Shadows and Sorcery: A Collection of Urban Fantasy and Paranormal Romance Novels

by Adkins, Heather Marie

  W-What did I do to him?! Elora screamed inside of her head, hysteric and desperate. W-What did he mean by those words?! Don’t let him find where you are? Don’t fail us? Why did he want to kill me?! Why was he afraid of me failing him!? Failing in what?!

  Her confusion at this point held no bounds, as she looked around, trying to find a sense of comfort. Her thoughts immediately went towards Wizard and she looked at the make-shift bed that she had been given, the small little pile of her torn of jacket that she had been washed, it would seem, and put up the flying squirrel to sleep on. The only thing was Wizard wasn’t there.

  ‘W Wizard?!’ Looking around in a panic, she noticed that Wizard wasn’t even in the tent. Her fear rose up as she got up and stepped towards the door. She felt a wave of nausea hit her, but she wasn’t going to pass out now. She needed to find Wizard, she needed to see for herself if he was alright or not, and see for herself if Wizard was safe. Stepping out of the flaps, her eyes immediately went to the brown blur flying around the camp from tent to tent, its wings wide open as it flew around. His wing was healed, it would seem. The sight was enough to remove a ton heavy burden from her chest as Elora sighed and smiled in relief. Wizard, sensing Elora, flew up to her, and landed on her shoulder. “G Good to see you’re doing well.”

  And then Elora’s body reminded her of the fact that she was still very weak, and very, very dizzy. Her legs buckled and she started to sway towards the ground. Two arms caught her before she did, holding her properly. Her mouth suddenly dried up as she looked up at his eyes, his brown eyes, as Kieran caught her instantly.

  Kieran had walked over the instant he saw Elora. He knew she would be confused and wondering where she was, and Wizard was the reason why she had come out. But he was sure she would be very weak and wouldn’t be able to last much if she showed strength like that, and just in time too, as he had been barely able to catch her before she buckled under her weight. And even if the position was new for her, Kieran couldn’t help but look deep into Elora’s eyes. Her blue grey eyes, he now noticed.

  They aren’t brown, Kieran thought as he looked deep into her eyes. They look so brown, but that is not brown...that is the most beautiful eye color that I have ever seen.

  Elora finally opened her mouth once her bout of dizziness was over. Her cheeks flushed over healthily and she avoided his gaze, but managed to look at him shyly.

  “Th… Thank you.” She whispered, embarrassed at being seen as weak. Kieran saw this as the first sign of weakness, a sign that he himself would show in her situation. In fact, he wouldn’t even show that same weakness, ever. He would either give himself to the pain, or simply fight on till the very edge of his sanity before passing out. This was what strength was, and Kieran was confused as to why he felt so...strange around the strength of this young woman?

  “Anytime,” Kieran replied in the best way he could. He gave her his charming smile and said those words. Perhaps he had been too harsh on this young woman, and should have figured out that she was not a local and didn’t know anything about these lands. She looked so confused when he had met her, but still... “Are you sure you should move around? You should have eaten and drank some water first. You’ve been out for five days.”

  Five days?! Elora exclaimed inside of her head. I’ve been out for five days?! What happened to me?! Was I infected with some sort of a disease! I can’t have been out for five days!

  One simple attack in this strange world, and she had passed out for five days? What sort of a shock had it been for her?! What had happened for her to pass out so badly? She couldn’t even remember. As she finally stood up properly and looked around, she spotted Chaiya slowly coming towards them with a lot of provisions on her.

  Chaiya’s eyes widened as she spotted Elora. Faster than Elora believe the young woman could run, Chaiya was already upon Elora and once again Elora wondered what was up with the women of this world as the sister of Kieran hugged her, hard.

  “Oh thank the lords that you’re safe Elora.” Chaiya hugged the girl, hard. “You don’t know how much I was worried about you! I thought finally we’re going to have another woman in this camp and then you go ahead and end up sick!”

  Elora felt a bit guilty that she had made Chaiya worry so much, but mostly she was shocked. Was this girl...really so worried about her? Why were they all so caring towards her? Why was all this happening? And what was going on?

  “I think she should sit down first,” Kieran said, amused. “She’s just woken up from whatever had happened to her and needs some water and food first.”

  Chaiya nodded and quickly lead Elora back to the fire-site where some food was already kept for her. Elora surprised herself as to how fast she had eaten the bread and stew. She hungrily gulped down the entire ‘glass’ of water, she would presume that it was, kept for her and took a deep breath of relief. While her worry was still sky high, some food and water had been very, very helpful to her body.

  “I...think I need to take a bath,” Elora muttered softly as she smelt her own odor. She was smelling badly and likely so, if she had a fever for five days and had been unable to move. “Is there anywhere that I can take a bath?”

  “Yes there is,” Chaiya said with a gentle smile. She knew that Elora still was really confused about her own situation and needed to come to her own. She also needed to find out more from Elora. If what Elora had told was true, about the tapestry and how she got to this ‘world’, about how she was from another world, about how different she was, then it could be possible that Elora could be the girl from the legend.

  There had been a legend going for centuries amongst her family, amongst the feather grove, about a girl with strange powers and strange roots coming to help them turn the tide from against too with their dying kingdom. And Chaiya, at first didn’t want to believe in it. But looking at Elora now, she had to know if Elora was actually transported through the tapestry, that she was not lying, and that she was the girl of the legend.

  “I will take her to the place,” Chaiya said, looking at Kieran. “And I will go with her, in case we encounter someone else. Don’t follow us, or send anyone after us, but keep your ears and senses open if we need help.”

  Kieran nodded, and looked at Elora strangely once before he walked away back to her tent. Chaiya looked at Elora looking at Kieran’s back and look away. She tried to think of what had happened between the two, but stopped thinking much for now.

  “We’ll need to go a couple of miles inside of the forest.” Chaiya steadily helped Elora get up and get her clothes from her tent. “There is a small lake and a waterfall there, where the water is warm, I am sure you’ll enjoy it.”

  “At the moment, I don’t care about the water, I just need a place to clean myself up,” Elora said her voice still soft. She was really glad that Chaiya was coming with her, Elora didn’t know what she would do if she was alone. “But your help is appreciated, Chaiya.”

  Chaiya smiled and the two slowly walked down another path from the back of the camp to where Chaiya was leading her. Elora didn’t know anything about this world, but she was sure she could trust Chaiya, she looked to be a good woman.

  ‘But can I?’ There was a small traitorous voice inside of her head, a small part of her still afraid from the attack that whispered to her. Elora quickly shook her head and focused on the road and realized maybe she shouldn’t be dreaming into her own world so much, for what she had found was an actual and total beauty.

  “Wow...” Elora muttered in awe. The sight in front of her was impossibility in her world. It would be very hard to find a lake so clear, a river so clear and a waterfall so beautiful back on earth. She couldn’t believe as to how beautiful this place looked, she just couldn’t believe it! “I Is this real?!”

  “Yes, this is,” Chaiya said, slowly removing her own clothes. “Come, we are alone here, there is no one around.”

  Elora was still in awe of the sight, and was slowly removing her clothes, as if in no hurry, and Chaiya was s
urprised by the awe in her face.

  Is this the first time she’s looking something like this? Chaiya thought, looking at her female companion’s face. Is this the first time that she has seen a waterfall. What sort of a world is she from if there is no single piece of nature there? What sort of a world is it?

  Both of them slowly stripped down and stepped into the water. Elora gasped at the warm water, and sighed in content as she thoroughly soaked inside. She could literally feel her soul warming up and being better and better, and she could feel her body warming up under the pure essence of the lake that she was in. All of her stress and her worries died out as Elora took to just enjoying it.

  “You truly are enjoying yourself, aren’t you?” Looking at how content Elora looked, Chaiya hated to do this, but she had to know. She just had to know because otherwise things would be difficult. “Elora...I know that this is abrupt, and very, very strange, and that I shouldn’t be asking this right now, in such a content moment for you. But can you tell me why you are so shocked? What did you see in the tent?”

  Elora opened her eyes as the images came flashing back, the sight of A’Wout stabbing himself, and the sight of the blood. She shuddered involuntarily, but she managed to control herself.

  “He...was asking me if what I said about me coming here from a tapestry from a temple in another world was true or not,” Elora said, her throat suddenly dry and her voice a hallow croak of what it was. As she spoke, she could feel her heart ache with fear and sadness. “And then he tried to stab me, saying it was for the good. Wizard flew up to his face to blind him, and the mad strike that he was in changed paths. I managed to duck under it, but the knife instead stabbed him through the neck. Before he died, though, he said the strangest words that I had ever heard.”

  At this, Elora chocked on her voice, not wanting to talk, but she knew that Chaiya deserved to know the truth. Chaiya didn’t pressure her, she just rubbed Elora’s shoulders comfortingly.

  “He...told me not to let ‘him’ know,” Elora said her voice now completely hollow. “And told me not to fail them. I don’t know what he meant. Who is this ‘him’? And what is he afraid of me failing for? W-What is going on here?”

  Chaiya knew what this ‘him’ was. She knew exactly who it was, and the very thought of that man sent a chill down her spine and a growl up her throat. He was a vile, disgusting being that she couldn’t believe would go to such low levels to hurt his enemies.

  “Prince Italus of Claw Worth,” Chaiya whispered. Elora’s attention snapped to her. “Our sworn enemy and the enemy of Feather Grove.”

  “What does he want with me then?!” Elora exclaimed. She knew she was loud, but she didn’t want to get up going against a prince or something. “And why does he want me?!”

  “Well, that is a bit difficult to answer,” Chaiya finally said. “You see, you are not in your world. This land is known as Tariforma.”

  “Can’t say I have ever heard of it,” Elora muttered, confirming both of their suspicions. Elora really was from another world.

  “There are various kingdoms in this land,” Chaiya started to explain. “Claw Worth and Feather Grove are two of them. And the two of them have been enemies for quite a long time. Claw Worth is...led...by a Prince, called Prince Italus,” Chaiya said her voice now bitter. “He is a rude, selfish, nutty bastard.”

  Elora gasped at the words that Chaiya was using. She was sure that no matter where they went, a lady shouldn’t be using such words. A Lady instead swore only inside of her head and not outside to give a calm and a confident appearance. It was the man’s job to appear immature.

  “Yes, don’t mind my language, but he is. He is a cruel man that takes pleasure in making life hell for people, only so he can himself find sick pleasure by it. He takes pleasure in harming women, and taking advantage of them, because he has the money and the power to do so,” Chaiya said bitterly. “And he is truly stubborn. He only does what is going to benefit him so he can get more power, and more respect. But his respect is not earned. It is stolen. He is truly a demon of a man.”

  “And this was the person that A’Wout Phong was referring to?” Elora asked, surprisingly calm. Chaiya nodded and Elora sighed. “I don’t even know about it much. All I know is that one second ago I am falling towards the tapestry which is glowing, and then I woke up in a forest. Actually, I have a photo of the tapestry.”

  “A Photo? How did you get that?!” Chaiya asked, her voice high pitched. “Do you even know how difficult it is to find photos of things like that?! Do you even know what that is?”

  “Yes. I have my mobile phone back in my tent.” Slowly appearing excited. “And all my photos are stored on my cell so I can see them. I really want you to see this tapestry, let’s finish the bath quick!”

  Chaiya realized this might be a different photo, because she didn’t recognize anything that Elora had spoken of and quickly agreed, but she did want to see this image. If she could see the photo, she could find out if this was really the tapestry that she was thinking about.

  Elora and Chaiya were quick, after that, to get their bath finished with so they could quickly run back to the camp and get to the photos. In fact, Kieran was surprised when his sister and their new guest came rushing back to the camp, but Chaiya looked excited and Elora looked hopeful, so he didn’t exactly show any outward emotion, except for a single eyebrow raised in curiosity.

  “Chaiya?” Kieran asked. “What is going on?”

  “Wait, let her come back,” Chaiya said, her eyes wide and glinting. “I need to see this, there is something wrong here, something definitely wrong here.”

  Elora was rummaging around her bag, trying to search for her phone. She knew that this was where she had kept it after switching it off. She had literally no data and no connection, and limited battery. So she wasn’t going to waste the limited battery that she had. She had no reason to waste it, after all.

  ‘Here!’ Elora found the phone inside of her bag and quickly pulled it out, starting it up. She rushed out of the camp and straight towards where Chaiya was. Chaiya looked up at the small device in Elora’s hand and her mouth dropped open.

  “That little thing has an entire photo inside of it?” Chaiya asked, her eyes wide. She looked ready to actually throw the little device away. Kieran was looking at it with pure suspicion. A photo was not that small, definitely, definitely not that small.

  “What is that witchcraft?!” Kieran almost shouted, his hands shooting towards his sword. “And how do you have it?! Are you a witch?!”

  “No, it is called a cell phone, a way to communicate with someone from one place to another anywhere in the world provided you have one of these with you,” Elora said, quickly opening up the file that had the photo of the tapestry on it. “Here, this is the tapestry.”

  Kieran and Chaiya both gathered over to look at the tapestry. Kieran swore and Elora gasped as she looked at the intricate details. The drawings, the queen, the battles, the Pegasus, all of it was like how Elora had described, and all that they knew the tapestry was supposed to be like. It was a photo, an exact copy of what it looked like.

  “T-this is...” Chaiya stuttered, looking at the photo, and back at Elora. She gulped and looked strangely at the small thing that she had. “Does everyone have this now?”

  “Back in my world, yes.” Elora nodded, looking really excited. She looked at Chaiya and Kieran, both of whom had their problems and their trouble believing it. “I’ll show you how to take a photo, see.”

  As Kieran and Chaiya were sitting close together, Elora quickly took their photo and showed it to both the siblings.

  “See, I told you, photographs inside of my cell phone,” Elora said, cheering up and quite sure of herself.

  “Wow,” Chaiya said, looking at the photos. “I wonder how will your ancestors be like, will they even accept you?”

  “They always would,” Elora said, looking at Kieran and sighing. “You see, my ancestors, or my family, doesn’t look down upon
someone because of their gender. In fact, no one looks down upon females. We have the same position on the ladder as men do. And we have all the responsibilities that men do, and have all the responsibilities for me. There is nothing wrong with having your own sense and opinion with your result.”

  As Elora spoke more and more of her world, Kieran and Chaiya grew more fascinated with it.

  A World where females have equal footing with men? Chaiya thought, completely floored. ‘Is that a dream? Like really? Where we can love without being questioned and without being stopped, where all the responsibilities are yours, and you wouldn’t be scrutinized. I can’t believe this! Wow!

  “Listen, I told you that I was from another world and now that you believe in me, I will have to ask you to help me,” Elora said quickly, pleadingly looking at Kieran and Chaiya. “I cannot stay here, if I live in your world any-longer, I fear that I will bring some more danger to this world?”

  “You will have all the help you will need from us, Elora James,” Kieran said instantly. “It is our job thanking those that protect one of our own.”

  “When we welcomed you back into our camp, I meant we welcomed you to our family. And we can only let you go once we are sure of where you wish to go.” Chaiya ribbed Elora’s shoulders again. A flood of relief hit Elora, as her eyes teared up slightly. “So we will help you with all of our power.”

  Elora smiled brightly, thanking all the gods that were above for giving her such ‘friends’. She gulped down her feeling and looked at Wizard and sighed, shaking her head. Before all that, though, she had to set him free. She walked towards Wizard, and quickly picked him up in her hands.

  “You were such a good boy, Wizard,” Elora softly said to the little Flying squirrel. “Such a good boy. I believe in you, you survived and saved my life, and you can be whatever you want to. Go now, and be free, you are healed.”