Saturday, January 9, 2021

Bridget decides on a destination - snippet of new #Fantasy for #WeWriWa

 


Welcome to another Sunday with Weekend Writing Warriors and Snippet Sunday. Reading is a safe pastime during the pandemic. Sample the work of a new author. Read snippets of stories in different genres.

I’m posting snippets from my new fantasy about a witch and an elf. The book is up for preorder. The main character, Bridget Bramble, lives in a small village. Her plans to go foraging in the woods go awry when a troop of armed men march into the village and beat up the residents.

You can find the complete, and extended, first chapter at https://www.auroraspringer.org/2020/12/coming-soon-epic-fantasy-with-adventure.html

In last week’s snippet, Bridget watched the raiders kill her brother. You can read it at https://auroraspringer.blogspot.com/2021/01/bridget-loses-her-family-snippet-from.html

It ends on a sad note: She had lost the last members of her family.

For this week’s snippet, I’ve skipped most of the next chapter where Bridget runs to the neighboring village and finds more of the damage wrought by the ruthless invaders. Instead, I’ve moved to the next part when she is deciding where to go.

Seeking inspiration for a destination, Bridget stroked the smooth surfaces of the buttons on her bracelet. She had woven the buttons of copper, stag horn, hawthorn wood, and a smooth quartz pebble into the braided leather band. A charm was etched into each polished button and stone. Granny Bramble had taught her how to carve charms and told her about the potent spell to repel evil on the pendant she had inherited from Mama. She touched the heart-shaped pendant tucked under her jerkin. Made of hammered tin, the locket had little obvious value, yet it held a secret, a small crystal with a fiery sparkle.

Had Granny learned the charms from the elves? Her family had migrated from Oakenwald, the legendary land where elves and men lived together in peace. As a small girl, Granny had seen the marvelous elves. She spoke in admiration of their fair faces, lithe figures and musical voices.

And a few more lines:

Other neighbors held a contrary opinion about the elder folk. They claimed elves were cold-hearted, overproud, and despised ordinary humans. Elves used magic to ward unwanted visitors from their woodland homes. Yet none of these naysayers had seen an elf, whilst Granny had often met elves when she was a child in Oakenwald. Whatever the truth, Granny’s stories had inspired Bridget with a fervent desire to meet some of the elves.

A promising destination blossomed in her mind. She sent a prayer of thanks to her namesake, Bridget the mythical healer, Bridget of the holy fires. She would make the journey over the mountains to Oakenwald and find her Granny’s kinsfolk.

 

Bridget Bramble and the Wandering Elf

Fantasy romance. A young witch escapes the destruction of her home and embarks on a perilous quest for the fabled land where elves and humans live in peace.

In a land threatened by cruel invaders from the east, Bridget Bramble lives in a small village where she barters herbs and carved buttons. When marauders target her village and murder her family, she flees into the woods. Armed with her Granny’s advice and a bag of magic buttons, she sets out on the perilous journey to Oakenwald, the fabled land where elves and men live in harmony. As she travels farther from home, she encounters malicious creatures from the worst kind of folktale.

Lost in the foothills of the mountains, Bridget meets the elf, Windswift the Wanderer. He offers to guide her across the mountain range. But what is the elf doing in human lands? Can an ordinary, or almost ordinary, human girl trust a cold hearted elf to lead her to safety? 

Epic fantasy adventure and romance with darker overtones. This story weaves elements of folklore and a quest for a safe haven in a land where magic is real.  

Pre-order at: AMAZON   iBooks   B&N   Kobo  GooglePlay   Other

  

I’ll be happy to reply to your comments. 

Please return to http://wewriwa.blogspot.com/ to sample the works of the other writers.

 

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30 comments:

  1. Now that she has a destination, I wonder how smoothly her travels will be.

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  2. Lovely imagery and a story that pulls me in.

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  3. I like the direction this story is taking. Wonderful to read about a world where different types can live together in peace. :-)

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  4. It seems, from the outside at least, that she's making a good decision.

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    1. She doesn't really have many options - be captured and possibly tortured as a witch or flee.

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  5. Buttons that are more than just buttons, just as Bridget is more than just an ordinary female. Looking forward to taking this journey with her!

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    1. Yes. She makes charmed buttons and knows a handful of useful spells.

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  6. What Nancy said. That's what I was thinking too!

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  7. She sounds like she now knows what direction to take. Fascinating. Loved her bracelet. How charming.

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    1. Absolutely charming - and you should see her spells.

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  8. I love how she prepares for her journey by surrounding herself with remnants and memories of her grandmother.

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    1. Her granny was an important influence in her life.

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  9. Love this snippet and what a promising adventure lies ahead for her, in so many ways. Terrific!

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  10. I'm glad she has a plan after what happened. I guess she'll find out what the elves are really like.

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  11. So she herself has a connection to the elves because her grandmother came from their lands. It makes sense, when you have nowhere else to go, to go to the only home you have. I hope her journey is less eventful than the reason for it was.

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    1. It is a good choice of destination although the journey will be dangerous.

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  12. So the journey begins. I can't wait to read more.

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  13. I like the bracelet. Hopefully the journey will be a smooth one.

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  14. I'm guessing the truth lies somewhere in-between: kind to those they know, jerks to everyone else.

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  15. I wonder which side is correct about the Elves?

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