After briefly thinking, I chose the door on the right. I opened it cautiously and entered a cold room with a few pieces of furniture, a burning fireplace to the left, and two stained glass windows on the right. Trying not to make any noise, I closed the door behind me. I had the feeling that the exit was close and that I only had to take the right path to find it. I turned the knob of the east door and pushed it timidly. A half-lit chamber was revealed behind the small opening. On the opposite wall, there was another door leading to a strong light source. Crossing along the elongated chamber, an arched bookcase full of old books got my attention.
“Wow!” I let a small cry on enthusiasm to slip out of my throat. It looked like the Academy’s library room, but it was not. It was cleaner and with more expensive decorations.
A second exclamation shout almost slipped from my mouth, when I felt a thick oriental rug under my feet. An old leather sofa was placed in the center of the room with the expensive luxurious furniture. Just like a firefly is attracted to the light on a dark night, I continued toward the door and the shining light.
The robust male voice that came from the couch made me jump and made me raise both my arms in a defensive karate posture. I took a step back and looked over to the leather sofa. A man was sitting in the dim light.
“Who are you?” I asked trying to maintain a strong voice.
“The man you were waiting all your life to meet,” the man replied.
“You’re nuts,” I yelled. “Don’t come close to me. Stay where you are,” I said still in a defensive posture.
A heavy wooden chandelier with dozens of candles was hanging from the ceiling and a huge iron gate was visible in the distance. I had to get there as fast as I could. I had to get out of that damn building. I ran the hell out of me until I reached the front door. I grabbed the huge door handles into my hands and pulled them. The door did not open. I pulled again, with all my strength, but the door remained still. Numb with shock, I scanned the room around for another exit.
“Don’t be afraid, I’m not going to hurt you,” the man said, as he took a few steps toward me. He was tall, with a toned body, green eyes, and his brown hair tied back in a man bun.
“Who are you and why am I here?” I tried to give her voice a decisive tone although I was ready to faint from fear.
“I’m your destiny,” replied the man kindly.
“Are you nuts? How long have I been here?” I asked while clenching my fists.
“Do not worry, I'll explain everything,” the man said moving forward, closer to me.
“I don’t want you to explain anything, I just want you to open the door and let me leave,” I said and turned around to face again the huge door that led to my freedom. I was so confused. I could not understand how I ended up in that weird place, locked in with that strange man who talked to me like we had known each other for years. One minute, I was in Arthur’s underground apartment and the other I was in this pop art gothic mansion God knows where.
“Gwen,” he said, “I’m no stranger to you. We know each other very well.” He whispered close to my ear and his icy breath caressed my shoulder. “Don’t be afraid, I’m not going to hurt you,” he said, taking a few steps back to create a safety zone between us. “Let’s talk over a cup of tea,” he said before he started walking toward the back of the chamber.
A shiver ran through my body as I watched him disappear into the darkness of the vast hall. I was left alone in the huge room, but I couldn’t escape. At least so I thought and at least for the moment. Partly because I did not have any other option, partly out of curiosity, I decided to follow him to wherever he had gone. I started walking toward the back of the chamber and the sound of my heels broke the disturbing silence of the space.
“Turn right and open the door.” The stranger’s voice sounded in my mind.
“Great, he’s a telepath, too,” I groaned, knowing exactly what that meant. I had to block him from reading my thoughts. And I could not tell how easy that would be. Following his directions, I pushed the door and it opened. A gust of warm air hit my body as I entered an old-fashioned kitchen. A large lit hob warmed up the place nicely. Two stalls with kitchenware and a tawdry kitchen table with a few clay crockeries on it filled the place.
“Are you feeling cold?” the man said and offered to roll a red velvet robe over my shoulders. I did not know why, but I gladly let him do it. I passed my hands through the sleeves and wrapped the heavy cloth around my body. As the adrenaline started leaving my nervous system, I was beginning to realize how cold that place was.
The man pulled out a wooden chair near the table and dusted it. He nodded for me to sit down and went back to the hob. When he returned, he had a porcelain teacup in his hands. The smell of steaming hot tea filled my nostrils as he placed the cup in front of me. Next to the bowl, he put a silver teaspoon and a clean napkin.
“There is also cream and sugar; help yourself,” he said. “That’s what you are, cream and sugar.” A timid smile was painted on his face.
I looked at him, appalled. “You’re kidding, right?”
“About you having tea with me?” He looked confused.
“No, about that cream and sugar reference. Do you really think that cheesy flirting works with me?” I clenched my teeth.
The dimples in his cheeks deepened as he smiled. He sat in a chair opposite me. Under different circumstances, I would have called him handsome.
I reluctantly got the spoon in my hand and used it to stir the tea after I dropped a cube of sugar in it. I took a sip and wiped my mouth delicately with the napkin. I turned and looked at the man who was watching me with a polite smile on his face. Curiously, I now felt safe in his presence, as if he were not a stranger, as if I had not just met him. It was a feeling that I could not control, nor explain.
“What was in the tea? I asked as I tried to scan his mind. “The potion of truth? Sedatives?”
He laughed and it felt like he was genuinely entertained. Should I trust that guy? I did not know yet. In any case, I would not drink more of his tea. One sip was enough. And it did not kill me. Happy news!
I wrapped the robe tightly around my body, clasped my hands in front of my chest, and sat cross-legged. “I am ready. Now we can talk,” I said. A part of me wished it were a business meeting, although deep inside I knew that wasn’t true.
“I’m glad to hear that. I was looking forward to it,” he replied.
His emerald eyes exuded sweetness but they also gave away that his life had not been easy. More specifically, he looked like he had lived many lives, although he looked young, in his early thirties. The sparse beard, the man bun, and his jeans added a rocker’s touch to his look.
With serene movements, he stood up from his chair and moved close to me. “We have no time for dawdling. We have a lot to discuss. First of all, where did you get this?”
I looked at him suspiciously. He was holding one of the Time Hopper rings Arthur had given to me, one of those the recent victims used to wear.
“That ring! Give it back to me!” I aimed to seize the ring in his hands, but with an agile movement, he transferred it to his other hand.
“First, you need to tell me whose ring that used to be.”
“First, you need to explain what happened to me and how I got here,” I replied, raising my voice.
“You were in great danger, but thanks to your good luck, I was passing by, I saved you and now you're safe.” A playful smile formed on his thin lips.
A feeling of serenity flooded my heart as if I were in my mother’s arms. My muscles relaxed and my body sank deeper into the uncomfortable chair.
“What is that you’re doing to me right now? Are you trying to hypnotize me?” I asked with a tone of sarcasm in my voice.
His face became serious and I felt my body suddenly drained of the tranquility I had been dipped in.
“I would never do that to any human being, let alone a guest of mine,” the man’s face darkened. A wave of cold air floo
ded the room and made me wrap the scarlet robe around my body tighter.
The man turned his face toward the fireplace and the reflection of the flames glowed in his eyes. Out of the corner of my eye, I examined the room, only to confirm what I already knew. There was no way to escape.
“I do not understand you,” I said. “Who are you? What are you?”
With a sharp movement, he moved at a chair beside me. Sharp fangs were revealed beneath his thin lips. Drops of sweat rolled down my neck as he grabbed my wrist and his cold lips touched the soft bit of my flesh. As hypnotized, I did not try to resist him. An incomprehensible turmoil, more like pleasure than fear, conquered my soul. My heart pounded faster as he gently kissed my palm.
“Arthur,” I whispered, and I shuddered when I realized that the person who had just kissed my hand was not Arthur. A small cry escaped my mouth as soon as I was pulled out of my lethargy. Cold fear seized my limbs as I watched his sharp fangs shrink back into his oral cavity.
Silence prevailed in the dim room. Suddenly, the man walked fast toward me and his abrupt movement made me curl up with fear.
I felt that his heart was filled in with fury and rage. “Does he even have one?” It seemed that no blood rushed below his skin. I could not detect his heartbeat or his pulse at his throat. I imagined that a black hole was where his heart should have been.
“Help!”
I shouted instinctively but I stopped when he put his finger on my lips in a signal to keep silent. I obeyed. Was it out of fear or had he blocked me from yelling? If it was the latter, when exactly did that happen? Had he been blocking me from the beginning, from the moment I woke up and found myself in that bedroom with the large mirror with the wooden frame and the gothic window with the velvet curtains? Did he block me when we met? How powerful was that creature? Did he control my thoughts and actions without me realizing it? Me, the person who Arthur had claimed to be the Sorceress; the powerful creature that will appear in our world and will bridge the differences between the rival Time Hopper clans. It seemed that Arthur was wrong. I was not as powerful as he thought I was. How disappointed he would be if he were there right now. All his hopes about the future of Time Hoppers would be shattered in little pieces. I was nothing special. I was not the Sorceress. I was a failure.
“Someone is downstairs,” the man whispered. “Stay here and close the door. And don’t get out whatever happens outside.”
With a loud slap, he closed the door behind him. I stood there gasping in the empty chamber, flabbergasted by the turn of the events, frightened to death.
I had suffered a major fail. I ought to allow myself to act, whatever that could mean. I closed my eyes and concentrated on a certain time point of my timeline. I needed to break Merlin’s spell. I had to manipulate time.
A loud noise and the entire building started shaking. With my eyes still closed, my heart raced like a crazy horse. The sound of dozens of glasses being broken echoed in an eerie crunching sound, followed by a bang”.
I opened my eyes. A bright light flashed in the room I was now standing in.
“Arthur!” I shouted out loud. “You’re back!”
Arthur dragged his dagger out of his pocket to defend himself from a black-clad woman’s sword attacks. He stayed still until the sword-wielding woman got closer to him, and then with a quick move, he ducked and grasped her by the knees and pulled her legs up. The woman landed on her back, revealing her well-shaped leg under her black dress. As if she had fallen on a trampoline, the woman rapidly bounced back and with a quick move, she wrapped her arm around Arthur’s jaw. Trying to defend himself, Arthur attempted a thrust at the woman’s chest. but he missed as she moved back fast.
With his dagger still flashing in his hand, Arthur lost his balance and collapsed. The woman jumped over him pointing him with her sword. He was in danger.
I instinctively raised my hand pointing to the Carnwennan dagger and making it move and turn its edge towards the woman’s body. The dagger nailed her chest, and then magic happened. A glowing white light erupted from Arthur’s ring, passed through my body, and ended to the edge of Carnwennan. An enormous otherworldly power possessed my body. The cosmic vastness accommodated my tiny human body and little explosions of knowledge shook my soul. My long loud cry stopped when the woman evaporated. Her sword and ring fell down in a haze of golden mist.
I felt a burning and a stream of blood started flowing from my belly. I was stabbed from behind by a man who had appeared out of nowhere. Shocked and in pain as I was, I hardly watched Arthur ramming his dagger into the man’s neck. His body got scorched down and disintegrated into a pile of black ashes.
“Oh, my God,” I cried and fell down on smashed pieces of glass. “Who were these people?” The words came out of my mouth with a struggle.
Arthur knelt and gently got my head on his arms. “Don’t be afraid,” he said softly.
“I got stabbed. I’m afraid as shit,” I muttered.
“It wasn’t a Carnwennan, it was a commons sword,” he said as he brushed my hair with his fingers.
“Am I going to die?” I said trembling.
“No, you aren’t going to die,” he said softly. “I promised to protect you and I will honor my promise to you.”
“I’m feeling cold,” I said and my eyes watered.
Suddenly, a green mist surrounded us and the next minute we were both standing in the middle of a lightning storm looking at each other. When the atmosphere cleared, Arthur moved fast beside me and ramming his dagger into the neck of the man who was ready to stub me.
“Now we can go back,” Arthur said before green mist and white lightning bolts surrounded us.
“That’s not the reason I’m crying,” I said sobbing. “It’s the fact that I felt attracted to the man that held me captive before you arrived. I wasn’t really attracted to him; it was more like someone was mentally forcing me to fall for him.”
“Don’t be silly,” he said softly. “The only man in this mansion was the one who stabbed you and he had just arrived here.”
“No, you’re wrong,” I said crying, “there was also a young man with a man bun who was trying to control my mind. What kind of prodigy am I since I wasn’t able to stop him?”
“The person that you’re talking about wasn’t a man at all,” he said, and a smile was painted on his face. “It was the woman with the black dress and the black mini hat whom you exterminated.”
“How can that be possible?” I asked, having abruptly stopped crying. And then I realized it.
We were back in Arthur’s living room. Dindrane was there looking at us.
“What do you think?” Arthur asked her. “Is she ready now?”
“She broke the spell all by herself. I think she is ready,” Dindrane replied.
“Hey, I am here. Don’t talk about me like I am not present. Can you tell what just happened?”
“You passed the test. That is what happened,” Arthur told me.
“I bent time and I sent you to an alternative timeline. If you had not broken the spell, you would have been left there and you would have passed the rest of your life in that timeline,” Dindrane explained.
“Would you really have left me there?” I squeaked.
“We have lost many young aspiring Time Hoppers this way. They did not pass the test and they spent the rest of their lives in alternative timelines.”
“But you said that I am the Sorceress!”
“I warned you to not believe everything I say.” He smirked and I was very close to hitting his jaw with my fist.
Dindrane clapped her hands twice. “Quiet! You can play husband and wife later. We have a mission to accomplish. Dark days are coming, and we must warn the Board of Wizards now.”
CHAPTER 13
*
We passed by a row of teal wooden doors and windows and we stopped in front of the large cypress door with centenarian ivy that distinguished the mansion’s entrance.
We crossed a hallway with bl
ack and purple marble floors that led to an inner courtyard full of roses of all colors. Large, vaulted doors made of wood and glass lined each side of the rectangular courtyard, and a few iron tables and chairs filled the space.
Two large living rooms, a reception hall, and a huge ball chamber were on the ground floor, while the Grand Chamber of all Magic, where all secret ceremonies used to take place, was located at the back of the building.
The Grand Wizard’s office was on the second floor, along with the other Board members’ offices. We sent a couple of minutes standing outside the door to catch our breath before Dindrane put her hand on the door handle.
“Okay. Let’s get the party started,” she said and opened the door.
“IF THEY ARE RIGHT, then you are incompetent, Merlin!” Dindrane’s reaction was unexpected especially since the entire Board of Wizards was present.
I couldn’t believe the anger that erupted from her. As I could not believe that they allowed me to attend the meeting.
“Dindrane, please leave,” Merlin demanded as he stood up from his red velvet desk chair.
“With all due respect, Grand Wizard, I am not going anywhere. This meeting isn’t over yet,” Dindrane declared as she remained seated.
“Excuse me? Who do you think you are? I'm calling the WizGuards right now,” said Merlin, his voice shaking in surprise at the unexpected disobedience.
“I'm no one, my Lord. And you are the Grand Wizard. And you can have the WizGuards throw me out of your office anytime. But you will not do that. Because that will bring about the end of your tenure and your career as the Mighty Sorcerer.”
Dindrane stood up slowly and approached Merlin, who clenched his fists defensively. “I have always been loyal to my Grand Wizard, my Lord, and I always will be. I have taken an oath to serve our cause and give my life to protect our values. I am not a soldier of any Army, but I am a member of the Avallon Academy, as my father was before me, and his father, and my great-great-grandfather. My ancestors joined the forces of the Academy in order to fight injustice and stop evil forces from bringing chaos to peoples’ lives. I bear this wand with pride and it is the oath I have given to it that makes me stand here in front of you and say, ‘Please stop talking and listen.’
The Cursed Sword (Avallon Academy Book 1) Page 8
