I had intended to do this Sunday, but I neglected it so perhaps I will pick another day each week to do weekly updates.
Last Thursday I completed the outline and began work on the second draft/rewrite. As of this morning, I have 5,121 words written. I am on pace to write 1,000 words a day. This is likely to derail when I get to the middle of it as I am reworking how I resolve the final conflict since I finally understand why it doesn’t work.
From this week’s writing:
Aila could feel Leora try to rush forward, and instinctively held her back. She reached to pull the door shut, to shelter her from the sight.
“Daddy, he needs help.” Leora whimpered.
Nelda turned at the sound of the door closing. She looked back to her husband, over whom she now knelt. “Oren.” She made feeble attempts to stop the bleeding, but she could plainly see the growing pool of blood around him that she could not stop. In a moment he was gone. “No.”
Behind the door, Aila huddled with her sister; terrified. How close had the sorcerer been?
A series of heavy thuds landed on the outer door. Leora pressed herself closer to her sister while Nelda looked up from her husband. As the pounding continued, the door began to bend. Nelda, feeling as though she was moving through a dream, got to her feet and turned to the door behind which she knew her daughters where hiding.
Her face wet with tears, she linked the tree from which their home was built and drew up several thick vines, weaving them carefully across the doors and into them.
Aila looked around alarmed, she could hear the splintering wood, the slithering of the branches. Pulling free of her sister, she tried the door, it wouldn’t move. “Mother!”
“Run! Take Leora. Get out of Lux as fast as you can. Don’t stop and don’t look back.”
“Mom!” Aila screamed, pounding on the door. Leora began to cry from confusion as much as fear.
“Go!” Nelda cried as the outer door gave way. Three sorcerers rushed through the failed door as Nelda turned to face them.
Hearing the door give way, Aila froze. She heard a cry and a thud followed by laughter.
“There is a door here. Something they wanted to protect.” One of the sorcerers said with a twisted smile.
Aila fell back at the sinister, mocking voice. Her mother had given them a chance.
“Come on.” Aila said, reaching for her sister who still sat wailing. “Shh, we need to hurry.” She pulled at her sister who refused to get to her feet. Aila grew frantic as she heard the sorcerers begin to tear at the door her mother had sealed. She took her sister in her arms and rushed back to their bed room. Setting Leora down, she opened the window leading the to back yard, not far from the edge of Lux. She saw no one around, though she could still hear screams echoing all around.
Aila put one leg out of the window and turned to grab her sister, who was nearly unmanageable with grief and terror. She passed her sister through the window, setting her roughly on the ground before climbing out herself. Once outside, she made not effort to get her sister to her feet, but scooped her up and ran for the forest.
With her mother’s voice echoing in her mind, Aila ran as quickly as she could with the awkward weight of her sister who began to struggle against her.
“Mom!” Leora cried, fighting to free herself from her sister’s arms.
Aila stopped as Leora wiggled loose, taking hold of her thin wrist. “Leora! We need to go.”
“We have to help them.” Leora pleaded, her face wet with tears.
Aila struggled against her own tears. She had to be strong, or she would lose Leora, too. “We can’t. Mom asked me to get you away. To keep you safe, we can’t go back.”
Leora struggled against her sister, looking back. Aila looked back toward Lux as well. A sorcerer emerged from the edge of the last house. Spotting the nymphs, he rushed toward them.
Aila pulled Leora toward the trees just a few yards away. This time, she didn’t fight, but turned and fled with her sister. They ran as fast as their legs would carry them. When Leora’s legs couldn’t keep up, Aila took her in her arms again.
When the attacks grew infrequent and stopped all together, Aila slowed and looked for some brush they could hide in. “Link to the trees. They won’t see us as easy that way.” She told her sister as she struggled for breath and linked to one of the trees.
Aila hurried to bring up fresh brush, thick brush in which they could hide. With the shelter prepared, she pulled her sister into the hollowed center she had made.
Leora pushed her face against her sister’s chest, giving vent to her pain.
“Shh, Leora. They might still be following us.” Aila held Leora close to her, trying to suppress her own sobs. “Shh.” She kissed her sister’s head several times.
“Mom and dad will find us.” Leora’s voice was muffled, but her words struck Aila to the core. It took everything in her to keep her cries quiet. How could she tell her they couldn’t follow them? Leora pulled back to see her sister’s face, “They will find us, right?”
Losing her composure, Aila could only shake her head as she wept as quietly as she could, her chest aching with the effort.
-Michelle
