Here’s an excerpt from a book I’ve completed, but not yet published. It’s Part 1 of a three-part series written for young adults. The book follows the adventures of three youths — two male, one female — on their quest to gather “talents” to save their world from destruction. In their quest, they meet many people they rely on for help, including a sage master and a whimsical story-teller.
If you’d like to see more, let me know, and I can send you more chapters.
(From the chapter A Race for Life)
When Jonathon finally came to where the woman had been, he saw what it was that was giving off that faint glow.
It was another stone, much like he had seen in Mr. Trinken’s study. This one was much larger, though, almost the size of an apple. It was brighter, too, and had a slight warmth to it.
Jonathon picked it up, felt it, wrapped his hands around it, and knew that it was something that held some kind of power.
Now he understood the pull Rose had felt toward the similar stone in the study.
He turned to run back into the town when suddenly something else caught his eye. When he looked up, though, he found nothing.
Not wanting to wait too long to figure out what it was, he took off back toward the wall. Running as fast as he could, he noticed that Rose was back, and with her, Mr. Trinken and his dad.
As Jonathon looked up, he saw that all three were motioning toward him. He had no idea what they were trying to communicate, but Rose was pointing at something off in the distance.
That’s when the horror struck him.
It was reflected off the faces of the three still in the safety of the town. Jonathon didn’t even have to turn around to know he was being pursued. The only reason he did turn was to see how much time he had.
Not much.
Still running, Jonathon turned and saw the humps of three giant beasts bounding toward him. They covered an amazing amount of ground with each stride, and they were closing fast.
Jonathon turned and ran with every ounce of energy he could muster. He felt almost as if he’d leave his legs if he ran any faster, beginning to stumble forward and losing his balance.
He was only about 50 meters from the wall when he realized he wasn’t going to make it. Looking up, he noticed that Rose was still screaming, her father stood, watching stoically, and his dad was gone, nowhere to be found.
Jonathon put on one final burst, but it was in vain. He could now feel the presence the beasts directly behind him, running twice as fast and with twice as much power. There was a breath of warm air on the back of his legs first. That’s when he knew his fate was inevitable.
One of the beasts pounced, a claw ripping into Jonathon’s shoulder. Jonathon was thrown to the ground, the beast rolling over him and past. Jonathon tumbled forward and didn’t bother getting back up. Instaed, he braced himself for the next attack.
But it never came.
Jonathon huddled on the ground, fetal position, head covered for what it was worth. And he waited. It might’ve been as long as 30 seconds — or as short as five — before he opened his eyes again. When he did, he couldn’t begin to grasp what it was he saw. All three beasts were surrounding him, ready to attack, drool spilling out of mouths agape, showing jagged, uneven razors. One had claws up already, large enough to rip him in half and end his life in a matter of milliseconds.
Yet none moved. None was even breathing. They were statues, frozen in time, unable to do anything.
Jonathon felt a pair of hands grab him around the waist and pull him away from his enemies.
“Come on, quickly, Jonathon. We have to move fast.” It was his father, pulling him away from where he was attacked.
Jonathon hadn’t felt any pain up until this point. He hadn’t noticed the giant gash that ran around his right shoulder, the blood pouring down his arm, the lack of strength he now felt because of blood loss. Instead, all he felt was the warmth of his father’s hold around his waist.
He stumbled as his father pulled him. His legs left him, and he couldn’t carry himself any farther.
“Come on, son. Move quickly! Let’s go!”
Jonathon collapsed about 30 meters from the wall. He couldn’t go on. Everything went black. As he collapsed, the only thing racing through his mind was how much his arm was beginning to burn.