Second Above Pay GradeX2 excerpt and coupon code

With everything else going on--including new Above Pay files and working on my WotF story--I had forgotten I was going to post another excerpt. So finally here it is. In this one NA is fighting supernatural creatures who act like ghosts. 

 This time there is a half price code for Smashwords.com after it.   Remember this code is for smashwords only.   

------I managed to get far enough ahead to turn back toward them for a moment. I formed a wall out of ice; moved to a corner of whatever room I was in and panted thinking the wall might keep them out for a few seconds. I tasted salt when sweat dripped into my mouth, my hair felt soaked, my heart pounded like a bass drum played by someone on speed.

     As to the wall stopping them, nope. The large one hit the ice full on----and burst through it. I forgot they could be corporeal. The crash was amazingly loud. I crouched and covered my head with my hands as ice splinters flew everywhere. Tiny pricks peppered my exposed skin as small splinters rained on me. I looked up and saw ice sticking out of the floor-I make very hard ice-the ceiling and a chair near me. 

     That didn’t work very well I thought as I did the only

thing I could think of. I formed a doppelgänger. More than one image goes by that name; in this case it was like 3D image of me. Like the one I used on the guy with the witch hazel suit but you could touch this one. It takes a lot of energy but it’s usually only needs to last for a few seconds and I was desperate. I could control it like a computer image. I made it sputtered with V-nergy which should attract the ghost as long as it lasted which would be no more then thirty-seconds in this case.

     I ran out the door as the creatures flew to where my doppelgänger stood giving them the finger. They wouldn’t know what that meant but it was emotionally satisfying, even if it

was just my image doing it.  

     When I looked over my shoulder, I thought Oops maybe they did know. They seemed to have become even angrier. All three hit the image hard. As I ran down the hallway I felt them come after me. That copy of myself didn’t last any thirty-seconds-I would have to demand my money back. If I survived to sue myself that is. 

     I’m not sure why but I found myself near the library. Just going around in a circle-sort of-I guess. I noticed a door in one wall and guessed it to be the way downstairs. I had no other choice but to head down there and see if I could get lost in all V noise the other ghosts were making. Or just start blasting them, that sometimes works also.

     Half way down the stairs it hit me. Damn, they produce cold, put out lights especially the type that produced heat, they won’t go near Brittany who was running a high fever, they felt cold, the ice had no affect on them. 

     I nodded in the dark of the stairs, now I had a weapon-I hoped. I was close enough to the bottom so I could sense them moving around-and there were young ones here. Good god, this was a breeding ground for them. No wonder the ones chasing me acted more aggressive than what was reported as normal. 

     As I moved toward them I could taste something in the air. It tasted cold and vibrant with V-nergy. I ducked as I felt something coming up fast. A ghost flew by me and joined the others. I thought I felt something similar to the scream but quieter. Another step--it felt much colder and the step gave in a bit like it was half rotten, I raised my foot for another step when I stopped. Everything went quiet-I knew they attention was now on me.

     I hoped my idea would work, if it didn’t I would be frozen and slimed to death...yuck.

     With my power levels low and since I hadn’t done something like this on this level before I needed all the help I could get. 

        “To make a pyre

        I need some fire

        So to help me

        Let flame be.”

     Yes, I know it was a rotten rhyme. I’ve known mages who could come up with a rave rhyme in a heartbeat-Patricia could-but I’m not one of them. Fortunately it doesn’t have to be good it doesn’t always have to rhyme even though that gets best results. Christopher tried to explain why that was so, but I’m still not sure about it. It had something to do with rhythm and our inner-self.  

     I raised my hands, palm out, sent V-nergy to my hands and concentrated on flame. It answered my call immediately. Just the type of fire I needed; hot and wide spread. It burst forth from my hands like water out of a fire hose, which was probably appropriate.

     Heat came back at me but I knew I could stand it. I felt and heard a very level sound I took to be screams. The large one came through the hole in the ceiling I had made earlier but he was caught in the flame, another one tried to zoom past me but it fell to the floor, skidded across it before it shriveled up. I saw a third one fly upward but it didn’t make it; the ghost crashed back to the floor. I stepped to one side and turned to get one, it turned into three, that came from behind. I don’t know how long I stood there hosing down the basement with fire but it seemed a very long time. My V-nergy levels were going down and I hadn’t seen one for a few seconds so I called the fire to quit---it kept spewing forth. I concentrated harder and sent a burst of V-nergy into my hands but it still flamed. I must have been in too much of a hurry when I called up the flame. Now my hands were starting to feel hot. I had automatically placed a shield around them to protect them and me from the backlash but it seemed to be slipping. With my levels down it would.

     Oh god, I was going to burn the house down on top of us, and I would go first. Could Kyle get Brittany out of the house in time? Would it keep going when I died? I didn’t know but I wasn’t going to die by my own fire. Neither would I let myself die by going with a spell of my own making; going wild and using up all of my life energy. 

     With a thought about that last happening I drew back all the V-nergy from my hands. That seemed to help but the fire was still  going. I could smell wood burning so I knew the house was on fire. I tasted ash when I breathed in. I sneezed twice.------

    Coupon discount code for smashwords. 

 KU99A
Expires: October 29, 2014