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Talon, Encounter

 

Chapter 27 excerpt

Talon turned once more and flew directly at Pete and Zed, without Matica telling him where to fly or what to do. It was all Talon’s doing. He was the one mocking the poachers and teasing them. He had a lot of fun doing that. Matica was a bit hesitant – what if they shoot at them? – but did the most of it, even though her heart raced and wanted to escape her chest. She only hoped that Pete and Zed were stunned enough not to shoot at them and kill them both.
Talon flew at Pete and Zed and Matica, putting all her courage together, yelled down at them as they approached. Looking at Pete she yelled, ‘Hey, you down there, Pete. How are you? Surprised? Can’t believe that I’m flying on my condor?’ When Talon turned once more and they flew over the poachers again, Matica shouted at them, ‘BECAUSE HE IS MINE! HE IS NOT YOURS TO DO WHAT YOU WISH WITH HIM. And that would be shooting him down. No way!’
Even though Matica was brave and said these words, the truth was, her heart was racing even faster. She was so afraid and shaking all over, trying to steady her voice, which she believed she achieved. She also tried to restrain her heart and her hands, holding on at Talon’s neck, but hadn’t much success with that. But she wasn’t finished with them yet, what she wanted to tell them. She had to set their heads right that Talon does not belong to them, that Talon belongs to her. Talon sensed it, so he turned once more and flew towards the
poachers in the hope they wouldn’t come to their senses yet and would indeed shoot at them.
Pete and Zed followed them with their eyes, but didn’t raise their guns to shoot at them. They were still too dazed to see Matica on the condor’s back, flying with him and even talking to them.
Talon and Matica were in high spirits now, watching them like a hawk, watching their movements, to see if one of them would raise their gun and shoot at them.
Matica had her eyes closed to calm herself and to think what she could tell them, but as soon as they were close to the poachers again, Matica opened her eyes and yelled once more, ‘You see, I raised him, as you must know since you took his egg from the nest on the mountain.
So believe me, he is mine.’ And then she stated, ‘And the scar on your head? Well, that’s what you get when you want to have property that doesn’t belong to you.’ She grinned brightly as Talon stretched out his talons to frighten them, flying directly over Pete and Zed, screeching and laughing. They dropped to the ground, screaming in horror and dismay, covering their heads with their hands.
‘Good on you, Talon. They are too afraid to shoot at us now. Well done.’
Becoming bolder as she slowed down her breathing. Matica laughed out loud but saw her opportunity as Talon flew around them. She yelled out again, ‘Hey you, you can’t shoot my condor down, you know. It’s illegal. You hear me? IT’S ILLEGAL. Anyway, they’re my condors, not yours. They belong to me and to the village people here. You have no right to do what you are longing and planning to do with my condors.
Go home or something really bad will happen, before my condor hurts you once more, ugly one. And never come back.’ She laughed uncontrollably, nearly sliding off of Talon. Just then Tamo and Tima joined them at either side, laughing with Matica and Talon.
The poachers sat up, still stunned, following Talon and Matica with their eyes. ‘You cannot do that,’ the ugly one yelled out, lifting his free fist up.

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Chapter 33 excerpt

No one, not the villagers, or even Matica and Talon, heard or saw them coming. They came, silent as night, soundless and without flapping their wings, Tamo and Tima just appeared and landed right in front of the poachers, wings stretched wide, staring them down,

The poachers tried to run but the grass was slippy and they fell, sliding toward the condors, all the way screaming.
The condors awaited them, grunting at them and smiled.
Finally they came to a halt, just in front of Tamo’s and Tima’s talons. Pete and Zed stared horrified at them, not knowing if they would kill them. They lifted their arms to protect their heads and faces.
Tamo and Tima looked at them, not smiling anymore, not grunting anymore. They just stared down at them. Tima with red burning eyes, and Tamo with grey burning eyes. Next Tamo, very quietly and slowly, lowered his head and pecked Pete in his stomach with his open beak. He screamed out and tried to slap his beak and head away with his hand. But Tamo bent away, grunting angrily. Tima did the same with Zed, and he also wanted to slap her head. It didn’t work. Then both poachers tried to escape from the condors by crawling backwards on their hands and feet, kicking their feet at Tamo and Tima, quietly whining. But Tamo and Tima didn’t let themselves get irritated by these actions and followed them, staring at them with burning eyes and elongated necks.
The crowd was so still and wondered and watched what the condors would do to the poachers or if they could quickly capture them. You could hear the wind in the leaves of the nearby bushes, it was so quiet.
Matica couldn’t see what was happening as she was behind the crowd, but she saw Tamo and Tima landing by the poachers. She grinned mischievously, knowing what they could do to them. She ran now through the crowd with Talon following behind until she stood in front and just saw how Pete in desperation kicked at Tamo.

Suddenly, Pete stood up so fast and ran that not even Tamo had time to hold him back. Zed followed him. Tamo and Tima looked after them, screeched and ran to get airborne to follow them.

‘Way to go!’ Matica yelled at them, holding Talon back as he wanted to go after them. ‘Talon, let them have their fun.’ Talon nodded.
The villagers cheered and clapped their hands.
Pajaro motioned his people to charge after them.
Tamo and Tima circled quietly over the charging villagers and escaping poachers. Flying low, they dive-bombed at the poachers again. The villagers cheered at them. Tamo flew so low after the ugly poacher that he rammed him on his shoulder with his claws but leaving no marks on the man. But Pete fell to the ground, screaming and believing that Tamo had hurt him again. However, after feeling his shoulder where Tamo’s claw had scraped him and noticing that his overalls weren’t torn, or blood on his fingers, he just shook his fist and swore loudly. Tamo flew off, laughing.
Then Talon, watching and learning and thinking that this is fun, took off and followed his parents. Matica couldn’t hold him back. Flying over the poachers, he rammed Zed the same way his father did with Pete but not hurting him either. Zed fell to the ground not far from Pete with an ugly look on his face, feeling at his shoulder. Same as with Pete’s, his overalls weren’t torn and no blood seeped through the material. Not even their long hair was messed up from the strong wind their wings had created flying so low over them. It was glued to their scalp from the poo of the condors.
Not expecting what the condors did, they sat on the ground for a while longer to recover from the shock that they were nearly scratched and wounded by the condors again. But not to be a big target for the condors, they bent down their heads between their knees and folded their hands over their heads to protect them just in case the condors’ came back and really hurt them this time. They waited for a while longer.
Tamo and Tima weren’t far away. They watched the poachers. They would assist the villagers in any way if they plan to capture them…

 

 

Read more about Talon, Encounter 

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Interview with Ronelle Smith

ENCOUNTER
by Ronelle Smith
Ronelle Smith Testimonial
Ronelle Smith

Ronelle Smith is author of ENCOUNTER, the first book in a series of five about 13-year-old Jonathon Newman-Smith, who is gifted with unusual talents.

After reading the book, and being totally enthralled by the adventure, I decided to find out more as to what initiated the story.

I will let her tell you, in her own words, why and how she came to write this excellent story. It is aimed at young adults, teenagers who may be ablehttp://auroranaturally.com.au/ to connect with her words and see themselves in Jonathon, although it is compelling reading for any age group and she hopes many people will benefit from the positive messages contained throughout the book.

What drove you to write “Encounter”?

In today’s changing world, society is not as it used to be when family units were strong and family values were held dear. Because of this, many of our youth are floundering in a society of double standards, where two-parent role models are almost a thing of the past and future stability in the home is not guaranteed. The consequent lack of security takes its toll on their self-confidence and often their innate gifts and talents fall victim and fail to develop. In some cases this can lead to a deep sense of loss and even depression. The emerging young adult may feel lonely and isolated with no true understanding of their place in the world or their purpose in life.

From my 40 years of teaching high school students I have come to recognize the causes of self-destructive behaviour as expressed by individual teenagers. In some instances unsettled home situations  frequently trigger anti-social activities and resentment for any form of authority. With an unwillingness to comply with rules and regulations and general lack of cooperation the teenagers find themselves in greater difficulty with an accompanying defeatist attitude. From my interviews with these specific young people I have learnt two things of paramount importance. Firstly, they feel desperately lonely and yearn for support of some kind, and secondly they hunger for help to achieve their goals. Yes! THEY DO HAVE GOALS. In spite of what the media would have us believe about our wayward teens. They have dreams of achievement, some so secret, they have difficulty expressing them to a listening adult.

“Encounter” is written to gently encourage young people to believe in themselves and reach for their goals no matter what their circumstances. Life presents lessons from which we are to learn and grow. How much we learn or, for that matter, completely ignore, is entirely up to the individual choices made along the way.

We are all capable of far more than we ever realise!

How long did it take you to write the book and was much research involved?

Encounter took me about six months to write, with research starting well before I took pen to paper, so to speak. Because of certain aspects of the book, I had to ensure my facts were correct, so many hours were spent on research. Believe it or not, one of the villains in the work is an incredibly small, but potentially dangerous plant. I had to check my facts very carefully regarding this tiny algae. Local geography also had to be well researched as some of the action occurs in our ruggedly beautiful Snowy Mountains. An understanding of the topography of Turkey was also necessary as several characters fulfill their mission in that country.

What is “Encounter” about?

The book reveals the amazing story of 13 year-old Jonathan Newman-Smith, a lonely boy who has spent most of his life in boarding school due to his father’s numerous absences overseas. On his 13th birthday, Jonathon, a typical ‘Tall Poppy’ who is bullied at school, has a paranormal experience which changes his life. He discovers he has been ‘gifted’ with several amazing abilities. His encounter with a collective of spiritual beings known as TRYSTARON leaves him with a choice of pursuing his destiny of becoming a world peace-maker or continuing his life as normal. Choosing the former, he battles to understand this phenomenon and come to terms with his new abilities, sometimes resulting in a humorous scenario. While this is happening, his father and stepmother, both secret service agents from a select division of ASIO, become involved in a terrorist plot that could have a devastating effect on a major Australian city. Jonathon is kidnapped by the perpetrators and threatened with death. He manages to escape and the adventure draws him more deeply into his parents’ world of espionage.

As a world traveller, I chose the settings carefully. For intrigue and suspense, Istanbul in Turkey was perfect with its colourful society and romantic history. This charismatic city adds vigour to the story, while to give “Encounter” the Australian flavour, I chose a small town on the South Coast of New South Wales for Jonathon’s home, with Canberra, the nation’s capital, and Kosciusko National Park for home-grown action.

Encounter creates an atmosphere of possibilities. Incredible scenarios become absolutely believable as the story evolves. It is a fast-paced, exciting novel that will appeal not just to young adults, but also a much wider readership.

What benefit can the reader expect out of the book?

There are several messages hidden within the chapters of the book for those who are ready to discover them. It can help those who need extra support to build, or re-build their confidence. It can develop awareness that ‘Life’ is the teacher presenting challenging lessons from which we gain knowledge, learn and mature. No one escapes these lessons as difficult as they may be. In due course we realize we are never alone and can call for assistance from our spiritual guides whenever we need it.

This book is written with ‘tomorrow’s’ generation in mind, showing clearly that life is an adventure and it can, with a little help, be bountiful, beautiful and full of promise. “Encounter” is a melting pot of action adventure, intrigue, love and mystery. The reader can expect all of this, and more.

Are you planning more books?

Yes. Encounter is the first book in a series of five. Book two is written and ready to be published, which will be happening very soon. Each book is a stage in Jonathon’s life as he grows, matures, and explores his gifts and abilities and learns how best to use them.

Where will you go from here?

At the moment, I am still working on the series but I intend for the books to reach all levels of readership, in schools, bookstores and libraries. In this way, it will help the future generation to know they are not alone, encourage them to become the best they can be and realise that it’s up to each and every one of us to do our part to create a peaceful world.

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We will be hearing more from Ronelle as her books find their way to the people who desire to read them. Encounter is available in printed form and will soon be available as an eBook, extending the range of reach and readership.

Read the first chapter of Ronelle’s book on Aurora House website.  Be curious!