The Adventures of Lando Erif :: The Day My Mum is Actually a Superhero (Pt. Five)

Guys. It's one day until Camp NaNoWriMo. WHAT. HOW DID THAT HAPPEN SO FAST??? 

So naturally I'm spending the last day preparing for my Camp novel and-- oh wait. Actually never mind. I'll spend the last day writing Lando, editing, critique reading and farewelling all those procrastinating stuffs that might dare to bog me down.

Let's see if it actually works.

BUT I'M SOOOO EXCITED.

Ahem. Anyways this wasn't meant to be a Camp NaNo post so I shall not rabbit on about it any longer and will instead go straight onward to the story!!

:: Part One ::
:: Part Two ::
:: Part Three ::
:: Part Four ::

Note: Today we have another Titus point of view chapter! You guys get to find out what happened after the toadstool magic ring and everything. Where did they go? Why did the fairies kidnap them?

Read on to find out...

Titus jolted awake, his eyes snapping open. “Thomas?”

His twin mumbled something from beside him and relief seeped across his shoulders. He was okay.

Rubbing his eyes, he squinted around at their surroundings. Everything was glowing weirdly, causing him to squint harder against the light. Where in the world was he? Smooth, engraved pavers beneath his shoes, high walls of bright stone on all sides. It was a few moments before it clicked.

A courtyard.

And not just any random courtyard but…the courtyard of a fairy castle?

“No way,” he breathed, shoving his hair from his forehead and turning in a circle on the spot to stare up at the walls. “That architecture is amazing. This is like nothing I’ve ever—”

“Ti…” Thomas’s groan from below broke him off and he glanced down quickly.

“Are you okay?”

“Only if you stop about the architecture.”

“Oh yeah…” He scratched his ear and nodded. “Okay.” 

Thomas stood up beside him, grabbing his arm. “People coming.”

“Dude no, those aren’t people.” Titus felt his throat go slightly dry. “I’m fairly sure those are, in fact—”

“Fairy,” Thomas finished.

“Yup.”

“We’re doomed.”

Titus braced himself as the fairies approached. There was at least seven of them, and all of them staring at him and his twin. The leader stopped two meters away, looking them both up and down, his bright blue eyes sweeping over them.

“Um…” Thomas shifted a little closer to Titus, clearing his throat.

“Hi…?” Titus added, hopefully.

The fairy stood, his expression a perfect poker face. “Watch and observe.”

A frown creased Titus’s brows. “Sorry…what?”

“See? They are completely harmless.” The fairy looked back at his companions and beckoned for them to approach.

“Okaaay, you’re not talking to us. You’re talking about us.” He nodded, shifting back half a pace as all the fairies moved in closer. “That’s…nice.”

“Fate’s rumours cannot be true, if these are real humans,” one fairy muttered, glancing at the others.

“Dude, of course we’re real humans.” Thomas crossed his arms over his chest. “And what else might we be?”

A low whisper ran through the group, all the men gazing at Thomas. Titus stepped forward in front of his twin. “Hey you guys need to chill. What’s the deal with bringing us here, anyway?”

Silence.

Titus frowned deeper. “Are you all deaf?”

The first fairy stepped forward again until he was within arms reach. “Zey Nabra D’feord lies. Clearly. Although these might have a strange way of speaking—”

“Hey!” he let out a protest, earning a sharp glance.

“—And perhaps are barbaric in their ways. They are not harmful.” The fairy waved one hand at them both, bowing to his fellow mythological beings.

Titus exchanged a glance with Thomas and then held up a hand. “Excuse me?”

The fairies looked at him, murmuring again.

“Why in the world did you abduct us to your…” He glanced around. “…Fairy castle? Is this fairyland or some such nonse—” he stopped himself at the last moment, deciding it mightn’t be a good idea to risk insulting their captors.

A moment of silence before someone from the back spoke up. “You have been taken in for observation. We must discover the truth behind the myths. If Zey Nabra is correct then you shall die with the rest.”

Titus froze, staring at the speaker. “Wait…”

“What?” Thomas gaped.

“Take the two humans to the guest room, and make sure they are comfortable, and under strong guard at all times.” The fairy leader turned away.

Titus took the moment to his advantage. Grabbing his twin’s arm, he spun and started running in the opposite direction. He wasn’t going to be some prisoner in an insane castle somewhere.

He sprinted across the courtyard, the shouts behind him sending fear prickling down his spine and urging him faster. Thomas started drawing ahead, but he managed to keep up the pace still. He reached the wall just behind Thomas, his twin shoving open a door and lurching through.

Titus scrambled after him, kicking it shut and bolting up the stairs behind Thomas. His breath panted in his chest, but he ran as hard as he could, skipping stairs in his speed.

A few moments later they burst out onto the top of the wall surrounding the castle courtyard and stopped short, almost falling over each other. Finally able to see his surroundings properly, Titus felt the blood drain from his face.

They stood on a wall looking out over the island, bright grass rippling out on either side of the castle, dotted with patches of flowers. Sunlight flooded out across them, sparkling off the water of the river.

But that wasn’t what made them stop.

It was more the fact that the island was floating in the air.

Beyond the edge of the land, there was nothing. Just air. And a few clouds. Then a little way along, the lump of another island.

Titus swallowed hard, his throat suddenly dry. How in the world could they possibly get away from this? He turned to Thomas, but his twin yelped aloud and grabbed his arm, dragging him into a run along the wide wall.

“What—?” he managed a gasp before almost tripping and falling on his face.

Thomas sprinted ahead, fingers clasped firmly around his wrist and pulling him along as well. “Dragon.”

Titus jolted and they both threw themselves flat at the same moment, narrowly avoiding the grabbing claws of a dragons as it swept over above.

“Please don’t be Zana, please don’t be Zana,” he mumbled the words over and over, picking himself up to his hands and knees with a wince, the palms of his hands stinging painfully.

“Come on,” Thomas whispered frantically, starting to stand but then fell back, letting out a cry.

“Thomas?” His heart rate jolted and he scrambled to his brother’s side. “What’s wrong?”

Thomas gripped his knee. “I think— I whacked my knee— a bit hard on the landing.”

Titus shifted forward, grabbing Thomas’s arm and lifting it over his shoulders, pulling him upright. “Lean on me.”

They started running again, but barely got more than a few meters before a pop of light flashed up from below, splashing into them.  Titus tripped, but managed to catch himself on his hands again, Thomas landing on top of him.

“Stupid— fairy— spells—” Thomas grunted, rolling off Titus and starting to stand.

A rush of air and Thomas was snatched from the wall, soaring upward in the claws of a dragon. Titus shoved to his feet, panic gripping him. “Thomas!” he yelled but the dragon dived in a grey blur, disappearing beneath the rim of the island.

He stared at the last place he’d seen his twin, something going cold inside. No, no, not Thomas. Not his little brother.

Another pop came from below, and he ducked, the ball of light barely missing him. He needed to get a dragon and get out of here. Spinning, he started running again, sprinting along the wall. There had to be some other dragon somewhere here, surely? Fairyland would have more than one dragon.

As if on cue, a whoosh of air swept up behind him and he ducked. The grey dragon swept over him, turning at a steep tilt and diving back down at him.

He braced himself. Thomas was there. He needed to get to him. If that meant he had to be run down by a dragon… Fine then.

A heave of air almost sent him tumbling backward but a hand grabbed his arm, hauling him upward even as the dragon swept across over the courtyard and then beyond the edge of the floating island.

“Ti, it’s okay,” Thomas pulled him up until he was lying across the back of the dragon, hanging on for dear life. “It’s Lando’s mum!”

He scrabbled for grip on the rough scales and managed to get himself in a safer position. Raising his eyes, he caught a grin from Thomas and then perched in front of him and leaning low over the neck of the dragon, Rayna Erif looked over her shoulder and nodded at him.

“What in the world?” he gasped, the wind snatching his words.

“Hold on boys,” her voice came over the rush of air. “We’re going to find my son.”

- - -

Voila! There you go. *bows*

Hope you enjoyed that! Now, go and do some last minute plotting. *nods* It'll be a good idea, trust me.

*whispers* I'll see you on Monday...

And never fear! I will still be doing Lando stories in April. Because my amazingness has foreplanned and written (or rather, is writing) them already and it'll just be a matter of remembering to do something about them.


Is anyone else excited for Camp NaNo??
(I AM, just in case no one had picked that up already. xD)

Our Time to Fight Back // Guest Post

Today I have my epic cousin J. A. Penrose here with us! She's recently had a mission trip to Myanmar/Burma (google it if you don't know) and since she came back I've been blessed to have her ranting/rambling passionately at me (in her own sort of way). She is legit a real inspiration guys, you should hear her. (Plus we're like twins pretty much so yes.) (In my mum's words we're 'scarily similar.')

She's been doing a few articles on Wattpad -Evangelising and whatnot- and, after reading them for her, I decided to shove it in your faces invite her to guest post on my blog.

She agreed, we both forgot for a while, and then I remembered and here we are! Anyhow. I shall stop blathering on and hand over to her.

- - -

Thank you Jane for inviting me here! (I’m glad to know that you reckon that my change as a missionary is an improvement!)

Well, hi all. I’m Jess, Jane’s crazy/awesome/random cousin! I’ve lately gone crazy with Evangelism thanks to seeing awesome things through God! I’ve lately started a campaign on a writing site called Wattpad, to send encouragement to Christians to Evangelise, and Evangelism to non-Christians as a chance for the Holy Spirit to reach them! 

So, hopefully, after reading this first entry, you awesome guys will mention it to a few people and even look at the rest yourselves! *gasps of horror* You can also, if you feel called, start something like that yourselves! So, that’s it for the rambles from the author.
Enjoy!

“Let no man despise thy YOUTH, but be thou an example of the believers, 

in Word, in Conversation, in Charity, in Spirit, in Faith, in Purity.” 

1 Timothy 4:12 (KJV)

Most teenagers believe that they can do no more than go to school, university, a well paid job, and maybe get married one day. This is the best of what society feeds us. But there is so much more. So much more.

We as a generation need to step out and change. We are the generation of technology, of chaos, of terrorism, but we are also the generation of revolution. We can change the world with every day of our lives and everything we do, no matter where.

From a Christian perspective, this is even more clear. We can bring more people to God. It doesn't matter if you're a Catholic, Anglican, Baptist. It doesn't matter if your skill is rap, art, maths, simple friendliness. We have all been given great gifts from God and they are part of His image! We need to step out in faith and tell the world. We need to use our gifts. We can do so much. Don't just sit there and pray that someone would fix the world. You may be God's answer to your own prayer.

“There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work. Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines.” 1 Corinthians 12:4-11 (NIV)

Let us go out and tell the word. We have all got different gifts.
We need to Rise.

It is our time to fight back.

~ J. A. Penrose~

-read the rest of her to-be-continued series by clicking here-

//ABOUT

J. A. Penrose is a fifteen year old daughter of the most Holy God on High. She is an Australian writer, musician, and evangelist. Her passion is to use her life for Christ's work and His glory. To make a difference and spread some true Hope in this messy world. Check her out on Wattpad, Google+ and her blog and get to know her better!
(Quirky fact: she's a Tolkien obsessed fangirl and partially fluent in Quenya)

- - -

How are you using the gifts God has given you?
Isn't that song so cool??
(okay maybe it's just me though. :P)

The Adventures of Lando Erif :: The Day I Do Impulsive Stupid Stuff (Pt. Four)

Originally I had a plan to maybe post this part earlier in the week, just to be super nice but...somehow that didn't happen...

My week just went poof and it's already Friday and whoa. How did that go so fast?

So Thursday night I wrote most of this, and once I got into the feel of it*, I actually quite enjoyed it!

Hope you do also! :D

(*For some reason I was feeling a bit out of touch with Lando's voice and style and I couldn't get out of my Outlaw Legends feel. So I read the first two chapters of Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief and -boom- I was there. xP)

“This— is it— friend,” I panted, wrestling the rabbit-bird into the pet carrier and shoving the door shut hastily. Frowning at the blood across my knuckles where I’d acquired several claw marks, I grimaced down at the creature, now forlornly chewing a blade of grass.

Nasty little ball of fluff and feathers that it was.

I’d managed to get the creature out of the house without mum noticing, which was a good start. I’d have to explain to her eventually, but first I wanted to know a little bit more about what in the world was actually going on. Sitting down on the carrier, I pulled a deep breath into my lungs.

“Phew.”

There’d been voices out the front a little while ago, so I’d guessed that the twins had arrived, but for some reason they weren’t here yet. Weird. Maybe mum was quizzing them about something, or else they just didn’t know where I was. Rubbing my bleeding hand absently on my jeans, I sat in thought, trying to sort through the theories in my mind in a reasonable way.

In was a few minutes later when I looked up and it occurred to me that the twins hadn’t come out yet. Standing, I made my way toward the side of the house, to slip around the front and check if there was a car. Jogging down the gap, I pulled up short after a few paces, a strange tingle touching my fingertips. I glanced around. Something wasn’t quite right…

I took another step forward and bumped my toe into something. My gaze flicked down to a toadstool. 

Scrap that. Something was very wrong.

A ring of toadstools and a scuffed patch right in the middle. Not to mention a humming feeling in the air. Really not cool.

“Thomas?” I shuffled back, trying to look around the corner without falling on my face into the magic ring. “Titus?” I raised my voice a little more.

Skirting sideways, I called again. Their car was definitely there, parked in the driveway. But no sign of either of the twins. I backed off and hurried across to the back door, glancing inside. My mum was sitting at the table, talking cheerily to the twin’s mum.

Okay then. They were probably just messing with me.

I stepped down again, darting a glance around the back yard. I still couldn’t banish the nervous tingling though. It seemed like more than a coincidence. Magic creatures, coded messages about who-knows-what, toadstool rings, missing twins. It all fit together uncomfortably well, and I didn’t like it. At all.

What in the world did Zana think she was up to this time?

As I had the thought, a shadow swept across the neighbour’s rooftop and I jumped back beneath the shelter of the eves, pressing my back against the wall. Shadows that shape generally are only made by one sort of thing. Dragon. That left two categories.

A) Lost dragon who needs ReLocating to Dragon Island.

B) Pet dragon of a fairy.

And I knew one fairy who was likely to have a pet dragon, and I didn’t fancy meeting them just now.
A dragon swooped low across the ground, its tail practically dragging against the scrags of grass in the backyard. I pressed harder into the wall as I caught a flashing glimpse of an all too familiar figure.

Welcome Zana Bradford back onto the scene.

If the twins disappeared in a fairy ring, I’d bet anything that it was Zana. If anyone knew what had happened, it would be her. Time for impulsive stupid stuff. My favourite.

I’m an expert at impulsive stupid stuff.

I jumped out from my shelter just as the dragon tail whipped past, grabbing onto the end just before it slipped out of reach. There was a moment of relief as my hands curled around it firmly and then my shoulders were almost ripped out of their sockets and I yelped aloud, my voice tugged away by the rush of air in my ears.


Flying is not my strong point.

Apparently I get motion sickness.

Not mentioning sore arms.

For those reasons, by the time we flew to fairyland I was worse off for it. As soon as I felt the dragon start to descend, I gulped in a relieved breath, my fingers slipping slightly. The wind from the dragon’s wings battered against me and it was hardly another breath before I was flung off the tail by an impatient flick.

I fell dizzyingly through the air for a short moment, screaming internally, but didn’t have enough breath to get any sound out before I hit the ground a lot sooner than I expected. My knees buckled and I ended up sprawled across a hot paved surface. I couldn’t summon enough energy to move.

Flying on a dragon was way worse than I’d imagined.

The senior Dragon Islanders were allowed to ride some of the dragons, and I’d always been jealous. Not anymore. They can keep all their dragon riding. My stomach flipped but I’d already heaved up anything I’d eaten in the last day so it didn’t make much difference.

Shoving myself up, I crawled into the corner, hiding myself into a small nook to recover my senses before trying to work out where in the world I even was. This was about the scheduled time to start having second thoughts about the impulsive stupid things.

I started having second thoughts.

By now, you’d think I would have learnt, what with all the crazy stuff that happens whenever I do it. But no. Stupid just comes natural.

I managed to clear my vision enough to see Zana Bradford leaping from the dragon and landing lightly in the middle of the courtyard. She glanced up at the sky once and then turned, a few strides taking her out of sight through two huge iron doors.

Things weren’t looking so bad. Now to avoid the dragon and get somewhere that I could work out where I was. I had suspicions, of course. But I desperately wanted them to be wrong because they weren’t very cheerful suspicions.

I know, I know. It should’ve been obvious. Of course they were depressingly right. But I wanted to hope, so you can’t blame me.

Standing up slowly, I glanced to both sides and then started sidestepping along the wall. I got about five steps along the edge of the wall before the dragon noticed me. And by ‘noticed’ I mean he jumped on me.

Literally.

One moment I was standing there, and the next the dragon had one huge, clawed paw on my chest, pinning a breathless me to the ground.

Okay, this was it. Death by dragon claw. I braced myself, closing my eyes.

A bellowing roar from above, and I cringed into myself further. Well fine, go and celebrate your hard won victory. Not like I’d made it hard for him or anything. I tried to wriggle out from beneath it’s claw while it was distracted, but before I could move very far, it pressed down harder, one point of its biggest claw impaling the edge of my shirt into the ground.

I couldn’t breathe, the pressure and the terror merging into the pounding of my heart it my ears. I totally wasn’t scared. I was completely terrified. 

Lando kebabs anyone?

Just when I was convinced it was going to skewer me completely, a figure appeared from the side, interrupting the dragon’s lunch preparations. Zana’s face transformed into a dazzling smile as her gaze touched down on me.

“Oh, Lando! Here? How nice!” She clapped her hands like a four year old being promised ice-cream and chocolate.

The pressure eased off me slightly, and I managed to suck in a breath. “My bad for dropping in. I’ll just…” I started to slip away from under the dragon but it slammed its other paw down next to my head. “—stay right here and not move,” I squeaked an undignified sound, stopping in place.

Zana tossed her blonde hair back over her shoulder, looking disapprovingly down at me. “Now now, Lan. You can’t possibly leave without letting me give you a little hospitality. You’ve never been in a fairy castle before.”

Okay crazy fairy lady, but no thanks I’d rather just run screaming in terror if that’s quite fine with you.

The dragon growled above me, heat singing across my face and arms. I’d also rather get out of this in one piece without my eyebrows singed off. I didn’t move.

“I missed you so terribly since we last saw each other and you have no idea how excited I am now. So kind of you to come visit!”

How could she sound so stupid and innocent? I knew enough to tell that this wasn’t going to be fun.

I mean, not like I was being slow-cooked by dragon-breath while she was talking.

“You don’t— say—” I managed, wincing from a particularly hot puff of air, a trickle of sweat running down the back of my neck.

“I do.” She smiled again then clicked her fingers, a roll of something appearing in one hand.

Oh no.

I don’t like duct tape.

“Time to get down to business. I have a beautifully dank dungeon just waiting for you.” She looked legitimately excited and I honestly couldn’t work out how I was meant to react to that.

Trust me, Fairy girl, I simply can’t wait either.

- - -

Okay so rough estimate, I think this story is going to be -overall- about 6-7-ish parts long. And it'll break my record of the longest Lando story. (So far it's already 6k long, which is almost 2k longer than my next longest Lando story.)


Also guyyys it's raining here and it's so so nice. All the rain drops pattering on the tin roof. *happy sigh*


How has your week been?
Do you make a habit of doing impulsive stupid stuff?
(hopefully not as bad as Lando's habit xP)

Explore Leira Blog Tour: K is for Ky Huntyr

I have a thing for characters by the name of Ky. (Cai, Kai and Kye work too.) When I stumbled across the Songkeeper Chronicles (actually, it was probably my sister who found them, but I do enough stumbling for us both so yeah.) (I'm not sure how that side note got so off track in one sentence.) I fell in love with Ky Huntyr immediately.

And today you guys get to hear all about him!!!

Author Gillian Bronte Adams is here today and she's going to give a rundown of this super epic Ky-fellow who Jane won't stop flailing over.

So without further ramblings, I'll hand over the stage to Gillian!

- - -

Thanks, Jane, for hosting me here and helping me celebrate the (almost) one year book birthday for Songkeeper! (If this is your first encounter with the blog tour, we are continuing a series of alphabet posts looking at the world and characters and magical creatures of the Songkeeper Chronicles. And you can follow the tour at Gillian's website and find a list of all the stops at #exploreleira tour.) And we also have an awesome giveaway that you can enter at the end!

Today, we’re looking at the letter …

K is for Ky Huntyr

Oddly enough, it is sometimes easier to write one of these spotlight posts about a minor or secondary character than one of the major point of view characters. I’m not entirely sure why. Perhaps because there is so much information about these main characters spinning around inside my head, that it’s hard to translate that firestorm into words on a page.


So what is it that makes Ky who he is? He is not the biggest or the strongest, not the fastest or the bravest, not the smartest or the most well-spoken. He isn’t always right, even when he is convinced that he is. But he has conviction and the courage to back it up, and he cares deeply about those he seeks to protect.

Ky lives in the occupied city of Kerby. Five years before the events of Orphan’s Song, the soldiers of the Takhran, the Khelari, took over the city. They established a digging works along the banks of the River Adayn just outside the city walls. Not long after, people began to disappear. Taken, by the dark soldiers.

Three years before Orphan’s Song, Ky’s parents were taken. Forced onto the streets, he found refuge and a new “home” in the Underground, where he was paired as a “younger brother” to Dizzier to learn the ropes. 
When it came to training, Dizzier preferred to literally hammer his point home with punches. Ky is too free-thinking for his own good. In the Underground, survival is key … but Ky just couldn’t master the art of survival at the expense of others. Somewhere in between dodging dark soldiers, avoiding Dizzier, and nicking enough bread and apples from the market to contribute his fair share, Ky met Paddy and made a fast friend.


Paddy chuckled softly. “You’re such a fool, y’ know that, Ky?”
He snorted. “Thanks, friend.”
–Orphan’s Song


In many ways, Paddy is far more his brother than Dizzier.

For a weapon, Ky chose a sling that he wears wrapped around his waist like a belt. Like all in the Underground, he must undergo sword training in the Ring, but something about the blades always strikes him as unbalanced and clunky. He will wield a blade in a pinch, but only then.

We see the roots of Ky’s character in Orphan’s Song but he really blossoms and grows in Songkeeper. When the world falls apart, a person’s true mettle is revealed, and that is true of Ky. He’s got guts and plenty of them. We love to see heroes overcome, and Ky is an overcomer. Knock him down, and he’ll drag himself back to his feet. Weaving and staggering to keep from falling again.

But standing ... and sometimes that is enough.


Cade was halfway across the room by the time Ky managed to lurch to his feet. Head spinning, he yanked the sling from his waist, snatched a rock from the cavern floor, and relying on feel rather than sight, sent it zinging against the blade in Cade’s hand.
He spat out a mouthful of blood and forced himself to stand straight. “The fight’s not over.”
– Songkeeper


What makes Ky who he is?

His indomitable spirit. He simply will not give up. Driven by conviction and hope, he rises and rises and rises again, determined to stand for what he believes to be right.


Trivia Question: What item does Ky “nick” in the market place in Orphan’s Song to earn a place in Cade’s approval?

What character qualities do you admire most in your favorite characters?

- - -

Check out the links below for a place to purchase the books:

Amazon: Orphan’s Song, Songkeeper

Barnes and Nobles: Orphan’s Song, Songkeeper

And before you leave, don’t forget to enter the giveaway! 

One lucky winner will take home a copy of Orphan’s Song, Songkeeper, and a gorgeous handmade mug. Two lucky winners will take home copies of Songkeeper! Open to international entries. Enter through the Rafflecopter below and be sure to visit Gillian's website to continue following the blog tour. You can earn new entries for each post that you visit along the way. 
Winners will be announced after April 15th.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

GILLIAN BRONTE ADAMS is a sword-wielding, horse-riding, coffee-loving speculative fiction author from the great state of Texas. During the day, she manages the equestrian program at a youth camp. But at night, she kicks off her boots and spurs, pulls out her trusty laptop, and transforms into a novelist. She is the author of Orphan’s Song, Songkeeper, and Out of Darkness Rising. Visit Gillian online at her blog, Twitter, or Facebook page.

- - -

What character qualities do you admire most in your favorite characters?
Interested in reading these books yet?
(hint: the answer is yes)
Check out my reviews here: Orphan's Song, Songkeeper

The Adventures of Lando Erif :: The Day the Twins were Abducted (Pt. Three)

I'm not entirely sure what to title this, whether it's 'The day my history book took a flight - part three' or if that's just too repetitive already. In the end I've decided to shake it up a little and give it another title and header image because it's just fun. :P

This week I did a bit of an experiment with a third person section from Titus's point of view. It was a lot harder to get into his head, after being used to Lando's head, but it wasn't too bad I don't think.

I'm really enjoying this actually - but more about that after the story, or I'll end up spoiling it all for you.

:: Part One ::
:: Part Two ::

[warning: half of this chapter/installment/thing was written after midnight so the quality and sanity of the contents is debatable]

[other warning: it's also short -SORRY- because it kind of finished off nicely at the end. Or not nicely. Whatever.]

Titus chewed on the end of his pencil.

Nervousness was tingling down his arms and had been ever since his mum had gotten a call from Lando to ask them over. Sure, it was fine and not that strange.

But still…

Thomas yawned widely, watching the houses go past out the window. Titus leant against him from the car seat next to him, craning to see. The houses and apartments were starting to look familiar and he settled back again after a moment, cracking his knuckles.

“You think you’re ready for whatever something Lando’s springing on us this time?”

Thomas shrugged. “Probably not, if I really think about it. I mean…what’s the deal with this anyway? Mum gets a call from Lando inviting us around for the afternoon? It just seems a little weird.”

“Same.” Titus scratched his ear, looking up as the car started to slow. His nerves were itching to know what Lando was up to this time and he hardly waited for his mum to stop the car before unclipping his seat belt and pushing out of the car over Thomas, his twin tumbling out behind him a moment later.

“Alright boys.” His mum rounded the car and shot a glance at them both. “Please try not to break anything?”

“Okay mum,” Thomas stretched a grin.

“Sure thing.” Titus shoved his hands into his pockets. “Best behaviour.”

She looked between them both for a moment and then nodded. “Good.” Leading the way, she headed down the short driveway to the front door, pushing the doorbell button and then rapping her knuckles on the door just to make sure.

Titus fiddled with the pencil in his pocket as he waited, Thomas hopping from one foot to the other in his impatience. Finally the door opened and Titus half stepped forward, hoping to see Lando. Nope. Just his mum.

She shot him a smile and then hugged his mum. “So great to see you again.” She pushed open the door, beckoning her inside. “Come on in.”

He pulled his hand out of his pocket, waving slightly. “Nice to see you again.”

Thomas mimicked his movement beside him.

Lando’s mum smiled at them again. “You boys can go around the side if you like. I think Lando’s there. He was doing something in the back corner that he didn’t seem to want me to see.” For a moment a slight frown touched her brows.

“Thanks!” Thomas said enthusiastically, turning and starting to jog to the corner of the building.

Titus grinned and Lando’s mum one last time, gave his own mum a reassuring glance and then ran after his twin. Thomas paused to wait for him before slipping around the corner and moving along the narrow gap between the fence and the wall.

Halfway to the other side, he stopped, Titus almost crashing into him from behind.

“Whoa, watch it—”

“Ti.” Thomas prodded his arm. “Toadstools.”

Titus followed his gaze to see a row of red toadstools across the sparsely grassed path in front of them. “Oh nice. Come on, let’s find Lando.” He stepped around Thomas and kept walking.

And walked straight into something invisible.

Stumbling back a pace, he stared. “What the—?”

Thomas grabbed his arm to steady him. “What’s going on?”

“I don’t know…I’m sure I just crashed into something.” He squinted at nothing in particular, unable to see anything.

Talk about weird.

Stepping forward again, he reached out a hand in front of himself, feeling through the air. Nothing. He went to step forward again, only to smash against the barrier again. He toppled backward but Thomas caught him, grunting.

“Something is really wrong.” Titus pressed his hand against his throbbing forehead.

Thomas turned around, his fingers wrapping around Titus’s arm a moment later. “Um, Ti…”

“Yeah?” He twisted, only to stop short. A quick glance both ways showed him what they’d done.

A ring of toadstools surrounded them closely, their red caps almost seeming to glow.

“Not good,” Thomas mumbled, turning in a circle to check for gaps.

No chance.

They’d stepped right into a trap.

His heart rate quickened, and Titus stepped forward pushing against the barrier without result. “Nonono this isn’t cool. This isn’t cool at all.”

“Lando!” Thomas yelled, but his voice echoed back as if they were in a tiny room with walls all around.

Which they were, near enough.

“Help!” Titus yelped, grabbing the base of one of the toadstools and yanking on it, hoping to pull it out and break the circle.

Something hit him hard across the cheek and he fell back with a stifled cry, pain stinging. Everything blurred slightly around him and for a moment he thought he was blacking out. Then Thomas wobbled and fell to his knees, almost sprawling on top of him.

Vague outlines of figures circled the ring of toadstools, moving closer with shuffling steps. Titus tried to yelp and yell for Lando again, hoping that maybe he would hear anyway, but he couldn’t manage to get a sound from his throat.

Come to think of it, he couldn’t breathe either.

He choked, his heart lurching against his ribs, everything swirling almost painfully around him. He should’ve noticed the magic ring…should’ve seen it before walking straight into some trap.

Whatever Lando had needed them for, he would have to do alone. The house wall was fading from beside them, a nauseous feeling flipping in his stomach. Titus pushed up onto his elbow for a moment then a flick of something —that looked uncommonly like a sparkling fairy wand— and light flashed above him and he passed out.

- - -

Let's just say that I'm really enjoying giving a weird twist to some of the fairy stories that I used to adore when I was a cute little girl. I remember one specific one that I really liked which involved magic fairy rings of mushrooms and being whisked off to fairyland.
So basically, that's what this chapter is about.

Only it's not a little girl out strawberry hunting in a mystical forest. It's two boys in the middle of a coastal Sydney city suburb ducking down the side of the house to get into the backyard. And they're not being whisked away to oversee a romantic wedding of the prince and princess.

Hahaha...not likely.

*evil laughter*


And if the ending part was weird...I'm blaming it on the fact that I was writing it...after midnight. Sorry if it doesn't make any sense. I tried. xD


Is the story still staying interesting?
(despite the possible post-midnight-faults)
Did you read many fairy stories when you were little?

How Camp NaNoWriMo Changed My Writing // you should totally go sign up now

Waitwait what? Camp NaNoWriMo?

Yes, my friends. Camp.

*No, actually not the kind of camping that's in the picture. It's all virtual and none of the tents and swags and misty mornings for us. (I just liked the picture, shhh xP)

You've (probably?) all heard of NaNoWriMo. The insane write-50k-in-one-month-and-hopefully-not-die-and-maybe-have-some-part-of-a-novel-that-doesn't-actually-have-red-underline-also-but-probably-not-actually NaNo. And I know a lot of people know about it and back away slowly until they're a safe distance away and then run screaming in terror.

BUT. Don't run screaming this time. Because this is Camp.

It's similar yes, but a whole lot better. You get to choose your own word-count goal. No more 50k! You can go 20, 5, or 100! Whatever you so desire. (Although if you have a goal for 100k and win it please tell me because WHOA) You also get virtual cabin mates and confetti and yes a whole lot of cool stuff. (Including pizza every day if you happen to be in my cabin)

And it's only half a month until April Camp explodes on us in all it's epicness! *flails*


A bit of nostalgic backstory for you...
I did Camp NaNo for the firstest time in April last year (writing the novel-that-shall-not-be-named because I cringe every time the subject gets brought up and I might just go hide in a cardboard box now) and ack it was ahmazing. The biggest thing was probably that I SUDDENLY REALISED I COULD WRITE FAST.

I started Camp with a goal of 8k that I thought I might be able to reach. (haha okay backstory to the 8k is that my sister Clare set hers for 7k so of course I had to go at least 1k higher) And then I smashed myself and wrote that in the first week. I then raised my goal to 15k and reached it on day 20 (and proceeded to chill for the rest of the month).

I'd had no idea that I could write that much in a month, and it really woke me up to writing. It was a sort of "Hey hold it I can do this??"

From then on it's only gotten more insane. I did the second Camp in July and had a 20k goal and reached it easily too. (Probably because that was the first gathering of my very own cabin the Fellowship of the Keyboards. *throws celebration pizza*)  Moving on, I wrote over 80k for actual NaNo (overachiever me went 30k over the win mark so I could finish the first draft).

If I hadn't done Camp NaNo, I never would've done NaNo and I wouldn't have written three books in the last year. (HOLD IT WHOA. Now that I write that out, it seems like a lot.) And I wouldn't have done probably a lot of other things because gosh there's a lot of if I hadn'ts in life. It's amazing what God can do in one little decision we make.


Camp NaNo also introduced me into the epicness of having writing buddies (other than just my lovely sister) that you can word war with and moan with and throw (virtual) pizza at. Because cabin mates (unfortunately also virtual) are the best. (But seriously though, imagine if it wasn't virtual and it would be so epicer than it already is. Unless of course you're not into the frogs and spiders and lizards and mosquitoes that inevitably come with camps.)

Word wars are great motivation to push you on and get some more words out. (And if it's a word war with your toes/nose/elbows it's just to throw responsible-ness out the window and do something crazy xD)



Basically Camp NaNo is a huge explosion of epic, mess, fun, and great writing time. (Or great I-really-should-be-writing-now time. Depending on what sort of person you are.)

I'm (obviously) doing it again this year and I'm super hyped for it. I can't wait to get started. (I should probably be using this time to plot my novel rather than write this blog post but shhh.) This April I'm going to be writing the third and final book of my trilogy and I'm kind of freaking out because it's so important that I don't mess it up and the worst thing: I actually have to defeat the villains now??? What no. They've been winning for the last two books and now somehow I need to think up a genius plan to get rid of them?? So it's super exciting and super I don't even know what's going on but I'm loving it.

So yes. Planning is happening and plot is coming-ish. And we shall see if the beginning of April heralds a post of me completely freaking out because I have no idea what I'm doing.
But with luck you'll get to see a completely coherent post about my novel-to-be and how super planned and ready I am. 

But however that turns out it will be epic fun.


So don't just see all this stuff about Camp popping up around the writer blogs and shrug on with your writing alone. Take a closer look! Grab your friends together and drag them along to a virtual cabin. You don't even have to be working on a novel. Camp NaNo has options for poetry, short stories, editing, whatever! And word, page, line, hour count options too!
Maybe you don't have any writing friends to drag along? Go anyways and meet new people.
All you have to do is sign up and make a writing goal and you're set for an adventure like nothing you've ever done before! (unless you've done Camp NaNo before, in which case it'll probably be just as epic as normal)

I can promise you that you won't regret it.

(pretty certain anyway)

So what are you waiting for??


Are you doing Camp NaNo?
(the correct answer is yes)

The Adventures of Lando Erif :: The Day My History Book Took a Flight (Pt. Two)

Yes last week's part was weird. I deny nothing. Nonetheless I think that this one might possibly help make it slightly less random because there's a reason for the rabbit-bird-whatever I was calling it and what it's doing... *looks mysterious*

HOPEFULLY. Because if it's just plain weird it would be a little pointless.

But I'm fairly sure this has more...stuff other than running around in circles. (And it mightn't sound quite as cat-in-the-hat-ish)

The rabbit-bird wouldn’t stop destroying things.

It completely slammed our street sign and had started tearing at a neighbour’s hedge before I caught up and it launched away again. Sprinting faster, I grabbed at it, missing by far.

This was getting ridiculous.

It bounded over a fence and landed on the ground on the other side, innocently nibbling grass. Slowly, I lifted one foot onto the top of the fence. Nothing. I pushed my weight on that leg, bouncing lightly off the other and ending up in a precarious crouch. Still it remained where it was.

Here goes.

I threw myself off the fence down onto it, grabbing it between my hands and falling forward, just managing to catch myself on my elbows before I face-planted completely. Its flared its wings, smacking me hard in the face. I yelped, somehow managing to get a mouthful of feathers and fur. Spluttering and struggling, I flopped half on top of the creature, getting my hands around its wings to jam them in place.

It made a squeaking sound and stopped struggling and I pulled it out, keeping my hands firm around it. It’s huge eyes stared up at me with complete innocence, seeming surprised at it’s capture.

Yeah, well you’d better get used to it little flying rabbit. Because Lando Erif isn’t going to let go any time soon. I wrinkled my nose at it.

It wrinkled its nose back.

I blinked and then stood, looking up and realising I wasn’t alone. A small boy stood on the edge of the house veranda, staring at me like I was mad.

“Oh…just…never mind me.” I scrambled over the fence again, almost losing my grip on the creature as it started struggling once more, claws scraping down the backs of my hands.

“Ow!” I bit down a yell, starting to run back down the street.

I needed to get this thing somewhere it couldn’t destroy anything else before it destroyed me too. Sprinting down the street, I pretended not to notice the stares from the neighbours as I passed. They’d get used to it eventually.

Or maybe they wouldn’t.

Either way it wasn’t my problem.

I shoved through the front door of my house, pushing it shut again with my toe before ducking down the hall into my bedroom. The rabbit-bird dig its claws harder into my hand and I yelped, jerking my hand back automatically. A wing hit me in the face, but I didn’t let go, scrabbling to grab something off the floor that I could lock it in.

A light chain around the rabbit-bird’s neck bumped against my hand and barely I had enough time to tug the it free, a scrap of paper half falling from a small pendant compartment, before the creature went crazy, squeaking long and loud. Throwing the paper on my bed, I squinted against the flailing wings, feeling across the floor. My hand knocked over a shoe box, spilling out the collection of ink-less pens I’d built up over the years. Struggling for a moment, I managed to shove the creature into the box, scooping up the lid and slamming it on, dragging my hand out and holding the lid closed.

Pulling a rubber band from my jeans pocket, I slipped it around the lid so it couldn’t open. Letting go, I sat back nervously, watching the box for any sign of movement. A slight wiggle of the lid and I strapped on another elastic band.

Pulling in a relieved breath, I glanced at the locket of paper I’d tossed on my bed. Okay, forget about the relief. I picked it up, unfolding it and glancing over the words quickly.

Despite common belief I cannot read gibberish. Not reliably anyway.

I scowled at the nonsense on the paper and crunched it in my fist. The scratches down the backs of my hands were turning red with crusting blood, but I ignored them. Completely useless messages. It was probably nothing. But…Something made me hesitate and then slowly start unscrewing the scrap, digging my laptop out from under the bed and flipping it open.

Maybe there was something, I just couldn’t read it yet.

Bringing up a search for decoders, I opened half a dozen tabs, rereading the bizarre jumble of letters over again as I waited for them to load. Still didn’t make any sense. Hopefully this wasn’t going to be a waste of time.

I typed it out into the code box, careful to make an exact copy of the written words. “Alrightyo,” I muttered, clicking ‘decode.’

The only result was another load of gibberish that was even worse than the first.

Snorting through my nose, I moved on to the next. And the next. By the time I reached the seventh, I’d almost stopped paying attention to the jumble of words it resulted with. Slapping enter, I started moving on to the next tab without even looking before I froze, one word catching my eye.

Zana.

I flicked my gaze down, scanning the words on the screen.

Fate
It is my pleasure to send you the news that our plan is going directly ahead. Begin spreading the word as soon as you might wish.
Zana Bradford

It barely made more sense than before, but I knew one thing.

If it was Zana’s plan, I probably wouldn’t like it.

At all.

Time to call up the twins.

- - - 

Okay so this somehow turned out to follow on to another part or two...or three?? UM I DON'T KNOW HOW THAT HAPPENED. XD It's never happened before but I'm just going to go with it for now. This might well be the beginning of a longer story.


Do you guys want to see this turning into a long story?
(for however long it turns out being?)

The Adventures of Lando Erif :: The Day My History Book Took a Flight (Pt. One)

Sometimes my brain is weird.

Me yesterday morning: Hey I should do something about my story for tomorrow... Nah.
Afternoon: Nuh-uh.
11 at night: I DON'T NEED IT UNTIL TOMORROW.
This morning: Oh...I should've done that yesterday. I guess I'll just edit up one of my stories that I'd already written.
Brain: NO ACTUALLY WRITE SOMETHING COMPLETELY NEW.
Me: ...well okay then.

So today you get my completely random story that I whipped up this morning/afternoon. Emphasis on the completely random. I have no idea where it came from. (I mean, just take a look at the title??)

Originally it was inspired by the prompt/request from my brothers. Vaguely. Very loosely inspired, but inspired nonetheless. So thank you, Samuel and Joshua. Hope you enjoy (and be very careful next time you open your history books).

Here we go with a day in the life of Lando. Featuring Lando sitting on the roof, chasing his dad's dirty sock through the house, and running in circles in general. All because of a certain flying history book.

History is one of my favourite subjects.

Except for one day when it didn’t go so well.

I sat at the carport roof, yawning and jiggling my knees as I slammed my science book shut. Yes, I was on the roof but Mum wasn’t home so why not? Besides, everything is so much more interesting when it’s done on the roof. Reaching for the maths book, I stifled another yawn, chewing on the end of the pen and shifting to let one leg dangle down off the edge of the roof.

In case you wondered, I’m not afraid of heights. Surprise surprise.

Maths on the other hand…

Blinking at the page of unanswered questions in front of me, I huffed a breath through my teeth. Sometimes even sitting on the roof didn’t make maths fun. I stared at it for approximately twenty seconds before I noticed something weird.

My history book wobbled.

Probably the wind. History books don’t wobble by themselves.

I switched my glare onto the maths again, scribbling an answer to the easiest looking question.

Another movement from the corner of my eye and I gave up, shoving the maths book to the side and flipping my history open.

That’s all I did.

I wasn’t my fault that things escalated from there.

The book ripped from my hands, flying up into the air. I yelled and jolted back, making a grab for it and missing by a breath. My history swerved and dived down at me and I ducked, sprawling flat as it swooped and crash-landed on the edge of the roof.

Silence.

Picking myself up onto my hands and knees, I shuffled forward, slowly reaching out for the book. Just before my fingers brushed, it lurched into the air again and I swung a desperate snatch, missing again and overbalancing. The book spiraled down to the ground below. I teetered for a moment, almost following it, before steadying and running to the car port pole, shimmying down.

At the bottom, I stopped short in shock.

My history book flopped to the side, revealing a bundle of fluff crouched on the driveway. It shivered and then stretched two wings wide, black edging along the feathers. Wait…fluffy and feathers? I took a step closer and it exploded into the air, tufts of white dropping from it.

It looked like some sort of rabbit-bird hybrid. Only with a tail?

Only one option. Fantasy creature on the loose.

I ran for it, grabbing at its tail, managing to snatch hold for a moment before it jerked free, swerving toward the house door. At the last moment I realised I’d left the door not quite latched and half yelled a useless, “No, don’t—!”

It slipped through the gap and disappeared.

No, no. Not cool.

I sprinted forward, crashing through the sliding screen door and slamming it shut behind. Of course it bounced open again. I paused, glancing around desperately and ducking as a book went flying over my head.

The white rabbit-bird skidded past along the tiled floor, claws scraping loudly. I dived for it, landing on my face and missing completely. Rolling to my knees, I grabbed the book off the floor, straightening the creases out of the pages and slapping it onto the table before ducking again as a crash sounded from the kitchen.

Scrambling across the room, I tripped into the kitchen, falling over a pile of cooking trays and catching myself on my hands and knees. The creature alighted on the desk, claws clicking on the smooth surface. I looked up at it, not daring to move in case it launched away again.

Mum was not going to be happy if she came home to find the house trashed.

The rabbit-bird curled its non-rabbit-or-bird tail around a glass of water, it’s eyes meeting mine.

“Oh no…” I gulped hard. “Oh no, no, no. Please—” Risking the chance, I lunged for the creature.

It dodged, sending the water splashing over me and dropping the glass onto the tiled floor. I grabbed desperately and managed to catch the glass just before it hit the floor.

Ninja Lando.

I stared at the glass for a moment before straightening and setting it on the bench again and scanning around for the creature that had started all the mess. There was no sign of it for a few moments but a thud from the direction of the bedrooms pushed me into a run again. I leapt over the scattered pile of trays and dashed down the hall.

Mum and Dad’s bedroom door was open and I felt a groan building in the back of my throat. What now? Shoving through, I only just ducked in time to avoid being knocked out by a hairbrush. The rabbit-bird whizzed in circles around the room, one of Dad’s socks firmly over its head.

“Don’t smash into the—”

The window shuddered under the impact of the creature flying straight into it.

“—Window.”

I vaulted across the bed, pausing and waiting for it to fly within reach. Just a little bit closer…Another pass and it smashed into the cupboards and swerved close to me. I grabbed at it, my fingers closing around something soft. It jerked, but I didn’t let go, the force dragging me off balance and I fell across the bed.

Holding Dad’s sock in my hand.

And yes. It was a dirty sock. 

The creature flew out through the open door at about the same moment as I realised what I was holding and threw it hurriedly across the room, only just missing the rabbit-bird.

I really needed to work on my aim.

My sad lot of life is having no hand eye coordination.

Staggering to my feet, I stumbled down the hallway, following the sounds of destruction. Mum was not going to be happy. I had to get this thing caught and then clean up everything. Glass shattered from the kitchen and I groaned, breaking into a run again.

Skidding to a stop, almost slipping on the tiles, I shoved my dripping hair out of my eyes and gaped. Trays scattered across the floor, the fruit bowl upturned and the contents rolling gently across the tiles, and the light glinting off shattered glass shards from what used to be Mum’s cup.

Add ‘new glass’ to the list of mother’s day gifts.

A white blur streaked toward me and I jumped for it, fingers brushing through feathers just too late. It flapped out the door, perched on the outdoor deck railing for a moment and looking back at me for a moment. I dropped the black tipped feather to the floor glaring at the creature. I could swear that it smirked before launching off and going for the road.

“You’ve got to be kidding me.”

Mum said to stay put while she was gone but…this counted as an emergency.

I dashed through the door, pausing a moment to close it very deliberately. No more flying back into the house for that rabbit-bird. Turning, I vaulted over the handrail and landed running.

- - -

As I said. Lots of running in circles.

Hopefully it was amusing running in circles though.

And I totally didn't stare at my maths for approximately twenty seconds before giving up and moving on to write this. 

Tooootally.

(cough cough)


Was this good enough to excuse ignoring maths temporarily?
(YES. EVERYONE, SAY YES. xD)
Have you ever done school on the roof?
(you totally should *nods*)