Happy Blog Day Everyone!
Today I have the first chapter of Phantom Dawn to share with you all. It was done a lot faster than I thought it would hence why I'm sharing it now and not next week like I initially planned. Chapter 2 however, probably will take two weeks!
On top of that we have another installment in the Comic Tales of Brennan and Riz's "Band Saga"! You can find that below!
Hope you enjoy it.
The Comic Tales of Brennan and Riz
I don't know what happened to Brennan and Riz in panel 1, they both look badly off model (Brennan more so) very odd. Anyway! Yes here's part 2 of Riz’s band shenanigans. Next week may be the final part of this, as I always like to ensure I've got time spare for a Valentines special, though, unlike the serendipitous timing of last year, this time, the comic will be going up 4 days earlier than the event. Can't be helped I guess!
Writing Challenge Update
Here we are within the closing days of January (it's certainly feels like it's been a long month) and I can now reflect on how the past two weeks have gone for my impromptu writing challenge. In a word? Fantastic. In that two weeks I knocked 13k words off my target. Pretty good considering that still leaves the 28 days in February to smash apart the rest (less than 22k!). At 750 words at least, im expecting to get it done! Though, of course what comes after that will probably make this bit the easiest part!
I've got a plan, let's see if I can ride it to the end!
Short Diversions: Phantom Dawn- Memories of a Rose Chapter 1
We're back with the first proper chapter of Phantom Dawn, a lot faster than I was expecting actually! These first three chapters I've planned to be an introduction to the world and two of the main characters. More will come in Chapter 4, as anyone who can remember my Comic attempts can attest too. I did a bit of too'ing and fro'ing on how to introduce the world here, so hopefully I've taken the right path.
Phantom Dawn Index
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Chapter 1: Girl in the Sand
Elsewhere…
An old man braved the harsh winds as he forced himself forwards, the land around him was broken and diseased, but it was all anyone had. The old man though, Neal, thought he was making good progress. His trek across the wasteland had gone smoother than he had anticipated. Soon, he would be in the relative safety of the new towns, and out of the open spaces of the valley. Shelter couldn’t come quick enough, he knew the event was imminent, and when that occurred, the strange beasts that roamed would become even more dangerous. One thing he wouldn’t escape from, was the oppressive overcast sky. It’s grey colour was threatening but sadly normal. Neal knew no one that had known any different, even when the event took place, the clouds didn’t part. He may have been able to move faster if he wasn’t lugging around the suitcase that was tied to his arm. The suitcase though, was proof of his occupation to those who were in the know.
Rubbing his beard, Neal stopped for a breather, glancing at his surroundings, and ignoring the mirages that offered tantalising glimpses of the treasures that were buried under rock and sand. His age required too many of these breathers than he would have liked, and with each one, he could feel a greater pull to dig, but he knew better. Mustering all his will power, and with a heavy breath, he began to move forward once more. He lifted the brim of his hat a bit to observe the sky, trying to gauge where the sun was behind the clouds that forever obscured it. He estimated another hour or two of optimum light left before he’d have to stop for the night.
There had been a droning sound that he heard faintly, it hadn’t bothered him at first as out in the wasteland, there was always some weird noise or another in the distance. This one however, transcended classification. Now, it was getting louder, like the source was heading towards him. He looked around for the source, and found his gaze locked to the sky above. There was something new there, like a glinting star. It started slow but then erupted into a tear that streaked across the observable sky above Neal. The other side of this divide looked like chaos itself, a mix of nightmarish colours that clashed into each other. From this though he spotted a white object that contrasted heavily against the madness. This object, whatever it was, moved slowly at first till it was clear from the tear, then it broke up into multiple parts, each shooting down to earth, with the closest crashing several dunes away from where Neal stood. Still in shock, the old man looked back at the tear, just in time to see it close itself up again, the strange sound disappearing along with it.
In the stillness that remained, Neal cautiously headed over to where the object had fallen, wanting to see what had been ejected. While he would never claim to have a good idea of what was going on in the world, he thought he knew enough. This event was a knock against that. Scrambling to the top of the ridge of the last hill, he looked out expecting to see an impact crater but there was little evidence of one, but the white light was there all the same. It seemed to flicker wildly before fading away, leaving something at its centre.
Plucking up all the courage he had, Neal went closer and closer till he could make out the strange object that fell from the sky.
It was a body.
Throwing aside his cautiousness, he quickened his pace, any sense of his own safety was replaced with concern for the other person. Now close enough to see details, he saw a red haired girl with tattered clothing. She looked like she might have been in her late teens, but he couldn’t be sure. He found it odd that despite the state of her clothes, and having fallen from the sky in spectacular fashion, her skin wasn’t harmed. There were no bruises or cuts or anything. The girl in the sand was laid on her back, her arms outstretched and her legs side by side. The other imprints in the sand next to her, Neal presumed that to have been created by the strange light she’d been encased in. He edged closer to her, and placed his hand gently on her wrist, checking for a pulse, and finding that, against all odds, that she was alive. Knowing this, he sat back and pondered what was going on. This girl should not be here, she should be dead but here she was. It put him in a quandary over what he should do right now. He knew it wouldn’t be right for him to just leave her there, but at the same time he wasn’t equipped for an event like this, not currently. He was in such a puzzlement that he never noticed the girl’s hand move.
Her weird dreams ended, the girl woke up with a shock, sitting bolt upright. Her senses were in as much confusion as she was. She looked around frantically, till it became clear that she wasn’t sure what she was looking for. All around her was a wasteland, not many signs of any life apart from the old man who had almost fallen backwards with the surprise that she was moving around.
“Hello?” the girl asked.
“H-Hello?” the old man repeated back to her. “Y-You’re okay?” he added once he caught his breath back. With a slight cough, he took a more dignified position.
The girl held out her hands, looking at them intently, and then the rest of herself.
“I think I’m okay?” she said after a moment.
“That’s good. My name is Neal, what is yours?” the old man said, holding out his hand for her to shake it, but instead, she just looked puzzled.
“My name? I don’t think I have a name,” the girl replied sadly.
“Oh, I see, do you remember how you got here then?” Neal asked instead.
Putting her hands to her head, the girl tried to remember anything, any little detail. Instead, it was like looking at a screen full of static, with the only memories that came through to her being of that dark space she was floating in, and of the rose. Her eyes widened as she began to frantically search the area next to her.
“What’s wrong?” Neal asked, taking to his feet, his eyes also starting to dart from place to place, trying to spot whatever it was the girl was looking for. “If you can tell me what you’re looking for, I might be able to help you?”
“Where is it? I had it in my hand, I’m sure of it!” the girl cried out, then she caught sight of something from the corner of her eye, something red buried partially in the sand kicked up by the impact she made on the ground. She reached down and plucked the object from its resting place, and Neal looked at it as though it stirred some forgotten memory of his own.
“I know that plant…” He murmured to himself.
“I don’t know where this came from…I think someone precious to me gave it as a gift, but I can’t be sure. The more I look at it, the more I get the impression that I’m supposed to have it. I think, no, I’m positive, it’s called a rose,” the girl said proudly, holding it up to what she assumed was the sun in the sky, hidden being a veil of clouds.
“Yes, I believe it was. I remember seeing a picture of it in a book once, long ago. If I recall, they no longer exist in this world,” Neal explained, as the girl turned to face him.
“Really? That’s so sad,” she looked away, and back to the flower in her hands. Everything about it was pristine, yet its appearance also gave Neal pause. He had wandered these lands for a long time, long enough to know when something felt off. Ultimately though, he decided to not act on that feeling for now, the girl seemed genuinely happy that she’d been reunited with the rose. There were a lot of questions that he feared there would be no answers for at the moment. He looked up at the sky again, where that strange event had taken place. He remembered that there had been several white objects that had fallen, were there people in each of them? Or were there more items out there, items linked to this strange red haired girl. The more he looked at her the more he got a strange feeling, that she was reminiscent of someone else, but there was on questions about that sensation, he knew the answers all too well and buried them again. There was no time to feel pity.
As happy as the girl was though, the moment she brought the rose in closer to herself, so she could take a deeper look into its head, then another image flashed into her mind, this was one of a shadow in the black, red eyes glaring at her from the darkness, and a smile that she knew was there, twisted and stretched, open in mocking laughter. The shadow itself had a curious shape, it stood like a man, but the general outline was more rounded at the top and thinning as it went down till it reached the bottom, which was a mass of tentacles. It was those tentacles that were reaching out for her in this memory, crucifying her in the air. The memory stopped as soon as it started, and she collapsed to the floor, as though all the pain from that memory was being reapplied to her now, every excruciating second of it.
Neal didn’t understand what was happening, but he ran to her all the same, only to find that she’d lapsed back into unconsciousness, resembling the state he found her in the first time. Now he really was at a crossroads. He was winging the whole situation, unsure of what he was supposed to be doing, or what he could do. The other event would be happening soon, he was sure of it looking at the way the sky was now, the grey clouds turning darker. However, just like before, he knew he couldn’t leave her. So, he pulled a blanket out of his bag, and laid it over her, and focused his efforts on making a little fire, hoping that the light would keep away trouble, at least before it happened. After that, all bets would be off, and he prayed to whatever higher being in the sky would listen that the girl should awake before that happened. He settled in for what he knew would be a very long night.
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Well, that's all for now folks! If chapter 2 is looking to be done earlier, I may debut it next week, otherwise, expect it the fortnight after.
Till then,
Keep on writing!
Peter James Martin
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