The Unsuspecting Mage - Brian S. Pratt [15]
He first tosses his spear to the clearing below, then works his way down the side of the drop. Once at the bottom, he rests his pack against the backdrop then starts gathering wood for the fire. After a sufficient quantity has been gathered, he takes his spear and sets out in search of game. It doesn’t take long before another rabbit has met its end. Back at camp, he uses his skinning stone and preps it for the fire.
Using the same spell as before, he soon has the fire burning merrily and places the rabbit upon the spit. Sitting there with the waterfall sprinkling into the pond twenty feet away, he listens to the fat pop and crackle as drips fall into the fire. He feels good. Another day has passed without mishap. He’s getting the hang of this world, magic hasn’t been too difficult, at least not the simple spells he has attempted.
Turning the rabbit occasionally for an even cook, he relaxes and enjoys the peaceful interlude. The aroma coming off the meat is wonderful. He gets up and walks over to the pond. It is a clear, sparkling blue. Kneeling at the edge, he takes a good long drink. The water is so pure and crisp that he doubts that there could be anything like it back home.
With the sun descending below the treetops, night is fast approaching. Returning to the spit, he checks the rabbit, sees that it is not quite ready, then grabs his backpack and removes the berries he had gathered earlier. Unwrapping them, he pops three in his mouth then sets the others aside to have with the rabbit.
By the time the rabbit is fully cooked and the outer skin is a dark brown, shadows have fully enveloped the campsite. Taking the rabbit off the spit, he settles down against the backdrop and eats with a gusto only starvation can provide.
Once his hunger has been satiated, James discards the carcass quite a ways from the camp to prevent it from drawing predators. On the way back, he gathers more wood, having no wish to freeze through another night. Already with the sun down, a chill has crept into the air. Keeping a fire going all night will bring him comfort and hopefully safety from curious animals.
Stoking the fire, he settles down to sleep. Lying on his back and wishing for a blanket, he stares at the night sky and watches as the night deepens and the stars come out. Events of the past two days play through his mind. It would be hard to credit the truth of it all if he hadn’t been living through it. What happened to Seth now seems like a bad dream, one from which he knew there would be no awakening.
Magic is real. He wondered how much he dare try. In the role-playing world, magic is fraught with dangers, especially for those unschooled in its use. The book on magic gave very little actual instruction in how to work it; mainly just theory and suggestions.
He grins upon thinking about the little ditties he threw together for his spells. How simple and unimaginative they were. Not at all like the flowing, poetry variety of spells one finds in books. But they had worked, hadn’t they? And isn’t that all that really matters? The book hadn’t said anything about increasing the effectiveness of a spell by upgrading the wording used.
A wooden spoon is just as effective when eating soup as a silver one.
Not sure exactly where he had heard that little piece of home-spun advice, but it certainly fits the situation.
Sleeping near the fire provides him with a sense of security lacking the night before. The soft sounds of the waterfall commingled with the fire’s crackle and pop eventually lull him to sleep.
He awakes shivering several times during the night and puts more wood on the fire to keep warm. The coming of dawn finds him frozen and that his fire has died. Chilled to the bone, teeth chattering and breath misting in the morning air, he stirs the coals and discovers a few embers still aglow. The addition of small twigs and moss sparks a flame. After adding several larger pieces, James soon basks in the fire’s warmth.
Clouds have