“What will happen to you when I take the ring off your finger?”
“Ashes to ashes, dust to dust,” he said and projected his hand with difficulty to me.
I got my hand into his hand and looked at him in the eyes.
“No way, Jose,” I said.
“Excuse me?” he asked puzzled.
“Don’t excuse-me me. I am not doing it.”
“What?”
“I am not doing it,” I insisted.
“What do you mean you are not doing it? I am dying here.” Still lying on his, back Arthur looked at me confused.
“I have seen many Time Hopper movies. There is always a chick who gives her blood to the Time Hopper she loves and then they live happily ever after.”
“What does blood have to do with Time Hoppers?” His breath was now normal, and his cheeks were rosy again.
“Oh, I think you are right. Those were not Time Hoppers movies. They were vampire movies.” I pretended that I was embarrassed by my mistake.
Arthur was now on a sitting position looked at me with an eyebrow raised.
“Oh, you are alive again,” I said casually while playing with the ring in my hands.
“How did you nail me?” He stood up slowly.
“You are a terrible actor, Arthur. You almost got me, but you went too far with the drama. Carnwennan and bullshit. Aww, and you were so deeply sorry that you barely kissed me. What a joke. Catch!” I threw the ring towards him and he grabbed it in the air.
Before he argued his point, a wheezing sound coming from the other side of the spacey living room made us turn our heads. Everything happened so fast and with such an amazing accuracy like it was well orchestrated by a supreme force.
A black-clad creature, man or woman I could not say, came flying straight at us, pointing a fiery blade sword. I instinctively raised my hand projecting the Carnwennan dagger as a spear. The creature got nailed on the dagger, 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 creature evaporated, leaving its sword and its ring drop down in a haze of golden mist.
“What was that?”
“That was ancient magic,” said Arthur. “There is something in your past, Gwen, that has given you a power you do not know you have.”
“Am I not just a Time Hopper?” I panicked.
“You are. A very gifted one. Centuries ago, there was an ancient legend about the powerful Sorceress that will appear in our world and will bridge the differences between the two enemy cults of Wizards.”
“You believe that I am that Sorceress?” My jaws dropped.
“You’re wearing the Malkvien ring and you hold my hand which has on the Claitleeff ring. The creature which you just killed has left behind the Bariah ring. When Carnwennan’s edge penetrated the Bariah’s body, you connected to the power of three supreme ancient cults. I have seen many portraits depicting the Sorceress. It had purple hair, just like you.” His tone was pompous.
I looked at him suspiciously. “You just made this up, right?”
“You got me.” His lips curved into a smile.
“Arthur! Stop playing with me and tell who those dead guys really are.”
“That is not for you to know. Now, let’s get back to our training.”
He took his jacket off and after he folded it carefully, he placed on the leather sofa.
My lips parted as I looked over his disheveled blond hair and chiseled face. I noticed for the first time the fitting t-shirt that was clinging to his body and his tight pants that were hugging his long legs. I did not want to take my eyes away from him.
“Why is it taking you so long?” he asked.
The adrenaline rush was still at a high level in my body. I looked down at myself. My shirt was stretched, my hands were trembling hard.
He gently eased my shirt back on my shoulder. A jolt went through me when I flicked my eyes up to his blue eyes.
“Now, get ready for your first controlled time jump.” He pulled me gently into his arms, solid hard muscle and warm. “Don’t be afraid and let me guide you,” he lightly caressed my back and gently pulled my newly colored silver hair back. A faint smell of cologne filled my nostrils.
“I’m feeling so stressed,” I muttered.
He gave me a smile that sent a shiver up my spine. “Why? It is not the first time that you time-hop.”
“It is not the jump. It is the danger, and the secrets, and all the stuff that I still do not know. What if something bad happens to me? What if I am going to grow fangs and become a vampire? What if my nose grows bigger and my ears become pointing?”
He laughed and caressed my cheek.
“Nothing will happen to you. What will happen next depends on you,” he said.
“What do you mean?”
“You agreed to join me and discover the depth of your special powers while we take down our enemies. Have you changed your mind?”
“Freaking no!”
His beautifully shaped lips turned up in a smile as he secured his arms around me. “Then it’s a deal. I am sure that your extraordinaire powers go beyond the Time hopping spectrum. With your skills, we can dive into a Time Hopper’s mind so deep that none of the telepaths I have met could. However, we need to change our plans a little.”
“How so?”
He placed his hand low on my back possessively. I raised my eyes to his face; he was mesmerizing in his beauty. My heart pounded hard in my chest as he lightly brushed his mouth against mine.
“Will you ever let me taste it?” he asked.
“Not in a million years.”
CHAPTER 11
*
“Croque Monsieur and Tartine au Framboise”.
Arthur handed me the plate with a sly smile on his face and naughty thoughts flooded my mind. Thoughts that I should not express for any reason.
“Would you like something to drink? Coffee? Tea?” he asked instead.
“Yes, I want to drink you in.” I was shocked by my thought. Love always got me into trouble and the last thing I now wanted was to fall in love with my trainer who was much more experienced than I was and, I was sad to admit, more a master manipulator. But he was a great cook and loved food.
“Love comes through the stomach.” I shook slightly my head to send the naughty thoughts away.
“Is everything all right?” Arthur asked.
“Everything is beyond delicious.”
“Would you like a cup of Ceylon Black Tea? Or a double espresso? Or orange juice?” He asked playfully.
“In fact, I’d like to taste all your juices now. Darn Gwen, stop it now!”
I blushed with embarrassment, as if he had heard my silent proclamation.
“I want to have a nice warm bath with you. I want you to be my Geralt of Rivia. I want me to be your Yennefer. In the bathtub. And then I want us to get into your cozy bed with the fluffy duvet and ... fall asleep.”
I was so freaking tired. We had been training for three days now, more than 15 hours per day, as if the world would have ended if we trained less.
“A double espresso would be fine.” I tried to unsuccessfully suppress a yawn.
He never seemed to get tired. That would be a great requirement for one’s sex life but when it came to daily life activities, it was hell for me as I could never match his energy levels. The man was a nuclear bomb and I was a grenade. He was the orchestra and I was the horn. He was a five centuries tree and I was Baby Groot.
Apart from the training, we had been trying to track down my family line. Chances were that we would never find out anything about it. As much as we tried, as many old Time Hoppers we asked, and as many ancient books we read, we did not manage to track down my bloodline. You cannot even imagine how disturbing that was. I was feeling
like half a person, hoping that I would someday find the fullness the knowledge of my origin could bring me.
I was a good Time Hoper, though. No question about that. I was a darn good one. However, I had not managed to prove that to Arthur yet.
Arthur was the only entity in the world that could make me black out. I never knew whether he was serious or joking with me. I was determined to make him reveal every secret he kept from me, but he was a tough cookie. My determination did not come only out of my stubbornness. Okay, I was stubborn, but that was not the case. Since I had first met him, I had that creepy feeling that he had been keeping secrets from me. Maybe it was a hunch that he refrained from revealing to me a big secret or a weird truth that he thought that I would not be able to handle if I found out.
“So, what would you suggest we should have for dinner?” Arthur’s voice got me out of my daydreaming.
“I do not know. Spaghetti with meatballs?”
“Spaghetti with meatballs. It is a deal.”
Sometimes I felt I was taking advantage of his great culinary skills, but he really enjoyed cooking.
“Croque Monsieur, Tartine au Framboise, and a double espresso for the best customer I’ve ever had,” he said as he placed the plates and the cup of coffee in front of me on the table.
Suddenly, a whirlwind of green and lime lights was created in the middle of the kitchen room. As the whirlwind grew bigger, white lightning strikes appeared inside the swirl and a gentle wind breezed across the room.
“Hi, babe!”
I turned around and I saw her. A beautiful woman with sleek blond hair in a perfect elegant updo, dressed in a tight black dress and with bright red lips had jumped out of the portal. With the black veil fascinator she was wearing, she looked like she had just popped out a 1950s noir film.
“Oh, can I borrow your looks?” I almost let slip out.
“Dindrane!”
Arthur’s face beamed when he saw the strikingly beautiful woman walking his way. Their warm hugging made me feel uncomfortable. I forced myself to behave and instead I said, “Good morning.” while I stepped towards her.
“Hi, dear,” she responded and then turned again to Arthur.
“Arthur, dear, can I have a slice of red velvet cake, please?”
“Oh, I’m sorry, red velvet cake isn’t on the menu today. But I have freshly baked opera cake. It is made with layers of almond sponge cake soaked in coffee syrup, layered with ganache and coffee buttercream, and covered in a chocolate glaze. I also have a lovely coconut cake, frosted with white glaze and covered in coconut flakes,” he replied with a joyful smile.
“Is there anything red? Like the color of blood?” she asked slowly.
“I have amazing Poire à la Beaujolais. It’s pear in Beaujolais wine,” he said.
“Is it red enough?” She giggled.
Why did she giggle? Her reaction made me raise an eyebrow. Was that because she met Arthur? Why was she so happy that she had met him?
“It’s made of pears cooked in a pan with red wine, sugar, a piece of cinnamon and cloves. Since the cooking does not always result in the demy Lorded red color, a bit of cochineal is added to enhance it. It looks like it swims in blood,” he answered and they both burst in laughter, as they had apparently shared an inside joke.
“Jeez, more giggles.”
“I’ll take it,” the woman finally said.
“Excellent choice.” Arthur could not hide his excitement as he headed to the kitchen island.
“Bloody hell,” the black-clad woman with the bright red lips said as she stared at me.
I froze. That was weird. Something was wrong with her. My hands became sweaty and clammy.
“Who are you?” she asked.
“I am Gwen. And you are?”
“Dindrane,” said Arthur as he came back to us, “let me introduce you Gwen, our new Time Hopper apprentice. Gwen, this is Dindrane, our Master Time Hopper.”
“Master. Time. Hopper. Quite grandiloquent.”
“Right,” Dindrane said staring at me as if she was trying to see inside me.
After we shook hands, I turned around and moved away from her as fast as I could.
“Is everything alright?” Arthur approached me and whispered close to my ear.
“Everything is fine,” I reassured him as I entered the kitchen. A few minutes later, he came back and asked me again.
“Is everything alright?”
“Absolutely,” I said but I knew that he did not buy it.
“Gwen, I’m going to ask you one more time. Is everything alright?” he pressed his lips together.
“Nothing to worry about,” I said smiling. “Yet,” I should have added.
“I’m afraid I have to leave,” Arthur puffed out.
“Oh, no, you have not finished your breakfast,” I pouted. In fact, it was not him skipping breakfast I was worried about. His presence in the underground apartment made me feel safe and his absence was not what I wished especially after Dindrane’s sudden appearance.
“I’ll be fine,” Arthur said and took a sip of his espresso. “A suspicious pile of ashes has been found in the Park. If they prove to be Time Hopper ashes, then it’ll be the third incident of a murdered Time Hoppers within the last three days.”
“Oh, shit,” I exclaimed.
“Indeed. Someone is after Time Hoppers and I must find out who they are. Dindrane will take care of you,” he said before he walked toward the door.
Right before he got out of the room, he turned around and stared at me in a way that made me swoon.
The door closed behind him and suddenly, a stream of spinning images filled in my mind and my heart raced frantically as the images projected into my mind carried a blast of sentiments in me. Pictures of men and women turning into ashes whirled in my mind. Anger, terror, happiness, grief; all kind of emotions simultaneously whipped my soul. Panic-stricken by the uncontrollable flow of horrifying pictures and creepy feelings, I placed my hand on a nearby table to avoid collapsing to the floor.
“You need to work on your jumps.”
I turned my gaze at the mysterious blonde. What had just happened?
With shaking hands, I straighten my tight black-purple skirt and removed a curl from my forehead. I was scared to death, but I did not know why. This woman was giving me the heebie-jeebies.
Another whirlwind of green and lime lights appeared in the living room. A turmoil of images suddenly erupted in my head, accompanied by a shrill sound that made me place my hands on my ears in a desperate effort to have it blocked. With my eyes tightly closed and my fingers pressing my temples, I did the trick that I had perfected throughout the years; a trick that had saved my mental sanity multiple times.
I saw a large front door closing with a loud sound, keeping all evil outside and keeping my thoughts and memories safe. A strong wind abruptly blew from behind me and got my hair flying into the air. As I turned around, I caught the sight of a familiar silhouette with the corner of my eye. It was the black-clad woman with the black veil fascinator and the red lips standing still at the corner, staring at me without any expression or emotion on her face. Beads of sweat poured over my forehead as a million unsettling thoughts flooded my mind. I was nearly hit by a car as I hurriedly crossed the road without checking the green lights. Frozen to death, I stood still on the pavement, trying not to give away my panic. My hands started shaking again and my heart was racing wild.
I shivered as I carefully turned around to get another look at the woman. She was gone. Maybe it was my imagination, maybe she had never been after me. Maybe it was all in my mind. Maybe she did not even exist. A throbbing vein in my neck almost exploded, that is how terrified I was. I had to get back home as soon as possible. Arthur did not need to know about this.
Suddenly the whirlwind stopped, and everything was peaceful again. I was standing in the living room. Dindrane was standing in front of me, holding a silver button with a white flashing light on one end.
“Y
ou definitely need to work more on your skills,” she said and gave me a disapproving glance before she wielded her button again and blue and white lighting strikes surrounded me.
CHAPTER 12
*
It felt so warm and snuggly. A thick, fluffy blanket was wrapped around my body, offering delightful warmth. The sound of a crackling fire woke me up and I reluctantly opened my eyes. I was in a dark bedroom.
“Where the hell am I?” I muttered shocked after I realized that I was not in Arthur’s home anymore.
The iron bed I was lying on, covered in etchings of large flowers, glowed in the light of a marble fireplace set against the opposite wall. A round table was placed in the middle of the room with a shiny iron candlestick on its surface. I raised my body and sat up on the soft mattress. It looked my own room.
“How did I end up here?” I asked loudly.
I stood up and carefully approached the heavily carved rectangular mirror that was next to the fireplace. Everything looked right on me. I picked up the iron candlestick from the table and explored the room under the candlelight. The emerald embossed wallpaper covering the walls gave a happy tone in the beautifully decorated pink and lime room. A green velvet curtain on the wall behind the bed caught my attention. I pulled the heavy fabric forcefully, and a quatrefoil window was revealed. It was dark and quiet. A shudder ran down my spine.
The flame of the candle flickered. I looked around for a light switch; it was beside the door. I approached the steeply pointed ogive door and took a deep breath. It looked like my room in the Academy, but it was not.
I should get out and explore. The heavy door opened with a scratching creaking that made me jump. I looked through the ajar door but there was no one in the dark hallway. A wrought iron lantern over the entrance to a stairwell gave off the only light. Walking on my toes, I headed to the staircase and began descending timidly. The dim light from the starry sky passing through the skylight above the stairs lit the shiny balustrade. The end of the staircase led to a hallway. I continued climbing down the stairs until I ended up in another hallway with an arched colorful stained-glass window between two ogive doors.
The Cursed Sword (Avallon Academy Book 1) Page 7