ASENIA OF THE BLUE ISLES-CHAPTER 3

Hello and here is chapter 3 of out little serialization. Hope you are enjoying it so far. If you want to support it, you can donate to the tip jar below. Thank you so much!
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Chapter 3

 

 

Karina yelled to the crew who were already trying to bring the ship to its right side. That rolling wave came had them hard rolling the ship to its side. The wind was still rocking it but at least they had righted. It was just to maintain that.

The mountain range was too close for comfort as well. Simon was working feverishly to get the air ship to come to life. How she wished she had that thing fixed. They would have a fighting chance to fly away. They would have to use their wits.

Silver Fox came rushing up to her. “Simon and I are going to try a manual steer. Not sure it will work but it could get rough.”

Karina nodded. “Do what you have to do. We will prepare to hang on.”

She could see the mountains in clearer view now and she did not want to crash land there. She recognized it as the land of Troves. They were an unfriendly lot, almost more dangerous than pirates. She only hoped Simon and Silver Fox acted fast.

The first wave of hit, the ship jerked ahead. Karina hung on to the rope as another wave hit. The ship groaned and moaned as if complaining about being forced to move ahead.  But this time they moved away from the mountains which relieved Karina.

They were making progress now. But the storm was not finished with them yet and over the stormy clouds Karina caught an ominous sight.

The Bear of terror was flying over the clouds with ease. His ship called The Sea Jewel never wavered in the storm. He was a scavenger and when he saw ships in trouble he relieved them of their troubled ships, by force generally. The bear did not care.

Karina yelled out a warning. The ship took one more jerk ahead and this time another wave of cloud hit them shoving them towards the mountain instead of away. Karina was now fighting two battles. The storm and the incoming attacker-the bear.

Of course he spotted them and it was coming straight for them. Karina could see the bear was shouting to his crew and pointing at them.

And to add to the trouble she could see Trove creatures lining the edge of the mountain watching the whole thing. The storm didn’t bother them one bit. She had to act fast before they boarded her ship.

Falklan was holding the ships mast from collapsing as little Kit ran up the pole to fasten line to keep it in place. Kit was half cat, half elf. She was nimble. Silver Fox spied the ship. She sent out one of her flaming arrows as a warning to the ship.

The old bear laughed and caught the arrow in his large fists. He shook the arrow at them as he came for them.

The crew of The Sea Jewel poured over the sides of the ship like spiders. They relished the storm. Karina knew it would only a few more moment before her ship would be invested with the intruders. She took out her sword and ran to the back of the ship where they were ready to climb aboard. She swung hard at each one. Flakan was grabbing them by his bare hands as they were climbing over the rail. He tossed them into the storm clouds. Kit was running along the rail biting and scratching each one of them that made the attempt.

However some of them made it over and started fighting. Simon was still trying to manual steer the ship. Karina could see the one that made it over was heading toward Simon. She knew if it got to him, the ship would be doomed. Karina ran after the attacker.

She yelled out to Simon as a warning. He flung a heavy rope with part of a broken piece of the mast tied to it. It nailed the attacker and flung him out into the wind. Karina helped Simon with the steering and together they managed to get away from the mountain.

The fighting was still going on. The bear was now on deck and he was still holding the flaming arrow. Karina had to get that from him. He would destroy her ship with it.

The Silver fox knew that to and she aimed another arrow at him hitting his hand knocking the flaming arrow out in the gust of wind. The flame could be seen heading toward the mountain.

The bear roared. Now the Silver Fox aimed another flaming arrow at his own ship. He seen her and laughed. “Try little fox, your flame will not make it.”

She let the arrow fly and one of the Sea Jewel crew member tried to grab it but missed. It was going to hit their sails. Karina hoped anyway.

It hit and the sails of The Sea Jewel burst into flames. The bear growled running for Karina. She had her sword ready. The rain had come back and now was coming down hard making it hard to even see. The bear shook himself and she looked up at Simon to swing the rope again. He took it but the wind snatched it out of his hands but when it came back Simon ducked and so did Karina. It nailed the bear taking him off the ship and into the pouring rain storm.

Karina ran to the back as the roar from the bear carried in the wind. What crew where on the ship flung themselves into the wind to catch their captain.

The sail that the Silver fox had hit was all in flame. They now had to help their crew save their own ship and get out of the pouring rain that was shoving them done.

Simon and the Silver fox got the ships sails up and the wind grabbed and flung them straight ahead, clear of the mountains. They managed to get to safety and take shelter inside another canopy of large trees to wait out the storm.

They were safe.

It was would be a rough rest of the night. They had to assess damage and fix what they could. They were now a wounded ship and vulnerable to more attacks. Karina knew the news of what they carried-the sapphire ice would be sought after.

They had to make haste to the Orox Mountain Region. She had no choice but take a short cut where even more danger lied.

 

***

 

The next morning the storm and winds cleared away to bright sunshine. The crew was a bit battered but they sailed out and got the good breezes and were sailing for the shortcut through the mountains.

Karina was relieved and felt good. Everyone would be able to have a rest while the winds carried them on their journey.

Little did she know that a certain ship was following her at a safe distance. The flag that waved on the ship was The Trove.

 

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ASENIA OF THE BLUE ISLES-CHAPTER 2

Good day to everyone! Here is Chapter 2 in our continuing story. Hope you enjoy!
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Chapter 2

 

Simon had managed to keep them ahead of the storm. They had made it over the mountain when the rains hit. They gently sailed into a large grove of trees that grew on the side of the Orox forest. They had a little ways to get to the mountain region where their shipment was to be delivered. Silver Fox was tying the lines securing then in place. They would have to wait for the rain to end. Everyone would have to get their sleep tonight. Tomorrow would be a long day sailing making up for lost time.

Karina surveyed her crew as they busily took care of what needed to be done. She just hoped that they would not have any trouble from Naiad again. Karina knew she would not give up and word now would have spread about what cargo she was carrying. That would attract other thieves.

Simon was still working on the air engines. Karina hoped at least they would get them to their destination. Once they were paid, she would get the ship fixed up right there. She would be set then. Silver Fox came scampering over the rail, tail swishing. “Everything is secure for the night. I will take the first round of being on guard.”

“Very good,” replied Karina. Off he went.

She was very happy to have him on board. He was a sly fox that got them through some tight fixes. She could see some of her other crew member, Tabius, a rogue mongrel from the Falklan region, and her shapeshifting cat Milo who was an elf. She was an expert with a bow and arrow.

Now they were all tucked in for the night. The rain was coming down livelier. In some ways Karina was glad as that would keep trouble away. She hoped anyway.

Sitting on a large tree limb, Karina and Milo sat and watched the rain for a while. “You should go rest Captain, we have a busy day tomorrow.”

“I know but we will get there and make our delivery. We can stay out of the pirate’s way. We know how,” she grinned.

“That we do indeed. I will go do a check.” She jumped down onto the ship’s deck but didn’t make it across when a flying arrow landed in front of her. Karina jumped down instantly. The Silver Fox howled. More arrows came. Karina cursed under her breath. So much for the rain keeping trouble away.

When Karina landed on the deck, chaos had ensued. Large Mothdogs had landed and where fighting with Silver Fox and Milo was perched on a rung firing arrows at them. The other arrows were coming from a rogue ship, pirates.

Karina took out her knives and started slashing her way through the mothdogs. Finally the captain of the rogue ship landed on the deck scattering the mothdogs. He roared and everyone stopped. He towered over Karina. He was even bigger than Tabuis but Karina held her ground. She had faced the like of him before.

“Let me introduce myself.” He tipped his hat off to her. “They call me the Red Saber but you can just call me Red.”

Karina sneered at him. “Well then Red, you can get off my ship, now.”

“Oh come now, can’t we strike a deal. Word has it that you have the rare sapphire ice on board, no?”

“Don’t believe everything you hear, Red.”

He narrowed his gaze at her trying to tell if she was pulling one over on him. He glanced back and one of the mothdogs came forward without him saying a word. “Go look down below and sniff it out.”

“If he goes near the deck below, my mate will shoot an arrow through his skull.”

Red roared with laughter. “Then you do have the precious cargo on board.” He glanced back at his ship. “Let’s take it, now.”

His ship’s crew came pouring out of the portals of the ship like ants. Karina had to do something and fast. Her crew was now fighting them as they landed. Karina’s knives were meeting whoever came near. But this was a losing battle. They were outnumbered.

Suddenly a loud crash of thunder erupted and lightening lit up the sky. The rain now was turning into a mad downpour. It was a real storm now but that didn’t stop them. They relished in the bad weather.

The ship started to rock. The wind had gotten up and was pulling at the ship. The ropes were being stressed. Karina knew that if this kept up they would be air born in the middle of a lightning storm. She did not need that. The need to get rid of these thieves were greater than ever.

Milo fired a ball of fire at their ship. It hit its mark and burst into a large ball of fire. Red cursed and ordered his crew to go back and safe the ship. The mothdogs were jumping overboard to get away from Milo’s fire breathing arrows.

But by the time the rogue crew jumped back on to their ship, The Arsinia was being pulled by the storm. The first rope snapped and it wasn’t long until they all snapped, one by one. The storm now had Karina’s ship its grip and it flung it out into the open where the rain pounded on them and the sails were being whipped and torn.

The other ship wasn’t faring any better and if fact, the ball of fire that Milo sent over there had spread. The storm had grabbed them as well and now they were off in the storm and out of sight. She was relieved but they had a battle on their hands to gain control of their own ship.

The mountains were too close for comfort. They could be thrown and smash up against it if they didn’t steer away.

And if things couldn’t get any worse, those rolling dark clouds were coming straight for them. It was do or die.

 

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ASENIA OF THE BLUE ISLES-PART 1

Hello! Today I have the beginning of an adventurous story. I'll do it in small parts. I don't think it will be that long but here is part one. Hope you enjoy!

 

 

 

ASINIA OF THE BLUE ISLES

PART 1

 

 Karina was the captain of the ASINIA. She sailed the air of the Blue Isles and out reaching areas trading goods and hauling in finds that her crew scavenged. There were always deals to be made with those that were willing to part with their finds.

On occasion she would meet up with airship pirates. One ship, The Sabina was ruthless. Their captain, Naiad, was a rival of Karina’s. She always tried to steal and one up Karina but she wised up fast to her. Karina would send her hawk Blue to fly ahead and warn her if she was close by.

Today Karina didn’t have time for any confrontations with anybody. She had an important shipment of sapphire ice to deliver to the farthest reach, the Obian region that made air ships. Max who owned the main shipping company was giving Karina extra to make the shipment of sapphire ice as quickly as possible. Karina never asked why when he offered. She didn’t care as the money would go towards ship repairs that were needed badly.

Her crew member, Simon, was the one who did the repairs and he did his best with what he had to work with but Karina knew that if she didn’t get the repairs done properly that she would not be flying the skies. She needed this job.

Sapphire ice was very valuable so Karina instructed her crew not to say anything about what they were delivering. She didn’t need to fight pirates today. Kat, her second in command, told her they were ready to sail. Karina nodded and everybody took their positions. Blue was perched on the top sail. She would fly ahead of them keeping a sharp eye for trouble.

The sky was the best blue for sailing in Karina’s opinion. That pale blue with hardly any clouds in their way and the wind was always in their favor on days like these. They would make good time. That’s what Karina was hoping for.

Everything was quiet in the air today and it was getting warm but Karina didn’t mind. Blue was circling above them and as she looked up at him through her sun goggles, his huge wing span cast a shadow over her. Simon rushed up to her taking her out of her quiet moment.

“We’re making good time but the levers to shift the sails are weaker. I might have to manually change them ourselves.”

“Do what you have to do Simon, we have precious cargo on board.” She hardly got the words out of her mouth when a huge creak and groan shook the ship. Simon went off running. Now the ship was free sailing. “Everybody get to their stations, we have to guide this ship by our own hands!”

And if not to complicate things any worse, Blue starts squawking. Karina instantly looks around and there it is, the Sabina with Naiad at the helm looking through her glass scope. A huge howl came from the Sabina and Karina knew who or what it was. Standing next to Naiad was a cat mage! Karina cursed under her breath. She hated those things. Karina had taken shipments there and also did some scavenging. It was almost not worth it. Blue let out a screech. Karina could see her pointing to the sky showing the cat mage Blue.

Karina instantly went and got her trusty bow and arrow. The magic tips on her arrows could main any ship. Now the Sabina was very close. Naiad shouted over. “Having trouble are we? I’m willing to take over your delivery for you.”

Karina laughed despite the attack she knew that would soon take place. Naiad never willed any help to anyone. It would a steal and sell to the highest bidder help. Karina gritted her teeth. “No, we do not need your help. We have everything under control.”

“Doesn’t look like it to me. You are free floating, not going to make good time that way,” she shouted over.

Karina tightened her grip on her bow, ready for anything. She would not let her steal this valuable load. The Sabina was now right alongside her. Karina and her crew who now jumped into action ready to fight. Blue was still flying above them.

“Let’s not fight,” Naiad quipped. “I’m just here to help.”

“You never help, you only help yourself,” Karina retorted back.

Suddenly Blue let out a loud squawk from above. Karina looked up and her eyes went wide. Over the mountains came storm clouds. Karina had seen this happen on days like this. Calm and perfect one minute and the next a storm to cause chaos. Naiad looked up as well. She shouted to her crew. She knew better as well.

“I wish you the best and all.” Off they took off leaving there in their free floating stage. Karina knew that they would be back to pick up the sapphire ice off her ship once they were blown away by the storm clouds bellowing over the mountains. She would not let that happen.

Her crew scrambled to manual steer the ship and take advantage of the wind that had just picked up. But Karina knew that the wind would get stronger and would be hard to work with as it picked up strength. Her ship would be tossed and torn up in the winds hands like paper. She had to get out of here!

Her ears heard a wonderful noise. The gears of the ship started to creak and groan. Simon had convinced them to work once again. With a little help from the lively winds, they were on their way to their destination. They managed to clear the mountains and get out of the storms way.

It didn’t mean though that they were out of danger. They had to stay in front of the storm and not lose ground and get caught in it.

They sky behind them was black as midnight.

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POPPY DREAMS-poem

Hope your summer is going well. Today we have a bit of a summery poem. Hope you enjoy!
And in case you missed the previous post, my work over on Smashwords is all 50% off!
Go here. Maybe you will find a summer read.

POPPY DREAMS

POEM

 

Papery petals wave in the wind. Butterflies dance around them.   

Their scent is mild but is still picked up by insects and small moths.

Poppies allow dreams to drift silently in the summer breeze.

Birds sing adding to the moment. It’s almost a perfect moment.

Invisible visitors come and tend to the poppies. They flutter about like the butterflies with their beautiful wings.

That is where poppy dreams come from. 

 

 

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If you are a Smashwords reader, there is a summer sale going on there right now. All of my own work is now 50% off!! Go check out my catalogue and grab yourself some summer reads. The sale goes until the end of July. GO HERE!!