A Self-Study Within A Broken Mind

Our story opens onto four characters in dire peril. They consist of a wizard farmer, a gemstone princess, a prince of naught, and a cursed unicorn. They are surrounded by two kingdoms, one of smoke, and the other of light. The conflict they are caught up in, is that of countries at war. The prince is of the smoke, while the princess is of the light, but this isn’t a love story. Armed with a broken sword and accompanied by two mischievous fairies, the unlikely bunch seek to escape unscathed. “Can’t you like… magic us somewhere?” Zefor asked scanning the open field between the armies intent on fighting. “You mean teleport, and no,” Rafal replied. “It would take too much power to get the big one ported. Sorry, Faelor.” “I could blind them all with my horn’s glow,” the unicorn suggested. “And how long do you think that’ll last?” Zefor asked. “I don’t know, ask your eyes from the last time I did it,” the unicorn said. “I can make it really bright.” “Relax,” the wizard said, pulling out a g...

When I awoke, I was nearly covered up by snow. It resisted soaking into my clothes because of the cold, and my skin felt like stone. I did not know why I was sleeping outside, but I could not recall much of where I had been before going to sleep. I knew but two things, my name, and the name of my trusted sword. ”My beloved, lend me your strength,” I spoke, trying to brace the cold threatening my life. I pushed my being into my arms, feeling the heart pounding in desperation. When it got to my hands, the energy of my body shared itself with the steel, casting alight in the namesake. “Nastu no Atsusa.” The outpost of heat from the blade huddled my body around it, keeping a stance of my arms tightened to channel energy into it that warmed beside me. It felt less to me like the summer heat the sword was named after, and more like a hot iron bar that could burn me if I was not careful. It melted some snow around me, and I could stand, still sinking into the packed snow below. The first thin...

“YOU ARE ARTORY!” A voice boomed in the enormous open space of stone. “AND YOU ARE OUR CHOSEN!” I felt the stones shiver all around me. The ground I stood upon was not so. Beneath my feet was the back of a stone turtle. “Oh, sorry,” I said and jumped off to the equally shaking stone ground of the walled off space. “This is starting a bit confusing.” “Just go with it,” said a voice off to my side. “It’s better if you just lean into it.” It was a girl my age, but ever stranger than me. “TAKE UPON A WEAPON!” Boomed the voice in the space. Six columns rose up from the giant floor. “AND YOU SHALL BE OUR CHAMPION!” “Are you kidding?” I asked. “They’re like two miles apart. It’ll take me half a day to check all six of them before making a choice. Can I get a horse or something?” “That’s after you choose a weapon,” the girl said with a sly little smile. “Get to it. Didn’t you say you wanted to go and fight monsters?” I looked to her. She was a few inches shorter than my five-ten, with mid-len...

The giant skeleton of a bear drew her attention first. The bone seemed fused to stone, merged with time and gravity. Due to the grayish color of both surfaces, there was little to tell them apart from far away, but the rock in the form of a bear skull was a dead giveaway. She giggled in the cold air. The winter winds have descended already, but she was ready with an item to keep her warm. A glowing orange stone on a gold chain around her neck produced radiating heat around her. The skeleton sat against a cliff facing the sea. There was no indication how it died, but looked peaceful gazing into the distance with empty eye sockets. There had to be a reason who this giant corpse ended up here, but the girl was more excited the finally find it to speculate. There was no easy way to approach the giant structure. The ribcage twisted up with time forming a makeshift staircase up the cliff. Upon closer inspection, the bones and rocks were both chiseled out. Someone would be upset when their h...