Excerpt:
Devarius craned
his neck as he studied the inside of the wyvern’s throat. It was hard for him to
see clearly, but he was curious about the anatomy of the wyverns. Both suns
were in the sky that morning, the orange one barely larger than a moon now, but
the inside of the wyvern’s throat was still dark. He wished he could use a
torch, but if what he suspected was true, using a torch inside of a possible
fire wyvern’s mouth would be suicide.
“Devarius!”
Aquila whispered through clenched teeth.
Devarius moved
his head out of the wyvern’s outstretched jaw and smiled at Aquila as she ran
toward him. “Good morning.”
“What in the
name of the Creator are you doing?”
“Researching.”
“Are you mad?”
“Possibly?” he
said.
Devarius
shrugged and stuck his head back into the wyvern’s mouth.
“Devarius! Get
your head out of that creature’s mouth.”
He turned his
head around. “I assure you, Aquila, I’m safe.”
“How do you know
that?”
“Ayla told me.”
She glanced to
the small wyvern, who nodded enthusiastically. Aquila clenched her eyes shut,
her hands shaking as she watched Devarius turn back to inspect the inside of
the wyvern’s throat.
“What are you
looking for?”
“It’s
interesting. This creature has a uvula like we do, but there’s a small hole at
the bottom of it. At the tip of the hole, I see a dab of fluid … like it’s
about to fall down onto its tongue.”
“Why is that important?”
Aquila asked through clenched teeth.
Devarius turned
around and grabbed a small wooden bowl. “Ayla, can you ask the wyvern if it’ll
let me touch and … possibly squeeze its uvula gently?”
“You want to
what?” Aquila demanded.
“Ayla?”
Ayla cocked her
head to the side, then looked from the wyvern to Devarius. Her mouth opened and
a vibration came out, but no sound. After a moment, Ayla glanced back to
Devarius, paused, then nodded.
“Excellent,”
Devarius said.
“Devarius, so
help me, if you stick your head back in that wyvern’s mouth and squeeze its
uvula, I’ll … I’ll ...”
“Don’t stress so
much,” he said. “I’ll be fine.”
He winked at her
before reaching his hand inside the wyvern’s mouth and squeezing its uvula
gently. A thick translucent orange liquid dripped. Devarius wrinkled his nose
as he watched small droplets of the liquid fall into the wooden bowl. He
squeezed a little harder. The wyvern grunted, and its jaw shivered. Devarius
watched as the drips turned into a small stream. He let go of the uvula and
carefully exited the mouth of the wyvern.
Aquila stared at
him wide-eyed. She exhaled a long breath like she’d been holding it since he
began.
Devarius grinned
at her as he showed her the small bowl of translucent orange liquid.
“You can close your
mouth now,” Devarius said.
Ayla translated
for him, and the wyvern shut its mouth. It looked down at Devarius and sniffed
the bowl in his hand. Ayla bounced over and sniffed the liquid as well. Her
head fell to the side, as if questioning what it was.
“I don’t know,
but I hope to find out,” Devarius whispered to Ayla.
He sat on the
ground and grabbed a few glass vials from his sash to study the liquid inside
them. Aquila sat next to him.
“What is it?”
she asked.
“I’m not sure.”
He used a small metal scalpel to scrape a line of the liquid onto the ground.
“What are you
doing?” Aquila asked.
Devarius didn’t
turn away from the ground as he withdrew his flint and steel from his bag. With
one swipe, sparks flew onto the ground. When the sparks hit the liquid, it
burst into flame immediately. Unlike a natural fire, these flames rose over ten
feet high. Devarius leapt back, diving over Aquila and pinning her to the
ground. He placed his body over her, shielding her from the fire.
While holding
her down, he turned around to stare at the flames. After a few seconds, they
died down, but were still at least three feet tall. He got to his feet and
helped Aquila up.
A perfect line
where he’d poured the liquid burned furiously. The two of them stared in awe.
Even the wyvern watched the flames curiously, its head to the side. Ayla
nuzzled against him.
“What just
happened?” Aquila asked.
“I think I
discovered how a red wyvern breathes fire.”
“The liquid?”
“Oil. I felt it
with my fingers. It’s oily. Whatever it is, it’s extremely flammable.”
“How does it
catch the oil on fire? Can it create a spark?”
“I don’t think
so,” Devarius said. “Remember how hot its breath is?”
“Yes.”
“If it’s hot
enough, it’ll instantly ignite the oil.”
“That’s
incredible.”
“I wonder if the
other wyverns have similar oil. I wonder if it’s different.”
Aquila touched
Devarius’s shoulder. “Don’t you put your head in any more wyverns, Devarius. I
mean it.”
He smiled at
her. “I won’t … today.”
“That’s not
funny.”
Devarius
forehead creased.
“Are you trying
to raise your eyebrows?” she asked.
The crinkles on
his forehead changed. “Yeah … why?”
She smiled at
him. “Because you no longer have eyebrows.”
His eyes widened
as he reached up and touched the soft, hairless skin above his eyes.
The Book Junkie Reads . . . Interview with Craig A. Price Jr. . . .
How would you describe you style of writing to someone that has never read your work?
Terry Goodkind’s humor (Zeddicus) meets R. A. Salvatore’s action.
What mindset or routine do you feel the need to set when preparing to write (in general whether you are working on a project or just free writing)?
Beautiful scenery, or images, and soothing music. I like to listen to instrumental or jazz, otherwise, I’ll start singing along and not write.
Do you take your character prep to heart? Do you nurture the growth of each character all the way through to the page? Do you people watch to help with development? Or do you build upon your character during story creation?
I put some character development ideas out, including positive and negative traits, but for the most part, I have them develop during the story’s progression. Then I add extra notes about how they progressed.
Have you found yourself bonding with any particular character? If so which one(s)?
My main characters of my books are always a bit like me. They are good-hearted people, who want to help others, but have many flaws of their own they have to overcome. I connect with them a lot. (Devarius from Dragonia). But I also connect with the comical side characters I create, which remind me a lot of my best friend, which brings me both joy and sadness since he lives far from me now. Pyro is the comedic character in Dragonia, and he reminds me a lot of my best friend.
Do you have a character that you have been working on that you can't wait to put to paper?
There are a few characters from a new co-authored book I’m working on that I’ve been eager to continue writing about. These two characters are brother and sister, and have a strong sibling bond. I really look forward to writing it, because I never was able to have that bond as a child. I have a half-sister, but I never got to see her much, and so I’m living the ‘what-if’ as I write this story, with my desire to have a stronger relationship with my sister.
Have you ever felt that there was something inside of you that you couldn't control? If so what? If no what spurs you to reach for the unexperienced?
I can’t control my desire to help others. At times, it stretches me thin. I’m always there for my readers, to help authors in my community, as well as all other authors who reach out to me. And so many others. I’m always willing to help, which stretches me pretty thin a lot of the time.
