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 71: She needed a new plan.
She needed a new plan. Kasca sat back and thought about things. She pulled the blanket tighter around her shoulders, the world seeming like a much colder place than it had a short while ago. She knew Jascon wanted to take credit for the cure. She saw that before she left. It was in fact one of the reasons she left.
She felt a stab of guilt for not leaving earlier, for not heading home when there were still some people to save. Kasca took a deep breath and thought of the route north. It was mostly clear now, but there were still snow piles blown by the wind. The collection carts she saw had snow piled around the wheels where the snow had not yet melted. While spring was sending out fresh growth near the sanctuary, it was still closer to the edge of winter in the more northerly climes.
‘If I left earlier travel would have been slower,’ she told herself. She thought of the condition she saw on those suffering in her village when she checked. ‘The disease might have been too advanced for the cure to work.’
Even though she knew it was the truth, could count the time line and knew the weather, the guilt remained. ‘At least I now know the Sanctuary created the disease.’
She suspected, but it was nice to have confirmation. She thought of the books left out on the table. She thought they looked related to the disease but attributed them to someone giving up looking for a cure when they became too ill.
“But it could have been from them making the disease.”
Kasca tilted her head back against the stone of the corridor. She needed to watch to see what the others did when they found her missing. She thought they might try looking for her. They could scry as well as she could. While she had much practice over the last few months, they had never had to hide their skills from the Overlord and would no doubt be much more adept.
‘They know tricks I don’t,’ she thought. When she arrived, they could see through her shield and see her underneath. She knew that she was safe in this mine, should they go looking for her. Her self and small magics would be hidden within the greater shield. She would add another layer beneath it, but it would be nearly impossible for them to locate her.
‘I can’t stay here forever,’ she reminded herself. She had plenty of supplies so if they looked for a short time and then gave up, she might be safe. ‘But they could continue to look for a long time.’ Even if they didn’t ant to harm her, some people couldn’t let a mystery go and would want to know how she escaped the compound and where she went simply because they had to know.
‘If they know how to see through the shield, maybe they have something that could teach me how to prevent that.’
Kasca thought of the great and very dusty library. There were books in it that were clearly used, but the back shelves seemed almost abandoned. She looked through several while practicing her transporting skills.
‘I could study the books while monitoring them and look for something that will shield me while in the mine.’
It would give her a reason to stay in the mine beyond hiding. ‘And also a time limit for leaving.’
She liked the thought of having a time when she would leave and a set list of things to check off before she did. It made her feel less like a frightened mouse.
‘But where to go?’ Kasca thought. That was the questions. It was all well and good to plan ways for leaving but without a destination it seemed pointless.
Ten til Midnight 