Is your predicament that the only way to stop Max talking about the Calgary van is to buy a Calgary van? Or at least to tell him that Calgary vans are only sold in Calgary? I enjoyed the update on the free concert and the misinformed prompt, by the way :) It made me smile!
Predicament The sun set and the Shoreditch tenement room became too dark to see anything in. The windows were only squares of grey in the blackness and Alexander walked cautiously over to them, his hands out to his sides and his footsteps hesitant, feeling his way. "Blinds," he said at the window. When he leaned close enough to the dirt-smeared glass the darkness transformed and the yellow glow of streetlights, and the flickering orange glow of fires in braziers, illuminated the busy streets of the City at night. "Probably to prevent people from seeing in. I doubt it was for sleeping." He turned, the blackness of the room dizzying him for a moment, and felt through his pockets until he found a smooth river stone that he'd collected years ago in the Lake District. He wrapped Power around it smoothly and it glowed, starting barely as bright as a firefly, and gradually shedding enough light around it that the bloodstains on the floor were distinct, though the colours were still washed out and mostly grey. Elizabeth sighed. "What did you call him?" she asked. "Who?" "The East German guy. The one who ate two volumes of something. It sounded Latin." "Labdaris," said Alexander, glad that his hand holding the stone accidentally cast his face into shadow. "He was the Master of the East German school of Power manipulation, and he wrote the second and third volumes of Libero di pensieri incatenati." "Do we have those volumes back in the Library? Or anything written by him, I suppose." Alexander paused before answering, and now he rotated and cupped his hands so that his face, and Elizabeth's, were properly illuminated. "Why?" he asked. His eyes had narrowed slightly, and his mouth turned down at the corners. Elizabeth paid attention for once, unable to tell if he was angry or upset. "I have a predicament," she said. "I can follow the outline of this spell, but the detail are blurred." "Because the practitioner was killed. I'm impressed you can get the outline." "There were two of them," said Elizabeth, and Alexander looked shocked. "The outline is there because... because. No, I don't know. They left the outline behind and I don't know if it's a trap or they didn't realise, or they couldn't erase it. The murder was definitely to obscure the spell though." Alexander turned the light-emitted stone over in his hands, and the shadows rotated around the room like a strange zoetrope in motion. "They summoned a demon," he said slowly. "They're not stupid. But...." "What?" "But they might not have known...." "Alex!" It was his turn to sigh now. "We need to talk more, and under protection," he said. "But they might not have known that a voluntary death would only obscure the parts of the spell that the volunteer controlled."
Lord Derby and Samual turned the corner of the path ahead of Tomasz, who was clearly not wanting to go first. The Witnesses lined both sides of the path ahead, two hundred metres long in front of the Temple of the King.
2 comments:
Is your predicament that the only way to stop Max talking about the Calgary van is to buy a Calgary van? Or at least to tell him that Calgary vans are only sold in Calgary?
I enjoyed the update on the free concert and the misinformed prompt, by the way :) It made me smile!
Predicament
The sun set and the Shoreditch tenement room became too dark to see anything in. The windows were only squares of grey in the blackness and Alexander walked cautiously over to them, his hands out to his sides and his footsteps hesitant, feeling his way.
"Blinds," he said at the window. When he leaned close enough to the dirt-smeared glass the darkness transformed and the yellow glow of streetlights, and the flickering orange glow of fires in braziers, illuminated the busy streets of the City at night. "Probably to prevent people from seeing in. I doubt it was for sleeping."
He turned, the blackness of the room dizzying him for a moment, and felt through his pockets until he found a smooth river stone that he'd collected years ago in the Lake District. He wrapped Power around it smoothly and it glowed, starting barely as bright as a firefly, and gradually shedding enough light around it that the bloodstains on the floor were distinct, though the colours were still washed out and mostly grey.
Elizabeth sighed.
"What did you call him?" she asked.
"Who?"
"The East German guy. The one who ate two volumes of something. It sounded Latin."
"Labdaris," said Alexander, glad that his hand holding the stone accidentally cast his face into shadow. "He was the Master of the East German school of Power manipulation, and he wrote the second and third volumes of Libero di pensieri incatenati."
"Do we have those volumes back in the Library? Or anything written by him, I suppose."
Alexander paused before answering, and now he rotated and cupped his hands so that his face, and Elizabeth's, were properly illuminated. "Why?" he asked. His eyes had narrowed slightly, and his mouth turned down at the corners. Elizabeth paid attention for once, unable to tell if he was angry or upset.
"I have a predicament," she said. "I can follow the outline of this spell, but the detail are blurred."
"Because the practitioner was killed. I'm impressed you can get the outline."
"There were two of them," said Elizabeth, and Alexander looked shocked. "The outline is there because... because. No, I don't know. They left the outline behind and I don't know if it's a trap or they didn't realise, or they couldn't erase it. The murder was definitely to obscure the spell though."
Alexander turned the light-emitted stone over in his hands, and the shadows rotated around the room like a strange zoetrope in motion.
"They summoned a demon," he said slowly. "They're not stupid. But...."
"What?"
"But they might not have known...."
"Alex!"
It was his turn to sigh now. "We need to talk more, and under protection," he said. "But they might not have known that a voluntary death would only obscure the parts of the spell that the volunteer controlled."
Lord Derby and Samual turned the corner of the path ahead of Tomasz, who was clearly not wanting to go first. The Witnesses lined both sides of the path ahead, two hundred metres long in front of the Temple of the King.
Greg - so far behind on comments that I can't remember the inspiration for this prompt. Sorry :(
Oh, you've brought us to the Witnesses... and left us hanging again :)
Good thing the first bit was so engaging that I don't mind the tease :D
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