Category Archives: Senta and the Steel Dragon

Senta and the Steel Dragon – Illustrations

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Early on, as I was writing Senta and the Steel Dragon, my wife commented that when it was published, it should have an illustration at the beginning of each chapter, much like the Harry Potter books by J. K. Rowling have. At the time, I was thinking of the books as one complete work, with three parts. So when I finished those three parts, I printed up a volume for my wife, complete with illustrations that I purchased from clipart.com. If I end up self-publishing the books, I will do a text-only ebook, but I will create a special edition with the illustrations. Over the next few weeks I’m going to post these illustrations with the captions from the edition I made for my wife. I hope you enjoy them.

Images Copyright 2009 by Clipart.com

Senta and the Steel Dragon – Cafe Carlo

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Senta looked up at that perfect face, almost a foot above her own, as the woman in the white, pin-striped dress passed, never looking down at the child engaged in manual labor, nor indeed looking at anyone else on the street. She didn’t even look at Carlo, when he rushed out of the entrance of the café, his starched white shirt, stained with sweat under the armpits and with a dribble of morning coffee just below the collar, and stretched to the limit by his corpulent middle. He ran to greet her with a bow. She didn’t look at him, but she acknowledged him with an ever-so-slight nod of her head.
“Would you like your usual table, Miss?” said Carlo.

His fawning, almost whining tone, as he spoke to her, was nothing like the booming voice he used when calling for one of his waitresses to get back to work, or when he ordered Senta to clean the brass dragon. It was nothing like the grunting noise he made when he paid Senta the fourteen copper pfennigs she received from him each week. It was the tone of a small child who wanted to be noticed by an adult, but who was seldom if ever noticed, and it would have surprised Senta to hear it come from Carlo’s great form, if she had not heard it from him when the woman had previously visited the café.
Cafe Carlo sits in the middle of the Great Plaza in Brech. It is one of the cities finest eating establishements, and so is frequented by Iolanthe Dechantage. It is also where Senta, age eight, works sweeping the walk and polishing the wrought-iron fence. It is here that she sees Iolanthe and becomes fascinated with her.

Senta and the Steel Dragon – Iolanthe Dechantagne

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Iolanthe Dechantage is one of the major characters in the “Senta and the Steel Dragon” series. In fact, as I originally imagined it, she was the main charcter with Senta just sort of being the eyes and ears of the reader. The more of the story I wrote, the more it became Senta’s story.
Iolanthe Dechantage is the scion of a once pretigious and wealthy Brech family that has since fallen in both respects. She is determined to return her family to its past prestige and affluence. Along with her brothers Terrence and Augustus she devises a bold plan to commit all their resources to starting a colony on the coast of distant Birmisia.
Suddenly a figure approached the left side of her carriage. It was a dirty man, wearing dirty clothes, with a dirty bald head, and a big dirty nose. He stepped in close to her and ran his eyes down the length of her form. Another, similarly dressed man stepped up behind him.

“Well, this is nice, ain’t it?” said the second man. “We can have us a little fun.”
“Yeah, fun” said first man, pulling a long, thin knife from his belt.

“Careful though,” said second man. “She might have a little pistol in her handbag.”
“Does you have a little pistol in you handbag, Dearie?” the first man asked. He casually waved the knife in his right hand, as he pawed at her ankle with his left. Then he stopped when he heard the sound of two hammers being cocked, and looked up into the twin twelve gauge barrels.
“I don’t carry a handbag,” said Iolanthe, pulling the shotgun to her shoulder.
Iolanthe is serious and unemotional (some would say cold and hard). She is focused on the goal of reviving her family fortune, and anything else (and anyone else) is expendable. She might have a soft side, but few have ever seen it. The only one she considers her equal is her brother Terrence.
“Kafira’s blood, Iolanthe!”

Iolanthe pursed her lips.
“It was Yuah. Don’t you even care?”

“Yes, I know it was Yuah. And of course I care.”
“It didn’t seem like it. God, Iolanthe. I grew up with Yuah. We used to play together. She’s like our sister.”

“I know,” said Iolanthe. “I know and I care. I care just as much for her as I do for you.”
Augie looked her in the eye for a moment. “That’s what I’m afraid of.” He turned and started to walk away.

The Voyage of the Minotaur – Chapter 14 Excerpt

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Iolanthe dismissed the three men and walked swiftly to the stern of the ship where Yuah was awaiting her. The dressing maid was wearing a simple grey wool dress over a white linen foundation. Her hair was pulled up into a tight bun, but even its severity didn’t take away from her obvious beauty. Though Iolanthe was accounted one of the most beautiful women in the great city of Brech, she recognized the truth that few did—Yuah was more beautiful. Their difference in wealth, status, and religion obscured the fact, but it was a fact, none the less.
“Did you see Terrence just now?”
“Yes Miss.”
“You’ve been checking up on him, I know.”
“Yes Miss.”
“He doesn’t look very good. Is he… alright?”
“Yes. I don’t know. I think so.”
Putting thoughts of her brother or the relative attractiveness of her dressing maid aside, Iolanthe toured the ship from stem to stern, from the main deck to the lowest deck. There was much to do and she intended to make sure that it was all done and done properly. When an obvious need presented itself, she assigned the task immediately. When a need was less obvious, she gave Yuah a note to remind her about it later. When they reached deck four, Yuah stopped unexpectedly.
“What is the matter?” asked Iolanthe.
“This is my deck,” said Yuah. “My cabin is just up on the right.”
“Yes?”
“Well, there are too many doors in this hallway. The doorway… here,” she pointed to the second door on the left. “That door shouldn’t be here.”
Iolanthe smiled. “Excellent.” She walked over and rapped sharply on the door.
It opened and Senta, Zurfina’s ward, looked out with a puzzled look on her face. Iolanthe was sure that it was the first time during the entire voyage from Brechalon that anyone had knocked on the door.
“Is your mistress at home?” asked Iolanthe.
The girl nodded. A moment later she was replaced in the doorway by the sorceress. She had evidently just gotten out of bed, and was clad in an ankle length but completely sheer nightgown. With no shoes on her feet, she was several inches shorter than Iolanthe.
“Yes?”
“We have an assignment for you, sorceress,” said Iolanthe. “The creatures in the bay need to be driven away from the area where we are planning to build a dock. They need to be kept permanently away, or at least long enough for the construction to be completed.”
“I will take care of it,” said the sorceress, and closed the door.
Iolanthe turned around to look at her dressing maid with an uncharacteristically broad smile upon her face.
“That was most satisfying,” she said. “Thank you.”
“Yes Miss.”
“I think it’s about time for lunch,” said Iolanthe.
“If you’ll let me know the menu and the guest list, I’ll contact Mrs. Colbshallow and the wait staff.”
“I was thinking that you and I could have lunch.”
Yuah stood looking blankly for a moment, and then placed the palm of her hand against the wall of the corridor as though she were steadying herself in uneven seas.
“No need to look as though you’re going to pass out,” said Iolanthe.
“No Miss, It’s just…”
“Consider it a weak moment.”
“You don’t have weak moments, Miss.”
“No, well. You see Yuah, I don’t have any friends here.”
“You don’t have any friends back home either, Miss.”
“Thank you for your merciless honesty, Yuah,” said Iolanthe. “Peers then. This is a new world. If I’m going to have any kind of social life at all, I’m going to need a new group with whom to socialize—a new class if you will.”
“I won’t fit into that class, Miss,” said Yuah. “I’m the wrong religion.”
“No one is going to care about that anymore.” “People will always care, Miss.”

Senta and the Steel Dragon – Brech

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The story of Senta and the Steel Dragon begins in the great city of Brech, although the scene moves on to other locations after chapter eight of The Voyage of the Minotaur. Brech is patternend after Edwardian London, with the addition of some steampunk ideas (specifically steam-powered automobiles). Horse drawn trolleys ply the streets and coal powered industry has left a fine covering of soot over everything. Fortunately there are plenty of orphans to employ in cleaning surfaces. The city is split by the River Thiss (pronounced Tiss) which brings ship traffic from the sea.
image Copyright 2009 by Clipart.com

Senta and the Steel Dragon – Senta

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The series of books I’m now calling Senta and the Steel Dragon has a great many characters (something over 250), but it’s no surprise that the most important is character is Senta Bly. The series is really the story of her life, growing from a small child to become a powerful sorceress.

The Voyage of the Minotaur (Book 1) -Completed.
Senta begins the story as an eight year old orphan living in the great city of Brech. She is adopted by the mysterious sorceress Zurfina the Magnificent and is taken with her on a voyage to the distant land of Birmisia.

The Dark and Forbidding Land (Book 2) -Writing Now.
Senta and Zurfina have been living in Birmisia for almost two years as this book starts. She struggles to understand the magic that Zurfina tries to teach her, as she must face the terrors of their forest home.

The Sorceress’s Apprentice (Book 3) -Completed.
As a twelve year old apprentice sorceress, Senta has become well-known and, by some, feared. She struggles with the problems of adolescence along with her friends Hero and Hertzel and her boyfriend Graham.

Not Yet Titled (Book 4) -Planning.
Senta must deal with becomming a woman and the changing dynamic between her and her friends, as well as the growing anipathy between her and a woman she thought was her friend. To make life all the more difficult, she has a rival for Graham’s affections.

The Two Dragons (Book 5) -Completed, but may see major revision.
The last book involves a war between Brechalon and Freedonia in which Senta (now a seventeen year old sorceress) and Zurfina play pivotal parts.

If I write more books in the series, they will continue Senta’s life into her twenties, thirties, and maybe beyond.

Tall and thin, with blond hair and blue eyes, Senta is intelligent and witty. As a child she is precocious. As an adult, she is clever and sharp tongued.

Characters

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I thought it might be fun to talk about the characters in my stories, so over the next few weeks that’s what I’m going to do. I’ll start with the characters in “His Robot Girlfriend” as there are only a few. Then I’ll move on to “Princess of Amathar”, which has a few more– about a dozen. Then I’ll move on to the “Senta and the Steel Dragon” series. There are well over two hundred characters that come and go within the series (which will be at least six books– three are completed). Be sure to let me know what you think.

The Voyage of the Minotaur – Chapter 10 Excerpt

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Senta watched from the deck of the H.M.S. Minotaur high above, as Iolanthe Dechantagne paced back and forth on the dock, her hands clasped tightly behind her back. Senta clasped her own hands behind her back and paced back and forth across the deck, all the while keeping watch on Miss Dechantagne from the corner of her eye. Miss Dechantagne’s older brother, Captain Dechantagne, walked up to her and Miss Dechantagne stepped close to him and spoke, emphasizing whatever words she was saying by poking her index finger into his chest. Senta walked over to the small tiny steel dragon sitting near her. He had a tiny chain fastened around his ankle, attaching him to his carrier box. She poked her finger at the dragon.
“You listen to me,” she said. “I’m very important and you are only my brother, and I am the boss, and you’d better not do anything I don’t like.”
The dragon half-heartedly snapped at her finger, which she pulled out of the way.
“Don’t tease our boy, Pet,” said Zurfina, appearing behind her.
“He doesn’t want that chain on,” said Senta.
“We can’t let him loose right now,” said the sorceress. “He’s liable to fly off into the forest and not come back until well after we’re gone.”
“He can’t fly very good.”
“That’s just what he wants you to think. Now bring him inside. I have something for you.”
Senta opened the door of the animal carrier, but the little dragon just looked at her.
“Go on,” she said. “Get in.”
The dragon made a noise more like a cat yowling than a reptile. Senta reached out and rubbed the scales on its belly. The dragon bit her on the wrist, not hard, though its needle sharp teeth still drew blood.
“Owe!”
The dragon made an apologetic noise and then crawled down into its chamber. Senta closed the carrier and then sat down. The ship was starting to spin around her. She looked down without real comprehension at her wrist and watched as the blood flowed freely down her palms, down her fingers and dripped into a puddle on the deck.
“Cheeky twonk.” said Senta, woozily.
“Oh good grief,” said Zurfina.

Friday’s Post

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Friday’s excerpt of The Voyage of the Minotaur was a difficult one for me to write. It is the first time I tried to write anything that had to do with a child predator. I’ve rewritten quite a bit several times with feedback, and I hope I’ve hit it right– not too graphic, but still clear enough for the reader to know what’s going on.

The Voyage of the Minotaur – Chapter 9 Excerpt

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Senta got up from her chair and found that her legs were decidedly wobbly, her vision was wiggly, and the two helpings of trifle in her stomach were not getting along with the toad-in-the-hole. She started for the door, but found her feet making an inexplicable turn toward the wall. One of the waiters took her by the shoulders and guided her back on track, opened the door for her, and closed it once she was in the outside corridor. It was a short trip from Miss Dechantagne’s cabin to the main deck, which was a good thing; because Senta didn’t think she could have made it much further. She grabbed hold of the railing and walked twenty or thirty steps until she came to the steel dragon, still in his animal carrier box. She sat down on top of it, and scooted down so that she could lie back across it. She closed her eyes on the bright myriad of stars looking down upon her.

She didn’t know how long she lay there, but eventually she had the feeling that someone else was there with her. She opened her eyes to see a pasty-faced man with a very round face and horn rimmed glasses looking down at her. His hair was slicked down and oily looking and he had a pinched expression on his face that made his mouth look unnaturally small. She looked at him for several moments and he looked back and blinked several times.

“Hello,” said Senta.

“Hello,” he replied. “Are you all right?”

“I don’t know.”

The man smiled without showing his teeth. His smile reached from his chin to the middle of his nose. His eyes, magnified by glasses, stayed the same. He had no facial hair or sideburns, but he had several small cuts on his face as if he had injured himself while shaving. His suit was charcoal colored, and slightly shabby; something that Senta wouldn’t have noticed a few weeks before.

“Do you want to try getting up?” he asked.

“Alright.”

Senta sat up and immediately threw up at the man’s feet. Most of the vomit splattered across the wooden deck, though a bit of it ended up on his shoes and pants cuffs.

“Gawp,” said the dragon within his carrier.

The man’s mouth twitched to one side, but all he said was, “Feeling better?”

Senta nodded.

“Good,” he said. “We should get you somewhere where you can get washed up. Do you know how to get to your cabin from here?”

“No.”

“Then, I’ll take you to my cabin.”

“Um, I don’t know.”

“You wouldn’t want anyone to see you with vomit all over your shoes, would you?”

Senta looked down and, sure enough, she had gotten vomit on her own shoes too. The man took her by the hand and pulled her to her feet. She was still pretty wobbly. He began to walk slowly along the deck, pulling her along with him.

“Gawp,” said the dragon, louder.

They went in the doorway just behind the one through which Senta had exited, and walked down the corridor. Senta started to feel a little better. At the end of the hallway, a set of narrow steps led down to the lower deck. Senta didn’t really want to go down, but the pasty-faced man had her hand firmly in his.

“Senta!”

Senta and the man both turned to see Miss Lusk walking down the hallway toward them. Though she was the shortest of the women that had been at the dinner party that evening, Miss Lusk was almost the exact same height as the oily-haired man. Her hat, which was a large straw affair covered in pink chiffon with a flower accent, made her seem a bit taller than him.

“Where are you going, Senta?” asked Miss Lusk.

“We were just going to get her cleaned up,” said the man. “The poor thing got sick on deck and lost her dinner.”

“Good evening, Mr. Murty,”

“Good evening, Miss Lusk.”

“It was very kind of you to help out with a sick child.”

“Oh, it was nothing,” he replied. They stood looking at each other for a very long moment. Senta looked from one to the other.

“Well, we’ll go on and get the child cleaned up,” said Mr. Murty.

“I think I should take it from here.”

“Oh?”

“I’m sure it wouldn’t be appropriate for you to take the child below.”

“Wouldn’t be appropriate?” he asked. “Why not?”

“Taking care of children isn’t a man’s job.” Miss Lusk took Senta’s other hand and pulled until the child had both arms stretched out in either direction.

“I really don’t mind. I love children,” said Mr. Murty.

“You’ll make quite a father one day, I’m sure.”

“Let me take her.”

“I’ll take care of her,” said Miss Lusk. “I am a woman.”

“Yes, I keep forgetting,” said Mr. Murty, letting go of Senta’s hand. “Um, what with your, um, mathematics skills and all.”

“Good night, Mr. Murty!” Miss Lusk hurried down the hall with the girl in tow.

Miss Lusk led Senta forward and then down a different set of narrow stairs. They went quickly down three flights and then up the corridor a short ways to a door, which Miss Lusk unlocked and entered, pulling the girl in after her. It was a small room, only half the size of that in which Senta and Zurfina stayed. It held a single chair and a single bed. The red-headed woman set Senta on the mattress and had her lie back.

“Didn’t your mother tell you not to talk to strangers?” She asked.

“No.”