Free Wordscapist: The Myth (The Way of the Word Book 1) by Arpan Panicker Page A

the little man ran away, and she turned to look at me. The play of expressions on her face in that moment would stay with me forever. The irritated look gave way to a fake cheerful smile of welcome that immediately moved to sheer shock and almost fear. Her eyes widened as she staggered back a few steps, quickly muttering a few words, her hands coming up almost in defence. The most thing incredible thing happened next; I saw a warp appear before her, her hands almost shaping it up. I hadn’t dreamed up that entire incident with the warp after all, when I was reading the bloody notebook. And it wasn’t just me who could do it! There was someone else, and hers was prettier than mine!
           “Defend yourself, you eejit!” the voice in my head shrieked, for the first time abandoning all pretence of being me. Defend myself? I didn’t know what the voice meant, and looked in confusion at the girl. Her warp had become fiery and huge, almost obscuring her from sight. And suddenly, my own warp came up in response to words that I spoke without thinking; Shield, protect, repel… The words had come with such clarity and direction, almost as if they had been directed or shaped by someone else.
         Things went a little blurry for a second as my warp expanded to cover my whole field of vision, and then in an instant went back to being small and unobtrusive. I blinked a couple of times, my warp still swimming in front of me. The girl had disappeared into the relative darkness of the shack. I propped my bag beside the entrance to the shack and took a couple of cautious steps forward. My vision had cleared, but the shack in front of me still looked pretty smoky. It wasn’t me; everything was actually pretty smoky. As I stepped inside, I saw that everything looked freshly charred, smoke curling from burn marks on the furniture. What had happened in here!
         And then I saw her again. She was laid out on the sand that passed for the shack’s floor, slumped against a table. Her form had left an untouched outline on the smouldering piece of furniture. She looked stunned and terrified. I realised that I had somehow managed to fling this girl 20 feet whilst also almost burning down the place. My warp did that! Some first impression! I took another step forward, and suddenly there was the voice in my head again, shrieking at me, “Shottie, bampot! That wee lassie will blow you up if yer not canny!”
         I didn’t understand half of that, but finally had the confirmation I needed. The voice was not me. “What the hell is happening,” I muttered to myself as I cautiously stepped forward.
     
    Dew
     
        It was the last day of my life as I knew it. I remember how it started. I just didn’t know it back then.
          I was running through a checklist. The day was dawning and it was time to head back to the shack to relieve Papa Loon until Matilda could come in to start her shift. She refused to start early, and Papa Loon shut down with the sun. I usually offered to help for those couple of hours to ensure they didn’t kill each other fighting during the handover. But before that, I had to make sure that everything that had to be done had indeed been done. Savio and Mario, two of the norm helpers, ensured that everything happened smoothly. They were Papa Loon’s men. I sat back in my makeshift chair of wooden cartons as I watched the norms set up the final parts of the stall.
        I found it difficult to think of them as just norms. These were the guys I had grown up with. I remembered Savio and Mario playing soccer with the other boys while Andy da and I watched from the road overlooking the field. They were much bigger now, and drank beer while watching soccer instead of playing themselves. But still, I knew these guys. And yet, everything was so different. I was a wordsmith. And that made me different. There had always been a trace of respect and fear in the way the boys had behaved with me. Honestly,