The Inventor's War

News about the Blog.

2009-01-14T14:15:00.000-08:00

This is going to be my last post on Blogger. Don't worry. I'm not stopping the story so soon. I will continue. The reason I'm leaving Blogger is because I have found a dearth of certain features and accessibility that I'm looking for. Since Wordpress has those, I'm moving all my posts over to Wordpress at inventorswar.wordpress.com. Please update your bookmarks and head over there. Thanks, I appreciate all my readers and I hope that I can work to serve you better with this story.

Slainte! (That means 'cheers.')

The Story of Samo-Volume One: Chapter Two, Part Three

2009-01-14T13:52:00.000-08:00

The three friends stared at the door for some time after the chancellor left. Kia and Kiara both watched in shock, but Samo simply held his hands in his pockets with a faint smile on his lips and a dark look in his eyes. He stepped toward the door and turned to his friends. His smiled widened, stretching as far as it could, but without showing any teeth.

Kia broke the silence when he said, “Um, what?”

“Oh, my goodness,” Kiara whispered. She brought her hand to her mouth and said, “That’s impossible.”

Turning to his sister, Kia said, “Why? He’s old enough.”

“Kia, the Inventor died eighty years ago. There’s no way Chancellor Naram could have known him.”

Kia laughed and said, “He didn’t say he knew him. He said he met him once.”

“That would still make him at least eighty.”

“He’s pretty old.”

She huffed in annoyance and stood. Walking to the bookshelf, she said, “He’s not that old. Besides, the Inventor was in the front of the war at the time. That was in the southern coasts of Parsha. Chancellor Naram is from the northern coasts. There’s no way he could have traveled thousands of miles to the other side of the continent at such a young age.”

As she began scanning the book titles, he retorted, “And how, exactly do you know where he’s from?”
“Well, excuse me if I read.” She chose a thin folio and began leafing through the pages. “There is a biography about the man.”

“You read biographies of your teachers?”

She looked up at him and said, “I’m trying to figure something out here. You don’t have to be here if you just want to be a pest. What-” She laughed derisively. “Do you think you need to be a chaperone?”

Kia stepped toward her with an extended forefinger, but stopped and looked at Samo. He was still standing where he had been at the start of their argument. He hadn’t moved, or even lost a fraction of an inch from the width of his smile. Kia looked back at Kiara and stepped toward Samo. He bent his head as he looked into his eyes, then at the spot on the floor where Samo was staring. There was nothing special about it. He looked up at Kiara and shrugged. As he was just about to poke Samo in the cheek, Samo looked at him and said, “I’m going.”

Kia shouted in shock and fell back onto his rear. Splayed on the floor, he said, “Don’t do that!”

Samo grinned at him and turned to the door. As he started out, Kiara said, “Wait! Where are you going?”
“I’ll be back!” Samo called out, as he walked out the door and closed it behind himself.

The Story of Samo-Volume One: Chapter Two, Part Two

2009-01-13T18:35:00.001-08:00

Sorry I'm late today. I hope you enjoy.

The chancellor walked into the small library and said, “Professor Lasci, I'd like to speak with you in private later. Now, I'd like to ask you to stop harassing our students.”

Lasci sputtered, more now than before, and said, “Well, I—yes, sir.” Without another word, he stormed out of the room.

The chancellor sighed and shook his head. He said, “I have got to fire that man.”

Kia said, “I wouldn't complain, sir.”

“I doubt anyone would,” the chancellor replied. He walked to the table and looked at the books spread out. He said, “Finding what you need, Kiara?”

Kiara looked up from her notes and stared for a second. She said, “Huh? Oh, I'm just trying to find a little more about the engineering of the Inventor.”

“Oh?” The chancellor scanned the books and said, “And how are, hm, history books going to help that?”

She said, “Oh, those are about the war itself. The actual books by Dacule are illegal here, so I'm trying to figure it out by the descriptions.”

“Well,” the chancellor muttered. He brought his hand up and tapped his chin while holding his elbow with his other hand. He said, “I suppose some of them might be difficult to decipher the truth. Many are exaggerated.”

“We're taking that into consideration,” Samo said. “We're operating on the idea that the Inventor and his followers did not use sorcery, which leaves us with trying to find the true meaning behind the 'great fire belching flying beast.' I'm thinking sulfurous emissions from a metal tube.”

Turning to Samo, the chancellor said, “You're working on this together?”

“Actually,” he said. “She's helping me out. This was really my idea.”

“Yes, I heard about that altercation you had on the way here.” The chancellor chuckled and picked up a small leather-bound book. As he leafed through the pages, Kiara watched him with anxiety, tentatively reaching for the book. He said, “You might want to avoid drawing so much attention to your religious views.”

Samo said, “It's not a religion!” He paused as the chancellor snapped the book shut and turned his eyes to him. He muttered, “Um, I mean it's not a religion. Yeah, there are some aspects that are different from most-”

“It's all right, Samo.” The chancellor handed the book to Kiara, who quickly shunted it to the bag she had been carrying with her. As Kia asked Kiara what was in the book, the chancellor said, “I know what the Inventor taught. In fact, I know something most people don't know about him.”

“You do?” Samo stepped forward, eager as a puppy who had just sighted a piece of bacon. Kiara was telling her brother to butt out as Samo said, “Can you tell me?”

Trying to ignore Kia and Kiara's arguing, the chancellor said, “He actually professed to serve the High King of Heaven.” The twins stopped arguing and stared at the chancellor. Samo looked down at the floor and then back up at the chancellor.

He shouted, “I knew it! They all say he was a sorcerer, but I knew he wasn't! It just didn't make sense.”

“Yes, yes, I know.” The chancellor smiled and motioned for Samo to calm down. He said, “And now everyone in the adjacent libraries knows as well. Now, I would like to speak with you all some more, but I need to go fire Professor Lasci. I'll be back in about an hour. I assume you'll still be here?”

Kiara said, “Oh, of course we will. I just have one question before you go.” As the chancellor turned to her, she said, “How do you know that about the Inventor?”

“Oh,” the chancellor replied. “I met him once.” With that, he turned and walked out of the room.

The Story of Samo-Volume One: Chapter Two, Part One

2009-01-12T09:18:00.000-08:00

Here begins the start of the second chapter of The Story of Samo. For reference, each chapter is going to be about two weeks long.

The dusty smell of old pages lingered in the air as Samo stood on a high ladder with one arm hooked around a rung to keep himself from falling. The ladder was propped against the bookcase, built into the wall and rising 15 feet off the floor. The room was not particularly large, about thirty feet in either direction, and there were just three oak tables, at one of which Kiara had books spread out and was taking notes from three of the largest. Kia was leaning against the wall by the door. He glanced nervously out into the hall from time to time.

As Samo gave an exultant shout and began descending from the ladder, Kia gasped and retreated from the door. He said, “Hey, bud. We've got a problem.”

“What is it?” Samo didn't look up from the book as he joined Kiara at the table.

A tall, broad shouldered man entered the room. He was wearing dark blue robes of a professor and a scowl that many believed never left his face. He said, “Mr. Diarcha. I thought I told you never to return here.”

“Yeah, yeah. I know, Professor Lasci,” Samo said, still refusing to remove his attention from the book. “But the chancellor told me I could return.”

“What?” Lasci crossed the room and set his fist hard on the desk. Kiara jumped back and scowled at him. Samo ignored him. “I gave you a direct order that you were expelled! We will not have accused murderers in our ranks.”

Samo chuckled. He began taking notes from the book that he took from the shelf and said, “Well, that's good for you. If you find any accused murderers, be sure to expel them. I don't want to share space with them.”

Lasci leaned forward and closed the book on him. He said, “I already did. Now get out!”

Placing his hands on the table, Samo stood. He slowly pushed himself up from his seat and straightened his back, bringing him to just less than five inches shorter than Lasci. “I am not an accused murderer,” he said. “The police have already cleared me, and the chancellor-”

“The chancellor is not in control of the students,” Lasci interrupted.

Samo put his forefinger up and step away. He said, “True, that is true, but he is in charge of your job.”

“What?” The professor crossed his arms, his voice betraying a hint of anxiety.

Samo continued. “He told me to ignore you, which is what I've been trying to do.”

“He did not tell you that!”

Kia said, “Did he really say 'ignore Professor Lasci'?”

“No,” Samo answered. “Technically, he said, 'ignore the buzzard.'”

Kiara stifled a laugh as Professor Lasci began sputtering in what seemed to be a cataleptic fit. He said, “If I can't expel you for accus—well, I'll just expe—exp—kick you out of here on your head!”

“Do you really think threatening the students is a good idea, Lasci?” An elderly man walked in, wearing similar robes to the professor. He said, “Finding everything okay, Samo?”

Samo turned to the newcomer and said, “Yeah, Chancellor. Thanks for unlocking the library for us.”

The Story of Samo-Volume One, Part Ten

2009-01-09T17:49:00.000-08:00

“You're not going to try something stupid, are you?” Kia leaned forward to look around Kiara as Samo drove down the road, at a less careening rate than before.

Samo said, “Now why would you even need to ask that?”

“Because I know you're not an idiot, but that you really want that book.” He added, “However, the last time Tarat confiscated something from you, you broke into his house and sat on his stomach until he gave it up.”

“That is not what happened!” Samo wrenched the steering stick back to brake. As some pedestrians walked across the street, he said, “I did not sit on his stomach. It was his legs. Besides, that was different. He didn't confiscate that.”

“Oh?”

Kiara looked up from the swordsman manual Samo had bought and said, “He's right. Tarat just swiped that book from him as a prank. It wasn't even banned.”

“Well, you're just lucky he hasn't thrown you in the dungeon.” Kia huffed and leaned back. “And couldn't you at least have let me come in? Those people scared me out there.”

Samo said, “Oh, calm down. They didn't hurt you. And besides, Tarat would never arrest me. He has some sort of secret reason for wanting to keep me around. I haven't figured it out. Maybe I give his job meaning.”

Kiara snorted. “That's right. You're his arch-nemesis.”

“Nah,” Kia shook his head. “I think it's because Kiara wouldn't talk to him if he did.”

Samo kicked the steering stick forward, starting the wagon rolling and sending Kia and Kiara against the backs of the seat. He said, “She hardly talks to him as it is. Why would he care?”

As they turned a corner, Kia tried grabbing for some part of the frame, but instead grabbed Kiara's arm and nearly pulled her out of the wagon with him. When they were both righted in their seats, he said, “Oh, it's just because he likes her.”

“What's not to like?” Kiara blushed at the compliment, and started to say something, but was interrupted by Samo. He said, “I still don't see why that would keep me on Tarat's good side.”

“Ugh, are you that oblivious?” Kia held his forehead in his hand. He said, “Tarat's attracted to her. If he arrested you, she'd be mad at him.”

Samo said, “He's attracted to her? Why?” Kia started laughing as Kiara smacked Samo on the back of his head. The wagon turned sharply as he tried to escape her wrath. “Ah! No hitting the driver!” he shouted. “No hit the driver! No hit driver!” He turned into a plaza and stopped the wagon in front of a large red-brick building with a stone staircase going to the large wooden doors. Jumping out of the wagon, he said, “Okay then. We're here. The Academy. Can you stop hitting me now?”

“Hmph.” Kiara stepped out of the wagon and glared at Samo. “Sure. Maybe you could eventually find why someone would be attracted to me.”

As she turned and stalked away, up the staircase, he said, “What did I say?”

Between laughs, Kia said, “You are oblivious.”

End Chapter One

The Story of Samo-Volume One, Part Nine

2009-01-08T08:24:00.000-08:00

In the shop, Samo let his arms on the counter and leaned forward. "So," he said, as if he had just been out for a morning stroll. "What's this I hear about you having Dacule manuscripts?"

Tansu chuckled nervously. His eyes turned to the crowd outside, which was now staring in shock rather than fury, although Lora still watched in fury. He said, "Well, I don't know if I-"

"Tansu, Lora said you have them. He's an idiot, but not a liar." Samo turned and rested his elbows on the counter. He said, "Was he mistaken, or do you have some?"

"They just came in, I swear! I didn't order them."

Samo craned his neck around. He said, "So? You have them, and I want to buy them. I have the money. What's the big deal?"

Kiara looked up from a small leather-bound book she had picked up and said, "Uh, Kia, they're kind of illegal."

"Pft. That's not a problem." He turned from the counter and started perusing the books. He said, "Where do you have them hiding?"

"Urm," Tansu muttered, looking back out at the crowd, which was slowly dispersing. "They're in the back, in a box."

"Can you get them?" Samo picked up a heavy book and found it to be a manual on swordplay. He said, "A whole book on swinging a metal stick? How hard can it be? Pointy end goes in other man. The end." Slamming the book closed, he set it back on the shelf. He turned to Tansu, who was wringing his hands and looking from Samo to the dispersing crowd. "I'd like to buy the book. The Dacule manuscripts."

Just then, the door opened and a man dressed in the uniform of a city officer walked in. He wore a close-fitting dark blue tunic and a black jacket that hung to his knees over that. His trousers were black with a wide stripe the same color as the tunic running down the outside of the legs, and were tucked into leather boots that ended halfway up his shins. He looked from Samo to Tansu, then back to Samo, and sighed. Kia followed after him.

Kia said, "Thanks for leaving me outside with the angry mob, bud."

"You're welcome." Samo chuckled and said, "I didn't even know you liked that sort of thing."

As Kia gaped at him, the city officer said, "Samo, I hope we're not here for the same reason."

"So do I," Samo replied. "I really want that book, Snake. I'm sure you know which one I'm talking about."

The officer set his hat, a dark gray cap, on the counter and said, "Yes, I'm sure I know which one too." He turned to Tansu and said, "The book." Tansu nodded, cringing anxiously, and went to the back of the store. When he disappeared through a door, the officer turned to Samo and said, "Why do you want to buy an illegal book?"

"Oh, Snake, Snake. Come on. Why do have to be like that?"

"It's my job." He stepped forward and said, "And for goodness sake, don't call me Snake! My name is Tarat. Officer Tarat."

Samo frowned. He looked at Kia and Kiara and said, "Really?"

Kiara said, "You've known that for years, Samo. He hate's being called Snake."

"But that's what his name means. I mean, in Tripannari, anyway."

Tarat stepped forward and said, "Samo, you're trying to buy an illegal book. I could arrest you
for that alone. Show me some respect."

"You're not going to arrest me." Samo lowered his voice and stared at Tarat. Almost as if he was asking for a salami in the market, he said, "You're not going to arrest me because you respect me too much. If you really want, I'll try to remember you hate being reminded your name means 'snake', but you're not going to arrest me."

As Tansu walked out with a thick, leather-bound book, Tarat walked to him and snatched the book away. As Tansu stood there, staring, he walked to Samo and said, "You're not getting this book. If I let you buy it, not only would Tansu lose his license to sell-"

"We can't have that," Samo said. "He's my favorite bookseller." He grinned at Tansu, who smiled nervously.

Tarat gave a heavy sigh and continued, "You would spend three days in the dungeon-"
"I hate that place!" Samo interjected, interupting yet again.

Tarat pounded his fist on the counter. He shouted, "Stop interupting me! I would lose my job! I would be stripped of all honors, my uniform. I would be kicked out of the city and chased to the borders of Pasca. I'd never even be allowed in the country anymore."

Samo stared at him in shock. "They wouldn't do that, would they?"

Kia said, "They have before."

"Well," Samo said. "That really stinks."

"Tansu," Tarat said. "I already know that you don't know where these came from." Tansu heaved a sigh of relief and Tarat explained. "I'm considering you a victim here. Maybe someone was trying to frame you or do some sort of extortion. You're not in trouble."

"Thank you, officer." Tarat nodded and sat in, or rather collapsed into, an armchair that stood nearby.

As Tarat turned to leave, he said, "You're lucky I came in here, Samo. You would have been in a lot of trouble if you bought this."

"Tarat," Samo said. "Do you know who killed Gianan yet?"

Tarat leaned against the counter and sighed. He said, "I'm sorry, bud. We don't know yet. We're working on it."

"I want five minutes alone with him when you do."

"I'll see what I can do." Tarat smiled and started for the door. He said, "All of you stay out of trouble. Take care of yourself, Kiara." He waved to her, though she kept her back to him. Frowning, he walked out the door.

Samo said, "Well, I guess I might as well get a book on how to poke people with metal sticks."

The Story of Samo-Volume One, Part Eight

2009-01-07T10:22:00.000-08:00

After about ten minutes of driving, Samo turned down a street to find a large crowd blocking the way. The crowd, which was more like a small mob, was shouting at a very-harried shopkeeper, who was looking out from behind barred windows. Samo frowned and slowly moved their wagon closer to the crowd. A few people shouted as they moved out of his way, but Samo was forced to grind the wagon to a halt when the crowd began refusing to move.

Kia said, “Maybe we should back up and go another way.”

“Back up?” Samo looked at him. He said, “That's a great idea! I need to remember to add something to do that.”

Kia smacked his forehead and groaned. He looked over to the shopkeeper, who was staring out from behind a display of apparently very expensive books. “We're going to be here all day.”

“No we're not,” Samo said. He jumped down out of the wagon and started pushing his way through the crowd. A few people shouted at him, both as they were being shoved and from a distance.

One man, standing a head above everyone else, shouted, “Hey, Samo! Aren't you afraid the cops are going to find you?” He gave a loud, harsh laugh and said, “They're kind of hard on murderers!”

Samo chuckled and shouted back at the man, “Lora, aren't you afraid the chief surgeon is going to find you? He's kind of hard on truants!”

The man gave a hard grimace and started moving through the crowd. Samo ignored him and moved to the store window. He knocked on the glass, causing the shopkeeper to look at him with a start. The man look out at him from under bushes of eyebrow with wide, fearful eyes. His mustache, even bushier, made Samo think of some kind of fluffy beaver.

He said, “Hey, Tansu. What's up? Can I come in?”

“Make them go away, please. I can't open the door. They'll kill me.” The man's voice quavered as he spoke, his thick accent making him even harder to understand.

Samo leaned against the wall. He said, “Tansu, Tansu. What did you do?”

“I didn't do anything-”

“Liar!” Lora, pounded his fist on the heavy glass behind the bars and shouted, “You know what you did!”

Samo stepped back. Both Kia and Kiarahad stepped down from the wagon and waded through the crowd. Samo said, “Okay, why don't you tell me why I'm not able to go in a buy something.”

Lora loomed over him and said, “I don't have to explain myself to you, murderer.”

Samo grimaced. Kia shouted and reached for him as Samo lunged at Lora. His hand brushed against Samo's shoulder, not even slowing him as the he jumped up and grabbed Lora by the collar. Coming down, Samo turned Lora so that his back slammed against the iron bars on the window. He said, “I am not a murderer! Don't you ever call me that again!” He shook him by the collar. Kia pushed a few people back, mostly to stop Samo from getting crushed by the crowd. Lora looked to the crowd for help, but they all simply watched, their curiosity detracting from their previous rage.

Samo said, “Now, you will tell me what you think Mr. Tansu did.”

Lora said, “I don't have to tell you-”

“Tell me! You grave-robbing, backwater thug, tell me!” Samo shook him, sending the man, who was twice his weight, against the wall again.

“Those books he's selling. He has books written by the Inventors Order.”

“What?” Samo released him, dropping Lora to the ground. “You mean the texts written by Sarenti Dacule?”

Standing, Lora brushed himself off. He said, “Yeah, you know, the one that nearly destroyed the world!”

“Sweet!” Samo banged on the door and said, “Tansu, let me in. I'll take them off your hands.” As the shopkeeper shuffled to the door and unlocked it, Lora loomed over Samo and set his hand on the door post. He said, “Wait, you're a member of the Inventors?”

“Of course I am. You didn't know that?” Samo stepped into the door and pulled Kiara with him. He said, “Also, I recall reading that it was Creas that nearly destroyed the world in the Inventor's War. You know, sorcery tends to do that.” Dragging Kiara into the shop, he closed the door behind him.

She said, “Um, Kia's still outside.”

Samo said, “He is? Oh. He'll be fine. Angry mobs haven't killed anyone in years.”

The Story of Samo-Volume One, Part Seven

2009-01-06T08:12:00.000-08:00

Releasing his grip on Kiara, Samo turned to the package on the table and tore away the string and brown paper. He opened the box inside and chuckled. “Kiara,” he said. “You really are beautiful, you know that?”

Kiara blushed and said, “You like it?”

“I love it. That is just what I've been needing.” Samo took a small mechanism out of the box and held it up. Turning the cold metal in his hand, he said, “Since you blew up the other power converter, I haven't been able to find another one that would work. Where did you get it?”

“Kia found it for me,” she said sheepishly. “He suggested I bring it to you.”

Samo shrugged. He turned and started walking around powered-wagon. When he reached another workbench that held a large motor and various parts, he said, “Well, I guess that's okay. I'll work on this one later. Do you two want to go for a ride? We can head over to the Academy.”

“Uh, Samo,” Kia said, stepping forward. “There's a problem with that.”

Samo grunted. He set his feet apart and his hands on the table. “What's wrong with the Academy?”

Sucking in air nervously, Kia stepped forward and tenuously put his hand out and on Samo's shoulder. “You know you're not allowed there anymore, right?”

Samo turned and knocked his hand away. He approached on him threateningly and said, “I will go to the Academy whenever I want! That is my right! I haven't been expelled, and they have no reason to expel me anyway. Even the police don't think I killed Gianan, so why should the Academy? They don't!” He turned from Kia, who had retreated back two paces for every one of Samo's and had placed himself between Samo and his sister. Samo turned away and gesticulated frantically as he ranted on. “They're jealous of me, that's all. You know they are! Even the freaking chancellor said that I was more talented than some of the freaking professors! But me, I'm just a freak. They're jealous of me.”

His voice trailed off into a sob as he lowered himself into a chair. Muttering now, he hid his face in his hands and started sobbing. Kiara bit her lower lip and gently pushed Kia aside to walk up to him. Kneeling down at his side, she said, “Samo, I know you didn't kill Gianan. I know that they're just jealous of you, some of them anyway.”

Samo shot his head up with a start and grinned at her. “Great!” he said. “Let's go.” He stood and dragged her by the hand to the wagon. She yelped as he lifted her by the waist into the wagon and climbed up into the driver's side. Going through the motions of starting it, he turned to Kia and said, “You want to come, or shall I simply take your sister for a morning ride?”

“Oh, no,” Kia said, smiling. “I'm not leaving you alone with her.” He ran around the front of the wagon and jumped up into the far right seat. As the engine came to it's full strength, Samo kicked the wagon into the proper gear and drove it into the rode. A nicely-dressed man screamed insults at them as they drove away. Kia said, “I think you nearly ran someone over.”

“Did I hit him?”

Kia looked back at the man who was still screaming at them. “No, but he is mad! Oh, no. I think he's a son of one of the city judges.”

“Hah! I recognize that voice now. Old Windy Perasta. Wait, if he's the son, he's Young Windy. Either way, no problem.”

Kiara said, “You're not going to get into trouble?”

“Nah, the Perasta's are windbags, but they wouldn't convict me unless there was really some crime I've committed, and driving recklessly isn't a crime, technically.” As he drove through the streets of Qatara, Samo started to sing, horribly off-key.

“Now that,” Kia said, covering his ears. “Should be a crime.”

The Story of Samo-Volume One, Part Six

2009-01-05T07:48:00.000-08:00

Well, I made it through the first week with no missed entries. Here's week two of Samo's story in "Inventor's War." The entries will be getting slightly longer from here on in.

Samo looked at the brown-paper package, wrapped in string no less, and said, “What's this, a peace offering?”

Nodding, Kiara said, “I wanted to apologize for messing up-”

“Breaking.” Samo turned from her. He raised a finger in the air and said, “Breaking, ruining, destroying. These are better words.”

Kiara choked back a sob. “I'm sorry for destroying your engine.”

“Why did you come back?” He set his hands on the workbench and sighed. “Kia said I scared you so much that you didn't want to ever see my face again. To tell the truth-” He turned toward her and said, “I'm really surprised to see you here.” Kiara started to answer, but started sobbing. He continued, “I had to send the metal to the foundry so they could melt it down. Not only did you ruin three months of my work, you endangered all of our lives just because you didn't listen when I told you not to touch anything.”

Sobbing, Kiara set the package on the workbench and started for the door. Samo put his hand up and took her by the arm. “I didn't tell you to leave,” he said. “If you really are sorry about what you did, I won't bring it up again, but I had to tell you why I'm mad at you. Why are you crying?”

“Why?” she shouted. “Why? You threatened me with a wrench! You nearly killed Kia this morning because you just heard him! You've even been accused of killing your own master! Why shouldn't I cry?”

Samo tightened his grip on her arm, not enough to hurt her, but still tightened it. Kia stepped up and said, “Let her go.”

“No,” Samo said, staring at Kiara. “I'm going to hold her here until she hears me out. I'm sorry you two are afraid of me. I understand that people who don't really know me might be scared, but I wouldn't hurt you. You should know that. If I wanted to threaten you with that wrench, I would have killed you on the spot. Also, you should know that I did not kill Gianan.”

Kiara pulled at him, futilely trying to free herself. Sarcastically, she said, “Oh? And why should I know that?”

“He was poisoned.” As he stared into her eyes, he said, “I would never poison someone. If I wanted to kill someone, I'd bash their head in.” As Kiara yelped and tried to pull away from him, he continued, “Just like I'll do to the person who killed him when I find him.”

The Story of Samo-Volume One, Part Five

2009-01-02T09:22:00.000-08:00

Kia extended his hand. “Samo, just wait-”

“Get her out.” Samo turned his attention to the tubing on his steam wagon and tried to ignore Kia.

“Look, I know you said you don't want her here-”

“That's right, Ki, so get her out of here.”

Kia sighed. He said, “If you'll just lis-”

“Get her out.”

“Will you shut up and listen to me?” Kia raised his voice, which raised the pitch again. “You little psycho! She wanted to come by to apologize to you, but no, you have to hold a grudge because you can't bring your mind to a place where someone else might be sorry for what she did to you!”

Bending down to make a show of inspecting the pipes, Samo said, “Then why is she hiding? Why were you hiding?”

“Because you terrify us you moron!” As he shouted at Samo, Kia's voice raised to a full mezzo-soprano.

Samo turned his head up to glare at Kia, who had his eyes closed and was repeatedly mouthing the words, “I'm sorry.”

“Don't...ever...call...me...moron.” Samo gripped a torque wrench that lay by his feet and stood. Holding it to Kia's face, he said, “Don't...ever...insult...my...intelligence. You know that.”

“I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that.”

“You're darn right you shouldn't have said that!” Samo raised his voice to a roar, the sound reverberating off the walls. He held the wrench inches from Kia's face as he shouted. “You, of all people know about that!” Turning to the workbench where he found Kia, he set down the wrench and said, “Where is she? Kiara, come out here.”

Soon, a girl about seventeen came from behind a workbench on the other side of the room. She was thin, almost waif-like, and had reddish-brown hair that hung halfway down her back. Holding some package in her hands, she shuffled forward. When she was facing him, she held out the package and said, “I'm sorry.”

The Story of Samo-Volume One, Part Four

2009-01-01T10:54:00.000-08:00

Kia brushed his dusty, light brown hair behind his ear. He stepped toward Samo, who was still holding the wrench raised to his head, and said, “Samo, put down the wrench. Please, you're scaring me.”

With a thud, Samo dropped the wrench on the table. Without a word, he moved to climb back into his motorized wagon. He looked down at Kia, whose head was now at about the level of his boot, and said, “Do you want to go for a ride? I think I got it fixed. It doesn't explode anymore.”

“Um, I'm not sure if I want to step in that thing again. Remember last time?”

“Kia,” Samo answered, resting his elbow on his knee. “I told you. I doesn't explode anymore. I fixed that problem.”

“Well, I don't kno-hey, watch it!” Kia tried to pull his arm back as Samo yanked on it to get him into the wagon. “I told you I don't want to-stop that!”

Samo reached down and put his hand underneath his friend's armpit and pulled him up. After pushing him over his lap to the seat on his right, Samo set his hand on Kia's shoulder roughly and started cranking the machine on again. When he got it started, he gave a grin and said, “I told you it doesn't explode anymore.”

“Hey, bud, I'm not really sure we should go right now.” Kia looked around nervously. Samo knew he hated riding in his contraptions. He just wasn't sure why. “You know, I did come to talk to you about something.”

“So talk,” Samo said bruskly as he started out the garage.

“Yeah, but we need to be in the garage to talk about it.” Kia shouted, which forced his voice full octave above normal. When Samo stopped the wagon and turned it off, Kia quickly jumped off and back a few yards away.

Samo leaning forward, growled with bared teeth. His voice gravelly and soft, he said, “Kiara's here, isn't she?”

The Story of Samo-Volume One, Part Three

2008-12-31T09:38:00.000-08:00

As he began to steer the wagon out the door to his garage, he stopped. Something was wrong. There was something there that should not have been there. It was an open door. The door should have been closed. Of course, he had noticed the large double doors, originally from a stable, had been open, or else he would not have even considered taking his automated wagon onto the street. At least, he would have considered it and then opened the doors before he did anything. Leaving them closed would have been silly.

He stepped down from the wagon and grabbed his wrench. The heavy iron would have been enough to collapse a man's skull, if he needed to use for that purpose. Fortunately, he had not had the need to do that just yet. He hoped to the King of Heaven that he would not need to do that now. He didn't need the city police arresting him for murder. It would seriously delay the repairs he needed to make.

He looked around the shop, searching for any movement that should not have been there. A rat scurried across the floor, but he doubted that the rodent could have opened the doors, at least not by itself. He lifted the wrench to the level of his head and hunched his back over. That hadn't run for nothing. As he slunk over to the table from where the rat had originated, his suspicions were confirmed. He heard movement from under the table and saw the leather boot of a man. Someone had snuck into his garage and left his door open. Who ever it was, he was going to pay. You just don't leave the door open like that.

Setting his hand on the table, Samo shouted and dropped to all fours. As he swung the wrench back, the brunette intruder yelped and scrambled away. The intruder stood and yelled, “Lunatic! What's your problem?”

He stood and calmly said, “Hey, Kia. What's up?”

The Story of Samo-Volume One, Part Two

2008-12-30T13:23:00.000-08:00

He took a wrench and began poking at the pipes and jiggling them. Soon, he found one that moved when he shook it. He frowned and followed the pipe back to its origin. He shook the pipe again; it didn't move. “Dumb copper,” he said with a shake of his head. His head fell in front of his eyes as he followed the pipe back to its other origin, at the back of the metal wagon. When he bent down to where the pipe was fastened, more of his hair fell in front of his eyes, so that his vision was obscured. He tried blowing it out of his eyes, but to no avail. As he whipped his head back, his hair only became messier and more in his way. Realizing he was getting nowhere, he set down the wrench and pulled his hair back into a short ponytail, tying it off with a piece of string from his pocket.

As he picked up the wrench, Samo realized that he had lost track of which pipe was loose. He began jiggling them again, soon finding the pipe he had lost track of and two others that were loose in the process. Once all the pipes were tightened, he climbed up into the wooden couch seat in the front of the wagon. Once he had made certain the levers and gauges were set, he began turning a crank, resulting in a whirring sound that emanated from within the shell of the mechanism. As the sound increased in volume and pitch, so did Samo's smile increase in size.

Soon, the pitch of the machine dropped down to a baritone and Samo kicked a lever to his right. The wagon started rolling, forcing him to take the lever directly in front of him to avoid crashing into the wall. He had just had that wall replaced three weeks earlier and did not want to have to pay for a new one twice in the same month.

The Story of Samo-Volume One, Part One

2008-12-29T10:35:00.001-08:00

And here we begin the stories of the Inventor's War. The story will be Monday through Friday in short installments like the one below.

---

Samo grunted as he kicked off his blankets. Looking toward the window where the sounds of the city bells had breached the walls of his chamber, he shook his fist. “Darn you bells! I was having a good dream.” Laying on his back on the bed, he rolled to his side so that he fell off onto the floor. After landing on the hardwood floor, he set his arms apart and did his twenty daily push ups. After that, he reached for his over tunic and pulled it on. By the time that he was dressed, the bells had stopped. “Aw,” he said. “I was starting to enjoy them.”

The blond young man threw his blanket back onto his bed, spreading them out, but almost deliberately not smoothing them out. One leaving his room, he was confronted with the smell of dust and grease. The room was silent, and filled with things that seemed as if they should have been talking. Paintings sat on the floor and on tables. A glazed clay bust of a young woman sat on a shelf next to him. As white as snow, the bust had a slight smile, as if the woman was alive. The fact that no paint had been applied, leaving the entire statue pale white made her seem quite disconcerting.

Samo reached for the wool cap sitting next to the statue and revealed another glazed clay bust of a man. Without even a glance at the statues, he set the cap on his head and walked down the wooden stairs to where the stench of grease was emanating and the smell of dust began to lessen. On the lower level, machine parts lay strewn across the room, smaller parts on tables, and the larger on the floor. He walked to the center of the room where there sat a metal wagon with the brass pipes and tubes snaking around. Setting his hand on the side of his, he smiled and said, “Hello, my child.”

Introduction to the War Story of Samo

2008-12-23T16:40:00.000-08:00

This is the first post that I am making in the story of the Inventor's War. The year does not really matter, but the world is one in which we would recognize some of the fashions as being outdated, or older. The technology is one that we would not be used to, and the miraculous would be something we had not seen in our lives. The world is Ima, a world that is similar to our own in that the people are like us, but different because they have problems we do not necessarily have, at least in the same forms.

They deal with the order calling itself the Inventors, a nigh-religious order that has taken it upon itself to "modernize" the world, and make it more powerful. They also deal with the foresters, almost human sylvans that are able to blend in with the trees, as well as kobeks, goblins whose loyalties are always in question. Then, there are the mysterious tech mages and the sinister Fallen sorcerers.

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"The Inventor's War" is a techno-fantasy (read: steampunk) webnovel that takes place in the world of Ima, a world where my epic novel series takes place. That is going to be some time until it is ready for publication, so until then, here is "The Inventor's War" for you to enjoy.

For now, it's going to be updated Monday, Wednesday and Friday as much as I'm able to. I am a full time college student studying graphic design while I try to get some sort of income and write my stories at the same time, so I'll try to update on time as much as I can, but considering that I don't like to promise anything anyway, I can't promise anything. That was a pretty long sentance.

For now, expect the story to start next Monday, the week after Christmas. Yes, I'll be working on this over Christmas. That's how much I care.