Tag: imperfect storm

Letters from Camp

Neon BrightLeave a comment

I did it! I’m done! It was hard to find the time and motivation for writing sometimes during the latter half of the month, but I’m so glad I pushed through. I got a bunch more story done for my larger project, and next time I’ll be able to take it even farther! Thanks to everyone who followed along for this little project and supported the excerpt posts!

Word Count: 15,017 / 15,000

Excerpt:

“The both of you were in the battle, too, right? Will you be needing any assistance?”

Joleth shook her head rapidly when Vina glanced to her, and became altogether more flustered than she’d been in the whole conversation with the guards.

“Oh, come on now, Joleth,” Elias said, and there was plenty of smirk in his voice. Eral could tell without looking that the damn halfgod had noticed Joleth’s reaction just as much as he had. “You fought hard. Let Vina make sure you won’t go away from the battle hurting. If you two are going to give me trouble for griping on the road, don’t think I won’t return the favor!”

“Once I’ve finished up here I will perform a spell to revive any weariness,” Vina said gently. “It’s the least I can do; you saved a lot of people today. I heard the guards talking about that weapon the attackers brought. It’s nothing to take lightly!”

Joleth was almost completely invisible for a few seconds before she faded back into view. “Oh. Of course. Okay. Sure. Yeah.”

Letters from Camp

Neon BrightLeave a comment

I finished up a fun scene today! I wanted to give the characters a chance to be badasses for a bit. Naturally, that has some fallout. Joleth isn’t quite sure how to momfriend, but she tries.

Word Count: 13,679 / 15,000

Excerpt:

“Seriously? You’re gonna let them take off so they can ambush us again some other time?” Eral complained from his perch on Elias’ shoulder.

Elias almost shrugged, but decided to go easy on the little guy after the brief but intense fight. “I don’t really need to kill anyone to make a point here,” he said. “They learned a bit. Besides, they aren’t thralls; they could still turn around.”

Joleth scoffed. “Whatever they do, we have a mess to deal with now,” she said bitterly, waving a hand at the destruction on the street and the fallen assassins she’d had to dispatch herself. Then, she grabbed roughly at the front of Elias’ shirt and stalked towards one of the first responders. “And you need some bandages because you went and got stabbed like an idiot.”

Letters from Camp

Neon BrightLeave a comment

I’ve been tired, but I’m still making good progress on my goal somehow! I nearly burned out on it before I could finish, but I threw some twists into the plot to keep it moving and it really reinvigorated things! So now the gang is in the middle of a fight.

Word Count:  12,560 / 15,000

Excerpt:

“We are not giving Elias the credit for that one,” a small voice joined in, as well as a small green blur darting overhead. Eral stopped to hover with his tiny little crossbow already prepared with another magical bolt. He aimed it down at the group of three with no ounce of fear in his tiny little body. “I’m the sharpshooter here. How’s it going?”

“Ah. The pixie,” the leader of the three said. He fought the surprise off his face and smirked again instead. “We heard about you, too.”

“No autographs, I can barely hold a pen,” Eral shot back. His crossbow tilted slightly as the knife-wielding assassin started to edge to the side. “I wouldn’t try to get shifty with me, either. I’m impulsive, you know, and I’ve heard this thing is painful. Just ask your buddy.”

“Gods above, below, and in between, Eral, you let your head get any bigger and you won’t be able to fly anymore,” Elias chimed in. “Thanks for the save.”

Letters from Camp

Neon BrightLeave a comment

I realized I haven’t done a letter post for a little bit! Oops! Suffice to say, some more plot is happening, and I’ve definitely got a better idea for what the next sequence in the story will be. I’m on the home stretch!

Word Count: 11,103 / 15,000

Excerpt:

Storms were easy. They carried a lot of energy in them, around them, and it preceded their coming and lingered after they left. They were powerful and heavy and beautiful and terrifying. Elias had learned all he could about handling storms after discovering the ability within himself. The speakers at the temple always said it rained and crashed the day he was born, only to calm when he was placed in his mother’s arms for the first time. Storms had always been the part of him that people could easily see, could easily name.

The other half could take a few different names. Mischief. Disruption. Sabotage. Elias preferred the former, but he embraced the latter when it came down to it.

When it came to fucking up someone else’s plans, he was one of the best.

Letters from Camp

Neon BrightLeave a comment

The quest continues! I’ve had a hard time focusing on anything for the last several days, but I actually did more than par for today! The dorks wanted to get some stuff done, apparently.

Word Count: 8,510 / 15,000

Excerpt:

Joleth edged forward, staring unabashedly at the mermaid. “Are you the one who dragged Elias into the lake a few days back?”

The mermaid’s smile softened somewhat, though she still had a certain aura of danger about her. “A case of mistaken identity,” she lamented. “We soon discovered we have similar goals, which was the reason for this meeting now. The one in which you’re both being very amusingly short with me.”

Elias leapt at the joke like his life depended on it, and Eral knew it was coming. “Oh, Eral’s short with everyone,” he explained. “But you’re right. My manners and all. Lorelei, this is Eral Mageslayer and Joleth Bay. Friends, this is Lorelei.”

Lorelei lifted a hand out of the water and waved. “Mageslayer, hmm? If we’re all lucky you’ll put the name to use.”

Eral narrowed his eyes. Even with the light compliment, he remained wary of that knowing look. “That’s me,” he replied. “Mr. Lucky.”

Letters from Camp

Neon BrightLeave a comment

Writing has been a struggle the last few days. I have trouble focusing on a lot of things. Still, I made effort today and made some good progress! The trio is getting there, and they’re gonna be reeled in by the plot whether they want to or not.

Word Count: 7,310 / 15,000

Excerpt:

Elias watched the door and the shuttered window with an expression that Eral could only describe as disapproval. Anger was a distant emotion for Elias, from what Eral had seen in their few months traveling together, but it came closer every day.

I’m not the right person for this, Eral lamented to himself. Then, he spoke aloud before Elias could claim his own chair for the night.

“We’re close.”

A smirk accompanied Elias’ sideways glance. “Yeah,” he muttered. The cloud of his mood didn’t quite dissipate, but he stopped glaring at the windows as if they were the real reason he couldn’t feel the storm.

Letters from Camp (Late post)

Neon BrightLeave a comment

(This is from a few days ago – I forgot to crosspost it then!)

This week has been a bit crazy at work, but I’m still finding time here and there to work on this project. It’s a lot of fun to just kind of have my characters banter with each other. Who knows if these conversations will make it into the final version? Not me! But they’re great ways to develop the relationships anyway.

Word Count: 6,057 / 15,000

Excerpt:

Joleth sighed and grumbled. “I still can’t believe you met the river queen.”

Elias snickered. “When we meet up with her, I can always put in a good word for ya. You’re a member of the elite guard, you’re a real catch.”

Joleth scoffed. “I think you’ve taught me well enough to be cautious about water women.”

Elias smirked. “I’ve dealt with way worse critics, Joleth. You’ll have to do better than that.”

Joleth snickered. “I really won’t.”

Letters from Camp

Neon BrightLeave a comment

Today was fun! I made it to a third of my goal for the month and managed to move my plot forward another little step, which can always be tricky. I also got some good old Elias and Eral banter, which is always great fun.

Word Count: 5,038 / 15,000

Excerpt:

Eral’s wings unfurled from their tidy leaf-bud shape, and he had to buzz them a few times to wake up before he took flight and drifted down the embankment to meet her. “You look like a drowned possum,” he greeted.

“My timing wasn’t great,” Elias dismissed with a wave of her hand. “Didn’t get rid of my gills in time.”

Eral didn’t answer right away. He had to wrestle with the urge to roll his eyes skyward, and the battle took too much of his effort. “Why. Did you have. Gills.”

Elias tried to frown, but her usual obnoxious smirk appeared instead. “To breathe underwater, Eral. Why does anything have gills?”

Letters from Camp

Neon BrightLeave a comment

Today I had fun pitting Elias’ very lax attitude against the sort of super-serious high stakes that a lot of epic fantasy likes to have in its plotlines. Naturally, Elias breaks a lot of the molds no matter the urgency in a given situation. It’s way too much fun.

Word count: 4,261 / 15,000

Excerpt:

The billowing hair was a deep green hue, while the skin was such a dark shade of brown it could almost be black. The long tail stayed as black as before, but Elias caught shimmers of iridescence that she hadn’t noticed before. Broad shoulders and a rounder frame were wrapped haphazardly in layers and layers of fishnets fashioned into a shawl. Gold trinkets tangled quite purposefully into the garment, twinkling over the mermaid’s ample chest and stomach alike.

“Hi,” Elias tried again. “Not to sound cliche, but I’m not from around here. What’s going on?”

The mermaid almost smirked. Almost. The full lips twitched, and then turned downward in a distrusting frown. The angry glare from before returned to those deep green eyes, and suddenly her hands surged up and grabbed Elias’ face.

“You reek,” the mermaid muttered, now that their faces were mere inches away from each other. Confusion finally broke through the anger and distrust. “You reek of her but you are not completely taken,” she said.

Elias’ cheeks were slightly smushed in the mermaid’s grasp but she tried to smile anyway. She shrugged, which felt strange when upside down and under water. “Definitely not taken,” she admitted. “And also, respectfully, not looking right now, not to break any hearts.”

Letters from Camp

Neon BrightLeave a comment

I didn’t write yesterday, and I was too busy to make the excerpt post from late Thursday night that I wanted to do. So, before I even do my writing for today, I’ll do a quick excerpt now because some stuff is happening and I’m too excited for it. 🙂

( P.S. Elias is genderfluid, for those who might be confused about the swapped pronouns )

Word Count: 2,824 / 15,000

Excerpt:

The growing unrest probably explained why she dropped her guard one night when she was supposed to take the second watch. The waves of the lake rushed as background noise, a cool breeze rustling over their shoddy camp. Joleth slept in the sparse shadow of a huge piece of driftwood, and Eral had, as always, claimed a tuft of grass for himself.

Elias lay on her back on a slight embankment, surrounded by soft grass while the shore churned away not even fifteen feet away from her boots.

Until, of course, something lurched up from the shore and grabbed her ankles.