Shawn woke slowly. He rose from his bed and stretched. On autopilot, he reached for his closet to grab his pants. His hand met a damp wall, and his eyes flipped open. He wasn’t in his dorm anymore. He was in a run-down inn in a forest city in a weird, fantasy world.

  Shawn sighed.

  His stomach was already grumbling, the only things he’d had to eat for a day being the small plate of cold leftovers the innkeeper had given him. He left his room and went downstairs, exiting the tavern. The air on the street was brisk, but was slowly warming in the sun. The aftermath of the previous night’s festivities lay in the gutters next to the road. Broken bottles, kebab sticks bare of food, sodden sparklers, and baubles of all shapes and sizes. Shawn walked through the large city, looking around intently.

  As far as he could tell from talking with the innkeeper, the city was divided into three sections, in rings. The outermost was the poorest, made up of working class laborers, grocers, and innkeepers or tavern owners. The middle ring was merchants and artisans, who made finely crafted products for others to purchase. And the central circle was made up of nobles and the prince’s court. At the center of the city, the prince’s palace stood, surrounded by more trees, as well as his personal guard’s barracks.

  After his stroll through the city, Shawn returned to his room. He still had some time before the innkeeper kicked him out of his room, so he resolved to spend some time with his runes. The only thing he had going for him was those runes, so he’d better at least try to figure them out. Sitting down on a rough crate in the corner, he pulled out the two runes in his pouch.

  The first, more complicated rune, he had used before. He didn’t quite know what it did, but he at least had a clue. The second was more abstract. The triangular sigil reminded him vaguely of something. He just couldn’t figure out what.

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  An idea struck him. He ran down the stairs, meeting the innkeeper at the bar. At the sound of his steps, the innkeeper jumped and turned around, yelling.

  “Hey! We’re not open yet-Oh, it’s you.” The gruff man returned to wiping down a glass and continued, after a moment. “What do you want now?”

  “Do you happen to have any paper I could use?” Shawn asked, strangely embarrassed to be asking for things.

  “Yeah, there’s some on that desk over there. You can take three pieces. Maximum. Won’t have you taking me for all I have.”

  Shawn thanked the man and scurried back up the stairs. He closed the door and locked it, then sat down on the bed. He sketched the rune on the first paper, labeling it with a quick note. Blue fire, flash of power. Killed hog? He picked up the second rune and looked at it.

  “No way to know but to try, right?” said Shawn, to himself. He hefted the rune in his right hand and slowly drew it back, preparing to cast. He gathered himself, then thrust his palm forward.

  The rune bounced on the hardwood floor.

  For the better part of an hour, Shawn fought with the rune. He tried throwing it. He tried picturing an enemy, then throwing it. He tried to suddenly develop chi or something to power it without throwing it. He tried slamming it against a wall. He even tried kicking it. Nothing.

  “Work! If I’m stuck here now, I’d better at least be able to use this magic!” Shawn cried, frustrated beyond end. He couldn’t figure out why his first cast had been so easy, but his second was impossible. He was quickly going red in the face, and his breaths were coming faster.

  “Work, damn you! Work!” This was punctuated with another throw, this time more of a “throw across the room” than a “mystical rune cast.” However, instead of flying across the room yet again, Shawn felt the familiar flow of power to his palm, then outwards. A blast of fire flowed from his palm like a miniature flamethrower.

  “Woah!” He jumped backwards, and his focus broke. The flow of power ground to a halt and the fire quickly guttered out. “I…I did it! Yes! Finally!” He leaped in the air, celebrating. However, a flick of movement caught his eye and he turned.

  His bed was on fire.

  “Shit!”