Hi all!
Trials and Error(s) is my primary and current novel project which takes up the majority of my creative writing time. It will likely be my debut novel. So far, the first draft is 1/4 completed and should be finalized in the end of August, should all go according to plan.
Subscribers will get the first few chapters for free!
The story centres around two women who are leading the charge against a terrorist organization, the Dream Eaters, in the fantasy world of Yugmai. Unfortunately, their groups are rather incompetent at times (who knew cooking fish the wrong way would make them explode?) and end up in a race against time to reach the Dream Eater invasion before it's too late. If they fail, the lives of everyone on Yugmai could be in danger.
Exerpt from Trials and Error(s):
The afternoon sun was bright and harsh, glinting off of the vibrant, green leaves of the trees which towered above the ground. Avra smiled and whistled a response to a bird’s call, way up in the highest branches, and ducked under a spy-der’s web. The spy-der, a metallic insect with one bright red camera eye, whirred and reconnected the threads she knocked out of alignment.
Avra brushed a few metallic threads off her braided buns as she walked, swatting away the bugs attacking her face. Buggers.
She walked along the edge of the river, watching as it swelled and forked off into three separate paths, leading up and over the hill which blocked her view. Avra jogged up the hill, air dry and rushing past her ears, her body twisting to accommodate the every-shifting soil.
She came to a stop at the top, dragging her fingers along the bark of a tree at the beginning of the clearing.
The sky was as blue as a robin’s egg, splattered with whites and stained with grey smoke. In the distance, Avra could see the soot-covered choppers which knocked down anything and everything in their path, wiping out the trees, the animals, and the homes of the plainspeople. Seven of them chugged along in their coal and magic-powered machines, ripping up the life wherever they touched. Inside, Avra knew, was a crew of Dream Eaters, using the shredded land as energy to Harvest more people.
Disgusting.
Even further, Avra could see the stone-walls of the Dream Eater camp with dozens of people inside, or so she could assume. Brainwashed, harvested, or simply minions of their ring-leader, it didn’t matter.
She would stop them — even if it costed her life.
Avra closed her eyes, whispering a prayer to the gods to bless her path in battle. Karluk could call her silly if he wanted to; Avra’s faith gave her peace and strength to go on. With them behind her, she knew she would be able to save many lives.
Avra pulled away from the clearing, swearing to herself that she would save all the people in that camp — all the orbs taken from the innocents. Without their essences, the orbs, those people were as good as zombies with no free will of their own. Their memories, their experiences, their hopes and dreams, were all trapped in the claws of the Dream Eaters.
No, not the Dream Eaters, she corrected herself, her mouth twisting into a scowl. Kerdewel.
What started off as a simple experiment twenty years ago turned into a hellscape of war and a tirade of terror sweeping across the continent of Yugmai. As a trusted member of government, Kerdewel was held to the ethical standards — but he grew tired of their limitations.
Razing towns, kidnapping children, it didn’t matter to him how many people he killed as long as he could get his results.
If he didn’t care, Avra wouldn’t either. The only way to kill a hydra is to kill all of the heads at the same time — which meant killing Kerdewel and his lackeys in one go. Justice is a dish best served cold, or something like that.
She could only hope that Mel’s group was doing better than hers. At this rate, Avra would be the only one who would be able to join in the front lines.
…Not that she wanted to bring them into this, especially Soto. He’d insisted.
Avra let out a long breath, shaking her thoughts away and steeling herself. Everyone was needed in war; it didn’t matter your age. If he wasn’t recruited by Avra, he’d be taken away by the government to become a mindless soldier anyway. Better here than there.
Avra ground her teeth together as she walked back to camp, grimacing at the sour grime which covered them. What she wouldn’t give for a proper toothbrush right about now.
*Since this is part of the third draft, it is liable to be changed in the future and may not be a part of the final book.
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