{"id":638,"date":"2012-11-08T08:49:40","date_gmt":"2012-11-08T13:49:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thefourpartland.com\/blog\/?p=638"},"modified":"2012-11-08T08:49:40","modified_gmt":"2012-11-08T13:49:40","slug":"burning-down-the-barn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/thefourpartland.com\/blog\/?p=638","title":{"rendered":"Burning Down the Barn"},"content":{"rendered":"

As before, this is an excerpt from my NaNoWriMo novel, so there are some spoilers lurking.<\/em><\/p>\n

\tThey arrived at the edge of the docks to find them strangely empty, although there was one small boat beginning to row out into the harbour, and it was stuffed full of \u00c1\u00f0exe. <\/p>\n

\tTarranau muttered, and made a slapping motion against the water, the others watching as a wave suddenly appeared out of nowhere and flipped the boat, dumping all the \u00c1\u00f0exe over the side. Being excellent swimmers, once they had got their bearings they ignored the boat and continued towards the vessels in the harbour.<\/p>\n

\tThe watermage cursed. \u201cWell, that was a bloody stupid thing to do, wasn’t it?\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\u201cYou had better fix it before \u00c1?\u00f0an finds out. He’s going to be very unhappy if we lose some of the boats.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\u201cNo, he’ll just say something about life being interesting, then hiss a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\u201cWell, there is that too.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tTarranau waved them to silence, and then began skipping razored discs of ice across the water, slicing them in at head height. One after another, crimson stains began to bloom in the water, and with it the increasingly frantic motions of the sailors trying to reach their craft. But none ever did, although the last had been within touching distance of the bow line before Tarranau had been able to slay the creature. <\/p>\n

\tAs he turned his back on the sea, he could hear the fish biting and chewing at the corpses as they floated. Life, at its end.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cSawwaed, what’s your nose smelling?\u201d Bwyell had his helmet off and was sniffing the air.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cBlood, death, broken things. The usual after battle…\u201d He paused. \u201cAnd smoke. There’s smoke somewhere.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tAtyniadol looked at them both. \u201cWe’re in a town, why would the smell of cook fires be that strange in the morning?\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\u201cI don’t think it’s a cooking fire.\u201d Bwyell glanced up and down the docks, then began trotting off to his right. <\/p>\n

\tThe others followed, somewhat bemused by his antics. He was certainly convinced, wherever he was going. <\/p>\n

\tAfter a few minutes of searching, Tarranau waved at Bwyell. \u201cAre you sure there’s anything?\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\u201cI know I smelt wood smoke back there, wood smoke with the tinge of varnish and the like. Not the kind you’d toss on a fire.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\u201cWell, there’s doesn’t seem to be any.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tCeinder pointed to the farthest end of the docks, which they could now see. \u201cTarranau, Bwyell was right.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tFlames leapt from one of the seashore warehouses, and were quickly moving to engulf one of the others next along. \u00c1\u00f0exe ran from the flames, but some of those running carried burning brands.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cSome bright officer is burning down the harbour before we can use it. Atyniadol, Sawwaed, can you stop them? Bwyell too. Ceinder and I will deal with the fires.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tSawwaed nodded, and set off in a jangle of armour, the others close behind.<\/p>\n

\tAs the mages ran, Ceinder glanced over at her husband. \u201cHow are we going to put out a fire that’s already that big?\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\u201cA lot of water and a lot of dust and earth. Unless you have a better idea.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\u201cI was hoping you did. Your intellect isn’t impressing me right now.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\u201cWell, it’s a little stressed out.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\u201cWhy? It’s only a battle.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As before, this is an excerpt from my NaNoWriMo novel, so there are some spoilers lurking. They arrived at the edge of the docks to find them strangely empty, although there was one small boat beginning to row out into the harbour, and it was stuffed full of \u00c1\u00f0exe. Tarranau muttered, and made a slapping […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":[]},"categories":[12,34],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pRIK4-ai","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":354,"url":"http:\/\/thefourpartland.com\/blog\/?p=354","url_meta":{"origin":638,"position":0},"title":"The End of Ice","date":"November 6, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"This piece is an excerpt from what I wrote today for NaNo. Context is missing, so here\u2019s a brief run down: Tarranau has been transformed into an \u00c1\u00f0exe, and is journeying through \u00deracian to meet allied spies. Looking forward once more, Tarranau was just able to shout a warning as\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Tarranau"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":383,"url":"http:\/\/thefourpartland.com\/blog\/?p=383","url_meta":{"origin":638,"position":1},"title":"The Taking of Baeran","date":"November 24, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"A quite long excerpt from my NaNo novel, as the humans and their allies look to turn the tide of the war. The humans had been charged with slipping through B\u00e6ran and striking straight for the buildings that were thought to hold the officers of the \u00deracian army. They were\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Tarranau"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":289,"url":"http:\/\/thefourpartland.com\/blog\/?p=289","url_meta":{"origin":638,"position":2},"title":"The \u00c1\u00f0exe","date":"September 27, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"The \u00c1\u00f0exe are a clan oriented people. Even in the great cities that cover L\u00e6ccan, the \u00c1\u00f0exe huddle in family units, each living in a single dwelling made of many different houses merged together. Towns and cities are built up of clusters of these family units, with each family compound\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Tarranau"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":361,"url":"http:\/\/thefourpartland.com\/blog\/?p=361","url_meta":{"origin":638,"position":3},"title":"Welcome to the Forest","date":"November 9, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Another day, another NaNo excerpt. Brief context: They have set an ambush for \u00deracian soldiers pursuing them. Nieithr is the spirit of a warrior many years dead. Ddifeddianedig is the spiritmage hosting his soul (it\u2019s a time share arrangement). A shout was all the warning that was to be had,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Tarranau"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":284,"url":"http:\/\/thefourpartland.com\/blog\/?p=284","url_meta":{"origin":638,"position":4},"title":"The L\u00e6ccan Continent","date":"September 26, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"The continent of L\u00e6ccan is a wet, dismal place, overrun by swamps and rivers and mangrove nests in the south, and cold and eternally locked in the grip of snow and ice in the north. Foetid jungles and pestilent lands cover the northern slopes of the great mountain range that\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Tarranau"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":364,"url":"http:\/\/thefourpartland.com\/blog\/?p=364","url_meta":{"origin":638,"position":5},"title":"Under The Rain","date":"November 13, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Another NaNo excerpt. Brief context: They are fleeing past two \u00deracian forts, on the way to H\u00e1lsiend. The days passed in swift chain, and the barquentine drew closer to the forts. Behind them, two \u00deracian vessels had appeared, shadowing their movements but unable to catch the commandeered ship. The days\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Tarranau"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/thefourpartland.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/638"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/thefourpartland.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/thefourpartland.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thefourpartland.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thefourpartland.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=638"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/thefourpartland.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/638\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/thefourpartland.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=638"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thefourpartland.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=638"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thefourpartland.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=638"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}