#zoomalia

Zoomalia 

Growing up in the shadow of the mighty Zoo Castle, Mina has ambitions to follow her family and become a trader. Such an honoured job will give her rare access to the Hill Fortress and its exotic world of tall towers and animal-inspired clans. 'Curious little cat' Sorin calls her, and the nickname is all too accurate. When Mina becomes lost during an early visit to the Zoo, such inquisitiveness is likely to cause all sorts of problems.

A 31 chapter original story by jaqtkd.  Exclusive to Story Scribes

Extract ...

Mina skirted cautiously along the base of the steep slope of the castle hill, trying to stay out of sight of the guard patrolling the gatehouse above. Slowly and quietly she edged forwards, keeping one shoulder pressed up against the grass wall, whilst watching and listening for any sign of pursuit. As the guard begun to turn her way, she dashed, cat-like, around the corner and into the next layer of the maze which lead towards the gates. The structure was designed to make entering the fortress as difficult as possible but Mina had explored here often enough to be fairly certain of the correct direction. She leant her back against this new wall, breathing heavily for a moment before twisting her neck in order to hunt for the guard. Her gaze travelled up this new grass bank, and then to the even taller one inside – up and up to the outer stone wall – and then yet another bank which housed the massive wall surrounding the castle itself. The towers looked odd from this angle, their strange, uneven shapes even more obvious, and beyond that, Mina could see a bright blue sky with white clouds scurrying quickly across her vision, making her feel suddenly dizzy.

Read the rest at storyscribes.org 

Another one of my original stories I thought you might like to read. I’m copying it over to Story Scribes slowly but it is fully complete.

Summary: Growing up in the shadow of the mighty Zoo Castle, Mina has ambitions to follow her family and become a trader. Such an honoured job will give her rare access to the Hill Fortress and its exotic world of tall towers and animal-inspired clans. 'Curious little cat' Sorin calls her, and the nickname is all too accurate. When Mina becomes lost during an early visit to the Zoo, such inquisitiveness is likely to cause all sorts of problems.

Mina skirted cautiously along the base of the steep slope of the castle hill, trying to stay out of sight of the guard patrolling the gatehouse above. Slowly and quietly she edged forwards, keeping one shoulder pressed up against the grass wall, whilst watching and listening for any sign of pursuit. As the guard begun to turn her way, she dashed, cat-like, around the corner and into the next layer of the maze which lead towards the gates. The structure was designed to make entering the fortress as difficult as possible but Mina had explored here often enough to be fairly certain of the correct direction. She leant her back against this new wall, breathing heavily for a moment before twisting her neck in order to hunt for the guard. Her gaze travelled up this new grass bank, and then to the even taller one inside – up and up to the outer stone wall – and then yet another bank which housed the massive wall surrounding the castle itself. The towers looked odd from this angle, their strange, uneven shapes even more obvious, and beyond that, Mina could see a bright blue sky with white clouds scurrying quickly across her vision, making her feel suddenly dizzy.

Zoomalia: An original fantasy story by jaqtkd

First 60K words written for NaNoWriMo 2014

Mina has ambitions to be a trader & gain rare access to the Zoo fort with its tall towers & animal-inspired clans. 'Curious little cat' Sorin calls her, and the nickname is all too accurate. When Mina becomes lost during an early visit to the castle, such inquisitiveness is likely to cause all sorts of problems.

Prologue: Cat and Mouse

Mina skirted cautiously along the base of the steep slope of the castle hill, trying to stay out of sight of the guard patrolling the gatehouse above. Slowly and quietly she edged forwards, keeping one shoulder pressed up against the grass wall, whilst watching and listening for any sign of pursuit. As the guard begun to turn her way, she dashed, cat-like, around the corner and into the next layer of the maze which lead towards the gates. The structure was designed to make entering the fortress as difficult as possible but she'd explored here often enough to be fairly certain of the correct direction. She leant her back against this new wall, breathing heavily for a moment before twisting her neck in order to hunt for the guard. Her gaze travelled up this new grass bank, and then to the even taller one inside – up and up to the outer stone wall – and then yet another bank which housed the massive wall surrounding the castle itself. The towers looked odd from this angle, their strange, uneven shapes even more obvious, and beyond that, Mina could see a bright blue sky with white clouds scurrying quickly across her vision, making her feel suddenly dizzy.