In August 2019, I took part in Prose-ject‘s Prose-ject S.T.O.R.M H.A.I.L, which meant that I had to write 15000 words during that month alone. I chose no prompts and resources, just the wordcount goal to get the stuff actually out of me and on my computer. On the 29th, I managed to pass that mark with 25 words and two days to spare and posted this sample on DeviantArt to show for what I had done.
This sample features the main characters the narrator Iris Unforgiving and Thomas Wayfarer, the fellow magic student and protege/potentially trustworthy male human being. This section of the novel is set near winter, some weeks (around a couple of months as of the rough timeline) after Iris ended up on Greenfield. As she has yet to find a way back to Earth, she spends her time with her fellow magic student Thomas and her mentor Matthew Lifehound, who took both of them under his wing when they ended up on Greenfield.
Disclaimer: This is unedited material, taken from the first draft of the book. After a proofread there should not be any typoes etc., but if you happen to spot any, please let me know. Everything in this post is subject to change in the future, but I do hope I get to keep this part of the book.
This sample is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, events and incidents are products of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
Copyright © 2019 WindySilver. All rights reserved.
Greenfield: Book 1: The Change
A sample from chapter 10, currently titled Tried and Failed.
The frosted grass crunched underneath my boots at every step while I kept wriggling my toes to keep them warm. Thomas had already chopped a huge load of firewood while I’d been carrying what I’d been able to carry to the stall. I watched out for any projectiles coming from the combat trainees Matthew was training while we were working; today was apparently a spar day, so the trainees were fighting with what they could do the best. While it was awesome to watch, projectile ice, fire and wind were dangerous whenever they either missed or were bounced back with Rebound. If it wasn’t for Matthew, the buildings would’ve probably been damaged badly a long time ago, but we teens had to watch out for ourselves while we were outside.
As I started to pick up wood for the umpteenth time today, Thomas stopped chopping wood and huffed, then wiped some sweat off his forehead.
“Y’know, sometimes it feels like this wood won’t end,” he said.
“Well,” I said and nodded towards the forest out there, “it doesn’t.”
Thomas laughed. “Yeah, this place has more trees than people for sure. There’s no way we can ever chop it all down.”
“Well, I don’t think we really have to,” I said. I turned and left to carry the pile I had gathered. Thomas returned to chopping the wood when I was a few steps away.
The pile of firewood was starting to be nicely tall already. Miracle neighed at me when I came inside, so after putting the wood away I went to her. “Sorry, Miracle, you can’t go out yet. The adults are still practicing there.” I stroked her muzzle and left. The wood wouldn’t carry itself if I stayed with the horses.
When I got back to Thomas, he took a break again.
“What, is it just me or are you getting so tired already?” I teased. Thomas let out what sounded like a mixture of a laugh and a huff.
“I’ve been chopping wood almost nonstop for probably over an hour by now, so yeah, I’m getting a bit exhausted here,” he said. “But more than that, I think I can talk more safely when I’m not swinging an axe at the same time.”
“So, what do you wanna say?” I asked, not stopping my own work of gathering wood.
“You’ve been looking at those people Matthew’s been training for a while. Do you ever think you’d like to be one of them, a proper magician combatant?” Thomas asked.
I stopped and looked at the spar. The two fighters — brothers, as far as I’ve understood — were quite evenly matched in skill. They must’ve been training together so much that they knew each other’s tricks. But did I want to be like either of them or their fellows?
I gave the honest answer, “I don’t know. Right now, I’m just trying to survive.”
WindySilver 