Friday Fictioneers – Pollution

Copyright – Adam Ickes

Here’s my Friday Fictioneers piece for this week. Please check out Friday Fictioneers Central to submit your own 100-word piece and to read other submissions.

“The water is dirty,” I tell my mother, who stands next to me on the bridge.

“It is,” she agrees, looking over the waters we’d paddled in on hot summer days. The once clear brook is now a filthy brown. “The soldiers upstream are muddying the river.”

“When will they move? When will the river be clean again?” I ask, impatiently.

She doesn’t answer immediately. Her frown firms up as she stares at the horizon, making her jawline and cheekbones appear as a sharp silhouette against the sky.

“When the soldiers move, we will not be worrying about the river.”

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Taking Back The Crown – Part Seven

“You hesitate too much. You’re thinking, that’s a good thing, trust me, I didn’t think at all when I first started training. I’d just lash out and my mentor would walk circles around me. But you are thinking too much. You shouldn’t need that much time to make judgements, trust the first one that comes to you.”

Sonya stood on the opposite side of the combat room, a sweaty layer forming on her back, trying to take Seta’s advice in. Part of the problem laid in the fact she constantly had to scale down her true power. If he realized how strong she really was, they might figure out who she was and not let her stay. Besides, she might end up killing Seta in the unlikely event that she actually landed a blow on him. Power wasn’t everything. Seta was extremely fast, elegant and he made controlling his strength look easy. Even if Sonya wasn’t holding back, she wouldn’t win.

She supposed that was why they’d let him become a mentor early. Normally, a student did not become a mentor until they were thirty. Then again, Sonya was a year younger than all the other new students. She was also much more female. They had all stared at first. Some still did. She didn’t know what they thought of her. Students here did not socialize much with each other. Everyone travelled around in their mentor/student couplings.

Seta was a good mentor to her. When Trin or Naria had escaped the “abyss” the Rutilus had put them in, she’d be ready to fight with them.

Taking Back The Crown: Part Four

“I saw him chasing you last night through my window. I was surprised when I saw you defend yourself.” Seta began. They were kneeling in front of a wooden table, in the same room she’d woken up in. The futon had been packed away. The walls were very bare and, although Sonya had a cushion, the wooden floor was hard on her knees. Seta poured her some tea, but she didn’t drink it.

 “Females here don’t have magic.” Sonya remembered this from her lessons. It was a strange idea to her, since she came from a family where only the first born female inherits power. However, there were an equal number of male and female magicians across Litia. Her family was unique in its inheritance pattern.

 “No. Where are you from? Litia? The Sprite World?” he asked.

  “Where is this place?” she asked, avoiding his question. If he knew about Litia, then he would probably know about her family, the so-called Litian Royalty.

 “I believe outside worlds call this Natetern.” Sonya had known this from doing her exercises. These people must have really taken pity on her. Natetics were not usually so welcoming of strangers. At least, that’s what she’d been taught. “This area is a training ground for Natetic magicians. Who was the man I killed?”

 “He was someone I knew. I don’t know why he attacked me. I was waiting for my mother.” she answered, truthfully.

 “When did you last see your mother?” Seta gently probed.

 “She brought me here. It’s not safe where I’m from. She told me not to go back without her.” Sonya quickly explained. Surely this information wasn’t dangerous to give him? Seta narrowed his eyes. He looked almost like an elderly man when his eyes wrinkled up, though his stature and normal face suggested he couldn’t be more than twenty five.

“I see. Our elders, the men who run this place, say you may stay here for as long as you need to.”