Writing Experiment: Scene 1

Here's the first scene. It's a long time coming, but I hope you enjoy it. I'm not happy with the way it ended, but it managed to add a nice new element to play with in the story. Hopefully w/ some revision it can be fleshed out into a better scene.

***


``I give up.'' Cat dropped her head into her arms, resting on the
heavy wooden desk. She pressed her forehead against the smooth vaneer
finish, blocking out the flickering light with her arms. ``I just
can't do it.'' She felt the warm pressure of a hand on her shoulder.

``You'll get it Cat, just focus. Use your frustration. Fire feeds on
emotion.'' She turned and looked up into the starling blue eyes of her
cousin. ``Just take a few deep breaths.''

``Easy for you to say. You're a natural.'' He sat down beside her, and
pushed a book across the table. ``Another book? Do you really think
this'll help?''

``Come on Cat! It took me months to track down that book. The
Alethenian Codex were supposed to have been destroyed. Do me a favor,
just try it.''

She ran her hand along the worn leather cover, inhaling the musty old
book. She dropped the book as a fit of sneezing came over her. ``Damn
books. One of these days, you'll be the death of me Michael.''

She gently opened the book, squinting to read the careful writing
inside. As she worked her way through the writing, her head swam with
images. The mages described in this book were not just
elementalists. They talked of drawing higher magics, bending other
parts of the known world to their will.

She read more carefully until she saw something that made her blood
run cold. ``Michael? Are you sure this is a good idea?'' Her hand was
shaking as she slid the book over to him. ``The codex were destoryed
for a reason. We've stumbled across something dangerous.''

His lips moved as he read the passage. Cat closed her eyes and tried
to push the images into the back of her mind. Such callous disregard
for human life was abhorant. ``They really think this worked?''
Michael's voice was a harsh whisper. He slipped the book back towards
her. ``It's still one of the most complete treatises on magic that
ever existed. If half of what they write is true, it might still be
helpful.''

She sat back up in the chair, taking deep breaths that filled up her
stomach. She pushed the breath deep inside her, feeling the power stir
inside her. A spark warmed her belly, and she blew it out into her
hand.

``Oh please, you call that a fire? Even a mundie can do better. Maybe I
should bring one of them in here.'' The spark faltered and she dropped
it. A book slammed shut behind her, casting a plume of dust into the
air. The small candles flickered, casting pale shadows along the book
on the table.

``What are you doing here? Don't you have some children to steal or
something?'' She bit down on the venom in her mouth, closing her
eyes. ``Get out of here Sam, I'm trying to work.''

``Sitting there all day with your nose in a book isn't going to
help.'' He waved his hand, pulling shadows down over the book in front
of her. ``You can't learn magic from books, no matter what Michael
says.'' He smirked, and got to his feet. ``You two enjoy
yourselves.'' He flipped a match onto the table in front of
Cat. ``Maybe you can use that to finally start a fire.''

Before she could blink, Michael was out of his chair and punched Sam
squarely in the jaw. Sam touched his fingers to his busted lip. ``You
actually hit me? A lord of the council assulted me. Well the council
will love to hear about this.''

``You leave her alone,'' Michael growled. ``The Princess has more pull
than you'll ever have.'' He punched Sam again.

Cat stood up as a third punch landed. ``Stop it, both of you.'' She
took a few more steps and felt a wave of power pass over her. She took
a few deep breaths to steady herself. ``Michael, stop. Just let him
go. Sam, it's time for you to leave.''

``Aww Princess, we were just starting to have fun. Can't stop until
someone looses an eye, right?'' He winced from the pain as he
grinned. ``Can't stop till then.''

``Leave! Now.'' Anger swelled in her as she pointed at the door. Power
flooded from her, leaving her weak at the knees. A burst of flame
lanced across the room and struck the door in a shower of
sparks. Michael just barely managed to pull Sam aside as the door
burst into flames. His face was pale and his nose, lips, and ears were
oozing dark red blood. He scrambled to his feet and ran through the
door.

Cat stared in horror as Michael started calling water. He doused the
flames, and sat down next to her. ``Well, I guess now we know. Blood
magic exists after all.''