This is my entry for Weekend Writing Warriors.
If anyone hasn't come across WeWriWa before, you need to go here to see all the extraordinary talent on display.
My snippet this week is again from Impcatcher. Tal Djandiss, the eponymous impcatcher of the title, is still in a pitch black cellar. The rogue imp he was hunting has just bitten him - Tal is fighting back...
I swung my heavy, squirming burden down onto its
back against the stone floor with a solid thud, hoping to knock the
fight out of it before it thought to start throwing fire around.
So
far, it had been playing games, amusing itself with the idiot human.
Now that said idiot had proved to be reasonably capable, it might
well use some of the more dangerous abilities in its arsenal. It
twisted and shrieked, but in anger, not dismay. Not to my surprise,
it snarled something else, and its skin began to smoke. Small flames
began to lick from its skin – the grey slab walls around us
flickered red from the glow, wet moss reflecting the light in wide
patches on the ancient stone.
I hauled the imp off the deck and
slammed it down again with all my strength. A quozac is not an easy
customer - most have an evil sense of humour and a good line in
incendiaries. This one was obviously no exception.
As always, comments welcome!
Well it's obvious he's going to have to fight fire with ire (sorry, couldn't help the play on words). Great action, really keeps wondering about the outcome.
ReplyDeleteLol! Tal says there's no imp he's met so far he hasn't been able to deal with. Of course, there has to be a first time...
DeleteClearly this imp has never heard that smoking is bad for the health. Wait...what's that you say? Not that kind of smoking?
ReplyDeleteLol again! Smoking is never healthy - even for an imp!
DeleteNasty customer, indeed! Very visual and fun to read. Puts you right in the scene.
ReplyDeleteThanks!
DeleteAlways love the snippets from this one...and of course, they have to have a good line in incendiaries. ;-)
ReplyDeleteI love the visuals. Nicely done.
ReplyDeleteThanks!
DeleteThat was entertaining! I get the feeling you really enjoy writing these characters, which is good.
ReplyDeleteI have a question--if they're indoors, would there be moss on the walls? I've never been inside an ancient building so I don't know.
I'm assuming the householder leaves a light burning in the wine cellar much of the time - and who knows what strange mosses grow in Tal's world? (One of the reasons I like writing fantasy is that if I slip up, I just claim it's one of the differences between the real world and my imaginary realm!)
DeleteNice detail. Anything with fire is good. :-)
ReplyDeleteThanks - and I'm not a pyromaniac, honest (hey, give me back my matches!)
DeleteFascinating world and even more fascinating creature. Such an array of defense mechanisms. My question now is, why is Tal trying to catch this imp any way? Bounty? Public service? Sport?
ReplyDeleteBusiness - it's his job. He gets paid by the householders to remove pests from their cellars, sitting rooms, or wherever the little horrors are making trouble. It doesn't pay desperately well, but it provides him with a living.
DeleteLove how you get such a strong sense of the struggle - I wanted to use 'energetic manhandling' but I guess its more 'imphandling'- with the narrator's observations as subtext. Awesome.
ReplyDeleteLove how you get such a strong sense of the struggle - I wanted to use 'energetic manhandling' but I guess its more 'imphandling'- with the narrator's observations as subtext. Awesome.
ReplyDeleteThanks - and I like the word imphandling - I might well make use of it, with your permission!
DeleteI wonder if Tal might want to rethink his line of work? This imp is one nasty character. Very fun snippet. I love the illustration of the bottle-wielding imp.
ReplyDeleteMost imps he has no trouble with - this just happens to be an awkward one (the simple ones aren't so interesting from a dramatic point of view!) (Tal would add that he's got no other useful skills, so he's unemployable otherwise!)
DeleteSounds like he's got quite the fight on his hands, and neither one of them willing to concede. At least the flaming imp puts off a little light. That has to give Tal a bit more advantage.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely - the imp hasn't realised that he's giving his opponent an advantage.
DeleteBad guys that burst into fire - so not good.
ReplyDeleteTweeted.
Thanks - and thanks for tweeting it!
DeleteHey Peter, great writing! Sounds like one heck of a fight and reminds me of a video game in a way. Very cool!
ReplyDeleteThanks - I hadn't thought of it in video game terms, but yes, in some ways!
DeleteYou have a vivid imagination!
ReplyDeleteI'm told there is treatment I can get for it...
DeleteSounds like quite a handful. Wonder what it will take to properly subdue an imp?
ReplyDeleteBrute force and low cunning - both of which Tal can provide when needed.
DeleteWhere's Aqua Man when you need him? Tweeted.
ReplyDeletelol! and thanks for the tweet.
DeleteBrute force doesn't seem to be working. Maybe some treats, the quozac might be a closet "cookie monster" at heart! LOL! Great snippet!
ReplyDeleteThanks! Other imps I've written about seem to like fudge or brandy, but this imp's not so easily bribed.
DeleteGreat imagery. I hope he's up to taking care of this imp properly. I look forward to finding out.
ReplyDeleteTal assures me he'll deal with it - we'll get a better idea just how next week.
DeleteGreat action writing. And Tal has a wicked sense of humor also, I think. :-)
ReplyDeleteThanks! I like to think Tal has a good sense of humour - not that the imps always agree.
DeleteYou have written a very vivid scene. I can almost feel the tension between them, and the aggression.
ReplyDeleteThanks! The imp had a word with me after I finished writing the scene, complaining about Tal inflicting gratuitous violence. I punched it until it shut up.
DeleteSo much fun beating the hell out of creature. I love stories like this.Good job, Peter
ReplyDeleteThanks! Tal says he doesn't normally hit imps for the fun of it... but in this imp's case he made an exception!
DeleteWow, this is a great fight scene, especially since the creature has so many formidable weapons.
ReplyDeleteIn a sense I set myself a problem - an adult man beating up something a third his size could come across as very nasty, unless I made it clear it was an even contest. So the imps have a good range of ways to fight back.
DeleteThis imp is a huge troublemaker! Hope there's a way to fireproof. 😀
ReplyDeleteTal's hope is that he can beat the fight out of the little horror before the entire wine cellar catches light.
DeleteHow the heck could anyone call this a minor pest? o.O
ReplyDeleteI suspect the householder gave it that term in the hopes it would reduce the bill for its removal!
DeleteLove the voice in this story. He's so matter-of-fact in the face of something that sounds quite menacing.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comment - sums Tal up very nicely!
DeleteGreat fight scene, and the fire definitely ups the stakes! Looking forward to reading more, and I love Tal's name. :-)
ReplyDelete~Joyce Scarbrough