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 32: One time, she visited the keep with her father when he and the others were called.
One time, she visited the keep with her father when he and the others were called. Kasca remembered the nerves and the pre meeting admonitions. They knew Kasca was Touched even then. She was under strict orders not to show it. They weren’t yet certain what her abilities entailed and they, meaning the villagers, thought having her there might prove beneficial somehow.
Kasca wasn’t certain what benefit they thought it would be. Neither were her parents as they protested because of the danger. Their protests were overruled. She was one of the group of five children the elders took with them. The others were boys so Kasca was dressed as a boy as well so she did not stand out. The group claimed that the children were among those who might be chisen for future leadership positions and thus they were brought forwards to see how meetings with the Overlord were conducted.
While female leaders weren’t uncommon as the only children of the right age were boys, no one wanted to draw attention to Kasca. She wore some of her cousin’s clothes and stood next to him as they were shuffled to the side of the receiving room to watch and listen as the meeting unfolded.
Her cousin Gant was long gone, killed before the family moved north, but Kasca remembered the Overlord’s stronghold. She knew that all she needed to enter with her scrying was that one memory. It would grant her access and let her view the inner workings. She also knew the Overlord set spells in place to prevent those scrying from viewing his domain.
Kasca didn’t know if they were still in place. He eliminated so many of the Touched that he may no longer fear scrying. ‘He could have also left and the spells are no longer active.’ Kasca didn’t know.
“I suppose trying is the only way.” Kasca let her sight lean towards the Overlord’s keep. She pictured it in her mind and held the memory of her visit inside close. She could tell there was a residual blocking spell, but it was older and faded as though no one bothered to renew it when it started to fail.
Kasca bypassed it and slipped into the keep. There were more of the monsters there. They conducted their last patrol. It was clear that these beasts would walk no more. Unafraid of contamination or being caught, Kasca studied them.
‘They look even more desiccated than the ones at the port.’ Kasca frowned. She made a note of the level of decay and continued on. She was piles of the dead creatures in corners and corridors. The area that seemed to be designated for their quarters was full of the dead. The bunks were lined with dead and decayed creatures and more were heaped on the floor.
She left the quarters behind and instead sought out the domain of the Overlord. As Kasca moved down the corridors she noted the lack of servants and attendants. No one moved in the keep. It was once she grew closer that Kasca began to find the dead servants. They too were left unburied, their bodies lining the hall.
Kasca may not have known the decomposition rates of the creatures of the patrol but she was familiar with human dead. These people had been dead a while.
‘Probably before I left home,’ she realized.
Kasca moved closer to the Overlords private quarters. Here things changed. The rooms became more opulent. They were lavishly decorated and the materials were top quality. It was also clear that someone went through them in a hurry.
Ten til Midnight 