not yet ready

He shifted his weight slightly, nearly imperceptible in the flickering candle light of his study, and created all the space he would need for his hands to work the magic.  The anger that had danced in his eyes moments before was replaced by his normal stoic gaze.  When he spoke, the fire he let simmer in his words was intentional rather than an uncontrolled outburst, though he did take pleasure in watching his pupil wince.

“I may be getting old, but don’t think for a second that means you are ready to replace me.”

Despite his student’s insolence, the elder wizard was impressed with the young man’s confidence.  It proved he had chosen wisely when selecting who to train.  Still, there were many lessons that needed to be taught and learned before the student would ready to take over the duties of the master.

“Nothing to say for yourself?”

When no answer was forthcoming, with a wave of his hand, he motioned for the young man to leave.

His student stared him down instead, and, hoping to catch his teacher off-guard, quickly unleashed the most powerful spell he knew.  Lightning raced from his outstretched fingers.

The room swirled with energy and the master smiled sadly.  Perhaps he hadn’t chosen wisely after all.   His warding charms easily deflected the magical energy bolts, sending them sizzling into the wall behind him.

The pupil’s face fell as his master rose unscathed and the energy in the room exploded.  He could feel the weight of his master’s wrath before the spell had even finished being cast.  It crushed him from all sides, squeezing the light from his eyes and stealing the strength from his legs.

The last words he heard before he lost consciousness were, “You still have a lot to learn.”

……………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Word Count: 298

This is a continuation of the story I started writing yesterday, and is still very much a work in progress as I want to expand it into a much larger piece.  Again, I could have, and wanted to, write more for this posting, but had to keep it under 300 words to meet the prompt criteria for this week’s Writing Challenge from The Daily Post:

The challenge

Not sure how to get going? Here are a few ideas to nudge your muse.

• Write at least one piece of flash fiction. Each piece of flash fiction must be 300 words or less.
• Write a six-word story. Need some inspiration? Check out some of the responses to the six-word story Daily Prompt.
• Feeling extra sassy? Write at least one six-word story and one piece of flash fiction.
• Not feeling into fiction? Write a flash fiction biography/autobiography.
• Write a real-time flash fiction piece: the entire action takes place in the time it takes us to read it.

Do you like where I’m headed?  Do you think the student/teacher standoff is too overplayed in fantasy novels?