Extending Branches: A Nature Wizard Adventure (Magic of Nasci Book 9), page 17
That had been a week ago. With Tita’s recovery and Wuaro’s return to the Bitai Wilds, everything had gone back to normal. Well, almost normal. Tita wanted to see me, and as the shepherd liaison to the innates, I couldn’t refuse.
The only problem was, I had no idea how anyone else in Vincent’s extended clan would act when I showed up.
“Are you absolutely sure everyone knows I’m coming?” I asked Vincent.
He gestured toward the cars packing the driveway and spilling out into the rural road. “It’s a pretty big turnout for Sunday lunch.”
“You’re not helping my nervous butterflies.”
“I thought you liked butterflies.”
“Sure, the real ones that flap around like beautiful little rainbows. Not the nasty stomach ones.”
“Well, unless you’re planning on running away like a coward”—he leaned forward and opened the door with a swift flick of his wrist—“let’s go inside.”
The sound of voices washed over us. I forced Vincent ahead of me, using him as a human shield as we turned toward the living room. He was taller than me, and maybe if I just slipped in the crowd, no one would notice my entrance.
No such luck. The moment Vincent entered the room, conversation died.
My handsome jerk of a boyfriend scooted to the side, exposing me to the stares of both families. I blushed furiously, unable to tell from all those probing eyes how upset they were with me. Even a group of children, who had been playing with action figures near the fireplace, craned their heads to gawk at me.
Vincent wrapped his arm possessively around my shoulder. “Most of you already know her, but here’s Ina.”
“Hi,” I whispered.
A few of the adults muttered back in shy greeting. A few others scrutinized me from head to toe, as if assessing my threat level.
A distinct “harrumph” of disdain cut through the silence. It came from either Teresa or Christy, sitting together on the couch. It was impossible to tell which one had voiced her displeasure, but both clearly backed up the sentiment with their identical frowns.
I considered fleeing from this awkward standoff before Lucia emerged from a nearby hallway. “Vincent! Ina!” she exclaimed. “I’m so glad you could make it.”
Vincent let me go so Lucia could wrap me in a billowing hug with her quarter-sleeves shirt, bangles dangling from her wrists.
“Your aura feels so pure,” she beamed.
Lucia’s warm welcome reset the house’s mood back to normal. Everyone began talking and laughing again, ignoring me. Lucia exchanged a few more pleasantries about my aura before Vincent spared me by pulling her away.
Oscar took that moment to appear beside me. “I hear you got snowplowed by that ugly skull monster.”
“Yeah, it wasn’t great.” I raised an amused eyebrow at him. “Thanks for sticking up for me in front of your family.”
He shrugged. “I knew Lucia would give her blessing. Her approval means a lot more than mine.”
I stole a quick glance at the couch, where Teresa and Christy were still furtively checking me out. “I don’t think I’m universally loved.”
“Maybe not,” Oscar agreed, waving at them so they were forced to pretend they didn’t care what I was up to. “But even though those two hate your guts, everyone else knows you helped save Tita. They may not be ready to openly accept you yet, but they won’t outright shun you either.”
I relaxed. “That’s good to hear.”
Before I could bask in my victory, Oscar had to add, “Just one word of advice: keep the lightning bolts to yourself.”
“Only if they treat you right,” the fox whispered in my head.
Tita appeared before I could process either ridiculous statement. “Ina! I’m so glad you came!” She gave me a tighter hug than Lucia, then abruptly let me go. “And why aren’t you eating?”
“I just got here and—”
“That’s no excuse,” Tita pulled me toward the kitchen, where delicious smells beckoned. “C’mon, Tita’ll get you a plate.”
Vincent saw Tita dragging me over to the buffet counter and flashed me a thumbs up. Then I fell in lock step behind Tita. Even if everyone didn’t want me here, I clearly had a handful of allies in the room.
I hadn’t failed with the innates after all. Plus, I’d helped banish a nasty, powerful vaettur and saved a wonderful person in the process. I’d earned the tamale Tita shoved at me, along with her wrinkled grin.
* * *
HELLO, DEAR READER! Thank you so much for making it all the way through Book 9!
I’m a very small indie author who lives by word of mouth. If you’d like to see more books in this series, there are lots of things you can do to make that happen: tell your friends, share the book on social media, or leave an honest review on Amazon. These let me know what readers enjoy and help me plan on my next project.
If you like my storytelling style, I have another fantasy series about a stressed-out single mother trying to figure out how to deal with her magical teenager. It’s full of witty banter, lots of adventure, and an adorable mother-daughter duo:
MOM OF THE CHOSEN ONE
Finally, you can read three free Magic of Nasci short stories 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: dm@dmfike.com
Facebook: facebook.com/DMFikeAuthor
Amazon: amazon.com/author/dmfike
BookBub: bookbub.com/profile/dm-fike
GoodReads: goodreads.com/dmfike
Instagram: instagram.com/dm.fike
MAGICAL MIDLIFE MOM SERIES
Melissa Hartley discovers that magic exists in the worst way possible: through her teenage daughter. Follow along as she navigates the world of the fae in order to protect her child from an ancient prophecy.
This is a completed urban fantasy series.
BOOK 1: MOM OF THE CHOSEN ONE
BOOK 2: MOM ON A QUEST
BOOK 3: MOM IN SHINING ARMOR
BOOK 4: MOM’S LAST STAND
LEGEND OF LLENWALD SERIES
“I drive like I color: outside the lines.” – Nobody the gremlin
Avalon Benton has nothing: no parents, no money, and no future. Her bland existence unravels when a mysterious knight statue shows up at the Hall of Mirrors at the theme park where she works. A beggar begins stalking her every move, and she has abilities she cannot explain. As Avalon gets pulled toward a secret world where others covet her legendary powers, she must decide whom to trust—an amnesiac fairy, a shapeshifting trickster, or even her former doctor—all of whom may only be exploiting her for their own gain.
BOOK 1: MAGIC PORTAL
BOOK 2: MAGIC CURSE
BOOK 3: MAGIC PROPHECY
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.
Bundun (BUHN-duhn): A scorpion vaettur.
Callum (KAL-uhm): Forge apprentice for the southern homestead.
Charm (chahrm): An object that stores pith or recreates the properties of a sigil.
Christy (KRIS-tee): Vincent Garcia’s ex-wife and Lucia’s daughter.
Chumal (CHOO-mahl): A locust vaettur that tends to travel in swarms.
Cleft (kleft): An opening in the earth where vitae spills.
Cockatrice (KAH-kuh-tris): A dragon and rooster hybrid vaettur with a Medusa gaze.
Cologat (KOH-loh-gaht): A rat vaettur covered in feathers.
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.
Elif (EY-lif): The forger of the northern Talol Wilds homestead.
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.
Fenrir (FEN-reer): A legendary wolf vaettur.
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).
Innate (ih-NEYT): A regular human who has mild elemental abilities.
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.
Kenawa (ken-AH-wah): A small toad vaettur.
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.
Lesion (LEE-zhuhn): A wound in the earth unnaturally inflicted upon Nasci.
Letum (LE-tuhm): The realm where the vaetturs originate.
Mishipeshu (mi-shee-PE-shoo): An aquatic feline vaettur with mysterious powers.
Mulruka (muhl-RUH-kah): A jackal bat vaettur.
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.
Oscar Soto (OS-ker SOH-toh): Vincent Garcia’s cousin and water innate.
Petition (puh-TISH-uhn): A grievance raised by a shepherd that must be resolved by the Oracle.
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.
Sertalis (SUR-tah-lis): Fire augur for the northern homestead in the Talol Wilds.
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.
Teresa Garcia (tey-REY-sa gahr-SEE-uh): Vincent Garcia’s mother and earth innate.
Tita (TEE-tah): Vincent Garcia’s grandmother.
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.
Ward (wawrd): A forge enchantment that either dampens magical energy (damp ward) or amplifies it (amp ward).
Wendigo (WIN-di-goh): A bipedal deer vaettur with a skull head associated with snow.
Wisp channel (wisp CHAN-el): Glowing lights that shepherds use to teleport large distances.
Wuaro (WAHR-oh): A Bitai Wilds shepherd specializing in water.
Yoi (YOH-ee): The Oracle of the Talol Wilds.
Zibel (ZAHY-bel): A shepherd who spends most of his time in the Oregon Dunes.
A SPECIAL THANK YOU
Writing a book is one thing, getting it out to the world is another. 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 photographer Danan Rolfe so we had plenty of great photos of Ina to choose for the cover.
Sandra Schiller and Jennifer Marshall were fantastic beta readers, catching many pesky grammar errors. Samantha Marshall also provided support during the writing process.
One final shoutout to Jacob Fike, who lends both his time and artistic skills to making each of my books better. I couldn’t do this without him.
DM Fike, Extending Branches: A Nature Wizard Adventure (Magic of Nasci Book 9)
