literature

31] Fire

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Jonas Taylor and Isaac Matthews

Jonas tossed his armload of branches in the center of the campsite, and began constructing a lean-to campfire. No one asked him to build a fire, but he felt useful doing something. He enjoyed the labor despite the ache in his bones, savoring the sense of accomplishment he gained.

Selecting the largest of the branches, he tore off the spare twigs and leaves until it was bare. He retrieved a small, black switchblade from his right pocket and began scratching symbols on the bark; three squares, each sharing a side and containing a rune of magic.

Sense-Impact...Generate...Fire

The rune combination was simple, but Jonas took the practice seriously; a single mistake could turn a fire into an inferno. Runes were powerful tools, but without care they were apt to turn against their user.

“Jonas! Whatcha doing?” Isaac asked, popping up behind him like a groundhog. His seafoam, white hair sprang about with a life and energy of its own, giving him a youthful appearance despite its strange coloring.

Jonas was used to the boy’s strange behavior, and he offered no more than a glance before turning back to his work. “Making a fire;” he answered, holding up his handiwork for Isaac to see.

“Using magic?” Isaac asked, clearly impressed. His grin grew with his eagerness, until it seemed ready to burst free of his face.

Jonas smiled, stepping back to give the wood pile a five-foot berth before lightly tossing the branch on top. The branch landed, activating the sense-impact rune. The dull blue glow of energy raced through the generation rune and into the fire rune, and the branch ignited. Fire raced from branch to branch until the campfire was burning brightly, sending off warmth and comfort.

“Foom!” Isaac shouted beside him, riding the wave of heat with his hands thrust into the air.

Jonas bathed in the glow, proud of his work; he felt his own strength grow every time he used the runes successfully. He had power now that he didn’t before, power to provide and to protect. The fire that burned inside him was hotter and brighter than the one he had created, eager to grow and spread until it filled him entirely.
This is the first piece I wrote after reading this book, which was both enlightening and humbling. Wordiness has always been a problem for me, as a labored for years under the delusion that bigger words were better. I feel better now that I recognize my weaknesses, because I now have the chance to overcome them. This is turning out to be a long process, but one I am enjoying. Another aspect is detail; I've always despised excessive detail, so I've disregarded it almost completely in my own work. I am working to improve on that, testing out some "creative" descriptions (like Isaac's "seafoam" hair) to see how they work. Feedback is always welcome and encouraged, as there is no better way to learn.

This piece covers Jonas' runes a bit more than any other so far. The system I designed for them is complex and fun to work with, since it allows for lots of creativity; I'm always excited to discover new uses for runes in his stories.
© 2014 - 2024 james72487
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