would.”
“We’re twenty feet in the air, Tali!”
“Then you’ll just have to use your all-powerful wizardly talents to keep from getting injured.” She released her hold on the hammock and stood. “Now come on!”
“Alright, alright, I’m getting up,” the younger boy grumbled, kicking his blankets off and reaching for his bag, hanging from a nearby branch. “I swear, everyone in your family is a lunatic, rising at dawn and ordering other people to do the same...”
“I’m sorry, does this come as a surprise to you?” Laughing, Tali climbed back up to avoid the smelly sock Fren threw in her direction. Within a few minutes, both children had donned their outer traveling clothes and rolled up their hammocks, stuffing the bulky bundles into Fren’s enchanted satchel. Once they’d clambered back down to the ground, the wizardling pulled out some hard biscuits and dried meat for their breakfast.
“So,” he asked around a mouthful of food. “Now that we’ve successfully gotten too far from the city for your father’s search parties to find, do we have a destination in mind to start looking for this missing sister of yours?”
Tali frowned thoughtfully. “Well, much as I want to find Lillia, we could stop by your old home first, visit your family-” She stopped when Fren snorted.
“Bad idea. My relatives wouldn’t let us leave for at least the better part of a month, which I know would drive you insane.”
“It would?”
“Oh, yes. Nothing interesting ever happens in Fammon.”
“Well, fine then, if you don’t want to see your uncle and aunt and cousins, we’ll just go straight north.”
Fren raised an eyebrow. “That’s it? That’s all the great Petalia Crant can come up with?”
“That’s all we need,” Tali argued, looking ahead with a fierce expression. “We go north.”
“I’m starting to have second thoughts about running off with you...”
“Too late to change your mind now!” Tali playfully punched her friend’s shoulder, and giggled when the chubby boy pretended to stagger.
“Hey! Easy with those muscles of yours! I may have extra padding, but that doesn’t mean it won’t get bruised!”
“Oh, quit being such a whiner.”
“Bully.”
“Wimp!”
“Aquimbe!” Before Tali could blink, a spray of water caught her in the face. She spluttered, ducking away as Fren cackled. The spell ended after a moment, water spout fading back into nothing, though the girl remained very much wet.
“That,” she declared, wiping at her face with the edge of her cape, “Was so not fair.”
“Forgive me for wanting to get the upper hand just once,” Fren grinned.
The pair continued to banter as they walked on, eventually finding a road heading in the right direction. Tali checked it over for recent tracks while Fren whispered a quick scanning spell for nearby people. Neither of them found any signs of fellow travelers.
“Should we risk it?” The wizardling asked. His friend shrugged.
“May as well.”
Winding as it may have been, the road nonetheless took them north, and the pair made good time. By mid-morning, they’d covered several miles, and stopped for a water break on top of a shallow hill. When she handed back the water skin, Tali decided to climb another tree, to get a look at their new surroundings.
The girl had only gotten part way up the trunk, though, when something not too far away caught her eye.
Fren flinched as she suddenly landed beside him, fumbling the water skin and nearly dropping it. He didn’t have any time to ask what she’d seen before Tali was dashing off down the hill. Scrambling, Fren hurried after. A few minutes later, they rounded a bend in the road, and he too saw what had grabbed his friend’s attention.
A small, weather-beaten wagon was stuck, one of its front wheels trapped by a deep crack in the earth. The driver, a wrinkled old goblin, strained as she tried to pull it free without much success. Harnessed to the front of the wagon, her horse saw the two human youths first, and whinnied.
“Hello there!” Tali called, slowing her steps as she approached. “Could we offer you a hand?”
The goblin, who’d paused at her horse’s sudden warning, looked over in surprise. “I wouldn’t mind a bit if you did! I just need a tad more oomph to lift it free, I think.”
Tali immediately stepped to her side, crouching in order to get a good grip on the frame of the wagon before glancing over her shoulder. “C’mon, Fren, hurry up.”
He rolled his eyes. “Wizard student, remember? Elvitaere.” A soft yellow light sprang from the pendant tied around his left wrist, enveloping the wagon and causing it to slowly float into the air.
“Oh my,” the goblin gaped.
Huffing at her friend’s dramatics, Tali nonetheless pushed the wagon’s side, nudging it away from the hole. As soon as all four wheels were over even ground again, Fren ended the spell, letting the wagon gently set back down. The old goblin clapped her hands in delight.
“That was wonderful!” She gushed. “Saved my poor back and everything! Thank you so much, dearies.”
“You’re very welcome,” Tali said. “Is there anything else we could help you with?”
“Well, now I feel silly, but I’d emptied out everything I could to make this old hunk lighter - I don’t suppose the two of you would mind giving me a hand putting it all back, would you?”
Blinking, Fren leaned over to look at the other side of the road. Sure enough, several blankets were spread across the ground, dozens upon dozens of books and knick-knacks and other peddler’s goods piled atop them. He gave Tali a side-eyed glance, and sighed when she glared back.
“The moment she saw movement, Crant darted up the hill. It only took seconds to reach her baby sister and drop to kneel in front of the sobbing girl. “I’ve got you, I’m here Tali, it’s okay-” Shaking, Tali’s hands blindly reached for her, as smoke curled away from her crackling skin.
Above them, a laugh rang out.
Despite clutching at her sister, Crant’s gaze lifted, and her inner wolfen snarled.”
“Never had much patience for political wordplay, myself.” She could see poor Bryden’s eyes growing wide with uneasy confusion, and Tali practically radiated concern, standing by her side. Crant ignored both her siblings in favor of finishing what she’d started - bringing to light a trust so broken even the pieces bore jagged cracks. “But then, I always the family disgrace in your eyes - right, Dad?”
“One moment, Tali stood tall above the battlefield, openly challenging a dark god. The next, black lightning erupted, and all Fren could do was stare, his mind empty but for two words: no... please...”
