Weekend Writing Warrior: 9/21

This 8 sentence blog hop is hosted by The Weekend Writing Warriors. (Click the link for the list of participants, or rules if you want to join!)

Shield of Namarr is a sword-and-sorcerer type fantasy WIP, set in a kingdom that suffers from magically-created, vicious creatures. Three friends bought a finding-things-lost potion, and set out to track down a stolen magical stone–they’ve found a river, ride across one at a time, with a rope around their waist in case of daggerfish attack, and as Auber crosses last, something attacks the horse. Shan yells at Reagan “get ready to pull!”

 

Regan nodded, jaw tense, fingers clutching the mare’s reins, waiting for the right moment to tug Blaze into motion.

Auber’s gelding lashed out with his hooves, hampered by the silt-filled water around him, and jerked again from another impact. This time, instead of regaining his footing, Nemesis collapsed under the surface.

When he surfaced, snorting, a moment later, Auber no longer sat on his back.

Frantic, Shan hauled on the rope as Regan urged Blaze backwards, the rope jerking out of Shan’s hands when the animal finally pulled away. For a moment, their efforts had no effect, the rope disappearing into the churning water as Nemesis thrashed and bellowed, fighting for the shore.

Several heart-wrenching moments later, Auber broke into the open air, hair soaking wet and plastered flat. Batting at the water, Auber kicked, foot catching something under the water, raising a flash of silver scales as a daggerfish leapt clear.

*   *   *

Originally, Shield of Namarr was intended to be a very short snippet, but some things I wrote at the end raised some questions–which led to more story. I’m currently working on some world-building and character development so I can figure out where the story goes next.

Shan, Auber, and Reagan visit a Stonespeller, a mage who works mostly in animated stone, to buy a potion that will help them recover a lost stone, the Shield of Namarr, which powers a shield that keeps magically-created, dangerous creatures from entering the city they live in. Failure to return the Shield quickly will have deadly consequences for their friend,  Jamie, whose life-force is currently powering the shield-spell.