Save Desdemona

By Melissa Dill

Forced to participate in a survival game known as the Culling, Healer Charlotte Brown finds herself lost and alone in the Wastelands. After being attacked, she falls in with an incompetent Mage, a hotheaded Soldier, and a Soldier who carries . . . is that a baseball bat? As the rag-tag team fights to stay alive, and collect all five runes (one for each Great Mage), Charlotte struggles with her growing attraction to the Mage who blows up everything he tries to enchant.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Melissa Dill
• Release date: May 6, 2020
• ISBN: 9780463218082

Melissa Dill

I am a writer of poetry and short fiction. I live in Seattle with my husband and two toddlers.After exiting my vocation (Social Work) to care for my children, I discovered that I suddenly had a lot of things to say.Most of my writing is available at no cost on my blog, listed below. I have just finished my second Smashwords exclusive book (!).Writing is my whim and secret joy. So, lean in and let me whisper to you; the funny, the beautiful, the absurd.

Book preview

Save Desdemona

Published by Melissa Dill at Smashwords

Copyright 2020 Melissa Dill

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

Thank you for downloading this ebook. This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be resold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to your favorite ebook retailer and purchase your own copy Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

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Table of Contents

Prologue: The Origins of the Culling

Survival

An Unlikely Mage

The Weakest, The Strongest

The Game

A Rogue Healer

A Link in the Chain

Inside the Enchantment

Lowest of the Low

Cornu's Oasis

Our Song

Unfixable Things

Diplomacy

Earth Magic

The Best Memorial

Unicorn Things

Off-course

Just Like Old Times

Fallen

Lira's Castle

A Life for a Life

Uncle

Epilogue: A Kiss for Desdemona

Other Titles by Melissa Dill

Connect with me

Short Story: Just Light

Prologue: The Origins of the Culling

In the beginning, there were six types of elemental magic. Three were hot: Fire, Lightning, and Sun. Three were cold: Wind, Water, and Earth. Those who could use magic were called Mages, and each Mage had a type of magic to which they were drawn; their primary type. The world was a paradise, everything was green, and all types of magic were equal.

Then, the Rain of Stars came. Wherever the stars hit, the ground withered. Arable land turned to shale and sand. Desert encroached on the few areas that were still habitable. Refugees overran the remaining towns and cities, camping where they could not find lodging, stealing where they could not find generosity.

In the midst of this crisis, six of the most powerful Mages met in the center of the untouched land, an area that one day would become the city-state of Gold. The room sat silent until the Fire Mage, Meribelle spoke. Let the ones who cannot do magic train themselves with weapons, she pronounced, and let them fight amongst themselves until their numbers are fewer.

But what of those with bad legs? Of those who have strengths not lent to battle? Teak, the Lightning Mage’s face creased with concern.

We shall all die unless there are less of us, Meribelle raised her torch, Who shall say yea?

One by one, each Mage raised their emblem until Teak was the only one remaining. Without a unanimous vote, nothing could be declared as law. And that would have been the end of it, should have been the end of it, had not Meribelle turned to Desdemona, the Mage of Sun and set her orb aflame. Desdemona dropped her orb, but the damage had been done. Her hands were burned and she could not summon. Will you let me kill her? Meribelle taunted Teak, Or will you too, get blood on your hands?

I choose neither, Teak formed a Lightning Shield around Desdemona just as Meribelle sent another blast of fire. The flames roared around Teak and Desdemona, straight into the faces of the other three Mages.

The chaos that ensued has never been equaled. Earthquakes rocked the town, water flowed in rivers down the street, and tornadoes touched down on street corners as four Mages fought amongst themselves. Meanwhile, Teak kneeled next to Desdemona, tears gathering in the wrinkles of his face. His sorrow was so intense, that his mana, his magic energy, turned from gold to blue. In his anguish, he exchanged the power of Lightning for the power to Heal. He did what he could to heal Desdemona’s hands, but her powers were forever weakened. Instead of wielding the destructive power of the Sun, she could only provide enough Light to help those in darkness.

When the Mages met again, there were only the five: Fire, Wind, Water, Earth, and the renamed Light. Lightning was no longer a Mage, he was something new, a Healer, and was not invited. Meribelle, as always, was the first to speak, There is no bread. Infants are fed water until their cries weaken and they die.

Then let them fight, Desdemona raised a melted orb in her disfigured hand, Let the weak die so there will be healthy children.

Or at least, something like that happened. History is full of errors, misunderstandings, and outright lies. Meribelle, Desdemona, and Teak may never have existed. But every four years, young adults must earn their place in the green land of the rainbow city-states by fighting and dying in the blighted area known simply as the Wastelands.

Survival

Charlotte Brown squinted at the horizon. Sand spread out like snowdrifts under the sapphire sky. How she wished that was what they were, and she could scoop up a handful of icy water. Licking her sun-chapped lips, she trudged up a dune. From there she could see for miles, see the shimmery blue that hovered always just ahead, see the earth seem to bend at the edges, see sand, an endless eternity of sand.

But desolation didn't mean safety. There could always be danger over the next rise; a Mage, a Soldier, or even another Healer.

The even sweep of dunes had given way to shale and scrubby brush. Now as evening painted the sky pink, rock formations appeared. If she was lucky, the rocks would be large enough to provide shelter. Time seemed interminable as she walked towards them, the sun fixed in the sky, the rocks just out of reach in the distance.

She was checking her watch when she felt something whiz past her, a cracking sound splitting the air. Forming a shield around herself, she dropped to the ground. Fifteen minutes, she thought, gathering mana into her hands, Fifteen minutes of walking only to be shot at. A pair of sandals appeared in front of her face.

It was the moment she had been waiting for, well sort of. She hadn’t been expecting sandals. Boots, maybe, or even athletic shoes, but not sandals. Who the heck wore sandals in battle? Her mind still on footwear, Charlotte released her mana in a large blast. Jumping to her feet, she ran behind a large rock.

Footsteps approached her hiding spot, the snick-snick-snick of sandals. No way, she whispered to herself. That sort of blast should at least incapacitate someone. She took a deep breath and peeked out from behind the rock. He was looking the other way, and she could see the back of a blonde head. He wore a black muscle tee, a revolver gripped in his hands. His jeans were sand-washed to bluish-white and his sandals were stained with blood.

Crap, Charlotte gritted her teeth. She must have aimed too low. Well, she wouldn’t make that mistake twice.

He spun around and Charlotte ducked. The shots echoed off the rocks until she had no idea which direction they were coming from or how many times he’d fired. She crouched, her hands clasped over her ears, her breath ragged with fear.

If she had been able to hear, she would have heard the click of the chamber as he opened the revolver to unload. But to her, it was silent and she straightened up until she could see him. He was staring straight at her. For a moment of terror, she gazed back at him, then he looked down at the empty chamber of his gun.

That was all Charlotte needed to act. Jumping from her hiding spot, she hit him in the chest with her mana. It fizzled and arced like electricity, and he jittered forwards. She tried to avoid him, but it was too late. Off-balance, she fell against the rock. He drew back his fist, bringing it up into her jaw with a crunching pop. Obscenities she couldn’t speak bubbled to the top of her mind. Forming a shield around herself she prodded at her jaw. Mr. Sandals, for that was what she now called him, slumped to the ground, blood oozing out of the corner of his mouth. She was astounded he was still alive