Master of Magic (Dragon's Gift: The Valkyrie Book 5)

by Linsey Hall

  I swung my leg over Secretariat—I liked to name my vehicles—and kicked the clutch. The engine roared to life. Nix and Del followed, and we peeled out of the lot, leaving the dingy yellow light of the bar behind.

  Our headlights illuminated the dirt road as we sped through the night. Huge fig trees dotted the path on either side, their twisted trunks and roots forming an eerie corridor. Elephant-ear sized leaves swayed in the wind, a dark emerald that gleamed in the light.

  Jungle animals howled, and enormous lightning bugs flitted along the path. They were too big to be regular bugs, so they were most likely some kind of fairy, but I wasn’t going to stop to investigate. There were dangerous creatures in the jungle at night—one of the reasons we hadn’t wanted to go now—and in our world, fairies could be considered dangerous.

  Especially if you called them lightning bugs.

  A roar sounded in the distance, echoing through the jungle and making the leaves rustle on either side as small animals scurried for safety.

  The roar came again, only closer.

  Then another, and another.

  “Oh shit,” I muttered. This was bad.

  ~~~

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  Author’s Note

  Thanks for reading Master of Magic! The author’s note is where I normally talk about the history and mythology in the book, and Master of Magic had plenty of it.

  There are quite a few historical and mythological references in Master of Magic. To start, the guards of the Rebel Gods realm come from myth. Janus is the two headed god from Roman mythology who presides over beginnings and transitions, as well as gates and doors. Aker is an Egyptian god who is actually two lions. In some depictions, he is a strip of land with two heads at each end, facing away from each other. He is a protective deity and a gatekeeper.

  The different realms in the Rebel Gods headquarters are from mythology—Roman, Mayan, Hindu, and others. The Hindu god was Agni, the fire god, while the Mayan god was Hum Hau, the god of death.

  One of the most impressive places is the House of Wisdom, which was an enormous library located in Baghdad. It was one of the most prominent intellectual centers during the Islamic Golden Age (8th - 13th Centuries AD) and was built by Abbasid Caliph Hard al-Rashid in the late 8th Century AD. It was a particularly cool place because scholars from many backgrounds could visit to use it, including those of Jewish and Christian faith. The House of Wisdom was destroyed during the siege of Baghdad in 1258, which is such a tragedy that I had the terrible Rebel Gods do one good deed and save it.

  One of my favorite parts to write was Bree’s return visit to Yggdrasil. There is so much information available about Norse myth and stories that I was able to use a lot of it, and in some cases, put my own spin on it. One cool thing was Mia, the game that Cade plays with Ratatoskr. It was a real Viking gambling game that relied on people lying about their dice tosses. In some cases, the game could turn deadly if your bluff was caught.

  Hliðskjálf was the throne that Odin and Freya sat upon. In myth, it it his throne alone, and it allows him to see the entire kingdom. When Bree travels around Yggdrasil using the different portals, they are all different from the regular portals on earth. One of them gleamed like a rainbow, and it was meant to represent the rainbow bridge that connects Midgard (earth) and Asgard, the realm of the Aesir gods.

  Mímir was in fact a wise man and Jotunn who lived in a well that was associated with his wisdom. He was killed during the Aesir-Vanir war (when two factions of Norse gods fought), but Odin enchanted his head to stay alive and assist him. I stuck to that part of the myth, but the rest was my own invention. Mímir never built himself a creepy body of old animal parts and he never kidnapped Idun, goddess of the apples of immortality.

  Idun was captured, however, and it was from this myth that I borrowed much of Bree’s challenge. The “son of a suitor of Greip” was an actual kenning (Norse poetic turn of phrase) that was used in the story about Idun’s kidnapping. It did actually refer to a giant, in this case Thjazi. Idun was eventually rescued by the gods and Thjazi killed for his transgressions. I changed the story to give it the twist of Mímir conducting the kidnapping, though he never did in the real stories.

  Another Norse story that I borrowed from was the tale of Utgard-Loki and his challenges. I wanted to send Bree on a true Norse hero’s journey, and this was the perfect one. There are two contradictory versions of the tale, but Thor and Loki feature in both. As does the Jotunn, Utgard-Loki (who in some versions in Loki himself). The famous Icelandic scribe Snorri Sturluson recorded one version of this tale. The purpose of this tale was entertainment, and the elements were as ridiculous as I portrayed them to be.

  It’s a much longer tale than what I told, and I twisted it around a bit. The riddle that Mímir asked Bree to solve is actually from this story—the one in which Loki and Logi the fire god battle it out to see who can eat fastest. Logi wins, of course.

  The race against thought, Hugi, was conducted by Thjalfi, a very fast member of Thor’s party. Hugi obviously won. It was Thor who attempted to lift the cat, and also Thor who was required to battle the old woman, who he later learned represented old age. The twist in Master of Magic was that the cat was in a cat lady’s house and the cat lady was old age. I wish I could say that this was my idea, but it came from my friend’s thirteen year old son, Griffin. Zoe, ten years old, helped with other aspects of the story. It turned out to be my favorite part!

  That’s it for the mythological elements in Master of Magic. Hopefully I didn’t miss any other historic elements. Thank you again for reading the books, and I hope you enjoyed Bree’s adventure. Ana’s will be coming up next!

  Acknowledgments

  Thank you, Ben, for everything. There would be no books without you.

  Thank you to Lindsey Loucks and Jena O’Connor for your excellent editing. The book is immensely better because of you! Thank you to Griffin and Zoe for your help with the trials at Yggdrasil. The cat lady and cat house were inspired.

  Thank you to Orina Kafe for the beautiful cover art. Thank you to Collette Markwardt for allowing me to borrow the Pugs of Destruction, who are real dogs named Chaos, Havoc, and Ruckus. They were all adopted from rescue agencies.

  Glossary

  Alpha Council - There are two governments that enforce law for supernaturals—the Alpha Council and the Order of the Magica. The Alpha Council governs all shifters. They work cooperatively with the Alpha Council when necessary—for example, when capturing FireSouls.

  Blood Sorcerer - A type of Magica who can create magic using blood.

  Dark Magic - The kind that is meant to harm. It’s not necessarily bad, but it often is.

  Demons - Often employed to do evil. They live in various hells but can be released upon the earth if you know how to get to them and then get them out. If they are killed on Earth, they are sent back to their hell.

  Dragon Sense - A FireSoul’s ability to find treasure. It is an internal sense that pulls them toward what they seek. It is easiest to find gold, but they can find anything or anyone that is valued by someone.

  Djinn - Possesses invisibility and the ability to possess others for brief periods of time.

  Earthwalking Gods - Reincarnates of the ancient gods who can walk upon the earth. They are mortal but with all the power of that god.

  Eclektica - A jack-of-all-trades who deals in spells.

  Enchanted Artifacts – Artifacts can be imbued with magic that lasts after the death of the person who put the magic into the artifact (unlike a spell that has not been put into an artifact—these spells disappear after the Magica’s death). But magic is not stable. After a period of time—hundreds or thousands of years depending on the circumstance—the magic will degrade. Eventually, it can go bad and cause many problems.

  Fire Mage – A mage who can control fire.

  FireSoul - A very rare type of Magica who shares a piece of the dragon’s
soul. They can locate treasure and steal the gifts (powers) of other supernaturals. With practice, they can manipulate the gifts they steal, becoming the strongest of that gift. They are despised and feared. If they are caught, they are thrown in the Prison of Magical Deviants.

  The Great Peace - The most powerful piece of magic ever created. It hides magic from the eyes of humans.

  Magica - Any supernatural who has the power to create magic—witches, sorcerers, mages. All are governed by the Order of the Magica.

  Order of the Magica - There are two governments that enforce law for supernaturals—the Alpha Council and the Order of the Magica. The Order of the Magica govern all Magica. They work cooperatively with the Alpha Council when necessary—for example, when capturing FireSouls.

  Seeker - A type of supernatural who can find things. FireSouls often pass off their dragon sense as Seeker power.

  Seklie - Sea creatures lived off the coasts of Ireland and Scotland. They are seals who can also become human and draw their magic from the sea.

  Shifter - A supernatural who can turn into an animal. All are governed by the Alpha Council.

  Transporter - A type of supernatural who can travel anywhere. Their power is limited and must regenerate after each use.

  Undercover Protectorate - A secret organization dedicated to protecting supernaturals and solving the crimes that no one else will.

  Vampire - Blood drinking supernaturals with great strength and speed who live in a separate realm.

  About Linsey

  Before becoming a writer, Linsey Hall was a nautical archaeologist who studied shipwrecks from Hawaii and the Yukon to the UK and the Mediterranean. She credits fantasy and historical romances with her love of history and her career as an archaeologist. After a decade of tromping around the globe in search of old bits of stuff that people left lying about, she settled down and started penning her own romance novels. Her Dragon’s Gift series draws upon her love of history and the paranormal elements that she can’t help but include.

  Copyright

  This is a work of fiction. All reference to events, persons, and locale are used fictitiously, except where documented in historical record. Names, characters, and places are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.

  Copyright 2018 by Linsey Hall

  Published by Bonnie Doon Press LLC

  All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form, except in instances of quotation used in critical articles or book review. Where such permission is sufficient, the author grants the right to strip any DRM which may be applied to this work.

  Linsey@LinseyHall.com

  www.LinseyHall.com

  https://www.facebook.com/LinseyHallAuthor

  ISBN 978-1-942085-56-0