Book 2 of the Witches of Galdorheim
MIDNIGHT OIL – FREE October 16th - 20th
Ceto
nee Nessie
In
the second book of the Witches of Galdorheim series, our erstwhile
heroine gets a little help from an unusual source. Did you ever
wonder why there are so few sightings of the Loch Ness monster? Well,
Nessie vacations on Ultima Thule, which may be the remnants of
Atlantis.
She's
not fond of the name Nessie or Loch Ness Monster and prefers to go by
Ceto. From http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/Ceto
:
In Greek mythology, Ceto or Keto (Greek: English translation: "sea
monster") was a hideous aquatic monster, a daughter of Gaia and
Pontus. The asteroid (65489) Ceto was named after her, and its
satellite (65489) Ceto I Phorcys after her husband. She was the
personification of the dangers of the sea, unknown terrors, and
bizarre creatures. Eventually, the word "ceto" became
simple shorthand for any sea monster. The term cetacean represents a
case in point. Her husband was Phorcys and they had many children,
collectively known as the Phorcydes or Phorcydides. In Greek art,
Ceto was drawn as a serpentine fish. Ceto also gave name to the
constellation Cetus.
Ceto
in Midnight Oil
Ceto
and Nessie become one. She’s not a bad, um, person, but much
misunderstood. She finds my heroine adrift in the northern seas
sitting on a block of ice. Oh, yeah, I should mention that the block
contains the body of her father. Ceto finds this all fascinating and
helps my heroine dock the ice block at Ultima Thule and find a
messenger to send for help from the Witches' Island of Galdorheim in
the Barents Sea.
Excerpt
Kat sat cross-legged on the ice, one
hand clutching the rope, and looked down at her father’s face. His
eyes were open but unseeing. The deep gash on his forehead didn’t
do much for his appearance. She hoped when he reached Siberia for his
final burial, the Samis would fix him up a bit. She knew it didn’t
matter, but it would make her feel better.
A wave came out of nowhere; the ice
block rose and fell almost knocking Kat into the water. She clutched
at the ropes and looked in all directions, but the sea remained calm.
She frowned, wondering how… Then, a light bulb blazed inside her
head when she sensed something large passing under her makeshift
boat.
Kat edged herself up on her knees,
keeping a tight hold on the ropes. She scanned the water closely, and
to her right, she saw a dark shape under the water. A whale, perhaps.
Maybe her calls finally got results.
The shape turned and came back toward
the ice block. It stayed several feet below, so Kat could only make
out a dark shadow as it glided beneath her. The ice block lifted and
dropped again. She looked to her left to see a long neck stretched
out, followed by a bulky, black body. A short tail emerged from under
the block and slapped down on the water. It sprayed Kat’s face with
icy droplets but didn’t drench her.
The dark shape rose slowly upward.
First, a small head appeared, and Kat thought it might be a seal, and
then the long neck emerged. Her mouth dropped open, and her eyes
followed the head upward until she had her neck bent back as far as
she could. The creature regarded her with huge, dark eyes, seeming
too big for the little nob of a head. Its skin was dark gray, almost
black. Kat noticed how smooth it appeared. She wanted to reach out to
touch it. She thought better of that notion when the creature’s
mouth opened and revealed rows of sharp teeth.
A voice spoke inside her mind. “Who
are you, little girl?”
“Little girl? Why, I’m almost…”
Then, thinking it’d be rude to argue with her only potential
rescuer, she finished, “I mean, I’m a witch, from an island…”
Kat looked around and waved her hand, “somewhere out there.”
“You wear
the skin of a seal, and you can speak to creatures of the sea. Are
you, perhaps, a selkie in human form?”
“Selkie? No,
I’m just a witch from Galdorheim.”
“Hmm. How
came you to be on that block of ice?”
“I’ve answered your questions,”
Kat said, peeved at being grilled by a sea monster. “Now you answer
one for me. What are you? And where did you come from?”
“That’s
two questions.”
“Well, you asked two, so answer up!”
Kat sensed she need not be afraid. The sea monster, as she now
thought it to be, did not send any warning signals. It was simply
curious.
“I am me.”
Kat frowned.
While harmless, the creature seemed to have an evasive streak. Why
did it show itself to her if it didn’t want to talk?
As if it heard
Kat’s thoughts, the creature said, “Very
well. The world has called me many names. Sometimes Nessie from where
I once lived.”
“You’re the
Loch Ness monster? I thought that was
just a legend.” Kat stared in wide-eyed wonder at the mythical
creature who might, if she could work it out, be her rescuer.
“No legend, but I left the loch years
ago. Too many curious people.”
* * *
MIDNIGHT OIL Book 2 of the Witches of Galdorheim Series
Shipwrecked
on a legendary island, how can a witch rescue her boyfriend if she
can’t even phone home?
Kat discovers that an evil forest spirit has kidnapped her
brand-new boyfriend. She sets out with her brother, Rune,
from
her Arctic island home on a mission to rescue the boy. Things go
wrong from the start. Kat is thrown overboard during a violent storm,
while her brother and his girlfriend are captured by a mutant island
tribe. The mutants hold the girlfriend hostage, demanding that the
teens recover the only thing that can make the mutants human
again–the magical Midnight Oil.
Mustering every bit of her Wiccan magic, Kat rises to the
challenge. She invokes her magical skills, learns to fly an
ultralight, meets a legendary sea serpent, rescues her boyfriend, and
helps a friendly air spirit win the battle against her spiteful
sibling. On top of it all, she’s able to recover the Midnight Oil
and help the hapless mutants in the nick of time.
