I have to close my eyes to go back to that time, so I can recall how I felt at sixteen years old facing an unknown werewolf with sharp teeth and claws.  

They were so close to my face, at least that’s how I see it in my memories, they looked vicious like they would rip my head clean off. I had no time to calm my raging thoughts. Once I had pulled off my glove using my teeth, I pulled three runes from my bracelet into my right palm.  

Runes are not like wands at all. If wands are like pencils that help you draw out a spell with nice straight lines, runes are like tiny cubes of paint that explode. They will not give clean and perfect spells. It’ll be messy, there will be backlash, and at worst a horrible mess to clean up after. The reason is simple, runes use raw mana to activate the letter which corresponds to an element. Runes have exactly six element types: earth, water, fire, air, electricity, and ice. The runes themselves are etched into a cube made of either wood or stone, depending on what the user needs the rune to do. But a good rule of thumb for runes is the sturdier the material it’s etched on the better.  

My explanation wasn’t to justify my mistake, I made a bad one, it’s more to understand how troublesome runes are to use. I still use them because of their versatility and portability plus they come in handy when my mana runs low. A few witches who saw my success during my second year decided to use them. They are now on the list of banned tools along with wands and brooms. Though it wasn’t entirely my fault, I did start up the popularity for runes, but more on that later.  

In my hand, I held three runes. One of fire and two of electricity, a bad combo if a user doesn’t know what they are doing or if you’ve lost your concentration like me.  

My mistake came when I failed to accurately measure how much mana I input into the rune. Usually, for a good reaction, it takes roughly the size of an eyelash, but I think I input the amount of two eyelashes. It was more than I needed and thus boom.  

A small encompassing flame ignited with short purple lightning bolts erupted from my hand. The sheer power of the reaction caused the wolf to yelp and retreat away from me. Meanwhile, I screamed as the pain traveled from my hand through my arm. The fire left a burn in my palm that wasn’t as bad as it felt, but the lightning left five distinct twisting scars resembling lightning bolts up to my elbow. 

As for the wolf, they received a burn with similar lightning paths in the shape of a star on the dorsal side of their left hand. I think I came up worse in that interaction but, it is a scar I gave the wolf and which I paid for later. It’s kind of funny how that worked out.  

The pain was pulsating and stinging at the same time, it scrambled my mind till there was only one thought echoing. I followed that thought as I got up and ran away from the wolf. I didn’t make it far. In my haste to get away, I crashed right into a harpy.  

A harpy is a creature with a human face, talons like an eagle or a bird of prey, wings, and hands with claws. They are a proud and fierce race, who always remember a face and a grudge. Unfortunately for me, I angered three of them in one.  

The harpy I crashed into was an immature little brat who took it upon herself to lie to her two older siblings. I know this because these three harpies made a lot of trouble for me in the first two terms.  

I never received an apology either. Sure, I'm older now and wiser still, those three made a difference in how things would have turned out. I may have to be grateful to them for a few things and angry for others. But, that’s life, there’s no way of knowing who will cast the biggest shadow of regret or who will bring love and sunshine to your life.