Word of the Day Writings-Week of November 11th, 2016

A Story by Robert King

Aethera: The Selection

Magic Word: Celerity

Author’s Note: This is obviously a bit bare in places, but I want to use this at a later date with more detail and plot.

Alister quickly descended the staircase of the compound in the forest, wary of any strange details that might appear. He and Aedan trailed a kidnapped woman to the cavern, where others are believed to be held as well. Aedan was in command of the city guard, who were currently busy dealing with… something at the opening of the cavern. Alister wasn’t sure what it was, and he hoped he didn’t have to find out. It appeared to be a rabbit with a dragon’s head, eagle’s wings, and an alligator tail, but the abomination could still move with a rabbit’s celerity. Still, Aedan’s handled worse by himself. As Alister neared the end of the staircase, the shaking from the surface began to reach its peak.

At the end of the staircase was a crude steel door, which Alister grabbed the handle without thinking, only to learn that it was locked from the inside. He reached for Squeaky’s cork before hearing something that would have him waking at night for months; the screams of about a dozen people from the other end of the door, almost as if their souls were being ripped from their bodies. He prepared a fireball to blast the door from its hinges, and entered a dark, rectangular room where capsules lining the husks of various people of all ages and genders lined the sides. At the opposite end was a lab table, some equipment and a circular pod which a dim light emanated from a dusty window in the front. Alister muttered a light spell, and the forms which he saw in the light added an extra month to his nightmares; the people who screamed were now dried husks, barely skeletons with a thin layer of flesh attached.

Alister’s attention was quickly distracted by the sight of a large claw ripping the hinges off of the pod at the end of the room. He never fully understood what it was that stood before him, as it had a bear’s body, a tiger’s head and tail, and the teeth of a shark. Alister never fully comprehended what it was, and he didn’t have time to think about it. He instinctively reached for his bottle cork and quietly let Squeaky out, who formed a wall that barely held against the beast’s charge. A second hammering broke through, and the shock almost cost Alister his life, if it wasn’t for innate reflexes. Alister reached for one of the blobs from the broken wall and formed it into a knife, which he plunged deep into the creature’s side as he attempted to sidestep it. It roared and attempted to tear Alister’s entrails out with its gnarly claw, which ripped off the sleeve of Alister’s tunic and dealt a glancing blow to his arm. Alister yelped as he focused and attempted to mutter an arc lightning spell. It took every ounce of focus he had to maintain the strength of the spell which dodging the rampaging monstrosity and stifling the mental anguish of the wound on his arm. Alister then aimed his bolt at the knife he left in, and fried the creature from the inside. The creature staggered as it delivered a final murderous glare at Alister before it toppled over to the stone floor.

Alister glanced over through the capsules one last time and noticed, among the other species, an elderly tiger and a bear cub child. He began to berate himself for failing to save them, but took solace in destroying what appeared to be their murderer as he returned to the surface.

Coming of Age

Magic Word: Symphysis

Two verdant sprouts

Spend year parallel, intertwined

Each reaching for the sun

Years sail by

The plants blossom

To reveal apples and oranges

After beautiful symphysis.

Opprobrious Overwhelm

Magic Word: Opprobrious

The faults strike deep