Sunday Snippet: Believe

Wow, what a great week of television and binge watching!

The Last Ship rocked! I can't wait for tonight's episode. So far, I love how they're not dragging stuff out and moving the plot and characters forward. Keep that up, show. I can say the same about Defiance. Moving everything along, but keeping the focus tight is awesome. I'm pretty thrilled there was a dose of closure for Amanda this week and I'm so intrigued about what's really going on with Nolan and Irisa.

Killjoys and Dark Matter continue to have me hooked. I love the dynamic between Dutch and the brothers on Killjoys and Lucy rocks. Ships with personality make me happy. With Dark Matter, I'm interested to see what our loosely group crew gets into. Keep dishing out the clues, show. I like getting them.

Strike Back broke my heart… again. At this point, I'm pretty much prepped to loose everyone by the final episode. Seriously. LOL I figure if I assume they'll all be dead by the finale, I can't be disappointed. Just saying.

All caught up on Teen Wolf and ready for season five. Looking forward to seeing how this season goes. And my binge watch of Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries continues. I'm so in love with this show. Glad I've got a few seasons to sink into.

That's it on the TV front. Tonight's post is from Believe, a novella where my main characters have some issues to work out.

Here's the tagline:

Shaelyn Hardwick is a talented mage, but lacks control. When she inadvertently causes another's death, she flees under the cover of darkness. Innis Talmadge goes to the mat for Shaelyn and gets dismissed for his efforts. He tracks her down and a battle ensues. Shaelyn doesn't trust her ability, but she trusts Innis and he has to show her how to believe in herself again.

And a preview snippet…

"Shaelyn Hardwick scores again with a move bordering on illegal. Madwyn Bronte can take a free strike, but Shaelyn is allowed to counter in defense." The announcer's voice boomed in the arena.

Shaelyn readied for Madwyn's maneuver, going on gut instinct and flexing her fingers. Madwyn used the same two techniques over and over. Shae drew on her element, absorbing heat to deflect the ice or singe the objects Madwyn would hurtle in Shae's direction. Madwyn flung her arms wide and pulled off a surprise attack, using a blast of ice to form a wall then conjuring a line of cinder blocks and boards to act as shrapnel when Shae threw flames at the ice. Not bad for a timid, little mage of Madwyn's skill.

But Shae had a trick or two up her sleeve, a few new moves she hadn't perfected yet, but didn't mind using. She let a slow smile spread across her face and brought her hands together, letting the fire flow freely from her fingertips for a ten count. The ice cracked and shattered and when the blocks and wood pieces started their forward momentum, Shae spread her arms wide and tipped her head back then brought it forward. The counter measure should have dispersed the flying objects off to either side, but instead, the maneuver reversed the trajectory and everything hurtling back towards Madwyn.

Too late, Shae realized her mistake. She attempted an aggressive intervention, but didn't have the energy reserves to pull the move off. Shae expended too much when she'd tried for flash and flair instead of solid magicking.

Horrified, her eyes opened wide. "Madwyn, get out of the way!" Her warning did little good.

Madwyn tried to duck out of the way, but couldn't clear the destructive path in time. Two blocks and several pieces of wood scored direct hits. Madwyn went down, the sound of crunching bones echoing in the suddenly quiet arena. The shrapnel littered the field, dropping to the ground when Madwyn struck her head on the surface. Without a tether, the pieces had no force to keep them aloft.

Which meant Madwyn either got knocked out or…

Worse.

Shae dropped to her knees, her head slumped forward. Innis's warning before the match ringing in her ears. Don't show off. Keep control and don't attempt anything new during a match until you master control. Why the hell hadn't she listened?

Two strong hands gripped her shoulders. Innis. He would have to be right here, right now.

Shae glanced up and met his gaze. His eyes hooded, she couldn't read him at all. Probably didn't want to at the moment.

He held out a hand. "Come on, let's get you up and out of here."

Medical healers surrounded Madwyn, working on her injuries. Shaelyn couldn't do anything to help. Causing harm seemed to be her forte.

She accepted the help up. "I want to go to the infirmary. I owe her that." Dusting off her clothes, she started toward the exit.

Innis caught up. "Fine, but we'll need to discuss what happened here. Soon, Shae."

She nodded, but didn't speak. Everything she wanted to say clogged in her throat. But she'd take the reprieve. Innis would no doubt tear her a new one as soon as Madwyn got the all clear.

If she got one.

Shae's in something of a bind here, no? Here's a clue… it gets worse. LOL

That's it for this week.

Cheers!

Skye