Saturday, February 27, 2021

Hold my bow - snippet from my new fantasy for #WeWriWa and #SnippetSunday

 


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, which was published early in February. I’m happy with the positive reviews for this book and encouragement to continue the series.

Bridget Bramble has escaped from murderous invaders and is traveling to the fabled land of Oakenwald where elves and men live in harmony. In the foothills of the mountains, she finds the path is blocked by a landslide of huge boulders. Luckily, she meets an elf.

In last week’s snippet, the elf, Windswift the Wanderer, offered to guide Bridget over the mountains. You can read it at: https://auroraspringer.blogspot.com/2021/02/windswift-wanderer-fantasy-romance.html

The elf stepped forward to touch the side of the nearest boulder and gazed upward. Its top reared a handsbreadth above his head. “This landslide has blocked the road to the stairway.” He released his bow from its straps and handed it to her, saying, “Hold my bow while I search for a way over the rocks.”

Taking three paces backward, he sprinted to the boulder and sprang to its top, landing catlike on his hands and feet. Without pausing, he leaped onto the next boulder, and bounded onward, climbing higher and farther away. Once or twice, his gray-cloaked figure disappeared briefly behind a projecting rock. A moment later, he popped into sight again. Finally, he vanished beyond a higher cliff and did not reappear. 

Nine lines and here’s a little more:

Bridget glanced at the bow clutched in her fist, a curved length of ash wood. Why had he given her the bow? It was useless as a weapon without the arrows. Had he deemed the bow an obstacle to his climb? Or did he leave it as a token, a promise of his return?  

She waited, afraid he might abandon her along with the bow. And even if he found a way into the mountains, how could she follow the same route? She lacked his height and agility. 

 

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? 

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26 comments:

  1. Not only do I lack his height and agility, I'd simply face-plant against the rock and then ooze down it cartoon-like, hoping the ground would swallow me up after that humiliating display!

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    1. lol- I also lack height and agility, although I can write about them.

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  2. I'm sure he'll return to help her, at least I hope so.

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  3. This line gives a marvelous image that isn't human at all. Good writing! "Taking three paces backward, he sprinted to the boulder and sprang to its top, landing catlike on his hands and feet."

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    1. Thanks - I wanted to show that elves have some superior abilities.

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  4. Well, he had no problems getting past the obstacle. I hope he comes back after finding a way for her to get past.

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    1. As you can tell, he's pretty fit. He's also kind if a bit strange at times.

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  5. Very telling that he gave her the bow. An act of trust, and a good step.

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  6. Good questions on her part. I took his leaving her the precious bow as a good thing though...enjoyed the excerpt!

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  7. Love the way you describe him climbing over the boulder and beyond. I'd be just as nervous as she is upon losing sight of him. Great snippet!

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  8. Him leaving his bow is the hinge on how this situation will turn. You did a great job showing how the elf clibed.

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    1. Thank you. He is trying to show he can be trusted.

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  9. He has to come back to help her, right? Great imagery.

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  10. When I read this I think Legolas and Orlando Bloom from The Lord Of The Rings! So agile. But, yeah. She can't do that so how's she going to go on? Great snippet!

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    1. Your analogy is correct. I'm thinking of Tolkien's wood elves in describing Windswift. But these elves live with humans.

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  11. I wouldn't be able to jump up the rocks either. Since he left the bow I think that means he's coming back.

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    1. Correct. Bridget is not so sure. She's had a hard time and learned to distrust most people.

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  12. I think he'll return because he gave her his bow. She should trust him. As for climbing those rocks, yikes. I hope he finds a better way.

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    1. Perhaps. He has to return since they spend the rest of the story together.

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  13. I hope he finds a way around instead of over.

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