"Is this safe?" I asked.

  "I'm sure it is," the Pigeon King replied from behind the paving slab he had secreted himself behind on the roof.

  "So why are you back there?" I asked him.

  "Precaution," the Pigeon King said. "Safety is paramount.”

  "What about my safety?" I asked.

  "I'm sure you'll be fine," the Pigeon King said, waving a wing at me. "Come on, get on with it.”

  I sighed and took a deep breath. In front of me were five broken pieces of paving slab I had scavenged after almost four hours of scouring through the Codex and bickering with the Pigeon King. I had finally found six Runes that I thought might do something. They were all somewhat similar to the explosion Rune and were scattered around on the same page. I had looked into the translations, searched the internet, and used intuition to guide me. I thought I had come close to potentially finding a new Rune amongst them and, as such, unlocking a new power.

  It all seemed very exciting, very man-on-the-moon type stuff while I was doing it, but now I was up here on the roof in the weak dawn light, shivering and wrapped in my enchanted jacket, staring down at the six paving slabs with their Runes on them, I wasn't so sure.

  "So, how do I activate them again?" I asked the Pigeon King.

  "Simply take one of them, place it down in front of you," the Pigeon King replied patiently. "And imbue it with intention. Remember, we just want to see what it does. We just need a glimpse, mageling. That's all we need, a glimpse.”

  "A glimpse,” I repeated to myself and then let out a deep breath of air.

  I picked up the first Rune, placed it under the ledge of the building, stood in front of it, and, for some reason, raised my hands and pointed at it.

  "What are you doing?" the Pigeon King asked from behind his cover.

  "I don't know," I replied. "It just felt right.”

  I heard the Pigeon King snort, and then I closed my eyes. I pictured the Rune, pictured the explosion Rune with it, and tried to remember exactly where the Rune had been on the page and the letters and words that surrounded it.

  "Come on, show me what you are. Show me what you got. Come on, let me see it," I mumbled to myself. "Come on, come on.”

  "Anything yet?" the Pigeon King shouted.

  "No," I replied, annoyed. "And it won't be if you keep interrupting.”

  I quieted my mind again. I tried to forget where I was, tried to forget everything, and just imbued as much will and intention and deliberate thought into the Rune, waiting for something to happen. I stood like that until my calf cramped and broke my concentration. I opened my eyes, rubbed at my leg, and looked at the Rune sullenly.

  "Nothing?" I asked the Pigeon King, and he shook his head.

  "Try another one," he said.

  I went through the next three Runes, and nothing happened. It was almost an hour later by the time I picked up the fourth Rune, muttering to myself in frustration. I was cold, tired, and hungry. My eyes itched, my body ached, and my nose was running. I was miserable, and this all felt like a massive waste of time. I wondered how many people had been hurt tonight, how many people had been jumped, how many houses and businesses burgled, how many drugs had been sold, how many people had to huddle in their homes afraid while the gangs roamed around the estate causing mayhem. I gritted my teeth, raised my hands palm-up again, and pointed at the Rune, willing it to come to life.

  This time, however, I didn't close my eyes. I stared at the Rune, and on a whim, or maybe just through sheer frustration, I asked the Rune what it was. It wasn't a conscious thought; it was more like I was willing it to just open up, to reveal itself to me, to shift form so that it made sense.

  "What are you?" I whispered. "Just tell me what you are, show me, please." In the back of my mind, I kept silently tallying up all the lives that might have been lost tonight, all the people that might have been terrorized and hurt, all the faces and the names, all the people that I've let down because I can't do this. "Please," I growled through gritted teeth.

  Then something happened. It was momentary, almost imperceptible. There was a flicker of light. The Rune buzzed for a second and crackled with energy, but it was more than energy. It looked like... I couldn't describe it, but it felt like voltage. In my excitement, I completely lost my concentration and whooped in delight, turning around to the Pigeon King.

  "Did you see it? Did you see it?" I asked him.

  "Did I see what?" the Pigeon King asked. "Did I miss it?”

  If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

  "It did something," I said.

  "What did it do?" the Pigeon King asked.

  I hesitated for a second.

  "I don't know.”

  "Wonderful, thank you, mageling," the Pigeon King replied sarcastically.

  "No, but it did something. It definitely did something. It was like… it was like an electric buzz," I said hurriedly, trying to order my thoughts. "It felt like voltage had run through it.”

  "Interesting," the Pigeon King said. "Okay, do it again, but this time imagine that. I want you to imbue that Rune with your intention to create a spark." He flapped a little bit closer so he could get a better look. "Go ahead.”

  I took a deep breath and sat with myself again, forgetting my aching body, my tense muscles, and how cold I was. I wiped the snot from my nose, took a deep breath, closed my eyes, and this time I pictured wires strung across my vision, crackling with electricity. When I was very small, my Grandad had taken me fishing, and we had gone across a farmer's land. I hadn't realized that the farmer had electrified his fence to keep his cattle in, and I remember touching it and feeling the sudden coursing vibration of electricity pulsing through my limb and all the way up my shoulder. There had been a crackle of energy that shocked and hurt. I remember crying and wailing while my Grandad chuckled. I kept that thought in my mind. I willed the sensation. I willed the Rune to come to life again.

  "It's doing it!" the Pigeon King squawked excitedly, flapping his wings. "Look, look!”

  I opened my eyes, and I saw it. I saw a crackle of energy erupting into life around the Rune. I reached down, and before my finger could touch it, I felt the zap of electricity and pulled my hand back.

  "We've done it!" I cried out, looking at the Pigeon King in excitement. "It's energy, it's electricity. It's... it's a real Rune!"

  "How fascinating," the Pigeon King said. He hopped closer to the Rune and inspected it. "So that's what this does. Wonderful. Wonderful!" The Pigeon King said, cooing triumphantly. "Right, put it to one side and let's try the other.”

  With newfound vigor, I tested out the fifth Rune, and my excitement dissipated almost immediately. Nothing happened. I tried and tried for about twenty minutes before giving up. I sighed and picked up the sixth Rune, placing it down with the other duds. I felt exhausted now, my limbs ached, my head was hurting, and I wanted nothing more than to go inside and sit down, wrap my Grandad's warm bathrobe around me, and just shiver until I fell asleep. Some food might be good as well.

  “Giving up already, mageling?” the Pigeon King asked, his voice sardonic.

  I glared at him for a moment before picking the Rune up and placing it back on the wall. I breathed deeply, trying to focus my thoughts again. This time, I tried to speak to the Rune again, to ask it what it was.

  "What are you?" I asked the Rune. "What do you do? Open up to me, show me, show me what you are."

  Nothing. But I was determined not to give up, the thought of the Pigeon King’s self satisfied smirk was enough to fuel me. Stubbornly, I mentally pushed and prodded at the Rune, sending my will and intentions at it like a the waves crashing on a shore. Sweat beaded down my brow and my legs began to shake. After minutes of this intense mental effort I was ready to give up when I heard the Pigeon King squawk in alarm. Then I felt something punch me in the thigh.

  I stumbled back, my eyes snapping open, and looked down. The Rune was stuck to my leg! I almost lost my balance from how hard it hit me.

  "What's it doing? What's it doing?" I yelped. "Get it off me!”

  The Pigeon King flapped his wings, looked at the Rune, and then back at me.

  "What happened?" the Pigeon King asked.

  "I don't know. I had my eyes closed. You tell me," I said in panic. "Should I touch it?"

  "No, don't touch it," the Pigeon King said quickly. "It just flew towards your pocket. What is in there?”

  “In where?"

  "In your pocket."

  "What? Nothing. I don't know," I thought for a second, trying to untangle my shocked brain. "I think it's... I've got my keys in there, my house keys," I said. "Nothing else.”

  "What are your house keys made of?" the Pigeon King asked.

  "What?" I replied.

  "The same thing every key is made out of: metal," the Pigeon King said. "Stay there."

  He flapped off the roof and disappeared over the side, leaving me with my hands in the air, my hip thrust forward, trying to keep the chip of the paving slab away from me. The Rune was pulsing, it was doing something. There was no pain though. I was just waiting for the thing to explode and take my leg with it.

  The King returned a few minutes later with two shiny pennies in its beak. It flapped cautiously towards the Rune and then dropped one of the pennies on it. It clattered off and fell to the floor. Nothing had happened.

  "I thought so," the Pigeon King said. He then dropped the second penny, and it stuck to the Rune. "Oh, wonderful, mageling, how very wonderful!”

  "What is it?" I asked.

  "Magnetism, boy," the Pigeon King said to me as if I was slow. "That Rune is a Rune for magnetism."

  "Magnetism? It's a magnet?" I asked.

  "Yes, it's adhered to the keys in your pocket. It's the reason why that coin fell to the floor. It's made of a non-magnetic alloy, whereas that coin is very much magnetic," the Pigeon King explained.

  "So I can touch it?" I asked.

  "I don't see why not," the Pigeon King replied.

  With a shaking hand, I reached down, gripped the Rune, and slid it off my thigh. As I did, the keys came out of my pocket and adhered to the Rune. I gave it a shake, and the keys held fast. A broad smile appeared on my face.

  "Oh, that is so cool," I said, shaking the keys vigorously. "I've got magnet powers." I beamed brightly at the Pigeon King. "And I've got electricity powers." I picked up the other Rune. "This is awesome."

  The Pigeon King looked at me and rolled his eyes.

  "Oh, how easily monkeys are entertained. Tell me, mageling, are you satisfied with the Pigeon King's tutelage?"

  I nodded my head happily.

  "Good. So, now that you've got yourself some new offensive capabilities, I think it's time that we prepare you and ensure that you don't get stabbed to death again, because that little jacket of yours is woefully inadequate for what you'll be coming up against."

  I looked at the Pigeon King and then looked at my enchanted jacket.

  "I'm listening," I said to him.

  "Good. Have you ever heard of a Giant Tank Beetle?”