Prohibited Magic is the third book in the Grimoire Society of Dark Acts series. Episode 2 is up on my Patreon—it’s pay-what-you-like—and it’ll go up later on Kindle Vella.
Episode 2: Gertrude wakes up in Grimoire Society of Assassins’s magical realm…and she’s not alone.
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What Prohibited Magic is about:
With Grimoire Society of Dark Acts’s magic book and crystal ball in the hands of the parasitic Ruin Rats, Carmichael’s decision to take the Book of Blessings and infiltrate the magical gang has left Dark Acts magically crippled. Gertrude is trapped in Grimoire Assassins’s magical realm; only the never-before-seen Grimoire of Blood can save her. Dark Acts and its allies split up to stop the worsening imbalance in the Magic Societal Universe, an unprecedented state with unfathomable consequences.
Episode 2: New Allies
GERTRUDE
Gertrude’s eyes blinked open to see nothing but gray sky. She felt as if she’d been asleep for ages, so it would stand to reason she’d feel well rested. Yet sluggishness was the first thing she noticed in her body, especially in her mind.
Moving her arms to stretch, she felt nothing beneath them. In fact, there was nothing under her body at all.
Panicked, Gertrude snapped her head to the side to look around, which should have been a decision she’d pay for with pain for days, especially after just waking up. But as soon as she heard the expected crack from her neck, the immediate pain faded and died.
Now very awake, she saw she was floating in midair in the middle of nowhere. Tall grasses spanned the ground, and there were buildings not too far away, but her vision was a little blurry.
Her body slowly began to float downward, her feet going toward the ground, the movement entirely outside of her control. But the slowness contradicted her immediate instinct to fear what was happening.
Her feet met the ground, and it felt as if an invisible force straightened out her center of gravity before removing itself.
She inspected her hands, ran her palms down her dress to feel for any injuries, felt her neck and face for the same. Everything was all right, and even the stomach wound Carmichael had healed that had hurt at the breakfast table no longer caused her pain. Her vision had returned to normal too.
Now she could see that the buildings she’d noticed before were various types and styles of towers scattered seemingly randomly across the grassy plain. Most were stone or wood watchtowers, but some were windmills and observatories.
A cold wind blew across Gertrude, and she hugged her arms around herself at the chill. Nothing about this place looked familiar. Where had she ended up? And how? Homesickness tugged at her heart, and fear, too, of the lack of control over her body she’d experienced just moments ago.
“Don’t be afraid,” a male voice said through a heavy British accent. The sound seemed to come from everywhere.
Gertrude whirled on her heel, searching for the source, but she could see no one. “Who’s that?”
“Ask instead, where is that,” it said. “Grimoire Assassins’s magical realm, the Vale of Bölvun.”
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© Christie Stratos 2023