Read Blaize and the Maven: The Energetics Book 1 Online
Authors: Ellen Bard
The energetic moistened his mouth and swallowed. His words were croaky and low pitched, his throat dry in the evening heat. “You have cursed us. We were not meant to live this limited life. We need access to all the Chakras, not just two. Your decision will end our race.”
Erasma shook her head and tried not to grind her teeth. “Our race’s highest calling, our purpose, is to bring balance to the world. By existing and using the energies, we help to ensure that enough of each energy is present in the world—energy that all living things need to exist. But hubris and a lust for power in our people caused the balance to be upset. The destruction of most of our people, and our home, was the result.”
Even though it had been nearly a year since she had stood and watched her home’s annihilation, she still felt a lump in her throat talking about it. “Every energetic left alive has agreed to, and gone through, the ceremony that binds all of us—even Guild leaders—to two Chakras.”
Erasma had been the only Circle member who had survived the destruction of their people and home, and despite the fact the Circle was usually one of equals, Erasma was de facto leader. She’d gone from being the most junior member of the Circle to the most experienced. The newly appointed heads of the Major Guilds had agreed to the binding ceremony, and the shock of losing homeland and families had been enough to ensure there was little opposition from the people.
Her role meant she rarely had a moment to herself. So much so she hadn’t had time, even many months later, to figure out a mystery that affected her personally. She snuck a glance at her left wrist, where a bracelet of interlaced coloured strands was snug against her olive skin, twin to a larger one on Iskander’s wrist.
The bracelets had appeared one day. They’d gone to bed without them, and when they’d risen at dawn the next day, there they were. Thankfully, those around them had been distracted by the terrible events of Atlantis’s destruction that no one had noticed.
She hadn’t told the other Circle members. She’d figure it out, she promised herself. She always did. It was one of a small number of things that she’d kept from the new Circle members. She shrugged off a sense of unease and focused again on the wretch in front of her.
“We have to keep our race, and the balance of the world, safe. Limiting ourselves like this is the best way to ensure no single energetic again gains so much power that they shatter the world's balance. This extends to sharing our energies with others,” she finished.
How dare he put me in this position?
It worried her that so many energetics had tried to access other Chakras than the two they had chosen. Some had tried to share energy with friends or lovers, but others had tried to take it by force.
Neither was acceptable.
She drew a breath. “I’m sorry. You agreed to the binding ceremony. You broke the rules. You must accept the consequences."
From the corner of her eye, she saw Iskander flinch very slightly. Erasma’s lips twisted. Iskander was unhappy with the need to bind the miscreants’ energies. He felt it was a spiritual death penalty to be cut off from your active Chakras.
But they had given the first few energetics who had broken the law a second chance and found that the majority of them had tried again. And again. Eventually, the Major Circle had decided on this penalty.
Not that it made it easy for her.
She stepped towards the energetic and put her hands on his shoulders. She ignored his shout of protest and drew energy from the ether, weaving the complex binding wards that would mean he could no longer use his energies. She was powerful enough to do this on her own, but it would take a toll. She stifled a scream as the energies ripped through her, and she channelled them into the wardings.
This needed to happen. If energetics began sharing energy again, even energy from their dominant and auxiliary Chakras, it could loosen the binding that kept their energies limited to two. The Major Circle needed to stamp this activity out. Make it absolutely taboo.
It was for the greater good. She was certain of it, whatever others thought.
It was the only way to save their race.
The energetics power structure is Guild based.
There are six Major Guilds, one for each of the six Chakras:
(Sahasara, the Crown Chakra, does not have a Guild.)
Each energetic has two activated Chakras, one Dominant and one Auxiliary, and it is the combination of these that influences their power, and to some degree, their personality.
Because of the huge differences between an energetic like Blaize, who combines her Manipura Dominant with Ajna Auxiliary, and one like Fintan, who combines Manipura Dominant with Anahata Auxiliary, a system of Minor Guilds also developed. There are thirty Minor Guilds representing each combination of powers (for example, Manipura-Ajna is a separate Guild from Ajna-Manipura).
Each individual energetic therefore belongs to two Major Guilds, and one Minor Guild.
For example: Cuinn has Ajna Dominant, and Muladhara Auxiliary. He therefore belongs to the Ajna Major Guild, the Muladhara Major Guild, and the Ajna-Muladhara Minor Guild.
The Major Circle is the highest form of government with one powerful energetic representing each Major Guild, making decisions on behalf of the race. The Minor Circle, the second tier of government, is made up of the thirty energetics who lead each of the Minor Guilds.
List of Minor Guilds:
The story of the energetics continues in Tierra and Fintan’s story,
Tierra and the Warrior
.
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Ellen is a fiction author
who writes paranormal romance full of enchantment, intrigue and action. Her writing blends a background in psychology and her experiences travelling the world with a love of magic, fantasy and a (mostly!) happy ending.
She’s also an entrepreneur and and has a website where she shares actionable advice about personal development to support readers in making small changes so they can shine a little brighter in the world.
She’s a Chartered Occupational Psychologist with the British Psychological Society, and continues to work as an international management consultant, which she has done for the last 15 years. She’s worked all over the world including far-flung places such as China, Saudi Arabia and Malaysia.
Her passion for other lands and cultures helps inform her writing, as does her desire to try new things – from art classes to Krav Maga, the self-defence system.
She’s a passionate and dedicated reader, working her way through between 100-150 fiction and non-fiction books a year – find her on
goodreads
to read her reviews.
Born in the UK, she currently lives in a tiny house in Chiang Mai, Thailand where the main feature is a hammock.
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I feel so incredibly lucky to have wonderful family and friends who have supported me in plenty of crazy endeavours, this book being just one!
Mary Bard, my mum, has especially gone above and beyond, acting as alpha reader, first editor, cheerleader, and so much more. I can’t thank her enough for all her love and efforts to support me on my journey. My sister, Sarah, is an incredible beta reader with great attention to detail, and is also a huge support on the artistic side, helping with websites, visuals, graphics and many other things.
My sprawling family - Dunnes and Bards - thank you all for your support and love over the last few years.
My developmental editor, Lynnette Labelle, thank you for such constructive advice on bringing the story to life. My copy editor and friend Angela Anderson, who did a great job at American-ising (‘-izing’!) my usually very British style! Erin Dameron-Hill, thank you for such an amazing job with the cover - I love it. Simon Hartshorne, thanks for your help bringing the visuals of the archetypes and the chakras to life on the website.
NaNoWriMo 2013 was the event that clarified I wanted to write fiction, and I’m grateful to the Thailand group for getting me through that first book, but I got so much more out of the month because Nyla Nox, the Thailand moderator, became a friend who I have had many ‘writing races’ with since. She was at the other end of Skype writing her own books for a number of the pages of this book. I hope we continue to motivate each other through future works.
So many elements from things I’ve learned in life have gone into the book. My Krav Maga teacher, Matt, is a hero of mine, for all the things he has taught me - resilience, inner strength and just never-give-the-f**k-up. I hope I never have to use any of his teachings in practice, but it’s been fun to use them for Blaize and the gang. He also checked over the fight scenes for me - all mistakes are my own!
For Professor Cowie, who taught me self-hypnosis and Jungian theory - I never thought that the tower would come in handy quite in the way it has, but I love exploring my inner world and bringing a little of that to life has been fantastic.
I’m grateful to all the yoga teachers and meditation teachers over the years, especially my most recent community in Thailand where I’ve spent two seasons so far, and will probably return again soon. There are too many to mention here, but Amitayus, thanks for brainstorming archetypes with me in our little island cafe, and Grace Bryant, who was both a beta reader and has worked with me on many other behind the scenes activities, thank you.
My other beta readers and friends, Laura Quinn, Catherine Bedford, Katie Bullas, John Mansfield and Debbie Hantusch, thanks for the great suggestions and support. I’m so grateful to you all for taking the time to read the book and give me your feedback - I think it’s very courageous and was a great help. Thanks also to my Aunt, Ellen Dunne, who helped do the final proof of the paperback version of the book.
Caroline Leon, who was instrumental in helping me to change my life by encouraging and supporting me in Thailand, thank you - keep being amazing.
Justin Morgan and Ed Clarke - I love you boys so much, thank you for always being there for me. Graham Morley, thanks for helping to keep me sane and grounded. Helen Blackie, Ray Glennon, Sam Blackie, Ann Curtis, Alan Gardner, Samia Khan, Ian Newcombe, Tom Sandman, Sally Gold and Tessa Kelly, thank you all for your support, accommodation, meals, coffees and chats as I wrote sections while in the UK.
Finally, Dad, I miss you every day and I wish so much you’d been here to see this happen. Cuinn’s golden arrow was for you (it was a longbow).
Ellen Bard, September 2015