Good Evening everyone, I hope that you are all have a wonderful day. I did not get to any writing or posting yesterday as I was in too much discomfort with my hips to sit in the chair for long (finally got a new job which is more physically demanding than any job I have worked before, but I am now seeing a chiropractor to hopefully get on top of the discomfort as I get used to the new position.
Anyway, back to writing, I finished Chapter 18 making continued good work on the book when I have been able to write, which I am excited about. I also have a new YouTube video reading Chapter Three of And the Sun Burned Red.
Please like, share, and subscribe, follow my socials and read my books. Any support would be greatly appreciated!
YouTube: https://youtu.be/IXAZEk_Wg9c
Writing Time: 60 minutes
Word Count: 1158
Excerpt
temple.
With the alarm being raised, there were torches lit all along the hall and there was no hiding. There was a moment’s pause as the two group just stared at each other. The man they had subdued suddenly shouted, “that’s them!” Shouts and chaos exploded around them as Tanara and Maelith charged forward. There was the sound of footsteps all around them. Focusing on what was in front of him, Tanara lowered her shoulder and connected hard into the chest of one of the acolytes and Maelith struck the other across the face while running, and the man they had questioned practically fell over himself running away.
Leaving the two acolytes stunned and crumbled to the floor, Tanara and Maelith reached the door of the room they had entered through. Just as Tanara’s hand touched the handle on the door, a voice boomed through the Temple, “Who dares to profane the halls of my temple and trouble my acolytes!?”
They froze as the hall continued to reverberate with the voice which was soon joined by clicking and shift behind them. Even mindful of the desire to escape, they could not help turning to look. Where the two acolytes were still picking themselves and shadowed form seemed to rise up from the ground. The form glowed with a yellow-grey light and had a form much like the statue of Tengana that they had interacted in the Tomb of Laggus. The clicking and shifting was dust and small stones swirling up and taking on a physical form around the goddess.
On catching sight of them, the goddess snarled, “You! You have caused me such trouble and you dare to come here!?”
As Tanara and Maelith turned back to the door, wrenched it open, and ran in, rock smashed into the doorframe. The window inside the room was closed, as they had left it to try and avoid suspicion , but they did not wait. Maelith went first, crashing through the window and seemingly floating through the air to land easily on the roof adjacent to the building. Tanara was barely a half second behind, leapt through the air, and landed with a practiced role.
Turning back toward the window, the enraged form, now largely made of rock and dust, of the goddess glared at them, and they were forced to run on as a rocks smashed into the roof right where they had just been a second ago. Alarms were going up around the upper part of the city, and there was the sound in nearby streets of boots running along the pavement and shouts to attention.
Tengana clearly had no interest in waiting for the intervention of her servants, because just as they reached the level of the streets, the image of the Earth Goddess appeared behind them and as she did the very street lurched around them and they struggled to keep their footing as they continued running. The very rocks and stones they ran on erupted up around them and went crashing down, causing Tanara and Maelith to have to keep an eye around to make sure that they were not hit by anything. Twice they had to change direction suddenly as a troop of guards or soldiers were coming running into the street they were running along.
Down streets and alleys they ran, changing directions frequently, but it never seemed to be enough to escape the wrath of the Goddess. They both counted it lucky that there were rules for direct interaction with the mortal plane, which no doubt prevented the goddess from doing something they could not escape. After turning down an unusually narrow alley, they emerged from the other side to the realization that the goddess was no longer pursuing them. There were clearly still her servants, so on they ran.
They were worried that there would be guards well posted along the wall, but were relieved to see that there were only the usual patrols atop the wall. Just as neared the wall, a rumbling greeted them and the spectral form of the Goddess of Earth emerged from the ground right in front of them and began again to gather up rocks and earth to have a form to more easily interact with the mortal realm.
Knowing that they would have little to no chance of stopping a Goddess both Tanara and Maelith froze for a second. Tanara was the first to react, pulling forth the pouch Wendon had given them, selecting a small rock, and throwing it right at the form of the Goddess. There was a shout of rage and the rumbling crash of all the stones and pebble falling back to the ground and the spectral form faded away.
Maelith turned to their companion, “how did you know that would work on divine power?”
Tanara shrugged as she led the way forward to the wall, “I didn’t, but I figured it would not hurt to try.”
Maelith observed as they ran past, “it looks like it burned the stone just about to ash, that is something we’ll need to keep in mind.”
“Definitely, but now let’s keep moving before Tengana works out where we are and manifests again.”
With the echoing sounds of soldiers still behind them, Tenara and Maelith were quickly up the wall, over to the side of the cliff, and securing their cloaks and robes they swung onto the cliff face and made their way as quickly as they could without risking a fall. Once at the bottom, they were at the end of the small, dead-end alley they had started their climb in, they hid in the shadows, rested, and waited. The lower city seemed almost quiet compared to the upper for a little while, until the shouts of soldiers and warnings start going up and down the lower city. When the sun started to rise, they again unsecured their cloak and they made their way, as calmly as they could, into the crowd of people leaving the city. They passed multiple guard patrols, most of them highly on-edge and the gates were at least doubly guarded as they went. Waiting for the right moment, they slipped away from the crowd to a small, unguarded gate in the walls of the city. A rock troll was there waiting for them with their horses, as promised. With a thanks to the troll, they quickly mounted their horses and moved away from the city, hoping that they would not be pursued, and with a usable clue as to where to go next.
I hope you all have a wonderful day, get the chance to do or experience something creative, and I’ll catch you on the next one!
– Jon
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