Dabblenaught

Dabblenaught

By: Selador of Wordcraft

                Azrael Ka cleared dust from the cover of an ancient book. If its title was once rendered there, it was etched clean by time. No matter. Ka knew the name of the book but dared not utter it. The book he gazed upon was the most dangerous object in the known world, and held secrets to unleashing untold horrors.

                But that was utter nonsense. Old stories meant to frighten people away from obtaining the gifts it promised. Ka craved the power, his wealth left him wanting for little, but this, this would be the ultimate prize. He spent years studying the various languages and symbols used in the dreaded book and he was finally ready to reap his reward.

                The book creaked and crackled as the binding flexed and revealed rough pages of an old material said to be indestructible, but obviously stainable, blood scarred the face of many chapters.

                Ka flipped through the pages determined to find the perfect passage, one that would offer immediate results. Immortality would be unknowable and too risky to test. Wisdom perhaps? No. The passage for wisdom would take far too long to incant. Maybe if they had a short passage that offered patience, he mused. Then he saw it. Human flight. He had always wanted to be able to fly. Who hadn’t?

                His excitement began to mount as he uttered the sounds written on the page. His body began to change, at least internally. The more he read the lighter he felt, he found he could weigh as much or as little as he wanted. He could lift his arm to turn the page without needing to exercise muscle control in the slightest. It was working!

                When Azrael Ka finished the incantation, he slammed the book shut with a “THUP!” and a puff of dust smoke, and then locked it away safely in his secret place. His movement was effortless; muscle use was nearly optional when it came to basic motor skills. They needed to be called upon when he interacted with the door out of his dungeon, but gravity did not serve its usual resistance.

                He went upstairs and stepped outside into his courtyard. With a small flex in his mind Ka rose a few feet into the air. It worked. This was real. He could fly. In his excitement he shot into the sky at a tremendous speed… right smack into the jet engine of an airplane.