[Fic] "The Principle of Fire" -- original, Ashes
Morgalen and her motives -- a character and world-building sketch for Ashes. 350 words.
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The Principle of Fire
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Common understanding has it that she is bound to fire -- that all flames, whether of her creation or not, leave her unharmed because they acknowledge her as their mistress. Common understanding says magicians tie themselves to a part of the world and twist it to their will.
Morgalen knows better. She knows about gates in the soul, leading to universes where the principle of heat is stronger than in the world of her birth -- knows about the carefully balanced madness that lets her force those alien rules into truth for a certain distance around her body -- knows that the echo of that gate protects her flesh from the backwash of heat that ought to eat her alive.
The gate saves her now. It will destroy her in the end.
Magic is about finding loopholes in the universal laws, not about ignoring them entirely. No bargain can be held unpaid forever.
While she lives, Morgalen's body and its stubborn ties to the world of her birth shape the lock on the gate, pinning her soul halfway between universes. When she dies, when her soul tears free from its housing of flesh, the lock will break. The gate will gape open, unfettered, for long enough to pull her soul through, rebalancing the scales she upset when she first pierced the veils that hold each universe separate in a net of its own particular elements and laws. When the gate shuts that final time, its protective echo will vanish too.
The residual heat of its passing will be more than enough to burn her corpse to char.
Magicians don't die from their bargains, but their magic eats them all in the end -- body and soul, forever. In the meantime, they have power enough to move through the world unhindered. And flame is more useful than many principles. Fire can cleanse miasma, if only for a moment.
Applied at the right place and time, fire may save everything -- save everyone -- Morgalen loves. It may even save the world. She pays with her life, and her chance of seeing and sharing the future she may win.
So long as Atnan lives, Morgalen counts the bargain fair.
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Inspired by the 1/10/11
15_minute_ficlets word #60: charcoal
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I am up far too late. Bed now!
You can also read this entry on Dreamwidth, where there are currently (
comments)
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The Principle of Fire
---------------------------------------------
Common understanding has it that she is bound to fire -- that all flames, whether of her creation or not, leave her unharmed because they acknowledge her as their mistress. Common understanding says magicians tie themselves to a part of the world and twist it to their will.
Morgalen knows better. She knows about gates in the soul, leading to universes where the principle of heat is stronger than in the world of her birth -- knows about the carefully balanced madness that lets her force those alien rules into truth for a certain distance around her body -- knows that the echo of that gate protects her flesh from the backwash of heat that ought to eat her alive.
The gate saves her now. It will destroy her in the end.
Magic is about finding loopholes in the universal laws, not about ignoring them entirely. No bargain can be held unpaid forever.
While she lives, Morgalen's body and its stubborn ties to the world of her birth shape the lock on the gate, pinning her soul halfway between universes. When she dies, when her soul tears free from its housing of flesh, the lock will break. The gate will gape open, unfettered, for long enough to pull her soul through, rebalancing the scales she upset when she first pierced the veils that hold each universe separate in a net of its own particular elements and laws. When the gate shuts that final time, its protective echo will vanish too.
The residual heat of its passing will be more than enough to burn her corpse to char.
Magicians don't die from their bargains, but their magic eats them all in the end -- body and soul, forever. In the meantime, they have power enough to move through the world unhindered. And flame is more useful than many principles. Fire can cleanse miasma, if only for a moment.
Applied at the right place and time, fire may save everything -- save everyone -- Morgalen loves. It may even save the world. She pays with her life, and her chance of seeing and sharing the future she may win.
So long as Atnan lives, Morgalen counts the bargain fair.
---------------------------------------------
Inspired by the 1/10/11
15_minute_ficlets word #60: charcoal
---------------------------------------------
I am up far too late. Bed now!
You can also read this entry on Dreamwidth, where there are currently (
comments)