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Writer's pictureMark Sanders

Chapter One: Ring



Osric the Younger sat alone on a stool in the dark workshop in the back of his master’s house. Nothing else was present but an old wooden table scarred with burns and deep cuts. His master, Wulfric the Impatient, opened the door silently and stood next to the table, facing his apprentice. He took a silver ring, old and tarnished, out of the pocket of his robe, and dropped it on the table.


“Have you memorized the charm?” Wulfric asked.


“Yes, master,” Osric replied.


“You will enchant the ring so that the one who wears it experiences happiness.”


“What kind of happiness?”


“That is for you to determine,” Wulfric said. “You may not leave until the charm is complete. I will assess the results afterward.” He left the room and shut the door with the finality of a locked dungeon cell.


Osric knew his final test would be difficult. His primary magical gift was charms, especially the ability to imbue inanimate objects with the power to affect those who possessed them. Thus far, however, he had only charmed large objects with simple imperatives—boots that relieved fatigue, for instance. A ring was more challenging, as less space between elements made weaving the spell within its matter more challenging.


And who could say what constituted happiness? For Osric, in his fourth year of apprenticeship, happiness could only mean one thing: freedom.


“The happiness that comes from being free,” he said. He focused on the ring and began to recite the incantation.

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