Should have done this last week but here are some excerpts from the NaNoWriMo novel I am working on. It is book two in my Vibrations series. Book one is “Above My Pay GradeX2” Which just happens to be on sale this week of Thanksgiving-Black Friday, 2014. $1.99 at smashwords.com and hopefully other sites in a day or three. And My two story sets are $.99 each for this week. My Books on smashwords and this blog. While I am at it try Rod's Tales a UF continual adventure. And a few of my stories.
More on NaNoWriMo here. I am at 38,600 and some words, which is ahead of the schedule. It will be around 51,000 to 56,000 at the end of the month, but I will be revising it and adding words, so it will be around 80,000 to 95,000 word by the time I get done. There will be one more, maybe two, excerpts.
Here is the blurb on the NaNo site.
“Learning CurveX2 is the continuing adventures of NA who can manipulate matter and energy by changing the very vibrations that are the basic building blocks of everything. She also has even more extreme emotional baggage she has to tame, learn how to handle more power and to become a friend. On her spare time she has to handle ghouls, fairies, a birthday party for her and an angry Adept who thinks he's a demigod. Plus various other dangers. “
So here are the excerpts; They have been shortened somewhat so they are not too long. And they have been just spellchecked, no other revising or editing. So these are very rough drafts.
Number One; NA fights a mother ghoul after its babies were killed.
“Something stood in the shadow. It looked man height, but wider. It stepped forward and stared at the bodies as if in shock. Another move and I could make out more. Its face had jowls even though smaller and more streamlined. I looked down and it’s whole body was narrower than the one I fought. And I thought I saw boobs: two bulges at chest high with skin that looked almost like armor plating.
Of course; ghouls had to be able to reproduce, even though I had never heard of a nest or little ones before. It looked up, first at Daisy. Two drops of blood choose that moment to drop from the sword and to join the rest of them. My mouth trembled, my skin turned cold.
It then looked at me. Somehow it seemed to know I had killed its mate. That could be my imagination though. Or maybe I had some of his blood on me. Maybe it just knew the fact that we were alive meant he was dead. A strong female musk odor drifted my way. Was it in heat or did it always smell that way? In either case we were in trouble. I hurt-a lot-was low on V-nergy and Daisy held the sword. She stood on the other side of the pile of little bodies.
With a sudden move, the female ghoul lifted her head and let out a roar scream of rage and pain. Part of my mind wanted to say it was surprised that ghouls would care that much for their young. Another part answered, they had to for no one else would love a baby ghoul; they didn’t even look cute. Even baby grizzles looked cute and I knew from personal experience how a mother bear would react if it thought you had killed its young.
Without warning this mother lowered her head and charged. While it screamed its loose I had time to think. I flung my hand toward it. The same three stars formed in mid air on their way to it. I took a second to be amazed how well they did that.
All three zipped their way. She didn’t even try to dodge. All three cut into her chest, blood sprayed outward with each star, but she ignored them. They came out her back and all she did was increase her speed. I willed them back. They all flipped around and hit her again. She staggered a step but again ignored the injury. This time spread the fingers of each hand outward. She grunted so I knew the stars heated up enough to burn her insides. This at least slowed her, but not by much. I moved; fear and despair grew, but she reached Daisy before I could block her. I couldn’t stop the short scream that came out of my mouth. A tear may have dropped from one eye. My inner garden felt like it shattered, even my inner self screamed.
Daisy did something unexpected, again, she lifted the sword with both hands as the female ghoul closed in to hugging distance. With a jerk that included a sickening wet crunch the ghoul stopped. Daisy fell back a step, her arms bounced inward then back out. Both the blood stink and the musk oder increased. I couldn’t understand why the ghoul had halted like that. Something reflected light behind her.
My mind worked again. The female ghoul stood there impaled on the blade, it stuck all the way through her. I started to mover toward her, but she reached for Daisy, even pulled herself along the blade to get inches closer. Daisy had to drop the sword to step back out of reach. When the hilt dropped, it dragged the ghoul’s upper body foreword and downward, which slowed it.
I said, “Run.”
She did.
The ghoul tried to straighten and to reach for Daisy, but Daisy moved fast. I came around and wondered how to finish off the creature. I called the stars to me, maybe another attempt at her heart. Two came to me. They erupted out of her in a burst of blood and grey flesh. Something wet hit me. When I looked down at my front I saw two red drops. Interesting that they had the same color blood as we did. I held out my hands; both stars landed with a gentle touch. I almost dropped them though. They felt warm, wet and sticky. Yecch, ghoul blood and bits of flesh from her insides. I blinked where was the third one? I sent out another V-nergy strand and called for it again. Nothing. It had hit her near where the sword lay in her. Maybe the blade blocked the star, I sent another strand. Nothing, I stared at the ghoul or the sword I wasn’t sure which one I blamed. The star didn’t exist anymore.
I would take care of the problem later, the ghoul had gripped the sword hilt and was trying to pull it out. I decided it would be better if I had it. That meant I needed to get close to those sharp, dirty, very long fingernails. I was surprised they missed Daisy.
With my bracelet I could form a shield without using what little V-nergy I still stored. One idea though. I reached out all around me and pulled in the V-nergy stored in all matter. If I took too much I would cause damage to the object or person I drew it from. Maybe. Supposedly you could not take enough to do any real harm to the object. I did it once though. I drew in so much from two Users-minor mages-I knocked them unconscious. They survived without any lasting harm, but I could have killed them. That was still a sore spot on my conscience. In a panic situation I accidentally used a necklace I didn’t know would allow me to take that much V-nergy. I vowed never to do that again, even if I couldn’t without the necklace.
This time though I could control what I took. The female ghoul jerked my way, like she knew what I did. Maybe I picked some of her V-nergy-which I didn’t want-or she could sense when I used it.
I formed body armor made from V-nergy. That was a new Trick I had taught myself. Most who use it to produce a shield, make a wall or a knight in shining armor type of shield. I usually form a combination of both of those. This time it encased my body, except for a mouth hole. My third attempt at this trick, scared me badly when I realized air couldn’t get in. It took me seconds to concentrate enough to un-form it.
Now covered with an outfit she couldn’t slash through--or so I hoped--I walked toward her. She saw me and growled. Her voice sounded lighter with a very slight musical tone; which I found incredulous.
She said, “I will kill you and feed on your insides, while you are alive. I know how to keep you living.”
I couldn’t help it I said, “Maybe you want to, but I say only in your dreams. You’re a has been. Your mate was judged and you are too.”
She blinked in surprise at that last. I didn’t know why I added it.
Like her mate, her response was anger. She snarled and tried to reach me. I ducked around her hand and knocked away the hand that remained on the sword hilt. I gripped and pulled, while I did, I lifted the blade a bit so it would cut into her torso more, I also gave it a slight twist. This was to help it come off of any organ, muscle or bone it might be stuck on. It also did more damage.
She reacted faster and with more force than I expected. In the space of half an hour I found myself flying through the air after some force hit me. This time I landed no better than the previous two times. I bruised a large bruise and rolled once. With an effort, I stood. It took me only a second to realize two things. First, the female ghoul staggered my way, blood leaked everywhere, from the gaping wound at the bottom of where I assumed her stomach lay and from two small holes in her chest. One just below one boob and the other at the top of her rib cage.
The second thing I noticed cheered me. I held the sword. I lifted it to an en garde position. I hoped this would not take long. My arm muscles ached already. I fought with my body to keep from gagging from the stink of her blood as she neared me. A second later I tasted blood. My own I thought; I hoped it was only from that cut on my upper lip or my nose. Bile flavored the blood since as weak as I felt I wondered if I could win this even as hurt as she was.
She lounged at me, out of instinct I swung the sword. The finger nail claws on her right hand popped off. Her hand jerked slightly to that side. She glanced at her hand in amazement, but only for a second. She kicked out with one foot. It took me by surprise and I scooted backward. I wanted to rub the spot on my leg her foot had connected, but didn’t have the time. She swung her other hand, I leaned back, she grabbed the sword, two of her fingernail nubs dug into the back of my hand. She leaned forward to take a bite of my face.
End of excerpt One”
This one is part of a flashback to when NA first fought someone stronger than her to protect someone. In this case young fairies.
Start Two
“
I caught a whiff of something. I looked some of them over to see if any of the really small ones wore diapers-Not that I could tell. I played with the ball, I threw it up and caught it. Next I changed the colors as it spun in a throw. I went through the whole rainbow and added brown and a bright grey to the mix. They seemed to like it.
A new smell made me look up. They didn’t act like anything had changed, but I knew something was up. The hair on the back of my neck raised for one thing. That had happened only twice before. I was attacked by someone my age. He was a mage, but obviously only on my level of training. I still don’t know if he was just being a bully, Patricia would jerk the slack out of him of that was the case or. a dark lord in training. I managed to chase him away before he could do something serious. I had had other fights, but they were pretty much just scuffles, this was serious. I ended up finding and pulling in a patch of V-nergy near by and used that to shock him. We were wrestling at the time, he backed off, I formed a shield like a big Roman shield. He threw some Tricks my way, I managed to send one back. And punched him when he was distracted. He took off running, I threw a slap Trick at him because he had touched me some place he shouldn’t have.
This time I looked around. Nothing, I used my V sight. Something was there, but I couldn’t tell exactly what or where. I didn’t know how that worked with fairies. They might be angry at me, or think I was trying to harm their children. ................
With a growing unease I faced the trees behind me. Something wasn’t right. I looked at the trees and shadows, even swept the grass with my eyes. I saw what could only be stringers or bits of V-nergy that leaked from someone. Some came my way. I knew that was me drawing in V-nergy. I practiced doing it without thinking and I had been pulling some in since I sat down. That was one reason I liked this park, there always was some extra V-nergy here.
Not sure what to do, I sent out gentle probes to see if I could pick up anything, I jerked forward. Yikes, someone had caught the probe and used its connection to me to pull me toward them. A bad taste formed in my mouth, bile I later learned, for he must be powerful.
I looked around at the fairies, none of them looked old enough to be of much help. They are very tough, and can fly like a helicopter-UFO fusion. I pulled in more V-nergy, a bit more than I can usually handle, but I had the feeling it wouldn’t be there for long. With that thought I also pictured how to do shields, fire and to use real objects as weapons and for defense.............
He looked dead. Not a zombie Mage. What did he want us for? I had heard how dark Mage make zombies as cheap servants and to terrorize people, but how could one be a Mage? He would have to be under the control of someone else, unless him being a powerful Mage enabled him to break free.
As he walked closer I studied him more. He looked pale, with shrunken cheeks, and hair like straw. One ear had three earrings in it and the other two. He wore all black, with tears and stains here and there. When he reached a certain point he lifted one hand, moved it like he shook out something, a net appeared strung along his fingers. It looked like an odd fishing net, but I knew from a surge from him creating it, that it wasn’t. I looked at the fairies. Did he want to eat fairy brains? Or mine?
My feet spread out into a better fighting stance and I readied a shield. This one would be like the Roman shield I made weeks ago, but wider with wings on each side. I would make it thicker and more sturdy too. I had practice and read up on V-nergy shields.
By my posture he probably guessed I planned to fight him, something high pitched buzzed next to me ear. I automatically waved my hand there to shoo away whatever flew there. It took me a second to realize it was him. The sound adjusted and I heard, “I have no beef with you. I don’t care what you do, just leave me alone. I have an experiment to do.”
I goggled at him; a necromancy not a zombie. Even though I have never meant, or even seen one, I should have known. A zombie Mage wouldn’t work, even though that description fit what I saw-and smelled. From what I heard and read this guy was not unusual in his outfit and body odor even though many dress and act ordinary. They also can be very powerful and dangerous when crossed. And I was about to cross one.....
I placed both hands behind me like the at ease position I’ve seen in military movies. I thought it might do two things: make him think I was relaxed and wasn’t going to attack him, and it would hide the ball of energy I wanted to form very slowly.
He glanced at me, but also eyed the fairies. They flew around, making various musical noises. I almost giggled when I thought about them tooting and what that term meant for humans. A giggle would not be appropriate right now, even though one might make him think I was crazy and unpredictable. I stood there with what I hoped was a half smile. Some of my favorite singers could do that. Jimmy Dean did and Elvis Presley. People are surprised that I some times listened to dead early rockers, but they had something that attracted me. Thrash and Techno were still my favorites though.
My mind did it to me again, I needed to concentrate on the upcoming fight, not side issues on what type of music I liked. I hoped this wouldn’t become a habit. He kept one eye on my as he stalked the fairies. The oldest ones now knew they were in danger. One squeaked at me flew by one ear and chimed, she zipped to the other one and chimed louder. I don’t if she asked for help or warned me to run, but I ignored her without even a glance. Through the corner of my eye I saw her pout and it looked like she wanted to hop up and down, but you can’t do that effectively when you are flying.
The necromancy had the net ready he swung, at the moment he slung it out toward a group of five to eight fairies, I threw my energy ball along its path. I was off a bit, it touched the far edge. The net closed in around it. After a moment the net sizzled and started to be consumed by an expanding ball of energy that rolled and pitched in bright colors. I turned his head at me with a disappointed expression. He threw three fat disk shapes at me. They all expanded and burst fourth in fire and smoke. The bench got charred. I no longer stood by it. As soon as my ball left my hand, I dove to one side, rolled, got up and ran as hard and fast as I could move. It wasn’t very fast though. I huffed and puffed my way to a stop. I had ran in a curve so that I now stood-and panted-behind him. I formed the shield in front of me and formed a thunder cloud that would rain fire on him. I had heard of that in a Sunday School Class a friend of mine talked me into going three years ago.
He spun around and threw a arm in my direction. Something impacted the shield, hard. I almost fell backwards, but it held. Two more quick throws, each one harder. The last one hurt, but my shield protected me. It had weakened though. I figured it would, but I hoped to distract him while the fairies ran for home. Once they left I could run, but they didn’t. I mumbled under my breath that they were stupid. I wanted to shout, “RUN”, but figured he would hear and chase them down if they did. And where were their adults?
Meanwhile my cloud reached him and started to rain large fiery hail stones. The first two hit his head and one shoulder. He looked up, I thought that idiotic since that is where they came from, but I soon saw he formed a shield of his own. A few missed the shield and landed on the grass. Two rolled toward his feet. I helped four more along. He didn’t notice until one burned through his shoe. He yelped and hopped up and down three times. This time I let the laugh out even if only for a second...........
When I glanced down I saw little-very little fairies milling around my feet. Something sparkled, more of the wee creatures flew around my head, then my body, more glitter. My eyes flew wide--fairy dust. For a second I wondered if they produced it as poop as one person said. But I saw it flow from their bodies. I imagined it coming out of their pores. Maybe it just appeared when they willed it.
His hand glowed black; I knew he would launch another attack in a second. I threw my hand up and sent a blast of my own. His zipped out again met mine just about past half to him. They exploded, black smoke and bits of fire reigned through the sky. Pain shot through me, I almost doubled over, but managed to stumble sideways. I knew my shield had failed. Even though it stopped the part of his blast that hadn’t been stopped my mine, I still hurt. With a desperate search I tried to find more V-nergy. I found some, but not enough to fill me up. There should be more, but wasn’t, I had to get more. But nothing. I ran toward some trees, that female fairy flew to my face and chimed, in eight tones. Oh, the fairy dust. How did they use it to fly? Oh, yes. I wished for flight. Harder, I believed-it happened. I saw the upper parts of the trees. I smiled, but with a sudden surge my feet shot upward. I ended up floating through the air at a slant, with my head down. Yikes, not what I wished for or believed. I concentrated on my flight, got some control. Something zipped past, a tree exploded in black fire and smoke..........
My feet still wanted to go upward. I willed myself to move and I did straight up, fast. I willed myself down, this time I went straight down. Stopped just before I hit the ground. My bare arms hurt, and seemed red, like air burns or something. Air met my face as I pushed upward but slower. The ground under me exploded, bits of dirt and rock peppered me. What? I hadn’t seen a flash of black fire. My up and down and sideways course confused him for he missed twice more. It confused me as in dizziness........
Somehow I found myself near him. Maybe I could zoom at him and hit his stomach with my head. Hard enough, it would injury him. Hopefully I would survive okay, since it was a softer part of his body. Unless of course he lifted weights in his spare time. At the same time, it took more concentration to get me back higher. Oh oh, the dust must be wearing out. I tried to form a hard V-nergy helmet on my head and to flip over aimed head first toward him. Somehow while I tried to flip and to form the helmet at the same time I lost control of my feet. I flipped, rolled as my feet went up. Sky, trees moved, I saw ground for a second, flipped again. Something hard hit the ends of my heels and backs of my lower shins. I looked down, saw a sight that scared me. His face between my legs. My eyes went wide as thoughts of rape came to mind. By his expression I could tell he hadn’t done it. Somehow I landed with my lower legs on either side of his head. Before I could decide what to do my inner self acted. I squeezed my feet together. Once I realized what I was doing, I pressed them together harder. I wanted to pinch his head off. He started to turn blue. I tried harder. His eyes flashed fear and his lips narrowed. Between one eye blink and another I saw sky, trees and ground go by very fast. Something hard hit my side and back. I groaned and looked up. I lay next to a tree, many feet away from him. The tree hadn’t hit me, I smashed into it. Somehow he had sent me spinning away from him.”
end excerpt Two
Last excerpt She and her new puppy she doesn’t want, fight a Troll to protect a girl in a city park. Puppy broke loose and ran to the park,
I prepared what I wanted to say to Puppy, for some type of animal must be in the trees. A scream however, made me increase my speed. In the shadows of the trees a preteen stood. Something stalked her. It ignored Puppy’s barks, I rushed past her. The something turned. I slowed, almost stopped. It had short horns hooded eyes, a double slit for a nose, bony cheek bones, a long, narrow mouth and very thick hair. It had wide shoulders, grey-green skin with splotches, long ape-like arms, short legs. It was short.
It fit the description of a bridge troll, not a larger desert Troll. Most trolls live in deserts. Some liked to live on rivers under something. They liked bridges. There were no bridges around here, the closest one was an overpass. She looked exhausted maybe it had chased her from it. I’m not sure why that thought crossed my mind, maybe the Geas. Last time it seemed to feed me ideas like that.
Even while I thought that I had drown in as much V-nergy from the area as I could. It came both faster and took longer than usual.
It must have sensed my gathering of V-nergy, for it turned and said, “Sheee issst miine Human Maage.”
My eyes went wide, so they could really communicate. It had a what I could only think of as a heavy nasal tone, and an accent.
“Du caaan’t haaave her. Goo Fiind anootheer victim.”
Why did he think I wanted to harm her? Maybe it thought I was a dark Mage. My black clothes and frown?
For some reason that made me upset, “Dark one, I. Am. Not. Evil. Jetst gehen!”
I almost startled when I said that last. I don’t know German, but at the same time it hit me. His accent was German. A bridge troll from Germany? How in hell did it get here? Why? It picked up a stone in one hand. It threw it at me. I barely leapt to one side as it whistled past me. Yes, it made a sound as it burned through the air. Puppy growled and moved to the other side. As I rolled and leapt back up, I saw the troll stare at Puppy like it hadn’t seen one before. I shook out my bracelet, decided an illusion of me would not fool it, and I wasn’t time for the shield-yet.
The Troll turned back to me, “Weee haaave noo quarrel Fraulein Mage. Ich can see Du aaareee miiightyyy, but sooo am Ich. Ich would nooot fight ooone as hiiigh aaaas du, but Ich aaam hungry.”
Now that took me by surprise. A mytho who thought I was mighty? Me? Maybe I looked like someone it had fought in the past. It was about to find out I wasn’t mighty.
I would try, probably get hurt in the process, but I wasn’t going to let that girl be eaten, probably alive if those stories were true. That meant I would have to kill it. I killed ghouls without feeling bad, but somehow this one was different.
I said, “I don’t want to fight and kill you. I’ve killed two ghouls, a werewolf, a boogyman-plus a very mighty Mage,” I shrugged, “but tonight all I want is to walk my dog and practice my drumming.”
Some of that was stretching the truth of course. I had had help.This Troll didn’t need to know all that. It reached for the girl in a very sudden movement. I had expected something even though not that, I reacted with a Trick.
Five throwing stars large sized. The first two missed, but the third hit the Troll in the arm she held the girl’s arm with. A fourth sliced into the side of the Troll. I’m not sure what happened to the last one. It seemed to disappear in a cloud. The creature let go of the girl. She backed off and screamed loud enough for the Troll to wince. I would have thought it was used to screaming.
It turned to me again, dug out the star in its side. I sent three clouds. As each reached two feet from it, each cloud spread out and turned into a net. The nets dropped one at a time over the creature and wrapped themselves around it. The Troll spun around four times.
They secured the Troll; a heartbeat later it pulled its arms from where they were tired to its sides. The nets reattached themselves and tightened. It growled then let out a yell of effort. It ripped apart all three nets in one outward swing. I let out a loud yip of my own as the Tricks were destroyed. I spun to one side and fell from the backlash. That hurt. I lay there and breathed in for a heartbeat. The ground smelled of grass and tree mulch. With a speed that surprised me it went after the girl, I sat up, sent a hurried Trick that spun like a Frisbee. It turned into hooks and sharp points. None penetrated far into its skin, but it slowed. Puppy ran to it, jumped up and down while she barked very loud. The Troll tried to go around. By then the girl had ran by two close trees. It couldn’t squeeze between them.
It spun around tried to stomp Puppy. She leapt backwards and the foot missed. I took another deep breath in preparation of standing. Something hit me hard though and shattered. Pieces pricked my skin and my lip. Another one landed near me, I was showered with broken pieces. I rolled over twice and jumped up with a quick movement. Something hit my knee, I felt it break apart. I looked down and saw pieces of pinecones. I looked at it, and backed up. It stood half way to me as it pulled back its hand for another throw. I managed to duck that pinecone. A bruise already formed where the first one had hit. I snarled at it, and waved my hand as I sent a command out. The ground opened under it. The Troll leapt over the opening before it could form all the way. I did it three more times. The last time the Troll’s foot fell down into the opening. I closed it quickly.
It pulled itself out with an effort. I tried to keep the dirt together, but it broke though my will. A second time I fell down. I lay dazed, heard a dog bark. I spat dirt and grass out of my mouth, still don’t like that taste, rolled sideways, stood. Puppy ran back and forth around the Troll. force hit my right shoulder spun me around, almost knocked me down again. Owww, that one was a rock. I shook out my bracelet to make a shield when Puppy ran around the Troll almost as quick as the Troll could move. Puppy closed in, bit the left leg of the Troll. The creature screamed, reached, picked Puppy up and tossed her away. My eyes went wide, no Puppy! went through my head. She spun around in the air, landed on her feet, ready for another round. I readied and lunched what could best be described as a small hardheaded missile. It impacted the Troll in its stomach with a loud smack. The Troll bent over in pain, but recovered very fast.
A thought came to my mind that I needed the sword. I didn’t have it though. The Geas said, “Call for it, it will come.”
“I can’t translock like that.”
“Call it, it will come-now!”
The Troll advanced on Puppy and me. An engine caught my attention through the trees I saw a minivan full of children about to park. They couldn’t see our fight. I tried to send a sunburst to scare the driver, but the Troll reached up and grabbed my Trick. My V-nergy level felt low after our battle and the destruction of now, three Tricks.
The Troll stumped my way, I could see it was hurt, but far from being even close to being out of it. I sent my consciousness to my place, I found the sword, pulled at it.
“Call it!”
Call it? How? Hey sword come to me. Nothing. I willed the command again. I put out my hand. Something hard smacked into my palm. The Troll kicked at Puppy who barely avoided it. I placed both hands on the sword, yelled, ran to the Troll. It looked up at me with shock. I let go of one hand, sent a blast. It zipped past the Troll too fast for me to see, ripped into a tree. I hadn’t commanded it to do that. The Troll took two very fast steps and swung with the back of its hand. It connected with the sword, knocked it out of my hand, sent me tumbling. My side hit something hard; maybe its foot. I cried out. Not broken, nor I thought cracked; two ribs hurt bad. I hit the ground and flipped. I tasted blood, I thought-hoped-it came from my busted lip. Car doors shut. Something rumbled. It’s stomach?
I called for that sword. It came to me, I managed to surpass the pain, ran toward the Troll. Somehow I executed a leap upward, spun, came down with the blade. I felt a moment of resistance. Blood spouted from the end of the arm. I swung again, lifted my arms as high as I could. The Troll put up its arm to block it, but the sword through where the hand had been. The blade hit its neck, cut through skin, blood vessels. The head fell away with a shocked look on its face. Blood pumped out. It stunk.
End last excerpt.
Don’t Forget the Thanksgiving-Black Friday 2014 sale. $1.99 for “Above My Pay GradeX2” and $.99 for the Science Fiction story set and $.99 for the Fantasy story Set.
