Bill Van Oosten
Bio
My writing name is William Baldwijn. I write SF and Fantasy.
If you don't like Elves, Witches, Dwarves, Dragons, Changelings, Wizards and Sprites you came in the wrong door. Oh! Did I mention Praxils?
Stories (7/0)
The Banishing
Kareea sat knees under her chin in a frenzy of fear. Huddled under blankets on her bed she rocked gently back and forth but to no avail. Earth magic was her friend and consort. She clung to it and fostered her abilities at every opportunity. Chaos magic, that which Wizards used and drew their power from, intruded and disoriented her inner world like sudden loud noises. This she had learned to live with, in part it was the reason she had chosen the far Southern Isles as home. The latest manifestation had actually hurt in places she did not know existed. Bits of it, she had no other way to describe it, had made as if to rend and tear the very things connecting her to the earth. But here she must stay, in the center of what she saw all too clearly, as a gathering storm. Within her jumbled senses a tendril of clarity demanded attention. Kareea ceased rocking, a look of horror on her face as understanding flowered. She flung the blankets aside, hurled herself to the door and ran screaming down the corridor. Those in the common room saw a barefoot apparition in a white bed-shift run through to the outer door. Some smiled, some frowned, and one apprentice Witch threw herself under a table with hands over her ears.
By Bill Van Oosten2 years ago in Fiction
Bendler Stories
Next to his rebuilt house stood the workshop and the seed shed, where Bendler kept the wheat, oat, pumpkin, turnip, carrot, tomato, corn and barley seeds. It was specially built to keep the mice out and the seeds dry. Bendler was having a horrible day. More storms were forecast and that made the animals behave badly. The horse would not be caught and galloped away with his tail in the air, kicking clods of dirt into Bendler's face. The chooks refused to come out of their coop and sat huddled and worried on their perch. There would be no eggs today Bendler told himself. The cow was wet and cranky and would not milk properly. Spring was coming and Bendler stamped into the seed shed to remind himself what to plant for the coming year. But he felt too grumpy to think about spring planting and stamped off to have morning tea. He forgot to bolt the door.
By Bill Van Oosten2 years ago in Fiction
The Banishing
Marta stood looking to the west from her greeting room window. Ellish's book was right she felt sure. But that did not explain the origins of the spell that Jon had stopped. Magic did not just happen. Magic was created. There could only be one answer that she could think of, Toise and his madness. The size of the cast staggered her. Could one person alone harness that much power? The answer seemed to be yes, but how? Yet another unanswerable question, she thought. Marta had scryed in the quiet of the night to no avail. Well not completely. There were differences she had not
By Bill Van Oosten2 years ago in Fiction
The Banishing
Marcule Toise, red of hair and green of eye sat scanning the craggy horizon with a long lens. Angry and disappointed he put the lens down. He had missed his quarry. Rumors of the boy who screamed death and destruction had drawn him to the mountains. Now the boy had moved and learned to hide his emanations. Moved to the one place most hated and feared. Not that fear was something he acknowledged in himself. Arrogance was a double edged sword. The spell he had sent, bent all his will upon to harness the boy's power had moved oddly awry. More importantly it had been summarily dissipated. Toise shook his head gently and absently rubbed his temple. The repercussion of that dissipation had left him with an annoying twinge and his left eye occasionally twitched in sympathy. I will find him, I will learn that power. I will bend it to my purpose; he told himself and called for his servant.
By Bill Van Oosten2 years ago in Fiction
The Bendler Stories
Chapter. 1. Bendler's house. Bendler bought his block of land in summer. He also bought a horse and cart that he loaded with all sorts of bits and pieces he thought a farmer might need. Ha I’m better setup than Robinson Crusoe! he thought and began to whistle a tuneless dirge. The horse had quickly learnt to hate it when Bendler whistled. It made his ears twitch and something deep inside his head felt as if it was trying madly to escape.
By Bill Van Oosten2 years ago in Fiction
The Banishing
CHAPTER 2 There were none to greet Jon at the landing on the Isle. Walking the jetty to the path up the hill he felt both apprehension and an odd feeling of coming home. He stopped just short of the dirt path liking the feel of the wood and the slight movement the jetty carried from the sea. The feeling of being watched came as no surprise. It would have been stranger had he not been. The slight mental tingle of a tenuous ward and the attentions of a man on the hillside caused him to smile. He continued up the path.
By Bill Van Oosten2 years ago in Fiction
The Banishing
CHAPTER 1 Notes on an extract from Elder scroll 27: Translation 3. Long before this middle age of Wizardry, the people of the Elder days shared this world with Elves, Dwarves, the Fey and the Fell. The depredations and destruction wrought by demon kind and other Fell creatures made life a hazard and a tenuous thing.
By Bill Van Oosten2 years ago in Fiction
