Howdy, y'all!*

In anticipation of my upcoming epic, The Ghost King's Tragedy, I've decided to share a short excerpt from the story. This is from Chapter 3 and it probably won't make a lot of sense until I post the epic itself, but if it generates interest then I'll be happy.

So here it is:

The jungle was just like Kiriah remembered it: hot and humid, with vines and tree branches sticking in their path. It was just as muddy, too, and more than once Kiriah nearly slipped. She didn’t feel so bad about it, though, because the slick mud made the others cautious as well.

Kiriah and Oggak were the only two with swords, so they were in the front cutting a path for their group. Kiriah had asked Akuna why they couldn’t just use their elemental powers to make a path, but Akuna had reminded her that such a move might be seen as an act of aggression by the Ghost King. They simply couldn’t risk alarming him if they were going to get the secret from him.

Most of Kiriah’s concerns were quickly proven pointless, though, because they seemed to be walking along an actual path, for the grass and mud looked as though they had been trampled. There were fewer vines or branches to cut down here.

This gave Kiriah and Oggak time to talk, although Kiriah didn’t really feel comfortable around the Toa of Shadow. Yes, Oggak had already reassured her that she was on their side, but Kiriah knew that shadow was generally not good, so she wasn’t sure what to say to Oggak, if anything at all.

“You’re a Toa of Psionics, right?” said Oggak, glancing at Kiriah as they walked.

“What? Yeah,” said Kiriah, nodding. “What about it?”

“Can you sense any other minds nearby besides our own?” Oggak asked.

Kiriah frowned and shook her head. “No. It feels like there’s this intense mental pressure covering area, like a giant blanket. I can’t even feel your mind and you’re right next to me.”

“That’s probably because I already have mental shields,” Oggak said. “But that is an interesting observation.”

“It must be the Ghost King,” said Akuna from behind them. “This is his island, after all. Maybe he knows what your element is, Kiriah, and he’s trying to stop you from using it.”

“Could be,” said Kiriah, chopping a vine out of the way. “I don’t like it. You guys wouldn’t understand, but it feels like I’m missing a limb. I’ve never had to rely solely on my physical senses to interact with the world before and it makes me nervous.”

“There’s no need to be nervous, Kiriah,” said Ahova, patting the Toa of Psionics on the shoulder. “I mean, what’s the worst that could happen? An ambush?”

Their conversation was interrupted by a rustling sound in the treetops above. Kiriah looked up, but saw nothing. Then something darted through the air and something sharp stabbed her in the shoulder. The blow was enough to send her staggering backwards, yelping as she looked at her shoulder.

A long, thin arrow stuck out of Kiriah’s shoulder. The wound burned like fire and it was bleeding profusely, but Kiriah had no time to think about it, for Akuna shouted, “Watch out!” and tackled Kiriah to the ground as a dozen more arrows flew overhead.

Remember: August 1st. The truth is not what it appears.

(*I can get away with cowboy talk because I live in rural Texas.)

-TNTOS-