Not All Tall, Dark, and Handsome
Heroes are Human
Heroes don’t need to be human or even
a sexy male alien. When a witch’s power is speaking to animals, a
hero can turn up anywhere, even in the middle of an icebound arctic
sea.
In the Witches of Galdorheim series,
Katrina the teen witch, has the ability to speak with animals. She
doesn’t even know she has this ability until she leaves her home,
Galdorheim Island. Since the island is somewhere in the middle of the
Barents Sea above the Arctic circle, leaving home isn’t a walk in
the park. Crossing iced over water in bitter cold weather is hard
enough, but when the ice starts to break up and some dangerous
creatures appear, it becomes a life-threatening situation. Kat and
her brother, Rune, confront an angry and sleepy polar bear. He wasn’t
in the mood to chat.
Fortunately for the kids, a HERO
appears. Just because he happens to be an orca (killer whale) makes
him no less heroic.
I’ll let the whale tell his own tale.
Salmon the Orca Hero
Chchchchch skreak! That be hello in
human people talk. My name be Salmon Hunter because I so good hunting
the fish. My friend Kat Witch call me Salmon.
When I meet her for first time, I save
her from a white tooth she say human people call polar bear. This
first time, I save Kat Witch from sinking too deep in the ocean. I
think she should learn swim better, but I not blame her since she
without fins or flukes. Funny thing the whitetooth awake. Should be
in den this season. Too early to wake up. I think some bad magic
wake him up to kill Kat Witch. She says that's truth. A shaman, she
says.
Other times I save Kat Witch when she
in trouble. All these savings written in books, but I never learn to
read human words. Besides, books get too wet in the ocean. Soon fall
apart.
The others of my pod don't speak to Kat
Witch. They be what human people call stuck up. Think they're too
good to speak to her. I think it best thing ever! It like getting new
toy. Orcas love play. Spend most of time hunting, but playing is
important too.
She a lucky Kat Witch to have me be her
friend. I think she die many times if me doesn’t save her. She say
I be her hero. Me say I’m just Salmon Hunter, the smartest and best
looking killer whale in the seas.
Someday I visit Kat Witch home. It
island named Skeckkeeech. It mean witches’ home. It way north and
hard to find, but Salmon can find anything! Salmon is a hunter, after
all. Here be part of the story showing me saving Kat Witch's life for
first time.
Excerpt from Bad Spelling
Over the cracking and groaning of the
ice breaking up, Kat heard a loud chitter, and then a high-pitched
whistle. She stopped so suddenly Rune ran into her. Catching him
before he fell, she moved him to one side and turned back toward the
orca, her eyes wide with surprise.
“What did you say?” she asked.
“Chchchchch skreak!” the orca
answered.
Rune looked at the orca; then his
sister; then back to the orca. He leaned close to Kat’s ear. “You
understand it?” he whispered.
Kat nodded, edging back to the orca,
careful of her footing on the slippery ice.
“Kakkakakkak cheechee,” the orca
screeched.
“Thank you. I didn’t think the bear
seemed very friendly either.”
Kat looked over at her brother, who
stood staring at her open-mouthed. “Better shut that, little
brother, before your teeth freeze.” Her eyes sparkled with delight.
Rune closed his mouth and zipped the hood up over his face.
In a muffled voice, he exclaimed, “You
can… You really can talk to animals!”
“Excuse me a moment, Mr. Orca,” she
said to the big dolphin. She turned to Rune, her face lit up with a
delighted grin. “I guess I can. But why so surprised? You were the
one who suggested I could.”
Kat turned back to the killer whale. “I
think it’s because he,” she nodded at the orca, “is a highly
evolved being. At least, that’s what he’s telling me.” After a
pause, Kat giggled and said, “Must be why you can’t understand
him, Rune!”
Rune slapped a glare on her then
suppressed a smile. “Very funny, Kat. So funny, I forgot to laugh.”
She chatted happily with the orca when
several more huge black and white heads popped up through the gaps in
the ice. Rune and Kat had to step back again as the ice splintered
with sharp cracking sounds.
“Back up, Kat, back up,” Rune said.
For the first time in her life, Kat heard fear in Rune’s voice.
“You don’t need to be afraid.”
“I’m not. At least, I’m not
afraid of the whales—”
“Orcas.”
“Orcas, then. It’s the ice breaking
up. We could get dumped in the water.”
As if saying it made it true, the ice
split once more. The crack exposing the frigid sea raced toward Rune
and Kat. Before they could get traction to run, the ice floe created
by the splintering tipped up and both of them fell into the water.
Kat’s parka filled with the icy
water, and she sank. The sudden, intense cold knocked the breath out
of her. She tried to claw her way back to the surface, but the weight
of the parka kept dragging her down. Looking up, she could see Rune
above her, thrashing toward the air. Blackness clouded the edges of
her vision, and her struggles weakened.
Strangely, Kat felt warm. This is nice,
she thought. Her arms floated out from her sides as she sank deeper.
Something big and black came up under
Kat, and she rose up through the frigid water. She reached out with
one hand and grasped a rubbery fin with all the strength she had
left. The orca pushed her to the surface and shoved her out of the
water. She landed face first on the ice.
About the Book
BAD SPELLING - Book 1 of The Witches of
Galdorheim Series
A klutzy witch, a shaman's curse, a
quest to save her family. Can Kat find her magic in time?
Buy Sites: Ebooks only $0.99
Smashwords (all ebook formats)
Blurb:
If you’re a witch living on a remote
arctic island, and the entire island runs on magic, lacking magical
skills is not just an inconvenience, it can be a matter of life and
death–or, at least, a darn good reason to run away from home.
Katrina’s spells don’t just fizzle;
they backfire with spectacular results, oftentimes involving green
goo. A failure as a witch, Kat decides to run away and find her dead
father’s non-magical family. But before she can, she stumbles onto
why her magic is out of whack: a curse from a Siberian shaman.
The young witch, accompanied by her
half-vampire brother, must travel to the Hall of the Mountain King
and the farthest reaches of Siberia to regain her magic, dodging
attacks by the shaman along the way.
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