{"id":519,"date":"2014-04-29T12:45:24","date_gmt":"2014-04-29T19:45:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jamesfunfer.com\/?p=519"},"modified":"2014-04-29T12:45:24","modified_gmt":"2014-04-29T19:45:24","slug":"sneak-preview","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jamesfunfer.com\/?p=519","title":{"rendered":"Sneak Preview"},"content":{"rendered":"

As promised, here is a sneak peek at the sequel to\u00a0Crystal Promise<\/em>. Comments welcome.<\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

Julio had forgotten how fresh the air could be outside of the city. Away from the smokestacks and grit and the smell of collective metropolitan sweat, he could feel life being infused into his lungs. On the open road, the wind burnt his cheeks and his lips curled up into a misshapen but honest smile. He couldn\u2019t recall the last time he\u2019d smiled like that; it was worth the occasional swallowed bug.<\/p>\n

Roberto had never driven a motorcycle before, but he took to it like he did every other skill he tried his hand at, making the tight turns and switchbacks of the mountain roads look effortless. Drago drove much more recklessly, spinning his tires to spit up dirt and gravel, showing off by lifting the front tire on occasion, and whipping by Joveday drivers in their family \u2018coaches by hugging the shoulder of the road. Julio would occasionally yell at Drago to be more careful, but if the young man heard him, he didn\u2019t listen.<\/p>\n

They set out north from Captus Nove, avoiding the wide, main road known as Sundus Motorway \u2013 at Julio\u2019s suggestion they took the winding inner-country route known colloquially as the \u2018Old Mine Road\u2019, passing through small villages and alongside scenic upper-caste farmland estates. The day was brisk, but they had lucked out; the clouds were fleeting and there was little threat of rain.<\/p>\n

Along the way, Julio would shout out historic anecdotes to Drago about the townships they passed, or the landscape \u2013 here at this bluff the barbarian tribes of Denlandia were held off by a meagre force of well-trained First Empire soldiers led by General Abritus, there the greatest crystal mine ever discovered gave up its last shard during the Fourth Republic, putting thousands of miners out of work. Whether Drago was truly listening, Julio couldn\u2019t tell, but Roberto would occasionally add asides or ask questions.<\/p>\n

They stopped on a pastoral hillside for lunch, snacking on cheese, sausage and a healthy few swigs of wine. Below, sheep grazed, and a weather balloon floated lazily overhead. Roberto examined both engines and brought out his loccimetre to check the resonance of the engines\u2019 crystals.<\/p>\n

\u201cBet you I could hit one of those sheep from here,\u201d Drago boasted.<\/p>\n

Roberto looked up from his device and shook his head. \u201cWhat, by pissing off the cliff?\u201d<\/p>\n

Drago rolled his eyes. \u201cNo.\u201d He rummaged in his pack and brought out a small wand. \u201cWith this.\u201d He twirled it in his fingers dexterously.<\/p>\n

Julio frowned. \u201cWe\u2019re not shooting a farmer\u2019s sheep.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cJova\u2019s sake, dad.\u201d Drago shut an eye and levelled his wand at a grazing ewe in the valley below. \u201cWhat\u2019s the point of this trip, if not to have fun?\u201d<\/p>\n

Julio and Roberto looked at each other. Roberto raised an eyebrow, as if to suggest that it was Julio\u2019s task to mete out discipline.<\/p>\n

Julio placed a hand on Drago\u2019s wand and forced the barrel to point at the ground.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe plan is <\/em>to have fun, Drago, but that farmer relies on those sheep for his livelihood. Why don\u2019t we make some stationary targets?\u201d<\/p>\n

Drago shrugged. \u201cSure…gotta use something you old guys can still hit.\u201d<\/p>\n

Roberto put his loccimetre away and lit a cigarette.<\/p>\n

\u201cFuck you, kid. I was dropping soldiers before you were a twinkle in P…er, your pop\u2019s eye. Worst shot has to buy the wine when we stop for the night.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cA completely fair wager to the man with one eye,\u201d Julio interjected. \u201cThe man who hasn\u2019t shot a wand since he had to switch to his left.\u201d<\/p>\n

Roberto pointed to a set of old fenceposts down the hill.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere. We can set up some stones and wager for best shot. Spook the sheep while we\u2019re at it so you can get your kicks,\u201d he suggested, looking at Drago. \u201cAnd I know for a fact you didn\u2019t lose your balls in the war, Jules, so quit whining. You were far from the worst wandman in the company.\u201d<\/p>\n

Julio grabbed a fist-sized stone and pretended that he was aiming to throw it at Roberto\u2019s head.<\/p>\n

\u201cSays he who was second best.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWho was the best?\u201d Drago inquired as he lit a cigarette of his own.<\/p>\n

\u201cCorporal Bocco,\u201d Julio and Roberto said at the same time. Rocks in hand, they began clambering down the hill to the fenceposts.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of only four from our company to survive the war,\u201d Roberto remarked. \u201cAlong with us and Largo Mita.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cLargo\u2019s in jail now, did you hear?\u201d Julio said. He picked his way carefully down the slope, dragging his hook hand along the dirt for balance.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s always in and out of there,\u201d Roberto said. He began placing the rocks upon the fenceposts. \u201c\u2019Liza will never hold him, not while the Noctra can pay for his release.\u201d He put out his cigarette on a post and began backing away from the rocks, one pace at a time. \u201cThey have bigger rocks to crack than one picker goon.\u201d<\/p>\n

Roberto stood thirty paces from the rocks and held up a thumb.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat do you think, kid?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cToo close,\u201d Drago said. \u201cUnless we\u2019re blindfolded.\u201d<\/p>\n

Roberto chuckled and stepped back another twenty paces.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere you go. The enemy is no longer in spitting range. What kind of crystal have you got on that wand, anyway?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBrown,\u201d Drago said as he twirled the wand again. \u201cHeavy grade precision stone, Noven officer\u2019s issue. Same kind of crystal they use for the telescoped longwands.\u201d<\/p>\n

Roberto whistled.<\/p>\n

\u201cShatters, we sure coulda used some of those in the war. They gave all the browns to us engineers for trenches and fortifications, but I would\u2019ve been sent through the orange on the spot if I\u2019d tried to re-appropriate crystals without a commanding officer\u2019s express say-so. \u2018Course, that didn\u2019t stop us from getting Pip to re-align all the damn time by the end of the war. But then we were losing, so the officers were ready to try anything. Learned a lot more about tactics and crystals from our losses than our wins, that\u2019s for godsdamn sure.\u201d He looked at Drago. \u201cWell, highest ranking soldier gets the first shot.\u201d<\/p>\n

Drago smirked, levelled the wand and took careful aim. Julio could tell even by the young man\u2019s stance that he was a practiced wandman.<\/p>\n

\u201cTrench warfare is a thing of the past,\u201d Drago muttered as he pulled the trigger. With a deafening crack, the first rock exploded into powder. Shooting Roberto a satisfied grin, he handed the wand to him.<\/p>\n

Roberto glanced at Drago, then examined the wand. He seemed to be admiring its craftsmanship. Julio leaned in to note that Officer Drago Andari <\/em>had been carved into the barrel, and that the grip was a custom carved fit designed to fit Drago\u2019s hand. The republic certainly seems to favour its officers, <\/em>Julio thought.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome of us were hoping that warfare in general was a thing of the past,\u201d Roberto replied as he lifted the wand. He seemed to take a while to steady his hand. When he shot, however, his aim was true, and Julio heard shards of the rock scatter into the grass. The nearby sheep made a few noises of alarm and sought out a more placid section of pasture.<\/p>\n

\u201cNice shot, old man,\u201d Drago said. He turned to him. \u201cIf warfare is all in the past then why is the republic hiring soldiers instead of more pickers and planters?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause there\u2019s a drought,\u201d Julio replied as Roberto handed him the wand. \u201cFarmers are out of work and pickers are striking. The Rundia Accord nearly took our military away entirely. The fact that they didn\u2019t means that the republic wants to ensure we still have one so that an opportunistic nation doesn\u2019t try to get payback for the Great War, not to mention access to our crystal mines.\u201d Julio took aim. Even at the best of times his hands were shaky, and holding a wand made it no different. In fact, it felt shakier. He could see them up ahead, brutish Parsish soldiers in their winter furs storming the trench, screaming the abyssal screams of those who knew they were about to die.<\/p>\n

Julio opened his eyes and lowered the wand. There were no fur-clad soldiers, only woolly sheep grazing in the distance.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat makes you say trench warfare is in the past?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cCome on, Master <\/em>Vellize, you\u2019re the historian,\u201d Drago replied. \u201cYou always said that wars were a series of trials and errors when it came to tactics, and the brilliant generals were the ones who challenged the status quo of what no longer worked. Well, what did we learn from the Great War? We had all the best crystal technology, but we dug ourselves into the dirt and played back-and-forth until one side broke. It was all about numbers. Then the Dennish got clever and borrowed non-crystal weapons from the Eastern Empire, which had limited ammunition but fired rapidly. It was incredibly effective in entrenched positions, and especially against massed charges. So when Denlund was freed and we lost the Parsish front, we broke hard.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was Longoro\u2019s fault for fighting on two fronts in the first place,\u201d Roberto argued.<\/p>\n

\u201cSure,\u201d Drago agreed. \u201cHe should have taken out Faxon or arranged some kind of treaty with them. But any general worth his rocks these days knows that the future of warfare is in multi-layered assault.\u201d<\/p>\n

Julio gazed at Drago, the boy he pretended was his son. The boy he wished <\/em>was his son. He\u2019d given the lad too little credit; behind Drago\u2019s braggadocio was a keen mind. He must have inherited that from Ramona, Julio told himself.<\/p>\n

Roberto raised an eyebrow.<\/p>\n

\u201cExplain what you mean by multi-layered assault.\u201d Julio could hear the interest in Roberto\u2019s voice.<\/p>\n

\u201cI will,\u201d Drago said, \u201cif you explain to me why we have more crystals than any other nation but we\u2019re still dirt-fucking-poor. Economics was never my colour.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cRundia Accord,\u201d Julio offered. \u201cOur currency is undervalued because we have to make reparations for the Great War. Granted, we still need to trade, so we still sell, and the other nations are reaping the profits from cheap crystals. So the republic limits trade, which isn\u2019t helping given the depression, and the Noctra sell illegally and make millions of dinari.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou know they\u2019re in bed with the republic,\u201d Roberto added. \u201cOn the clear side, it means the Noctra are probably stockpiling crystals somewhere for when this godsdamned depression ends.\u201d He popped a cigarette in his mouth and prodded Drago. \u201cYour turn. Multi-layered assault.\u201d<\/p>\n

Drago gave his usual half-cocked grin.<\/p>\n

\u201cUh-uh. Jules hasn\u2019t shot yet. No military secrets until I know I\u2019m talking to soldiers<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Julio tried to suppress his sigh. Only the draft had made him a soldier. Only a lifetime of duskblossom and whiskey and work had separated him from the war, and even then, when he closed his eyes at night, sometimes he returned to those trenches. He had spent his whole life trying to escape that uniform, but Drago wore it with pride. He wondered what Pietro would think of it.<\/p>\n

He raised the wand half-heartedly and glanced at the stone upon the post. His depth perception had never been the same since losing his eye; it was difficult to tell if the barrel was lined up with the stone. He\u2019d spent a lifetime developing his left-handed penmanship, but wandsmanship was a different matter. Julio hated to admit it, but somewhere deep down he wanted to impress the boy. He shut out the distant sound of booming scattershot from his ears and pulled the trigger.<\/p>\n

The rock didn\u2019t move, but somehow there was still an explosive noise.<\/p>\n

\u201cOh, fuck,\u201d Drago said. \u201cNice shot, Jules.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSo much for not hitting the sheep,\u201d Roberto said with a snicker. Sure enough, one of the beasts had fallen over in the pasture, and a bright red stain spread out from its head in a circular pattern \u2013 or, what was left of its head. Cautiously, the three men approached the corpse. All that remained of its skull was a bottom jaw and some bits of bone and brain tissue. Julio began to feel ill. An image flashed in his mind \u2013 Pietro\u2019s body twirling, thrown into the air by scattershot, blood spraying in a spiral.<\/p>\n

\u201cHey!\u201d came an irate voice from across the field, \u201cwhat in Jova\u2019s name are you doing to my sheep?\u201d<\/p>\n

The rancher had appeared at the other end of the clearing, brandishing a woodsman\u2019s axe.<\/p>\n

\u201cShit,\u201d Drago said. \u201cRun!\u201d<\/p>\n

If it hadn\u2019t been for his lame leg, Julio would have felt nineteen again. They scrambled up the hill to the bikes like they were storming the next rise \u2013 full of fear, full of life.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As promised, here is a sneak peek at the sequel to\u00a0Crystal Promise. Comments welcome. *** Julio had forgotten how fresh the air could be outside of the city. Away from the smokestacks and grit and the smell of collective metropolitan sweat, he could feel life being infused into his lungs. On the open road, the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-519","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-crystal-promise"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jamesfunfer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/519","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jamesfunfer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jamesfunfer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jamesfunfer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jamesfunfer.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=519"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/jamesfunfer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/519\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":521,"href":"https:\/\/jamesfunfer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/519\/revisions\/521"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jamesfunfer.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=519"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jamesfunfer.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=519"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jamesfunfer.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=519"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}