Excerpt from Realms Unseen

Greetings Readers!

   I have decided to share a bit of a snippet of Realms Unseen with you all today! If you can remember back to when I first shared Kao and Tristan's very first meeting, that is the second drafted excerpt that I am going to be posting.

"Maybe if he hadn’t been so insistent on memorizing the whole thing, he would have heard the dryad approaching. He reached down and plucked the map out of Kao’s hands, looking down at him with a smirk on his face.

“What are you doing so far from home, kiddo? Did you get lost in the big, bad forest?” He chuckled, a patronizing air about it.

“I’m not lost. I know exactly where I am going. But I need that map to get there!” Kao stood up with his hands clasped angrily.

“Aye.” The dryad nodded, the smirk still playing around on his mouth. “I think you’re a little run away princeling. And I could get a deal of silver from your Da for bringing you back to the palace.”

“What would make you think I’m a prince?” Kao said, hoping it was dark enough to hide his red hair.

“Maybe it’s the fact that you have the reddest hair on this side of the woods. And I know that only royalty has red hair in your caste.” The man had a look in his eyes that made Kao squirm.

“I dyed it. They kicked me out for being disrespectful.” Kao’s pride was wounded. Of course it wasn’t going to be this easy!

“I’ll believe that when the forest burns.” He said without any humor.

Kao decided he’d have to plead with this dryad. “Please. I can’t, can’t go back there again. I finally found the courage to leave, and I-I just can’t go back.”

“What will you give me for it, kid?” The tall dryad stood over him, wearing some sort of black hooded shirt and brown pants over metallic skin and had abnormally bright green eyes, and dark green hair that came to his eyes.

Kao grimaced and handed him a green gem, praying it would be enough. The man turned it over, weighing it in his hand and then he snapped his fingers, making it disappear into thin air.

“That’ll do for now. But I want to know what this map of yours is. And I’d like to know now, kiddo.” He said.

Kao shook his head, “That’s my business. Not yours.”

“Aye, it’s your business, but it’s mine now too, eh? Because I could go and tell your Da at anytime exactly where his little princeling happens to be.” His grin grew wider as he realized that Kao had no way out.

“It’s a map of the other realms.” Kao spat out, his posture moving to a defensive stance.

“Aye, I will definitely come along. Lots of treasure, and lots of places to escape to in these other realms, eh kid?”

Kao groaned, “Please, just leave me alone.”

“Aw, is the little bitty princeling upset at Tristan? Does he need his momma?” Tristan chuckled.

Kao growled, and drew his knife, his stance moving to offensive. “Leave. Me. Alone.”

“Eh, so the kid knows how to fight? Let’s see how well he does.” Tristan grinned again, drawing two knives seemingly out of nowhere, and brandishing them with the air of one who knows what he’s doing.

A flicker of doubt crossed Kao’s face but he held his knife out, not flinching when Tristan crossed his blades with Kao’s, grinning wickedly. Kao lashed out first, slashing at Tristan’s torso. Tristan dodged, crossing his knives and pushing up on Kao’s knife. The momentum landed Kao on his back and Tristan stood over him, knives crossed at his neck.

“Don’t bite off more than you can chew, kid. I’m at least three times your size.”

Kao nodded weakly, holding his hands up in surrender. Tristan chuckled in satisfaction and uncrossed his knives. That was where he made his mistake. Kao wildly kicked, hoping to land a blow on Tristan’s stomach. He missed, but kicked him in the thigh instead, causing him to drop down on his knees. Kao grabbed his knife and pointed it, trembling, at Tristan’s neck.

Tristan grinned. “Good play. Good play.” Then he knocked the knife out of his hand, and pressed the cold metal to Kao’s neck. “Well played, indeed, kid. But not good enough for Tristan Skylar.”

Kao whimpered, tears swimming around in his eyes as the metal almost cut into his skin. “Don’t hurt me. Please… Please don’t hurt me.”

Tristan’s eyes narrowed, “If you think I’d hurt a child, then you’re wrong. I’m not a good man, but I know when to stop.” He withdrew his knife with a look of disgust.

“I’m not a child!” Kao said, slinging his bag over his shoulder and snatching the map away.

Tristan nodded patronizingly, “Aye, sure you aren’t, kiddo. I’m coming too, ‘member? Treasure and hiding places galore in other worlds.”

Kao groaned a bit, sighing, “Fine.”

Tristan smirked cockily, then said, as if to himself, “Aye, Tristan can be persuasive, eh?”

“If persuasive is fighting with knives, then yes.” Kao mumbled.

“Aye, I take what I can get, kiddo.” Tristan chuckled."

And there you have it, the first meeting, rewritten! I hope you enjoyed it:)