Sarah was silent, deep in thought. Steve continued.
“You were worried. You didn’t want that jackass to find the jorii, or anything else, did you? So without realizing it, you made it disappear so that our friend back there couldn’t find it.”
Sarah was still silent. Was he right? Did she make those things disappear? But how? How could she have done something without realizing she did it? Could she test it? Is there some way to find out if she has a jhorun here in Lentari?
“Maybe you’re right, sweetie. Maybe something I inadvertently did caused those things to disappear.” She took a deep breath. “Can we test this? I want to know if I did it, how I did it, and how to do it again.”
“Yeah, sure. I want to know, too.”
They stopped by one of the massive oak trees. Steve shrugged off the pack, reached in and pulled out his wife’s purse.
“Okay, try this. You did it once, you should be able to do this again. Is the jorii still in the change purse?”
Sarah nodded.
“Okay, then, try to make it vanish again.”
“How? How do I do that?”
“Well, just pretend that a whole gang of thieves are hot on our trail and are about to overtake us, and we know that the jorii can’t fall into the hands of someone like that.”
Sarah let out a nervous chuckle. “That shouldn’t be too difficult to imagine. I’m already halfway there.” She clenched her fists. “What do I do? Try and make a mental picture of the jorii vanishing?”
Steve shrugged helplessly. “I don’t know, babe. Ummm, that’d be a good first start.”
Sarah conjured up a mental picture of the jorii sitting in her change purse. She imagined it disappearing, tried to imagine what the change purse would feel like empty. She looked at Steve. “Any luck?”
“With what?”
“I’m trying to make the freakin’ thing disappear! See if it’s gone!”
“Oh! Sorry, I’ll check.” Steve opened her purse, fetched out her change purse and felt it. “Nope, still there.”
“Damn. Okay, how about…” Sarah brought up a picture of the jorii and imagined a hole appearing in her purse leading to who knows where. She pictured the jorii falling into the hole.
“What about now?”
Steve reached back into the purse and felt the small purse again.
“Nope, sorry. Remember, pretend you’re in a serious dilemma and that you’re scared.”
“Scared. Got it.” Sarah concentrated, imagining the thief was rapidly gaining on them, about to overtake them at any moment. She must not let the jorii fall into the wrong hands. She couldn’t let it. Why, if it did, then who knows what would happen to this beautiful land and –
“What the hell?”
Sarah snapped back to the present and looked at her husband.
“What is it?”
“Your change purse. It’s gone. I know I put it back in your purse.”
“Are you serious? It worked??”
Steve’s eyes widened to the size of dinner plates. “You did it! What did you do? What did you do differently from last time?”
“It’s triggered by emotions! I really got into the moment there and pretended that he was about to find us. I knew that if it fell into the wrong hands then we’d be in deep crap.”
Steve snorted. “Ain’t that the truth.” He reached inside the purse again. “Umm, how do you reverse it? Can you make it come back?”
Sarah blinked. She hadn’t thought of that. How does she make it come back? Obviously she knew that the thief wasn’t closing in on them. She’s relaxed now, isn’t she? Why didn’t it come back?
“Uh, I’m not sure. I just assumed that once I stopped thinking about it, and those intense feelings had passed, then things would revert back to normal.”
He felt inside for the small purse again. It still hadn’t reappeared. Better double-check. He pushed aside her brush, keys, emergency makeup kit. No, it doesn’t appear that… Wait, there it was! He had just checked the far right of the purse. It wasn’t there a second ago!
He pulled out the change purse triumphantly.
“It’s back! Nicely done, babe!!”
“But why did it take so long to come back? Does the magic have to wear off or something?”
“Let’s do this.” Steve opened her purse, pulled out the tube of her lip balm, and held it in his open palm. He looked at Sarah. “Can you make this vanish?”
“My chapstick isn’t as important as the jorii. I don’t know.”
“It’s worth a try. Wouldn’t you like to know if it’ll work on non-essential stuff?”
Sarah concentrated, bringing back the feelings of pursuit, of being scared and not knowing if or when she’d be caught next. She didn’t want her things to be found, not by that scumbag. As a matter of fact, nothing she owned would ever fall into his hands again if she had anything to say about –
The small circular tube that was sitting on Steve’s palm vanished. As did the jorii, change purse, purse, and their pack, with all their supplies in it.
“Holy crap, babe! I was just talking about the balm!”
Sarah didn’t respond.
“Hey! Are you okay? Come on, snap out of it!”
Sarah gave a little jerk and her eyes snapped open.
“What happened?”
“Not only did you make the chapstick disappear, you made your purse and all of its contents vanish as well. Not to mention our pack.”
“What?! I made it all disappear?”
“That you did, babe! You must have really conjured up some scary feelings!”
“All I have to do is pretend that that mugger is behind us, coming after us. It’s not hard to do. Only thing is,” she paused a moment, “every time I think about it, it’s like I’m back in that cellar again. I can still smell that dank odor, feel the straw under my feet.”
Steve took her hand and pulled her close. “I won’t let him touch you, babe. That’s a promise.”
Just like that, Steve was holding Sarah’s chapstick again. Down by his feet, the pack materialized back into existence. The purse followed a moment later, both sitting on the ground as though they had been there all along.
“Whoa! That’s cool!” Sarah picked up her purse and rifled through it. She pulled out her change purse and felt for the jorii. Yep, still there.
Steve was all smiles. “Babe, do you realize what this means?? You have a magical power! That’s so cool!”
Chapter 5 – Magic
“This is so bizarre! I made it vanish! I actually made that thing disappear!” She giggled. Her gaze fell upon her husband. “What about you? If I can do this, what do you think you can do?”
“I have been asking myself that very question over and over. The problem is, I haven’t noticed anything else happening that might explain what I might be able to do.”
“Mmm, good point. I haven’t noticed anything else that’s odd, either.”
“What did you do when you had that jorii last night? Maybe I should start working with it.”
Sarah fished the small sphere out of her purse and handed it to her husband.
“The only thing I did was mentally focus on this thing and try to invoke something to happen. Of course, it didn’t work as far as I could tell. I tried for hours last night. It might take even longer for something to happen that one of us notices. That’s all we can do.”
“I’m willing to try. Hell, I want a magical ability, too! How cool would that be? You have one. I want one!”
“Jeez, honey!” Sarah laughed. “How old are you again?”
Steve snorted. He took the jorii from Sarah and willed something to happen. Naturally, nothing did. He gripped the warm sphere tightly, concentrating furiously. He didn’t know what to expect, only that something should happen. The jorii, however, refused to accommodate him.
Sarah stifled a smile. He looked so cute when he was frustrated. His brow was furrowed, eyes closed, mumbling feverishly to himself.
Steve let out the breath he didn’t realize he had been holding and unclenched his hands. Maybe she was right. Maybe he was going about this the wrong way. He had to relax. Letting his mind go blank, he tried to pretend he was scared, tried to believe he was being chased by that asshole thief. He felt himself grow angry as soon as he brought up a mental picture of their captor.
No, I don’t want anger, Steve thought, and pushed it aside. I need to feel scared, terrified. So what am I scared of?
A Tyrannosaurus Rex. The thought popped into his head before he could even take a breath.
A dinosaur? A damn dinosaur?? What was he, five years old? Watching Jurassic Park did not cause nightmares, thank you very much. He knew they didn’t exist here, and he knew that no matter how hard he tried, he wasn’t going to be able to pretend there was a seven ton reptile chasing the two of them through the forest.
A small, timid voice spoke up in his head. Maybe they do exist here.
Steve snorted. Unless one shows up and starts chasing us, I’m not gonna believe one it. Dragons maybe. Dragons! Was he scared of dragons?
No, not really, the voice said. You think they’re cool, not scary.
True, Steve agreed. Although if I ever do meet one face-to-face, I’ll probably think otherwise.
Steve squared his shoulders and took a deep breath. It can’t be this difficult. Think of something scary. Doesn’t have to be realistic. Think! Concentrate! I can do this!
Sarah took his hands in hers, and gently pulled the jorii from him and put it back in her purse.
“Listen, we just escaped from that cellar. We might run into that robber again on this trail. Let’s get out of here, find the right trail and get as far away as possible. Then you can relax properly and I’ll help you work on this, okay?”
Not really wanting to quit now, but wanting his wife’s help even more, Steve nodded.
“You’re right. We can work on this later. First and foremost, let’s get the hell outta here and find that road.”
Picking up the pack, they continued north.
Holding Sarah’s hand and swinging it back and forth the way a couple of love-struck teenagers would, Steve was happy. They had been mugged and had been able to foil their mugger. They had been imprisoned and had managed to escape. Now here they were, on an alien world, making their way towards an enchanted path to find their way to the king and queen. This was the stuff of legend! Most people only dreamed about doing something like this, yet here they were, with magical powers even!
Steve smiled. His wife could make things disappear! Vanish completely! Not only that, she could bring them back! Did that mean the trapdoor had returned? It would have to be! That mugger was in for a major shock. He’ll find the trapdoor closed and his prey missing. Wait. Sarah had pushed the locking bracket back out of the way, so it’ll appear as though someone had deliberately set them free. He laughed quietly to himself. He would love to see the look on his face.
Steve looked at his wife. Sarah, inexplicably, could always tell when he was looking her way, so she met his look and smiled. Nothing was spoken. Nothing needed to be.
Content to walk silently with her husband, Sarah started checking out the local flora.
I wonder what the extent of her powers are, Steve mused to himself. What are her limits? Could she make something larger than a door disappear? And where did the door go to, exactly? She obviously moved it from one place to the other and then back again, so…
Moved it? That’s it! It has to be! She teleported the jorii first, then the door! She simply chose to move those items from their starting positions to, um, to…
Steve shook his head. He really didn’t have a clue as to where she sent those things. Clearly, though, Sarah was able to pull the items out of wherever she put them and return them to the starting point. If she could focus her energies and be able to direct where she was moving those things to, then that would be a formidable defense mechanism here in Lentari!
He thought about asking Sarah to continue to work on perfecting her newly acquired skills, but thought better of it. If she is willing to help him with his, then he can give her a hand with hers. We’ll practice tonight, Steve promised himself.
Meanwhile, Sarah was trying to absorb as much as she could about the local plant life. How many opportunities would she get to check out what life was like on another world? Small, impossibly vivid purple flowers splashed with soft yellow streaks were the most abundant. They were growing on squat, green bushes that clumped together in groups of three or four.
A maroon cat-sized animal darted from tree to tree, chittering away raucously while watching the two bipedal creatures below. The two foreign beings weren’t its prey, so it focused its attention elsewhere. It blended into the foliage and disappeared.
After a couple of hours of steady walking they came upon a clearing with a large pond. Or a really small lake.
“Do you remember passing this on the way in?” Steve asked his wife.
“Ummm, no, I don’t,” Sarah confessed, “but then again I wasn’t really paying attention to any details. Too scared.”
“True.” Steve looked at the small path that skirted the edges of the lake. “Let’s take a quick breather.”
Sarah stretched her back, and then paused. She was hearing the soft, gurgling sounds of a brook. Maybe feeding the lake? She started exploring the immediate surroundings and found the small stream of clear water. A closer inspection confirmed that it was indeed flowing west, towards the lake.
“I found a small stream. Water looks good. I’m going to have a drink.”
“Say what? You don’t know what might be in that water. Might have some foreign bacteria in it or something.” Steve shook his head. “I’d rather you didn’t.”
“Honey, I’m hot, thirsty, sore, and willing to take the risk.”
“Fine. But at least let me drink first so that…”
Sarah had already scooped up some water in her hand and drank. The water was cold, clear, and utterly refreshing. She felt the cool water flow all the way down her throat and well into her stomach. She must have been dehydrated, she thought. This was some good water! Eagerly she scooped more into her mouth.
About to protest until he saw Sarah take another drink, Steve abandoned all doubts, dropped to his knees, and started scooping out water for himself.
Finally sated, Sarah stood back up, water dripping from her chin. She wiped her mouth with the back of her arm. “Didn’t realize how thirsty I was until I took a drink of that.”
Steve straightened back up as well. After wiping his mouth, he nodded his head. “Wish I had a canteen of some sort. Oh, well.”
Farther behind them, but gaining rapidly, their former captor, exploring a realm of anger he hadn’t realized existed, was making good speed. He had taken a route that had led southeast from his lodge, when much to his surprise, had encountered acquaintances of his slaver contact. They had confirmed that the ship he was looking for was presently docked at a pier not half a days walk along the Wanlu River. Not known for his patience, he had immediately reversed course back to his home to retrieve his prizes, only to discover his birds had flown the coop.
So who had helped them to escape? Clearly someone had come onto his land. Somebody entered his house, found the hidden trapdoor, and opened it. Whoever it was will pay, of that he was certain. Maybe he’ll just add the Good Samaritan to his growing collection of prizes to be sold into slavery.
With that reassuring thought in mind, he grabbed his only bow and a quiver full of arrows and tracked the couple to the small lake he frequented often. Ah! There they were! Did they actually think they could lose him? In his forest??
He crouched in silence and watched, hidden amongst the greenery. He watched as the stupid male open their pack, pull out on
e of the strips of dried meat and hand it to the female. The female tore the strip in two and handed half back to the male. It was so sickeningly sweet it made him nauseous.
The male out massed him, by more than twice, he reasoned. He’s bound to cause trouble, perhaps even physically defeat him in a fight if it came to it. Did he really need the male? He could easily fetch a handsome price for the female. She was fetching, showing signs of fire and spunk. The male, he decided, had just become expendable.
He reached behind him to pull out his longbow. He fit an arrow to the string and pulled back as far as he was able. A typical longbow could fire an arrow well over three hundred meters. However, that was if the bow was pulled to full extension, and it took steady arms and constant strength. A pull of one hundred fifty to two hundred pounds was typical of a weapon of this type. The mugger, though, lacked the musculature in his arms to use the bow to its full capabilities. With shaking arms, he took aim at the man.
Hold up, they were embracing. He couldn’t eliminate the male without harming the female. Oh, thank the fates! His arms could no longer maintain the strength required by his weapon. He released the tension and stretched his arms. He hadn’t used his bow in a while. Making a mental note to practice more, he waited patiently.
Ah! The male has moved off! Here’s his opportunity! He knocked an arrow to the bow and once again took aim at the male. The strain on his arms was unimaginable. They started to shake, and to his horror, he realized it was throwing him off balance. He took a step back. The twig he stepped on snapped loudly, breaking the silence in the glen.
Sarah’s head jerked up, along with Steve’s. She saw their former captor before he did, saw the imminent danger, and screamed. Long and loud. The thief, startled, swung his aim over to her, and without realizing it, released the arrow.
Time slowed to a crawl. Steve watched in horror as the arrow was released. He knew that Sarah was too far away for him to try and block it, but what could he do? He bunched his legs and leapt in Sarah’s direction, hoping his futile, last ditch effort might somehow protect Sarah from the imminent death that had begun to streak towards her.
Bakkian Chronicles, Book I - The Prophecy Page 9
