Morning all and welcome to the Fifteen Minute Novel. Here I take the start of a story idea and work on it for fifteen minutes a day. I started with an old writing prompt that interested me, cleaned it up a bit to fit the basic outline of the story I want to write and then set aside fifteen minutes each week day to see it grow. Each morning’s writing starts with the last sentence of the day before. And so now we have the story of Kasca…
Day 17: She would have to hope that other towns, other villages had not been as hard hit by the disease.
She would have to hope that other towns, other villages had not been as hard hit by the disease. Kasca worried over this as she headed south. The little boat was taken out on the current and when she came ins sight of a town or village, she used the poles to guide it towards the shore. Near Treson Kasca put to shore upstream from the actual port. Under her concealment moved into the port. The port was abandoned.
Many houses had the mark of death upon them and the remnants of a funeral pyre were in the town square. It was old enough that the scent of smoke no longer hung on the air. She returned to her boat and continued on.
The story remained unchanged as she threaded her way down the river. There were no signs of people, no signs of movement, of anyone who had survived what killed the rest. Kasca felt panic begin to grow. She passed the small village of Het, the final port on the river. She did not bother to stop as all it’s buildings had been burnt to the ground, the symbol for death painted over the sign for the port.
‘Maybe it spread along the river and didn’t reach the inland towns.’ Kasca thought as she let the current take her. ‘They can’t all be dead.’
While Het was the last of the port towns there was one further location along the river. The Sanctuary at Parva. It was on a small island. The Sanctuary had enough magic poured into it’s foundations over the years that even the Overlord could not breach it. All he could do was isolate it. No one was allowed to trade with them. No one was allowed to visit.
The Sanctuary was locked in isolation. The Overlord expected them to cave, to be starved into submission. They never faltered, they never fell. The Overlord instead had to forget them and be content on keeping anyone else from joining them.
‘But isolation may have helped them.’ With a destination in mind, Kasca felt renewed energy. She tried not to think about her own dwindling supplies. Soon, regardless of potential contagion, she would be forest to find some place to restock. ‘If the Sanctuary has been isolated they might not be contaminated and perhaps they will allow e to resupply.’
It was the hope she clung to as she navigated around the barricades the overlord erected. She could see where they were once manned, once monitored to ensure the Sanctuary’s isolation. For now, they were as abandoned as everything else seemed to be. Kasca held tight to her shielding but knew she needed a rest.
She slipped past the defenses and saw the Sanctuary looming large on its island. She spotted the area once used by those docking on the island and piloted her small boat towards the mostly dismantled port. No one objected to her crossing. She beached the boat on the sand and climbed out of it. She looked up at the sound of movement.
Twenty armed guards arrived on the shore, their weapons all pointed to her. Despite the danger, Kasca was relieved by the sight of other living people.
Ten til Midnight 