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November 27, 2005
Day 27
Wordcount: 46,130!
Almost there... almost there!
I got to 43,345 yesterday, which was impressive enough. Then I wrote almost 3000 words today at the writein! Go me! Wow! Downside: I have already hit the climax of my novel and I have 4000 words left to go. Crap. Well, I'll figure something out. If all else fails, I can add an epilogue. Or go back and pad or something. Yeah.
I've changed the Big Bad Guy's name to Cliffron (it was Osred, which is a name way too good to waste in a character-building exercise like this one, heh), which has the added bonus of finally letting me kill someone named after Cliff Brooks. I didn't get to do it last year, so it was nice to do so again. Here's his death scene...
FWIW, Gral is a duelling sorcerer who is leading Evran and the other student sorcerers after Cliffron, a nasty sorcerer who killed Evran and the others' teacher in a big battle. Cliffron was wounded, but he's too unpleasant to be allowed to crawl off and lick is wounds, so the good guys are tracking him with magic so they can finish him off.
They rode on in silence. Finally, they neared a bend in the road, with a stand of trees in the curve. Gral held up his hand again. "Let's dismount and leave the horses here." The trail was bright in front of them.They tied their horses to a low branch and walked slowly around the curve, ready for anything. Evran had his blade out already, and the others walked close together, ready to grab hands and feed him what little power they had left.
Evran could sense everything - the blades of grass rubbing against each other, the wind whispering through the trees, even the heartbeats of his companions. He relaxed and let his senses run further, and found he could hear another heartbeat just ahead. He whispered, "he's just ahead," just as they came around a curve and found Cliffron, his back to them, limping onward.
Gral motioned for them to stop, and the three students joined hands and started to raise energy. Cliffron turned, and Gral pulled up the shield in front of them.
Evran felt Shtaa feeding him power, and then a tendril from the others found him, and he was overwhelmed with the rage he had felt since seeing Talianna's body hit the ground in the keep. With a wordless cry, he focused all that power and emotion into a ball in front of him, a sphere of power with the sole purpose of shattering Cliffron's body. He raised his hands and threw it at Cliffron before the other man had a chance to complete the spell he was trying to start, and he went flying. His body slammed into a tree across the road and slid down to the ground.
Gral looked at Evran and gave him a quiet nod. He dropped the shield temporarily and led them over to the fallen sorcerer. Cliffron was sitting, his back to the tree, and except for the rather sickening angle of one of his arms he looked rather normal. He coughed and spattered blood everywhere.
Evran could smell the blood, and fought down the side of him that still wanted to drink his enemy dry, to feel the hot blood course down his throat and listen as his heart faltered to a stop.
"Damn you," Cliffron said. "I just wanted… the library."
"Go to Hel," Evran said, and he could hear the venom in his voice.
They stood there in silence as Cliffron's breathing grew more and more ragged and finally shuddered to a stop with a few last gasps. His last breath hissed out in a terrible sigh, and Evran closed his eyes and listened to the sorcerer's heart fade away as well. He leaned forward and closed the two eyes which had already lost their focus.
"It is finished," he said in a soft voice. "Finally."
"What do we do with the body?" Claric asked.
"Drag it into the woods and leave it for the coyotes?" Evran asked.
"If I thought that were safe, I would agree," Gral said. "We need to bring it back and burn it, then scatter the ashes."
Posted by Ealasaid at November 27, 2005 09:36 PM
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