Hello and welcome to Weekend Writing Warriors.  I hope everyone is enjoying the summer. As usual, I’m preparing to enjoy it, as soon as I finish this, that and the other. This, or maybe it’s that, is finishing the first draft of Snow, my reimagined fairy tale inspired by the tale of Snow White. I’m sure I’ll be ready to go out there and enjoy the nice weather by Labor Day. Or maybe Halloween.

On to the snippet: After the hunting party discovers a gremlin nest, Gabriel muses on the place from whence it came; the Black Forest.  You can read last week’s snippet here.

***

But the lore and legends of the forest remained alive in the minds of the people, and the dark threat across the river loomed over all the neighboring lands. Intrigued, Gabriel had studied various tomes and papers on the nature of the Black Forest and its creatures. As a naturalist with a scientific mind, he mused on the idea of leading an expedition into the forest, but everyone he’d dared mention the idea to had been dead set against it, especially his uncle, Lord of Craigmoor, who’d threatened to lock Gabriel in a tower if he ever spoke of it again.

“Are you coming?” Falkner called. He stood alone in a small clearing, his men having ridden on ahead. Gabriel joined him and searched the sky for the sun. The day had bled into evening and dark would soon fall.

“I suppose I must, though I don’t see the point. Tell me, Falkner, do you suppose the presence of a gremlin might explain the lack of game? Surely the natural animals would all be terrified of such a creature?”

***

© Ulkan120 | Dreamstime.com

***

Blurb-in-progress for Snow, a reimagined fairy tale:

Following the death of his mother the Queen, Prince Gabriel is called home by his brother, now King. Gabriel hopes for a reconciliation with his estranged brother, but all is not well at Castle Rosenthal. King Tristan has fallen under the sway of a scheming alchemist and along the border of the Black Forest, magical denizens are on the move. Gabriel begins to fear for his life. Is the handsome huntsman in on a plot to assassinate him, or is there an even darker, more evil power afoot? A forced flight into the Black Forest may expose ancient magic at work, if Gabriel can survive long enough to uncover it.

****

Weekend Writing Warriors is a blog hop where writers from a wide variety of genres share from their work in excerpts of ten sentences or less.  Click the link to check out the other writers participating today.  It’s a great way to discover your next favorite book.