Novel teaser 2

“Alright children, listen up!  Today will be a very important day.  You will finally-”

“Be able to wield real weapons!??” A eager boy named Marcus spoke out while the other children cheered.

“Quiet down!” William began his lecture over again, “Today you will learn about the Lavender woods.  The most dangerous place in all of Averlast.”

“My mum puts lavender in dad’s shoes because it makes them smell better,” commented one of the girls. She was dressed in a similar brown to the tents and the roofs.  The children became rowdy again.  Marcus stood up and challenged his teacher.

“Why are we sitting on these old wooden stumps listening to an old man like you?  I bet I could cut down any monster in the land of Averlast.  My dad is super strong, he can lift a whole tree out of the ground with his bare hands! I’m not going to learn anything from a wooden sword and some old man who can barely walk!”

“Don’t be so foolish.”  The old man said, grimly looking at the Marcus.

Marcus was embroidered head to toe in his family emblem.  It was even burned into his wooden sword.  His dad was a wealthy merchant and his mother was the town healer.  This brewed the expectation that Marcus would become a great hero someday.  “I’d go in there and whack all those shadowy creatures in the head!  They don’t scare me.  And neither do you old man.”  The boy swung his sword towards his teacher.

And it took only a glare of the old man’s multicolored eyes and the sword went limp like rubber, and then Marcus turned to spaghetti-being, thrashing helplessly about.  The other kids threw his slippery noodle bits around laughing and cheering at the boy’s demise.

“Alrite alrite, put him back together,” the old man said, and with a flick of the few wisps of his hair, he turned the boy back , who was now quivering from head to toe.  “I’m going to tell my dad! He is going to be super upset with you!”

“If you cannot handle a simple spell, you cannot handle the woods, or the creatures that live in it.  Let this be a lesson to all you brave little younglings who choose to run into battle without being properly equipped.”

“You mean like real swords mister?”  A tiny girl all the way in the back squeaked.

“Well yes, but what I am trying to get at is that you need knowledge, wisdom, and experience.  Don’t leave your home without your head.”

Another boy raised his hand and asked, “How would we leave our heads in our house, isn’t it attached by the neck?”

The other children nodded in agreement, with the little girl checking to see if her head could detach.  The old man slapped his freckled forehead.  “Class dismissed!” he yelled out as his words lifted them up in the air and tossed them gently towards their homes.

enjoy!