previous part: https://jordynsaelor.com/2025/12/11/air-fed/
all parts: https://jordynsaelor.com/cant-catch-me-now/
***
I activated
the rune ring
with a tap of my heel
but it did nothing.
So I had to smear the whole thing over
and start again.
And this time,
Mrflfip appeared,
looking
or sniffing
or listening;
crawling,
on long legs through choppy water,
calling
too softly to hear over the gale,
so I just ignored it
and frantically swirled shapes into the mud,
runes
for shaking and flaming and a tune
that these storm cloud walls could crave–
but Mrflfip came close enough to yell, “Mortal, whatever is this odd way you have
for cleaning the floors?”
I held out an arm to stop it
but my mouth told it the truth: “I’m not cleaning,
I’m doing magic.”
But it wasn’t Mrflfip,
the nose was too round
and it had black spots on the gray body
so it was some other clay-crafted dog-frog
with probably no clue who I was;
good,
because I tapped the rune ring
while it stood in the water
gaping
instead of stepping
all over my spell
and the ground started steaming
and the walls started dancing.
“Gotta go!” I told the creature,
but picked it up
so it couldn’t ruin my rune
before the flames baked it into place
then I ran down the hall
to the next blustery mud circle
to make another section of walls rumble
and dance.
***
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Jordyn Saelor 