Welcome to another week of Sassy Saturday at Trickster Eric Novels. Every week will be an excerpt from one of my novels showcasing a kick-butt heroine. If you want read about the original blog hop the link is here.
Yes, it's been a while. I've been busy with a lot of things. Anyway, on with the post.
The previous Sassy Saturday post can be read here: Routine Mission Monster Slaying
The context for this post: Long story short, Annala is on a vision quest that will grant her understanding and empathy. It takes the form of stepping into the role of a holy warrior during The Conversion War.
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“One of the ‘lesser beings’ here is
Annala; one among billions. Can you find her? If you succeed, you will pass my
test.”
“My third one. I accept.”
“Fair warning; she may not be as you
remember her.”
A girl awoke with a start. Heart
beating furiously and sweat circling her brow, she sat up. Looking around, she
saw no sign of anyone; a curious thing because she thought she heard someone
call her. The sun was peeking through the windows, so she decided to dress. She
put on a robe and walked to the back of her home for the morning cleansing
ritual.
She took extra care washing her hair.
Its rich golden-brown color was proof that she was the granddaughter of Lady
Chaos. She could not be permanently injured, never ill, never die, and her
beauty would only grow as she aged. She was truly blessed.
Once she was clean, dry, and clothed,
she stepped inside the kitchen. As a chaotic acolyte, it was her job to make
the morning meal. Her teacher’s wife caught and picked a lot of good food, so
she was never hungry. In fact, with all the available ingredients, she could
experiment: these nuts grounded into a powder and mixed with this sap made a
tasty sauce, and boiling these certain leaves made a refreshing tea. Other
experiments, she blushed to think, were not as successful. Her teacher and his
wife ate them nonetheless and with good humor.
"Good morning, Annala," an
old man said. Most of his hair fell down his face rather than his head. In that
regard, he was similar to men his age, but his ears told otherwise.
"Good morning, Teacher,"
Annala said, bowing.
"Did you slept well?"
“I had a strange dream.”
“What have I taught you about
dreams?"
"They are messages from The
Trickster and we should pay heed to them. The reason they're so weird is
because he wants us to improve our reasoning by deciphering them."
The old wiseman smiled kindly.
"That's my favorite student."
The younger frowned. "I'm your
only student."
"Good! Then I won't have to
disappoint anyone when you finally succeed me."
This was a game they had played for as
long as she could remember. She hoped to continue playing it forever and why
not? Both of them were immortal.
If Annala closed her eyes, she could
still remember the scene. Now it was gone...they were gone; killed by mortals.
To think that the immortality bestowed upon them by Grandmother Chaos could be
revoked made her shudder. She had never seen such eldritch magic before. Her
fellow soldiers counted on her to protect them from it.
Far from her secluded village, she
marched with a company of elven warriors. They traveled the countryside
searching for signs of the dark arts so they could kill its practitioners. Thus
far, every human settlement they came across used it and so they had been very
busy.
Her job was to project the blessings of
Grandmother Chaos to shield and inspire those around her. Between her power and
their valor, even the empowered fiends were no match. Every trace was wiped out
as if it had never been there. Humans bred like rats so there would be no harm done
to their total population. Besides, they weren’t going to live much longer
anyway. Their quality of life was so poor, their already short lives were cut
even shorter. All she and her companions did was deny them a year or two.
She shuddered. The others noticed and
guessed its cause but said nothing. None of them wanted to talk about the
blasphemous power they fought against. All of them were too scared to think
about it. The only reason they sought it out was because they were more afraid
of its users appearing on their doorstep without warning. There were rumors
that an entire village had been enslaved and their imaginations spun ever more
horrid tales of what happened to them.
An ethereal hand pulled her mind out of
the illusion and back into reality. She was in a dungeon and tormented by an
ordercrafter. That was what these fiends called themselves: “Those empowered by
Order to bring stability to this world.” In addition to the physical
imprisonment, they pulled their captives back and forth from illusions to blur
their distinction of reality and break their will.
Her wrists were shackled above her head
and pulled so high she stood on her tiptoes, while her ankles were secured with
manacles bolted to the floor. In normal circumstances, she could escape from
these as easily as breathing via shapeshifting, but a metal collar clenched tight
around her neck suppressed her chaotic ability. It made her weaker than a
magic-less mortal.
“The Age of Elves is over,” the
ordercrafter said. “Never again will your kind threaten us. You belong under
our feet and putting those clever minds of yours to our benefit.”
“Go to the Abyss, temp!”
The ordercrafter forced a rag into her
mouth. She tossed her head and thrashed in her restraints, but it was tied
behind her head. The blood that was drenching it dripped down her throat and
infected her with its diseases. They would cause her tremendous pain but
wouldn’t kill her. While diminished, her Seed of Chaos would still prevent her
death. Escape was impossible.
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Mana Mutation Menace, and the rest of the Journey to Chaos series, is available for purchase at Amazon as both an ebook and as a paperback.
To learn more about the heroines of Journey to Chaos, visit the Tvtropes character sheet.
Click here for the next Sassy Saturday: Haggling with elves is easy for Emily.
Brian Wilkerson is a independent novelist, freelance book reviewer, and writing advice blogger. He studied at the University of Minnesota and came away with bachelor degrees in English Literature and History (Classical Mediterranean Period concentration).
