Author Note:

I started this story when I was pretty young and logged onto my old account recently for fun and decided to edit and pick up this story idea again. I'm still chronically ill, which was the reason I initially discontinued, but enjoy writing on my sick days and thought this would be perfect for something to do.

Prologue

Lucy sat, relaxing, on the edge of a small, wooden bench. She reclined backwards and tilted her head towards the swirling, psychedelic blues and oranges of the sunset above her. The sun was still bright and warm and Lucy had to squint her eyes to see the soft spattering of stars that were emerging in darker patches of the sky. She longed for the time where stars and moonlight would rule both day and night. Lucy couldn't complain about the way the brief sunlight and heat soothed her aching muscles and relaxed her, but the night was the only time she felt at peace. If the moon and her army of stars ruled over both the kingdoms of day and night, Lucy felt she could find herself a place in the darkness and melt into the sky alongside them. However, even at sunset, the morning always felt too close again. Too close to pulling her back to life and her reality of running and hiding from the ever looming threat of her father.

Lucy couldn't be sure how long it had been since she had last seen her father and since she'd arrived in Hargeon. She assumed at least a few months had passed as the locals had grown indifferent to her presence and begrudgingly accepted her as less of a nuisance than they'd imagined. Often they'd stared at her and whispered amongst themselves to gossip about the latest theory of her identity and reasons for living in Hargeon alone. As an eleven year old girl, alone and taking odd jobs from whoever would hire her under the table, she was bound to be interesting to locals who had very little else to excite them. Her interest and appeal had worn off after a while and nobody had reported her to the Magic Council or attempted to return her home.

Lucy shivered and could hear the sound of her teeth chattering bouncing through her skull. Hargeon winters could be brutal and the night had crept around her silently. The biting air pressing against her skin wasn't unwelcome. The cold always soothed her mind and offered her a sense of peace that the lazy, summer heat couldn't. However, she wasn't completely on board with dying of hypothermia for the sake of inner peace. Her situation wasn't helped as she never had money left over from jobs to put towards new clothes. Sleeveless pink, princess dresses with ripped hems and petticoats that were falling apart weren't exactly for protection against the Hargeon winter climate.

She clutched her keys close to her chest, they pulsated warmly in response. Even when she was separated from them physically, Lucy always felt safe with her spirits nearby. She looked down at them: Aquarius, Cancer and Taurus had been with her the longest and she was the most comfortable in summoning, while Sagittarius and Virgo she'd luckily earned amidst the numerous different jobs she'd taken. Gemini was the most recent addition who Lucy had only just formed a contract with. A few days prior Lucy had taken on the task of driving some dark guild mages away from a poorer part of Hargeon and Gemini had been the only reward she received, from a little girl who knew Lucy would know what to do with such items. She wasn't quite sure how a child had possession of a gold key or why they seemed so scattered without anyone to care for them.

Lucy loved them all immensely which was why she was trying so desperately to reunite them all and keep them safe. There wasn't exactly an abundance of celestial mages in the first place but of the few she had met, the only one with any love or respect for their spirits was her mother. It really wasn't looking great for celestial mages on the whole, but Lucy was hoping to somehow change that and show how capable and kind hearted she could be with the magic her mother had passed on.

Unfortunately her love and passion for celestial spirits wasn't an income source (otherwise she'd be rich beyond belief) and was in fact a massive income drain with the silver keys she'd bought taking out a lot of money she'd earned over the last few months. Recently Lucy had taken to sleeping under the stars, which she was growing more at ease with, since renting rooms was very expensive and she didn't even have 5,000 jewels in the first place.

Slowly, Lucy began the walk along the uneven cobblestone path onto the outskirts of Hargeon and the edge of a small grove that was safe to sleep near. She hooked her keys securely back onto her belt, next to her whip, and only weapon of any expertise, Fleuve dé'toiles. It had been a gift from Virgo and one that Lucy was incredibly grateful for. Self defence and fighting were never the priority for holder type mages and Lucy didn't want to leave herself vulnerable when there was nobody there to look out for her.

Having memorised the best shortcuts out of Hargeon, Lucy was quite quick to reach the mostly covered hillside where she often slept. The meadow grass was long and soft to sleep on, as Lucy had to quicky get over her aversion to sleeping on the floor. It wasn't mattress or duck feather pillows quality but Lucy was content to wake up with a small crick in her neck from an uncomfortable tree root if that was the price of freedom. Lucy sought out her tree in the growing darkness and found the notches of rudimentary carved runes from a book she'd bought after her last mission. She let a small amount of her magic flow inside the runes and they glowed a soft golden colour and began to flicker warmly. Fires were far too noticeable to have so close to the town and people so Lucy decided that runes would have to do for giving her light and warmth. The golden light flickered softly and provided just enough illumination for Lucy to see where she'd hung her satchel over one of the higher tree branches. Illusion magic would be so useful, as Lucy would much prefer using that to hide her bag as opposed to clambering up an oak tree with minimal lighting to gather her belongings. Maybe that book had runes that could do the same? Hopefully.

The bark was rough against Lucy's knees as she half crawled and half dragged herself along the wide oak branch and yanked her satchel closer. It wasn't as much painful as it was irritating, her skin had grown quite resistant to grazing and bruising. Finally she grabbed the cold leather bag and flicked it open to grab the rune book she'd been reading and wind down before she went to sleep. Her head pressed against the ridged trunk of the tree as she reclined on the branch and quietly flicked through the chapters with a sigh.

Defensive Runes: Shielding

Runes for shielding are best completed before battle or need for usage as, within the two runic languages we will be focusing on in this chapter, any mistakes that are likely to occur in the drawing process can cause your defenses to be nullified in battle.

The stars were sparkling merrily in the darkness of the night sky as though attempting to brighten Lucy's evening and cheer her through reading the painfully dry writings. Often she stared up at them and softly named each constellation that she could see under her breath, to ensure she wouldn't forget any of her friends or her mother's teachings. The defensive rune chapter had been going on for the last 70 pages and while Lucy had learned a lot, she really wanted something that could give her more of an edge in battle. She didn't want to be helpless without her spirits or at risk of losing them in a fight.

Offensive Runes: Runic Magic in a Pinch

Some offensive runes that we have covered have a similar prepratory process and requirements to defensive runes (see pages 250-312), however here are some of our favourite runes and spells for when you're in a pinch on the battlefield and need a quick and easy spell to help you out.

Lucy almost cheered as she glanced through the pages, it was perfect! Until she read a soul destroying sentence.

For more in depth and easy to use runic magic, make sure to pick up the newest book in our series, 'Quick and Easy Runic Spells for the Modern Mage.'

Lucy didn't have enough money for an inn stay for the night, but she'd be damned if she wasn't getting her hands on that book. She'd check new jobs available tomorrow. Escort jobs were always a good bet, mostly from paranoid people who needed someone to take them to point B with free food and board along the way and a good cash reward at the end. People actually at risk would send their escort missions to guilds. Hopefully by next week she'd have a copy of a runes book that actually taught her what she wanted to know. She still continued reading through the brief overview of some useful runes and spells while jotting noted in the margins of the book for adaptations or potential uses.

Lucy was greatly absorbed in learning all that she could from the ten pages of ideal runic magic that she'd found, she hardly noticed time passing and ho tired she was growing. Eventually, Lucy's eyes grew sore and she could feel sleep pulling at her eyelids. She snapped her book shut and shimmied back down the tree to the warmth of the runes below and shut her heavy eyes to end the night.

Morning came far too quickly, in Lucy's opinion, and she awoke chilled and exhausted from her night of reading. The temptation to curl up and return to sleep was great, but Lucy wanted to grab a mission early in the morning and have it done with as soon as she could.

Therefore, with crumpled clothes and minimally brushed hair, Lucy made her way down to a the noticeboard on the Hargeon outskirts. If people couldn't afford guild requests they'd often post quests on a noticeboard for independent mages passing through. The rewards were normally pretty bad but Lucy had some good outcomes in the past.

Lucy stared intently at the noticeboard, desperate for that new rune book and some sensible clothes. Unfortunately, there were no escort missions for Lucy to get some free food and a holiday of sorts. The quickest mission she could find was a translating a Runic and Latin document for a local historian who had been having difficulties himself. There was a 10,000 jewel reward as the document was quite important, but he couldn't afford a larger reward. The local library and research facility wasn't too difficult to get too and Lucy was sure enough of her runic languages and Latin to take the job.

Halfway through her walk, Lucy called out Plue to keep her company as she'd been feeling rather lonely despite her spirits. There was only so much that Plue could supplement human connection and company. However, the small spirit was lovable and distracted her well from feeling too isolated. Hopefully the quest wouldn't take too long and she could buy some winter clothes, woollen tights and fur coats sounded heavenly, as her goosebump covered body shivered. Plue nestled against her and Lucy picked up her pace to get them both inside sooner.