(Long) Excerpt From The Last Wrath:

(Long) Excerpt from The Last Wrath:

@lassiesandiego @lyutenw @rickie-the-storyteller @writernopal 

This scene belongs to my current medieval dark fantasy WIP - The Last Wrath. The characters in the scene are brothers, Zephyr & Jamie, one of which has been cursed and now grapples with what it might mean to their lives.

“[...] “What’s happening to me?” Zephyr whispered, a sound trapped between disbelief and a sob, holding one trembling hand in front of his eyes as he watched the bleeding cuts on his fist heal - and pitch black tendrils, glimmering in a dead grey hue, spread from within, pulsing from his arm towards his hand like rotten, dead blood. He could feel the magic in his blood, and it wasn’t his, it wasn’t right. It hurt like searing fire, but only at first, before everything turned numb. 

In front of him the shattered mirror, bloodstained, stood like a condemning monument. Only, Zephyr didn’t remember doing this. He didn’t even remember coming here. He watched, in terror, as even the blood on the shards of clear glass turned from normal red to black as tar. Zephyr couldn’t move, couldn’t scream. Like there was an invisible barrier that kept him in place. Even his thoughts seemed like whispers in a hurricane, they seemed like someone else’s. It felt like he wasn’t here, but even worse, it felt like he wasn’t himself. Not anymore. 

Everything was as if underwater, blurred, distant and suffocating. And he was the one drowning in it. Frozen, he was an spectator to the strange flashes that crossed his mind. He saw a kingdom besieged, a familiar one. The smell of the world burning around him assaulted his nose, and he heard the distant clash of swords that haunted his dreams every night. He saw the day they were betrayed, felt the blood gushing out of his wound like it once had, as a blade ripped through his side. The blade that would have killed his brother otherwise. In the mirror, a familiar face stared at him, accusation and disdain written in his eyes behind a strands of white and black hair, an otherwise handsome face destroyed by hatred. 

Zephyr’s breath caught in his throat. He tried to step back, but his feet were locked in place. The young man in the mirror smiled, and Zephyr swore he could hear his laugh. The same laugh as that day, so many winters ago, when death had been so close to them, as the figure suddenly started to morph … into himself. The darkness in his blood pulsed stronger, colder, as it called to him. Zephyr heard a bloodcurdling, horrifying familiar scream as his doppelganger laughed. The image twisted, and he saw his little brother lying dead on the ground. He couldn’t breath.

Before he could  lose himself any further, a pair of arms wrapped around his chest, holding him as if someone dragging him from the bottom of an icy lake would, and awakening back to reality.  A gentle, familiar voice was calling out to him, but he couldn’t yet hear the words.

He saw himself back in his room, a floor filled with toppled books and the welcoming sounds of the early morning wind. Home, he was still home. Kneeling on the floor, he barely realized his throat was raw from screaming. The black tendrils in his hands dissipated slowly, until only his pale skin remained. In front of him, a figure knelt between him and the shattered mirror, shielding him from its sight. Kind brown eyes, ridden with worry and guilt, met his.

“Jamie” Zephyr wept in a weak, hoarse sound, his arms shaking as he lunged into his brother’s arms, desperately clinging onto his shirt, because he was alive. His brother was still alive and they were safe, they were home. He wasn’t a monster, at least not yet. Jamie didn’t say anything, allowing the older boy to hold on as tightly as he needed to as he gently returned his embrace. Tears fell unbidden from Zephyr’s eyes and into the younger’s tunic, as his hands dug panickedly into his back, as if he might disappear at any moment “Jamie, I’m losing myself. I - I saw you die, I can’t… I couldn’t protect you. I’m becoming a monster.”

The words were desperate, a strained line of thought panickedly strung together. Jamie held him tighter to his chest, before pulling away and getting the older boy to calm down. He placed his hands on Zephyr’s shoulders.

“Listen to me. You’re the best man I’ve ever met, you’re not going to lose yourself like this. We’ will find a cure.” Jamie said, every word spoken with utter sincerity as he willed the other to meet his eyes, like Zephyr had done so many times when the roles were reversed “I will make things right, and everything will be fine like it used to be.”

Zephyr scoffed gently, tired irritation seeping into his voice.

“You don’t know that. I could be dangerous and I wouldn’t even know how to stop before the worst already happened”

Jamie sighed, noticing how Zephyr’s eyes flitted between him and the broken mirror behind them. He hated how that day had made Zephyr hate himself so much and how uncertain it had made him. 

“Yes, I do know. You would never hurt me, not even if that guy or his magic tried to force you to, I know you wouldn’t let that happen. You’re my older brother, I will never be afraid of you. [...] ” 

Happy tender Tuesday! Here's a difficult question for you: whose relationship do you think is the most hurtful to each other, by accident or on purpose?

Oooh, this is a complicated one! I don't think I have any character relationship that is intentionally/purposefully hurtful, as I am exhausted of the "toxic lovers trope", (Even though I have a pairing that is "enemies to lovers" - Ellinor and Nethen - their love never does get as tragic as this one ) lol, BUT... There's this one romance that is the most tragic before it eventually works out. It's the relationship between Tanwin (an elf warrior) and Darian (a rebel human).

I'd say it is """"hurtful""""" because :

the characters are unaware at first that the feelings they have for each other are romantic love and spend some time thinking they're just friends. One of them actively believes this because he knows he is in love but considers himself unlovable and broken (Tanwin), therefore thinking that the other would never love him and that saying his feelings out loud would ruin their friendship, while the other is completely oblivious (Darian)

they used to be childhood best friends, (they promised they'd always be together) but one of them was forcefully captured by a mad warlord, separating them for years. The other (Darian) spent years trying to find him (Tanwin), but when he actually does, Tanwin isn't the boy he used to know anymore. He was tortured, experimented on, and made into a warrior. Darian wants to help, but how can he help someone who he doesn't know? Someone whom the world turned dangerous? Nevertheless, Darian isn't about to give up. In truth, Darian also isn't the same boy he was all those years ago: he has grown, fought, joined a rebellion, journeyed the world... They're strangers when they meet again, even though they know who they were "supposed to be"

for a while, what hurts the most, is "the life that could have been", who they could have become - if the war hadn't come to them, and if Tanwin wasn't captured and they had got to be those naive lovesick teens again.

so, they spend a lot of time pining for each other, while Tanwin tries to heal himself and Darian is trying to help. eventually, they start to get to know each other - as in, get to know the new versions of each other that had changed - but it is a hard process until they finally do. Every time they think they "finally found each other" - in a metaphorical sense - things end up chaotic again.

In the end, though, things work out, even though it was a really slow burn until one of them actually confesses their love. It gets really sweet from then on. They help each other grow and heal and eventually get their happily ever after

A song that really fits would be: Left Behind by Reinaiery (though the song is about two girls - and my characters are two boys, the lyrics fit their story perfectly)

@lassiesandiego

Character Quotes:

Cassander Fynn to Luciya Anynth - (From The Last Wrath WIP)

“Secrets are my trade, and yet you are like a book in a language I could never decipher”

@lassiesandiego @lyutenw @rickie-the-storyteller @writernopal

You ever start writing something and it turns out so much darker then expected and your just like “you okay in there?” to yourself or is it just me?

Happy WBW! Tell me anything about the currency of your world! (It can be about denominations, types, regions it's used in, things like that!)

@writernopal

Thanks for the Ask!

In the continent of Agrannor, there are several different regions and kingdoms, some being under the domain of the Morosyn Empire and the others belonging to the Free Realms.

The most common type of currency in the Free Realms are gold and silver pieces (though less valuable metals such as copper, iron or brass will sometimes be used) whose value is defined by the amount and price of the metal used to make them, and which have a carved symbol of a phoenix-like animal on the coins, but the design and color varies according to the kingdom. They have multiple diffenrent names depending on which kingdom you are in, such as Curiats, Illem, Aureas, etc, but they are mostly refered to as "pieces" or "coin". In some places there are alternative currencies such as trade of goods or services (free work in exchange for desired goods, the type and amount of labour being determined by the vendor according to the price and rarity of the intended product - which is something that is often exploited by said vendors) and the prized precious gems found in the sea beds of Vellamere can more often than not replace common coin. Rare runic amulets are often the currency of choice by the mageborn, though they mostly use the human coins in their daily lives. Adrellios, known as the Golden City, is the richest kingdom of the Free Realms.

The Morosyn Empire has its own currency, which has the royal sygil engraved on it and are often refered to as Aseraphs, in honor of the first Empress Seraphina the Mighty. However, currently, the royal sygil has been replaced by the likeness of the egotistical young Emperor Aerich. Slavery as payment for debts is unfortunaly very common in Imperial lands.

Nomadic human tribes of the northern mountains often practice symbolic trades or direct trades of goods instead of using coin. In the Storm Isles, once traditional and rare currency, intricate coins made out of shards shed by the shells of deep sea monsters became common after the Blood Curse swept through their cities, which led to an economic and social breakdown in which their entire economy had to be rebuilt and the old customs became valuable once more (despite the unfortunate and horrid circumstances that led to it). The Elves have their own unique way paying for things, which is quite often diffenrent from human standards and have not practiced trade with human lands for centuries - in fear of revealing the hidden location of their last kingdoms and because they have retreated from relations with humans since the Empire began hunting them down. Elves do not see value in gold, gemstones or silver, and their currency is usually made of other materials with symbolic or magical value. The Fae, now supposedly extinct, used to trade in secrets, soul binds and knowledge.

thinking about my finished book sitting on someones bookshelf...... my book being held in someones hands as they read about the little world i created..... someone excitedly gushing about my book...... fanart...... thats the dream babey