by DM Fike
Darby deserved it. Really, she did. Without her, I wouldn’t be alive today. It didn’t matter that she hated me now. I could silently cheer for her from above in the trees and pray that perhaps, with time, Darby would come around.
Because I was a full-blown shepherd too. I’d passed my Shepherd Trial by destroying Rafe’s pithways. He would never hurt anyone again. And although a part of me wished for a celebration too, I wouldn’t ask for one. I’d broken too many rules, caused too much trouble. Nasci’s blessing or not, the others saw me even more as an outsider now than they had when I was an eyas. I was too much of a ticking bomb for them.
A rumble broke out in my kangaroo pouch. My phone. I had to go. I meant to duck away quietly back into the forest to the nearest wisp channel.
A familiar whisper in my ear stopped me in my tracks. “You do not wish to join us?”
I paused and glanced back down into the valley. Guntram had his arms folded under his shredded cloak, staring up in my direction. Very discreetly, he nodded his head toward the throng of dancing and laughing shepherds behind him.
I shook my head no, but it warmed my heart that Guntram had tried to include me. He was no longer my mentor, but he was still a high-ranking augur of the Talol Wilds. I would always admire him, and I cherished that he welcomed me as one of his peers.
But I had promised to be somewhere else, and I really needed to go.
I made it to the seedy little bar in Florence in minutes. There weren’t any motorcycles outside, thankfully, and inside only a few tourists drank away their summer blues.
Despite arriving on time, Vincent was already there, seated in a booth with hamburger and fries already waiting for me. I slid into the bench opposite him with the largest, stupidest grin plastered across my face.
I pointed at the food. “It’s like you know me, Vince.”
He returned my smile. “I’m getting there. How did it go?”
I nibbled on a French fry. “She’s a beautiful shepherd.”
“That makes two of you.”
I rolled my eyes. “You are so full of it.”
He crossed his heart. “My word speaks only truth.” Then he pulled out his cell phone to show me a recent news headline. “The grand jury moved Rafe’s outstanding arson case forward. Not Foster’s house fire but the beach one from months ago. Looks like there’s enough evidence to convict him for that at least.”
I scowled, thinking of all the grief Rafe had caused. Tabitha’s death, Borden’s drowning, Foster’s car “accident,” not to mention the many other crimes that had happened before I met him. “It’s not enough.”
“If he’s convicted on arson, it’s a start.” Vincent bit into his own fish and chips. “Next up will be Foster’s house fire. I’d love to be there when Rafe tries to explain the video security footage. Things will fall in place, and different jurisdictions will stick him with as much as they can.”
I swirled the pop in my glass. “I should have done more.”
Vincent took my hand from across the table. “I’m not sure how much more you can do in the criminal justice system. You’re a nature wizard, remember? You beat down vaetturs and summon lightning. Most people would give their left foot to do that.”
I sighed. “I wish things had turned out differently. That no one had to die.”
His eyes softened. “I get it. I really do. I’m in law enforcement. We see the worst of people. Justice doesn’t always get served. But every day, we have to get back up and go out there because if we don’t do something about it, who will?”
He had the right attitude, even if my mopey butt didn’t want to admit it. “I guess you’re right.”
Vincent leaned back in the booth, stretching a confident knee out into the aisle. “Of course, I’m right.”
I decided to wipe that cocky grin right off his face. “That’s not a nice thing to say on a date.”
It worked. Vincent nearly fell out of the booth. “Is that what this is?”
“I don’t know,” I said honestly, leaning forward on my elbows. “Is it? Or should we keep this strictly platonic? I don’t want to make things too complicated.”
Vincent reddened but straightened, his dark eyes boring into mine. “Hell, it’s complicated already. Why not?”
I nodded in complete agreement. Why not indeed. I really had no idea what the future held, not as a shepherd or with Vincent. I probably never would. But at the moment, I had greasy food, a real friend, and a charm necklace full of pith.
What more could a shepherd want?
WANT MORE INA?
If you loved Ina’s story and want me to write more, please consider leaving an honest review on Amazon for this book. I have ideas for a follow-up trilogy for Ina’s growing powers, and I will write it if I get enough interest.
You can also check out my next series, a portal fantasy that will take college dropout Avalon Benton from her minimum wage carnival job to a whole other world:
MAGIC PORTAL
You can also get a free Magic of Nasci short story by subscribing to my newsletter at dmfike.com.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
DM Fike worked in the video game industry for over a decade, starting out as a project manager and eventually becoming a story writer for characters, plots, and missions. Born in Idaho’s Magic Valley (you can’t make this stuff up), DM Fike lived in Japan teaching English before calling Oregon home. She loves family, fantasy, and food (mostly in that order) and is on the constant look out for new co-op board games to play.
More places to keep in touch:
Website: dmfike.com
Email: [email protected]
Facebook: facebook.com/DMFikeAuthor
Amazon: amazon.com/author/dmfike
BookBub: bookbub.com/profile/dm-fike
GoodReads: goodreads.com/dmfike
MAGIC OF NASCI SERIES
Ina is a rookie nature wizard, learning the ropes of elemental magic—fire, air, earth, and water. She can also wield lightning, setting her apart from the other shepherds of Nasci. This action-packed urban fantasy series takes you on Ina’s adventure to prove herself, deep within the heart of the Pacific Northwest forests, where true power still thrives.
BOOK 1: CHASING LIGHTNING
BOOK 2: BREATHING WATER
BOOK 3: RUNNING INTO FIRE
BOOK 4: SHATTERING EARTH
BOOK 5: SOARING IN AIR
APPENDIX: NAMES AND TERMS
This section contains a glossary of Nasci-specific terms and characters with pronunciations, presented in alphabetical order.
Afanc (aw-FAHNK): A beaver vaettur with crocodile features.
Augur (AW-ger): The second highest mastery in the shepherd hierarchy. Augurs have complete control over one element, have a special link to their kidama species, and can train eyas-level shepherds.
Azar (uh-ZAHR): A talented fire shepherd.
Banish (BAN-ish): To send a vaettur back to Letum using magical means.
Baot (bout): A water shepherd who spends most of his time in the Pacific Ocean.
Bitai Wilds (bee-TAHY wahylds): The ecological region of desert encompassing the American West and Mexico that is overseen by a specific sect of shepherds.
Boobrie (BOOB-ree): A giant camouflaging bird vaettur.
Bound (bound): To seal a shepherd’s pithways so that they can no longer access their magic.
Breach (breech): The interdimensional portal vaetturs create to travel from Letum to our world.
Charm (chahrm): An object that stores pith or recreates the properties of a sigil.
Cleft (kleft): An opening in the earth where vitae spills.
Cockatrice (KAH-kuh-tris): A dragon and rooster hybrid vaettur with a Medusa gaze.
Darby (DAHR-bee): A rookie shepherd with a talent for earth magic.
Dryant (DRAHY-ant): An animal with magical powers that guards others of its kind or territory. A dryant used to be a normal animal until it was blessed with Nasci’s essence.
Etching (ECH-ing): A
symbol that is marked on a specific object to give it pith or the properties of a sigil.
Eyas (AHY-uhs): A rookie (and the lowest level) shepherd.
Fechin (FE-chin): Guntram’s favorite raven kidama.
Forger (FORJ-er): A follower of Nasci who can sense the four elements (earth, fire, air, and water) and redirect them into objects.
Golem (GOH-luhm): A creature made of pure pith.
Guntram (GOON-trahm): Ina’s mentor and master air augur. Ina sometimes calls him Jichan (JEE-chahn), which means “Gramps” in Japanese.
Gyascutus (gee-uh-SKOO-tuhs): A wild boar vaettur with one side of its legs longer than the other to walk on hills.
Haggard (HAG-erd): A derogatory term for a shepherd that began training after puberty.
Homestead (HOHM-sted): A secret base with farms and other resources that shepherds visit to rejuvenate themselves and gather supplies.
Ina (EE-nah): A rookie shepherd with mysterious lightning powers. Her real name is Imogene Nakamori (IM-uh-jeen Nah-KAH-moh-ree).
Jortur (JOR-ter): One of Tabitha’s favorite black-tailed deer kidama.
Kam (kam): Sipho’s female, dark-coated mountain lion who’s active at night.
Kappa (KAHP-pah): An aquatic humanoid frog vaettur.
Kembar stones (KEM-bahr stohns): Two stones that are linked like wisp channels.
Ken (ken): Magical sight granted by Nasci that allows a person to sense pith and see vaetturs and dryants.
Khalkotauroi (kal-koh-TOU-roi): A fiery bull vaettur.
Kidama (kee-DAH-mah): A species of animals that augurs can communicate with telepathically and give orders to.
Letum (LE-tuhm): The realm where the vaetturs originate.
Mishipeshu (mi-shee-PE-shoo): An aquatic feline vaettur with mysterious powers.
Nasci (NAHS-kee): The goddess that lives in the center of the Earth who grants elemental powers to her followers.
Nur (ner): Sipho’s male, light-coated mountain lion who’s active during the day.
Onyara Wilds (ohn-YAHR-ah wahylds): The ecological region of temperate deciduous forests of the Eastern United States that is overseen by a specific sect of shepherds.
Oracle (OR-uh-kuhl): The highest level of shepherd who leads all shepherds within a Wilds territory.
Pith (pith): The essence of fire, earth, air, or water that can be converted into magical energy.
Pithways (PITH-weys): A magical system that shepherds have inside their bodies to redirect and store pith.
Rafe (reyf): A mysterious stranger who shows up in the woods.
Ronan (ROH-nuhn): An antlered harbor seal dryant that lives on the Oregon coast.
Shepherd (SHEP-erd): A follower of Nasci who can store the four elements (earth, fire, air, and water) in their bodies and cast them using sigils. Also the third highest mastery of shepherd, just above an eyas.
Shepherd Trial (SHEP-erd TRAY-uhl): A rite of passage an eyas takes before becoming a full-fledged shepherd.
Sigil (SIJ-il): A symbol drawn in the air by shepherds to convert their pith into a specific magical spell.
Sipho (SI-foh): The forger of the southern Talol Wilds homestead.
Sova (SOH-vah): A northern spotted owl dryant with metallic mauve streaks in her wings.
Tabitha (TAB-i-thuh): Darby’s mentor and master earth augur.
Talol Wilds (tah-LOL wahylds): The ecological region of temperate rainforests stretching from British Columbia to northern California that is overseen by a specific sect of shepherds.
Vaettur (VEY-ter): A predatory creature from Letum that enters our world to devour pith via animals and dryants.
Vincent Garcia (VIN-suhnt gahr-SEE-uh): A game warden for the Oregon State Police.
Vitae (VEE-tahy): The lifeblood of Nasci used to create new dryants.
Wisp channel (wisp CHAN-el): Glowing lights that shepherds use to teleport large distances.
Yoi (YOH-ee): The Oracle of the Talol Wilds.
Zibel (ZAHY-bel): A shepherd who spends most of his time in the Oregon Dunes.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Writing a book is one thing, getting it out to the world is another. I'd like to thank those who read early versions of this story, including Jennifer Marshall and Sandra Schiller. You helped shape Ina into the awesome shepherd she has become.
Many talented people gave this book the professional care it deserved. I found my editor Lori Diederich through the 20Booksto50K Facebook group, an invaluable resource for new writers. Sara Smestad modeled for Danan Rolfe so we had plenty of great photos to choose for the cover.
A few final shout-outs. One to my first fan, Samantha Marshall, who believed before anyone else. The last goes to Jacob Fike, who lends both his time and skills to making each of my books better. I couldn’t do this without him.
