Excerpt: DragonBorn, Slaves of Homnor
2012-Feb-7 -> from the 29-days-of-fantasy departmentToday was marked on the roster as a "Very Special Excerpt" from Tim Moon. What makes it special? Well, it's not often you get the chance to read an excerpt from an unreleased novel. Tim has graciously granted us this today, the first light of day that any part of this novel has seen.
Tim Moon is a writer and gamer from Vancouver, Washington. He has a dog and a cat that both live with his mom since he currently travels most of the time for his day job. His favorite outdoor activity is hiking. He's hiked Cooper's Spur, Silver Star Mountain, Dog Mountain, Triple Falls, Ape Canyon, Lava Canyon, and many others.
Sheesh, talk about your outdoorsman. Alright, give Tim a big 29 Days welcome, and enjoy the excerpt.
Hi, my name is Tim Moon. I am working on writing my first novel. When Thomas approached me to write for the 29 Days of Fantasy I was pretty stoked. Initially, I was going to write about dragons. Instead, I figured this might be a great opportunity to share an excerpt from my story with you. Other than me, this is the first time anyone will have read it.
Background on the world of Dragonborn.
Set far in the future, humans have fled Earth during the Great Exodus, seeking refuge among the stars. Settling on the distant planet of Homnor, humans have reestablished a place they can call home.
Generations passed through the circle of life on Homnor, turning stories of Earth to fanciful legends. In many cases, the lessons of Earth's downfall were taken to heart. But peace and prosperity has bred complacency. Vast portions of Homnor, a planet many times the size of Earth, remain undiscovered. Lacking a credible threat, defenses go undeveloped. Armies are largely a thing of the past.
Then the shadow passed over and the veil of innocence was wrenched from Homnor as scaled beasts swept across the land. Where did they come from? Why are they destroying everything the Homnorians have built? What few weapons remained were largely useless against the dragons.
Enslavement. That is what the creatures have lain on the shoulders of mankind.
Millions were murdered, tens of thousands enslaved, and only a few thousand freemen remain scattered across Homnor scratching out a meager living while they hide.
Below is an excerpt from my upcoming book Dragonborn: Slaves of Homnor.
As Hachiro and I closed in on the hill, the groaning grew louder and more pained. The air began to smell fetid, tinged with the copper taste of blood. Ahead of me, clinging to the litter, I could hear him gagging on the smell. He always did have a weak stomach. I tried to stifle a small laugh.
We stopped at the base of the hill and set the load of meat at the base of a small tree, our packs propped up at either end. I pulled the sling of my rifle, an antique AR-15 model, over my shoulder and gripped it in the ready position. I noticed Chiro had done the same.
With a deep breath and a nod, we quietly stalked up the hill. We moved quickly between the trees. Our senses strained to hear or see anything that might alert us to danger.
As we came to the hilltop, we froze. My eyes were wide with surprise. I could not believe what I was seeing. It was the most horrid sight. Blood covered so much of the hilltop it looked like a thick red blanket had been laid out.
Hachiro turned around and wretched on an unsuspecting rockberry bush. His vomit splashed down its tangle of vines and dripped slowly off its thorns.
Nearly centered on the hilltop, was a tall spear embedded in the ground. Gaping open mouthed toward the lone tree on the hilltop, impaled on the spear, was the head of Sarah Potter. Her normally smooth and beautiful skin was bruised and swollen. Her left eye rolled back in her head and her right eye turned down toward the ground. Her swollen tongue lolled sickly out of the side of her mouth.
The hair stood up on my arms and neck as the groan sounded again. It seemed to emanate from the tree. I shivered and looked at Chiro.
"I don't know if I want to see who that is, man." Chiro said uneasily.
"We have to," I said firmly, "and then we have to get back to camp and alert the council."
The council would know what to do. Surely, they would dispatch some of the guard to recover the bodies and check the security of the area. But then, Sarah was a guard too and look what happened to her, I thought. "Let's hurry up, this place is freaking me out."
Chiro didn't say anything. He just nodded and stared at the ground.
The blood soaked ground made squishing sounds under our boots. Carefully but quickly we made our way over to the tree. I tried my best not to think too hard about what we were walking through. The smell of death made my stomach rumble in protest. I could only imagine how Chiro felt.
After what felt like ages, though really was only a few hundred feet, we reached the tree. I stepped around to see what was on the other side.
"What the..." I yelled in surprise. I tried to back away from the horror but slipped like an idiot and slammed into Chiro, knocking him over. I fell on the blood soaked ground, its stench now permeating my clothing. The stickiness of the drying blood clung greedily to my clothing, seeking refuge from the cold ground.
"Nice move klutz," Chiro said. I slipped again and fell to one knee as I tried to stand up again. But scowled at him as I carefully made it to my feet.
Chiro turned toward the tree. I saw his eyes bulge in surprise. Apparently, he had not seen what made me fall.
"Is that Mike Arlen?" Chiro asked with a shaky voice.
"I think so, man. This is so wrong. We have to get a response team out here."
Looking back over at Mike, I realized that he was not just propped against the tree. He was actually nailed to it with spikes.
It sounds like it will be a great novel, Tim! Keep working, and I'll be more than happy to report when it's finally unleashed upon the world.
Thanks again for dropping by and reading my blog. Join me tomorrow for another great fantasy post when Natalie Star talks about writing fantasy for young adults. And hey, spread the word, because 29 Days is here all month, and we still have many more fantastic posts to go!
Thanks for reading!
I'm always interested in hearing what you have to say. Contact Me, I'd love to hear from you.
Don't forget to join in on the conversation in the comments section below.
2 Comments(1 Pending Approval):
Back To Top