It’s a cool, grey, rainy Mother’s Day here in Canberra. And what is the best possible thing to do on such a day? Read!
Lucky for you it’s Snippet Sunday, which means it’s time for the next installment of The River’s Dark.
In last week’s snippet, Wade was astounded, and Lyria hugely relieved, to discover Bray alive and well. On questioning, Zara admitted that she had helped in Bray’s recovery through use of a Darkstone…
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Zara nodded. ‘I wasn’t supposed to use it, ever, but I couldn’t…’ She glanced across at where Bray was propped up on the sleeping roll. He made something like a smile in response. ‘I couldn’t let him die if I could save him,’ she continued, her steady dark eyes meeting Wade’s gaze, her voice stronger now.
‘A Darkstone…’ Wade said again, frowning, as though the fact were still sinking in, like something heavy dropped into deep, still water, settling. ‘Well…’ he breathed.
Lyria had heard of Darkstone. For years, each village had trained the strongest of their people to dive the depths of the river in search of them. The Darkstone were vanishingly rare, tiny, and almost impossible to locate. They looked like any other river stone, almost. Only one specially trained and with inherent talents could locate them, and even fewer could use them. And it was years since any had been found. Their possession had been prohibited throughout the Archipelago by the Sond Council, along with all other artefacts and relics of power.
It’s warm here but raining…I’m having trouble sleeping so I’m reading. Nice snippet. Love this line…
like something heavy dropped into deep still water settling.”
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Thanks Nancy 😊 I always like thinking about the time differences. The internet is cool!
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Oh ho. There’s more than we expected from Zara. Great snippet, Rachel. 🙂
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There is! And as the story goes on she’s surprised me too, which is my favourite sort of character…
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Intriguing – she has a forbidden but valuable stone!
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And has further broken the rules by using it….
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This is getting more and more interesting. Zara is an interesting character, so much mystery all around her.
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Thanks Linda – I’ve liked her more and more as I’ve been writing her character.
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Great imagery–I agree with Nancy about that first line. Looking forward to finding out what inherent talents she has.
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Thanks – yes, she doesn’t understand the significance of what she can do herself yet, either…
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Prohibited artifacts are always the best kind of fun to have…
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Always my favourites! 😊
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I really enjoy the world building involved here. The stone and all the lore surrounding it is fascinating. Great snippet!
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Thanks! Lots more if that to come…
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She has a forbidden stone. Interesting.
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Always makes things more fun!
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She doesn’t seem to be too worried about having a prohibited artifact.
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She thinks she’s among friends. The Varin are secretive and mostly operate outside the confines of Sond society but they do have their own strict codes too.
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The imagery here is enticing. Great snippet!
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Glad you were enticed! Thanks for reading 😊
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Loved the description of Darkstone.
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I was interested in the idea of it being an alluvial deposit, naturally occurring and mixed in with the other river stones. Thanks for visiting 😊
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Sometimes you just gotta break the rules! Love the mystery surrounding the Darkstone.
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Absolutely! Thanks for reading.
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Ooooh, intriguing. If I was her though I wouldn’t be willingly admitting to having a rare artifact like that, let alone that she used it! I smell trouble with a capital T coming!
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That’s the best kind of trouble! 😀
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You got me hooked on this story. Really liked the background info to the stone.
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Thanks Iris that’s great to hear 😊
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