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For all his terrible reputation, the Prophet was not particularly imposing. He stood very still and watched us walk down the gangplank. Even his clothing seemed to defy the winds that whipped through the cavern. If it had not been for the mask covering the lower half of his face, he would have looked completely ordinary.
My mother refused to call him “prophet.” Mostly she did not speak of him at all. It would take a more generous woman than my otherworld mother to forgive him – not that I blamed her. Before he was the Prophet, he was the Governor of Loess, and he brought my family to the desert. The death of my father, the destruction of the green city, the loss of the starships – she laid all of it at the Governor’s feet. Did she know, I wondered, of her husband’s final betrayal? That might explain her vehemence.
The Governor fled during the fall of Verdure, abandoning citizens and sycophants alike. They say the injuries he sustained in the fires drove him insane. He resurfaced months later, raving about the end times and the New Blood corruption. It would have been easy to dismiss him, I think, if so many had not believed him.
“He’s a mad dog, an animal,” murmured Jonath, as if reading my thoughts. “If it were up to me, I’d have him put down. But for now, we’re running along the same path. Barking up the same tree, you might say.”
The idioms bothered me. They belonged to another world, another life. Jonath was using them deliberately. His sly grin showed as much. I wondered if he had learned them from my brother.
The prisoners stared in sullen silence. I looked around for Jax, and caught the Captain’s cold glare instead. Jonath squeezed my elbow, halting me in mid-step.
“Well, well,” said the Prophet, his voice warm and kind. “If it isn’t little Annie Verrill.”
I shuddered in spite of myself. The Prophet knew my name.
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This post is part of the Jade Dragon series. Though I try to make these installments enjoyable as individual pieces, I highly recommend that you read the series from the beginning to really get what’s going on. This particular piece is probably less self-contained than most, and for that I apologize! I hope you find it interesting anyway, or that it inspires you to read the whole series.
This post was written in response to the Trifecta Writing Challenge weekly prompt:
You should write a creative response using the third definition of the given word. You must use the word in your response, and you must use it correctly. Your response can be no fewer than 33 and no more than 333 words. This week’s word is:
ANIMAL (noun)
1 : any of a kingdom (Animalia) of living things [etc.]
2 a : one of the lower animals as distinguished from human beings
b : mammal; broadly : vertebrate3 : a human being considered chiefly as physical or nonrational; also : this nature
And if that wasn’t enough, this week’s challenge is community-judged! For the 14 hours following the close of the challenge (starting at 5:00 PM Pacific/8:00 PM Eastern), voting will be enabled on links. In order to vote, return to the Trifecta Writing Challenge site where stars will appear next to each link. To vote, simply click the star that corresponds with your favorite post – hopefully mine is one of them!
Christine Hanolsy 
Gah! That last line is perfect — that would freak me out too.
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Okay, all caught up on Jade Dragon! Now to catch up on all the other little gems here. I love this new character, and the marvelously filmic quality of the writing. Sigh.
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*hugs* I love that you like it! 🙂
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Seems to my day to land on winners regarding description. You do such a great job of letting me visualize the Prophet. In addition, I liked the back story, which helped me put this scene in place.
The ending is great one for this scene. I love the line: “The Prophet knew my name.” This makes me WANT to read more and that’s a good place to end.
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Thank you!! I was pretty happy with this one. I left it at a place that makes me excited to write the next bit, which is a *really* good place to end. 🙂
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Perfect .. despite all the end was chilling
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“The idioms bothered me”. Nice post!
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The only thing I don’t like about this series is that I know I’ve missed instalments. When you do take Draug’s advice, make sure you let us all know where we can buy it. Thanks for linking up. Don’t forget to vote.
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I’ve missed some of the previous installments. I will have to get back and read them. I love this series. I love, and protest, where you ended this. What happens next!!!! Well done.
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It would have been easy to dismiss him if so many had not believed him.. fantastic sentence… move that to our modern world and it works just as well for any number of ravers and ranters. I’ve been following this series, but even so I think this installment stands on its own quite well. I love the idiom paragraph… that’s great. As Draug said – when will it be published… regardless of your pacing you have a bestseller – and a movie – here.
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The sense of doom you’ve worked up here is truly chilling (despite the humor – I especially enjoyed them barking up the same tree). All the threatening figures seem to be closing in at once. Yikes, Christine!
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I like the bit of humor with the idioms (he was a mad dog/ they were barking up the same tree :)) You left us on the edge again – I want to know how the prophet knows of her!
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🙂 I had a little fun with that. Anna is way too serious sometimes. As for the prophet, well, you’ll learn more next time… (*dum dum duuuummmmmm*)
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This is the only segment I’ve read, but I found it very intriguing. Lots of mysteries. Perhaps I’ll have time to catch up one of these days.
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I really need to go back and catch up with this. Very good writing!
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Top-notch writing, Christine.
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When are you getting this stuff published? Seriously.
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*hugs* You are my new best friend. 🙂 Seriously, though, have you noticed my pace? It’ll be a bazillion years before I finish – assuming I ever settle on an actual plot. *grin*
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