-starless Presents: PENTIMENTO Sneak Peek
Greetings to those of you kind enough to read my post! I thank you from the bottom of my heart for taking your time to read my awkward ramblings.
Now, what I have today for you is a sneak peek to my novel Pentimento, a book following two Painter twins in a fantasy world of war.
: SUMMARY :
Twins Ayara and Ray Waker are the last Painters, a rare form of human that can bring paintings of their blood to life. Separated at birth, one is raised in an orphanage of kindness, the other trained to be a killer. When opposing queens collect them to be their weapons of war, who will come out on top?
Especially when the the twins know nothing of the other's existence . . .
: CHAPTER :
THE SNOW blended with his ear length hair, sharp and unforgiving against his sensitive skin. The boy's eyes had the blue undertones of the falling snow, yet they were dusted with small flakes of opalescent colors. His eyes darted to the right, watching a hawk soar out from a snow coated pine, probably beginning his hunt early in the last few moments of day. He let out a sigh, leaning down to pat the neck of his white stallion.
"Good boy, Stelon," he smiled, his teeth becoming one with the serene beauty of his surroundings.
The stallion lifted his head, making his mane brush against the boys riding gloves and fur cloak. The boy smiled once more, looking around at his surroundings. The mountainous terrain beheld the white capped trees of the lands below and the snow revealed paths of animals once hidden. The wind blew softly, it's hushed voice whispering of legends once told and forgotten wanderers.
"Ray?"
The boy turned his head, smiling again at the girl galloping towards him. Her green coat and dark hair stood out against the scenery, yet her horse and sweet smile blended in perfectly. Her smile pinched up sweetly into a set of deeply set dimples, ones that he could see even when she wasn't smiling. Although, she had always smiled for him, this smile was large enough to reach the depths of her gentle blue eyes.
"Ray!" she panted, slowing her horse to stop beside him, "Why do you always go so fast? It's not fair that you always get to use Stelon. I do love Meria, but she's not as fast."
"Well, Miss Nora, Stelon is mine," he stuck out his tongue, leaning over to nudge her shoulder with his own.
"That's not fair, Ray," she pouted, "I'm certain that Madame Clovett would be on my side of this disagreement."
"She's on my side because I've been here longer," he countered, raising a brow, "Have you been here for seventeen years?"
"No..." she mumbled, her head drooping.
"What was that?" he chuckled, raising a hand to his ear, "I didn't quite hear your confession."
"I said that I haven't been here seventeen years. I've only been here five..." she trailed off.
"Ah ha!" he squeezed his thighs gently to motion his horse forward, "That means I'm better."
Nora raised a brow, finally looking back up. A strand of her hair blew across her face as she looked at him, her rushed updo slightly coming undone. Ray reached out to her, tucking the hair behind her ear. She smiled at him shyly, red rising in her cheeks. She opened her mouth to speak, but paused to rethink.
"Will you be here to celebrate my birthday tomorrow?" he spoke before her.
"Oh," her eyes widened, but her smile faded, "of course."
"What?" he raised a brow, "Is there something the matter?"
She sighed as she spoke, "It's just that you'll be turning eighteen tomorrow. That means that Madame Clovett no longer requires to keep you here. You are free to travel the world while I'll be here for another three years."
"What if I were to adopt you?" he teased.
"Absolutely not," she giggled, moving her horse forward a few steps.
"Why not?" his horse began walking alongside hers, "You'd be free of this place for good. You'd also be with your favorite companion," he stuck out his tongue again resulting in a punch.
"You can be absolutely..." she paused, "absolutely deplorable sometimes!
"Sometimes, not all times."
She gave him a pointed look.
"Well someone is being rather prissy today."
"Not prissy, just not stupid."
"Who said I was stupid?" his brows raised.
"I did. Now," she took off one of her gloves and threw it to him, "I have a challenge for you, would you like to hear it?"
"What is it?"
"Last one home has to do the chores for the week!" she yelled, bursting forward and down the mountain.
Ray chuckled, following her into the puff of snow that shot through the air at the force of her horse's hooves. He felt his stomach drop as his horse leaped forward, falling into pace with the steep slope of the mountainside. Snow creeped up the side of his horse and brushed his legs, the muscles of the horse's legs working harder than usual. He galloped through the powder at full speed, his speed straining to stay consistent against the snow's strength.
"Nora!" he yelled after her, squinting his eyes to allow his lashes to block out the snow.
The snow whistled in return, the only other sound being that of his horse's hooves against the hidden rocky terrain. As his horse leapt back onto a trail, he signaled for a slower pace. The snow began to fall slowly, the mountain holding its breath in anticipation of more. He moved forward at his slowest gait.
"Nora? This isn't funny," he chuckled nervously, scanning the trees.
The snow pricked at the back of his neck and he pulled his fur tighter around himself. His eyes narrowed in on a single snowflake, watching how it fell freely and unique from all the others. He often wondered if there was a pair of snowflakes somewhere, separate, but identical. Despite all the knowledge that he had obtained under Madam Clovett's care, he couldn't help but wonder if the little snowflake upon his nose was a rarity of nature. Perhaps this snowflake did have a match, or once did. Was it ever possible to have an identical snowflake come to life after the death of its match?
Green.
The vibrant contrast of color flashed in the corner of his eye, his gaze instantly finding it. Tucked just beyond a patch of trees, stood Nora. She was far from the path, standing beside her horse, and buried in snow up to her waist. Her horse did not move, it too facing away from the pathway in a daze.
"Nora, are you alright?" Ray yelled, leading his horse to the edge of the path.
She did not move.
"Nora, stay there," he dismounted his horse, "I'll come to get you..."
He stepped off the path, his feet automatically sinking and his boots filling with snow. The cold ran down to his toes, nipping through every barrier placed there to protect them from the unforgiving chill. He continued walking towards her, the snow turning to slush and refilling with snow at every step.
"R-Ray?" her voice cracked from behind the trees, her form still frozen in place.
"Don't you worry, Nora, I'm sure your boot is just stuck in there," he braced his arm against a tree trunk, pushing himself into the small clearing, "Hold on—"
Dark Watchers.
"Don't. Move," Ray forced out, stopping in his tracks.
"I don't plan to," Nora attempted to whisper, but it came out more like a hushed yell.
Blackened forms stood before her, hunched over and feasting upon a fresh kill. Ray's stomach dropped, his food beginning to rise up into his throat, as he saw a few mangled fingers breaking through the snow. The creatures snarled aggressively, one moving to rip off another finger. Ray thought that he would be sick.
"Nora, listen to me," Ray yelled back as quietly as possible, "They won't hurt you, it's okay. Slowly back away."
"Those are human fingers, Ray," she almost pleaded, flashing him a scared look with her deep blue eyes.
The creatures continued to feast, their bodies completely black and their backs hunched in. They were rather skeletal creatures, their ribs so tightly pressed against their skin that it looked as if they were ready to break through. They shoveled the human's flesh into their mouths with thin long fingers, pointed nails on the end stabbing and slicing through food before even reaching their mouths. Though Ray could only see them from a side angle, he knew that these creatures were faceless. They preyed upon helpless wanderers, their brigade dispatching every night as the sun set. Ray looked up to the skyline, the bright oranges and muted blues making his heart jump.
"I-I know, it's okay," he smiled at her with false confidence, holding out his arms, "just come here. We need to go back. The sun is setting."
"Meria," she grabbed the reins of her horse, but she did not move, "Meria, come. Please."
Nora stared into the horse's large eyes, pitch black and full of unknown emotions. She whinnied, stomping her front legs into the deep snow. Her hindquarters quivered from the cold, the joints of her legs stiff and beginning to freeze in place. Nora pulled on the horse's reins harder, the horse letting out a loud neigh in protest. The Dark Watchers turned their blank faces away from their meal and towards Nora, long fingers clawing at the snow in excitement.
"Dammit, Nora. Leave the horse," Nora did not move, her body locked in fear, "NOW!"
Nora flinched at the sound of his voice, but still did not move. She only stared at the creatures, locking her eyes where their eyes may have been in another life. She shifted on her feet, lifting one up and placing it into the deep footprint behind her. She kept her gaze upon the creatures before her, raising her hands shakily in front of her as a sign of peace. One of the creatures stood up and Nora paused mid step.
"Run."
Nora turned around and ran as fast as she could, her horse struggling to break free of the snow freezing around its legs. The air filled with her horse's pained whinnies, and then a pair of high pitched shrieks. She glared over her shoulder for a moment, stumbling towards Ray, and saw the creatures chasing after her. Their mouths hung open as they crawled towards her, half standing upright and half clawing through the snow with their hands. The snow was dangerously deep, yet they ran gracefully over it without sinking in more than a few centimeters.
Nora began to scream with the Dark Watchers, their high pitched shriek almost harmonizing with her own. Ray too began to scream, grabbing Nora's arm and running back to the path as soon as possible. He lifted his knees up high as he ran, almost dragging Nora behind him. She struggled to keep up, her short height putting her at a disadvantage.
"Shit," he yelled, pulling her back onto the path, the snow packed tightly from the many wanderers who had traveled here since the last large snowfall.
His horse was nowhere to be found, its hoof prints already lost within the fresh coat of snow. He could have used Meria in this moment, but he too had to let the horse go. Her legs had been so caught up in the snow that he feared that they would have snapped if she tried to run. He only hoped that one if the Dark Watchers had killed her instead of leaving her to freeze in these mountains.
"Where's Stelon?" screamed Nora as they ran, her voice fading and cracked.
"No time. I'm sure he ran back to the orphanage when he heard the loud noises. A smart horse, he is."
Ray's pace began to slow as the path curved back up into the mountains. Looking over his shoulder, he saw that the Dark Watchers were gaining on them. He increased his grip on Nora's arm and jumped off of the trail, falling off a rather small cliff and into a pillow of fresh snow. She screamed loudly as they collected themselves, continuing to run forward. The snow was very deep, up to Ray's waist, so they moved even slower than before.
Ray felt Nora pull on his arm, her nails digging in as she screamed. He turned his head to see one of the Dark Watchers perching upon the top of the snow, Nora's head held within one of its hands. Ray stopped pulling, stopping completely to stare back at the creature's empty face.
"Let her go," he hissed, stepping towards the creature and looking into her eyes.
Tears glistened at the edges of her eyes, like the shore of an ocean she never got to see. The Dark Watcher dragged one of its fingers across her throat, leaving a thin scratch that was just on the verge of bleeding. She let out a whimper, a hawk screeching a warning in the distance.
"Let her go, beast," he repeated, pulling a small dagger out from under his cloak, "I-I'll kill you both."
He pointed the knife at the creature, his arm shaking despite his attempts to stop it. His white hair matted against his forehead with sweat, surely to turn into ice within a few more moments. He glanced up to see the second Dark Watcher jumping down from the cliff, Nora instantly screaming out as she heard it land on top of the snow.
Ray thought that he would throw up as the second creature stood behind Nora, the mangled head of her horse skewered by its fingers. The creature raised it above her head, Nora squeezing her eyes shut as she felt the warm liquid fall into her hair and drip down her temples. He looked into Meria's eyes, her black pools filled with nothing but an eternal expression of fear. He hoped that it had been a quick death for the gentle horse.
"Nora, keep your eyes closed. Whatever you do, don't look up," he warned.
"Look at it," one creature said in a raspy voice, increasing its hold on her head, "You do not listen to him, you listen to the Watchers."
"I-I don't want to," she cried, a tear slipping out from her closed eyes.
Ray took a step closer to the creatures, now within arm's reach of them. Meria's blood continued to pour from her open neck, dripping down Nora's body, and to the snow around her. He reached down to the snow, sticking a gloved finger into the blood pooling at the base of his footprint. It was thick and frothy, likely to freeze within a few minutes.
"What," he looked back up to the black faces of the Dark Watchers, "do you want from us?"
"We do not take well to trespassers."
"We've been riding on this mountain for years. Under no circumstances have we ever encountered your kind or your trespassing rules. We apologize for interrupting your evening, but if you would just allow us to—"
"The boy does not take well to our rules," one turned to speak to the other.
"I—" Ray raised his hand, his blood soaked glove almost touching the creature's face.
"Silence, boy," a new one spoke, emerging from the trees behind him.
Ray spun around quickly, throwing his only dagger in the direction of the voice. He missed, his blade sticking in a tree too far from reach. He searched around wildly for another weapon to ward off at least one of these creatures. If this new one were to kill him, he wouldn't be able to release Nora from the other two. He bent down to his footprint quickly and scooped some blood up in his hands, throwing it in the face of the creature behind him. If it did have any sort of eye-like feature upon its blank face, he hoped that the blood would temporarily blind it.
Nora screamed from beside him. One of the creatures forced her eyes open while the other shoved the head of Meria in her face. Tears mixed with her beloved horse's blood, the scene visibly scarring her deeply. He knew that she would never forget the still look of her friend's eyes, the friend who had always listened and brought her on what adventures she could manage.
Ray lunged forward towards the two Dark Watchers handling Nora. He landed a punch to one of them, but only received a slash of spiked fingers in return. One began to throw what was left of Meria, but he avoided the strike. Instead, Ray let his hand touch the blood droplets that followed in its trail, elongating most of the droplets with his fingers. The blood seemed to fly through the air in slow motion, the screams of the creatures and Nora fading out into hushed grunts. Even the creature behind him didn't seem quite as threatening at the slow speed.
He watched the droplets suddenly change direction and become a bright white, the red color seeping away into a dozen large icicles. The icicles barreled towards the creatures at increasing speed, almost seeming to sharpen as Ray's world came back into full speed. The icicles pierced the Dark Watchers with a loud crash, one going down one of their throats and it the back of its neck. It choked for a moment, then stilled.
Everything went silent.
The remaining Dark Watchers looked at him. Even without eyes, he could tell that they were in awe. Ray looked down at his hands hesitantly only to find the remnants of blood and snow. He had not remembered grabbing any icicles or even seeing some in range.
"You are a Painter," one of the creatures said.
"What?" Nora asked, Ray still staring at his hands.
"The Painters were all destroyed years ago, it can't be," the other said.
"W-What is a Painter?" Ray finally asked.
"A Painter is just like any other human, but they have a gift. Something is said to have gone wrong in their brains, almost like their brains were made purely out of creativity."
"Get on with it," he hissed, frustration rising up in his chest.
The other continued. "Painters can make their artwork come to life. I'd say that you created a shape similar to an icicle with that blood. That's what happened, I reckon."
"Are you going to kill us?" Nora spoke up, slowly stepping away from the creatures.
"No. We do not bother ourselves with Painters. We've been alive on this mountain for centuries, child, and those Painters are the reason why our population only lurks at night. A dangerous people, they are."
: GIVEAWAY :
I will giveaway a graphic design mentorship* to one lucky winner. This giveaway is open internationally, and is available to anyone with or without graphic design experience.
*a graphic design mentorship means that I will be an active resource to you in guiding you through your graphic design journey. Any sort of graphic design is fair game (cover design, photo manipulation, etc) and can be taught via live streaming software and/or private messages.
Examples of my experience:
If you managed to get this far, congratulations! Thank you all for checking out my post!
Until next time,
Whitney
★ ★ ★
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