Story Reveal // Ships, Secrets, and Survivors

So a few months ago (or thereabouts) Sarah was talking on her blog about how when she and I first started writing, we often wrote stories with each other.  As we got older and more serious, we left that behind and went our own separate ways (though still remaining close critique partners, or helping each other out with ideas, writing problems, etc.).  And then the wonderful Ivie commented on the post and suggested we try writing another story together.

Well.

We did.

Right now, this story is just in the plotting stage, and we plan to being drafting once NaNo is complete.  This story most likely will not progress as fast as our other novels, since those will be taking first priority.  But still.

We are writing a story together (again)!!

In an event where nothing goes wrong, everything goes wrong...

Adi is not your average princess, dreaming of more than dresses and dances. When her name is called on Selection Day for the Scaera Dumeda, a yearly test for the smartest and most cunning young people of Antovan to join the elite Shadow Squad, she throws away her title, despite her family’s threats of disownment and the uncertain future ahead. This may be the opportunity she hoped for.

Jay Hill is the fearless captain of the Red Wind, and was believed to be a ghost story until one of his crew is selected for the Scaera Dumeda. The sailor, Ravin, is shocked and horrified at such an announcement. Ever since receiving an almost fatal blow in a duel he has been marked dead in the records.  He never even took the required test. Jay suspects the pirate Captain Rev Martin of treachery, but can do nothing except watch and wait as the event begins.

When other selectees start to die off unexpectedly (and contrary to the spirit of the event), Adi, Ravin, and the remaining candidates must learn to work together with Jay’s pirate hunters to defeat the evil lurking in the Scaera Dumeda. Can a motley crew with different goals learn to fight together? Or will they just end up making a mess of a disaster?

Today I will be talking about the Pirate Hunters.  If you run over to Sarah's blog, she will be posting about the Shadow Squad.

Legends speak of a ship that sails pirate-infested waters, a ship with no sails, no flag, and no fear.  Her captain, the tales say, has sworn to hunt down and stop the most notorious pirate in Antovan - Captain Rev Martin.  No one knows who these sailors are, or where they came from, but the burning wreckage from pirate ships can be found floating on the water, and sometimes watchmen tell tales of seeing a ship sailing by the light of the moon.

So when a dark ship with no sails is found docked outside the building where the Scaera Dumeda takes place, people are astonished.  The legends are real!

They are even more astonished when they see the captain - not an old, seaworthy sailor, but a young man of noble linage.

The sailors sitting on the railing, watching everyone with raised eyebrows are not battle-hardened warriors (as suspected from the wreckage they leave), but orphans, commoners, and even ex-criminals.  To top it off, the sailor selected for the Scaera Dumeda is none other than Ralivaen del Mankayl - a mercenary who has been presumed dead for many years.

What the locals can not see - the treachery about to hit the selectees of a simple yearly event, and the preparations the young captain and his crew are making to capture the Captain Rev Martin.

So?  Excited?  I am!!  I'm sure you'll be hearing more about this story in the future!