Summoned

by Lisa E Parry

  “I see you want it. It appears to want you too.” The old woman pulled me out of a kind of trance. I placed it back down on the table.

  “I can’t afford it. I have no money.”

  “You are a witch, aren’t you?” she said sweetly. “If you can heal an ailment of mine then you can have it.”

  I bit my lip with apprehension. It would be nice to take a souvenir back with me and I had complete faith that Nick would find a way back to our world… “Err, what is the problem?” If it was something small then I would manage. I was nowhere near as good as Viola, but it was all I had to bargain with. I really wanted the charm.

  “Come round here, my dear.” I looked around and stood behind the stall with her. With closer scrutiny I saw what the problem was.“I can’t see through my left eye very well, I see almost nothing through it. Can you do anything?”

  Yes, I could: it was a cataract I could easily remove. “It might hurt.”

  “I don’t care. I’ll put up with a little discomfort to see again.”

  “Okay.” I looked around again and nodded. I pulled a little power in and then placed my hand on her shoulder. I threaded the magic through my hand and into her shoulder to creep up to her face. I closed my eyes and concentrated on the cataract. It was cloudy, and I slowly trickled a little power to it to burn it off. I felt the woman tense and then whimper slightly. It was a very delicate job. I drew away when it was done. Something felt unusual. Something tugged at me and I took a studious step back.

  I watched her open her eye and look around, then she began to cry. Shit.

  “Oh no, is it still there? Did I do something wrong?”

  “No, I can see now. Thank you.” She hurried over to her table and pressed the little charm into my hand as though she didn’t care about it at all. “I can’t thank you enough.” Was that sarcasm I heard in her voice? What?!

  “Melissa!” Oliver shouted. “What are you doing?”

  I jumped. The old woman didn’t seem to see my ghostly friend. “Um, thank you. I’ll be going now.” I hurried away from her and Oliver followed. I picked up my skirts and made for an empty alleyway so I could talk to him unnoticed.

  “You aren’t supposed to be drawing attention to yourself! Why did you just run off like that? What were you thinking?” he looked incensed.

  “I wasn’t thinking, alright!” I almost yelled, regardless of people glancing my way. I cursed, knowing it would look like I was talking to myself. I pressed my back against the wall. “I wanted to get out of there. I couldn’t face all that again.” I needed to cool off.

  Oliver’s harsh expression faltered. “You can talk to me, you know that. Just ignore Grandpa, I’ve made sure he won’t do that again.” I raised an eyebrow at that. “Okay, so maybe he said he won’t need to, but I made my opinion abundantly clear,” he added proudly.

  He won a smile from me. The thought of him defending my honour was cute. I took out the charm I had earned and turned it over in my hands.

  “What’s that?” Oliver asked and stepped forwards for a closer look. I shoved it into a pocket in my thick brown dress under my cloak.

  “It’s what that woman gave me for healing her eye.” I looked back for the woman, but she wasn’t there. Alarm struck when I noticed her stall wasn’t there either. I looked frantically around but she was nowhere to be seen.

  “She’s gone!” I strangled out.

  “Impossible, she couldn’t have shut up shop that quick.” Oliver suspiciously added and looked around as well. “Something’s wrong…”

  “Get Warwick, I’ll stay here.” My heart began to pound in my chest and that’s when I saw her. She was standing in the crowd watching me. Everyone walked by, occasionally obscuring her from view, and that’s when fear kicked in. Someone walked in front of her and then I saw she stood up straight. Another few people walked by to hide my view but when they cleared I saw her hair hung to her waist in a shimmering blonde. Goosebumps spread over me when my next view revealed her black eyes and younger face. Never taking her eyes off me she gave me a wicked smile. Etheldreda. It was the woman from the King’s palace who was dying to fight me.

  What was that unusual feeling I’d felt after healing her. What had she done?

  I turned to run into the alley only for a dark figure to hit me over the head. The muddy floor came up to meet me in a blur.

  Chapter 8

  I felt the reverberations of magic before I heard it. Shaking my head out of a daze, I found I was on the cold wet floor. My head spun sickeningly and my hands sank into wet mud. With a shaking hand I tentatively touched my head to find my fingers came away thick with blood. My vision was splintering into shards of light and floating spots of dark. Only as it gradually cleared was I able to make some sluggish sense of the commotion going on around me.

  People were screaming in the main square and fleeing from the dark, dirty alley. I turned to see the back of Warwick as he battled a cloaked man with magic. His mystery assailant was hooded; his face hidden in darkness. Warwick shot fireballs from his palms with deadly accuracy, but the warlock had a shield up. It was fractured, and Warwick was maniacally working on it. With a heavy feeling of helplessness, I found myself unable to go to his aid. The throbbing in my head rendered me useless: I couldn’t concentrate; my brain felt too big for my skull. Watching the vampire bouncing off the walls to attack at different angles made me feel dizzy.

  He fell behind the warlock and pounced for his neck. He latched on but was soon thrown off by a spell the warlock had shouted with surprise and fright. His hood came down to reveal a stubbly bald head and a face of around forty years old. I noticed a star shape on his neck. Warwick hit the damp wall and slumped to the floor. However, the warlock hadn’t expected him to recover so quickly. The warlock staggered, obviously taken aback - clearly he hadn’t expected my rescuer to be a human-looking vampire.

  Everything was going dark, so I fought to stay conscious. I turned away from the now bloody battle to search the market for Etheldreda. Perhaps she was only causing a distraction so this guy could finish me off. Where is she?

  Drawn back to the battle I wondered why Warwick had no knives on him. Where was his sword? As I scrambled to sit upright I found his discarded sword on the floor - the handle glowing red. He must have tried to use it, but the warlock had made it impossible to hold onto with burning heat.

  My dagger! Heart thudding in my chest, I waited for an opening to yell at Warwick. At that moment, and to my horror, I saw he was hit by electricity, which travelled all over his body in blue fizzing rings. The warlock stood over him to check he was dead. I knew he wasn’t and he’d suffered worse than that.

  “Warwick, heads up!” I slid the dagger out of its rags at my leg and threw it in his direction. The warlock rounded on me, but it was all Warwick needed. He jumped up and expertly caught it mid-flight by the handle. The warlock had barely spun back before his throat was sliced open and blood spurted crimson all over the walls.

  I turned away and put a hand to my mouth trying not to throw up, and then Warwick was crouching in front of me, steaming. The parts of his face that had been melted by intense heat healed before my eyes. I watched with revulsion as he became recognisable again. My stomach lurched and to my dismay I emptied the contents of it.

  “Are you okay?” he asked and brushed my hair out of my face.

  “I would be lying if I said I was.” He nodded in understanding and pulled me to him. I clung to his clothes trying to get my bearings. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have left the tavern. I’m so sorry.” I blubbered into his cloak. “This is all my fault.”

  “It’s okay. He’s dead, no harm done, la mia maga,” he soothed. I had no idea how he finished that sentence but the Italian - a foreign language, but from my world - comforted me. My world… I wanted to cry out for my home - a home I’d almost had with Dorian.

  We broke apart when we heard a disturbing gurgle from the body. Warwick helped me stand on wobbly legs and I leaned on him as w
e witnessed something truly ugly. The body had turned a grotesque sage green and was now rapidly turning black. Starting from the throat, Warwick’s assailant was being rendered down to ash.

  “What the…?” Warwick questioned then took out the dagger I had thrown to his aid. “No. Surely you did not bring this abomination with you?!” Disbelief written on his face, he threw it, blade down, into the dirt. “If you accidently cut yourself, look at what would’ve happened to you. Even we couldn’t stop that.”

  “I know, I know. Jeez, I didn’t know it would do that!” I looked helplessly at him. What was I supposed to say? “It was just there as a last resort.” It was a déjà vu moment: I’d had the very same conversation with Dorian.

  Oliver appeared - a welcome distraction from my friend’s disapproval. “Thank God you’re okay,” he burst out. Of course, he’d been the one to alert Warwick. I looked past him to the crowd. They were beginning to get curious and squint down the alley.

  “Time to go,” Warwick urged and grabbed my wrist. He took me deeper into the alley, Oliver one step behind us. I heard him make a gross sound when he passed the body-shaped pile of ash.

  “Where are we going?”

  “We are taking to the rooftops.”

  “No, I can’t make it.” My legs gave way and I fell to my knees. Suddenly I was very aware of a crippling migraine.

  “Warwick, her head!” Oliver exclaimed. I felt cold hands part the hair on my head. A string of Italian words I assumed were curses were followed by a growl above me. I looked up to find Warwick had turned away and was rubbing his face with his hand. Okay, this may be a problem if he hasn’t fed yet.

  “Have you…?”

  “Not yet.” I heard a rumble deep in his throat. I crouched and edged backwards slightly. He looked back at the body reduced to ash. No, he couldn’t feed off that and I doubted the tiny bite he had managed in the fight would be enough. If anything, it would have ignited his thirst…

  “I’ll get someone else to help,” Oliver offered carefully.

  “No! I’ll manage!” he ground out, but I saw his fangs and I rarely saw his fangs. My heart began to beat a little faster. With lightening speed he threw me over his shoulder, propelled us up a ladder and jumped onto the roof of a low building. He ran as fast as he could, and every jump jarred my body excruciatingly.

  We made it to The Dragons Claw, but he took me into the stables and laid me down gently on a bale of hay.

  “I’m sorry for bleeding,” I apologised.

  Warwick burst out laughing. “Bloody hell, you can’t help that!” He turned more serious. “I’m in control.” He began cracking his knuckles so I wasn’t so sure.

  Oliver popped up beside me. “They are coming,” he said, and shortly afterwards Dayna, Owen and Adhelm rushed into the stables. On their appearance Warwick swiftly departed. I prayed he was out to get dinner. Owen steadied me whilst Dayna hovered her healing hands over the wound.

  “Good grief, Melissa. You would’ve needed stitches.”

  I bit my lip: a bit more severe than I had thought. “Etheldreda is here,” I said breathlessly to take my mind off the gash in my head.

  “You saw her?” Adhelm asked and I nodded confirmation.

  “She posed as an old woman…” I told them everything that had happened - even what happened to the body after Warwick had used the dagger.

  “Where is it now?”

  “I left it there,” I confessed miserably.

  Adhelm stood. “Will you take her to her room? She needs rest. I’ll find the others.”

  On opening grainy eyes, it was dark. The bed I was sprawled in was semi-comfortable and there were a few candles lit so I wouldn’t wake up to complete darkness. I stared at the flames for a moment and then gently poked the back of my head. My hair was tangled and curly. Dayna may have soaked a towel or something with water to clean the blood off. Damn it, it’s curly again.

  “Just like old times huh?” Oliver came out of the darkness and sat on the edge of the bed. He startled me, and I held back a curse, but I felt much better. My head wasn’t woozy and my vision was clear of spots. I did have a serious headache though.

  “Yeah, just.”

  There was a soft knock on the door. Oliver disappeared and reappeared in front of it. He jabbed a thumb over his shoulder. “It’s Dorian. When he’s gone, I’ll be back.” I smiled at his Arnold Schwarzenegger impression. What would I do without him?

  “Come in.” I sat up and tried to smooth down my hair a little. No good without bloody hair straighteners. When the door opened, light spilled in, momentarily illuminating the room, and I saw how small the space actually was. There was a window, I was relieved to see, and it was quite large.

  There was also another bed next to mine leaving just enough room for Dorian to walk between the two. He sat on the opposite bed. With the door shut it was dark but Dorian carried a candleholder with three more candles. He carefully placed a mug on the windowsill, and raked a hand through his hair. “I don’t even know where to begin.”

  I looked down at my hands. I had acted foolishly in leaving the tavern and had got into serious trouble. If it weren’t for Warwick I wouldn’t even be here. “I’m not leaving your side ever again.” He said thick with emotion. Obviously, I had put him through a lot of worry.

  “I’m sorry.” I looked everywhere but at him. I didn’t want to see the disappointment on his face. It would crush me. Instead he sat beside me and with a finger under my chin, he turned my face up to meet his eyes. Even in the dim flickering light I found comfort in those grey eyes. He pulled me into an embrace and held onto me as though I might disappear from his arms.

  “I don’t know what I would do if anything happened to you.”

  I took the covers off and sat on his lap. “I promise I won’t do anything stupid again.” I kissed the top of his head and ran my fingers through his hair. “I promise.” He gave me a doubtful glare. “What? I will try really hard.”

  “You’d better.” He replied with half a smile.

  There was a long pause. “Adhelm shouldn’t have done what he did. If he hadn’t searched through your memories, you wouldn’t have felt the need to flee.” I had no response to that. I had mixed feelings about what Adhelm had done. By doing it he had lost a sliver of my trust, leaving me sad and disappointed.

  Searching my memories? Of course: in touching my scar it had brought them to the front of my mind. They were there for the taking. I shook my head. I remembered asking my evil teacher at Henrik’s about the bracelets so Mikey could pick the information out of her head. He had told me to ask the question, so he could pluck the answer from the surface of her mind.

  “May I see the charm Etheldreda gave you?” he asked fiddling with my bracelet. I fished around in my pocket and placed it in his hand. I picked up a candle so he could get a better look at it. “It appears to be harmless.” He carefully attached it to my filigree bracelet. “We’ll have Adhelm take a look at it. He seems to think the whole cataract removal thing was so she could sense how powerful you are. She was measuring up her competition. Now she knows everything you are capable of.”

  “Shit. I did feel something weird when I did it.” I sighed.

  “Yeah. Don’t worry about it. She doesn’t know Viola and Warwick are also trained in battle magic, or what Warwick is. Are you okay now?”

  I nodded and touched the back of my head, “I’m fine.”

  He tapped my forehead. “Up here.” Then he stretched to pick up the mug. “Adhelm has ordered you to drink this for the headache he knew you would have.” I looked at it with disgust. “Down it.”

  “Ugh,” I gulped it down in one go - not wanting to drag out the experience. “I’ll be fine, I just need to take my mind off it.” In response to my thought Dorian’s hand drifted up from my back to my neck and he pulled me closer. Our lips met, and I realised how much I’d missed being close to him. Just as the kiss became more intense, another knock came at the door.

  I tor
e my mouth from his just long enough to whisper, “Screw them.” His arms encircled my waist and we fell to the mattress. There was another knock followed by a voice.

  “Are you awake?” Damn, it was Cheri. That put a dampener on the mood. Dorian gave my hips one last squeeze, picked me up and sat me on the other bed.

  “This isn’t over,” I said with a pout, but to my satisfaction he was having trouble masking his desire. I spoke up a little shakily, “Come in, Cheri.” It would be easier if I didn’t look at him.

  She had more candles with her to brighten the room a little better. “Hi Melissa, are you feeling better? Everything okay? Oh, I didn’t see you there, Dorian.” She took one look at him and I think she realised she had interrupted something. “I just wanted to let you know that we are ordering food. Can you be downstairs in about twenty minutes?”

  “Okay, no probs.” I chanced a glance at Dorian. Yup, he was still watching me and looking ready to pounce. Cheri arched an eyebrow, “Come down separately.” Finally, she left and we collided again.

  Twenty minutes later I descended the staircase. It was difficult to keep a goofy smile off my face, but I managed it - I had to. Bloody Witch - Warrior code. The place was jam-packed, and the crowd was a little rowdy - too noisy for my lingering headache. Then to my disappointment I found the only available spot left to sit was between Stephanie and Cheri. My mood plummeted, I grudgingly sat down.

  Viola, opposite me, gave me sympathetic smile. She leaned forwards, “Are you okay?” Those huge violet eyes looked concerned, but I also saw they were haunted. The wall between her and her powers must have been troubling her immensely for it to start showing on her face.

  “I’m fine thanks.” Everyone ceased their private conversations and turned to me. I assured them I felt recovered with the help of Adhelm’s fine concoction - to stretch the truth. I wasn’t referring to my mental state though. Stephanie took up her conversation again with the King. I listened in of course.