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 flooded 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
