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, is forced to flee her home when a troop of armed men plunder the village and kill her brother.
In last week’s snippet,
Bridget decided on a destination with the aid of her magic locket and bracelet of
charms.
You can
read the snippet here- https://auroraspringer.blogspot.com/2021/01/bridget-decides-on-destination-snippet.html
The final
line is: She would make
the journey over the mountains to Oakenwald and find her Granny’s kinsfolk.
This week, I’m skipping
several days of her journey through the woods where she survives various perils.
Until her parents died five years earlier, she had often traveled this route on
hunting expeditions with her father and brother. Now, she is reaching the end
of the (mostly) familiar trail.
Note, the journal is the diary her great-grandparents kept during their journey from Oakenwald to the village where Bridget had lived.
After another undisturbed night, Bridget took out the journal and flipped through the aged pages. The entries for the journey in the mountains were near the end of the book. Her great-grandparents had crossed the mountains in the company of traders who knew the route. Even with these guides, her great-grandfather had made notations in the journal and drawn maps for poorly defined intersections along the trail. A tiny sketch showed the path where they had descended down a steep rockface into Barringsland. If Papa was correct, she sat under the same cliff. Once she had mounted the cliff, she hoped to work backward from that entry to retrace their route and locate Oakenwald. Yet, her ancestors had traveled from the elven lands more than sixty years ago. In that length of time, she worried the trails might have become overgrown and untraceable.
And a few extra lines …
She followed the trail until it split
into two. Taking the upper fork, she walked along on a narrow track veering
toward the steep side of a mountain. The trail and mountain converged at a sheer
rockface. The near-vertical cliff rose above the treetops to a height of some
two hundred feet in her best estimate.
The cliff was too steep to climb,
however, Papa had shown her the way to the top. He had led her along the path
running between the pine trees and the base of the rockface. About a hundred
paces along the path, the channel created by a cascading stream provided a
tricky ascent up a staircase of rocks. He called it the stairway into the
mountains.
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.
Find a catalog of my published stories HERE.
Join me on Facebook and Twitter
Beautiful scene-building. It provides a vivid picture of what the character is experiencing.
ReplyDeleteThank you.
DeleteDefinitely a good thing she has that map and detailed notes to guide her through this land. Nice snippet!
ReplyDeleteShe'll soon acquire a better guide.
DeleteLove the world-building. I wonder when Bridget will meet the elf. I'll know soon enough. ;-) Just pre-ordered. :-)
ReplyDeleteI was planning to introduce him soon. She spends most of the book in his company. I hope you enjoy their story.
DeleteAnd so she's going up in the world. From the maps and descriptions of forks in the trail, I'd say her father had an admirable determination not to get lost.
ReplyDeleteHe certainly taught her woodcraft. She has no problem living off the land with ripe berries and nuts to eat.
DeleteNice descriptions and good for her ancestors to have drawn out such detailed maps.
ReplyDeleteLet's hope the maps are correct. lol
DeleteShe isn't afraid and has a determined focus. I'm enjoying this adventure.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you like it.
DeleteJournals do such a good job of weaving past and future. Enjoyed the snippet, and seeing the world evolve.
ReplyDeleteThanks. However, this journal was written some sixty years earlier and things have changed.
DeleteReally enjoyed the snippet and the whole concept of her deciding to retrace the old trail and try to find the hidden land.A very cool development in the story - can't wait for more.
ReplyDeleteMost of the story is her journey to Oakenwald. She meets the elf on the way.
DeleteWonderful world building. I love the detail of the maps she has so she can retrace the same trail of her ancestors.
ReplyDeleteThanks. It won't be so easy however.
DeleteVery clever reversing the trail from the journal. Beautiful scenery but dangerous.
ReplyDeleteI skipped a couple of real threats!
DeleteLucky thing she has the journal. This was a nice visual snippet.
ReplyDeleteShe's a lot more stalwart than I would be with taking on this journey. Even with the journal I fear I'd not fare well at all. Great imagery in this snippet!
ReplyDeleteOf course our characters are often braver than we think we would be.
DeleteEnjoyed the world building. Well done.
ReplyDeleteIt says a lot about her capability in the face of adversity that she thought to grab this journal. Hopefully that same capability serves her well with other obstacles she encounters.
ReplyDeleteThe journal is a prized heirloom.
DeleteEven in our world with a GPS I hate not knowing where I'm going. She's got a 60 year old map. I would be more than a little nervous, in her situation!!
ReplyDeleteTrue - the map is less useful than she hopes.
DeleteI'm wondering not only if trails have become overgrown, but if they've changed routes as well. Shifting a few degrees one way or the other could put her in an entirely different place than intended.
ReplyDeleteYou might learn more next weekend.
Delete