(51st of Fall, 507AV)
Zlakalia was chilly. The fall months were getting steadily colder, even colder than she remembered Sunberth getting. Her hair was the coldest part, long tendrils draping around her frame. Big people must have had it much worse, they HAVE to stay warm. The comparison did little to comfort her however, not with her task ahead. A large book covered Zlakalia's lap, her arms resting back in the rocky beach. At least there was no wind to cool the air further or to turn the book's pages.
To her side sat several scrolls, crudely drawn glyphs marking them. It wasn't exactly easy gaining these, but at a school where glyphing and reimancy was taught made them so much easier than they would be anywhere else. Zlakalia had just found one of the many aspiring magic-users and bought their practice attempts. Zlakalia even got a discount for agreeing to test their effectiveness and get back to him. Still, the thought of testing them made her cringe. 'Maybe I can still return them, maybe I don't have to do this...'
Zlakalia turned a few more pages in the book, trying to distract herself from the harrowing words that ran through her mind. Various theories and professional opinions filled the pages, all about the nature of shielding. Zlakalia skipped through the pages faster now, ignoring all the boring history and philosophy. She wanted to get to the important part, the USE. Finally flipping to the beginning of the correct section, Zlakalia began to read...
Throughout the continent we've gone over the great uses of shielding, protecting everything from travelers to royalty to even whole cities. And the different reasons for shielding like Zantar's Escalation Property or Sagallius's intricate djed theorums. Now that you have an understanding of the when and why of shielding, we can begin focusing on the approach of how.
Now like many of the magical systems explored in the world, the use of djed in shielding is a personal act that can take many forms. One person may shape djed in a completely different way than the next. I do it by talking, the words releasing my djed into the shield I seek. BY and by, the shaping of shields seems to be usually physically and esthetically linked, almost more an art than a magic science. By and by there are two constants you must focus on the excel. This first is consistency and the second is time.
Consistency has to do with both width, depth, and overall shape of your shields. Good consistency is about keeping your shield the same level. Certain techniques make this easier while others make this more difficult. It's all about using the technique you've been given to make sure your shields are uniform. We'll discuss the dangers of an non-uniform shield later.
The second is strongly tied to the first for certain disciplines, bu very important for any shielding. Time has shown to directly correlate in our studies of shielding to the strength of the shield. Simply put, the more time you spend making the shield, the higher the consistency and usability of the shield. Again, some shielders have this easier than others as their technique forces slow and careful manipulation. Regardless all shielders should take heed the amount of time they are using in crafting the shield.
Now let's go over these two principles in depth for the next 30 pages...
Zlakalia quickly shut the book, a frustrated look taking her face. 'This is utter nonsense, I'm not going to learn anything by reading a musky old book.' This book was probably written by scholars, stupid old men sitting in rooms rather than living in the world. Zlakalia felt her inner djed, just like she had been taught. She needed to improve, that's why the scrolls were here. Time to improve.
Zlakalia concentrated on the shape of her djed in her mind, just like she'd been taught. She felt a physical wave of clay move through her, channeling the djed into a single form as though making it from a mist to a solid. It felt like warping a joint on her own body, kind of a funny tingling feeling. Zlakalia didn't realize her eyes were closed as she focused. Her djed was concentrating around a few long tendrils of her hair, forming a barrier around them just like she meant it to. But the barrier... there was something wrong with it!
Zlakalia could... almost feel how misshapen the shield was. it didn't bend right, it was more like badly folded metal than a tube! She frustratedly tried to refocus her outside shape on refocusing the djed, but that just blurred the shield more, taking away from its form even further! "Arg!" She yelled aloud, though on the beach at this early hour no one was around to hear. Zlakalia just opened her eyes for a second, letting the stress drip out of her. 'It'll be fine, you got the shield to work again. How does the appearance matter that much?'
Zlakalia reached one hand over to the small stack of scrolls nearby. Her hands was almost shaking at this point, fear running through her. More than she realized she'd have when this plan was being put together. Gingerly her hand pulled the scroll up, staring at the single glyph on it that greeted her, seemingly grinning as though to egg her own, make her go through with it. Zlakalia closed her eyes and set the scroll down to her other side, rising up. She placed one of the strands now covered in her shield on the top of the scroll, over the glyph itself like she was hiding it. Now all she had to do was say the activation word. Zlakalia just didn't want to.
Several chimes went by, Zlakalia just standing over the small page on the ground. Eyes closed tight, finally the word left her lips. "With the Gods' Guidance..." Why those words had been chosen escaped her, but she had no time to contemplate it as the paper flared up. A small released burst of fire shot forth, wrapping her hair in flickering light and color. For a second it seemed her shielding had worked! Until suddenly the flooding of pain seemed to travel up her hair, causing her to cry out and fall before the now burnt sheet.
Quickly pulling the tendril away from the blackened ground, Zlakalia pushed herself away from the incident. She could only feel the hurt, the pain consumed her thoughts. She couldn't move any further, the burn was too strong. A sob-like noise escaped her, her eyes still shut.
More chimes passed by, seeing no change in the grim scene.
At last Zlakalia looked up, the fire still burning in her mind though the paper was now left to only embers. Her hands shaking, Zlakalia gently lifted up the burnt tentacle, wincing from the pain of moving it as she did so. She shielding was gone, faded away already. Her hair had black marks running down it, coloring the hair in a somewhat intricate pattern she recognized. "It looks just like the shields!" Zlakalia involuntarily screamed out, more in despair and surprise.
The pain was still rocking her, ravaging her sensibilities. Zlakalia took her hand up to the tip of the clay, trying to smooth it out and thin it down. She had to stop more than once, the fury of the flames flickering against the inside of the mind, still consuming her. At last when the strands top was thin, Zlakalia just yanked off the flesh, parting it from the burnt section below. This new pain hurt too, causing her to drop again, but it was nothing compared to the burning.
A few more chimes past until Zlakalia was able to look back over the scene. Her burnt tendril lay apart like a dead worm, twisted and angry. The place where she separated the section still hurt, but at least that pain was familiar. Zlakalia could deal with that pain. Slowly Zlakalia opened the book again, hoping to find some kernel of truth in what she did wrong. Everything seemed so perfect, so well-thought out. What happened?!?
...physically and esthetically linked...
'You still have two more scrolls.' The voice in her head seemed foreign and insane. The last thing Zlakalia wanted to do was try it again, she didn't even know if she could speak the words again. 'But you've gone through all this trouble. Can you really stop now?' The voice was right again. Zlakalia couldn't give up now. She turned dark eyes back towards the scrolls, and then to the next rope of hair she would offer.
The same shimmer flooded down this stalk, pushing the djed out into a single entity. Zlakalia focused on the new shape, trying to form the djed into some palpable entity, like the clay of herself. It still seemed too firm, like metal. The shield had... hard edges, wasn't cylindrical or shaped correctly. It wasn't coming together again! Zlakalia was more mad at this point, mad at herself for not getting it right, mad at the fire for hurting her.
She raised her hand up and batted at the strand, just wanting to hurt something, even if it was a piece of her. The strand harmlessly patted away, but when it swung back into place Zlakalia saw it. The shield had bent, was reshapen! Maybe that's all it takes... More furious Zlakalia punched at the shielding this time, occasionally hitting her hair but warping the plating of the shields. She was smoothing it out, letting it flow better like she would do to her own flesh! 'Maybe this is how I shape it, through these hits and scrapes!' It was an exciting thought; Zlakalia had figured it out! She continued working for a longer time, just trying to get the shape just so, to bend just the right way.
Zlakalia looked back at the fire scrolls, daring her to use the next. She reached a hand out to grab the next one, but paused. 'What if this isn't enough? What if I fail and get burnt again?' But that wasn't the question she wanted to ask herself. 'No. It isn't about what's about to happen. It's about what will happen.' Her thoughts darkened as she put a firm hand on the scroll. 'It's about the stupid priests and magic-users who have screwed up my whole life. It's about not letting them get me again. I'm not afraid of them anymore. And I'm definitely not afraid of myself.'
Zlakalia put the new strand in the middle of the scroll, setting them both down and moving as far back as her hair would allow. This time her eyes stayed open, watching the scroll. Her whole body felt tense, like it was ready to take a different shape at any second. She peered at the paper scroll, still smelling the burnt remains of the previous one. Defiantly she shouted out, "With the Gods' Guidance!" Again the paper lit itself ablaze, flicking out at the air with its heated tongue, again like a open maw to consume Zlakalia's hair.
When the fire died down, Zlakalia waited for the pain. She expected it to raise suddenly, attack her without warning. But it didn't come. Instead the shield simply flicked away, done with its time. Her spell had worked! |
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by Zlakalia on August 16th, 2011, 3:20 am 
