Summer Blog-Epic, Part II

Welcome to the second installment of our summer serial blog fiction series! 

In case you missed Part I, **here it is**. 

Now it's my turn.  I want to preface this by saying that my brain is not wired to write in such an unplanned manner.  So this was fun for me but a little difficult.  Kind of like eating your vegetables or lifting weights.  (Except...those things aren't fun--unless you're like Tyler-Rose and enjoy eating vegetables--so nevermind.)  In any case, I'm learning spontaneity! 


Here is the end of Part I: 


Marianne turned quickly to see a man with a face a pale as white marble and hair as black as the clothes he wore watching them from one of the balconies across the street. He had his arms pinned across his chest and what Marianne could see of his sharp face looked forbidding, to say the least.

His eyes widened when he saw her looking and, in a quick motion that made his black robes swirl around him, turned back into the mansion behind him. As he turned Marianne caught a glimpse of the insignia of office embroidered in red on the corner of his robe.

Marianne gasped. She knew that mark.


And here is Part II:  Enjoy!

She turned to Anthony. “How much faster can Janth go?”

He gave her a sideways look.  “Not much…”

“Well we might have to test his limits because—“  She lowered her voice to an urgent whisper.  “In that house we just passed, there’s a member of the Order.” 

Anthony pulled down the brim of his hat to shade his face from the sun.  “I saw him.  Don’t get yourself worked up.” 

Marianne's gaped at him.  “Don’t what—how can you say that?  They killed our parents.” 

“Their leader killed our parents.  It was a personal vendetta, and now he’s dead.  We should not fear the Order.” 

Marianne clenched her purple skirt in her fists.  She disagreed. 

“Besides,” he added, staring bitterly into the distance, “you need to move on.  They’ve been dead for a long time.” 

Marianne hit him in the shoulder with her fan as hard as she could. 

He winced. 

“If I said that about Elena, you’d be furious!” 

Anthony’s face hardened.

She grabbed the reins out of his hands and gave them a flick.  “Come on, Janth!  Come on!” 

Janth scrabbled along at a slightly faster pace.  Marianne looked behind her and found the road still empty. 

“You see?” Anthony said.  “They’re not coming after us.  They only hope that we won’t seek revenge.” 

Marianne didn’t dare speak her thoughts this time.  And why don’t we?  Why don’t you?

Suddenly, their chariot stopped and Janth fell to a fit of wheezing coughs.  Little puffs of grey smoke shot out of his ragged green mouth. 

Anthony took the reins back and slapped them against the dragon’s thick hide.  “Come on, Janth!” 

Marianne turned in the hard chariot seat and surveyed the road behind them.  Still empty.  But she wasn’t convinced that would last…

Janth responded to Anthony’s goading by sitting down in a slump on the dirt road and scratching his face with one of his front feet. 

Anthony groaned. 

Marianne turned to her brother and frowned.  “He has the Flake.” 

Anthony nodded.  They sat there in silence for a moment and blinked at their pathetic dragon.  Marianne tried not to imagine what their rich relatives would think. 

Except for Janth’s scratching and coughing, the road was silent. 

Maybe Tony is right. 

The moment Marianne thought it, she felt a stray breeze play at her hair.  In the next instant, strong hands lifted her out of the chariot seat and placed her on the sturdy back of a sleek, midnight-black horse.  It was the handsome blonde who had passed them earlier. 

The animal spread its wings and they were almost immediately soaring above the road. 

Marianne opened her mouth, and the first thing that came out was a scream.  Then she yelled at the strong arms that wrapped around her waist.  “What are you doing?  Is this a kidnapping?” 

“Look down."  Said the deep voice above her shoulder. 

Check back in a few days for Part III! 

And I'm curious...can you notice differences in out writing styles already?