Final Day, Final Count
Aug. 31st, 2010 08:59 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dracoqueen22As promised, today I bring to you the final count of Whispers of Yesterday. It's not finished, per se, but it's as finished as it's going to get right now. I'm of the mind that what's next is the second draft, to be started on in October possibly. Perhaps I'll wait until after NaNoWriMo (which, this year, I've decided to go with a slashy concept).
Final Count: 82,447
I'm guessing that after the second draft/first round of edits is finished, I'll have added 30K to the manuscript. Something to look forward to, yes?
And now, after that exhausting month-long effort, I'm taking a few days resting hiatus to recharge. Oh, I'll still be busy. I'm going to do a major overhaul on my sites, not in appearance, but in content. Upload some chapters I haven't managed to do yet. Check each link, update some outdated information, so on and so forth. Administrative work, as I like to call it. And if I still carry the urge to rest, I'll work on getting some of my more recent fics onto livejournal as well, for easier reading.
But enough about me. How about that preview of Whispers of Yesterday I promised? Last time I brought porn. I thought about changing it up this time, to something a bit more action-y, a bit more spoiler-y, but not too much if you've read or at least browsed through Minutes to Midnight, the fanfiction that spawned ideas for this.
This particular scene is taken from chapter six, in which Ione and a small team from Paragon face an attack from the Merihem, creatures mentioned briefly in The Edge of Tomorrow. As far as spoilers for the story go, they are mild. Mostly revealing some aspects about the Merihem that you hadn' t known before but not spoiling anything regarding the plot. It's just a teaser.
Enjoy!
Those familiar with my The Mimickers series will probably notice the parallels I've drawn between the Merihem and the Deus. I've also taken bits and pieces and aspects from various other influences: the Heartless in Kingdom Hearts, the strange shadow bestiary in FFVIII, the Hollow from Bleach, and other notable series. The creatures are not the same by any means and the most influence I drew was from the Deus in The Mimickers. The idea of a human being twisted into something perverse is not entirely original, I admit, but I hope I've put a relatively interesting spin on things here. More will emerge in the full version of this chapter.
I hope you enjoyed! Tomorrow, I bring you a press release for Torquere Press' new and exciting contest.
Final Count: 82,447
I'm guessing that after the second draft/first round of edits is finished, I'll have added 30K to the manuscript. Something to look forward to, yes?
And now, after that exhausting month-long effort, I'm taking a few days resting hiatus to recharge. Oh, I'll still be busy. I'm going to do a major overhaul on my sites, not in appearance, but in content. Upload some chapters I haven't managed to do yet. Check each link, update some outdated information, so on and so forth. Administrative work, as I like to call it. And if I still carry the urge to rest, I'll work on getting some of my more recent fics onto livejournal as well, for easier reading.
But enough about me. How about that preview of Whispers of Yesterday I promised? Last time I brought porn. I thought about changing it up this time, to something a bit more action-y, a bit more spoiler-y, but not too much if you've read or at least browsed through Minutes to Midnight, the fanfiction that spawned ideas for this.
This particular scene is taken from chapter six, in which Ione and a small team from Paragon face an attack from the Merihem, creatures mentioned briefly in The Edge of Tomorrow. As far as spoilers for the story go, they are mild. Mostly revealing some aspects about the Merihem that you hadn' t known before but not spoiling anything regarding the plot. It's just a teaser.
Enjoy!
It was a Merihem, or at least, Ione assumed it was one. Having never seen or faced one, she had to assume that the strange conglomeration of darkness was one of the tainted beasts. It was hard to say whether or not it had form. There was evidence of a body, of limbs and something that could pass as a head. Two eyes peered from the bulbous head-shaped part of it, sharp and gem-colored, bright like rubies.
It moved fluidly, as though lacking skeleton and anything solid, its shape shifting from one to the next, though leaving impressions in the soft earth beneath it. It hissed again, revealing a mouth marred by sharp, stained teeth that were quickly wetted by a pink, fleshy tongue.
It might have once been a familiar beast. A dog perhaps, or a large cat. But now, it was only Merihem, hungry and broken.
“Don’t physically touch them!” Kieran shouted, his blade whipping through the air.
Them? Ione blinked. She only saw one.
Behind her, Helene shouted, and Ione whirled. Three more Merihem had approached from behind, different sizes and different flowing shapes. Eyes of green and gold and ocher.
Helene drew a weapon from a hook at her side, a rod that extended with a flick of her wrist, weighted down on one end with heavy metal. She swung it like a pro, cracking one Merihem over what must have been the head as though the weapon weighed next to nothing.
Ione gaped, and then blinked as though coming out of a long dream. She couldn’t afford to stand here staring, not with the Merihem’s hunger practically palpable. When the only sound of the battle was her companion’s reactions.
Ione reached inside herself, and stepped forward, intending to help Helene. Siobhan swore, unladylike, behind Ione, no doubt facing an enemy of her own. And Gale was already at Ione’s side, blade drawn, serious and focused.
Ione whipped her hand through the air, summoning the very wind, forming a blade of pure aether. She twisted her arms, directing it toward the advancing Merihem, her aim focused on the shade with ocher eyes that seemed pinned on Ione. She couldn’t fight the chill that crept down her spine, the eerie sensation of being considered its next meal.
Her wind scythes flew through the air, cutting a violent swathe as it slammed into the Merihem’s body with an audible thump, like a fist hitting a pillow. But the Merihem barely stirred, absorbing the blow as though it had been as harmless as a paper cut, advancing forward again.
Breath caught in her throat, Ione unconsciously backpedaled and slammed her foot against the ground, twisting her wrist and summoning a flurry of stones. She yanked them out of the barren earth, pelting them at the Merihem, summoning more wind to her side in their wake. She couldn’t touch the beast; her martial arts were useless.
The bits of jagged rock slammed into the Merihim, only to bounce back and fall to the ground, completely ineffective. Ione felt it then, a sensation as though some hand had reached inside of her, pulling on something inside her. Something necessary to her existence. It was pain and it burned and as Ione stared at the Merihem, those calm, ocher eyes meeting hers. Their eyes locked, the tugging increased, and dizzy, Ione stumbled.
There was a boy, laughing, smiling. He ran through a field of flowers, daisies, she thought. It smelled of springtime, a sea of dandelion fluff floating dizzily through the air. The boy danced, spinning and spinning with arms outstretched.
Gale stepped in front of her, until all she could see was his narrow back and the dark grey of his well-fitting robes. The connection broken, Ione gasped, sucking in a desperate breath. It had felt like cold claws had gripped her lungs. Like something had taken her heart in hand, watching fascinated as it foolishly continued to beat.
His robe fluttered as he lifted his hand, sword rising and falling rhythmically. The blade made no sound as it cut through the Merihem, but the beast itself made a strange, breathy noise, as though a waterskin had been abruptly deflated after being filled with air.
“Don’t look them in the eye,” Gale said, his voice strangely soft and deep in the following silence.
Ione gulped in heavy breaths. “That was…?”
“Not a dream. An afterimage of the past, perhaps. Of what the Merihem had once been.”
Her heart felt as if it had been gripped again, this time by emotion rather than an enemy hand. That laughing, smiling boy had become a Merihem? When? How? Ione felt sick, her stomach churning unpleasantly, threatening to expel her breakfast of fruit-covered pancakes.
“It’s better, in the long run, if you don’t know what you are destroying,” Gale added, much more softly, as though sympathetic to her raging emotions. “Because if you hesitate, they will devour you. That image no longer exists and right now, the best we can do for them, is to destroy them.”
It moved fluidly, as though lacking skeleton and anything solid, its shape shifting from one to the next, though leaving impressions in the soft earth beneath it. It hissed again, revealing a mouth marred by sharp, stained teeth that were quickly wetted by a pink, fleshy tongue.
It might have once been a familiar beast. A dog perhaps, or a large cat. But now, it was only Merihem, hungry and broken.
“Don’t physically touch them!” Kieran shouted, his blade whipping through the air.
Them? Ione blinked. She only saw one.
Behind her, Helene shouted, and Ione whirled. Three more Merihem had approached from behind, different sizes and different flowing shapes. Eyes of green and gold and ocher.
Helene drew a weapon from a hook at her side, a rod that extended with a flick of her wrist, weighted down on one end with heavy metal. She swung it like a pro, cracking one Merihem over what must have been the head as though the weapon weighed next to nothing.
Ione gaped, and then blinked as though coming out of a long dream. She couldn’t afford to stand here staring, not with the Merihem’s hunger practically palpable. When the only sound of the battle was her companion’s reactions.
Ione reached inside herself, and stepped forward, intending to help Helene. Siobhan swore, unladylike, behind Ione, no doubt facing an enemy of her own. And Gale was already at Ione’s side, blade drawn, serious and focused.
Ione whipped her hand through the air, summoning the very wind, forming a blade of pure aether. She twisted her arms, directing it toward the advancing Merihem, her aim focused on the shade with ocher eyes that seemed pinned on Ione. She couldn’t fight the chill that crept down her spine, the eerie sensation of being considered its next meal.
Her wind scythes flew through the air, cutting a violent swathe as it slammed into the Merihem’s body with an audible thump, like a fist hitting a pillow. But the Merihem barely stirred, absorbing the blow as though it had been as harmless as a paper cut, advancing forward again.
Breath caught in her throat, Ione unconsciously backpedaled and slammed her foot against the ground, twisting her wrist and summoning a flurry of stones. She yanked them out of the barren earth, pelting them at the Merihem, summoning more wind to her side in their wake. She couldn’t touch the beast; her martial arts were useless.
The bits of jagged rock slammed into the Merihim, only to bounce back and fall to the ground, completely ineffective. Ione felt it then, a sensation as though some hand had reached inside of her, pulling on something inside her. Something necessary to her existence. It was pain and it burned and as Ione stared at the Merihem, those calm, ocher eyes meeting hers. Their eyes locked, the tugging increased, and dizzy, Ione stumbled.
There was a boy, laughing, smiling. He ran through a field of flowers, daisies, she thought. It smelled of springtime, a sea of dandelion fluff floating dizzily through the air. The boy danced, spinning and spinning with arms outstretched.
Gale stepped in front of her, until all she could see was his narrow back and the dark grey of his well-fitting robes. The connection broken, Ione gasped, sucking in a desperate breath. It had felt like cold claws had gripped her lungs. Like something had taken her heart in hand, watching fascinated as it foolishly continued to beat.
His robe fluttered as he lifted his hand, sword rising and falling rhythmically. The blade made no sound as it cut through the Merihem, but the beast itself made a strange, breathy noise, as though a waterskin had been abruptly deflated after being filled with air.
“Don’t look them in the eye,” Gale said, his voice strangely soft and deep in the following silence.
Ione gulped in heavy breaths. “That was…?”
“Not a dream. An afterimage of the past, perhaps. Of what the Merihem had once been.”
Her heart felt as if it had been gripped again, this time by emotion rather than an enemy hand. That laughing, smiling boy had become a Merihem? When? How? Ione felt sick, her stomach churning unpleasantly, threatening to expel her breakfast of fruit-covered pancakes.
“It’s better, in the long run, if you don’t know what you are destroying,” Gale added, much more softly, as though sympathetic to her raging emotions. “Because if you hesitate, they will devour you. That image no longer exists and right now, the best we can do for them, is to destroy them.”
Those familiar with my The Mimickers series will probably notice the parallels I've drawn between the Merihem and the Deus. I've also taken bits and pieces and aspects from various other influences: the Heartless in Kingdom Hearts, the strange shadow bestiary in FFVIII, the Hollow from Bleach, and other notable series. The creatures are not the same by any means and the most influence I drew was from the Deus in The Mimickers. The idea of a human being twisted into something perverse is not entirely original, I admit, but I hope I've put a relatively interesting spin on things here. More will emerge in the full version of this chapter.
I hope you enjoyed! Tomorrow, I bring you a press release for Torquere Press' new and exciting contest.
