Excerpt
A short excerpt from my NaNo novel, 'Blue Crystal'.
Rylan was sent with Dacha for a second time into the bowels of the Pit with another letter, and more packages. Their guide was not happy to see them.
"You nearly got me skinned," he growled at Rylan the moment he stepped into his cave. "Skinned, your magniloquence! Roasted alongside dinner on that spit, passed out to get chewed on a by a hundred toothless mouths for bringing in royalty!"
"I'm not royalty," Rylan replied, though the reaction didn't entirely surprise him.
"As good as, unless you faked that fancy jewelry. Damn it to a glowing river, you're not what I had in mind! You're not what they had in mind, and we ought to gut you for leading us into this!" The man stomped his boot into the stone floor, but in his infinite wisdom didn't pull out a weapon. Dacha was watching him very intently. He reeled himself back by force of will, and continued with, "But they want to see you again, so I guess I've got no choice, do I? But I'm not taking you both. The slave can come. Not the woman."
"You'd leave a lady behind to navigate the Pit alone?" Rylan asked, narrowing his eyes.
"Boy, unless I've missed my guess, that's no lady."
Rylan decided not to point out that he'd just gone from 'your magniloquence' to 'boy'. Dacha responded instead. "Sure I am. I've got the teats to prove it." Rylan internally groaned. Trust Dacha to resort to tactlessness as a first defense.
"That... wasn't what I meant. Why do you even play at being human, you're not even armed, are you?" he insisted.
"Sweetheart, I don't need weapons. I have the power of fat. All I have to do is sit on you and fart. You won't be getting up again after that, I promise you." And her eyes crinkled, hinting at an amused grin beneath her muffler.
"Did Barrynch specifically ask you to leave her behind?" Rylan interjected, before their guide found a response for that. His head was filled with some very potent mental imagery now that he wished hadn't found its way into his mind's eye.
There was a pause. "No," he replied, sullenly.
"Then please. Take us to Barrynch. The faster we can get there, the faster we can leave you be."
Rylan was sent with Dacha for a second time into the bowels of the Pit with another letter, and more packages. Their guide was not happy to see them.
"You nearly got me skinned," he growled at Rylan the moment he stepped into his cave. "Skinned, your magniloquence! Roasted alongside dinner on that spit, passed out to get chewed on a by a hundred toothless mouths for bringing in royalty!"
"I'm not royalty," Rylan replied, though the reaction didn't entirely surprise him.
"As good as, unless you faked that fancy jewelry. Damn it to a glowing river, you're not what I had in mind! You're not what they had in mind, and we ought to gut you for leading us into this!" The man stomped his boot into the stone floor, but in his infinite wisdom didn't pull out a weapon. Dacha was watching him very intently. He reeled himself back by force of will, and continued with, "But they want to see you again, so I guess I've got no choice, do I? But I'm not taking you both. The slave can come. Not the woman."
"You'd leave a lady behind to navigate the Pit alone?" Rylan asked, narrowing his eyes.
"Boy, unless I've missed my guess, that's no lady."
Rylan decided not to point out that he'd just gone from 'your magniloquence' to 'boy'. Dacha responded instead. "Sure I am. I've got the teats to prove it." Rylan internally groaned. Trust Dacha to resort to tactlessness as a first defense.
"That... wasn't what I meant. Why do you even play at being human, you're not even armed, are you?" he insisted.
"Sweetheart, I don't need weapons. I have the power of fat. All I have to do is sit on you and fart. You won't be getting up again after that, I promise you." And her eyes crinkled, hinting at an amused grin beneath her muffler.
"Did Barrynch specifically ask you to leave her behind?" Rylan interjected, before their guide found a response for that. His head was filled with some very potent mental imagery now that he wished hadn't found its way into his mind's eye.
There was a pause. "No," he replied, sullenly.
"Then please. Take us to Barrynch. The faster we can get there, the faster we can leave you be."