Chapter 13: Nothing
One of the Knights got shot in the chest, stumbled, and fell. The Orci were using a weapon they called a Zint, which looked like a handgun, but was powered by solar energy and shot out bullets of concentrated light.
In light of the new Star Wars movie coming out recently, I find it rather, um, interesting that this book seems to be taking place in a vaguely Star Wars-esque setting. Lightsabers and light guns. I mean, Zints. Capitalized "Z" no less, that Zint is. It kinda feels like an elementary school kid is writing this story, but at the same time, that's not really a bad thing. The author is letting his imagination flow, regardless of the weird places it gets.
Arstaef (who's ten), Donum (who's sixteen), and four more Knights show up and fight the Orci. Arstaef runs his sword through one, while Donum decapitates another. That's badass. These kids are gonna be scarred for life with all the killing they're doing and seeing.
The remaining Orca suddenly realize how screwed they are and head off, traveling a long distance, until they reach their marble palace. Inside the palace, is this:
The portrait painter was hard at work mixing oils on his palette and spreading them across the canvas propped on an easel. You, being the clever one that you are, would have noticed right away that he was making Draegor far more handsome and fit than he actually was. This probably had everything to do with the fact that Draegor’s military commander, Krell, was leaning over the canvas watching every move the poor painter made.
What is this, North Korea? We have an ugly leader who is having someone paint a flattering portrait of him. How often does this sort of thing happen? (As you'll later find out, a lot.) The narrator assumes we can already tell that Draegor's painter is making him look better than he really does. If the narrator was wrong about me being that clever, I'd feel pretty stupid.
Dain and Tasmin, the Orca that ran off, come in and apologize for not being able to capture the scouts. Draegor mocks them and gives them a You Have Failed Me speech, then gets up to a portico (a word I had to look up, that means "porch leading to the entrance of a building"), grabs a bow and arrow, and is about to fire it. His painter quickly runs up to paint an action scene of Draegor shooting the bow and arrow. Yes, really:
Draegor is one cocky asshole. Does he have painters make portraits of him when he's brushing his teeth? Taking a bath? Eating dinner? This book suddenly went from very violent to very cartoonish.
Yup, he's a cartoonishly cocky asshole. He must base his entire life around posing for portraits. That's gotta get real old real fast. He even kills a dove because hey why not.
Draegor then demands, "Bring me all their girls," in reference to the prophecy specifically being about a ten-year-old girl out to stop him. Dain and Tasmin complain that the girls are hidden, but Draegor brushes that off with a "Find them." He probably figures that at least one of those girls has to be Samantha Stone.
Chapter 14: The Amulet of Gwenyth
Back on Captain Tithers' ship, Tithers picks up the stuff that Samantha left behind, puts it in a backpack, and hides the backpack just in time for Professor Stone, Samantha's estranged dad, to come in.
Tithers lies to Prof. Stone, telling him that the bureaucrat from Child Protective Services took her back. Prof. Stone mildly complains (if "dread bureaucrats" is much of a complaint), then says, "Right. Good. It's for the best."
Father of the year award, there. This guy truly cares about being part of his daughter's life.
Back in the cave in Aerynon, Samantha wakes up, leaves the caverns, and walks by the underground lake. She notices a sparkle in the water, and decides that sparkles must be friendly, so she goes near it. It gets closer and closer, and is revealed to be a mermaid. Is it time for Samantha Stone to receive the Mermaid's Quest?
Sam touched the Amulet of Gwneyth she still wore around her neck. As she did, the mermaid broke through the surface of the water and pulled herself on to one of the rocks. Iridescent turquoise scales reflected shades of blue, pink, and purple while cascades of curly blonde hair fell around her shoulders and back nearly covering her completely. Her tiny upturned nose and large blue eyes reminded Sam of those expensive collectible china dolls her mother and she often passed in the stores but could never afford.
Sam felt like this was an important moment and she should say something important, but all she could manage was, “Hello.”
The mermaid reveals her name as Gwenyth, which therefore means that the Amulet of Gwenyth was named after her.
Whoa! Deeeeeep.
Samantha says she doesn't like the sound of this, and Gwenyth then dumps exposition on her.
How? How would Samantha, who's been in Aerynon for like a day (if that), notice the fading energy of the people there? What would she have to compare it to?
And we have more video game dialog. Samantha asks for clarification of what all this actually means, and naturally, Gwenyth picks this time to disappear.
Which makes me wonder, characters who give important information and then leave before it can be explained... how did that trope come into existence in the first place? It's like dream logic. Where the earliest stories told about such characters based on dreams their storytellers had? I can see why this trope is in use today - to keep readers in suspense - but I don't get how it spawned into being in the first place.
And those are two rather short chapters. B. B. Hunt channels James Patterson in his writing layout. Funny, it's Patterson who assumes that adults have no attention span.
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