Aldrea Alien's Blog, page 3

Rainbow Snippets: No Going Back

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.

Being a sequel, In Love and Death is set directly after In Pain and Blood. Some snippets will contain spoilers of those events.

Following on from the previous snippet where Dylan muses on certain member of their group’s refusal to have his magic help them…

His gaze slid from unravelling his tent to where Authril knelt, hacking out a spot in the earth for the fire. Her efforts had produced little beyond a shallow pit. His magic could’ve done the task faster and deeper, with less strain on him. She knew that, had witnessed it when he dug a hole for Marin to bury the boar’s innards, yet she didn’t seek his help.

He put his back to the sight, knowing full well Authril wouldn’t accept any assistance he offered, and returned to laying out his tent. Tracker, having already finished setting up his own shelter, currently aided Katarina with the enviable finesse of someone who’d spent their life travelling.

Dylan had spent years—decades—wondering what that was like. Night after night, he had wistfully watched the world beyond the tower, longing to walk this very road, to see the fields of Whitemeadow in bloom, to visit the cliffs at Wintervale and smell the sea air for the first time. And he would, in time.

He would’ve eagerly given up all those chances to return home with everything unchanged.

I’ll be back with more from In Love and Death next weekend. 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 Frivolous Usage

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.

Being a sequel, In Love and Death is set directly after In Pain and Blood. Some snippets will contain spoilers of those events.

Following on from the previous snippet where Dylan and the group finally start making camp…

Dylan set about helping Katarina and Tracker clear the ground for their tents, whilst Marin disappeared into the forest to place her traps and find a stream to fill their water skins. He had offered to save her the trouble of the latter back when they’d first started travelling together. With the forest’s natural dampness, condensing the morning dew that clung to the tents would leave them with more than enough.

Authril had opposed the act then, stating it was a frivolous use of his power. A valid concern at the time as he’d been worn out from not only the battle with the Udynean spellster, but also from combating exhaustion and a lack of proper nourishment. All things that he had recovered from. He would broach the subject tomorrow. No point offering after the deed was done and he’d never find Marin beforehand.

I’ll be back with more from In Love and Death next weekend. 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 one close by

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.

Being a sequel, In Love and Death is set directly after In Pain and Blood. Some snippets will contain spoilers of those events.

Following on from the previous snippet where Dylan and the group debate where the sailors learnt to besiege towers…

“There’s no way around?” Katarina asked. She rummaged about in her many pouches, pulling out the old map she had claimed possession of back at the army encampment. “A farmer’s road? Hunting trails?”

“Not this close to the tower,” Tracker replied, the statement surprisingly backed up by an agreeing grunt from Authril, reluctant as it was. “No one lives this close. We will not even see farmland for several more days.”

“Then we should stop wasting daylight and move on,” Marin declared, taking the lead in marching down the road.

Having no other choice, the rest of them followed.

They continued until the afternoon had barely begun to wind down before abandoning the road to press further into the forest than they’d done the previous two evenings. With their surroundings looking as though they had never accommodated visitors so far from the roadside, it took a while to find somewhere that held enough space for everyone.

I’ll be back with more from In Love and Death next weekend. 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: Someone else’s tactics

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.

Being a sequel, In Love and Death is set directly after In Pain and Blood. Some snippets will contain spoilers of those events.

Following on from the previous snippet where Dylan and the group debate whether sailors know how to besiege towers…

Authril’s shoulders lifted once more, this time, with an added air of indifference. The two elves hadn’t argued since the other day, but she often responded to the hound’s presence as though he was there only at her whim. “Clearly, I’m not as familiar with sea warfare as yourself.”

The hound’s brows lowered. “Warfare?” he echoed, the word practically a growl as it slipped between his clenched teeth. “If you had witnessed the aftermath of a merchant vessel against a Talfaltaner ship, you would not call it such. No more than you would claim the sea does battle with the shore.”

“Are you saying they’re a force of nature?” the warrior scoffed.

“I speak only of them striking with the same blunt inevitability. Not once have I heard of them exercising finesse. This tactic?” The man gestured to the stark difference between the top of the hill and their immediate surroundings. “I guarantee it was someone else’s idea. Whose? I cannot be certain. But I suggest we be extra vigilant from here on out. There is no telling what lies ahead.”

I’ll be back with more from In Love and Death next weekend. 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: Not steathly sailors

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.

Being a sequel, In Love and Death is set directly after In Pain and Blood. Some snippets will contain spoilers of those events.

Following on from the previous snippet where Dylan and the group learnt the roadside destruction goes on as far as they can see…

“I don’t understand,” the hedgewitch continued in a more sedate tone as she joined them at the base of the hill. “If they caused this much destruction all along the way, why are we only now coming across it? Why not sooner? Why did they stop at the base of this hill?”

“Siege tactics,” Authril replied, shrugging. “No fire, no tents. Minimise all signs of precisely how big your horde is. It was one of Danny’s favourite strategies.” She rarely spoke of the mercenary company she’d been a part of before the army attack. Most times, it left her sullen, withdrawn and curt with everyone.

“Not an approach I would think Talfaltaners to know,” Tracker pointed out. “There are few structures to besiege out in the ocean and their ships, although reputably fast, are not exactly built to promote stealth in their sailors.”

I’ll be back with more from In Love and Death next weekend. 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 unchanging view

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.

Being a sequel, In Love and Death is set directly after In Pain and Blood. Some snippets will contain spoilers of those events.

Following on from the previous snippet where Dylan and the group encountered the remains of many campfires and stumps…

“It just keeps going,” Katarina yelled from her place halfway down the hill. She stood in the middle of the road, her gaze fixed eastward.

Dylan peered into the distance. From their spot atop the hill, he had witnessed the road on Whitemeadow winding on for miles. Even though he no longer had the same height advantage as the dwarf, that more than this patch of the roadside had suffered the same fate was obvious.

He squinted, trying to see even further. If he could just manage to make things clearer, then maybe he would spot those responsible for not only this chaos, but the destruction of his home.

No matter how hard he willed it, the view remained unchanged.

I’ll be back with more from In Love and Death next weekend. 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!

In Memoriam of P. T. Wyant

In Memoriam of P. T. Wyant

In Memoriam of P. T. Wyant

In Memoriam of P. T. Wyant

Rainbow Snippets: A cold trail

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.

Being a sequel, In Love and Death is set directly after In Pain and Blood. Some snippets will contain spoilers of those events.

Following on from last week’s snippet…

What stood before them was vastly different. The trees lining the road had either been stripped of their branches or felled completely. Where the earth hadn’t been trampled into a slurry by an onslaught of feet had instead been hacked open to make fire pits.

Marin knelt by one of them, her hand hovering over the broken ground before dipping deeper. The charred remains of a log jutted from that maw like a decaying tongue. She slapped her palm down onto the cracked charcoal surface, holding it there without a hint of harm. “This is days’ cold.”

“More than that,” Tracker said. The hound crouched by a similar hole, this one cracked and split as though struck by lightning. The jagged edges obscured whatever the man saw within. “I would put all this at no earlier than a week.”

I’ll be back with more from In Love and Death next weekend. 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 lack of signs

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.

Being a sequel, In Love and Death is set directly after In Pain and Blood. Some snippets will contain spoilers of those events.

Following on from last week’s snippet…

Yet, things still didn’t quite add up. Tracker had spoken the truth about fighting with blades. It was messy. And messy left signs. If they had survived enough to avoid immediate death, then maybe not the dark marks that wouldn’t fully seep into the compacted earth that was the road.

But what of their wagon? The road might’ve been hard under his boot and baked by the sun, but surely a carthorse or a laden wagon would be enough to make a more substantial impression of their passing. The road’s surface showed not a single mark, be it foot, hoof or wheel.

At least, it hadn’t until they crested a hill at noon.

He’d never seen an armed force larger than a few people before leaving the tower. The army encampment had merely been a town of tents, its placement for generations moulding its surroundings, expanding slowly as the surrounding forest was culled to serve as fuel for the multiple fires.

I’ll be back with more from In Love and Death next weekend. 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!