Shards: Intro- Part 1 (old)

Chapter One: Disembark

You'd think the trick was finding a seat, but the assembly hall was hexed (if need be) to accommodate more than the amount of passengers there are per excursion. And there were tens of thousands on this one. That's typical for the average excursion though. I managed to find a seat near the stage. That was only easy because unlike everyone else, I wasn't really part of a group, and didn't need to save a seat for anyone. I had no problems with that either.

What I did have a problem with was that all around me, it was pure chaos.

"Excuse me."
"On your right."
"This seats taken."
"Grant! Hurry up!"

This might take a while, I thought as I leaned my head on my wrist.

Without warning, another hum came from my ring. When I gazed at it out of my peripheral vision, it suddenly produced a blinding purple light, and an ambient burst of energy and sound. I felt a massive wave of force encase my form at lightning speed. Then it was gone.

"What in Gaia's name are you doing girl?! No incantations on board!" A rough voice sounded behind me. I grunted from the pain pulses and burst out of my seat. My vision blurred until I couldn't make out anything. My breathing became labored, and I turned facing the way I thought the voice came from. Disoriented, I struggled to choose the right words to explain myself.
"I....am sorry.....ring has.....weird.....feeling."
Obviously I stood up too fast.

When my sight gradually regained focus, this whole section of the assembly was looking at me in silence. Some looked at me angrily, some surprised, and the closest of which seemed a bit frightened, and recovering from dizziness themselves.
"I.......sorry about that," I regained my footing and looked hatefully at the ring. I quickly took it off and prepared to throw it somewhere away from me.

How about not hitting somebody in the head with a hard ring? A mental voice reasoned. I sighed and looked at the ring again, it's weird glow gone. What are you?

"Ma'am," said a young ward stationed next to my row.
"Yyyyessir?"
"Are you feeling okay? Why did you just use your shard?"
I looked at him in confusion. "Sir, I don't have a shard. I failed Alpha-Phase, this ring did it. Think I was pranked or something."
I leaned over and handed the ward the ring, who turned it in his hand as if checking for imperfections.
"Interesting," he stroked his chin.

*ATTENTION ATTENTION, CAPTAIN LANCE WILL NOW GIVE THE CLOSING REMARKS*

The ward walked away with an observant side eye, and hurriedly left the assembly with the ring. I noticed the seats around me were mostly empty. What on earth was that? Whatever it was, it obviously came from that strange ring.

A trapdoor opened a couple dozen meters above the dias. Lance descended through it, his arms outstretched. He was wearing his signature navy blue vest. The tall, middle-aged man walked up to the podium after landing softly and picked up a few well organized strips of parchment off of it. He grabbed the white shard hanging from his necklace, and threw the strips above him. They caught fire and the runes on them literally separated from the embers. The differently colored runes were all absorbed into Lance's shard, which was now glowing just like the ring did a few minutes ago. There was applause all across the room.

"Settle down now, settle down," the captain raised his hands and beckoned the audience to get seated. Lance straightened his vest and spoke with a clear voice. "Now, I'm afraid we are a few minutes behind schedule, so I'll have to make the parting speech somewhat shorter than I would prefer. Unless of course you'd like me to skip the organized disembarking procedure that I've explained twice already?"