Tag: Magic

The Woman Who Breathes Death (Part One)

For many years I have navigated the world of the living and walked among the dead. I have seen people die of natural causes, old age, illness, anything that would harm the human body without outside interaction. And I have been there to personally take a life that was long overdue to travel to Death’s dominion.

Balancing the thin thread of life and death is no simple task that anybody can do; only those chosen from Death himself will be able to endure the constant struggle. Becoming Death would be a curse to many. I personally enjoyed being handed the tools to literally hold somebody’s life in the palm of my hand. One such life came to mind, one that took Death’s name in vain.

My sources had quickly gathered information on my next victim, a man who goes by many names. One such name was Haegard the Rotten. I’ve been told that he often takes up a drink in a tavern well deep into the forest.

It was time that I paid him a visit.

“Aye, they be rather anxious tonight,” I replied. “They must be sensin’ somethin’ nasty a’brewin’.”

“Stories tell of crows cawin’ when death be near, when the reaper himself walks among the livin’.”

I felt myself gaining an interest in continuing the conversation with the driver.

Continue reading The Woman Who Breathes Death

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Wrong Spell

I know there’s a weird-ass anime screenshot posted on here, but hear me out for a second.

So last night I was relaxing at my usual go-to bar after leaving work, just to unwind and take a load off before going home for the night. I was writing something up on my phone when I got a sudden hit of Writer’s Block. What I then did was I went onto Twitter and asked for an opening liner to help get the thoughts going.

A friend of mine shared this screenshot, and I had absolutely no idea what anime it was from, so I just winged it and wrote this. I didn’t look up the source until AFTER I wrote it.

The anime is called Oretachi ni Tsubasa wa Nai-under the innocent sky (We Without Wings – Under the Innocent Sky.) I didn’t look too much into what the plot is about, but I did manage to find the scene where the screenshot came from. In case you want to watch it, here’s the link: Oretachi ni Tsubasa wa Nai

And, after looking at the video, I don’t think this story was tooooo far off…

Enjoy!

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100 Word Story – Velvet Sights

“Is this working now?”

“It better fukin’ work. It took damn near a month for the repairs to finish and another week to send it back.”

With her rifle in hand Aurora rapidly dismantled it down to expose the inner workings and placed a small blue jewel inside a small engraving. She put it back together and aimed down the scope, focusing on a dummy made of hay at least two hundred meters away.

Holding her breath to keep steady, the barrel of the rifle started to glow an unnatural velvet blue. She could feel the magic surging through it.

— Follow Luka on Facebook and Twitter for more content and a look into Luka’s life!`

100 Word Story – Motion

Time was passing slowly, everything seeming like it was flash frozen in place. I was able to reach out and tap a bird in mid-descent. If it was still in full motion, it would have surely swooped down and hit me in the side of my head with its yellow beak.

Its wings were suspended like it was being held up by razor thin wiring. I poked it in its eye but it didn’t react even in the slightest. I started to focus on the city streets, people and cars completely motionless.

That’s when I knew I could stop time.

— Follow Luka on Facebook and Twitter for more content and a look into Luka’s life!

100 Word Story – Mage’s First

This was the first time I did it. It honestly wasn’t even suppose to happen like this, at least not this gruesome. I kept looking at my hands and at the corpse on the other side of the room. All of my senses seemed to come to a halt, with the exception of a hazy vision of everything around me; I couldn’t even hear myself breath.

But that didn’t matter. I didn’t need all of my senses to complete my work. I picked up my tome and walked to the corpse, its limbs cold and stiff.

“Awaken, my Dark Lord.”

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Necrotic (Part One)

The leaves crunched and crackled as footsteps continued to walk across them. The light at the end of the darkened forest grew brighter, a flame dancing in the breeze. Through the small hole in the damaged hood, the walking stranger glanced up at the forest brush overhead blocking off the night sky. The thick leaves on the trees even seemed to be guiding the stranger towards the flame.

What awaits our stranger at the orange flame?

Clanking glasses and cheers all around as the tavern opened up for the night. One patron has a crowd of people around him as he exaggerated a tale from one of his many triumphant hunts for bandits. Although many of the listeners know the truth behind the tales, they can’t help but cheer on in a drunken daze as he described his “dates with death” and how he compiled such a large amount of gold.

At the end of his current story the crowd cried out, “What be your greatest bout with bandits, ye ol’ Hagar?”

Stroking the greying beard longer than his neck and ordering another round of ale for the entire tavern Hagar began yet another tale, this one not needing any exaggeration. Getting down from standing up on the table, he

“Ay, so listen to this tale. This be one of great intrigue, and the true meaning of ‘staring Death in the face.’ So there be I, wanderin’ through Sublime Caverns just on the other end of Mount Dreatha. I be on my way back to turn in the finger of me latest bounty for Grethian Naklak, that lisardman who was caught stealing in town. The bounty called for his ring finger as proof of his death.”

One of the listeners question, “Did he still have the ring he stole from the shop?”

Bluffing compassion and honesty Hagar let out a deep sigh and shook his head, “Sad to say, but no. I think he traded it off before being found. Nonetheless, that finger was coming with me. As I navigated the road back down the mountainside, another person approached me. At glance, it be some hag covered in rags and tattered clothes. I paid no mind, until said person stopped in my path. The hag whispered, ‘Your actions will not go unseen. I am always watching.’”

“Maybe it was somebody you saved before, wanting to thank you.”

“It be weird for Death to be thankin’ ye.” Hagar gulped down half of his pitcher of ale before continuing with his tale. “I caught a glimpse of the hag’s face through the hole in her hood. Eyes red as freshly spewed blood and skin whiter than the snow from the first days of winter. That day, I saw Death face-to-face.”

The listeners did a collective gasp, whispering to one another. Everybody kept their eyes on Hagar and was stunned when they saw the large grin on his scarred face. With a slam of his fist on the table and kicking back his seat to stand up, Hagar roared in the tavern, “Death be afraid to confront me!”

Everybody fell silent, the words of a drunk man ringing in their ears. It didn’t stop them from bursting into cheers along with him.

It’s a shame none of them noticed Death was nearby.

Totally Not Sleight-of-Hand

He kept looking at me with those golden brown eyes of his, just watching me with such intensity and intrigue. His eyebrow kept going up and down in a pattern as if he’s trying to give me some kind of signal. Even though I’m looking straight at his, my mind is off wandering someplace else, stuck on his previous attempt on trying to wow me with his “special talent.”

I looked back down on the small, round table in front of us, glancing at the deck of card spread out across the surface. Out of the entire fifty-two deck, only one card is face-up: the queen of hearts. I shuffled that deck at least four times, each time using a different method, I thought to myself. He even turned away while I picked the card, and shuffled it. There has to be some kind of strange prank going on, but I can’t figure it out.

“Well, missy,” Eric began with a cocky tone, “you figured out how I did that?”

I kept my eyes glued to the card just for a moment longer before letting out a sigh, shaking my head, and putting on a small smile, “I don’t know how the hell you did it. But yes, that’s my card.”

Eric laughed, probably at me finally letting down my wall of stubbornness. Ever since I was a kid, I never really believed in the whole idea of magic and magicians. As I grew older, I saw a bunch of different tricks being debunked before my eyes, thus only furthering my disbelief. However, all of those times in the past, I was never the participant in a person’s display of “magic.” In this case, being asked out on a date by a so-called magician was the perfect chance to experience it with my own eyes.

Watching him do his tricked spurred up a small interest in seeing what else he could do. I lean back in my seat, a shoulder propped on the back to keep me balanced. “Alright, Mister Magician Man. What else can you do to convince me that magic is real and not just a bunch of sleight of hand stuff?”

Still cocky, Eric chuckled and leaned forward on the table, eyeing me as if I challenged him, “Oh, I have a lot more I can show you. But, I’ll convince you using one of my favorite talents.”

“And what would that be?”

“I can get your wallet without leaving my seat.”

How could that even be possible, I questioned in my head. My wallet is all the way inside my jean pocket, and we’re sitting on opposite ends of the table.

Subconsciously, I slid my hand into my pocket just to make sure my wallet was where it should be. And it was. Pressed against my thigh in my jeans. I gave Eric a smug-ass smile and said, “Try me.”

Eric readied himself by sitting up in his seat and adjusting the small black tie around the collar of his shirt. Informing me that this next trick would require my help, he took off his dark blue blazer and placed it on top of the table.

He gave me a few instructions as he began the trick, “What I want you to do is think about your wallet. When you have a clear image of it in your mind, I want you to reach into one of my jacket sleeves and feel around for something.”

“That’s it? Seems simple enough.”

There’s no way he could possibly convince me that magic exists. He’s just toying with me to make me look stupid.

Looking directly at Eric, just to make sure he doesn’t try to slip under the table, I put a clear visual in my head about my wallet; it’s a plain, light blue open wallet with a small chain attached around one of the flaps. Without telling him what it looks like, I followed his instructions and reached into one of the sleeves of his blazer and felt around.

At first, all I could feel was the sleek, silk lining of the heavy jacket, cool to the touch no matter how long he had it on. As I went further up the sleeve I started to feel a collection of tiny metal links forming a chain. I froze.

No, this is just a trick. He made me think about my wallet beforehand. My mind is just playing with me, making me think that I actually feel it in the sleeve. I shook my head and continued. With my free hand, I put it over my pocket just to make sure my wallet was still there.

But there was no bulge. Nothing was pressing against my thigh.

— Follow Luka on Facebook and Twitter for more content and a look into Luka’s life!

— via Daily Prompt: Sleeve

Way of the Dark Arts

Have you ever wondered what it’s like to have magical abilities? Did you ever want to master pyromancy and set ablaze the place that was once your sanctuary, but is now a land of cursed memories? Do you know how quickly you can make somebody die from hypothermia if you could encase them in a block of solid ice? Why walk through a forest in the dark when you can shock a corpse and turn it into a usable source of light?

The possibilities for magic is endless. And Salnia is here for me to bestow upon her the element of her choice; she’s been begging me for days to take her under my wing as my apprentice Primal Witch.

“Take up your catalyst,” I command her, “and show me just what you plan on doing with your newfound power.”

From the bottom of the steps to my throne, Salnia eagerly looks at me as she raises her hand, “I have already brought my catalyst, my Mistress! It is one that I shall make sure to constantly carry with me at all times.”

Why does she have her hand up? I question to myself. I inch forward a bit from my throne of human carcasses, taking note of a faint, gold shimmering effect around one of Salnia’s fingers. Curiosity takes hold of me as I approach, the skeletal steps cracking underneath my feet.

“What catalyst have you already selected for yourself? What are you willing to sacrifice in order to unlock your latent powers?”

I grab Salnia’s hand and keep it open, palm side up. Aged scaring and slashes are prominent all across her entire palm, irregularities in healed skin showing how many times one spot was cut open. A golden ring is loosely wrapped around her ring finger; there’s a name engraved on its underside, but there’s a scratch across it, making it completely illegible. I don’t hesitate to take the ring off to get a better evaluation of it.

“This ring seems to have gone through some wear and tear, has it not?” I ask.

Salina nods as she confirms, “Yes. It is the ring given to me on my wedding day. That was quite some time ago…”

“And you want to make this your catalyst. Why is that?”

“That ring has nothing but evil and malicious memories tied to it, memories that I will never be able to forget.” Salina gets up from her kneeling pose and stands up straight in front of me. When I look into her eyes, I can see a growing darkness emerging from within. “And I shall use those memories as my fuel for learning the kind of magic I intend on mastering.”

The talk of evil and darkness, using bad memories as her fuel for mastering magic. She’s using a gift of her from a time she one lived in bliss and happiness, but the marks on her hand tell the opposite. I can’t help but smile when I have an idea of what kind of magic my new apprentice would like to study.

I put the ring back on her finger as I ask one final question, “Salina, my future Primal Witch apprentice. What kind of magic and sorcery have to decided on to learn? Shout out your purpose and I shall decide if your intentions are worthy enough of my time and effort.”

Salina closes her eyes as she takes a deep breath to clear her mind. Her eyes focused on mine and her hands clutched, she yells out, “Show me the way of abysmal magic so I can torture my husband in the afterlife!”

— Follow Luka on Facebook and Twitter for more content and a look into Luka’s life!

— via Daily Prompt: Bestow

Unexplained Powers

History has shown that magic had some kind of influence on the events in the past. Even if people couldn’t see it if a certain person acted a way that wasn’t deemed “normal” for that era, magic would be the explanation. Often executing or put to exile, people were outcasts for even the simplest of things that could easily be explained in the modern era.

However, in some of those cases, people were lucky when the person they killed or exiled actually did use magic, whether the public knew it or not. Now, as society has developed to a new age, there are some things that science just can’t explain.

Such as how this woman is floating high in the sky below the streets.

Calezia raised her hand towards the clear night sky. Somehow, even though there wasn’t a cloud in sight, a large bolt of lightning struck down, colliding with her hand.

One of the policemen screamed out, “Spread out, she’s about to fire!”

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