I went on vacation last week. Since I didn’t post on Friday, I’m putting one up for you now. Enjoy.
Previously: Cirvel heads through a festival on his way to meet up with an old “friend” who has a map that Cirvel needs. The friend, Sapere Imor, isn’t happy to see Cirvel and tries to persuade Cirvel with other temptations. Irritated with not getting his answers, Cirvel seals Imor into a genie lamp. A ninja steps from the shadows and steals away the lamp containing Imor, leaving Cirvel holding only air. He returns to the shrine to discuss the situation with the Grand Sapere, who demands to take it to the Dragon Council. Cirvel knows the Council will take far too long to come to a decision. Cirvel decides to act on his own. Returning to the market, he hopes to see the woman who had taken his lamp. He finds her and but she’s not quite ready to get down to business. At least not the kind he wants to discuss. When she does give him a chance to explain, he tells her that what he has trapped in the lamp is not a genie and that she won’t be able to use the lamp irregardless because she’s not the rightful owner. She bargains with him: help in exchange for the genie lamp. He asks her why she needs a genie. She replies that she needs a powerful trap. Treshauna then takes him to the meeting house for the ninjas to meet their leader, Drelin. Cirvel pulls Imor out of the lamp to prove that Imor is not genie — just a human. But Drelin learns that Cirvel is the genie. Cirvel “convinces” Imor to reveal to him the location of a place known as Alexander’s Den. Now that Cirvel has what he wants, the ninjas are ready to go on their mission. Before traveling the Wells of the Onesong, Cirvel needs to make one stop at the shrine first. Cirvel gets the coordinates for where they are traveling and he heads out. Meeting up with the ninjas, they take to hiding within his shadow. They go through the Wells, but as soon as they come out on the other side, they discover something is waiting for them. Blindsided, Cirvel gets severely injured. He withdraws and takes Treshauna back through the Wells, but is unable to pull Drelin along. Once back, the saperes realize how wounded he is. His world blurs as he’s taken back to be healed. Waking up, Cirvel realizes three things: Treshauna has stayed with him, he’s lost the book about Alexander on a doomed world, and he is still not fully healed. He returns to his lamp where he knows he can take care of himself. After taking to the sands to heal, Cirvel returns with the strange feeling that he has fallen in love with Treshauna and she with him. He knows they must put their feelings aside, hard as it may be, to deal with the Shniktaur. Treshauna begins to ask him questions and he reveals how he had been an experiment which turned him into a unique novihomidrak (a champion born from a dragon). They then begin to make plans to find which dimension Drelin is in and to rescue him. For that, Cirvel needs supplies. Then go to the workshop of a gnome named T’kiel, who grudgingly allows the genie inside and gives them a clean space to work. T’kiel sets Cirvel and Treshauna up with everything they need to complete the spell to find Drelin, but outside forces work against Cirvel. T’kiel takes over helping the novihomidrak when Cirvel proves to be too distracted. Once Cirvel gets his focus back, he completes the spell and discovers Drelin’s location. T’kiel is interested in how Cirvel got tangled up with the ninjas and gives Cirvel a charm made of unicorn horn for protection. Cirvel and Treshauna leave T’kiel’s place and head out to find Drelin. Cirvel opens a portal to another world. They step through and they find Drelin, but are being tracked with attack imminent. Cirvel has Treshauna take Drelin to the shadows while he hunts. The Shniktaur follows Treshauna from the shadows, attacking them. Once again, Treshauna retreats to the shadows, taking Cirvel with her. He feels movement, and strangely even senses the Humline strongly here even as he is surrounded by chaos. Treshauna brings them out of the shadows. They stand before huge gates closing off the city before them and try to gain entrance. The guard demands to be shown that they have magic among them, a strange request, but Cirvel obliges with a simple fire incantation. They are allowed to enter the city, but not very welcomed. They only get the briefest of replies in response to their questions about a healer for Drelin. Cirvel and Treshauna begin to walk the streets of this town they have happened upon.
“Probably closer to the castle. Come on.” Cirvel started down the street, then took the first cross-road to head up the slope to the castle. He went up several of the numbered streets before he started to look down for something he might expect a business district to look like.
About halfway up the hill, he realized Treshauna was no longer with him.
I promised this week you’d discover where they had landed. Of course, if that was if you’d read the story Onesong when it was posted here. (grin) Of course, you sort of see a glimpse of it in To Birth a Destiny, but it’s not clear there, nor was it meant to be obvious. I only realized what was going on when I writing the Onesong stories (which are now Tangled Magic and Walk the Path).
If your new to my writing or haven’t read/don’t remember Onesong, don’t worry, I won’t hold it against you. I never know where people have started reading or what they have read, so it’s all good.
But for the core fans who have been with me for a while, I suspect there is going to be a small sound of delight at having hit a nugget of things coming together, followed by a, “Wait, how’s that possible? OMG! Need more now!”
That’s when the magic happens. (grin)
Enjoy.
Previously: Cirvel heads through a festival on his way to meet up with an old “friend” who has a map that Cirvel needs. The friend, Sapere Imor, isn’t happy to see Cirvel and tries to persuade Cirvel with other temptations. Irritated with not getting his answers, Cirvel seals Imor into a genie lamp. A ninja steps from the shadows and steals away the lamp containing Imor, leaving Cirvel holding only air. He returns to the shrine to discuss the situation with the Grand Sapere, who demands to take it to the Dragon Council. Cirvel knows the Council will take far too long to come to a decision. Cirvel decides to act on his own. Returning to the market, he hopes to see the woman who had taken his lamp. He finds her and but she’s not quite ready to get down to business. At least not the kind he wants to discuss. When she does give him a chance to explain, he tells her that what he has trapped in the lamp is not a genie and that she won’t be able to use the lamp irregardless because she’s not the rightful owner. She bargains with him: help in exchange for the genie lamp. He asks her why she needs a genie. She replies that she needs a powerful trap. Treshauna then takes him to the meeting house for the ninjas to meet their leader, Drelin. Cirvel pulls Imor out of the lamp to prove that Imor is not genie — just a human. But Drelin learns that Cirvel is the genie. Cirvel “convinces” Imor to reveal to him the location of a place known as Alexander’s Den. Now that Cirvel has what he wants, the ninjas are ready to go on their mission. Before traveling the Wells of the Onesong, Cirvel needs to make one stop at the shrine first. Cirvel gets the coordinates for where they are traveling and he heads out. Meeting up with the ninjas, they take to hiding within his shadow. They go through the Wells, but as soon as they come out on the other side, they discover something is waiting for them. Blindsided, Cirvel gets severely injured. He withdraws and takes Treshauna back through the Wells, but is unable to pull Drelin along. Once back, the saperes realize how wounded he is. His world blurs as he’s taken back to be healed. Waking up, Cirvel realizes three things: Treshauna has stayed with him, he’s lost the book about Alexander on a doomed world, and he is still not fully healed. He returns to his lamp where he knows he can take care of himself. After taking to the sands to heal, Cirvel returns with the strange feeling that he has fallen in love with Treshauna and she with him. He knows they must put their feelings aside, hard as it may be, to deal with the Shniktaur. Treshauna begins to ask him questions and he reveals how he had been an experiment which turned him into a unique novihomidrak (a champion born from a dragon). They then begin to make plans to find which dimension Drelin is in and to rescue him. For that, Cirvel needs supplies. Then go to the workshop of a gnome named T’kiel, who grudgingly allows the genie inside and gives them a clean space to work. T’kiel sets Cirvel and Treshauna up with everything they need to complete the spell to find Drelin, but outside forces work against Cirvel. T’kiel takes over helping the novihomidrak when Cirvel proves to be too distracted. Once Cirvel gets his focus back, he completes the spell and discovers Drelin’s location. T’kiel is interested in how Cirvel got tangled up with the ninjas and gives Cirvel a charm made of unicorn horn for protection. Cirvel and Treshauna leave T’kiel’s place and head out to find Drelin. Cirvel opens a portal to another world. They step through and they find Drelin, but are being tracked with attack imminent. Cirvel has Treshauna take Drelin to the shadows while he hunts. The Shniktaur follows Treshauna from the shadows, attacking them. Once again, Treshauna retreats to the shadows, taking Cirvel with her. He feels movement, and strangely even senses the Humline strongly here even as he is surrounded by chaos. Treshauna brings them out of the shadows. They stand before huge gates closing off the city before them and try to gain entrance. The guard demands to be shown that they have magic among them, a strange request, but Cirvel obliges with a simple fire incantation.
The huge wooden gate started to swing open. It stopped with barely enough space to admit them through.
Heavy shadows lingered in the space beneath fortification wall. Its wide depth spoke to its strength. He doubted it would be much protection against the Shniktaur. But, to be this thick made him wonder what enemies it had been built to keep out. Cirvel noticed a guardhouse off to the right, built into the wall. The fact that it had a heavy wooden door with iron slats covering the small window as well as slots in the wall for arrows to be fired from expressed the permanence of the guards.
I think Loki had a hand in writing the first paragraph of this week’s segment. Just a small warning. (grin)
Previously: Cirvel heads through a festival on his way to meet up with an old “friend” who has a map that Cirvel needs. The friend, Sapere Imor, isn’t happy to see Cirvel and tries to persuade Cirvel with other temptations. Irritated with not getting his answers, Cirvel seals Imor into a genie lamp. A ninja steps from the shadows and steals away the lamp containing Imor, leaving Cirvel holding only air. He returns to the shrine to discuss the situation with the Grand Sapere, who demands to take it to the Dragon Council. Cirvel knows the Council will take far too long to come to a decision. Cirvel decides to act on his own. Returning to the market, he hopes to see the woman who had taken his lamp. He finds her and but she’s not quite ready to get down to business. At least not the kind he wants to discuss. When she does give him a chance to explain, he tells her that what he has trapped in the lamp is not a genie and that she won’t be able to use the lamp irregardless because she’s not the rightful owner. She bargains with him: help in exchange for the genie lamp. He asks her why she needs a genie. She replies that she needs a powerful trap. Treshauna then takes him to the meeting house for the ninjas to meet their leader, Drelin. Cirvel pulls Imor out of the lamp to prove that Imor is not genie — just a human. But Drelin learns that Cirvel is the genie. Cirvel “convinces” Imor to reveal to him the location of a place known as Alexander’s Den. Now that Cirvel has what he wants, the ninjas are ready to go on their mission. Before traveling the Wells of the Onesong, Cirvel needs to make one stop at the shrine first. Cirvel gets the coordinates for where they are traveling and he heads out. Meeting up with the ninjas, they take to hiding within his shadow. They go through the Wells, but as soon as they come out on the other side, they discover something is waiting for them. Blindsided, Cirvel gets severely injured. He withdraws and takes Treshauna back through the Wells, but is unable to pull Drelin along. Once back, the saperes realize how wounded he is. His world blurs as he’s taken back to be healed. Waking up, Cirvel realizes three things: Treshauna has stayed with him, he’s lost the book about Alexander on a doomed world, and he is still not fully healed. He returns to his lamp where he knows he can take care of himself. After taking to the sands to heal, Cirvel returns with the strange feeling that he has fallen in love with Treshauna and she with him. He knows they must put their feelings aside, hard as it may be, to deal with the Shniktaur. Treshauna begins to ask him questions and he reveals how he had been an experiment which turned him into a unique novihomidrak (a champion born from a dragon). They then begin to make plans to find which dimension Drelin is in and to rescue him. For that, Cirvel needs supplies. Then go to the workshop of a gnome named T’kiel, who grudgingly allows the genie inside and gives them a clean space to work. T’kiel sets Cirvel and Treshauna up with everything they need to complete the spell to find Drelin, but outside forces work against Cirvel. T’kiel takes over helping the novihomidrak when Cirvel proves to be too distracted. Once Cirvel gets his focus back, he completes the spell and discovers Drelin’s location. T’kiel is interested in how Cirvel got tangled up with the ninjas and gives Cirvel a charm made of unicorn horn for protection. Cirvel and Treshauna leave T’kiel’s place and head out to find Drelin. Cirvel opens a portal to another world. They step through and…
“Take him to the shadows!” Cirvel’s shouted instructions made it out only moments before he was struck across the face and sent flying through the air. He slammed diagonally against a tree, bending his back slightly and slamming his head against the trunk after the rest of him had impacted. The tree cracked and shook its leaves. Some came loose, falling through the air like celebratory confetti. Shniktaur: two; novihomidrak: zero!
He slid down the bark, little shards of wood tearing at his cloak. It felt like slow motion until he hit the ground. He knew he had to move.
Previously: Cirvel heads through a festival on his way to meet up with an old “friend” who has a map that Cirvel needs. The friend, Sapere Imor, isn’t happy to see Cirvel and tries to persuade Cirvel with other temptations. Irritated with not getting his answers, Cirvel seals Imor into a genie lamp. A ninja steps from the shadows and steals away the lamp containing Imor, leaving Cirvel holding only air. He returns to the shrine to discuss the situation with the Grand Sapere, who demands to take it to the Dragon Council. Cirvel knows the Council will take far too long to come to a decision. Cirvel decides to act on his own. Returning to the market, he hopes to see the woman who had taken his lamp. He finds her and but she’s not quite ready to get down to business. At least not the kind he wants to discuss. When she does give him a chance to explain, he tells her that what he has trapped in the lamp is not a genie and that she won’t be able to use the lamp irregardless because she’s not the rightful owner. She bargains with him: help in exchange for the genie lamp. He asks her why she needs a genie. She replies that she needs a powerful trap. Treshauna then takes him to the meeting house for the ninjas to meet their leader, Drelin. Cirvel pulls Imor out of the lamp to prove that Imor is not genie — just a human. But Drelin learns that Cirvel is the genie. Cirvel “convinces” Imor to reveal to him the location of a place known as Alexander’s Den. Now that Cirvel has what he wants, the ninjas are ready to go on their mission. Before traveling the Wells of the Onesong, Cirvel needs to make one stop at the shrine first. Cirvel gets the coordinates for where they are traveling and he heads out. Meeting up with the ninjas, they take to hiding within his shadow. They go through the Wells, but as soon as they come out on the other side, they discover something is waiting for them. Blindsided, Cirvel gets severely injured. He withdraws and takes Treshauna back through the Wells, but is unable to pull Drelin along. Once back, the saperes realize how wounded he is. His world blurs as he’s taken back to be healed. Waking up, Cirvel realizes three things: Treshauna has stayed with him, he’s lost the book about Alexander on a doomed world, and he is still not fully healed. He returns to his lamp where he knows he can take care of himself. After taking to the sands to heal, Cirvel returns with the strange feeling that he has fallen in love with Treshauna and she with him. He knows they must put their feelings aside, hard as it may be, to deal with the Shniktaur. Treshauna begins to ask him questions and he reveals how he had been an experiment which turned him into a unique novihomidrak (a champion born from a dragon). They then begin to make plans to find which dimension Drelin is in and to rescue him. For that, Cirvel needs supplies. Then go to the workshop of a gnome named T’kiel, who grudgingly allows the genie inside and gives them a clean space to work. T’kiel sets Cirvel and Treshauna up with everything they need to complete the spell to find Drelin, but outside forces work against Cirvel. T’kiel takes over helping the novihomidrak when Cirvel proves to be too distracted. Once Cirvel gets his focus back, he completes the spell and discovers Drelin’s location. T’kiel is interested in how Cirvel got tangled up with the ninjas and gives Cirvel a charm made of unicorn horn for protection.
Treshauna headed toward Cirvel. The gnome stood in a doorway at the far end of the hallway, an unpleasant look on his face and his hand on his hip as if he’d had to take a firm, solid stance in a dispute. Treshauna didn’t seem to notice him at first, then looked up at him in surprise. “Done already?”
“I have what we need,” Cirvel answered.
She spun right around. “Good.”
“What happened to Veniq?”
“Ninja detention.” Before Cirvel could ask what that was, Treshauna raised her hand to silence him. “I’ll explain sometime later. Just know he won’t be bugging us for a while. I just won’t have him talking to Drelin’s business associates like that.”
They went back out into T’kiel’s main shop, where the gnome stood on a stool behind the counter, already making his next dealing. After finishing with his current customer, he turned to them. “Done already?”
Treshauana glanced to Cirvel once more as if in confirmation. Then she nodded. “Yes. What do we owe you?”
T’kiel gave her the amount and gems, rather than money, changed hands. There was even a round, golden orb. “Much obliged.” T’kiel nodded his head in gratitude.
Back out on the street, Treshauna turned to Cirvel. “Where to? What do we need to do?”
Having a hard time not smiling, he quirked an eyebrow instead. The look must have delighted her because she grinned back. “What?”
“Now that I have the location, it’s as easy as me doing this.” He waved a hand flat against the air before them, then made the gesture he’d created back in T’kiel’s shop. Pushing outward with his hand, he felt the slight resistance against his palm. It gave way and though he couldn’t see any visible difference, he knew the portal was open. He reached down and took Treshauna’s hand in his. “Let’s be off.”
They stepped through.
Out of the desert city and into the middle of a forest. Treshauna gasped as she looked around at the trees. Cirvel, however, watched for the Shniktaur. The closeness of the trees all around him made him closed in and edgy. It heightened all of his senses.
“This isn’t what I expected,” she breathed. “Are you sure this is where the Shniktaur brought Drelin?”
“It’s where the book came from after it was sucked through the vortex. I doubt this Shniktaur can redirect where his portal is going after he creates it.
Treshauna leaned close to the ground. “People travel through here frequently. No wagons, but definitely horses with riders.”
“How can you tell?”
She pointed to a dent in the ground. “There’s at least three sets of hoof prints here, along with several footprints. The hoof prints vary in depth, which means the horses all bore riders of different weights.”
“Or the horses were different sizes.”
“The stride is all about the same length. Yes, one of the horses could have weighed more than the others, but more likely it just carried a heavier weight, probably a man.”
“They teach you this when you train to be a ninja?”
A little jolt went through her shoulders, something akin to a laugh or a snort. “I was trained to be an Usanbein soulcolist. Sometimes the lost ones I looked for weren’t relegated to antiquity. Some had merely been missing.”
“But always presumed dead,” Cirvel added as more of a statement than a question. She nodded. “Did you ever find anyone still alive?”
A dark shadow passed over her face as she took her gaze away from his. She rose slowly to her feet, continuing to look toward the forest. “Never.” A shiver went through her. “I was once within the same hour as the deceased. If we could have just gone a little faster.”
“I’m sorry.”
She shook it off. “The family hadn’t been expecting us to be so close. I did my job, we went home.”
“Still hard though.”
“Still hard.”
He let her assess the ground for a moment longer and gave her time to level the emotions arisen from the story before he asked, “Which way should we go?”
“This way. All the tracks are leading in this direction.” She started walking up the mountain path.
“All of them? Don’t you think some of them would be returning?”
“Afraid of a one-way trip? Might be paradise up there.”
A low growl vibrated through the trees. Cirvel grabbed Treshauna’s arm and pulled her behind a tree several feet off the path.
“What?” she whispered. “What’s going on?”
“Didn’t you hear it?” As he finished his question, another low rumble went by them. “That.”
“No, I didn’t hear anything.”
“Shh!” He motioned for her to stay and bent over as he moved through the trees, staying as close to the ground as he could as he went.
The rumble’s strength increased, but he still couldn’t see what he was getting close to.
“Are you sure there’s something out there?” Treshauna asked. He could practically hear her heartbeat screaming for her to flee. She may not hear it, but her instincts could feel it.
He nodded.
“Do you want me to slip to the shadows and take a look?”
He thought about how stealthily she had moved up on him when she’d been in the shadows at the festival. He hadn’t even known she was there until she stood right beside him. “Will you be safe?”
Now it was her turn for a confidently sly grin. “Definitely.” Then she was gone.
He searched the ground for her footsteps and found none. He no longer felt her near him and the absence bothered him a little. How had he gotten so accustomed to having a ninja close to him?
Another growl brought him right out of his thoughts. He felt the ground pressing against the soles of his feet, the chilly wind and the thin mountain air touching his face.
“Vochey, Luminous.” A chain mace with three thick balls of spiked iron came to his hand.
It breathed somewhere close to him. His body naturally met it’s pace and he found the pace measured and relaxed. Whatever this was, it knew they were here and had no fear of them.
Cirvel, however, remembered all too clearly his face getting rearranged in one punch. Fear bleed into him and no matter how hard he tried to push it away, it returned with a vengeance. Novihomidraks weren’t use to being injured.
“Drelin! He’s over here!” Treshauna called out.
He wished she hadn’t spoken, let alone yelled out her position. The thing tracking them turned and Cirvel no longer heard its breath.
This excerpt is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. All rights reserved. This is a work of fiction. All characters and events portrayed in this book are fictional, and any resemblance to real people or incidents is purely coincidental. This book, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form without permission.
A couple nights ago, I was absent-mindedly watching my son play a video game and suddenly an idea blasted its way into my head. I swear its not a new concept, but a couple Google searches didn’t turn up anything, so I started to write. I’m still certain that I’ve seen something like this before and that it’s nothing new in the cloud-mind, but oh well, I’ll stick with the vision.
Last night as I was working on the story, I started thinking that it would be so great if I had another story that wasn’t going to be connected to my Sacred Knight series, or to my novihomidraks in any way. Woo hoo, go me!
Then, this morning as I was setting this up, I was briefly reading through the chapter and suddenly realized that I might actually have another of my Ninja origin stories. I still have to go back and look at my initial concept notes, but I’m wondering if the idea has percolated in my brain long enough to actually start streaming out. I think the story would be perfect for a Ninja story, thought it would be a little strange because of some key differences. Well, once I look at the notes, I’ll have a better idea.
It’s just strange that one day I think I have a new storyline and the next day I’m excited about the possibility of it being another in the series. Yeah, it’s weird.
Onto the story.
Previously: The novihomidrak, Cirvel, heads through a festival on his way to meet up with an old “friend” who has a map that Cirvel needs. The friend, Sapere Imor, isn’t happy to see Cirvel and tries to persuade Cirvel with other temptations. Irritated with not getting his answers, Cirvel seals Imor into a genie lamp. A ninja steps from the shadows and steals away the lamp containing Imor, leaving Cirvel holding only air. He returns to the shrine to discuss the situation with the Grand Sapere, who demands to take it to the Dragon Council. Cirvel knows the Council will take far too long to come to a decision. Cirvel decides to act on his own. Returning to the market, he hopes to see the woman who had taken his lamp. He finds her and but she’s not quite ready to get down to business. At least not the kind he wants to discuss. When she does give him a chance to explain, he tells her that what he has trapped in the lamp is not a genie and that she won’t be able to use the lamp irregardless because she’s not the rightful owner. She bargains with him: help in exchange for the genie lamp. He asks her why she needs a genie. She replies that she needs a powerful trap. Treshauna then takes him to the meeting house for the ninjas to meet their leader, Drelin. Cirvel pulls Imor out of the lamp to prove that Imor is not genie — just a human. But Drelin learns that Cirvel is the genie. Cirvel “convinces” Imor to reveal to him the location of a place known as Alexander’s Den. Now that Cirvel has what he wants, the ninjas are ready to go on their mission. Before traveling the Wells of the Onesong, Cirvel needs to make one stop at the shrine first. Cirvel gets the coordinates for where they are traveling and he heads out. Meeting up with the ninjas, they take to hiding within his shadow. They go through the Wells, but as soon as they come out on the other side, they discover something is waiting for them. Blindsided, Cirvel gets severely injured. He withdraws and takes Treshauna back through the Wells, but is unable to pull Drelin along. Once back, the saperes realize how wounded he is. His world blurs as he’s taken back to be healed. Waking up, Cirvel realizes three things: Treshauna has stayed with him, he’s lost the book about Alexander on a doomed world, and he is still not fully healed. He returns to his lamp where he knows he can take care of himself. After taking to the sands to heal, Cirvel returns with the strange feeling that he has fallen in love with Treshauna and she with him. He knows they must put their feelings aside, hard as it may be, to deal with the Shniktaur. Treshauna begins to ask him questions and he reveals how he had been an experiment which turned him into a unique novihomidrak. They then begin to make plans to find which dimension Drelin is in and to rescue him. For that, Cirvel needs supplies. Then go to the workshop of a gnome named T’kiel, who grudgingly allows the genie inside and gives them a clean space to work. T’kiel sets Cirvel and Treshauna up with everything they need to complete the spell to find Drelin, but outside forces work against Cirvel. T’kiel takes over helping the novihomidrak when Cirvel proves to be too distracted.
“How’d you get messed up with the ninjas?” T’kiel asked. “Not like novihomidraks to work with others, especially Black Nights. Or vice versa.”
“They stole something from me.” It was out of Cirvel’s mouth before he had a chance to contemplate the repercussions.
“And you didn’t just take it back? Come on, you think any of them could stand against an angry novihomidrak taking back what’s his? Surely you don’t expect me to believe that one. What’s the female ninja got on you?”
Cirvel couldn’t answer. He ended up shaking his head instead.
“That bad, huh? She’s got your heart.”
“No.”
“No, eh? Don’t think so, do you?
“No, she doesn’t.” Fear hid behind his protest. He heard it in his own tone and wondered how perceptive T’kiel was at spotting emotions in other people’s voices.
“Want to know something? I don’t like the Black Nights very much. Only help them out because Drelin is a good customer. But if it were up to me, I wouldn’t be helping any of the ninjas out. Let’s face it, most of them started out collecting souls of the dead. That’s just about creepy enough. Sorry, but that’s a whole heck of a lot spookier than being incubated in a dragon. Not sure why you’d want to put yourself in that mix.”
“It wasn’t one I had a whole lot of control over.”
T’kiel stood up and pointed at the completed spell structure. He then palmed the chalk and walked across the room toward one of the cupboards. “I think I have something you might be interested in.”
Cirvel stopped heading for the circles on the floor and turned instead toward T’kiel, who busily shoved things in the cupboard out of his way while he searched through the myriad of magical objects: dishes, wooden boxes, jewelry, daggers, pens, brushes, jars, cylinders, and glass bobbles. The sight of it made Cirvel envious, and that wasn’t an emotion he felt very often. But he could feel the remnant enchantments coming off each of the old items. What must it feel like to open the doors, grasp the essence of all those things, and realize ownership of all of it?
He’d amassed an amazing library and comprehended the emotion on that level, but this was different. This had more than the power of knowledge associated with it. This assimilated the energy of sorcery with it.
Knowing it was the dragon’s need to horde rising from him, Cirvel shook his head as if he could shake off the emotion. Magic he had, and it wasn’t like he needed more.
But those items, structures ready to channel and focus his power, mesmerized him. He wanted to listen to their lulling call, to wrap his fingers around them and feel the magic seeping from them. He wanted to know that these things were his.
T’kiel found what he sought and backed out of the cupboard, closing the door behind him. Feeling the flare of anger move through him at having been blocked, Cirvel breathed his irritation out and waited for T’kiel.
“I believe that every item has someone that they need to belong to. This, I believe, is yours.” T’kiel held out his hand and waited for Cirvel to reach out before dropping an oval shaped bone into the novihomidrak’s palm.
Cirvel brought it closer to examine. The white, cut and polished bone felt shiny and cold though its surface was porous. It had a metal eyelet affixed to the end, like it had once been attached to a chain that was no longer there. “What is it and what is its purpose?”
“It’s a unicorn bone. I didn’t ask which one. But if you wear it, it will negate poisonous magic cast against you. That stunt that Black Night wannabe pulled on you, wouldn’t have happened if you’d been wearing this. It might even save your soul.”
“How much?”
T’kiel winked at him, pivoting back toward the circle with a smile. “For you, a gift. Don’t worry, I’m adding it to the ninja’s bill. Serves them right for nearly shedding blood in my clean room. But I like you.”
Cirvel wasn’t sure he liked having the unicorn bone added to what Treshauna would pay for the use of this room, but then again, the Black Nights still had Imor’s lamp. While that assured he’d complete the mission with them, it didn’t give him any guarantee that he’d receive the lamp when they finished. They could double cross him. But with this, then he had at least some safeguard that he wouldn’t be trapped and made to work for them. If he got the lamp when this were done, then he could always gift the unicorn bone to Treshauna, never revealing how he’d come to possess it. “Thank you.”
T’kiel once again pointed at the circles on the floor. “That look about right to you?”
Cirvel studied the sigil work. He had to admit that the gnome knew his dimensional magic, another fact that gave him pause to wonder about the genie markings that had been erased from the door. “It does.” He slipped the bone into his pocket.
“Then I leave you to your work. I’m going to go check on the ninjas and hope they haven’t destroyed my shop. I swear, if I have to separate the two of them again, I’m going to charge them triple.”
Cirvel watched as T’kiel stormed out the door, the latch clicking securely behind him. Once alone, Cirvel got to work. He took out the little jar which held the drop of clear liquid he’d taken from the blue webbing and placed the vial in the center of the circle. He then raised the circle around it. “Vochey metaocular.” A little round piece which looked like a metal ring surrounding a clear marble came to his hand.
He waved his other palm in front of him and a sort of flat patch of blue magic took shape. He held up the metaocular to his eye and squinted with one eyes through it. He could see the vial with the drop of liquid in it, though now it appeared yellow. He rolled the metaocular in his fingers and the image zoomed in until all he could see was the liquid.
There, swimming around in the fluid, was the measurement he needed. The calculation for this realm looked like squiggles and swirls, but his genie magic understood it more than his novihomidrak self did. This, the strange little essence all floating in the murk, was the energy which made up the Humline of the world. That gave him the calculation he needed for planning the shift through dimensions.
Steepling his index fingers together, he solemnly closed his eyes and nodded as if in reverence. While in that moment of calm silence, he thought about the exact gesture he’d need to create the symbol that would unlock the dimension.
When he was ready, he rose to his feet and dispelled the magic. Once it dissipated, he picked the vial up from the floor. His fingers hit the unicorn bone as he put the vial away and he pulled the oval out to examine again. He knew this had to be costly, for remnants of a unicorn didn’t come cheaply or frequently. Cirvel raised his hand as he pivoted. “Sha’ma’shae.” All of his magic scattered. He knew T’kiel would appreciate him leaving the clean room clear of his magical impressions. He rubbed his thumb over the bone pendant once more, then walked out into the hallway.
***
Click here to get your copy now.
***
If you have enjoyed my work, please tell a friend about my stories. Thank you!
This excerpt is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. All rights reserved. This is a work of fiction. All characters and events portrayed in this book are fictional, and any resemblance to real people or incidents is purely coincidental. This book, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form without permission.
I feel like the White Rabbit bouncing along. It was Friday afternoon before I once again had the realization that it was FRIDAY!
And, of course I was out at Salt Lake Gaming Con with no Internet access on my laptop to post this, so it’s had to wait until I had some wi-fi.
I do swear that someday I will get my groove back. Not going to lie; that has been hard, but I will get back up on the horse soon and get everything flowing once more.
Anyway, let’s get you to your next part of the story.
Previously: The novihomidrak, Cirvel, heads through a festival on his way to meet up with an old “friend” who has a map that Cirvel needs. The friend, Sapere Imor, isn’t happy to see Cirvel and tries to persuade Cirvel with other temptations. Irritated with not getting his answers, Cirvel seals Imor into a genie lamp. A ninja steps from the shadows and steals away the lamp containing Imor, leaving Cirvel holding only air. He returns to the shrine to discuss the situation with the Grand Sapere, who demands to take it to the Dragon Council. Cirvel knows the Council will take far too long to come to a decision. Cirvel decides to act on his own. Returning to the market, he hopes to see the woman who had taken his lamp. He finds her and but she’s not quite ready to get down to business. At least not the kind he wants to discuss. When she does give him a chance to explain, he tells her that what he has trapped in the lamp is not a genie and that she won’t be able to use the lamp irregardless because she’s not the rightful owner. She bargains with him: help in exchange for the genie lamp. He asks her why she needs a genie. She replies that she needs a powerful trap. Treshauna then takes him to the meeting house for the ninjas to meet their leader, Drelin. Cirvel pulls Imor out of the lamp to prove that Imor is not genie — just a human. But Drelin learns that Cirvel is the genie. Cirvel “convinces” Imor to reveal to him the location of a place known as Alexander’s Den. Now that Cirvel has what he wants, the ninjas are ready to go on their mission. Before traveling the Wells of the Onesong, Cirvel needs to make one stop at the shrine first. Cirvel gets the coordinates for where they are traveling and he heads out. Meeting up with the ninjas, they take to hiding within his shadow. They go through the Wells, but as soon as they come out on the other side, they discover something is waiting for them. Blindsided, Cirvel gets severely injured. He withdraws and takes Treshauna back through the Wells, but is unable to pull Drelin along. Once back, the saperes realize how wounded he is. His world blurs as he’s taken back to be healed. Waking up, Cirvel realizes three things: Treshauna has stayed with him, he’s lost the book about Alexander on a doomed world, and he is still not fully healed. He returns to his lamp where he knows he can take care of himself. After taking to the sands to heal, Cirvel returns with the strange feeling that he has fallen in love with Treshauna and she with him. He knows they must put their feelings aside, hard as it may be, to deal with the Shniktaur. Treshauna begins to ask him questions and he reveals how he had been an experiment which turned him into a unique novihomidrak. They then begin to make plans to find which dimension Drelin is in and to rescue him. For that, Cirvel needs supplies. Then go to the workshop of a gnome named T’kiel, who grudgingly allows the genie inside and gives them a clean space to work. T’kiel sets Cirvel and Treshauna up with everything they need to complete the spell to find Drelin, but outside forces work against Cirvel.
“That really needs a diving line,” T’kiel noted, pointing at the sigil Cirvel had just finished.
“You’re right,” he said, adding the line as indicated. He probably didn’t have the mental fortitude needed now to work this spell. The Humline confirmed that he really should be leaving now. Nothing good was coming out of this.
Nothing good.
Why wasn’t he listening then?
Because what waited for him on the other side of the dimensional walls, was much worse than a transition from pink to gold. But why couldn’t he remember the flash he’d seen in the symbol on the rectangle just moments before he’d destroyed it? Why had that been wiped from his mind?
What trauma had the Humline of this world endured?
Enough to cause a surge of agony reflecting the blood spilled so very long ago. Pink. Blood and the cleansing of time.
“I’m sorry I looked,” he whispered in the dragon language, hoping that the Humline understood his deep apology.
He felt the magic raising across his hand. Then footsteps.
“No!” T’kiel shouted. His foot kicked at that chalk lines, breaking them up so the ring wasn’t complete. “You’re not paying attention to what you’ve done.”
The magic fizzled, draining into the floor of the clean room instead of the chalk.
“Why did you do that?” Cirvel growled.
“Because it was wrong.” T’kiel pointed a stodgy finger at one of the symbols. “What do you call this?”
The gnome was right. The spiral drawn on the floor went counterclockwise. With the other symbols, it would have undone all the other magics. Worse, it would have made a few of the other spells explosive.
Cirvel bowed his head. “You are most correct. I apologize for my sloppiness. It will not happen again.”
T’kiel settled back somewhat and looked at Treshauna. She nodded in the affirmative, but Cirvel wasn’t certain why. The gnome took what appeared to be a cautious step forward, but the shuffle of his foot caused another break in the lines. “Honorable novihomidrak, I need you to step out of the circle.”
Cirvel found his way to his feet, but he remained in the drawing. “Why?”
The gnome stepped back out of arm’s reach. “Please…”
Treshauna moved closer, but stopped at a small wave from T’kiel which he performed with a hand down near his thigh as if trying to keep Cirvel from seeing the motion. “Cirvel, please, this is important.”
Had it just been T’kiel asking, he might have demanded more of an answer, but with Treshauna also making the request, he decided to comply. He left the circle.
“Chalk,” T’kiel demanded.
Cirvel passed him the bag.
T’kiel took out one piece, which he tossed to Treshauna, then with another he began to draw a circle around Cirvel.
“What is going on?” Cirvel turned to watch the gnome, aware that Treshauna had moved up behind him and was also now placing lines on the floor. While T’kiel worked on a circle, she drew a square outside of the circle.
A shiver ran through Cirvel’s chest. She hadn’t said to trust T’kiel, only her.
After T’kiel finished his circle, he began a second just beyond the square. When they had both finished, Treshauna handed the chalk back to T’kiel.
“Can you see it?” T’kiel asked, his eyes remaining on Cirvel while he turning his tilting head slightly to speak to Treshauna.
“Barely.”
“See what?” Considering that Cirvel felt nothing around him, he began to worry about what he didn’t see.
“Stay still.” Treshauna glided her feet apart on the floor and bent one knee while letting the other slide out to the side. She placed her hand on the tilt before her. Her hand began to glow dark purple. He barely noticed her other hand where she made slow circles with her index finger.
The chalk turned the color of near midnight and a violet curtain rose up around Cirvel. Flashes of yellow, red, and green went through it.
Then he felt Treshauna right beside him even though he was still looking at her. It nearly made him jump. He refused to react, but it sent ripples of unused energy through him as if he were shivering.
“No!” he heard another voice shriek, low, deep, and masculine.
The purple curtain of magic collapsed from around Cirvel.
“Come here.” Treshauna dragged someone from the shadow beneath her. Due to the weight, she had to shift her stance now, but the muscled in her legs proved to be her biggest asset in pulling the man along the floor.
She tried to toss him out along the floor, but didn’t have the strength. Cirvel rushed forward, snatching the man’s black clothes and doing what Treshauna couldn’t. Once he stopped sliding, he flipped over onto his back and glared at him and Treshauna.
“Veniq?” she shouted at seeing who it was. “What are you doing here?”
It took Cirvel a minute to realize that this was the apprentice they’d seen when Treshauna had taken him to meet Drelin.
His eyes narrowed. “What happened to Drelin?”
“He got trapped. We’re trying to rescue him.”
Veniq’s glint remained hard on Cirvel. “Likely story. Drelin told me that if he didn’t make it back, it was probably the novihomidrak’s doing.”
“Woah!” T’kiel came to stand between Treshauna and Veniq, holding his hands out to each side. “I said you could use my clean room. I didn’t say you could have a feud in here. Magic, not bloodshed. Got it?”
Treshauna ignored the gnome. “Oh, because nothing ever goes wrong on a mission.” She dumped a flood of sarcasm on Veniq. “Why would he even tell you something like that?”
“Because he didn’t trust the beast.” Veniq swung his harsh look to Treshauna. “And since you trotted him into our fold, Drelin wasn’t about to trust you either.”
Treshauna rushed forward and seized Veniq’s black shirt in her fisted hands. She yanked him close. “Trotted?”
Cirvel pulled her away from Veniq. “Ignore the words coming from your jealous ex-lover and repeated by this puny man. Some dogs never forget the training of their first master.”
At first, Treshauna looked horrified, then she realized the taunt underlying Cirvel’s words and she smiled. “You’re right.”
He leaned down to kiss her cheek, but as he did so, he thrust his hand out to snatch Veniq much in the same way that Treshauna had. It only took him one hand to jerk the apprentice close to him though. Cirvel turned and growled into Veniq’s face. “Besides, the real question is why you wanted to disrupt my magic. Why did you try to harm us? You didn’t yet have any answers about Drelin. For all you knew, he was running an errand.”
“I’ve been watching you since the street.”
“So you should have known that we were trying to rescue Drelin,” Treshauna said.
“We can’t trust a novihomidrak!” Veniq pointed at Cirvel. “You should damn well know that. Just the fact that you refuse to acknowledge that tells me you can’t keep your own oath as a Black Night.”
Her dagger came quickly to her hand and she rushed for Veniq. “How dare you?” Spit flew into his face.
“No blood!” T’kiel shouted. “One drop and you all are buying me a new place. One drop with taint this room forever. Don’t even think about it.”
Cirvel felt his dragon power roll through him. First in his head, then dropping down to his chest, then back up as violent magic that threatened to make his eyes roll back. “Everyone stop.” The command came out robustly and knocked each of them back a step. Once he had their attention, he shifted his gaze between the three. “I will not put up with bickering. Veniq, if you wish to help save Drelin, you are welcome to stay. However, if you dare to sabotage me again, I will slice you open from throat to groin.” As if to prove his point, he showed Veniq the long black claw on his index finger.
He next looked to Treshauna. “Are you fine with that?”
She nodded.
He handed the book to T’kiel. “Will you draw the enchantment circles for me? It will take me a moment to shake off the dragon magic enough for me to continue.”
T’kiel nodded. Piece of chalk in hand, he went to a clear section of floor, dropped down to his knees, and set to work. He did glance back over his shoulder as if he not convinced they wouldn’t start fighting again.
Veniq motioned Treshauna, wordlessly giving her, what Cirvel presumed, a signal that he wanted to talk alone. Rolling her eyes, she followed him out into the hall.
This excerpt is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. All rights reserved. This is a work of fiction. All characters and events portrayed in this book are fictional, and any resemblance to real people or incidents is purely coincidental. This book, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form without permission.
