I wish I could say my magical adventure to Disneyland had inspired magic and adventure within me. Regardless, I’m feeling particularly magicious and adventural to be going through my fantasy of Destiny’s Curse. A brief book synopsis and introduction is included in my Queries post. I’m now giving my lucky readers an abridged introduction to Nathe’s magical explorations! Let me know your thoughts! 😀
Nathe’s ears caught a low slur calling out every type of witch’s or wizard’s curse for exploration: night witches, midwives, sorcerers, even the rare necromancers. He followed the voice to a sage green tent, housing an elderly elf with long straggly grey hair and a frayed dress. Nathe didn’t even try guessing how many skirt pieces had gone into fixing its holes. As he neared her, she addressed him properly,
“‘How can I help you, fine gentle-elf?”
“How does one explore one’s magical capabilities, if one doesn’t know one has any?”
“‘Well, ‘one’ should explore all his options then.” Now that he was closer, he could hear her impoverished accent. What had come out of her mouth sounded like “ell, un sood esplor aw iz opsuns den.” She leaned forward, and he bent closer to catch her whisper, “What do you think ye are, young elf? Where be your talents?”
“I’m not completely sure. All I can guess is it has something to do with the wizard field.”
She bent down and pulled out a small chest,
“We’ll check if you’re a necromancer! They’re rare, but it wouldn’t hurt to give it a try, eh?” From the chest, she withdrew a small jar. It was beautifully carved, but Nathe could only guess what was inside.
“Behold, my sister’s ashes! She be a midwife and wanted her ashes saved for herb studies.” Nathe wanted to gag, and when she opened the lid, he wanted to puke. If her sister had never bathed in her life, she couldn’t have smelled worse than her ashes did.
“Try summoning her spirit”
“I’m fairly confident I won’t be able to do that.” Summoning a spirit seemed very complicated. He’d only ever seen it done in the castle for entertainment demonstrations, though Nathe was convinced they were just smoke and mirrors.
“Writhing wraiths, this is the easiest test of a true necromancer. They have a little talent in every area, so it’s always worth a try. I do love to see my sister’s face.”
Nathe was still skeptical. How could he possibly do anything in Necromancy if he only – maybe – had skills in sorcery? She brandished a mirror and held it to the side above the jar, so they could see each other’s angled reflections.
“Now, if this works at all, we might see her spirit in the mirror.” She stopped talking to him directly, but looked at him through the mirror’s reflection. Her wrinkles and moles looked more prominent from the mirror’s gaze. “All you need to do is concentrate on the ashes and say ‘egzizdoe.’ Why don’t you practice it once?”
Trying his best to not be skeptical, he repeated the Fairy word, “Egzizdoe.” He translated it in his head to mean ‘come,’ ‘appear,’ and ’emerge.’
“Good, very good. Now concentrate on the ashes, boy, and I’ll watch the mirror for her.”
Barring his shoulders and trying his best to not question the witch’s sanity, he focused his gaze on the ashes. His mind kept thinking of how ridiculous this was and he was wasting his time, though a small part was curious. It wouldn’t hurt to try. He unfocused his logic and blurred his sight on the ashes. They seemed to swirl in his foggy vision and beckon him. He leaned in closely to the jar, his nose nearly touching the ceramic jar. Nathe wanted to look up at the mirror, to check if anything would happen, but he was afraid to break his gaze. As close as he was, he saw no need to say the word loudly, so he whispered it, like a secret meant only for the sister to hear,
“Egzizdoe.”
“Eyes!” the witch gasped, then squealed. Nathe’s looked up at the witch, who was still staring at the mirror.
“I saw her eyes! She was coming, but you broke your gaze! You broke the spell! But either way, you’re a true necromancer!”
Or is he? She is a scheming witch, after all. To be continued next week! 😀
C. Rae D'Arc 