[ the first book in the drops of sunshine series ]
For some, being a hero means saving a life. For others, it means making your mark on the world. For AJ Hood, it means being sarcastic and fighting monsters while illegally skipping out on your cult...
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~ ☼ ~
There was no way in the world I was going to be alone in the woods, at night, with nothing but a heavy 800 gram bronze sword to defend me.
Okay, okay, a sword would be a good thing to defend myself with. But I'm only 15 and horribly un-athletic, and I still didn't want to be alone in the woods, at night. What can I say? I'm just a weak, musical girl from a small town in upstate NY whose only daily exercise is surfing (the internet) and running (away from my responsibilities).
But somehow, I ended up having to do exactly what I dreaded - walk alone in the woods and try to find civilization again. How I ended up there was a blur, something so surreal I could only vaguely remember...
My dad is an outdoor freak. He lives off camping, fishing, hunting, or all of the above. NY is adequate for that, so he makes sure, even in the winter, our family (which consists of me, my dad, my mom, and a German shepherd named Rhapsody) gets to go camping. My mom wanted to go to New York City this year, and as a compromise, we ended up traveling to Long Island to go camping. That's not vague.
After we got to the campsite, my mom sent me on a bike ride to the camp store to get some marshmallows, because, according to my father, marshmallows are necessary for camping. I rode to the camp store, the sun slowly setting beyond me, and got the marshmallows. That's not vague, either.
Here's where it gets tricky- I was riding back along a gravel path when I came along a glint in the ground. I hopped off my bike to see what it was. I bent down and brushed off some dirt, and out of the ground came a bronze (at least I think it was bronze... I'm sorry, I don't have a good knowledge of metals and alloys) sword, complete with an etching in the hilt, right below the grip. The letters were... what is that? Greek? I concentrated, trying to figure out what it meant, when suddenly, it made sense. The word was Liakada, meaning sunshine. I don't know how I figured that out, really, but it just made sense.
Honestly, I was less concerned about my newfound language skills than I was about the fact that I had found a real, bronze sword. I had no idea why it was there, but it was obviously worth something. Who knows how much money this could get me?, I thought to myself.
My phone was back at the campsite, but I wanted to show it to my parents. So I picked it up, running my finger along the edge and mentally cursing myself when I got pricked. It was sharp, so I tried to hold it gingerly, but it was a little hard considering its weight.
Suddenly, I felt the feeling of watchful eyes. I snapped my head up to see if anybody had seen my discovery, and felt a jolt of fear when there was in fact someone standing only a few meters away from me. But she... she wasn't human. She was tall, lean, muscular, and slightly pretty, but her skin was a sickly pale green. And where her legs should've been... instead, there stood two, long, snake-like tails.
