Revised first segment of chapter one of Journey of Mystery

All along I planned on Indie publishing this novel so I thought it wouldn't hurt to do a serial on Google+ as I wrote the first draft. Actually I posted version 1.5 since I revised some of it each segment before I posted it.

Anyway, I have finally started the next and hopefully final revision of the whole novel. So this is a preview of Chapter one. It will be months before I get the whole book revised but a couple of previews are in order. I may do some touch ups here and there-I am still not completely comfortable with the first line-but this is basically it.

The novel is a genre I made up as I began the book: preindustrial steampunk-fantasy. It has elves, dragons, werewolves, airships, fairies, the first steam cars and aether devices and weapons. No gunpowder and just the beginning of anything like trains.

The first chapter will be split up into three segments of over 2,000 words each. This one is 2,500 and some.

I am working on a different title, for I think this one is too cliche-ish, and I will throw in a couple of alternates as I post these segments

Journey of Mystery:

A Weapon: one reason I led this journey was to be a weapon to defend the men who went with me. 

       My thoughts drifted in that direction when I stared at the horizon over the sea. At the moment I had little to do—at worse I would be in the way if I tried, at best I was a supercargo unneeded at the moment. My time of importance would come.

      The airship, The Seagull Storm readied to rise. We were headed out to find something I couldn’t describe. I didn’t have anything to do at the moment so my mind went off in dark directions on its own. We carried weapons and would buy more, but one of my purposes was to protect the crew.

          My name is Roger Twowinds and I am a native of this part of the American continent. I stand taller than average with a light build, perhaps because I have a training routine I carry out every day. I am also a wizard and for the first time in command of an expedition. 

         Hawsers dropped off as the crew untied them. Some plopped onto the hard, beaten ground while others dragged for a moment before members of the crew drew them back aboard the airship. Once up members of the crew looped them up in The Seagull Storm’s riggings. I stood on the low quarter deck near the wheel, which enabled me to see almost everything as I watched the crew, while I stayed out of their way. The pillions and masts that held up the large gasbag blocked my view in places but I knew what the airship looked like. It had the appearance much like an ocean going schooner with balloons instead of main sails. The Muser accelerators or aether drives hummed and sparked with colors only I could see, for they were ready to lift us. The Seagull was fast which was one reason I wanted it. It would have to fly and maneuver very quickly as a defense from ariel beasts. I didn’t know if the screaming part of the name was to invoke thoughts of a seagull about to attack, a fear yell, or just an expression of frustration over the exploits of its thirty man crew.  It could be all three.

         Many of my journals and scrolls contained short references to something very powerful that had been lost—someplace—with no description of what it looked like. The writers may have thought everyone knew, or they may have decided that it was too dangerous for anyone to know what it looked like. I read many old journals, scrolls and even books. A few months ago, while I again read certain texts, a new thought formed in my mind. It grew into a desire and lodged in my heart. I knew the artifact needed to be hidden where no one could find it, or something bad would happen. Why Me? I had no idea except that I knew of it. It had been lost so many centuries ago that no one knew of it anymore. I had asked some subtle questions. Only two older mages had even an idea of what it was. So my knowledge may have left me the only one able to find it and secrete it. 

         The Captain yelled orders, but the crew knew what needed to be done by long practice and they worked hard. A ground crew, which included young boys, gathered the ropes on the ground. They did so while running with joyous yells, as if in the middle of a contest to see who got the most ropes. They took them to one of the three short, long buildings to one side. Many of the children had the same reddish color of skin as I did for they, as well as I, were natives to this land. Most of the remainders wore pale skin, while a couple had olive skin. These were first or second generation of colonists.

          A mixture of sea, fresh and rotten fish, of men working hard, pine, and left over baking bread odors drifted around me. Pine trees, with a few apple and maple trees mixed in, bordered on three sides the dirt landing field we lifted from, which lay not many yards from the sea. There a small beach and tiny wharf slipped into the water. A few fishing boats and canoes sat tied up or on the sand. That is where the fish smells came from. That was why workers here ate seafood at most meals. It was cheap enough and obviously plentiful which made it cheap. They had bread and different types of mush also. Sometimes that odor would be so strong I could taste it, but that may have been my memory of last night’s seafood stew, since I love seafood. 

          I put away that memory and stared outward considered my quest. My thoughts boarded on dark ones. I didn’t know what we looked for and this was the first time I have led an expedition like this. I have been in charge of two and three men while with my tribe and later while I trained at the MAGE school, but this was larger than any group I have led. I didn’t know if I had what it took to search for what my research had found, or to order a crew and especially the fighters around. We would no doubt participate in battles against dangerous beasts and men, so Captain Teil suggested I hire a band of mercenaries who were used to hard work, and the supernatural. I found a group of fifteen which included two sergeants and two lieutenants. The airship was very crowded, but the holds were only half filled which gave the mercs room to sleep and to do some easy training. Captain Teil, his officers and the unit’s head people would give the actual orders in most cases, but I would need to direct them and to give the command to fight or not, and where. I shook my head once to dispel those thoughts and emotions. I would rise to the occasion because I needed to for I have been trained well and had experience on quests .

              Teil shouted my name from the other side of the wheel, and gave my a thumbs up. Roger isn’t my birth name, but I have used it for so long it is comfortable. Twowinds is a shorten version of my surname, I use it because of familiarity. Besides there are aspects of wizardry that can use a person’s or thing’s real name for mischief. 

            The cool wind picked up speed as we moved. It blew open my wizard robe to show the buckskin pants and tan cotton tunic that I wore under it. My shoulder length black hair flipped around. I like that feeling, so I didn’t tie or cover it. 

       The Seagull was the fastest airship of its type and size, from anywhere. I have seen it outrace pirates and outmaneuver warships of most sizes. It showed that speed when its crew stumbled upon a nest of warships from Northern Newhampshire. That was over a year ago and he may have been smuggling or just trying to set down for the night. That was a bad few minutes from what I understand but they made it. Its speed and ability to turn fast, or to pivot under the right conditions is why many think of Teil is a pirate. I know he isn’t. He may smuggle now and then depending on the item and other circumstances, but he never raided another airship, sea ship or a town. 

       For a moment I looked back over the land we had risen from. Three small barn-like buildings had been built here which now were used for airships—a few upside down U shaped frames for the tie done ropes, decorated the area. They looked much like the hitching posts horse riders use to tie their mounts to. Most were wood even though five larger ones had been made of thick metal. This wasn’t a proper airship field, but it worked for the traffic my village and the school had. I made out a few holes in the  hard dirt where large airships had used steam powered huge crossbows or gearguns to send a long bolt deep into the soil. They used the bolts to tie the ships down. Then somehow pulled the bolts back out to take them with them. 

       I turned back to study the Seagull. The steering wheel sat toward the aft end even though on an airship it didn’t matter where it was located. The gears and lines it operated pulled at the steering sails and smaller balloons. Toward the front a low shack like structure graced the deck. It sat with space on both sides to walk. It housed a galley, the Captain’s cabin, along with a dinning area for special dinners. There were storage closets in there too. As the one who hired the ship my cabin was in there too. It was a bit smaller than the Captain’s, but had more room than my usual cabin. A head was down a short passageway. The Captain had his own. 

      When the Seagull floated over a large pit full of fish heads, tails and bones a rotten stink filled my nose.  As bad as that smelled it still reminded me of the clam, mussel, trout stew we had last night. A little burnt but still I had seconds. I liked seafood which was fortunate for where I choose to live. Near but not in where my ancestors have lived for two hundred year, at least. 

        I looked up. The wooden hull hung from a cigar shaped gasbag, longer in both directions than the boat. Its shape and design also helped to make the Seagull move as fast as it did. Four smaller balloons graced each side of the large one, for extra lift and for protection of the main gasbag. The airship’s flat bottom looked black while the gasbag was grey and blue. The coloring had been designed to make it harder to see once in the air, especially at night. Another reason some had the mistaken thought he was a pirate. 

      The sound of many feet on the wood deck meant the crew finished the hurried preparations even as we lifted. It had taken what seemed like an extraordinary amount of time—months—to get ready. We had to plan for many conditions since I had only a hunch of where to start the search. We needed special supplies and provisions for the cold we headed for. And we had needed to wait for the mercs. I knew of some who might go, who were well trained and trustworthy but we had to contact them and to negotiate the price. I had also had to plan on some weapons we needed to have made to fight half-dragons, heaven forbid full dragons and anyone we met that were hostile to us. Both me and Captain Teil had made enemies over the years.   

      I looked upward at the men in the riggings. The Seagull carried sails but smaller ones, much like a fore topsail on seagoing schooners. They sat along each side of the railing toward the bow along while two that looked twice the size of the others flapped on either side of the forecastle deck. Each of those along with four on aft end were steering sails. They all helped to angle the ship when it turned or Captain Teil wanted to adjust the angle the wind hit the balloon. Gears clashed and air pumps ran. Grease stinks joined the others. The three aether drives lay in front of the quarter deck, almost touching it. Each was a box half the length of horse and as tall as the knees of the same animal. Each one had been covered with a black lacquer. Brass filigree, hollow frames Criss crossed over each one. The frame also served as pipes to move aethery gas around the box with more inside each box. Two sat on the outside with the third larger one rested just a little forward of the other two and in-between them. That one looked one third larger than the other two. All three helped to produce the Seagull’s speed. I didn’t know exactly how they worked but I did have some idea. It took a person with at least a some wizardry ability to activate one. On the Seagull there was an aether man whose job it was to operate the drives and to handle any repairs that might be needed. The second mate could operate them in an emergency and rumor had it that so could Captain Teil. He would not admit that though. I could make them produce lift, but that was a given since I am a full wizard. The drives produce more lift making the Seagull lighter even though their main purpose was propulsion. They could move an airship forward, or backwards if desired. They could push the airship against the wind even though they had to work harder and it could be slow going depending on the wind. They moved the ship at a pretty good clip with the wind or even becalmed.

       The first mate, a tall man from one of the African nations who went by the name of Jaclyn, also yelled orders to the crew. No matter how experienced and hardworking the men were someone or a piece of equipment would fumble, ropes could catch on something and last second irregularities. And sometimes the men needed encouragement to move faster.     

     The first part of our journey, which would be the easiest and one of only two legs that could be planned, would take us to Sweden. Sweden had businesses that built excellent weapons and watches for that matter. I had ideas of what we might need and the unusual weapons we would have built. There should be few chances of anyone attacking us or so I thought, for no one knew of my vision. 

        My tribe has hunted, trained and played in cold, snow and ice all winter, so the idea of going to extreme cold didn’t bother me as much as it many of the crew.     

      I watched the buildings recede behind us. They were each made from logs, complete with bark, with metal roofs. Two were the length of three cargo wagons and double the width of a farmhouse. The third was half a house wider and twice as long as the other two. I could still make out one set of gray-white lean-tos set along the sides of the larger building. Most of the children employed here slept in those lean-tos. They used old sails as roofs which they nailed to the thicker logs of the dormitory. Adults workers and sometimes passengers slept in there too. 

       The creak of the six steering balloons indicated the ship turned already, even before it reached cruising altitude. A bit unusual, but Captain Teil knew his stuff, his ship and that we needed to hurry. When we turned I spotted two large ships in the water near the beach. I suspected they were fast cargo ships; they would pick up the fish, and other seafood, caught by the fishermen here. The ships would have mages who kept the fish cold on the journey.

Exciting action packed except of Learning Curve X2

 Hey it's time for another excerpt of my novel Learning Curve X2.

This one should have very few typos but I did do some last minute revising on about six sentences so there could be a couple. Or the way things go with me(Rolls eyes) a ton of them even though they shouldn't be any.


Again a bit long at 4,500 words but there are two events I wanted to show. One very small one and one long one. The longer one is part of a flashback to NA's first time fighting someone more powerful than her to protect someone. Or many someones in this case. One of them shows up later in the novel. The whole fight is easily twice as long as the section I have here. I couldn't find a good cliff hanger until hundreds of words later so I end it with a comment about something that keeps showing up in her life.


Next week might be another excerpt or nothing. I am having an operation Friday, June 24, and even though it's one of those in and out things I am not sure what type of shape I will be in Saturday. Nor am I sure if I can get to it before Friday.


Enjoy:
A moment later my head spun around and I faced outward. I studied the world before I realized why. I had felt something huge. It seemed to be associated with that force I had been sensing the last few months. The event died down before I could get a reading on what it was or where it came from.
I couldn’t see any explosion—I half expected one—nor any type of gate opening, nor any large sudden construct. Maybe someone had just formed a zombie. I have never seen that done or even been close to it happening. It would take a lot of power though, I imagined. Then again there could be a very good illusion laid over the result of a blast. It would be a fantastic one to cover flames, the smell and the sight of an explosion or fire. Put up by someone who had a lot of power and experience. They would have had to slam it down wholly made at just the right moment. I sniffed the air again to make sure I didn’t smell smoke. A small whiff of not-so-fresh cut grass—the gardeners must have come by today. Other than that, the air smelled normal.
I thought about taking a walk to see what it could have been, but all signs were gone now. I looked around with my V-nergy sight and found nothing out of the ordinary. I could have been a one time event. Some type of translock to somewhere, perhaps. If so they took their whole car with them—a car that was a Hummer, fully armored up.
With thought though I shook my head. The power I had felt just then and twice earlier, didn’t seem the same as I was used to. I have been told that some Adepts almost have the power of a god-demigod that is. Patricia and Jainy both thought that some of the Greek, Latin, Viking and other gods were really Adepts that let their ability go to their heads. At the same time I was sure this wasn’t one of them.
A dog barked, I thought it sounded like my friend that had saved me from the labyrinth pocket universe Mr Majestic had made to trap me. It had been designed to keep me going around in circles with walls that moved with me, but the dog’s barking had led me out. I have seen him twice and given him a special treat, so he knew me. I waited for a while, but he didn’t show up. Maybe his owner took him another way, or maybe it was another dog. I went inside.
Even though I should have gone to bed, I decided to have some cookies. Only three though; they were a very good brand that someone had given me and I wanted them to last awhile. Not too long, though they could get stale.
After I finished them, okay and a fourth one, along with two of a lesser variety, one of my first adventures came to mind. Billy’s story about the little fairies connected with a memory.
It had been years ago but I had met fairies three different times. During the first meeting nothing bad happened. They just flew around me and made chiming noises. I tried to understand what they were saying. They were a nuisance, but not a danger. The second time, I actually helped a small clan, flock, nest or village with a problem. I got hurt the third time even though not by them. There were the ones in danger.
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After a hard week at high school and practicing my ability, I sat in a park in the town I grew up in. No one was about which was fine with me. I just wanted to relax. My hair was its natural boring black with no dyes, for a change. I had started to dye my hair as soon as I could figure out how to. Maybe because my sister did, even though hers was normal colors. Every now and then I gave it a rest for a few months, usually when my parents were low on money. As I rested I made sure that no one was really close to me, or about to come upon me. I did feel something not far away, but it was faint. Once I knew the park was in the clear, I made a ball out of V-nergy and started to toss it back and forth in my hands. I used to do that to help me relax and to think; better than that set of five chrome balls that swing back and forth into each other. My ball wasn’t solid, just made from energy. You could see an electrical framework that made up the outer shell with arcs and tiny bolts inside. None were powerful enough to do any harm, even to a bird or kitten, but they looked powerful.  
The ball started out pink. Every few seconds I changed its color. At the moment it was purple, I liked the electric shade, wished I could do my hair that color, so I kept that color for a few minutes. Something caught my attention; I looked around expecting someone to be watching me-wondered how I would explain the ball, but nothing. I tried my V-nergy sense to see if there was a glamour, illusion or related Trick hiding someone. More than likely I wouldn’t be able to see through it, but I could detect V-nergy use. I was good at that; lousy at translocking, especially myself, and healing was almost a lost cause, but I knew I had certain gifts.
A motion made me look to one side. Nothing. I heard a very slight buzzing. In a second it got louder. A bumblebee I thought, if so it was huge by the sound. A motion zipped past me. Oh, from the yellow comet trail behind it I realized what was going on. Fairies. Of the small, glowing variety. I say that because there are fairies almost human size also. Rarer even than this type, they looked like small adults with a narrow shape and pointed ears. Much like elves I have been told.
After a moment I looked down quickly. Whoa, there were a crowd of them. A nest must exist in the woods that were a part of the park. Either a really new one, or I just never noticed before.
Through all this I kept my hands and the ball moving, but I stopped for a moment as I wondered if they were up to no good, or just playing. They could be mischievous and even ferocious if provoked, but usually only curious and a nuisance at worse. If they thought you had invaded their nest, watch out and run-fast. They could be worse than hornets and bees together, even killer bees. I have read up on them and asked Patricia—she gave me the books I read. She also gave me a lesson on them.
One female flew up to my face, I blinked. First they usually didn’t come that close to a stranger and second she looked young. They usually all do, until they are old enough to be an elder, but this one appeared to be a young teenager instead of a young woman. She was only half the size of ones I have had dealings with before. That would explain why all of these around me seemed even smaller than usual. I gave the area a quick look for an adult. None that I could see, but maybe they didn’t have to be supervised. I got my attention back to the female. As was normal she glowed yellow, even though she didn’t have to. This one twitted, chimed and whistled, like a small flute. Finally, I understood that she wanted me to continue with the ball. They liked it for some reason. I shrugged, it wouldn’t do any harm and I didn’t want a bunch of adolescent fairies upset at me.
A moment later, in the middle of a toss, I caught a whiff of something. I wasn’t sure what, but I looked some of them over to see if any of the really small ones wore diapers. Not that I could tell, most zipped around too fast to be sure. If so they needed to be changed badly. I almost shrugged again, I was just being snarky, I doubted they really wore them.
I played with the ball; I threw it up, caught it when it fell juggled it, spun it on my open palm. Next I changed the colors as it spun through a toss. Each turn changed the shade, 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 wrinkle my nose and 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, and each time it wasn’t for a good reason. A bear chased me the first time. I knew it was near before I saws it. I wasn’t sure how I got away but I did. A couple of years later I was attacked by another mage my age the second time. I had met Patricia six months before this, so I knew the basics of throwing out a Trick. I had been walking home through a small wooded area, and I froze when the hairs on the back of my neck stood up. A boy came out of nowhere. I realized at once that he was a mage, obviously my age and I thought, 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 if that was the case. However I felt then and still do that his attack was more serious. Maybe he was a dark lord in training, whatever the case we had a short bout. I have had other fights, but they were pretty much just scuffles, this was serious.
He moved almost faster than I knew and grabbed me around my middle. One arm was pinned between him and me. I almost screamed but shouted, “Hey, you think you’re an octopus? Let Go!” I said it more to cover my fear than to sound tough. I rocked us to break his hold and as I did used what I had learned recently. I carried out a quick search and found a patch of V-nergy nearby. I pulled some in and used that to shock him. The shock seemed to be my only way out of that hug. After the buzz, he backed off, rubbed his elbow and stomach. I formed a shield like a big Roman shield that I had read about in school. He threw some Tricks my way, but I managed to use the shield to block them and even to bounce one back along with a new one from me. Eight months ago I would not have been able to do that, but even though it didn’t always seem like it I did take my lessons seriously, now I am glad I did.
Three heartbeats later I launched myself his way, he somehow deflected the shield—his expression had turned desperate—but it had become a distraction for my real plan. I punched him. The punch knocked him backwards a step and he cried out, rubbed his chest where I thought he would have a fist shaped bruise. He looked startled for a moment, frowned, then snarled. He tried to spit at me-I wondered if it was a Trick that failed. He threw a quadruple itch Trick my way. Only one part of it made it through my shield. I ignored the itch and ducked a swing kick by him. The side of his foot grazed my side, but no real harm done. I threw the shield at him hard enough to knock him down and for it to lay on top of him. I took the seconds I had to undo the itch on my arm. It had started to bleed. He managed to undo my shield and to absorb the V-nergy. I staggered because it hurt when he did that. I frowned and snarled at him again. He seemed surprised that I was still willing to fight on. We traded a couple of more attacks, but when I started to form a larger Trick to send something worse his way, he took off at a run. I converted the Trick I was doing and threw it as a slap Trick at him—taught to me by Patricia—because he hadn’t kept his hands to himself. It could have been by accident, but I didn’t care. I didn’t like abusers. I heard a surprised yip just before he ran around a tree and vanished. I thought about chasing him, but I was tired, sore and low on V-nergy. I panted for a couple of minutes, drew in some spare V-nergy and went home. I hadn’t recognized him and never saw him again. Maybe he had been sent to attack someone at random or his Master wanted me for some reason or he had seen me and decided he could use me for something. Rape would be just one option. There were many. After I told Patricia about the attack she taught me some defensive Tricks and physical defenses.
I pushed away that memory where my mind tried to distract me, but I kept those defensive Tricks in the front of my mind while I looked around to find something odd. I studied spots with deeper shadows. Nothing, I used my V sight. Something was there, but I couldn’t tell exactly what or where. I wondered if I should warn the fairies somehow, but maybe it was their elders, or parents? I didn’t know how that worked with fairies. In either case they might be angry at me, or think I was trying to harm their children.
My concentration concentrated on the danger I couldn’t see and I dropped the ball. At first the little fairies seemed to think I had planned it, but when I didn’t pick it up, three came to eye level and chitted at me-musically of course. Others tried to pick up the ball. My hair was pulled. I looked to one side, a male fairy-about the size as the female who had talked to me-stood on my shoulder and pulled my hair. He seemed upset. It was hard to tell while I looked at him with my V sight, it made him fuzzy with a different V-nergy. I didn’t have time to explore that.
I shook my head and said in my sternest voice, “No, danger!”
He just looked at me like he didn’t know what I meant, but he let go of my hair. I stood and he grabbed it again. This time I think it was to hold on from my sudden movement.
With a growing unease I turned to face the trees behind me. I still couldn’t see anything, but something wasn’t right. I just couldn’t make out what.
I looked closer 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 my way of drawing in V-nergy. I practiced doing it without thinking, since that fight in the woods, 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. Either no one used what was here so it could pool or something here made more than normal. That last could explain the fairies being here. They liked it or perhaps the fairies produced it.
Not sure what to do, I sent out gentle probes to see if I could pick up anything. Two connected something. I tried again, a sudden pull jerked me 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. He had to be powerful.
I looked around at the fairies, none of them looked old enough to be of help. They were very tough, and can fly like a helicopter-UFO fusion, but they can be harmed and captured. 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. Patricia had showed me some methods of fighting. She taught that peace and getting along were better, but be prepared to fight if you really need to. Illusion could be good too, but I wasn’t so hot with that yet.
A strong whiff of something dead came my way. Maybe that was what I had smelled earlier instead of baby fairies. A moment later I blinked. A man now stood half way between the trees and the bench I stood near. He just appeared, with no flash, or ripple in the air that happens when a glamour is turned off. The guy must have been there a second or two before I noticed.
He looked like a man but a dead one. On oh, not a zombie Mage. What did he want us for? I had heard that dark Mages made zombies as cheap servants and to terrorize people, but how could a zombie be a Mage? He would have to be under the control of someone else. Maybe since he was a powerful Mage enabled him to break free from the other person’s control and have a mind his own.
He moved in closer. I studied him. He looked pale, with shrunken cheeks, and hair like straw. One ear had three earrings in it and the other two. I couldn’t be sure, but there seemed to be a piercing in his lower lip. Both lips looked swollen and decayed, so the skin partially hid anything whatever might be there. The clothes he wore looked 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 and a net appeared strung along his fingers. It looked like an odd fishing net, but I knew from the surge that happened when he created it that it wasn’t. I looked at the fairies. Did he want to eat a bunch of fairy brains? Or mine?
My feet spread out into a better fighting stance and I readied a shield, like the Roman shield I made weeks ago, but wider with wings on each side. I had practiced and read up on V-nergy shields.
I assumed that he knew I planned to fight him. Something high pitched buzzed next to my ear. I waved my hand there to shoo away whatever insect 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 necromancer not a zombie. Even though I have never met, or even seen one I should have known at once. A zombie Mage wouldn’t work. I would have been greatly surprised if he had been one, even though that description fit what I saw-and smelled. From what I heard and read, this guy was not unusual in his clothes and body odor even though many dress and act like a normal person. They also can be very powerful and dangerous when crossed. And I was about to cross one, one who seemed way too strong. 
My heart thudded in my chest, sweat popped out on my forehead, I hoped it wouldn’t fall into my eyes. If it did I would just have to live with it though, I doubted he would give me time to wipe it out of my eyes. I placed both hands behind me like the at ease position I’ve seen in military movies. I thought it might do two things. The first is to make him think I was relaxed and wasn’t going to attack him, the second thing was to hide the ball of energy I wanted to form very slowly.
His odor increased, but I also caught a different scent. It seemed to be related to V-nergy, but somehow off-big time. Maybe he bathed or soaked in the V-nergy from the dead? I pictured him standing in the middle of a bunch of dead animals and people with hands raised and drawing in power from each one like a black hole absorbs all that comes its way. I shivered, that sounded way gross, but if true, it would explain his smell and the yecch feeling that came from his presence. My mind tried to distract me but I kept it on him.
No more thinking, he had moved with slow motions, now though he swirled the net around. I didn’t know if it was for me, or if he expected that I would stay out of it even though I hadn’t left.  
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 else that term meant for humans. A giggle would not be appropriate right now, even though one might distract him, or make him think I was crazy and unpredictable. The moment was gone though so I stood there with what I hoped was a half smile.
Power grew, I felt it and knew it came from him. He kept on eye on my as he stalked the fairies. The oldest ones now knew they were in danger. One squeaked at me, the girl-I thought it was the first adolescent who talked to me-flew by one ear and chimed, she zipped to the other one and chimed louder. I didn’t know 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 it faster and at the moment he slung it out toward a group of five to eight fairies--I couldn’t tell for sure they buzzed around too quick--I threw my energy ball where it seemed headed for. My aim was off a bit, which didn’t surprise me. It missed the middle of the net, I had a loud “damn!” ready but my ball touched the far edge. It was enough, 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. He turned his head toward me with a disappointed expression. He threw three fat disk shapes at me. They all expanded and burst forth in fire and smoke. The bench got charred as did the grass in one spot and the air around that spot. It stunk of burnt grass and wood as well whatever was in the air.
None of it harmed me, for I no longer stood by the bench. 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 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 years ago.
He spun around and threw an arm in my direction. Something impacted the shield, hard. I almost fell backwards, but it held and I kept my balance. 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.
My plan didn’t work. For they didn’t flee. 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. Where were their adults? I had no time for that mystery, but the parents needed to be here.
By that time my cloud reached him and started to rain large fiery hail stones. The first two hit his head and one shoulder. He grimaced, looked up, I thought that was an idiotic since that is where they came from, but when two other bounced off something invisible I knew he had formed a shield of his own. A few missed the shield and landed on the grass. They smoldered, 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 out one bark of laughter.
Deep down I knew I was in too much danger to really laugh, but that one bark still came up. It looked too much like the Three Stooges. At the same time though I wondered what I was doing. Deep inside I felt confused and like a Christian in the Roman arena, armed with a very short dull sword and facing a Troll. More stories from that Sunday School class mixed with what I knew about Mythos.
Beyond my mind trying to distract me, I wanted to run, at the same time I wanted to protect the young fairies. On top of that I felt anger at this bully who would hurt them. They were just children and they were in harm’s way because of me. By accident on my part, but still my doing. A voice inside me-maybe my inner garden-yelled for me to “go girl and fight” and to forget everything else until I won. I had heard that voice during my fight with the young dark Mage and during various tests Patricia put me through. I didn’t like that voice-the idea of it scared me, but I seemed to be getting used to it.
I snorted and realized that I needed to help them, it wasn’t an option to run like a badly dressed young woman from a bunch of fashion divas.

End excerpt.

Black Friday sale on E-books and NaNo Novel update.

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.