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The House WitchThe House Witch by Delemhach

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I picked this up because I needed a light and whimsical book. I think this is perfect for those who grew up reading books by Patricia Wrede and Jessica Day George but are now old enough to crack a dirty pun without being hissed at by an adult. I think it's fine for teens, young adults, and older folk... but do be aware if you disapprove of such puns for your teen... Honestly, they hear far worse in the school yard and crack worse during sleepovers. There isn't a lot of it in here, but it's there. I cracked up at the part about waiting for the 8-year-old to "drink properly."

The main character is a male witch (THANK YOU to the author for that, from a witch) trying to find a place in the world for himself. I like him because he's within my dating range bracket (if I were on the market), he's witty, he's easily annoyed by people's nonsense, and he keeps his to a minimum... albeit a bit thick in the romance arena. The female lead has her own agenda, and at first, they do NOT hit it off, but they grow on each other while he tries to hide his true self from an entire castle. Quite the challenge for a cook.

This has themes of acceptance, love for oneself as well as others, fairness, and growing into one's inner power. I LOVE the fact he's in his 30's I'm still maturing and not quite there yet. There's plenty to enjoy for those 14ish and up. Just... watch out for that "son of a mage," which is now my new favorite curse.



View all my reviews
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 Despite many personal setbacks the summer questline has been uploaded to the development tickets for Obs to review and concoct the code for. I need to outline soon for Halloween's to make sure it is ready in time. I hate my back, and the heat, and need to quit pushing myself to where one little thing can break my whole body system. I still need to finish that book cover so I can work on Ravenesque, Selkies', and the personal projects.
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This is a very belated video, but this allowed me to not only do the unboxing (yes in my favorite pajama top, it was cold and that was handy) and then my impressions after using it several weeks (now roasting and not needing flannels) of the Pro-Draw Grip designed by illustrator and Youtuber BeeJayDel.

The link below takes you to where it can be purchased on Amazon for cheaper than what I paid for it earlier.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C21XNJJC/ref=cm_sw_r_as_gl_api_gl_i_XDWXJ1SFSMFF2WB5MW5R?linkCode=ml1&tag=beejaydel01-20

Forgive the slowness in my work. I can't even sit up long without the twinging, tingling, and burning in both legs. Things are changing in my spine and I'm having to readapt myself.

Leave those sleeves alone, I fixed them after it registered the edges were more worn than I realized. It's a favorite one. It's comfy and not scratchy.

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I need to make some catchup art posts, most Mermay related.

Mermay & Selkies' Skins related:









Instagram post (cropped)



Original Ratio




This one also has an accompanying "Selkies' Skins" short story set when Kirsty was a very tiny baby that you can read either at the
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There are other mushroom pieces I will do for a sheet of mushroom stickers. I don't expect I can afford a booth at the local Mushroom Festival this year or get items produced in time for this year. I am focusing on being able to afford my yearly booth at the Lumberjack Fiesta in McCloud and need to double-check how much I owe for this year's calendar ad (only one of the two ladies involved in calendar expenses has contacted me so far). However, perhaps the sheet as well as Lumberjack-related sticker art will both be ready and printed by that time.
 
The first one played around with in this video is inspirited by the Blue Oyster mushroom. The second is taking extreme liberty with the Inky Cap mushroom.
 
These are done in Procreate on an iPad (9th generation) using an iPencil (1st). The first one used mainly the studio ink brush in the inking. The second focused on using the waterbrush from the calligraphy set.
 
Before anyone asks why so much more time was spent on the first it is because I became dissatisfied with the colors. And style. And picky.
 
Music: "Magic Moon - Restless heart (rnb beat mix)" by RobbH 
2011 - Licensed under
Creative Commons
Attribution (3.0)
 
 
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Friday the 24th at 3 PM Pacific Time my interview with Nancy Stohlman, author, performer, and professor premieres on Youtube. I will also publish to my podcast host service to push out to Spotify, iTunes, Google Podcasts, and more. The audio is already posted to my Patreon in a patron-only level to allow my Patreon Patrons a chance to hear it first.
 
In this interview, I chat with Nancy about her latest flash novel, "After the Rapture," writing, life, routines, and about being a professor, and the importance of college.
 
Nancy Stohlman is the author of six books including Going Short: An Invitation to Flash Fiction (2020), winner of the 2021 Reader Views Gold Award and re-released in 2022 as an audiobook. Her fiction includes After the Rapture (March 7, 2023), Madam Velvet’s Cabaret of Oddities (2018), The Vixen Scream and Other Bible Stories (2014), The Monster Opera (2013), and Searching for Suzi: a flash novel (2009). Nancy’s work has been anthologized widely, appeared in the Norton anthology New Micro: Exceptionally Short Fiction and The Best Small Fictions 2019, as well as adapted for stage and screen. She teaches at the University of Colorado Boulder, as well as around the world through online instruction and destination retreats. 
 
CONNECT WITH NANCY ONLINE 
OFFICIAL WEBSITE: NancyStohlman.com
FACEBOOK: /nancy.stohlman
YOUTUBE: /nancystohlman
TWITTER: @nancystohlman
FLASH FICTION RETREATS: flashfictionretreats.com
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 I'd have to ask my brother for the time of the accident that we were almost part of earlier today. He is the one that called it in. Three semi trucks going down the 89 with no chains, two lost their momentum or traction, another tried to get around them and jack knifed. It all happened too fast for me to see although I remember seeing some pale green/teal. I was more occupied with "don't crash into this mess that's exploded." We then had to do traffic control on our side of the accident until CHP arrived, I remember the Super for... Caltrans I think... getting there before he managed to. It seemed like ages that we were there, my brother having to do control and relay messages, and had me tasked with holding a chosen turnaround point open for when the tow rig(s) arrived so that they could be able to back up to the stuck semis.
Tow truck operator somehow did not get the message from CHP that a place was being held for turnaround. He tried it behind the other part of the line. It took the blower to get them out. Quite the mess today was.
However, we are alive. And there were no injuries unless someone hurt themselves after my brother had done his checks. I'm done with excitement now. Thanks. This being in the right place at the right time? I'd like a little more warning.
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 Last month did not give me the opportunity to keep up with the haiku a day challenge. However, my uncle seemed to be getting better when I went to visit him with my mother. We saw another of her brothers and other various family members along the way. Due to this, we did not have to have as many hotel rooms as we might have had to.
We also got a good reminder of what happens when I push too far at driving, and of what exhaustion can induce. I was not allowed to drive as much as I would have shouldered otherwise.
With that out of the way, it is time to at least catch up and post enough haiku to make up for last month's derailed attempt. I will not partake in March of Robots this year though. I have too many other things on my plate, including a very exciting prospective one.
 
15
The rushing winter
Fingers, combs a stony face.
Wind carving time out
16
Expand, contract, wait
Thaw, freeze, stretch, crack, chip, crumble
Fall, Tumble, Change, Grow
17
Bittersweet darkness
Languid in a mobile pool
Embraces daydreams
18
Constantly rolling
Miles fall away swift behind
Yet more always loom
19
Floating high above
Shining mantles spread across
A cobalt steel sky
20
Steel lace froths across
Satin smooth waters deep and dark
Where dreams lay rest
21
One leaf, then the next
Turns and falls away upon
The spine once tight bound
22
Drop by steady drop
Her fringe grows long, clear, and pure
Above empty eyes
23
A path winding down
Never knows until the day
The drop from the end
24
Frost sparkle skin lays
Glowing below sun fingers
Waiting to be marred
25
A blanket of green
Drowses beneath the empty boles
Spring slowly waking
26
Lights dance within the
Gash of the eager cavern
Moss hiding the path
27
A Mountain Maiden
Presides above the valley
Granting her water
28
A claw rakes paper
Watching as the ink spreads out
And a month ends dark
If these haiku have been appreciated, you can support me at my Patreon, or feel free to Venmo, Cashapp, or even send tips via Square and Paypal which can all be found at my Linktree. https://www.linktr.ee/Amehana
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 I fell behind and won't have haiku lined up to auto publish, so I will have to publish in spits and spats the rest of the month. For now, catching back up here.
10
A flash of starlight
Upon curving silver horn
Calls a tone within
11
Whirling burning skirts
Sweep and flare through the forest
With a blazing heart
12
Burning chill fast spreads
Through lungs each shuddering breath
with Spring and Winter
13
Fallen sentinel
Sprawls across the winding way
Sap too cold to flow
14
Do you hear it still?
The heart beating between us.
One rhythm, one breath. One.
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Haiku 6 2023
A single snowflake
Falls to her waiting sisters
Then joins the river

Haiku 7 2023
Night fades into day
My arms release you so that
My hands can lift seed
 
Haiku 8 2023
She spreads glowing sparks
After she dons her crescent
And her veil darkens

Haiku 9 2023
Available early for Patrons on Patreon and Ko-fi, live to the public at 2 PM of the 9th on Patreon, Ko-fi, and DeviantArt.

Haiku 5 2023 actually got a mention in the week's HaikuWriMo participation Feature on Deviant Art by CouchSessions. That's really awesome considering how many awesome poets and amazing haiku were submitted thus far. I haven't gotten to do more than glance through the folder, but I've seen some wonderful ones. I'm so glad they were able to write up a feature, and very honored. See for yourself!

Don't forget about Patreon, and Ko-fi. You can see those and other ways to support my endeavors at my Linktree: Https://www.linktr.ee/Amehana
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The veil stays caught
Held by slim frozen fingers
Over river's face
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Tracks to nowhere weep
Long reclaimed by sprouting pines
Wait for bygone wheels
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 I miss being able to crosspost right to my Livejournal for the things I want on both.

Here are the haiku for this month so far. I have a bit of a late start so I have done all three today. I plan to do one a day for the whole month of February for Haiku Month.

#1
 
The rain falls singing
 
Winter softly cries again
 
But few care to hear
 
 
 
#2
 
Fire lances hotly
 
Stubborn breath still flows through, surge
 
But eyes fade and dim
 
 
 
#3
 
Below, white shifting
 
Peaks form and fade out beneath
 
The shadow of wings



They are also on my Patreon, my Ko-fi, will be on my LiveJournal, and my Publisher and Artist pages on Facebook. Check where else I can be found and ways to be supportive via my Linktree. www.linktr.ee/Amehana
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 Things have been busy with Dragon Hearts RPG lately. The Halloween/Samhain seasonal quest for the year has been pushed live on the main website after the code was play tested.

Challenge setting:

Once again the leaves phase colours into their fall glory and then dry to blow away in the winds moving between the worlds. Did the forest really produce this many leaves though? Something doesn't seem quite right. Piles of leaves reach to the eaves of the houses and obscure the entrances of caves. They swirl through streets, forest paths, and even over the oceans and deserts. Carve a pumpkin? Expect to be greeted by an explosion of leaves and squash guts once you've got that top circle done.

Visit the event page to explore.
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The Dragon Hearts RPG Beta Site has been updated.
 
Dragon Fangs and Black Days have been added.
 
While in beta you can purchase as many Dragon Fangs as you like for free.
 





Thank you Bear for all your hard work steadily redoing the code base to make for a more stable game site. It is exciting to see the progress toward being able to eventually merge these changes to the live main site.
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 I have not been this sad about a royal since Princess Diana's death. I looked up to Queen Elizabeth a lot. A royal that could fix a vehicle herself amazed me, and she still had poise and class. I tried to be like her in many ways, especially when something bothered me. I would ask "what would she do here?'
 
Since I'm the one that handles the social media accounts/pages for Dragon Hearts RPG as well those for my own company I knew that Rowan would want me to make an announcement on the gamesite as well as those channels I mentioned. It is a world event of import to Dragon Hearts because it is based in and coded from the UK, and Rowan currently lives there. It is of importance to my publishing company because he is one of my clients even though I myself am based in the United States.
 
I find it interesting how things like the death of a monarch are a shared link and interest in areas one would not ordinarily even expect. What do you think? Do you think that world events should have any importance to companies, stories, and games?
 
#socialmedia #publishing #rpgpublishing #queenelizabeth #unitedkingdom

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The Dragon Hearts RPG beta site has been updated.
familiars have been added and everyone's existing familiars migrated.
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Welcome back to the story! If you don't wish to use the Selkies' Skin tag to find the entries, check the ToC on the Sticky Note at Dreamwidth. Story is mirrored to my LiveJournal, from my Dreamwidth, as well as on a dedicated site. For story news and more, subscribe to my Twitter (@AmehanaArashi) or go on Facebook and like either THG StarDragon Publishing or Selkies' Skins. As always, the main tag for the full story is selkies' skins and the tag for "Temple and Skinquest" is selkies' skins 2.

Book one (Castle and Well) of Selkies' Skins is available in entirety in ebook format as of March 16th, beginning at
Smashwords. The print edition is now available on Amazon and Lulu with Samantha Buckley's stunning cover depicting Kirsty and the storm. An audio edition of the first book in the series narrated by Illya Leonov and now available on Amazon, iTunes, and Audible, with other venues pending. He has finished "Book of Seals: Pearls of Sea and Stone" which accompanies and precedes Selkies' Skins: Castle and Well. (click to hear what he sounds like in past recordings of other projects)

Interested in helping support the free version of this book and other projects? Visit 

http://www.patreon.com/Amehana
Find more of my projects via my Linktree:
https://www.linktr.ee/Amehana


Selkies' Skins 2
Section 3: Emergence
Installment 53
Chapter 23a
The Serpent's Knot (working title)
 


“I think that’s enough studying for today.” David frowned at her.

Kirsty blinked at him and looked up from the shoulder currently serving as her pillow. Her cheeks felt hot and stung. By the way his eyes lingered on her cheeks she knew she was red enough to notice. Her arm tightened around his back when the dizziness increased and the sensation of cobwebs and strings being pulled away intensified.

“Should you have a child, whether with the boy or another, you must tell them NOT to strain forward in time.” Mara’s voice brushed her inner ears while the scent of salt filled her nose. It echoed, far off and wavering like a distant radio signal. “Tell me, are there times in classes where you had headaches, perhaps nosebleeds, the last year in school?”

“Way too soon to think about kids, but she is old and once I would have been the right age.”

David’s nose twitched and he looked more curiously into her face as the sea’s scent wafted from her breath into his own. 

“That’s noteworthy…” he thought, followed out loud by, “Definitely enough studying. Matron Laryna told to me to make sure you took it easy.”

“But how did we get out here?” She touched her nose lightly. The burn inside made her nibble her lip and wait to see if there would be the dreaded trickle.

His gaze sharpened and the arm she was nestled in tightened as he pulled the book she held open on her lap decisively away and snapped it shut. “We walked after she cleared you to come have some fresh air with me.” He sighed in exasperation and no small amount of hurt since she’d also held his hand during that walk. “You don’t remember? You had begged her to release you early.”

Kirsty shook her head then stopped when it brought back the pressure between her brows. “I don’t, but if you say we did and that I said so, that must be what happened. I’m sorry. Sorry my memories are so scattered.” Her eyes met his and she hoped the shame she felt wasn’t obvious.

His blue eyes only looked into hers in concern, though she saw an unasked and bothered question behind them.

She cast around and tried to remember. She had very hazy memories of the medical wing very slowly returning to focus. Mostly it was blips. The rustle of the Matron’s gown, the sound of David’s voice reading to her while she must have been unconscious, the feel of his hand in hers, the murmuring voices of their friends with him. Questions. Theories. Her aunt’s voice. A short litany of what potions she was taking to regulate the things her age now required when David asked about interactions sometime that he was present during administration. Being hungry and writing a letter that hadn’t been answered yet. Time mashed together and moved in ways she didn’t like.

Where had her school year gone? She knew she’d lived it. Plenty of classes, surely. She did write letter that didn’t she? There was definitely a promise to David that she was going to write that letter.

He frowned and kissed her forehead as lightly as he could. “I’m just worried. You were unwell for too long this time for my liking even before we convinced you to get looked at.”

“Do you ever? I certainly don’t like being unwell.”

“No.” As unobtrusively as he could he tried to check her pupils and how they reacted to the change in light from his shifting. “I really hope this is the last time. I’m the one that’s supposed to have ‘mysterious afflictions’ now and then. Not you.”

She blushed deeper at the kiss, smiling a bit and chuckling very quietly and carefully after the joke processed and kissed his cheek. “Bloody noses I’m sure are not high on the list of attractive features except to vampires.
 

“That’s better. I prefer your smile.” He put the book they had been reading together out of the way before slipping both arms around her and laid his head softly over hers when it settled where he’d hoped. “I would have an issue with any vampire going after your nose though. Let’s avoid you putting that mental image in my head again.” When she snuggled more into him and relaxed further the tautness of his body lessened slightly, then continued releasing when he was more certain her melting into him was comfort and not mere exhaustion.

They sat like that on the bench a bit longer while a group of students passed them by on their way to a class. Their eyes landed on the pair then slid away. It was not an unusual thing to see her leaned into him, although his gaze warned them away today. One nodded as they passed, acknowledging the unspoken request. Kirsty continued to rest like that, listening to the steady rhythm of his heart and breathing, the song of the blood moving in his veins, small waves circulating. She smiled slightly.

The moment passed as they all do and he rubbed her back gently after checking his watch. “Time for class.”

“Ok.” She sighed and extricated herself.

He took her hand unthinkingly and helped her rise before they gathered their few possessions and made their way back in. Kirsty paused a moment before they began up the steps, looking above the doorway with furrowed brow and twisted gut.

“Kirsty?” He looked up to the lintel and then back. The symbols of the three houses continued their normal gaze, each busy with checking and rechecking students that passed beneath.

“It’s silly… I just wish there were another way back in.”

“Why?” Now his eyebrows furrowed and drew together before raising in question. Other students continued through and around, though they were neatly off to one side so that anyone running would pass them without jostling.

“I’m… not sure. Something.” She nodded toward the serpent holding its tail, shivering when the eyes landed on hers.

“I’m not sure there is another way in right now, not that we can use. I’m still not clear on why they designed it this way.” He took her hand and squeezed it when she still hesitated. “It can’t get you. He is up there. We are down here. The charm is just some form of mind sifting. Nothing that should hurt you.” David wasn’t clear on why he said the last words, but the set of her mouth and wideness of her eyes bothered him.

A stone snake wasn’t something he could deal with unless it made an obvious move, despite his own uncomfortable experiences with it. He narrowed his eyes at it.

“You’re right. Can’t hurt me. Silly.” She reached up and rubbed between her eyebrows before starting walking again. She squeezed his hand again as they passed underneath, trying to shut her mind when the scaly touch came to it.

He felt her draw away as they passed beneath though her hand was firmly in his and stinging from the brief force of her grip before they were once more out. “Maybe I’m wrong. Maybe it has already hurt her somehow. But how? What do I even look through to find out what to do about it?”

Class passed without remark and mercifully without nosebleed, fainting spell, nor any slightly greenish tinge to her cheeks. He waited for her to be busy with her own affairs before paying a visit to his own head of house, Professor Elphen.

 

Thank you for reading along with the webnovel version of this book. This has gone up on the Web Fiction Guide, so reviews of the current story developing are welcome, as are votes.

Please do consider making a donation, or buying the complete book (or even the whole series, as it becomes available). The donations help pay costs such as editing, but also help put food on the table. Rather make an offline tip? Write me for a mailing address.
Or you can become a monthly patron through Patreon!

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at Ko-fi.com?

As always, if you see any typos, please let me know so I can fix those, they don't always save when applied. I repeat that this is the webnovel version of the book and may differ somewhat from the print and ebook versions when the text is completed and through processing. Thank you for being part of the story behind the story.


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Welcome back to the story! If you don't wish to use the Selkies' Skin tag to find the entries, check the ToC on the Sticky Note at Dreamwidth. Story is mirrored to my LiveJournal, from my Dreamwidth, as well as on a dedicated site. For story news and more, subscribe to my Twitter (@AmehanaArashi) or go on Facebook and like either THG StarDragon Publishing or Selkies' Skins. As always, the main tag for the full story is selkies' skins and the tag for "Temple and Skinquest" is selkies' skins 2.

Book one (Castle and Well) of Selkies' Skins is available in entirety in ebook format as of March 16th, beginning at
Smashwords. The print edition is now available on Amazon and Lulu with Samantha Buckley's stunning cover depicting Kirsty and the storm. An audio edition of the first book in the series narrated by Illya Leonov and now available on Amazon, iTunes, and Audible, with other venues pending. He has finished "Book of Seals: Pearls of Sea and Stone" which accompanies and precedes Selkies' Skins: Castle and Well. (click to hear what he sounds like in past recordings of other projects)

Interested in helping support the free version of this book and other projects? Visit 

http://www.patreon.com/Amehana
Find more of my projects via my Linktree:
https://www.linktr.ee/Amehana


Selkies' Skins 2
Section 3: Emergence
Installment 52
Chapter 22
Whale Graveyard
Untangling the Web, Shifting the Veil


The water passed by, and Kirsty found herself falling deeper into a reverence for the passing of time. She saw creatures of bygone eras from time to time but they did not notice her, or at least chose not to interact. Testing a theory she put a hand out beyond the path and saw a school of very large, savage looking, and toothy fish turn toward her as one. She promptly pulled her hand back within the ley line’s boundary. At one point she saw a large shape roving ahead in her path that by its size and shape could only be a megalodon. Kirsty did not repeat her experiment.
Her blood ran cold, but she tucked that fear into herself as far as she could. It was not Mara herself in that ancient form, but an actual shark. It continued on, away from her path, and she thanked Mara not to have to face such a creature in combat. There would be no rebirth after the devouring nor regrowth of limb with an ordinary shark.
The water began to change after passing through where the megalodon had been. Another cliff rose above her, promising that even further above and beyond would be another continent drifting away from the chasm. In this area columns rose above in challenge to the geology, and the bones ceased. Kelp danced in the current, waving colors from brown, to red, and to green. Fluorescence danced along the blades and revealed strange markings and eldritch sentences.
Kirsty sighed deeply and hung her head a moment, hanging in the water at the boundary. She rubbed her nose a moment and pinched the bridge, then shook her head and continued on after checking her pouch, net, and makeshift spear were in order. The kelp forest parted for her along the ley line, guiding her through the columns to an archway. The cliff disappeared, leaving only the archway.
Kirsty backed up. The cliff reappeared. She groaned.
“Ok. I get it, Mara. I get it. You don’t have to follow the rules of geology in a time pocket if you don’t want to. Right?”
She swam through the archway and into the warmer, shallower water beyond. The cliff disappeared as before and revealed a much shallower plain. The kelp forest continued dancing and she observed schools of fish going about their business. The ley line led on and as she followed it the sound of whale song grew louder and louder. Smaller voices joined larger voices. A chill sent her fur on end, and had she been sunning on a beach she would have puffed, but the water held her fur to her body.
“Calves… Birthing ground? Oh no…”
A ghostly white pod came to view much closer to the ley line than she wished to see it in case she were mistaken for a roving shark. Even if she vocalized, if something spooked them, and made clear she was more of the seal variety of creatures that was unlikely to sooth a panicked bunch of mothers. The tusks were half as long as she, but it was clear how they behaved with the calves these forms were still female. She stuck to the ley line, not wishing to risk leaving it.
One of the calves saw her and tried to make toward her, but was headed off by the cow. Her warbles and clicks intensified, and the calf clicked and vooped plaintively, attempting another stride toward Kirsty as Kirsty continued making her way away as unobtrusively as possible. The discussion faded behind her, and she sighed quietly. Sea unicorns were beautiful and majestic, but she didn’t want to outwit one. She certainly did not feel confident about out-swimming one.
Another song began to fill the water, impelling her instead of merely whispering in her blood as it had always done. As the floor sloped more and she grew aware some of the columns became sea stacks it seemed that they became more numerous. She found herself hastening through the water more and the terrain changed again. Sea caves opened before her now, encrusted with the usual sort of crustacean life. Impulsively she shot into the one she felt the song from the loudest and could not stop herself from dancing with the water.
She shot out into a large semi-roofed cavern. Light filtered from above, bathing everything in blue. She turned around slowly, taking it all in. Columns supported the roof here and there, but the skylight reminded her of the cenotes her parents had told her of in their travels. “I know this place…” the thought whispered through blood, bone, claw, and fur. “I’m here.” Kirsty’s eyes fell at last on a box at the far end which she had not noticed when she entered the temple.
The rough stone box sat on a dais of equally rough stone glowing palely in the light of the filtered sun, neither of which she could be sure of exactly what sort. She made her way toward it slowly, keeping her reverence for Mara firmly in mind lest she risk offending her. She paused in front of it and made the sign that she had learned early in her life above where she could feel the seal of the box and she sang the only phrase her mother and the Book of Seals had been allowed to teach her to help in her quest, a song of reclamation of Self, then set her hand lightly on it.
A large creature whooshed by, grazing her side with a horn in the process. Kirsty barely caught the exhaled breath, only managing to keep half of what she’d drawn in before. Her hand left the stone as the salt began to sting the unexpected wound and her blood entered the water. Kirsty saw the tail flippers of the narwhal bull from before speeding away, and then it turned back toward her faster than she expected such a creature to be able to move in such a semi confined space. She dodged as best she could before hearing a voice and the whale song.
“You have finally found your way. Now you must win it as you may.”
They spun through the water together, he seeking to gore and she shying away at the last moment. The more she ducked and dodged the faster the attacks came at her until she flung her net trying to entangle him. The momentum swept him past again and she clung as the net slid over tusk and she found herself hauled along and slammed against him. Her instincts told her to encase her legs around the bull and hold on so that she could perhaps get her spear into him to defend herself. Her current form instead more firmly held her tail and gave her no purchase but the net.
A pillar slammed into her as the whale attempted to use it to jettison her and she felt a rib crack as her breath whooshed from her lungs. The whale song came again but her ears rang too loudly from the blow to decipher what he said. She jabbed her spear after clearing the pillar, more stinging scrapes than whole skin but the angle struck wrong and all she did was make a gash in his side. The giant flicked and both she and her net sailed ahead of him. Her head hit something hard and the rest of her rolled to distribute the remains of the blow, knocking something heavy askew in the process. She felt the shift and groan of stone on stone in the water only briefly before she was rolling to avoid another attack and raising her spear to perhaps strike a blow of her own. Mara watched from the shadows in an alcove as her favorite bull tested Kirsty’s resolve, a half smile slowly spreading over her normally sternly set face.
The water seemed to have more light to it, but she assumed that was the head blow speaking. The bull had pulled off again but was swinging around for another attempt, flippers passing close enough the current moved her. She tried to remember what she had learned of dealing with large water creatures from the silche’s net and spear hunts under their many varied conditions and techniques but nothing useful sprang from her muscle memory nor from her intellect. Her eye fell on what she’d slammed into.
It was the shining stone box, lid now partially askew. She laid her spear and net atop so that she could thrust the lid open a little further, releasing more of the light. Pelts lay rolled, seemingly more than should have been in such a small space.
“Which is mine?” She shot a look around but the bull seemed to calm as he finished his turn.
The blood hung in the water from the pair of them, the stains slowly fading. The sea unicorn dipped his head and floated in place, watching placidly.
Kirsty looked into the box again, more confident she was not going to have to go on another ride or get gored by a tusk. Grey, brown, black, red, white, mottled and plain skins all shifted around as she watched, trading places. Finally, a small shining white one with a bit of greyish blue markings on the left flipper where a wrist and her deities’ markings might be came to view and she reached for it, forgetting her net and her spear.
Warmth suffused her as she drew it out and unrolled it and her hair streamed out all around her as the currents shifted. Large blue eyes gazed back at her from the head of the skin as if to reproach her for having gotten so lost so easily so many times. Her own voice filled her head with chastisements in Gaelic, followed by the more resigned English she used in school, “But… what is done is done. We go forward together.”
Eyeing the openly lurking whale she slipped the skin on, slipping the head over hers and lining the eyes up with her own. Time began to flow normally and she could feel as her head came together, no longer divided. Net and spear lay forgotten on the box lid as she shifted fully into a proper full seal form. The whale watched as she wove through the water carefully then slid closer to gently prod the box lid. The stones groaned as the lid slid shut. The light returned to its previous low level filtering through the water.
“Do you feel better with your sealskin, Kirsty?” Mara’s voice cut through the elation, bringing a chill despite the youthful gentleness.
The white seal blinked. Where there had only been a whale before there was now both a whale and a far different view of Mara than what Kirsty had ever seen. There was no trace of the usual shark visage. Instead the deity floating and tending the wound of the sea unicorn was clearly a selkie like herself, and somehow more white than her own fur. No blemish colored her anywhere, and she shifted freely between the various permutations of selkie form. One moment she was a full seal, another halfway between with ash grey hair feeling out the water around her and a seafoam skirt swirling about her tail, and yet another she was nearly human save for the same sort of half pelt obscuring things from view she and her mother possessed, explaining at last where her half-pelt fuzz came from and why. Impossibly large eyes turned Kirsty’s way, shifting through all the myriad colors of the sea.
“I suppose… I feel mostly the same as I always did though a little less pulled thin. More in one place than before?”
“Then that is good. Treasure that feeling because there will always be times that even with it you will feel pulled in more than one direction. You’ll have to get better at setting a course.” Mara finished tending the narwhal and patted his side then watched as he went to rejoin his herd.
“I don’t think my path should have been so tangled.”
“No. It shouldn’t have been and I cannot blame that boy you are so set on. I expected better of your wayfinding but I think your path was influenced by more than just your own inner turmoil and the meddling from Finmen. You’ve passed your quest, of course, and you can be fully initiated now and when you return you will find the sealskin you wear now will transform into the white cloak you received so long ago.” Mara frowned a moment and settled on the box beside her. “I’m curious. Can you remember when you began your tests? From the beach?”
Kirsty settled on top of the box where this softer Mara gestured her to do so and tried to remember. “My memories are conflicted… I can remember entering the water and discarding the cloak, and the dress where you asked them to be. I can remember having to fashion a spear. I… am not sure anymore if this is the net I made earlier in the year or if I had to make it along the way. But there are other memories. Another start. It’s all tangled.” Kirsty looked up at Mara, who now bent over her and curtained her with the tendrils of her hair.
“And what are those memories?” The deity’s face was cool and gentle, a soft smile, but now fangs glinted just at the edge of her lips.
The little seal inhaled deeply and sifted carefully. “The Examining Lintel stone at school. I was offered a choice at the stone by the sorters involving splitting my attention between my present time and my future because I was always thinking ahead to it and worrying.”
Mara nodded thoughtfully and bit her lip. “They have been known to interfere, or more accurately one of them in particular has been known to make some waves not of my control.”
The goddess reached down and stroked the seal’s brow, Kirsty crossing her eyes momentarily to look where she reached. Her eyes slid shut just as quickly while the fingers wove over her brow. Though her eyes were closed she could see as various strings were untangled, neatening the balls and ropes of assorted colors that had become wrapped around her. The process was repeated at her heart and again by her tail flippers.
“Should you have a child, whether with the boy or another, you must tell them NOT to strain forward in time, with or without help, when it comes to such quests. You are not the only one that has done this. It is dangerous and does impact how time flows on the quest. I’m sure you are aware how differently time already works when it comes to movements in realms like mine.” The voice was gentle, but somehow more dangerous than when coming from her shark guise.
Kirsty opened her eyes. “Should I have not?”
“Yes. You should have not. You will grow old too soon if you do it again. The brain of those who are incarnate can only withstand so much. Tell me, are there times in classes where you had headaches, perhaps nosebleeds, the last year in school?”
She blinked, surprised why Mara was asking about things so long ago. “They aren’t, they are now.” Some deeper, extremely tired part of her answered. Kirsty reached a fin up to her nose at a sting. A vice clamped at her head and she leaned into the warm shoulder beside her as an arm slipped around her.
Mara frowned and the fingers rose to Kirsty’s forehead again.


 

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There is a Valentines 2022 mini event, visit the event page to participate. Also everyone has been given a Valentine 2022 Valentine because DH <3s you!

https://www.dragonheartsrpg.com

I'm not sure when Obsidian plans to push the Spring event live, but this mini event is meant to keep story going until then. Have fun, collect exp, and experiment with archery!

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