Words All The Way Down

Inspired by the following prompt: [WP] Magic spells require a ritual dance for casting. The more powerful the spell, the more elaborate the choreography needs to be. Battles between powerful mages look like amazing dance offs.

What they don’t tell you about larger works of magic is how much preparation and planning goes in to them. The shutters on the lights clunked as Rudolf fiddled with them for the umpteenth time tonight. Tomorrow needed to go off without a hitch. The Bolshoi Ballet was performing Swan Lake tomorrow on Broadway.

One missed queue, one burnt out light bulb, and the whole thing would blow up in their faces. The preemptive strike against the Kirov Ballet would be all for naught, and the Bolshoi would be sitting ducks in the face of a rebuttal. Saboteurs abounded.

With a start, Rudolf’s eyes snapped to the rafters. Was that a shadow creeping around up there?

Unable to tell, Rudolf dashed out of the control booth to the stairs leading to the rafters, grabbing a crowbar on his way. Each step creaked on the old wooden stairs, when suddenly one fell out from underneath. Thinking fast, Rudolf threw his crowbar to the landing above and grabbed on to the next stair for dear life. Rudolf swung side to side desperately trying to get his leg high enough to grab on to the previous stair and pull himself up. Then, several small cracks sounded from the stair he was holding. He stopped moving, unable to trust the stair would support his struggling.

A shadow approached from farther down the rafters, the earlier hunch a certainty now. For all the good that would do him.

“Stay back,” Rudolf squeaked. “The Bolshoi will come after you for this.”

“What do you mean Mr. Rudolf? Aren’t we working for the Bolshoi?” Rudolf’s assistant stepped into the light of the nearby exit sign. “Why would they come after me?”

“Ah, lad, I thought you were a saboteur.” More cracks resonated from the stair. “Come help me quick! Careful on the stairs.”

With much struggling, the two made it to the top of the stairs in the rafters.

“Not that I’m ungrateful, but what are you doing here lad? I was supposed to be the only one here.”

“Well Mr. Rudolf, I know tomorrow’s a big day, and I figured you could use all the help you could get.”

“Right you are lad. Right you are.”

From the stage to the mezzanine to the second floor balcony, everything was visible from up in the rafters. The two men caught their breath and hunkered down, prepared for a long, vigilant night.

Tomorrow’s ritual was going to be flawless.