No good deeds can go unpunished, especially if you have Chaos magic in your domain.
But even Ina, whose accidents become the fables that mothers used to scare their children, could not foresee what happened when her unique magic touched the common frog.
A short story, the prequel to Season's War series.
No good deeds can go unpunished, especially if you have Chaos magic in your domain.
But even Ina, whose accidents become the fables that mothers used to scare their children, could not foresee what happened when her unique magic touched the common frog.
A short story, the prequel to Season's War series.
The Drunken Wizard was busier than usual, and pushing myself through the thick crowd of ripe smelling individuals, I looked around for my friend Velka, but her blonde mane was nowhere to be seen. The grubby hands of the usual patrons occasionally smacked my butt, which didnât improve my mood. The bloody mage must have lost herself in the arms of another lover, leaving me to wait here fending off the drunken lechers. Thankfully, the mercenary leader, Janik, was sitting in the corner with his rowdy company, and I pushed through the crowd to get to them.
âOi, shift your ginger arse and make a space for a delicate lady,â I said, pushing myself between him and some other goon. The bushy red beard turned toward me, looking for something above my head.
âWhere is this lady? I canât see one.â His deep voice, laced with laughter, echoed through the inn, and many patrons turned in our direction.
My elbow in his stomach didnât even make a dent, except I felt like I had hit a stone wall. The mercenary was built like a brick outhouse with bulging muscles under his blue shirt, and Iâd heard he was a tireless lover. However, I had never been tempted to find out. He was a friend, and I was not a girl who wasted a wonderful friendship over a few hours of frolicking in the hay, no matter how tempting it sounded.
I waved at the barâs owner, an imposing but friendly troll, and Gruff wandered over with a tankard of mead and an all-knowing smile. âI heard your aunt is prepping you to be the next court mage.â
âAnd I heard your information is last yearâs news. I never agreed to accept anything like this. If I want to see drunkards day in, day out, I can come to your tavern and at least get a decent drink for myself.â
The troll laughed at my speech, but I didnât hold it against him. Nerissa was becoming more persistent in her efforts to persuade me to take my ârightful placeâ among my peers and become a royal mage. Or, in other words, the potion supplier for hangovers and sexual prowess.
Janik leaned over, saying, âaww, Striga, but I would love to have a royal mage as my drinking buddy. Who knows, maybe I would even see you in one of those flowery dresses from the court and fall in love at first sight.â He brushed his beard over my exposed neck, clearly asking for trouble. I looked deeply into his eyes and trailed my hand over his collar while my other hand wrapped itself around his tankard.Â
Ina is a chaos mage and a bit of a rebel. She's a lady, by birth, and her great aunt want's to see her become a part of the royal court. Ina really doesn't want to, preferring to spend time with her friends in the tavern, the Drunken Wizard, which is owned by a grumpy troll and frequented by a a burly mercenary leader who is one of her friends. There, she likes to slurp tankards of mead and exchange banter and gossip with the patrons while she waits for her university room mate, Velka.
When Ina has an Alchemy test, she spends the night studying and making sure she has the correct formula noted down; she and her teacher have a mutual dislike of each other, although she would just rather push through the lesson as unobtrusively as possible. No such luck. Velka had somehow messed up all of Ina's work and so she's running late for class. As punishment, the teacher decides to make her practise on a live frog, to some interesting and amusing consequences.
If you like magic, if you like mead, if you like taverns and you like a strong female lead, this is a short story that will completely and utterly fulfil your every need. It's fun, it's engaging and it's incredibly well written.
S. A.