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 122: She was certain they had to know, or at least suspect that it might make a return.
She was certain they had to know, or at least suspect that it might make a return. To find a better solution was why she was searching their library for information. But no one was working on a cure. They were hunkered down, waiting for the disease to die down.
‘Considering the last wave brought in was through the searcher’s lowering their shields in an abandoned town they have to know that the disease can be carried on items owned by the infected.’
Kasca frowned as the listened in on the sanctuary conversations. They cleansed the space for themselves but seemed to believe the disease would die out on it’s own if they just kept away from it for long enough.
‘And those who don’t believe it will die out are hoping to have a vision like Jascon did to show them the cure.’
Kasca frowned as her passing information had been the vision Jascon saw, she doubted it was an effective method for finding an antidote. Kasca reminded herself that these people were not hers to protect. They had in fact tried to kill her. It was only that they were the last of her people that gave her concern.
‘But they have no women or children in the sanctuary,’ Kasca reminded herself. There had been women and presumably children but now only men remained. The youngest she could see was in his late thirties with most of the men on the Sanctuary island much older.
Even with a cure, they were doomed. Still even knowing this, she looked in on them before beginning her nightly library search. Toward the end of her scrying, she looked in on the boy down the street. It was a palate cleanser of sorts.
While the Sanctuary existed and she couldn’t escape the truth of their eventual decline, Kasca could see the growing health of the boy. He was always asleep when she checked but he looked better each time she looked in on him. She could see his cheeks plumping back out as regular meals were consumed. She could see the healthy cast to his skin and the unlabored breathing.
She could even see the signs in the room that he was active during the day.
The lord who owned the house sent a large fee to her once he was certain the boy was recovering so there was no outstanding bill. Kasca knew the boy was recovering and she could admit that she after the sadness she felt when looking in on the sanctuary, Kasca liked seeing him healthy.
After a time she also admitted to herself that it was the mystery of the boy that drew her. It was clear that he was not of that household and a part of her wanted to know the secret of his placement there. She didn’t have the time or energy for a full investigation, but her curiosity drew her back.
The nightly search through the library was helping her in many ways as well. She was working on a cure, and made slow and steady progress with something more potent than was originally created. Something she hoped would work on those who had been previously afflicted.
She was also able to add to her story of knowledge collecting a spell or two with each visit. Given the method of her search, Kasca often had to look at unrelated material to find what she wanted. As her business was doing well, Kasca invested some of her extra coins in both journals and sheets of foolscap.
