Sassy Saturday: Final Showdown with Gruffle

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: Young Blood vs Old Spirit

 The context for this post: Gruffle has gone One-Winged Angel. It's time for the final boss fight. Eric's party members include Annala, Kallen, Perrault and [[ SPOILER! ]]]

Special note: This will be the final Sassy Saturday until I publish another book. I'm thinking about doing a different excerpt series. This one will be about magic in fiction having rules, i.e. it is not a story breaker concept if an author thinks it through. Instead of just excerpts, I will use those excerpts to illustrate the point of a specific rule. 
If you like the sound of this, please let me know in the comments.  

Second special note: Outside of anything to do with video games, there is something here that references the inspiration for the scene. Can you find it?

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Annala intercepted him with a jab to the stomach, and just as quickly, he flew in the opposite direction. Then she turned and blocked Samael’s Reaper Cleave. The Right Hand of Death pressed down with all her divine might, and Annala grunted with the effort required to hold her back. Her body trembled but ultimately held firm. Samael and Gruffle disappeared, and she and Perrault became golden blurs as they fended off attacks too swift for mortal eyes to follow. Five seconds later, all four reappeared and Annala was only slightly winded.

“I just shared a special moment with my boyfriend, no, my fiancé,” she declared. “My love amplifies the divine chaos within me, which has already been amplified by direct contact with Lady Chaos herself. It would take a million reapers to challenge me now!”

Gruffle snarled. “A million? A million! A MILLION! A MILLION! A MILLION!”

He raised his scythe high and it fired a necrotic beam into the sky. At its highest point, it stopped and sent out a pulse. Then it fired a new beam southeast. There it connected with the Grand Obelisk in Latrot’s capital.

“Execute Reaper Command: Royal Rite of Annual Decimation!”

“Wish Reaper Gruffle!” Samael shouted. “You are not permitted to use such authorities until you have formally been sworn in as this world’s resident reaper. Either refrain from this action or renounce your Final Wish. Persisting on this path will violate your probation.”

Gruffle didn’t look at her. He didn’t acknowledge her. He only had eyes for his scythe and the action he had primed it for.

“REMOVE ONE-TENTH OF THE POPULATION!”

The Grand Obelisk released a pulse that combed the country. Every city, town, village, farm and hermitage was analyzed to account for every living thing within its borders be it animal (human or otherwise), plant, spirit, or bacteria. It calculated how much each area could lose before its local stability was affected. Then one-tenth of them fell dead immediately. Their kon and paku traveled to Gruffle and flowed into his scythe. From the scythe, it coursed into Gruffle himself. The look on his face was euphoric.

“Mom!” Kallen shouted.

Nunnal stepped out of Albatross IX. “Yes, sweetie?”

“Grab Emily and fly as fast as you can. She will not survive being near this fight.”

Nunnal nodded. Transforming herself into a dragon, she grabbed both Emily and the wrecked airship and flew away at the speed of sound. The sonic boom she created rattled the stone pillar, and a bigger wave was incoming.

The numerous lives augmented Gruffle’s power far beyond anything he’d ever dreamed of. The total number of stolen years reached the thousands. The teeming souls melded with his own spiritual body and transformed it.

It grew fourteen times bigger. It grew more limbs in more places and all of them as rotten and decayed as the original pair. It grew more wings, each as ratty and bat-like. It grew two more heads; one at the front center of mass and one in the back. Gruffle roared like a monster and his Divine Presence rippled through the area on seven planes of existence. The monstrous reaper faced down the trio of chaos warriors, who braced themselves against its power.

[[[SPOILER! ]]]

Tasio played a brief tune on his ocarina. “Final Boss Fight: Gruffle the Rogue Reaper!”

By the time Tasio finished speaking Gruffle had regrown all his limbs, and this time, each of them was curved like his scythe. With them, he attacked all four of his enemies at once.

They dodged, deflected, and blocked, but the sheer number of attacks made completely avoiding injury impossible. They took damage at an alarming rate. If this continued, then, godhood or not, all of them would die.

“Annala!” Eric shouted. “Medic duty in the rear!”

“Got it!” She dashed to the far end of the platform away from Gruffle and prayed for the good health of her companions. Immediately, their wounds healed and their stamina rebounded.

Eric thrust forward his right hand and created a dark fire wall to burn away limbs that tried to entangle him and then flew away from Gruffle’s scythe combos.

“Perrault! Cover me!”

“If you insist...” She reverted to her wolf form and watched for attacks on Eric instead of opportunities to strike Gruffle. Spotting seven, she lunged so quickly she appeared to teleport as she bit through them.

“Kallen! Attack from the other direction to split his attention.”

“So this is teamwork...” she muttered as she teleported to Gruffle’s back side. Once there, she alternated between white fire blasts and mana bolts tainted with chaos. She kept her distance so she would have plenty of room to dodge his counterattacks.

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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 at 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).

Sassy Saturday: Young Blood vs Old Spirit

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: "I don't want to hurt you" Mutual Threat

 The context for this post: Zettai has come into conflict with Omnias, an immortal cleric has spent thousands of years gaining power and combat experience. How does she win?
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“I know what you are planning, little girl,” Omnias said, “and it will not work.”

“Oh? Why not?” Zettai asked without lifting her eyes from the pages.

“Because I could kill you before you finished.” Omnias kept his eyes and spiritual senses on the Dragoness. She could kill him if he let his guard down for even a moment.

“I’m not worried about that.” Zettai still didn’t stop reading to reply. She used one hand to turn pages and the other to form the magic gestures pictured on them.

“Oh? Why not?” Omnias asked in deliberate mockery.

“Killing a necro penitent is itself a death violation. With Neuro’s blood on my face, my entire person is inviolate. You don’t want to dodge reapers forever, and especially when you are this close,” she held up her thumb and pointer finger for emphasis, “to reaching your goal.”

She gripped Neuro’s scythe with her right hand and placed her left flat on the Book of Death. She closed her eyes and began to chant. It wasn’t smooth and it wasn’t steady, but Omnias recognized death speech when he heard it.

“Here’s what’s going to happen,” Zettai said with her eyes closed. “You are going to leave us all alone and you will do so empty handed.”

“Why would I do that?”

“Because you are afraid of death.” A necrotic aura bloomed around her. “As of this moment,” she opened her eyes and pointed her finger at him, “I have become death.”

A tiny sliver of necrocraft generated in Neuro’s former scythe and fired at Omnias. He used Chameleon Leap to avoid it, and in the process, gave up his position at Eric’s throat. Ridley dashed into the void he left and her guarding stance was not something Omnias dared to test.

“Just like I thought,” Zettai said, smiling smugly. “Immortals fear death just like everybody else. No, they fear it even more, because for them, death is something avoidable. They’ll do whatever they can to keep it away. It would take years of constant effort for me to kill you with necrocraft.” She laughed. “I might die of old age before I drained it all, but you still couldn’t let it touch you.”

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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 at 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).

Sassy Saturday: "I don't want to hurt you" Mutual Threat

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: Supernatural Guard Duty

The context for this post: Coming off the last excerpt, the next threat to Eric's life comes from his own mentor, Basilard Bladi. This poses a challenge to Annala beyond the man's power and experience.
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Meanwhile, deep within Mt. Fiol, Annala and Perrault sat in the tunnel playing tic tac toe. Omnias left some time ago and Gruffle was rounding up more spirits to send her way, so for the moment, she had nothing to do. At the sound of footsteps, she flipped her hood up and jumped to her feet. When she saw Basilard, she didn’t relax.

 “Hello,” he said casually. “I’m here to visit Eric.”

 “Sorry, but you can’t,” Priestess said.

A little more nervous, he said, “I’m his mentor. Surely it would be okay.”

Priestess’s stance was tranquil, but Perrault raised her hackles. “No one can see him until his ascension is complete. That includes you. This is for his safety. Please understand.”

“Annala, let me pass.” Basilard gripped a sword he kept in reserve. It wasn’t as good as BloodDrinker, but it would do. “I don’t want to hurt you.”

This made her crack up laughing. “That’s who you think stands in your way? Annala Enaz, the teenage schoolgirl and novice cleric? Allow me to correct you.”

She pounded her staff on the ground and the clack of wood on stone echoed in Basilard’s soul. She unfurled her spirit and made his knees buckle. She looked him in the eyes and inspired in him the Universal Dread.

 “I am a veteran cleric in the service of Lady Chaos. For five years, I have wandered the Veins of Noitearc, and I have never met my equal. I have killed monsters, demons, and fiends. Reapers avoid my path and sowers seek my aid. The power of ordercraft fades in my presence. I am Priestess and I will not let you pass.”

“You told me to be honest!” Basilard bellowed.

“I what?”

“In Sage Hearth, you told me to be honest with my actions. I did and now you’re stopping me from doing so!”

“I’ve never said anything of that nature to you,” Priestess protested. “I haven’t even been to Sage Hearth! I’d love to read its records and its authors because they don’t allow copying and so... maybe I haven’t yet. My life hasn’t been linear since the Latrot raid.”

Basilard unfurled his own spirit. She didn’t react. He released his full power. It made the tunnel shake and the air vibrate, but she mimed yawning. He fired off disabling spells from sleep to petrification to paralysis. She deflected all of them with her staff, then pulled down her eyelid and stuck her tongue out. He charged, but she kept him away with a mana beam that ignored his barrier. She cut it off as soon as she pushed him back to where he started.

“Basilard, go away,” Priestess said mockingly. “I don’t want to hurt you.”

“I can’t. The safety of my family and the future of my daughter depend on this.”

“I know and I don’t care. Eric’s importance to me and to the future of Tariatla outweighs that of your clan and your daughter.”

“Not to me!”

He ran forward and made a downward slash, but she blocked it with her staff. He bore down on her with his greater height and muscle mass. She forced him away with her greater spirit power. Once again, they were separated by five paces.

“I could have shapeshifted and forced you away physically, but I don’t need to.”

“You will!”

He attacked again and alternated between the physical and magical at a break-neck speed. Priestess negated both seamlessly. She never exploited openings or pressed advantages; just stopped him from advancing. She didn’t even sic her familiar on him. Hours passed this way and he got desperate.

“Bladi Empowerment: Adrenaline Overdrive!”

His muscles bulged, veins and nerves popped forward, and a red aura highlighted it all. Shouting a battle cry, he rushed Priestess again. She stood her ground and blocked his wild strikes; once, twice, thrice. Then he slipped past her guard and plunged his sword into her chest. She screamed and Perrault lunged.

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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 at 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).

Sassy Saturday: Supernatural Guard Duty

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: Zettai's Mad Dash

The context for this post: Eric is in a deep trance for SPOILER! and thus unable to defend himself from the many ghosts and nature spirits that want to kill him.  Fortunately, he has a devoted guardian in "Priestess".

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Inside Mt. Fiol, a herd of wind and fire spirits stampeded towards the Rite of Fire Ascension Corridor. There were so many of them, they choked the passage with their ectoplasm.

“Gruffle’s getting better…”

Priestess swung her arms and brought her bow and quiver out of her personal pocket dimension. Slipping the latter onto her back, she pulled an arrow out of it and nocked it to her bow. She drew it and took aim. A magic circle formed underneath her feet and programmed the arrow for maximum damage against spirits of these two elements. She released the arrow and a double helix of blue and brown soared forward.

It cut a swath through the herd and plunged into the far wall. Though many were vanquished, many remained. Then four directional earth spikes impaled the wind spirits and spheres of water encased the fire spirits. This secondary attack vanquished most of the remaining spirits. Priestess sniped the rest with chaos bolts. She hugged Deathkiller to her chest and pivoted on her heel.

“I’m done. You?”

Perrault growled at a vast clump of grey mist. Ten or so spirits cowed at her paws. Priestess tapped the air directly above them with her staff and another magic circle drew itself. It opened a portal to the Veins of Noitearc and sucked up the souls. Then Priestess closed the portal, put her staff and bow away, and briskly rubbed Perrault’s head and back.

“Good girl!”

The wolf wriggled in pleasure.

“Now I’m going to check on Eric. Can I trust you to handle things here for a while?” Her familiar stared at her. Priestess pulled her hood further over her face. “It’s not like that. There is serious stuff to monitor.”

Sullenly, Perrault stood at the entrance of the corridor. Her mistress skipped through it for a pleasure trip.

Deeper underground and closer to the heart of the volcano, Eric meditated. A roaring blaze engulfed his entire body, but only his mortality was burning away. The rot in his stomach and groin were the first to go. Though they would no longer be needed when he woke up, he would still be able to use them, which pleased Annala.

She stood at the foot of the altar and sighed happily. Seeing her boyfriend in a focused state of contemplation as he reached for a higher state of being appealed to her. Then Tasio appeared in her field of vision.

She squeaked and smacked him with her staff. A cartoonish bump grew out of his head. He crossed his arms, and she bowed her head.

“Sorry! It was a reflex!”

“I came to warn you, Granddaughter. You’re going to have company soon. It will be someone you know, so please be a good and proper host when they arrive.”

“I understand, Grandfather. Thank you for the warning.”

Tasio disappeared and Annala could see Eric again. This time, her eyes were hard with resolve. She pounded her staff on the ground and declared, “Eric, I swear to you and to Lady Chaos, that no matter what happens, I will protect you until you awaken.”

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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 at 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).

Sassy Saturday: Zettai's Mad Dash

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: Tiza the reaper slayer

The context for this post: Basilard has an undeniable reason to believe that someone wants to kill his daughter, so he's taking her to his guild's headquarters for her own safety.
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Miles away, in the streets of Roalt’s warrior district, a brilliant blue array formed in the dirt. Basilard emerged from it with Zettai in a protective grip. Both of them projected their barriers moments before a swarm of arrows rained down on them. Basilard grunted as they punctured his barrier one after another. Seven in total found their mark before he could take a step towards the Dragon’s Lair. Then he dashed. Then he fell.

His legs had locked. He lost feeling in his arms and Zettai tumbled out of his grasp. She rolled across the ground, sprang to her feet, and continued her father’s dash to safety. In mid-step, she wiped his blood on her clothes and chanted, “Bladi Defense Technique: Plasma Shield!”

A red sheen colored her barrier and stopped all incoming arrows. She was only a yard away from the door when a wall of rock blocked her path. She skidded to slow down and bit her forefinger. Pushing her now bleeding finger into the dirt blockade, she shouted, “Bladi Offense Technique: Ancestral Beam!”

Red light shot from her finger and cut a hole in the earth wall, but only one as big as her finger. She pounded her left palm with her right fist.

“Rock wall as tall as AHHHH!”

One arrow finally found its way past her defense and lodged itself inside her chest. It struck with enough force to further lodge itself into the earth wall. She raised her hands to push herself off, but the pain was too intense. Looking over her shoulder, she saw a stout man carrying a giant hammer. The red sheen of her Plasma Shield drained away. It wouldn’t protect her from his incoming swing.

Then the earth wall vanished.

Lacking its support, Zettai fell forwards into Mia’s arms. Her cousin smiled kindly down on her like always. It didn’t fade in the slightest as the brute swung his great hammer down on both of their heads. Mia simply held out her left hand to block it. The weapon disappeared. While the thug stared in puzzlement, Mia leaned forward and grabbed his empty fingers. He disappeared too.

The earth under her feet was giving way and small objects that weren’t nailed down were flying in her direction. Still holding out her left hand, she created a field that caught everything within a foot of herself and sent it straight to her pocket dimension. The only thing that didn’t vanish was Zettai.

Hoisting the smaller girl fully into her arms, she ducked back inside the guild building. She closed the door with a kick. The arrows ceased firing and the streets calmed. The entire ambush occurred in less than one minute. Then a man with red hair flew out of an alley and landed face first in the dirt near Basilard.

A second man followed him from a nearby rooftop and then a woman and then a third man and then a second woman. Eight in total landed in a pile on the street. A motley assortment of warriors gathered around them.

These were locals who heard the commotion. Drawn by the twang of bows and Zettai’s scream, they found the archers and subdued them. One of them contacted Roalt’s Justice Station. Another examined Basilard.

“You okay, Bladi?” she asked while scanning him with her staff.

“I can’t move,” he replied.

“Hmm...I don’t detect any paralysis spells or poison...and your wounds are minor...”

The door to the Dragon’s Lair swung open and another girl with red eyes ran out. Her red ponytail bobbed behind her as she hurried to her uncle. She thanked the locals for their aid, slung Basilard over her shoulder, and then carried him inside.  

 “Wow, the Bladi raise up their girls strong!” one boy remarked.

“Don’t get your hopes up,” another boy said. “She only likes older men.”
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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 at 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).

Sassy Saturday: Tiza the reaper slayer

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: Beware the Giant Fire Salamander

The context for this post: Gruffle has started his latest attempt on Eric's life. He's being more creative than usual and so Eric is unable to handle him or rely on Priestess (a.k.a. Annala). Someone else comes to his rescue.
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At the top, Gruffle clapped sarcastically.

“Yes, yes, very impressive, but you forgot one thing; I’m still here!”

Then his head dropped from his shoulders and rolled across the ground. When the world stopped spinning, he confirmed that Priestess was still face down in the snow. The one who felled him was a warrior riding a funky-looking unicorn.

“I’ll finish him off, Tenderfoot,” Tiza said while dismounting. “You look after Dimwit.”

The unicorn nodded and jumped into the hole.

Wasting no words on trash talk, Tiza chambered her sword again. Runes buzzed along its blade and hilt. A magic circle formed beneath her. With one swing, she cut off the arm holding Gruffle’s scythe. It fell to the ground, twitching. Her third strike cut off his second arm.

“Stop that!” Gruffle’s head protested. “You can’t win a fight against death!”

Tiza cut the reaper’s body in half long ways and the pieces fell to either side. Then she sheathed her sword and unzipped a bag from around her waist. She sprinkled ashes over the reaper’s body and then struck a piece of fire-red stone against a piece of iron. The holy spark created a blaze that reduced the body to ashes. Then she mixed the ashes together and bottled them up. Only then did she say, “Ashes of a reaper.” She looked down on Gruffle. “I know a lot of mad scientists and mage freaks who would pay through the nose for this stuff.”

Gruffle shouted the harsh alien language that made the salamanders explode. Tiza leaned over and cupped a hand to her ear.

“Huh? You’ll have to speak up, Worm Stone. I can’t hear you over the sound of your constant failure.”

Veins bulged in Gruffle’s face and forehead. His lingering mortal mindset made them manifest in his anger. “My body will grow back, and when it does, I will kill you!”

“Judging by your ugly face, you’re threatening me with death. Well, you can’t. Know why? ‘Cause you’re a failure!”

Gruffle’s scythe rattled and levitated. It chambered behind Tiza. “DIE!”

It swung and she ducked. Naturally, she’d seen it with her Third Eye. She dodged the second swing, sidestepped the third, and jumped over the fourth. She closed her physical eyes just to irritate Gruffle further.

“Fire Fossil must be mistaken. You can’t be a reaper. After all, no one sees death coming.” She opened her eyes. “Right?”

Gruffle’s eyes shone with deathly light and he increased the speed of his scythe. After the fourteenth swing, he got it stuck in the ground. Tiza pointed and laughed at him. It took three pulls for him to get it loose, and in that pause, Tiza brought out another device

It was small enough to fit in the palm of her hand, white in color with gold edging, and the words “Hariana Inquires” were etched into the underside. Depressing a button with her thumb triggered a grey beam and she drew a circle on the ground with it. When it was finished, she stepped into the circle. When Gruffle freed his scythe and swung at her again, she stepped out and took her thumb off the device’s button. The grey light cut off and the circle on the ground flashed.

 Its light climbed to the sky in the shape of a cylinder and it was one that the scythe found itself unable to leave. No matter how Gruffle commanded it, there was no escape. Tiza took a breath and then, just for fun, she shined the light into Gruffle’s eyes. He blinked and closed them.

 “Big Mouth made this one too,” Tiza said, jerking her head in Priestess’ direction. “She thought that if she could trap a reaper, then she could stop everyone from dying. As soon as she finished it, she considered it blasphemous to Lady Chaos and never used it.” She pocketed the device. “I have no such problem.”

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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 at 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).

Sassy Saturday: Beware the Giant Fire Salamander

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: Liberating the Body, Mind and Soul

The context for this post:  Eric is traveling to Mt.Fiol as part of his plan to save himself from Gruffle's vengeance. On the way, he runs into some trouble. Fortunately for him, the airship he's traveling in is piloted by Kallen and her copilot Emily.  
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Mt. Fiol was a stratovolcano in southern Ataidar. It grew out of the eastern side of the Sussano River and so it faced Mithra instead of Latrot. Fiol’s Faithful, Ataidar’s state religion, maintained that it was the only thing that prevented Ataidar from being absorbed into the Mithran Weeping Willow Empire. Although the historical account was more complicated, the volcano remained essential. As Albatross IX approached it, smoke spewed from its peak.

Big and dark, it formed a cloud that shrouded the area. Emily scanned it with the ship’s sensors and determined that it was not volcanic ash. Nor was it small enough to be even the largest of burnt offerings.

“Shields up,” she muttered out of reflex.

Her hands moved across the co-pilot’s controls with practiced ease. Small changes rippled across the hull to make it flame retardant and its weapon systems heated up. From within the smoke cloud came a salamander spirit.

It was as big as the ship itself. The orange and red coloring in its ectoplasm streaked backwards and bled into each other as it raced towards Albatross IX. Its mouth opened impossibly wide.

Kallen made a sharp dive to avoid it. The spirit followed. Fire plumes shot from its mouth. Kallen swerved around the first four and performed an aileron roll to deflect a fifth one, the maneuver generating an electrostatic barrier that canceled the flame on contact. Everyone but Emily lurched in their seats with each maneuver. The redhead was too busy relaying data to Kallen to notice the turbulence.

“See?!” Eric shouted. “GIANT MONSTER ATTACK!”

“SHUT UP AND GET UP HERE!” Kallen ordered.

“But I can’t—”

“NOW!”

Eric shifted to his true form and then undid his seat belt. At that moment, Kallen did another aileron roll and tossed Eric across the cabin. His head clanged on the inner hull. He crawled to the cockpit only to find that he couldn’t fit. Grabbing the door with both hands, he waited through a third and fourth aileron roll before dismissing his bulky metal hide.

“Stick your Soiléir into the power converter console.”

Eric clapped his hands together and plunged the crystal into the gap in the dashboard near the ignition key. The sea blue light shimmered within its depths.

“Hang on to something!”

Kallen pulled back heavily on the control stick and performed a loop. A blast of divine wind magic from Eric’s crystal overcame the inherent vulnerability of the maneuver and put Albatross IX behind the giant salamander in an instant.

“Campione Cannon, fire!”

The ship opened its griffin mouth and fired a specialized beam of divine water energy at the fire spirit’s tail. It both punctured and washed over the target via twin currents. The salamander withered and hissed as it went out in a puff of smoke.

Emily hummed a little victory tune as the cannon retracted and cooled down.

“Have you done this before?” Eric asked while retracting his Soiléir.

“Flesh and spirit both,” Emily replied. “It’s how I pass the time while Kallen is on a mission.”
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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 at 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).

Sassy Saturday: Liberating the Body, Mind and Soul

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: Brave the Orderly Reality Vice

The context for this post:  Preceding from the previous excerpt, Annala has arrived at a Latrot slave market.
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Inside was a dark and chilly place. Meza found the light switch and pale lanterns illuminated every corner of the room. Annala gasped at what she saw. She’d read of such places in her studies, and even walked through a virtual reality reconstruction, but the real thing left her speechless and outraged.

Row upon row and stack upon stack of birdcages, and each one containing an elf. They were identical in every way save gender: shaved heads, clipped ears, pale skin, black tunics, and gleaming Subjugation Collars on their necks. All of them were emaciated and so clean their skin was as sterile as a vacuum.

Annala bowed her head and clenched her fists. She marched to the nearest cage and grabbed its bars with both hands. Instantly, they melted. Security measures activated to repel her and she melted them too. Within twenty seconds, the cage was so much sludge.

“You’re leaving,” she said tightly. “Now.”

The slave looked up at her with blank eyes. “Leaving is unlawful,” she said in a dull voice. “I must await my duly designated handler. Leaving is unlawful. I must await my duly designated handler. Leaving is unlawful. I must await my duly designated handler.”

It was a broken voice and it moved Annala to compassion. Reaching into her dress pocket, she withdrew a silver-grey metal scrap. It carried the shape of an “L,” but when she inserted it into the keyhole of the slave girl’s collar, it molded to fit inside.

This was no ordinary lock pick. Her mother gave them a long name, but she herself decided on “Contagious Contradiction” lock pick. It was forged from a piece of the Subjugation Collar that used to be on her own neck. A quartet of contradictions shorted out its control matrix and left modified rule structures in its attempt to solve those contradictions. They were half-baked nonsense and thus utterly useless to ordercrafters, but they were a godsend to elves.

The collar possessed program madness, and with minor tweaks, it could be made contagious. Even now, the young girl’s collar was shorting out by mere contact. It gave up and depowered long before Annala figured out the tumblers. Now it was nothing more than cold metal. Annala shapeshifted stronger hands and ripped it off.

“I am your new duly designated handler.”

“The Law of Order requires me to request proof of such a claim.”

Annala presented the Subjugation Collar. “How could I remove your collar if I was not your new handler?”

“You could be chaotic kidnappers and forced it off.”

Annala waggled her finger and tsked. “Foolish slave. You know the Church of Chaos requires several hours in a cursed location and a profane ritual to force the removal of Subjugation Collars. Seeing as I did so without such tools, I cannot be a chaotic kidnapper.”

The slave girl hesitated.

“The only other alternative is that Order is not as almighty and powerful as he says he is, and Order does not abide lies, so it’s not really an alternative.”

“Uh...Umm...Yes, that is certainly the less likely explanation.” She bowed and said, “Handler, what are your orders?”

Shifting one of her fingers into a blade, Annala cut off a strand of her hair. She placed it into the younger elf’s hands and gave her a gentle smile.

“You must be hungry. This will make you feel better.”

A faint chaotic pulse traveled through the slave’s body. It reached deep to connect with her tightly repressed Seed of Chaos and awakened an ancient longing. A rumbling stomach concurred. She placed the hairs into her mouth and swallowed.

A perfect copy of Annala’s DNA entered her system and a fragment of Annala’s Twin Seeds leeched into her blood. A little color returned to her skin and a little awareness returned to her eyes. Her hair started re-growing and her ears resumed their natural shape.

“W-who are you?” she asked.

Annala crouched to be eye-level with her. “I’m Annala, and I want to be your friend. What is your name?”

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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 at 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).

Sassy Saturday: Brave the Orderly Reality Vice

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: Arin's Defiance

The context for this post:  Annala has joined a raiding party to free slaves from Latrot. Unfortunately, she has to pass through a region infested with spirits who want to kill her boyfriend.
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They marched the remaining miles to the Orderly Reality Vice. Then suddenly, they were inside it and the world was a mass of grey mist. Just as suddenly, they were not and the sky was clear. Behind the wedge, Annala explained to Eric that the chaotic nature of the Orderly Reality Vice made it vary in size.

“This is why shipping has decreased in the region,” she said. “Many regard it as too dangerous these days. We should be out of the fluctuation zone in about ten minutes.”

Whether or not she was correct was difficult to determine. Their watches no longer worked properly. Counting off the seconds didn’t work either. Every barrage of soul mist brought with it the wailing and confusion of the countless consciousness within them. They shouted words, numbers, and gibberish that made them lose count.

Eventually, one of the barrages didn’t recede. Here, it was neither cold nor hot nor any earthly temperature in between. Here, there was neither sky nor ground because the Orderly Reality Vice ripped apart such distinctions.

“DOWN!”

Annala tackled Eric to the ground just as something wraithlike soared overhead. Beyond the girl’s veil, Eric could see piranha teeth but nothing attached to them. Perrault barked at more such forms from on top of Kallen. Only when the threat passed did she allow Kallen to stand. Annala pulled Eric to his feet and grabbed his chin with her other hand.

“No float spells, grip my hand, don’t stop moving forward; got it?”

Eric grinned. “Yes, ma’am.”

She led him forward by the hand while her familiar acted as Kallen’s blind-seeing-eye dog. The four of them walked in the shelter of the swan formation of Sister Sagart and the Ordercrafter Hunters. As strange and dangerous as the area was to the four, it was worse for the forwards. More than once, Meza had to assert his authority over the younger ones in his team as their sanity ran thin and their wills faltered in the face of the enemy.

Salamanders flew in erratic circles. Undines screeched and sobbed. Gnomes did senseless dances. Sylphs tore themselves apart only to reform again. Ghostly apparitions flew around them, spreading their despair like miasma. The sight of Kallen or Eric enraged all of them and they attacked without warning.

“New body!” The words echoed in the mist. “Live again! New body! LIVE AGAIN!”

“Stay away!” Annala deflected the specter. “I won’t let you hurt him!”

“World breaker!” the spirit mist boomed. “Chaos maker!”

“Where am I?” wailed one voice. “Lady Life said I was to reincarnate. Said it was somewhere nice...where am I?”

“Get me out of here!” screamed another voice. “It hurts! YOUR FAULT YOUR FAULT! YOURFAULTYOURFAULT!”

“KAAAAAAAAA!”

One bolt from Annala’s Deathkiller bow drove them all back. It plunged deep into the cloud and released chaotic waves that burned their essence. It dissolved those that didn’t move fast enough. Perrault pounced on the ones advancing from the rear and shredded them with her teeth. The raiding party advanced, but where to they couldn’t be sure.

A crowd of spirits pressed together into an astral oversoul and, as if from a cannon, propelled itself past the Ordercrafter Hunters. It dodged Sagart and drove straight toward the demons. Annala stepped between them to intercept. It pushed her back and she dug her heels in, but the ground shifted and swept her off her feet. The composite monster rushed unhindered towards Eric and Kallen with its ghostly maw wide.

“Perrault! Go!”

The wolf was a golden-brown blur as it plowed through its target. The astral oversoul wailed and the sound rang in the raiders’ own souls.

“Not again! Not again! Not again! Not again!”

Chaotic residue from Perrault’s attack rushed outwards. Suddenly, the mists disappeared and were replaced by a world of fire, ash, and dust. Here, a duplicate of the astral oversoul battled Priestess.

It lashed out with its limbs and Priestess avoided with nimble leaps. She drew an arrow, shook it, and it became a lance. Then she plunged into the astral oversoul. It wailed as it was torn apart by chaotic energy.

Then a flash of darkness appeared on a cliff behind Priestess and a grim reaper emerged. It swooped down with its scythe cocked, and it was tackled by a golden-brown wolf.

This wolf bit its arm, so it transferred its scythe to the other and pointed at the astral oversoul. Black energy coursed through it and it rose again. It writhed in horrible pain until Priestess struck it down a second time.

“Hold him in place! I can’t have any distractions!”

Priestess recited chaotic prayers until the astral oversoul decompiled and drifted apart. Shrinking the lance back into an arrow, she put it away and pulled out a bag. She gathered the spirits into it and then the reaper sliced it in half.

“You can’t stop entropy!”

“Of course I can! I’m Maxwell’s Demon!”

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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 at 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).