Cannelliare

Avatar Author: Nathaniel Payne I'm just a guy that likes to write. Mainly science fiction and a little light fantasy. I also like to play video games and spend time with my awesome family. I'm currently working on a 365 challenge! I will attempt to ... Read Bio

She sat quietly before the device. It seemed such a simple, unremarkable thing. A small copper-colored orb no larger than one of her hands balled into a fist. It hummed softly, almost contentedly, as the majeria began her work.

She placed her hands gently, carefully upon the surface of the orb. A secret murmuring escaped her lips softly and caressed the skin of the copper sphere. It responded in kind, echoing a light and lilting reverberation of the majeria’s own voice in a hushed tone that would have proven inaudible to even the most sensitive ears. But the majeria could hear it. It was her signal, a quiet reply that indicated that she was so far successful in her efforts.

It was tedious work, building the cannelliare. But it was satisfying toil. The majeria never found the work dull or boring. It simply took a lot of patience, which was in very short supply in her line of work. Not many mages were up to the task of crafting the cannelliare, but she lived for it.

The orb began to glow with a golden light.

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Comments (2 so far!)

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  1. Avatar Mostly Harmless

    Nice to see you going back to your fantastical roots Nathaniel, it really is a great genre to showcase your creativity and descriptive skill…

    This story is no exception, a really intriguing launchpad for what could be an interesting series.

    I’m not sure about describing the work as ‘tedious’ if you’re going to go on to say how she enjoys it, perhaps ‘for many, it was tedious work’, might get the message across more clearly?

    But overall a stellar piece, good work! MH :)

  2. Avatar Nathaniel Payne

    Thanks, MH! I actually tossed that one line back and forth and I ended up leaving it as is because I wanted it to be a more general comment. As though it’s generally understood that building the cannelliare is tedious, but for the majeria it isn’t. I guess it didn’t come out sounding that way. I’d add more to it to clarify the statement more, but I’m already at the character limit. :)

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