Daeralf’s Rune

A TALE OF THE ENDLANDS — AN EBOOK-SINGLE SHORT STORY "I can't do this," she whispered as if speaking to herself. But for five years now, Gydon had never truly been alone. "Thou hast the power within thee," came the voice of Daeralf. "Shut up." She felt the cittern strummed within her pocket, its off-key tune setting up a strange resonance in her ribs. In trying to shake the imp out of position, she somehow managed to open the pocket, the song coming on suddenly louder to her ears. "Thou hast always had the power, but in thy fear lives the weakness that doth break the hopeful. For the arcane power is the strength of self and will, and fear is the faint blade that cuts within." The imp was singing the faint rebuke, and ignoring all Gydon's attempts to shush him. "I'll fail. I know it." "Thou fearest too much the threats of thy mind, and ignores too often the threats of the world." "What does that even mean?" Gydon felt the attack before she saw it... The novice conjurer Gydon dreams of one day being accepted to the ranks of the apprentices of Citadel Chenyra, the legendary school of sorcery. However, what not even her master knows is that an accident in the laboratory five years before has granted Gydon an edge in her studies -- and an unlikely friend who will help her understand her true potential... DAERALF'S RUNE is an 8,100 word short story -- part of the upcoming anthology THE TWILIGHT CHILD AND OTHER TALES