Weekend Writing Warriors: 6/1

This 8 sentence blog hop is hosted by The Weekend Writing Warriors. (Click the link for the list of participants, or rules if you want to join!)

Shield of Namarr is a sword-and-sorcerer type fantasy WIP, set in a kingdom that suffers from magically-created, vicious creatures. Three friends have sought out a mage, and gone to the mage’s house in order to purchase a potion.

 

“And here’s my house,” the mage waved at a two-story with cream siding and bright purple trim, behind a wrought-iron fence painted the same purple.

“It looks… lovely,” Shan said, when Auber and Reagan had both been silent, staring up at the building for several awkward moments.

“Thank you,” the mage tapped the right-hand lion’s head post framing the gate, which swung open silently. “After you.”

Shan half-shoved Auber and Reagan into motion, herding them down the wide cobblestone path to the front door, which was set with a star mosaic of tile and mirror that glittered in the sun filtering down from the branches overhead. Two large trees shaded the house and parts of the yard, with flowers and plants growing in beds everywhere, with little gravel paths winding around the beds in a maze-like profusion.

A four-foot tall oriental dragon reared on one side of the path, a manticore—with a human head, lion body, and scorpion tail—curled up on the other side. That’s an odd way to carve a statue, Shan thought, as the dragon turned to face them.

*   *   *

Originally, Shield of Namarr was intended to be a very short snippet, but some things I wrote at the end raised some questions–which led to more story. I’m trying to decide whether I want to do some world-building and character development so I can keep writing, or drop it.

Shan, Auber, and Reagan visit a Stonespeller, a mage who works mostly in animated stone, to buy a potion that will help them recover a lost stone, the Shield of Namarr, which powers a shield that keeps magically-created, dangerous creatures from entering the city they live in. Failure to return the Shield quickly will have deadly consequences for their friend,  Jamie, whose life-force is currently powering the shield-spell.