For the A to Z challenge, I present Murder Most Fowl, an unedited serial story from the unpublished Cera Chronicles. Please excuse the grammar mistakes. This hasn’t been critiqued yet. If you’re just diving into this story, you may want to start with part A.
Yelling carried down from the hole overhead, and a figure obstructed the sunlight. I looked from the strange little bird up to our way out.
Moment’s later, Seth’s face appeared through the fissure. “Mistress Cera?”
I waved an arm, and then winced as the bullet in my shoulder struck a nerve. “Michael and I are down here. Where’s Fues?”
The familiar cackle reverberated through the cavern and a dark shadow dropped from the opening. The pygmy thrust his spear down as he landed, and the point lodged in the rubble. The wood bowed, setting Fues gracefully on his feet. He released his hold on the spear and it shot back into a vertical position with a twang.
Show off.
My stalker squawked and soared down. Did he really count as my stalker anymore? I mean, if he really was, shouldn’t he have flown in earlier?
A rope tumbled from the hole, and Seth slid down its length. He scanned the area with narrowed eyes and fixated on the treasure turkey-duck-chicken. “What is that?”
I looked at Fues. “Don’t eat it. It talks.”
The pygmy stared back at me. “…so?”
Michael poked it with a finger. “It is the last remaining survivor of an ancient civilization.”
I glanced about the cavern. “How is this little guy—or girl—supposed to procreate if she—or he—is all alone?”
The turducken ruffled its feathers. “I am not alone. There is another egg right…” We followed its gaze to a broken chunk of rock lying on top of what was probably another statue. Its feathers flattened. “Oh.” It turned and studied my small group. “I don’t suppose any of you are geneticists?”
Mr. Stalker hopped closer and pecked the turducken on the head.
The smaller bird flinched. “Hey!”
“Well…” I scratched my chin. “The only one who might be able to help in that department would be our last companion, Rin.” He was a full-blood elemental, not a partial human mixed-blood like me. He had the gift of knowing the complete history of something just by touching it, and probably could have figured some way to at least clone the bird.
Too bad he wasn’t here.
Another shadow dipped through the hole overhead, and Joe shuffled down the rope. He slipped 11/18ths of the way down and crashed to the cavern floor. He stood, brushed himself off, and hefted his father’s shotgun. “Where’s Perry?”
I nodded toward Miss Medium-Rare, still lying unconscious nearby. “Now, let’s talk about rewards…”
Thanks for reading! If you want to start at the beginning, find it here. Don’t forget to visit other bloggers participating in the A to Z Challenge.
Do you have any criticism? Suggestions? Wild, off-the-wall ideas of “you know what would be funny…?” Let me know in the comments. I’d love to hear them.
I’m starting to see it all come together now…
And we come to a close… This has definitely been one of the most imaginative stories I’ve ever read. Awesome.
True Heroes from A to Z
This was fun to follow. I think I may have missed some tho because a storm came thru and took down our internet. Can’t wait to see what you do with this. You will market it when you’re finished, eh? Good.
I really enjoy your wit, Loni! I know you did this story for the A to Z but you really should publish it – maybe as a companion piece to the Cera Chronicles?
Thank you! Hopefully I can get it polished up and release it as an ebook. It’d probably just classify it as a Cera Chronicles novelette. The rest of the Cera Chronicles are novellas, so it wouldn’t be too far off the mark. 🙂
This is one of my favorites 🙂 So many great bits and comments – 11/18ths, Ms Medium Rare, the lonely turducken… I loved it 🙂
I promise I’ll write back to your emails tonight or tomorrow – today is a little crazy!
“I don’t suppose any of you are geneticists?” When I read that I thought “Aw, poor turducken!”
I know I came to your blog later in the Challenge, but I have enjoyed the posts I’ve read. Murder Most Fowl seems like a fun and exciting story. I’m thankful that you were willing to share these excerpts with us -especially since they were unedited and unpublished.
Cera’s point of view is such a fun read. Is she the protagonist in your other story as well? Can’t wait to see how this story wraps up!
No, the Niniers series is told from four primary third-person POVs, though the main character is a guy named Derek. It’s a more involved story line that spans four books, Thanmir War being the first—though Thanmir War could stand on its own, if people weren’t interested in continuing the series. The Cera Chronicles actually take place between books 3 and 4 of the Niniers series, Cera taking on one of the POV roles in book 3.
They cater to slightly different audiences. The Niniers are epic fantasy, while the Cera Chronicles focus on parodying genre tropes, with as much crazy, off-the-wall humor that I can throw in. There is some humor in the Niniers, but the overall tone is more serious. (Though I do hope the POVs are entertaining to read.)
I have a different Cera Chronicle novella (This World Bites) already written, which I hope to release sometime later this year. The Cera Chronicles are fun because the possibilities are endless, and I don’t need to adhere to a specific series of events like I do in the Niniers. Not to mention I’m aiming for novella size for each one.
Forgive me for rambling. I get excited when I talk about my characters.
My fav part was your description of the pygmy and the way he came into the cavern. Very clever and a great image!
I’m with River – I hope you are able to publish this! I’ve really enjoyed it following it this month – great work.
Thanmir War arrived today. Yay! Now the challenge is over, I’m hiding away on Saturday to sit back and relax, and read it. 🙂
Great humour in today’s excerpt, I wish I had half of your talent. 😉