by Taki Drake
It was her cousin, Felicia. Obviously dead and bearing the tracks of intense pain on her contorted features and with the tracks of a torturous death in a singed face and chest, TT’s childhood companion lay in the unflinching posture of death. Through eyes that were aching with her determination to see, TT heard the voice of her former Witch saying in annoyance, “It is really too inconvenient. This one didn’t even last for a couple of months. I don’t know what they’re doing to make such wimpy Familiars these days. Perhaps, we are going to have to look for sturdier ones elsewhere.”
One of the men asked, “My Lady Witch, it might be difficult to establish another easy source of this type of magical energy. Perhaps we can come up with a different way of powering some aspects of the spell.”
Shrugging her flawless shoulders, TT’s former Witch said carelessly, “I don’t really care. If we have to burn through every single one of the cats in that clowder, we will do so. After all, they owe their wealth to me. And if I want to collect it in this way, that’s my right.”
At the man’s murmur of assent, the flawless noblewoman spun on her heel and started for the door. Calling back over her shoulder, she said, “Better throw this one into the fire. I wouldn’t want anyone to get the idea that I was careless with my trash.”
Moisture dripped off the end of TT’s face and into the bowl. The touch of that salty moisture caused an explosion in the magical glass that spewed the liquid of seeing all over TT and the seer’s hands. Turning away from the bowl in inconsolable grief and growing anger, TT rammed into Jack’s muscled body. Instantly, Dascha was there, pressing her head against the keening Persian, offering comfort and support.
With her uncle and friend wrapped around her in a comforting feline hug, TT haltingly told all of them what she had seen. Dascha faithfully relayed everything that she said to Zhanna and her grandmother.
There was stunned silence in the room after the Persian cat had told her tale. The only sounds were the shuddering sobs that TT could not control. It was the quiet sounds before the storm crashed into life.
Expressions of outrage and fury filled in all of the space in the room. Different viewpoints, different suggestions, but everyone was united in the mourning for another life lost and the outrage that such a situation had come into being. TT sat in the middle of the room as the anger washed over her, unable to add anything at all. Nerves thrumming from the echoes of her grief and feeling drained and exhausted by the experience, she could think of nothing to say.
Slowly, the others became silent. The Persian became aware of a gentle hand stroking her fur, and she opened her eyes to look into the face of the old woman. In the voice of certainty, Bolormaa said, “This will not be allowed to stand. The dead must have their day and evildoers need to be brought to justice. This will happen, I promise you.”
As the seer completed her vow, TT’s eyes are dazzled by a flash of magical gold mixed with deep purple. There was an echoing sound that bounced around the room and then escaped to paint the countryside in ever-growing circles. Realizing that she had just heard a vow made on someone’s magic, TT knew that sooner or later the evil perpetrated by the Lady Rosemary, Premier Witch of Paris, would be addressed.
Someday balance would be restored. TT vowed in her own heart that it would be soon.
Contributing Authors
T.S. Paul and I love to write together. Our brainstorming is hysterical and our joy in our stories is shared. We hope that you love the stories that we have created as much as we have enjoyed writing them!
Author Introduction – Taki Drake
The mixture of technology and magic is where my mind and heart live. In today's world, it mixes engineering and creativity. In the worlds of my mind, technology and magic live intertwined. I hope that you will find my stories interesting enough to be frequent visitors to where my heart beats.
I am continuing to write my stories of intertwined technology and magic. The challenges of that are fertile grounds for many story lines and series. Several of those planned for the next few months have been listed below. I am happily writing each of them, discovering new worlds, new situations and new challenges. The wonder for me is the number of readers that are enjoying my visions and tales.
Enjoy the stories in the emerging genre of techmage!
Please feel free to contact me via email at [email protected] or visit my blog or my Amazon page.
Unfettered Mage
We Are Not Prey
Fleet of the Mage - 2017
Spatial Delivery - Early 2018
BattleMage Investigates
An Attitude Adjustment
Frozen Hands - Early 2018
Maritime Madness - TBD
Badger Hole Bar
Thru the Badger Hole - Late 2017
Grand Opening - Jan 2018
The Remembrance Wall - Jan 2018
Passage Beyond - Feb 2018
Becoming Sephera
A Learning Experience
You Just Go On - Early 2018
Life Rebuilt - 2018
New Paths - TBD
Standard of Honor
In the World of the Federal Witch
Shade of Honor
Coven Codex - Jan 2018
A Confluence of Covens -TBD
Familiar Magic
Familiar Shadows
Familiar Trials - Fledgling
Familiar Travels - Coming Soon!
Familiar Trials - Expert - Early 2018
Familiar Trials - Master - Mid 2018
Familiar Trials - Adept - TBD
Cookbooks
The Badger Hole Bar Food Cookbook
Fergus Favorites Cookbook
Marcella's Garden Cookbook
Marcella’s Summer Bounty Cookbook
Marcella’s Autumn Harvest
Tasting Sampler
A Food Palate - Holiday Heartwarmers
Taking it on the Road
Baba’s Kitchen - Coming Soon!
Anthologies
The Expanding Universe: An Exploration of the Science Fiction Genre
The Tide: The Multiverse Wave
Inanna's Circle: Flight of Imagination - Thru the Darkness
Holiday Heartwarmers: An Anthology of Short Stories
Inanna's Circle: The Game Begins
Mysterious Hearts
Journal with a View
CyberWar: Digital Battlefield
CyberWar: Byte Conflict
Prime Fantasy
Phoenix Fantasy
Phoenix Imagining
The Imp Prince
The Goblin and the Grocer
Prime Peek I
Snapshots of Life I
Tales from the Pumpkin Patch
Haunted Hearts I
Reindeer Don’t Fly
Silent Thanks
Shadowed Light
Powerhouse Punch
Author Introduction – T S Paul
I’m now into my second year as a published author. With over 25 works under my belt already my pace is relentless. Writing was never a goal of mine growing up. I really did fall into this accidentally. My wife and family knew of my love of books and urged me to try writing. It wasn’t until an author i befriended gave me a short push off a long pier that i really gave it a go. And what a go that was!
Athena Lee and Agatha Blackmore have given way to over 50 short stories. I write a lot. The future is in books and I’m in it for the long haul. Keep your eyes peeled for new and exciting things coming from me this year. Don’t forget to check the Blog every week for a new Wilson or Fergus story.
I welcome comments and questions on my blog. Follow me on Facebook or visit my Amazon author page. I have an author page with BookBub too.
I’m excited, are you?
The Federal Witch
Born a Witch Drafted by the FBI! - Now Available in Audio!
Conjuring Quantico - Now Available in Audio!
Magical Probi - Now Available in Audio!
Special Agen
t in Charge - Now Available in Audio!
Witness Enchantment
Night of the Unicorn
Invisible Elder - TBD
Blood on the Moon - TBD
Child of Darkness - TBD
A Draft of Dragons - TBD
Cat’s Night Out, Tails from the Federal Witch - Audio Available
Serpent Con
Darkness Revealed
The Standard of Honor
Shade of Honor
Familiar Trials - Fledgling
Coven Codex -October 2017
A Confluence of Covens -TBD
Conflict of Commitments -TBD
Standard of Honor -TBD
The Mongo Files
The Case of the Jamaican Karma -TBD
The Case of the Lazy Magnolia - TBD
The Case of the Rugrat Exorcist -TBD
Cookbooks From the Federal Witch Universe
Marcella’s Garden Cookbook
Fergus Favorites Cookbook
Marcella’s Summer Bounty Cookbook
Marcella’s Autumn Harvest - Coming Soon!
Read and Eat Cookbooks
Badger Hole Bar Food Cookbook
Athena Lee Chronicles
The Forgotten Engineer
Engineering Murder
Ghost Ships of Terra
Revolutionary
Insurrection
Imperial Subversion
The Martian Inheritance - Audio Now Available
Infiltration
Prelude to War
War to the Knife
Ghosts of Noodlemass Past
Athena Lee Universe
Shades of Learning
Space Cadets - Coming Soon Late 2017
Short Story Collections
Wilson’s War
A Colony of CATTs
Unicorns are Short
Box Sets
The Federal Witch: The Collected Works, Book 1
Chronicles of Athena Lee Book 1-3
Chronicles of Athena Lee Book 4-6
Chronicles of Athena Lee Book 7-9 plus the prequel
Athena Lee Chronicles (10 Book Series)
Standalone or tie-ins
The Tide: The Multiverse Wave
The Lost Pilot
Uncommon Life
Kurtherian Gambit
Alpha Class. The Etheric Academy book 1
Alpha Class - Engineering. The Etheric Academy Book 2
The Etheric Academy (2 Book Series)
Holiday Tales
Tales from the Pumpkin Patch
Night of the Living Turkeys
Anthologies
Phoenix Galactic
The Expanding Universe Book 2
Cupid’s Bow
Mysterious Hearts
Journal with a View: July - August - September
Prime Peek I
Snapshots of Life I
Haunted Hearts I
Taking it in the Road
Silent Thanks
Non-Fiction
Get that Sh@t off your Cover!: The so-called Miracle Man speaks out
Study Guide and Timeline: The Athena Lee Chronicles
Author Notes - Taki Drake
The writing of this book was fraught with a collision of life with pain and joy. During the last month, three long-time friends have died, leaving me grieving for their absence in my life going forward and profoundly thankful for the time that we had together. With the sudden cessation of over 100 years of accumulated friendship, I was strongly reminded of the gifts of ourselves that we share with all of the people that touch us in our journey through this life.
I wept tears of sorrow during passages of this book, and plucked chords of remembered joy and celebration in others. With every page of this story, I make to you a gift of the influence of my friends, Ray, Vere, and Marte, and the depth that they added to my existence.
Blessed be and farewell. May your stars burn bright and my memory of your presence never tarnish.
Author Notes - T S Paul
Thanks for giving us a try and reading the next in the Familiar Magic series. The future holds many things to come as both Dascha and Zhanna grow into their powers achieving the potential that their elders see in them. Challenges that lie ahead will rip them to the bone and bring them to their knees (or paws). But that is just the start of things happening inside the Federal Witch Universe!
Agatha Blackmore is returning soon in Book Eight, Child of Darkness. What she confronts will shock her and her team. A long awaited plot will be exposed and the events that follow will set the tone for the rest of the series to come. But that is what happens afterward. First, the members of A.R.C.A.N.E. must do battle with the Demonic threat left by the Strega and the Missionaries of Death. False Gods is coming soon.
This is only one of my universes. The Athena Lee Universe is growing this year as well. The Smuggle Life series was kicked off by my co-writer Nathan Howe with the book Double Cross. It will soon be join by Book Two, Politics equals Death. We will find out what happens when those you trust turn against you.
Heartfelt Acknowledgments
It is impossible to write in a vacuum. A writer’s universe is populated by people that enable them to turn their imaginations into the written form for others to visit. In my author universe, I am blessed to have some very special people. They are essential to my writing and to my soul.
To T. S. Paul - the most imaginative and creative person that I know - thank you for your friendship, our late night brainstorming and the myriad other ways that you decorate my world.
To Heather Paul - thank you for the greatness of heart that allows you to share your husband’s time and energy with so many people that benefit from his mentorship and friendship. And thanks for getting me back into knitting!!
To the incomparable Ds. You have enriched my life and my writing beyond all expectations. Thank you for the editing (developmental and line), the brainstorming, and the occasional kick in the back side! Most of all, I appreciate your friendship.
Finally, thank you to the Phoenix Prime collective. Without you all, my life would be far poorer. And the twilight of my life would be far darker. And without cookies!!
Taki
