The Rune Smith

Chapter 18- Past, Present, (Future?)

Alia forced herself succumb to the pain bursting in her temples. She clenched her fists, screaming into the breathing apparatus. It blocked her hands from clutching her hair and she had to make sue with the pain of her nails biting into her skin.

If Alia caused pain anywhere else on her body in diminished in her head.

The water suddenly grew hot and Alia could only scream as her skin burned in the heat. She couldn't think straight. Had she been able to, Alia would have cursed Presariom for doing this.

The pain in her temples shifted to the sides of her head. It was a fiery worm beneath her scalp, eating away at her thoughts until she was only left with the blinding, torturous feelings enveloping her body.

Alia opened her eyes.

It had all been in her head, despite how real it had felt. In reality, Alia has only hit the glass of the tank with the pads of her fingers.

The door was littered with fingerprint-shaped smudges.

Alia was glad she had no idea what this liquid was. She would never have managed to make prints under water.

A sharp pain bit into Alia's temples, momentarily blinding her.

This machine was supposed to be doing something, but it was only giving her a headache.

The liquid began to drain and Alia collapsed to the floor. Her limbs felt like jelly. She pulled the breathing apparatus from her face, breathing heavily after it was removed. In comparison to the warm liquid, the air was frigid cold.

Alia pulled her wet shirt away from her skin. The shirt had grown cold quickly and she was being deprived of the remaining warmth in her body. She began to shiver madly.

A warm towel was thrust upon her, drowning her in fabric. Alia pulled it around her, letting it heat her back up.

A million curious thoughts crowded her mind, making her headache worse.

What in the name of Lura had just happened?

"Well?" Mutine's voice was coated with impatience. Alia had had the impression that he was a patient man, but this disproved her initial beliefs.

She didn't want to try his patience.

"I don't know what you expect me to do. How on Lura are you supposed to test something you've never experienced?"

Alia watched as the corners Mutine's mouth turned up. A cold laugh erupted from his mouth. Nothing Alia had said was funny and the tension in the room proved it.

"No, I suppose you wouldn't be able to do such a thing."

Mutine Presariom bent down in a gentlemanly manner, holding his hand out expectantly. He wanted to help her up.

Alia had no interest in touching a supposed angel of "death." She pushed herself up, ignoring the nervous looks the scientists were giving her. Alia realized that Mutine likely had never been refused before by anyone who didn't immediately receive death at his hand.

The worry in the scientists' faces disappeared when Presariom withdrew his hand.

Alia gripped her towel harder. Her headache's intensity was increasing drastically. It was becoming hard to ignore.

"And before you ask, I don't feel any differently. I just have a nasty headache."

Alia took a step forward. Her leg gave way and she plummeted, saved only by Jeremy's quick reflexes.

The world was spiraling around her as Jeremy helped her to the floor.

It hurt to see and Alia forced her eyes shut. In the rare moment when Alia could open her eyes, all she could see were runes. Was someone making runes? She shut her eyes, covering them with her hands.

The pain ceased suddenly, leaving Alia gasping for the air she hadn't been able to force down her throat during the agony.

The air in the room was tense, and Alia couldn't find Mutine among the nervous faces of the scientists. What had the scientists seen?

There were too many questions and Alia had yet to receive an answer.

Alia jumped as a hand set itself on her shoulder. She glanced upward nervously and immediately wished that she hadn't.

Mutine was smiling his normal, cruel smile.

"Follow me."

His hand was a clamp on her shoulder, pulling her to a rune. It was a relatively simple rune, not yet full of magic. It sat dejectedly in the corner, silent. A singular worry that Alia might have lost the one thing that gave her value bubbled up insider her.

Her worry was replaced with recognition.

The rune was a testing rune, the only rune that defied the laws set upon the world by the hands of the Ancients. Anyone could tell what it was immediately, so reading it was completely unnecessary.

Not once had it spoken to Alia despite the numerous times she had come across it.

An early memory surfaced in Alia's mind. She wanted desperately to force it back down, but it came to her with the force of a launched cannon ball, ripping through all the walls Alia had built to keep it contained.

...

She had been not much more than a toddler when the soldiers had come. They come like a rolling storm, a sign of the ruin of Alia's family.

Alia remembered looking out the window and seeing them make their way into the apartment building. She had rushed to her mother, gleefully telling her that the soldiers had come for the testing.

Her mother had smiled sadly, patting her daughter's head gently.

"They have come to take you from me."

Alia had grinned ignorantly, excitedly awaiting the results that would come from the soldiers' visit.

They had come to determine her magic power. And what it was.

...

Alia pushed the memory back, rebuilding the shattered walls so that they kept the truly horrible pieces of the memory out of her mind.

She didn't need to remember. She didn't want to remember.

Mutine's hand unclamped itself from her shoulder.

"I know you know what to do."

Alia knelt in the ground, putting her hands on the rune. Nothing happened.

Alia turned back to Mutine Presariom. She didn't remove her hands from the rune.

"I guess it didn't-"

The headache came back tenfold.

And along with it came visions and voices.

Ugh... My Wattpad stuff is becoming glitchy :( I don't know what's happening. Please let me know if this week's chapter is weird for any reason.

Thanks for all the support regardless!

Stay Sensational!

-Ennycema