Terri Thompson - Living Fiction

Featured Excerpts:

• Journey to Thélo

• The River’s Voice

Journey to Thélo –Excerpts

from Chapter One

Peter opened his eyes. It was hard to tell morning from night in the unchanged darkness of the caves but experience told him it was time to get up. The routine scratching against the hard, dirt ground announced that the rats were awake and looking for breakfast. Not a pleasant alarm by most standards, but dependable just the same.

Peter’s stringy, brown hair brushed against his face as he pushed the mosaic of moleskins, which formed a curtain, back from his makeshift door. Once, as a boy, laid up with a crushed anklebone, he counted all the skins but he was beyond such childish intrigues now.
Peter stumbled into the kitchen and sat at the stone table. A small mineral candle burned on the counter where Mom worked. Peter rubbed two stones together until they sparked against the dalcion powder of another candle for the table. He groaned at the smell of breakfast. 
Not watered-down leftovers again.

Peter’s mother looked fragile and thin. Worry, sorrow and malnutrition aged her beyond her forty-five years. She dished out the Beetle Mole Stew left from the night before.

“What are your plans, Peter?” She rubbed sleep from her sagging eyes. 

“Do we have to talk about this again?” 

She took a deep breath and sighed. “I just meant today, but you should be thinking about helping your family. You can’t avoid work just because of accidents.” 

At six Peter’s ankle had been crushed when a tunnel came down on him. He had ventured, unaccompanied, through an incomplete tunnel. It was not uncommon for men to die from suffocation while digging tunnels. Peter escaped with only a limp and a dread of tunnel digging. 

from Chapter Eight

Peter pulled his eyes away. The dream! Light came down from the middle sun in the cluster. The figure of a man stayed beside him. It was at that moment Phoster had awakened him. 

"You," he said. "You came from the SunCluster...you…" Peter tried again, "Was my dream real?"

"You saw reality in your dream," Phoster rephrased it slightly. "Will you trust me?" 
He stood and held out his bronzed hand.

Peter stood. The muscles in his body twitched with nervous excitement. He didn't think about the great distance between him and the ground. He didn’t think about hiding his own imperfections. His only thought was--Phoster. He stood beside him and grasped his outstretched hand.

They stepped off the cliff, Peter and Phoster, hand in hand. Phoster leaned slightly forward into the wind; Peter did the same. Peter’s wings opened up catching the air underneath. He didn’t even have to try. Had his wings known what to do all along? 

They soared together over the large chasm. Peter saw small animals scurry about their daily tasks far below. He noticed treetops bending in the breeze. He watched an eagle soar just ahead of them then land in her nest high in the rocky mountain wall, eaglets with mouths wide in anticipation for their supper. 

Peter turned slightly. Phoster seemed to shine, reflecting the light of the SunCluster as his name implied. Was he dreaming? Back in the caves of Auchmeros, he could not’ve imagined flying and soaring in the light with this light-man. 

“Thank you.”

The fire of Phoster’s gaze warmed Peter. Soon Phoster pointed to a flat space about halfway up the mountain. “We’ll land over there.”

Peter’s heart sank a bit as they ended the most thrilling ride of his life. He almost forgot the reason he began this journey. 

The River’s Voice –Excerpts

Before he even heard the wings, Edward sensed the menacing presence above.

He dashed up the river a short distance, claws tearing at his shoulders. Rage surged through his stomach to his heart. He turned to fight it off with the stick. Where was it? He swung at the empty sky with his stick. He struck flesh and directed his weapon in that same direction again.

Light from across the river outlined the creature with a thin line of light, like a halo. It screeched out a strange noise and flew off. Edward leaned over, panting. He took a deep breath. Still gripping the stick in one hand, he released his other fist, balled with tension, and fingered the wound above his eye.

Cricket chirps and slight rustling breezes replaced the whooshing. The river shshshed. Light from the other side sparkled and danced on the rippled watery peaks enough to illuminate the sandy shoreline. Edward held his stick ready until he arrived at the rocks. Several large rocks stuck out of the water offering him a chance to make it all the way across. He’d been through too much to turn back now.

Knowing his bare feet would have a better grip, he stripped off his boots and socks, then grabbed his stick. The mountain water sent a chill from his toes all the way to his armpits. He stretched his legs from one rock to the next.

Half way to the other side, he paused on a larger rock to prepare for the next big step. He felt something fly by, a close miss near his face like an out-of-control kite that on a stormy day.  He made out a shadow across the running water, the shape indistinct. Then it flew in front of the light and he viewed its outline. This time he got a better look. The shape resembled some kind of mythical dragon with claws and gnarled wings. Icy dread filled Edward’s veins. 

___

The man at the head of the table motioned with his pinky finger. At his cue, each member of the group placed a dark brown hood over their head and face.

“An opportunity has presented itself to us. This could be the catalyst we hoped for.” Members eyed one another through circles cut in their hoods. 

“Sir, I don’t like using outsiders. They don’t have the same convictions, the same loyalty to the group.” Several nodded their agreement.

“Nevertheless, this time the risk is necessary and will be worth our trouble.” He paused a moment until each hood faced his direction. “And don’t forget, we have the aid of our friends.” He motioned toward the ceiling and around the space in the room. Others looked around and sighed their relief as if just remembering why they gathered. Still standing, the leader motioned to the keeper of the door who opened it. “Come in Doctor,” the leader said. “We’re glad you’re here.”

___

“I have connections here in this town. One important man owes me money, another is looking to get rich without much effort. He has access to assets we can use.”

“And you think you can organize this?”

“Yes, sir, I’m sure of it.”

A woman’s hand at the far end of the table went up and was recognized by the leader. She stood. “What gives you influence in this town?”

“Most people know me. If you’ve lived here long at all, you probably know me. I’ve been the main doctor here for over two decades.”

“That means nothing up against the power of the one we do not name,” said another without being recognized.

“Achem!” The leader cleared his throat.

“Sorry.”

“Doctor?”

“I have help.” They all sat up and listened more closely. “The Great Leviagon has thought me worthy of assigning one of his subjects to me. This leviagon has been with me for over fifteen years.”
Nods of approval all around the room.

“You see my friends? He’s already on our side.” The leader quieted the others who’d begun to whisper amongst each other. “Are you saying that you’d be willing to join the Society of Leviagon Enforcers?” Each hood looked toward the unhooded man. He nodded but the leader continued before he could answer. “We expect one hundred percent loyalty to this group. Nothing and no one can be more important to you than The Great Leviagon and this alliance. Even family will be second.”

The doctor swallowed a knot as the leader continued.

“You may be called upon to perform some unpleasant tasks. In this way, you will prove your loyalty. This plan will be your initiation. If you pass, you will become accepted into SOLE, as we call our society, and reap the benefits of the entire alliance. We could be of immeasurable help in your little campaign. However, if you do not pass, you will never know the identity of the other members and you alone will bear the responsibility for all that has taken place. Do you agree with all of these terms?”

“I…I have a daughter—“

“There will be no exceptions!” The leader roared and then quieted his voice. “But, family members are included in the benefits of SOLE whether they understand the source of the blessings or not.”

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Copyright © 2006 Terri Thompson - Living Fiction