by Linsey Hall
That’s where the magic comes in. Cass isn’t after the artifacts themselves (she puts them back where she found them, if you recall)—she’s after the magic that the artifacts contain. She’s more of a magic hunter than a treasure hunter. That solved a big part of my problem. At least she was putting the artifacts back. Though that’s not proper archaeology (especially the damage she caused to the first tomb), I could let it pass. At least it’s clear that she believes she shouldn’t keep the artifact or harm the site. But the SuperNerd in me said, “Well, that magic is part of the artifact’s context. It’s important to the artifact and shouldn’t be removed and sold.”
Now that was a problem. I couldn’t escape my SuperNerd self, so I was in a real conundrum. Fortunately, that’s where the immensely intelligent Wayne Lusardi came in. He suggested that the magic could have an expiration date. If the magic wasn’t used before it decayed, it could cause huge problems. Think explosions and tornado spells run amok. It could ruin the entire site, not to mention possibly cause injury and death. That would be very bad.
So now you see why Cass Clereaux didn’t just steal artifacts to sell them. Not only is selling the magic cooler, it’s also better from an ethical standpoint, especially if the magic was going to cause problems in the long run. These aren’t perfect solutions—the perfect solution would be sending in a team of archaeologists to carefully record the site and remove the dangerous magic—but that wouldn’t be a very fun book. Hopefully this was a good compromise that you enjoyed (and that my old professors don’t hang their heads over).
As with my other books, I like to include real historical sites in my novels. In Ancient Magic, there were a few places of note. The first was the monks’ island in Ireland. That is a real place called the Skellig Michael, part of the Skellig islands off the coast of southwestern Ireland. It’s an amazing place and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The beehive shaped buildings that I described were inhabited by real monks from the end of the first millennium onward.
The other historic site that I included is on the cover of the book. It is Holyrood Abbey in Edinburgh, Scotland. The final battle site on the hidden island is modeled after the abbey. Edinburgh is just too heavily populated to have an epic final battle without humans noticing, so I moved it to a hidden location :-)
I hope you enjoyed the story and will stick with Cass on the rest of her adventure!
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The Dragon’s Gift series is a product of my two lives: one as an archaeologist and one as a novelist. Combining these two took a bit of work. I’d like to thank my friends, Wayne Lusardi, the State Maritime Archaeologist for Michigan, and Douglas Inglis and Veronica Morris, both archaeologists for Interactive Heritage, for their ideas about how to have a treasure hunter heroine that doesn’t conflict too much with archaeology’s ethics. The Author’s Note contains a bit more about this if you are interested
Thank you, Ben, for everything you’ve done to support me in this career. Thank you to my dear friend Emily Keane for reading every story I’ve written and for sharing your great ideas. As always, your comments were amazing. Thank you to Carol Thomas for sharing your thoughts on the book and being amazing inspiration.
Thank you to Jena O’Connor and Lindsey Loucks for various forms of editing. The book is immensely better because of you!
GLOSSARY
Alpha Council - There are two governments that enforce law for supernaturals—the Alpha Council and the Order of the Magica. The Alpha Council governs all shifters. They work cooperatively with Alpha Council when necessary - for example, when capturing FireSouls.
ArchMage - The greatest mage of that particular skill. For example, the ArchMage of Fire Mages. There can also be an ArchWitch or ArchSorcerer.
Blood Sorceress - A type of Magica who can create magic using blood.
Conjurer - A Magica who uses magic to create something from nothing. They cannot create magic, but if there is magic around them, they can put that magic into their conjuration.
Dark Magic - The kind that is meant to harm. It’s not necessarily bad, but it often is.
Deirfiúr - Sisters in Irish.
Demons - Often employed to do evil. They live in various hells but can be released upon the earth if you know how to get to them and then get them out. If they are killed on earth, they are sent back to their hell.
Dragon Sense - A FireSoul’s ability to find treasure. It is an internal sense pulls them toward what they seek. It is easiest to find gold, but they can find anything or anyone that is valued by someone.
Elemental Mage – A rare type of mage who can manipulate all of the elements.
Enchanted Artifacts – Artifacts can be imbued with magic that lasts after the death of the person who put the magic into the artifact (unlike a spell that has not been put into an artifact—these spells disappear after the Magica’s death). But magic is not stable. After a period of time—hundreds or thousands of years depending on the circumstance—the magic will degrade. Eventually, it can go bad and cause many problems.
Fire Mage – A mage who can control fire.
FireSoul - A very rare type of Magica who shares a piece of the dragon’s soul. They can locate treasure and steal the gifts (powers) of other supernaturals. With practice, they can manipulate the gifts they steal, becoming the strongest of that gift. They are despised and feared. If they are caught, they are thrown in the Prison of Magical Deviants.
The Great Peace - The most powerful piece of magic ever created. It hides magic from the eyes of humans.
Half-blood - A supernatural who is half one species and half another. Example: shifter and Magica.
Hearth Witch – A Magica who is versed in magic relating to hearth and home. They are often good and potions and protective spells and are also very perceptive when on their own turf.
Magica - Any supernatural who has the power to create magic—witches, sorcerers, mages. All are governed by the Order of the Magica.
Mirror Mage - A Magica who can temporarily borrow the powers of other supernaturals. They can mimick the powers as long as the are near the other supernatural. Or they can hold onto the power, but once they are away from the other supernatural, they can only use it once.
The Origin - The descendent of the original alpha shifter. They are the most powerful shifter and can turn into any species.
Order of Holy Knowledge - A group of monks who collect and protect knowledge that live on an island in Ireland. They are supernaturals, but they do not use their powers.
Order of the Magica - There are two governments that enforce law for supernaturals—the Alpha Council and the Order of the Magica. The Order of the Magica govern all Magica. They work cooperatively with Alpha Council when necessary - for example, when capturing FireSouls.
Phantom - A type of supernatural that is similar to a ghost. They are incorporeal. They feed off the misery and pain of others, forcing them to relive their greatest nightmares and fears. They do not have a fully functioning mind like a human or supernatural. Rather, they are a shadow of their former selves. Half bloods are extraordinarily rare.
Scroll of Truths - A compendium of knowledge about the strongest supernaturals. It is a prophetic scroll that includes information about future powerful beings.
Seeker - A type of supernatural who can find things. FireSouls often pass off their dragon sense as being Seeker power.
Shifter - A supernatural who can turn into an animal. All are governed by the Alpha Council.
Transporter - A type of supernatural who can travel anywhere. Their power is limited and must regenerate after each use.
ABOUT LINSEY
Before becoming a writer, Linsey Hall was a nautical archaeologist who studied shipwrecks from Hawaii and the Yukon to the UK and the Mediterranean. She credits fantasy and historical romances with her love of history and her career as an archaeologist. After a decade of tromping around the globe in search of old bits of stuff that people left lying about, she settled down and started penning
her own adventure novels. Her Dragon’s Gift series draws upon her love of history and the paranormal elements that she can't help but include.
This is a work of fiction. All reference to events, persons, and locale are used fictitiously, except where documented in historical record. Names, characters, and places are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.
Copyright 2016 by Linsey Hall
Published by Bonnie Doon Press LLC
All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form, except in instances of quotation used in critical articles or book review. Where such permission is sufficient, the author grants the right to strip any DRM which may be applied to this work.
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ISBN 978-1-942085-06-5