ItB novel Chapter 1 preview · 9:33pm Jan 25th, 2016
I figured I'd give you guys a sneak peak at the rough draft of chapter 1 of the ItB novel. You can see things are going to be quite different. One change, the character of Aden being renamed Aaron, being for legal reasons, as Aden is the name of the guy that made the cover art of A Mare's Tale.
Anyway, enjoy and tell me what you think.
Chapter 1: The Girl in the Crystal
The peace of the late stage terraforming world of Horton III was disrupted by the roar of an engine. Critters of all shapes and sizes scattered in fear of the massive tracked vehicle as it tore through the new forest. Though it did try to avoid any plant and animal life, a few casualties were inevitable. The planet's ecosystem was strong enough to take it, though, and their mission was important enough to justify it.
Three days ago, a survey team discovered an unknown structure. In response, professional 'Void Runners', people specializing in exploration, salvage and artifact recovery in the fringes of civilization and beyond, were called in to determine the structure's purpose as well as find and recover anything of value.
“Alright, let's go over the plan one more time,” said a tall, dark haired man. “First we scan for dangers. After neutralizing any we find, scan the interior then breach.”
“What did the report say, Aaron?” asked a creature that resembled a strange cross between a monkey and cat. It's silver fur covered most of its exposed body, which consisted of its arms feet and head, only his face and hands showed his pale blue skin.
“Not much that was useful, Raak” replied Aaron rather short, dark skinned man. “They didn't approach and only got a look at it from afar, but they said it was rather featureless. They described it as being a large, black cube. Initial scans showed it to be made of an unknown material, but I would rather scan it again, myself.”
“Any hostile wildlife, we should be aware of?” Asked a feminine voice belonging to a very tall, slender being with tan skin, a long snout, and sporting a crest of red feathers along its head and neck.
The first man answered, “Some, but only use non lethal deterrents. This ecosystem is nearly stable, but it's not quite there yet. Let's keep interference to a minimum, alright Debby?”
“Yo, Seth! We're approaching the site,” called the auburn haired man driving.
“Alright, any questions?” The dark haired man looked around to see none. “Alright. Remember, stay professional, especially you, Curt.”
“Hey, I'm usually professional... enough,” defended the driver.
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Aaron approached the structure cautiously, a box-like device held ahead of him. It was not as big as they thought it would be, about three times the height of a man and six times that in width. “I'm not detecting any power sources, volatile chemicals, or manufactured objects anywhere in the surrounding area. It looks clear.”
Seth motioned forward. “Raak, check it out.”
Raak dropped to all fours, slinking forward cautiously. Every few paces, he would stop and sniff the air and ground fro danger. Several slow, tense minutes later, he rose back up on two legs and signaled the all clear.
The rest of the team moved up, Curt and Seth with rifles at the ready. Aaron arrived first, portable scanner at the ready.
Aaron hummed in contemplation as he watched the readings. “It would appear the survey team was right. This alloy doesn't come up on any database, however it is hollow. Try to cut a piece that we can take for further analysis.”
“Will do, egghead,” Debby acknowledged and moved up with a plasma cutter ready to go. “You just better keep an eye out for traps. If we get a repeat of Galley, I'm breaking your nose.”
Aaron watched his scanner like a hawk as Debby put the flame to the strange metal. Slowly, the black metal gave way.
“I got fifty on a village temple,” Curt offered.
“I say a tomb,” Seth accepted. “How we lookin, Aaron?”
“Nothing lethal, yet.”
Raak took a few steps closer, sniffing the seam. “I smell something familiar... yet strange. It may be Dratali magic.”
Debby pulled away, shooting Seth a concerned look while Aaron made some quick adjustments to his scanner.
“Yeah, I'm detecting Lim particles, but... it's strange,” Aaron said. “I'm no expert, but this doesn't look like the lizard's handy work.”
Curt's eyes widened in realization as a thought struck him. “Guys... We might have found another race that can use their crazy voodoo.”
Seth approached the structure and readied his weapon. “Than let's hope they're either dead or friendly. Open it.”
Debby scoffed. “Fine, but if I get turned into a vern, I'm gonna kick your ass.”
For several tense moments, the group watched with bated breath as Debby continued making her hole. Eventually, the hiss of the plasma cutter vanished, and everything became unsettlingly quiet. It didn't last though, as Debby pressed a pair of quickgrips and gave a mighty heave. With a groan of protest, the metal slab separated.
The moment it was clear, Seth and Curt had rifles at the door, lights shining brightly from underneath the barrels. They stood on either side, scanning for threats.
Curt was the first to see the strange occupant of the room. His breath caught as his light reflected off the shimmering crystal.
“Woah. Found it.”
“How we lookin, Aaron?” Seth asked.
The tech guy approached, still watching the scanner. “It looks like the Lim particles are mostly inert. What ever happened, it happened a long time ago.”
“Alright, move in and search for anything outstanding, other than the big crystal. Raak, Debby, stand watch,” Seth ordered as he shouldered his weapon.
Raak took a knee and closed his eyes, ears swiveling like radar dishes, while Debby scanned for movement.
Seth, Curt, and Aaron cautiously entered the structure, Aaron in the lead. As soon as Seth and Curt were in, they both pulled a small orb from their belts and shook them vigorously. The balls lit up brightly, filling up the chamber with white light. With a gentle push, the lights drifted off, hovering in the air.
“What are these markings?” Seth asked, pointing at the walls.
Aaron moved the scanner over the odd writing. “They aren't Dratali runes, but they are saturated with Lim particles. Perhaps these are part of some preservation spell? This could have been some kind of storage.”
Seth looked back at the only object within the chamber with a frown. “This place seems a little too big to just hold one crystal.”
“Perhaps there were more?” Aaron suggested.
“Doubtful. There aren't any doors.”
“What about this?” Curt asked from the wall behind the crystal.
Seth and Aaron followed Curt's voice to find the man looking at a pattern etched into the wall in the shape of an arch.
“If I didn't know any better, I'd say this looks like a door.”
“Curt might actually be right, for once,” Aaron said, earning an indignant 'hey' from his associate. “Regardless, I'd say the place is safe.”
“Great, now let's take a look at this crystal,” Seth ordered.
As Aaron scanned the crystal, Seth and Curt examined it visually. It was easily six and a half feet high and about three wide. The pale blue seemed to highlight something in Curt's eyes. He approached, intent on getting a better look.
“There's something in there,” he said, cupping a hand by his face, his nose nearly touching the object. His eyes widened in shock at what he saw. “Guys... There's someone in there. I think it's a girl... a human girl.”
The three shared a concerned look before going back to their observations.
“Well, I think that eliminates the theory that this was a previously unknown race,” Seth stated. “We'll need to contact Alliance Intelligence about this as soon as we're done.”
“So, apparently the Dratali are... what, freezing people in crystal?” Curt sighed and placed a hand on the crystal, looking at the girl within. She looked remarkably peaceful, to him. “You know, for some reason I'm reminded of that old fairytale, The one where that princess falls asleep and can't wake up.” He let out a humorous chuckle. “It's time to wake up, sleeping beauty.”
Suddenly, the crystal began to glow brightly, forcing the three men to jump back, Seth and Curt quickly bringing their rifles to the ready, Debby and Raak rushing in to support. When the light faded, the crystal was gone, leaving only the prone figure of a young woman in its place.
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Light flooded her eyes as consciousness returned to her. It was strange, though. She didn't remember going to bed. The last thing she remembered was being summoned up to the 'dark room' to meet Master Oswyn and...
She shot up in her bed, worry flooding her thoughts. That was when something else was brought to her attention. She wasn't in her room. Instead, she found herself in a room of metal, decorated only by strange objects and devices.
From metal tables to some strange glass with odd lights flickering across and even flameless torches. The shear volume of metal objects had her in awe. Wherever she was, it had to have been home to talented spellcrafters.
A door, also metal, set into one wall slid to one side, starting the woman, and in walked three beings. The first two were simply men, though dressed oddly, while the third was a strange creature that looked as if a beast learned to walk like a man and dressed in a similar fashion.
“Good morning,” the one in front greeted. “My name is Seth, this is Curt and Raak.” He gestured to the man and beast respectively. “Would you mind telling us who you are and how you ended up in hat crystal thing.”
The woman's brow knitted in confusion. “Crystal? Is that what he did?” she said to herself. Shaking her head to rid herself of the thoughts, she turned to the man she assumed was in charge. “My name is Tara, journeyman of Sky Reach. May I ask where I am and how I came to be here?”
The two men gave each other a contemplative look before the Seth answered, “You're on my ship, the White Wolf. We found you in a structure made of an unknown alloy on the terraforming world Horton III encased in a crystal swimming with Lim particles.”
“I... Forgive me, but I know not these words you use,” Tara said, confused and a little nervous. “What is 'alloy'? And 'Lim particles'? And... 'terraforming world'? Surely you don't mean to say we are in another realm?”
Seth's eyes narrowed suspiciously. “An alloy is, in simple terms, a kind of metal, Lim particles are a kind of energy associated with the abilities of Dratali adepts, and I'm not sure what you mean by 'another realm'.”
“You claimed this to be a 'terraforming world',” Tara explained. “I am unsure what 'terraforming' is, but you speak as though it is not our world.”
“This isn't Earth, if that's what you mean.” Seth replied. “You still haven't answered my other question. How did you end up in that crystal?”
“Master Oswyn,” Tara answered simply. “I know not why, but when I came to him for my daily lessons, he cast a spell on me.”
At that, the three tensed up.
“Are you a Dratali convert?” asked the beast man.
Tara pondered the words for a moment before replying, “I do not understand. What does that mean?”
“I'll take that as a 'no',” stated Seth.
Tara looked between the three, “I am still rather confused. I know nothing of what is happening.”
“Miss Tara,” the one the leader called Curt finally spoke up. “Who is this 'Master Oswyn' you mentioned?”
Tara smiled at that. “He is one of my teachers. He and Lady Celeste are like family to me.”
“And what does he teach you?”
Tara replied, “Magic, of course. I am a wizard, after all.”
Tell me what you think, and if you can, I would appreciate any support you can offer, even if it's only a dollar. My Patreon
That's pretty good!
Love it, just need the rest of it now
I'll quote Prince Uldren from Destiny: "Good, that's real good."
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3712315 I'm glad you like it. Of course, this is going to be an actual published novel (hopefully through a major publishing company) and won't be free. As much as I would like to be able to give it away, I'm hoping to make a career out of this.
3712887 Well, this is a rough draft, so it'll be cleaned up long before publishing.