« The Stone of the Useless »: what if the world’s savior was the worst possible choice?

It’s written that I love impossible openings. « Pockets are invitations someone forgot to close. »

Senn is a pickpocket in Basse-Urbe. He lifts a purse at the market, expects gold, and finds only a black stone the size of a thumb. Not precious. Not beautiful. He slips it into his pocket, « just in case. »

What he doesn’t know is that this stone is the most powerful artifact in the world — and that it has just chosen him.

The idea

It all started from a simple question: what happens when a prophecy promises a hero, and fate picks the wrong target?

For fifteen years, the Order of Ether has been grooming Elyas, the perfect candidate: warrior, strategist, trained since childhood. But the stone never reaches him. A thief steals it by accident, and at first touch, it chooses him. Irreversible.

The power it grants him? Making things slightly sticky. The Stick.

While reality is dissolving at the edges of the world, the last bearer of the prophecy is a liar, a coward, a crook — with a gift even he finds ridiculous.

Five bearers before him. Five heroes with prodigious powers. Five failures. And now it’s his turn.

What I wanted to avoid

Every early draft had the same flaw: I kept making the power useful. I kept trying to make it cool. I resisted.

The Stick must never become practical. Every manifestation has to be frustrating, absurd, embarrassing. An apple stuck to a palm. A sword glued to a counter. Handprints that linger on a wall for an hour.

The contrast is the whole engine of the book: a pathetic power against cosmic stakes.

What it really is

« The Stone of the Useless » is a contemporary fantasy novella, ~30,000 words, with an ironic, cynical tone.

It’s a story about anti-heroism: you save the world because running is no longer an option, not out of virtue. About uselessness as a strength: the thing you despise most in yourself becomes the tool. About repair over destruction — sticking instead of fighting.

And about the bitter ally: Elyas, the man whose destiny Senn stole, who offers neither rage nor forgiveness, only cold assistance out of duty. That calm is worse than screaming.

Why now

Because the prophecy is explicit:

When the world forgets its name,
the Stone shall choose a heart without flame.
What he despises shall save him,
what he flees shall hold him.
The last bond before the void
shall be the one that serves no purpose.

→ Want to see if a useless power can save the world? « The Stone of the Useless » is available on Amazon Kindle: Amazon.com · Amazon.fr