"Place Name Here"

For this post, I'm going to sneak peek the prologue of a book that my friend and I are writing (Margaret, I hope this is ok with you... :D). Since we haven't thought of a name yet, we've been calling it "Place Name Here". 

So without further ado, the beginning of, "Place Name Here".

            

            The cool breeze set his heart in a flurry. The sense in the air was surreal. The atmosphere outside of his body was soothing, but inside he was being torn from limb to limb. Finnegan struggled to understand why. Why they were all gone. What had happened to all his loved ones? The ones he cared for since he was a young boy. They all disappeared.

            Finnegan stood on the edge of a cliff. The wind almost knocked him from the rim. He could feel the earth about to cry out in horror with him. He let out a terrifying cry from the very depths of his throat. His voice bounced off the surrounding mountains, crying back to him. A single lonely tear spilled from his eye. It traveled down his shaking face. He didn’t bother to conceal his tears. Finnegan collapsed to the dirt-covered ground, trembling. The skies opened up and poured their tears onto the mourning world below.    

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Another part of the book:

“The army! The army! Boy, you listen closely! If you lie one more time I’ll…”

“I’m not lying! They took her! They took all of them!”

            “You expect me to believe they took her and not you? Fool,” the man shouted.

            “They tried to take me but I escaped. Sabina was not so lucky. Please, you have to believe me! It’s the truth!” Finnegan pleaded.

            The man looked to the guard. “There is a battle about to emerge, sire. He could be telling the truth. I know my hometown was ravaged for soldiers. It could be true, sire.” 

            The man huffed and turned to face Finnegan. “We will follow this so called army. You will come with us. If we do not find your sister, you-” he grinned evilly, “will face a punishment worse than death.”

            Finnegan gulped. He could not imagine what this man would do to him if Sabina was not found. 

            The man said, “We will not need this one-“ he pointed at Leila. “Kill her.” The guard beside Leila raised his blade, ready to strike at any instant. Finnegan screamed, “NOOOO!”

            A blade sliced through the air and came down on flesh.

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Finnegan woke. His first thought was Leila. He tried to sit up, but some unseen force stopped him. He looked to his side through a haze of fog and saw the stakes driven into the floor, felt the ropes that bound his hands and feet. He gave a cry of desperation and thrashed fruitlessly.

After several minutes of unsuccessful efforts, he relaxed and looked at his surroundings. He was lying on a thin blanket, which didn’t at all mask the hardness of the packed earth floor. His hands and feet were tied securely to the stakes, keeping him from moving at all. The ropes that bound him were thick and tight, and he winced as he felt the chafed skin underneath, a painful result of his escape effort. Sweat mixed with blood and tears dripped into his eyes, burning them.

He couldn’t think about any of these things right now. All he could think about was- Leila. Dear Leila. Sweet Leila. Beautiful Leila. He must have passed out when she was struck, because he remembered nothing but the raised sword. He tried to find some way out of the truth, but he couldn’t. The blow was too harsh, the guard too strong. She was gone.

~Ashley