The fifteen minute novel writing experiment is an 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 193: “And in their dreams?” she asked.
“And in their dreams?” she asked. Deran nodded.
“Only occasionally. It takes a lot out of use to speak with her,” Deran said.
“Did you …” Anya began.
“Only once,” Deran told her. “In my dreams I was called to her celestial temple and she spoke to me. She was the one who commanded me to make this memory for those who came later to use. She is why I am here.”
Anya nodded. “So it wasn’t a dream then?”
“Ah,” Deran said. “The lady called to you. It is enough to knock the thought of regular lessons completely out of one’s mind.” Deran called the shadowy form of a chair to himself and sat down. “Why don’t you tell me, unless of course you were commanded to keep it secret.”
Anya shook her head. “I wasn’t told it was a secret.” She relayed both her first and second dream to him, telling him of the snow and the shadows in the woods as well as the conversations. He laced his fingers together and leaned forward placing his chin on them.
“It seems the lady has taken an interest in you,” Deran said when she was done.
“Is that a good or a bad thing?” Anya asked as she couldn’t tell from his tone.
“Both, neither,” he shrugged. “When anything or anyone of power takes an interest in you, things are likely to get interesting and often uncomfortable. Look at your Lord Mathis for example and he is but a pale shadow to Our Lady.”
Anya again nodded. She could feel the power of the lady when she was in her presence. She knew Lord Mathis was powerful by his clothes and the things others said about him and the way they acted around him. The Lady herself merely felt like power.
“But she said she will help you with safety and so she shall. Perhaps even now she is preparing a place for you to comfortably live.”
Anya opened her mouth and then shut it. A thought shimmered in her mind. “You know about the orb?” she asked.
Deran lifted an eyebrow as though surprised by the change of topic. “I am familiar with how it operated.”
“Usually when I touch it, the orb directs my sight to something I am thinking of. This morning it took me into the older parts of the House. The parts that haven’t woken up yet.” She told Deran of what she saw.
“The temple was placed here long before anything else and there was a complex near it. I did not live in that area and don’t know all that much about it. I know it was designed so that if there was trouble it could serve as a retreat. There was a way to grow food for those who lived there without fields, which might be part of the system you saw. I would have to study it and the books in the library to figure it out as that was not my strong suit. I do know that it was from there that the idea to create the hidden sections of the House were taken. That section was always hidden from those the Lady did not want to see it. Few lived there in my time. It was old before I was born.”
Deran smiled. “And of course now I am the ancient one.” He shrugged. Perhaps it is part of the Lady’s place of safety. Although I would put off investigating until the restorative magic reaches the section.”
“Too dusty?” Anya guessed.
Ten til Midnight 