A Kelpie of Rowan

Chapter 25

Andrian sits upright, his back straightening. "What did he give you?"

"I haven't looked at it yet."

Andrian's mouth twitches up into a brief smile. "So pull it out and look at it."

Rowan blinks for a moment before she smiles. She flips the top of her bag open and glances inside it. There is a pouch in there, made of a strange gold-green cloth. She lifts it out with her fingertips, placing it on the bed. A strip of paper flutters out with it. The message is small, the writing thin but elegant.

Be careful. Runes have power.

Rowan glances up at Andrian. "Why am I not surprised that these are runes?" Andrian shrugs, but his attention is on the bag. Rowan frowns. "Andrian? What is it?"

Andrian shakes his head, blinking. "This cloth is made by the Unseelie Court."

"How do you know?"

"I don't know how I know, I just know that it is."

"Okay . . . why would he give me a bag of runes?"

Andrian stills. "Gifts can trap you. Did you say anything to him about these?"

Rowan shakes her head. "No, the only thing I did was promise him that I wouldn't look at him."

Andrian sags. "The magic might take that as payment. Open the bag now. You figured out they are runes, but which ones? How would it work as well, I thought you had to draw runes to give them power."

Rowan shrugs and pulls at the strings on either side of the pouch. The mouth of it slides open smoothly, but it keeps opening and opening until it's just cloth, leaving the contents of the pouch in the center. The contents seem to be made up of stones but they're strange, they don't stay just one color. They change instead, swirling from one hue to the next. Rowan picks one up and a shape appears on its surface, standing out against the swirling colors. It is the freeze rune.

Rowan blinks and it disappears just as quickly as it appeared. Besides the stones, there is what looks like a rod of golden metal. It's almost as thick as it is long. Rowan plucks it off the cloth, curious. It shifts in her hands, growing longer and thinner. When it's done changing, it looks like a pen. It's made of glass, filled with ink the same color as the cloth. Around the glass, there are golden vines with tiny leaves. Andrian holds out his hand to Rowan.

"Can I see?"

She nods and places the pen in his palm but the moment she stops touching it, it reverts back to the rod form. Rowan picks it up again, causing it to return to the pen form. She frowns at the pen, lifting it up to her face so that she can look at the miniature details of the golden vines.

"What is it?"

"A rune pen, I think."

Rowan lowers the pen to frown at Andrian. "Is that even a real thing?"

He nods, letting a tiny laugh escape his mouth. "They are very rare because they're so hard to make and even to use."

"Why?"

"It takes a lot of magic to make one and to use it, you have to be gifted in runes, your own magic has to have an affinity for them. Not only that, the pens themselves seem to have a preference for who uses them. But it's worth it if you can use one, they allow you to place runes on almost anything and they magnify the power of the runes."

"What about the stones?"

Andrian picks one up, holding it in the palm of his hand. The stone shifts from gold to blue and then to green. "These are temporary runes. They can become any of them for as long as needed, but after they're used they return to being blank slates until they have a new rune."

Rowan blinks in surprise. "That's useful, isn't it?"

Andrian laughs. "Very."

Rowan places the pen back onto the cloth, watching it shorten back into the rod. Andrian lets the rune stone slide back into the pile of its brethren. Rowan frowns at the cloth for a moment before she moves to bring the corners of it together. When they touch, the cloth becomes a pouch again and Rowan pulls it closed with the strings. She tucks the pouch back into her bag and leans back against the wall.

"Tell me about the magic. I don't understand it."

Andrian laughs. "Of course you don't understand it, Ro. You've only had it, or at least been aware of what it can do, for a couple of hours."

Rowan frowns. "Still. Please explain it to me."

Andrian nods. "All right. You can use any type of magic, but certain types will be harder to wield. The easiest ones are the magics you have an affinity for. You have an affinity for fire and the runes, and there could be other things, if the forest you saw is any indication."

"How do I control it?"

"I don't know that. Kelpies don't have magic, not that way. I think you may have to figure that out on your own."

Rowan sighs, looking down at her hands. "Great."

Andrian places a hand on her knee. "I know it's not ideal, but I will try and find out ways to help you. For now, you know how to calm yourself down, keeping the magic from wreaking havoc. That's pretty good, especially for how long you've had it."

Rowan leans forward to hug him. "Thank you."
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What do you think about the rune stones possibly being from the Seelie Court? Do you think Rowan will have to learn how to control her magic on her own? Tell me your thoughts! And again, tell me runes you would like me to create!

Happy reading and I'll see you next chapter!

~ Goddess of Fate, signing it.