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 26: He ran a hand through his hair.
He ran a hand through his hair. “You are safe in your isolation,” he said. “And should have enough supplies. Those of us not infected are remaining in shields and in isolation from the others who are. I am afraid we will need to leave you a little longer,” he told her.
“I understand,” Kasca said. “I saw the devastation myself as I traveled.”
“You traveled from Dera?” he asked.
Kasca nodded.
“When did you first see signs of the disease?”
“I am uncertain,” Kasca said. “When I was sent it was because we lost runners and had not had any contact with other towns for some time. I was told to get news of an alliance against the Overlord to others as fast as possible and then on my way back look for those who went missing to determine what happened. Because I was moving fast, I did not stop in the usual spots but continued south using only my own supplies.”
“Did you see many on the road?” he asked.
“I saw the assessors and collectors when I left Dera. They were on their way there,” Kasca said. She frowned and tried to think of the rest of the traffic on the roads. “The roads were unusually quiet but given the shortages and tightening restrictions it hadn’t seemed noteworthy. I saw a patrol of the creatures near the Overlords Stronghold but once past the old mines all the creatures were dead and left to rot.”
“They were left?” he asked, surprised.
Kasca nodded. “I thought it strange as they always retrieve their dead, or they did, it has been a while since I was sent to the Southlands.”
“How many of the creatures were in the patrol?” he asked.
“I saw three,” Kasca replied.
“Three?”
“You seem surprised,” Kasca replied. “The last time I was south three was the typical number.”
“It has been a while then,” he said. “The Overlord has either grown more cautious or more paranoid. The patrols never have less than a dozen of the creatures.”
Kasca frowned. “Even the dead on the road contained one or two at most. Never twelve.”
“Perhaps this disease has whittled their numbers as well.”
“Would not the Overlord make more?” Kasca asked. “I know to create such beings would no doubt take an enormous amount of effort, but he has come to rely upon them and I can’t see him liking the reduced numbers.”
“Nor could I,” he said. “There was a rumor that reached us though. We were never able to substantiate it, but the rumor told of the Overlord leaving out land, fleeing the disease and settling elsewhere to rebuild his empire.”
“Did the rumors say where?” she asked.
He shook his head. “We were not able to learn more than that.”
Kasca nodded. She noticed th glow was starting to fade. He noticed it as well.
“I can only hold the message image for so long,” he told her. “I will check back in a week’s time to apprise you of events and to remind you that you are not forgotten.”
Kasca nodded.
Ten til Midnight 