Aldrea Alien's Blog, page 14

Rainbow Snippets: Two entrances, no safe way out

Rainbow Snippets is a Facebook group for LGBTQ+ authors, readers, and bloggers to gather once a week and share six sentences from a work of fiction–a WIP or a finished work or even a 6-sentence book recommendation.

And the World Crumbled is my current work in progress that, thanks to a week of not being able to write, I’ve just finished chapter six of. It’s a dark fantasy/horror novella set a few days before the end of In Pain and Blood and follows Henrie, an elven spellster, as he tries to escape the events happening around him.

It’s the darkest piece I’ve written to date. Lots of death, blood and general nastiness. If gore and depictions of death/dying bother you, don’t read on.

Continuing on from last week…

His immediate surroundings seemed empty. At least, as far as the living were concerned. Guardians and servants lay sprawled across the stone, the latter clearly cut down as they fled. He would’ve thought servants as safer than anyone, but it seemed these hounds were intent on slaughtering everyone within the tower walls.

The central tower had two entrances, one leading into the courtyard and a smaller door that opened to the gardens. The latter sat the closest. Yet reaching it quickly meant passing the stairs leading to the upper levels with no guarantee of avoiding detection, especially if a hound chose to descend at the wrong moment.

Could he risk the long route?

And the World Crumbled will continue next week. In the meantime, check out these other snippets.

If you’re looking for more news of my books, be sure to “Like” my Facebook page and/or join me in my Facebook group!

Rainbow Snippets: Disbelief of the dead…

Rainbow Snippets is a Facebook group for LGBTQ+ authors, readers, and bloggers to gather once a week and share six sentences from a work of fiction–a WIP or a finished work or even a 6-sentence book recommendation.

And the World Crumbled is my current work in progress that, thanks to a week of not being able to write, I’ve just finished chapter six of. It’s a dark fantasy/horror novella set a few days before the end of In Pain and Blood and follows Henrie, an elven spellster, as he tries to escape the events happening around him.

It’s the darkest piece I’ve written to date. Lots of death, blood and general nastiness. If gore and depictions of death/dying bother you, don’t read on.

Continuing on from last week…

His gaze settled on the blood-splattered face of an elven child. Blank eyes stared back, the mouth parted slightly in disbelief, the very same disbelief that continued to torment Henrie’s thoughts.

He had to get out before he joined the dead.

How? Getting beyond the tower walls might’ve been his goal, but how did he reach the entrance undetected? Every direction held the same potential. He peeked out into a hallway, straining to hear anything above the pounding in his chest. The screams from above prickled his skin no matter how hard he tried to block them out.

And the World Crumbled will continue next week. In the meantime, check out these other snippets.

If you’re looking for more news of my books, be sure to “Like” my Facebook page and/or join me in my Facebook group!

Rainbow Snippets: A swift strike…

Rainbow Snippets is a Facebook group for LGBTQ+ authors, readers, and bloggers to gather once a week and share six sentences from a work of fiction–a WIP or a finished work or even a 6-sentence book recommendation.

And the World Crumbled is my current work in progress that I’m halfway into. It’s a dark fantasy/horror novella set a few days before the end of In Pain and Blood and follows Henrie, an elven spellster, as he tries to escape the events happening around him.

It’s the darkest piece I’ve written to date. Lots of death, blood and general nastiness. If gore and mentions of death/dying bother you, don’t read on.

Continuing on from last week…

He knew only that the people responsible for all this death were garbed identically to the King’s Hound who had taken Dylan all those weeks ago. But hounds hunted spellsters outside the tower, not within. The tower had always been the one place where spellsters were safe from them.

Yet, for anyone to reach the central tower, they would’ve had to enter the outer courtyard and pass through two guarded gates without giving any cause for alarm.

And they’d struck swiftly as he had always imagined hounds might. A single one had taken out an entire room of adult spellsters with very little effort, paying no heed to the panicked bursts of magic flung their way either, as though they were used to fighting against it. Who else but a hound would have that experience?

And the World Crumbled will continue next week. In the meantime, check out these other snippets.

If you’re looking for more news of my books, be sure to “Like” my Facebook page and/or join me in my Facebook group!

Rainbow Snippets: No reason good enough…

Rainbow Snippets is a Facebook group for LGBTQ+ authors, readers, and bloggers to gather once a week and share six sentences from a work of fiction–a WIP or a finished work or even a 6-sentence book recommendation.

And the World Crumbled is my current work in progress that I’m halfway into. It’s a dark fantasy/horror novella set a few days before the end of In Pain and Blood and follows Henrie, an elven spellster, as he tries to escape the events happening around him.

It’s the darkest piece I’ve written to date. Lots of death, blood and general nastiness. If gore and mentions of death/dying bother you, don’t read on.

Continuing on from last week…

Why? The question once again bubbled to the forefront of his thoughts. Why was this happening? Why them? Why now? Was it somehow linked to the army falling at the border?

No reason would be good enough. But if it could’ve given him an edge, something he could plan against rather than some erratic attack with no strategic pattern he could follow.

Whatever the answers were, they were no clearer to him now than they’d been earlier.

And the World Crumbled will continue next week. In the meantime, check out these other snippets.

If you’re looking for more news of my books, be sure to “Like” my Facebook page and/or join me in my Facebook group!

Rainbow Snippets: If Dylan was here…

Rainbow Snippets is a Facebook group for LGBTQ+ authors, readers, and bloggers to gather once a week and share six sentences from a work of fiction–a WIP or a finished work or even a 6-sentence book recommendation.

And the World Crumbled is my current work in progress that I’m halfway into. It’s a dark fantasy/horror novella set a few days before the end of In Pain and Blood and follows Henrie, an elven spellster, as he tries to escape the events happening around him.

It’s the darkest piece I’ve written to date. Lots of death, blood and general nastiness. If gore and mentions of death/dying bother you, don’t read on.

Continuing on from last week…

If Dylan was here…

Biting back a sob, Henrie quashed the thought before it choked him with its slew of unattainable possibilities. There was so much his friend could’ve done. He could’ve healed the fatally wounded, could’ve fought these monsters with all the ferocity he’d shown in the brawl.

But Dylan was long gone. Dead. Along with the rest of the army. No more able to help than the bodies currently surrounding Henrie. He wasn’t even sure if his friend could’ve done it. No one else, guardian or spellster, seemed to have been able to touch their assailants as they moved from room to room, leaving only death in their wake.

And the World Crumbled will continue next week. In the meantime, check out these other snippets.

If you’re looking for more news of my books, be sure to “Like” my Facebook page and/or join me in my Facebook group!

Rainbow Snippets: Their final breaths.

Rainbow Snippets is a Facebook group for LGBTQ+ authors, readers, and bloggers to gather once a week and share six sentences from a work of fiction–a WIP or a finished work or even a 6-sentence book recommendation.

And the World Crumbled is my current work in progress. It’s a dark fantasy/horror short story set a few days before the end of In Pain and Blood and follows Henrie, an elven spellster, as he tries to escape the events happening around him.

It’s the darkest piece I’ve written to date. Lots of death, blood and general nastiness. If gore and mentions of death/dying bother you, don’t read on.

Continuing on from last week…

A few of the bodies took their final breaths as he passed by. He tried to block out the sounds. The gurgles of those drowning in their own blood. The rattle of crushed airways struggling to carry on. The drawn-out sigh from those who had finally crossed over.

The same sounds as those he had hid under when this slaughter began.

He hadn’t been able to help the dying then and he didn’t stop to give aid now. There was nothing he could do. He lacked the knowledge or the skill to attempt healing anyone, and he couldn’t risk being caught by those responsible for their deaths just to ease another’s passing.

And the World Crumbled will continue next week. In the meantime, check out these other snippets.

If you’re looking for more news of my books, be sure to “Like” my Facebook page and/or join me in my Facebook group!

Rainbow Snippets: Blood has a smell.

Rainbow Snippets is a Facebook group for LGBTQ+ authors, readers, and bloggers to gather once a week and share six sentences from a work of fiction–a WIP or a finished work or even a 6-sentence book recommendation.

And the World Crumbled is my current work in progress. I had hoped to be done with it by now, but an unidentifiable ache in my shoulder (plus my child just recovering from wisdom teeth surgery) is slowing me down. It’s a dark fantasy/horror short story set a few days before the end of In Pain and Blood and follows Henrie, an elven spellster who is also a trans man, as he tries to escape the events happening around him.

It’s perhaps the darkest piece I’ve written to date. Lots of death, blood and general nastiness. If you’ve the ending of In Pain and Blood, you’ve probably a fair idea of what’s to come.

We’ll start at the beginning…

The air was thick with screams and the scent of blood. Henrie hadn’t even known it had a smell. Certainly not this bitter metallic odour. He only ever dealt with blood once a month and it never smelt this bad.

Or perhaps it was the things mingled within that stunk. The glistening tubes spilling from bellies or the jellified red-streaked-grey masses leaking from their heads.

He tried not to think about any of it as he stepped over the dead, but the smell clogged his throat and squeezed his chest tighter than his last binder. It didn’t help that he was covered in their blood, an unfortunate side-effect of hiding beneath the dying to avoid joining their fate.

And the World Crumbled will continue next week. In the meantime, check out these other snippets.

If you’re looking for more news of my books, be sure to “Like” my Facebook page and/or join me in my Facebook group!

Rainbow Snippets: Being brazen.

Rainbow Snippets is a Facebook group for LGBTQ+ authors, readers, and bloggers to gather once a week and share six sentences from a work of fiction–a WIP or a finished work or even a 6-sentence book recommendation.

In celebration of Lesbian Day, I’m sharing from Someone Else’s Shoes, a sapphic retelling of Cinderella, before I move on to the short story, And the World Crumbled.

This week’s snippet comes from the middle of the book where, after sharing a few dances with Princess Viktoriya, Alla spends some time alone with her in the gardens.

Alla wasn’t sure when, but at some point, their hands had found one another. Rather than extract her fingers from the princess’ grasp, she wet her lips and tried not to think about how Princess Viktoriya mimicked the gesture or that their faces were only inches apart. Almost close enough to kiss.

A flush of heat suffused her cheeks as the thought—the highly inappropriate thought—fluttered through her mind. Brief, at first, then with a persistence that set her heart to hammering and her breath rasping like a wood saw. All she could think of was how closely the princess sat, how her lips glistened in the moonlight, how soft they looked, how brazen she would have to be to dare a taste…

She leant forward, before logic and fear could take hold, and pressed her lips to the princess’.

Princess Viktoriya’s mouth parted a little, a gasp of surprise filling the space. Before Alla could consider withdrawing, the princess was kissing back. She pulled Alla close. One gloved hand snaked around her waist, whilst the other cupped her jaw.

Next week will begin the snippets from my short story, And the World Crumbled. In the meantime, check out these other snippets.

If you’re looking for more news of my books, be sure to “Like” my Facebook page and/or join me in my Facebook group!

Rainbow Snippets: An infitialis dagger.

Rainbow Snippets is a Facebook group for LGBTQ+ authors, readers, and bloggers to gather once a week and share six sentences from a work of fiction–a WIP or a finished work or even a 6-sentence book recommendation.

This’ll be the last snippet I’m sharing from In Pain and Blood before I move on to the short story, And the World Crumbled.

This week’s snippet follows from last week’s where Dylan was getting spooked by cats. If you’ve been following me for a while, you might recognise this scene.

“There you are,” someone snarled from the shadows.

A hand grabbed Dylan before he could face them. He hit the alleyway wall, the back of his head thumping against the brickwork. His vision blurred, leaving him disorientated.

Curious, he let a small ball of light drift on the air to illuminate the figure.

“Do not think about taking another step, you will not get far.” The figure pinning him to the wall spoke with the vaguely similar smooth accent of Dylan’s old roommate, the words tumbling off their tongue much like rocks down a hill, catching occasionally on a soft trill or hiss.

Dylan blinked, trying to refocus. The back of his head tingled as his innate healing hurried to fix whatever damage had been done.

The dagger was the first thing that came into clarity. Curved and sharp. In the lantern light illuminating the alleyway’s entrance, the blade bore an insidious purple sheen. Infitialis. Wielded by someone who was either an alchemist or who had stolen it from one.

Barely daring to breathe, Dylan followed the blade down to the bronze hand and onwards to the elven man glaring up at him.

Next week will be a snippet from Someone Else’s Shoes in celebration of Lesbian Day. In the meantime, check out these other snippets.

If you’re looking for more news of my books, be sure to “Like” my Facebook page and/or join me in my Facebook group!

Rainbow Snippets: Getting jumpy over a cat.

Rainbow Snippets is a Facebook group for LGBTQ+ authors, readers, and bloggers to gather once a week and share six sentences from a work of fiction–a WIP or a finished work or even a 6-sentence book recommendation.

I’ll be sharing just two more snippets from In Pain and Blood, today’s and next weekend’s, before I move on to the short story, And the World Crumbled.

This week’s snippet skips a little from last week’s from Tracker discovering magic within the city to Dylan feeling like he’s being hunted.

Dylan took a few shuffling steps into the alley, searching for the source of the noise. There! Two little glittering specks in the gloom beyond the lantern’s reach. They had to be eyes and their owner had to be aware they’d been spotted. Yet they didn’t attack.

Curious, he let a small ball of light drift on the air to illuminate the figure.

A large, black cat blinked back at him. It sat on a barrel, the remains of a rat between its front paws. The creature hissed, its back arching. Before he could think to move, the cat grabbed its meal, vaulted off the barrel and slunk into the alley shadows.

Shaking his head, Dylan let the shield and light dissipate. He turned from the alley entrance. Getting jumpy over a cat. What was he thinking? This wasn’t the forest. There were no massive boars, no enemy spellsters looking to kill him in the most painful way possible. No enemies of any kind. He was the most dangerous thing in this village. Nothing here could harm him as long as he remained vigilant.

Again, there’ll be one more snippet to follow next week. In the meantime, check out these other snippets.

If you’re looking for more news of my books, be sure to “Like” my Facebook page and/or join me in my Facebook group!