Transcending Limitations has been published and that means the return of Sassy Saturday. 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.
The previous Sassy Saturday post can be read here:
Annala tells the God of Order that he's full of crap
The context for this post: An adventurer known as "Priestess" goes about her regular business of fighting spiritual monstrosities.
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The ground shook and the air trembled as the Astral
Oversoul roared. The people of Coral Plane screamed and scattered, but there
was no escaping the terror of its presence. One little boy was too slow and one
of its many spiritual hands grabbed him
from behind. He wriggled like an insect as the creature brought him to its
great maw.
“NOT TODAY!”
A golden-brown blur severed the hand, then swerved in
midair, back to the falling boy. Catching him in her arms, she placed him
safely on the ground. Then she waved her staff over him and intoned the words
of a prayer.
“Interesting times are
dangerous times; boring ones safe. For now, stay safe!”
A pale gold aura encompassed
the boy and she pushed him away.
“This will only hold for a few
minutes. Go find your parents and don’t wander off again.”
“Thanks, lady!”
The creature whipped its mighty hand at her and she raised her staff to
block it. The explosion of energy shattered the ground around her but couldn’t
hurt the boy or her.
“You’re welcome. I’m here to
help.”
The kid scampered off while
the lady squared off against the Astral Oversoul.
It was forty feet tall and had
a body like a dragon. Composed of soul mist, its body was also ghostly and transparent.
It had many arms down its length and all of them were tipped with hands, claws,
and feelers. Its head was a giant set of pincers with a mouth at the base.
She herself was about five and a half feet
tall. Her only armor was a fancy priestess habit and her only weapons were a
bow, a quiver, a staff without a blade, and a holy paidrin necklace. The spirit monster reached out to grab her and
she shouted, “Perrault, go!”
A golden-brown wolf appeared
at her side and lunged at the hostile hand. Her teeth sank into its incorporeal
flesh and melted it down to the creature’s wrist.
“Keep him busy while I prepare
the killing blow.”
The wolf nodded and then darted
up the soul creature’s main body. She bit and tore with each step, and each
wound released a stream of grey gas.
Shrinking her staff, the priestess
placed it behind her ear. Then she took the bow and nocked an arrow. Pulling
the string back, she generated a magic circle underneath her feet. It contained
routines for channeling her chaotic power in addition to her faith in Lady
Chaos, along with the intended mechanical function. With the spell construction
complete, she took aim at the dread beast.
“Return to the veins of
Noitearc!”
She released the drawstring
and the arrow struck the creature’s center of mass. There, it released its
payload of holy power. Golden-brown light lanced
up and down the monster’s body and disintegrated it. In its place was a
towering mass of grey smoke and unearthly screaming.
Ten screams across ten thousand
pitches filled the area. They came from the ten souls composing the former
Astral Oversoul as they flew about in fear and confusion. Again, the arrow
flashed as its secondary function activated.
From its point, a circle
appeared in the air. This circle expanded until it was the size of a desk and
its insides filled with a complex magical rune. It pulsed once and the writing
faded to reveal a tunnel of rainbow light.
“Off you go!”
Air was drawn into the portal and
the souls along with it. All of them resisted, but none of them escaped.
Perrault tossed the last one in herself. Her mistress scanned the area to make
sure they didn’t miss any, then she snapped her fingers. The arrow flashed a
third time and the portal closed without fuss.
Perrault trotted to her
mistress’ side and heeled. The priestess petted
her head while rubbing her back.
“Good girl!”
“Cleaning up after your
boyfriend?”
Floating behind the cleric and
wolf was a demonic troll. He was
squat in height and broader in bulk. His skin was pale, molting, and rotten. He
wore an oversized and threadbare black robe through which ratty black bat wings
emerged. The robe’s hood concealed his face except for his long and liver-spotted
nose. His scythe was a worm-eaten wooden pole with a bronze blade coated in
patina.
Looking at him made her sick, so she spoke with her
back to him. “I wouldn’t have to if you did your job, Reaper.”
“I don’t have to until I fulfill my Final Wish, which
you are preventing me from doing.”
Perrault barked at him.
“All I’m preventing you from doing is exploiting
the souls of the dead for a petty grudge.”
“So much damage and so much trouble; it would be
better for the world and everyone in it if you would let me kill him.”
The priestess gripped her bow tighter but still did
not face him. She didn’t want to give him the satisfaction of seeing her angered.
One look at that ugly and smug face of his and she might launch another arrow
at him. He loved illustrating how she couldn’t permanently kill him.
“You will never
kill him.”
“‘Never’ is a big word, Priestess. Aren’t you
always preaching about how ‘all things are possible with chaos’?”
The cleric spun around and nocked an arrow. “Including
your death!”
The reaper laughed. He pointed and laughed. The girl grumbled as she put away her bow and arrow.
Then she knelt again and whispered into her familiar’s ear.
“Bite him.”
Perrault dashed forwards and snapped up the reaper’s
left foot. He yelled and shook her to and fro, and when he finally dislodged
her, it was because she took his foot clean off. The priestess laughed at him.
She pointed and laughed.
“That was immature of you, Annala.”
The girl immediately stopped laughing. “Do not use my real name. You might cause a
paradox. Unless you’re talking to my mainstream self, you have to call me ‘Priestess.’”
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Transcending Limitations, and the rest of the Journey to Chaos series, is available for purchase at
Amazon as an ebook. The series is also available in Kindle Unlimited. The paperback format is available at Amazon and also
Createspace.
To learn more about the heroines of Journey to Chaos, visit the
Tvtropes character sheet.
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).
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