Runes.
A part of magic only a select few can dabble in.
An art so mysterious and dangerous that it's best left to the professionals.
One of the most abstract things in the existence of magic, no one looks at it with an urge to learn it, control it or carve it.
Because one mishap and death awaits you.
Yet that wasn't the worse part or the part that scared potential talents away.
It was the inflictions runes could cause.
A countless number of brave and energetic youngsters have experimented with runes in the past.
Runes that caused the death of their family, wife, husband and children.
Castors were more likely to live through it as the rune of protection was one of the first etched upon their skins.
The caster had to be strong to fully embrace the power of runes as they siphoned on their magic to keep functioning.
If there was no magic then they went for the next best thing.
Life force.
Nothing except destruction could stop them then.
Itw as a double edged sword as they protect you yet when in case if dire need they killed you.
Depending on the resourcefulness of the runes master they usually protect the stones with a protection rune waived through it, which made it all the more difficult to destroy them.
It was why only a few truly mastered it and others barely scraped the surface for the easiest and most useful runes they would possibly need in life.
In a desperate way to advertise the power of runes a sentence flew from kingdom to kingdom.
Runes, while difficult, will give the caster a life worth living.
The fools who believed that all died upon touching a very small portion of the power runes contained, combined with the vast amounts of knowledge.
Others lived yet only lived a life without accomplishments.
Those accomplishments were expected of a rune master, without those they weren't even worthy of being an apprentice.
Because even apprentices bottled fame, long before they even were apprentices.
The moment they actually managed to get things done with their runes, was the moment that every rune master went on a frenzy.
And the ones who failed were forgotten, merely one of thousands of thousands who foolishly thought they had talent.
Other cases were those ,in the dangerous adventure of runes, who used the power in the wrong way. They used it incorrectly leading to insanity and the loss of their mind.
Countless cases yet no one batted an eye or helped.
Everyone should have known the danger and more often than not they were warned the firsts moments of their training in said subject
They were well aware of the risks, so the consequences are theirs to deal with!
Luck played a part because if you could even carve two essential runes you would be set for life.
Rune masters could make or destroy an entire country.
They could heal the deadliest of woundor illnesses yet in the same way they could cause it.
Everything about them was a double edged sword.
Beside the fact that they take your magic or your life force, they only come alive based on your intelligence and understanding of them.
And their power always has a prize, always.
It was either the castor or others that must pay.
To heal one would cause another pain.
Save one from the brink of death would cause another to die.
In this case you couldn't even choose.
It could be a beggar, living on the streets, unaware that he would breathe his last.
Or even the king who breathes and cares for his people, his citizens.
A dangerous game, a forbidden game.
A truly good rune master would never sacrifice others for their own desires, even as loved ones withered away with words of cowardice that they weren't saving them when they could.
For someone you don't even know, a rat living on the streets.
No one could tell who would be faced with the consequences.
An unfair trick of fate.
Good men and women turndark for the desire of power and gleaming piles of gold.
If the only thing they needed to do was save a life (and sacrifice one), then why not.
Easy peasy.
It was just so tempting, making the decision all the more easy.
Saving a life made another die yet it was carving runes into all sorts of materials that was considered the more dangerous part.
Because the thing that made it stay there was the castor's magic, the moment they cast it, is the moment their soul and mana core link to the rune.
Just a few wouldn't matter, a hundred probably neither yet a mansion full could.
Destruction of one was noted, dozens of runes painful and a mansion fatal in some cases.
Which was why as soon as black spots appeared over every rune in the mansion, the backlash on Amari was too much as it sent her flying backwards.
Pain flooded her system as she groggily tried to make sense of the rune links seemingly breaking off out of nowhere.
The impact was anything but pleasant as the newfound intruders suddenly appeared in her broken vision.
Briefly she wondered where the guards were before it became too much, more and more links broke off and eyes closed as swords pointed at her.