I've been writing a little almost every day, mostly exchange fics, but also a few other WIPs -- here's a snippet from one of them, an Earthsea fanfic.
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At first, there was only the noise, a rustling, dragging sound of steady movement through heavy grass. Then, as the sun rose, silhouttes became visible on top of the hill, low dark shapes against the pink of early dawn, stalwartly working their way downwards and closer.
Thol's daughter, still not old enough to wear the feyag but tall and stately for her age, pulled her shawl tighter about her shoulders as she watched the slow descent of the creatures. Here in the mountains, the cold lingered longer, and she was outside the sacred fire's reach, although the smell of burning fat was impossible to escape. The smoke rose lazily from the fire, rising grey towards the sky in majestic clouds.
No one on Hur-at-Hur, from the lowliest peasant to the greatest warrior, could ignore that great column of fire, which surely must be visible all over the island. But most people had come to take part in the spring festival. The valley was crowded with tents, the masses gathered below the Place of the Sacrifice to catch a glimpse of the rites, and the princess thought with some pride that most of these people would never get close enough to see the dragons with their own eyes.
"Seserakh," her mother said next to her, voice low. The princess could not see her face under the heavy veil, but she recognised the tone. She must have made a face of some sort, she thought as she straightened further, or otherwise she must have failed to look as solemn as befitted the occasion. It was no child's play, nor was she a child any longer. Next year by this time, she would be wearing the feyag. Already there had been suitors to speak with her father. Her mother and her aunts had told her the moon's curse might set in soon. Seserakh looked at the bowls of blood surrounding the sacred fire, and barely managed to suppress a grimace.
**
I need to reread the book this is based on (The Other Wind) to be certain I remember the info we get about Seserakh's background correctly, but this is the gist of it...
no subject
**
At first, there was only the noise, a rustling, dragging sound of steady movement through heavy grass. Then, as the sun rose, silhouttes became visible on top of the hill, low dark shapes against the pink of early dawn, stalwartly working their way downwards and closer.
Thol's daughter, still not old enough to wear the feyag but tall and stately for her age, pulled her shawl tighter about her shoulders as she watched the slow descent of the creatures. Here in the mountains, the cold lingered longer, and she was outside the sacred fire's reach, although the smell of burning fat was impossible to escape. The smoke rose lazily from the fire, rising grey towards the sky in majestic clouds.
No one on Hur-at-Hur, from the lowliest peasant to the greatest warrior, could ignore that great column of fire, which surely must be visible all over the island. But most people had come to take part in the spring festival. The valley was crowded with tents, the masses gathered below the Place of the Sacrifice to catch a glimpse of the rites, and the princess thought with some pride that most of these people would never get close enough to see the dragons with their own eyes.
"Seserakh," her mother said next to her, voice low. The princess could not see her face under the heavy veil, but she recognised the tone. She must have made a face of some sort, she thought as she straightened further, or otherwise she must have failed to look as solemn as befitted the occasion. It was no child's play, nor was she a child any longer. Next year by this time, she would be wearing the feyag. Already there had been suitors to speak with her father. Her mother and her aunts had told her the moon's curse might set in soon. Seserakh looked at the bowls of blood surrounding the sacred fire, and barely managed to suppress a grimace.
**
I need to reread the book this is based on (The Other Wind) to be certain I remember the info we get about Seserakh's background correctly, but this is the gist of it...