The fifteen minute novel writing experiment is a attempt to write a complete (and very rough) draft of a novel by writing for fifteen minutes each day. I have taken a timed writing from one of the daily prompts done in 2021, cleaned it up a little and used it as my jumping off point into a story. Each day I will take the last line of the story written the day before and use it as my sentence starter and write for fifteen minutes, growing the story as the year progresses.
Day 175: She moved closer and touched one of the rings.
She moved closer and touched one of the rings. It vibrated with an almost humming sound. She pulled her fingers back and the humming stopped. Anya frowned and reached out and touched the ring. The hum returned. She realized it wasn’t exactly a sound but more a vibration that moved all the way through her bones and was so deeply felt that it felt like it ought to be a sound. It made her ear drums itch but she knew she had to get moving.
Anya grasped the first of the silver rings and then walked to the other. The ring was easy to drag through the air. There was no resistance to being moved at all, which she felt was probably a good sign. Anya grasped the second ring. It too was vibrating and the sound that was not sound increased. Anya winced and decided that a delay was not in her best interest. She kept one hand on each ring and walked towards the door. The fact that the rings had no weight to them make them easy to move down the wide corridor. When her bath took her to the narrower hallways she twisted slightly to the side, pushing one in front of her and dragging the other behind as she moved. While she was able to move them as flat circles, as the passageways narrowed she tilted them on their sides so the circles were vertical.
They fir through all the doorways and halls easily this way and she reached the small room next to her chambers. The vibrating sound was beginning to cause her head to pound and Anya was eager to be finished with this task. She positioned the rings where she thought they would be most useful and let them go. The silence form the lack of vibration was an intense relief. Anya brushed back a loose strand of hair from her face, tucking it behind her ear.
She took a deep breath and spoke the incantation that Deran gave her. While there was no drawing out of energy this time, there was a snap, as though the lines connecting her to the rings was cut. The iron circles lowered to the floor, sinking into the boards. There was a circle on the floor for a moment as they settled and then the circles disappeared. She felt nothing from them.
Worried that she might have damaged them, Anya stepped into the first circle. “Recaros,” She said. The circles flared to life and Deran coalesced in the circle in front of her. He smiled when he saw her.
“It is complete then?” he asked. Anya nodded. Her stomach rumbled loudly. She lifted a hand to her belly. She shivered as she realized how cold her hands had become. Deran looked around. He nodded is approval.
“And excellent place to study. There is even a chair for you to sit during long lessons. You can move it into the circle with no issues. It appears the other chair has gone though.”
“I took it for my quarters as there was no chair there,” Anya told him. “Do you need me to bring it back?” she asked.
He waved the thought away. “For me, no,” he said. He bent his knees as though preparing to sit and a shadowy chair formed under him. “See,” he said. Anya nodded. He stood up and the chair disappeared. “I think for now you might wish to get something to eat and possibly secure whatever supplies are needed. Our lessons will cause no harm if they are delayed another day.”
Anya felt the hollowness of her belly.
Ten til Midnight 