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From the first draft of the new Allie book --
In which Allie has to prove that she knows something, anything, about rituals, by performing one...
********
“Of course you must be fast enough getting the circle up that nothing evil joins you in the circle,” came the professor’s voice.
True enough. I wasn’t dawdling, that was certain, but I was trying to be precise, so I didn’t leave anything out or look sloppy. But this suggested that I was a touch slow for him, so I dribbled faster, to get the first circle down quickly.
And then the room disappeared.
That sounds silly, but trust me – the room was no longer there. I was someplace dark, and outside the bowl was...water? Only the growing fire gave me light to see by.
I could hear the slaps and pops caused when a fish broke the surface of a pond. A ripple hit the rim of the bowl, allowing water to slop over the edge and trickle a foot into the sand.
I walked a little faster making my circle. A quick glance showed a dark line completely around the fire, so I started the second, inner circle, looking up occasionally to see if anything else was changing. Back in my head somewhere, I remembered Professor Brown warning me that anything that happened in the ritual room was real.
How could there be water in here? It was like I was on an island.
My next glance showed that I was not the only living thing here. I could see tiny, glittery orbs reflected from beyond the circle. There were pale green dots and red ones of varying sizes. I felt like a pond full of frogs was watching me....
Water. I was on an island; I was surrounded by water.
I knew that shine. When I was out after dark with a torch, the eyes of animals reflected that way.
Dribble, dribble...I resisted pouring the goblet out. I had to make this water last, because I did not trust magic water to finish the circle. And I definitely didn’t want to make up the difference in blood. I must learn that spell to turn dew into water as soon as possible.
Something was splashing out there. My response was to do something automatic – and not very ladylike. I set the goblet down for a moment, the athame still in it, grabbed the front and back of my long skirt and tied the two between my legs. That left me flashing my wool stockings from the knees down, but I’d take the reprimand later. I remembered all too well losing half my skirt riding to that Twelfth Night delivery. I stuffed my braid down the back of my shirt just for luck, and then grabbed the goblet to finish the inner circle.
If I was gonna get grabbed, something would have to make a real effort. I wasn’t gonna be easy pickings.
Somehow I was still in the dome room, because echoes were making it hard to tell what direction sounds were coming from. Or was this a cave? Halfway around the inner circle, the fire still building nicely – I fumbled for a fat log and slid it into the burning pile of wood. Who knew how long this was going to take? I needed light!
Circle complete. For a moment I could not remember which way was East, and panic froze my thoughts. Then I remembered, and sprang over to the eastern side, to slice Raphael’s name into the space between the lines. The archangel who is the great healer first, who holds the trumpet of the Apocalypse, I know Raphael’s name like my own. Then the warrior general Michael for the south –
I saw a flash of something pale and green, and leapt away from it, careful to remain in the circle. Dropping the athame into the goblet, I grabbed one of the longest logs, whirled and slashed at the dripping, glowing thing – arm –
The blow connected with a satisfying, terrifying thud and crunch.
Oh, Lady, it’s real, it’s real, it’s real –
********
“Of course you must be fast enough getting the circle up that nothing evil joins you in the circle,” came the professor’s voice.
True enough. I wasn’t dawdling, that was certain, but I was trying to be precise, so I didn’t leave anything out or look sloppy. But this suggested that I was a touch slow for him, so I dribbled faster, to get the first circle down quickly.
And then the room disappeared.
That sounds silly, but trust me – the room was no longer there. I was someplace dark, and outside the bowl was...water? Only the growing fire gave me light to see by.
I could hear the slaps and pops caused when a fish broke the surface of a pond. A ripple hit the rim of the bowl, allowing water to slop over the edge and trickle a foot into the sand.
I walked a little faster making my circle. A quick glance showed a dark line completely around the fire, so I started the second, inner circle, looking up occasionally to see if anything else was changing. Back in my head somewhere, I remembered Professor Brown warning me that anything that happened in the ritual room was real.
How could there be water in here? It was like I was on an island.
My next glance showed that I was not the only living thing here. I could see tiny, glittery orbs reflected from beyond the circle. There were pale green dots and red ones of varying sizes. I felt like a pond full of frogs was watching me....
Water. I was on an island; I was surrounded by water.
I knew that shine. When I was out after dark with a torch, the eyes of animals reflected that way.
Dribble, dribble...I resisted pouring the goblet out. I had to make this water last, because I did not trust magic water to finish the circle. And I definitely didn’t want to make up the difference in blood. I must learn that spell to turn dew into water as soon as possible.
Something was splashing out there. My response was to do something automatic – and not very ladylike. I set the goblet down for a moment, the athame still in it, grabbed the front and back of my long skirt and tied the two between my legs. That left me flashing my wool stockings from the knees down, but I’d take the reprimand later. I remembered all too well losing half my skirt riding to that Twelfth Night delivery. I stuffed my braid down the back of my shirt just for luck, and then grabbed the goblet to finish the inner circle.
If I was gonna get grabbed, something would have to make a real effort. I wasn’t gonna be easy pickings.
Somehow I was still in the dome room, because echoes were making it hard to tell what direction sounds were coming from. Or was this a cave? Halfway around the inner circle, the fire still building nicely – I fumbled for a fat log and slid it into the burning pile of wood. Who knew how long this was going to take? I needed light!
Circle complete. For a moment I could not remember which way was East, and panic froze my thoughts. Then I remembered, and sprang over to the eastern side, to slice Raphael’s name into the space between the lines. The archangel who is the great healer first, who holds the trumpet of the Apocalypse, I know Raphael’s name like my own. Then the warrior general Michael for the south –
I saw a flash of something pale and green, and leapt away from it, careful to remain in the circle. Dropping the athame into the goblet, I grabbed one of the longest logs, whirled and slashed at the dripping, glowing thing – arm –
The blow connected with a satisfying, terrifying thud and crunch.
Oh, Lady, it’s real, it’s real, it’s real –
nice!
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Yup, I'm hooked
Re: Yup, I'm hooked
Although it's a slightly longer wait, the correct answer is, you want NYC to buy it, because if I can make reasonable money from it, there will be more Allie books. But if I cannot get the word-of-mouth to generate real sales, then this one might be the last one.