Happy Blog Day Everyone!
A new novella starts serialisation today! That's right I'm sharing something that I've been working on and off for a number of years now.
That story is...Avalon Tales! Long term readers of this blog might recognise that name. Really excited to share this one as its also giving me the necessary kick to get writing again. I'm currently a few chapters ahead and hopefully I can keep that momentum. Scroll down to get the prologue and an imaginary book cover!
Before we can get to that though, let's see what Riz is upto, as he's found a book as well...
The Comic Tales of Brennan and Riz
That's a...uhh...interesting book Riz has there. I don't think I'd want to see that one adapted!
Short Diversions: Avalon Tales Prologue
Here is, the start of a whole new story (one that doesn't require reading Daemon Soul or the other Avalon short stories, but can give you an extra bit of fun if you have)!
I'll admit up front that the early chapters might be slow, but that will definitely change once we get into the thick of things...Aside from the first chapter, which we'll see next time.
Chapter Index
Prologue
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Prologue: The Girl With The White Hair
All she could smell was burning, a fire raging around her. She looked in the broken glass that had been a car's wing mirror and stared as her brown hair turned snow white, as though the colour was being drained out. It contrasted with the baleful reds and dancing oranges that surrounded her. She went to move but her body was wracked with pain. Then, the flames seemed to part, and an ethereal arm reached out for her, there she caught a glimpse of a face and ten year old Isabelle screamed. She screamed and cried out till she felt a hand on her shoulder, and the tumultuous flames died out in the rain, as the little girl remembered where she really was. She looked up to the heavens that seemed to be crying for her.
The hand that was on her shoulder belonged to her grandmother, Nina Hughes. To most that would casually look at her, Nina was a humble looking sixty year old woman, yet all in attendance knew who she really was and the authority she spoke with. Isabelle herself had seen every facet of her personality, and knew when to be afraid to test her boundaries, yet, she looked on in awe as everyone else at the funeral gave her reverence. This wasn’t just the burial of Isabelle’s mother, but Nina’s daughter. The pair connected in their loss. Nina had an umbrella carefully placed to block out as much as the rain as she could, but droplets still snuck past, and they fell on Isabelle, and her snow white hair, magnifying the distress she felt.
“It always rains at funerals, it shows that those above empathise with those below,” Nina said, though her words lacked the conviction they may have once had. Clearly, she was saying it for the benefit of Isabelle, for what purpose wasn’t clear. They stood next to a mound of freshly covered dirt, the name on the tombstone read Diana Blake. This was Isabelle’s mother’s funeral. Wanting to avoid looking at the reminder that her mum was gone and never coming back, she turned to the right and saw her father, Leo Blake, talking with a group of men, one of which was her uncle. The others, she recognised some of them from previous encounters, meetings watched from between bannisters on the stairs. Her father’s face was stern, and his expression unchanging, even when he turned to face his daughter and mother in law.
His colleagues parted and he walked over to where Isabelle and Granny Hughes were standing.
“Nina, can you please look after her tonight, probably tomorrow night as well,” he said. His voice had changed since that day, he was cold and indifferent. Even when he was looking at her, he seemed to be focusing on elsewhere.
“Leo!” Nina snapped. “I know how important this moment is, but your daughter needs you! She was in that accident too!”
“Nina, this is hard for me as well! However, I have a duty now. Thanks to Gerrad’s actions, Avalon is in disarray, and it’s fallen on me to put it back together, to reunify it, and make it stronger.” Leo spat when he said that name, a new quirk that Isabelle had never seen before, especially since that name was a familiar one that crept into other conversations.
As they had been talking, some other people had walked up to them. While the other guests at the Funeral had been wearing the appropriate attire for such an event, these however, wore grey military style clothing, but with a more regal feel. There were six in total, three men and three women. All of them had the same white sword symbol on their shoulder. Isabelle had learned what that symbol meant at a young age. Avalon. While it wouldn’t be for a few years yet where she’d learn everything, she knew from what she’d overheard that they were the protectors of the realm. Her childish idealism was born from the adoration of her mother, who wore the symbol with pride, even to the end.
A swirl of fire erupted around Isabelle at that moment, as the nightmare took hold again, her granny and father disappearing into the smoke, and she was crawling forward again, that copper taste stinging her mouth. Ahead of her, as she moved each painful inch, she saw her mother, battered and bloody, with an ornate sword in her hand. She was facing down a monster of black fire, multiple arms reaching out to claim a victim.
“Isabelle! Diana!” Her father’s cries echoed, and someone from behind dragged her up, and she saw that melancholy face with those blue eyes. There was kindness but also repentance…
“Isabelle!” Nina shouted harshly, snapping Isabelle free from the memory. Her voice lessened when the young girl looked up. “You were there again, weren’t you?” Without a hesitation Nina pulled her granddaughter in close, hugging her, as if that was enough to push away the nightmares.
“Where’s daddy?” Isabelle cried out, “Where’s mommy! I want them back! I want them both back!”
There wasn’t anything Nina could say to make it better. The group of people had whisked Leo away, and now, Isabelle and Nina were the only ones left in the graveyard.
“Let’s go home,” Nina finally said.
“Granny...Can you tell me about mommy? Tell me what she was like?”
“Of course! I’ll tell you everything about her. She’ll never die if we keep talking about her.”
Granny Nina’s words comforted Isabelle a little, but it would only serve to keep a flame of ambition alive. Along with the nightmare that was from the day she lost her mother there was another memory, a more blissful one.
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Isabelle sat on her parents bed, watching her mum get ready for work, that sword symbol on her shoulder. Diana was brushing her hair when she noticed her daughter’s intense gaze.
“What’s wrong Izzy?”
“Nothing! Mummy? Can I ask you something?” Isabelle asked in that curious way kids do, where they’re fighting a battle between nerves and curiosity.
“You can ask me anything, Izzy. If I know the answer is a different matter!” Diana laughed, eliminating all of Isabelle’s nerves.
“Mummy! I want to be like you! I want to save people! Like you do!” Isabelle leapt on the bed, shouting at the top of her lungs.
“How do you know I save people?”
“You’re my mom! You wouldn’t be a bad guy!” Isabelle jumped off the bed and into her mother’s waiting arms.
“So what’s your question then?”
“How can I be like you? I want to join Avalon! I want to be a hero too!”
“Joining Avalon is a good start! But it’s not easy, and it’s very, very dangerous. I work to protect you and every other child, family out there,” Diana explained, putting her daughter on the floor, staring her in the face, but gently smiling all the time.
“I want to protect everyone too!” Isabelle shouted.
“I know you want to...” Diana hugged her, and it was that feeling that Isabelle wanted more than anything right now.
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Next Chapter (not live yet)
Going forward, I'm hoping to keep to the fortnightly schedule I had with Phantom Dawn. Will this year go smoother than last time? Only one way to find out!
Till next time...
Keep on writing!
Peter James Martin
Quick Links
Malarkey's Imaginomnibus Volume 1
Malarkey's Imaginomnibus Fade to Noir
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