A Sorceress From the Future

Chapter Fifty Two

“Ummh Luke? I think something is happening over there…”

Luke’s eyes were bolted shut, he was savoring this moment, relishing the warmth he was receiving from another human being. It had been long since he had been embraced especially as a sign of comfort. Lawrence was providing him with a lot more than he could comprehend. It took him a while to notice that Lawrence was addressing him.

“What are-“

Lawrence swiftly detangled himself from Luke to point at something that was happening behind their back. Luke had completely forgotten their current predicament. They were in the woods, where magical creatures resided, they could be lurking anywhere. Alert now, Luke swirled around to view what Lawrence was talking about.

He froze.

“Are you seeing what I am seeing?”

Luke weakly bobbed his head. His body had numbed from shock. Were his eyes deceiving him? Perhaps the woods were enchanted. Yes, that was more probable. Luke refused to believe that he was seeing…

“Are you seeing Roselidah tackle what appears to be a giant tarantula?”

Once again, Luke faintly nodded.

“Are we going to just stand here?”

Luke was not sure he wanted to move. He had never seen anything like this. One would argue that he had lived a sheltered life. After all, hadn’t he encountered a beastly magical creature for the first time earlier? Luke could not help but think humans were doomed to lose in case a war occurred. The mere sight of these vile creatures could shock a man to death.

“Luke come on! Rose needs our help!”

Rose. Lawrence had referred to the witch by her name, a shortened version for that matter. For some reason, Luke did not enjoy Lawrence’s freedom with the witch’s name.

“Isn’t her name Roselidah?”

Lawrence, anxious and quailed, turned to regard Luke in utter awe. Was the witch’s name important at the moment? She was about to lose her life! The swords were next to the gigantic spider. Rose was struggling to get to them but this appeared to be an impossible task. And how could it not? She was in a battle with a creature that had eight legs! Lawrence was seriously considering escaping but if Rose died, how were they ever going to survive on their own much less achieve their goal?

“I don’t think her name matters right now. You need to come up with a plan…”

“Why do I need to come up with a plan? You come up with a plan!”

“Have you met me? When have you seen me come up with anything? You should be applauding me for still standing here when there is a giant spider aloof from us!”

Luke was fighting the growing panic in his bones. As much as he did not like magical creatures in general, the witch was of great value to their mission. She knew how to help Baric, they did not. Even if they did succeed in infiltrating the realm, his brother was on his death bed. They needed to locate the cure so as to save his life and restore peace.

Peace.

Luke scoffed in amazement. He was considering peace. For years he had dreamt of wiping magical creatures from existence. He had dreamt of giving the people of Chi their much-deserved freedom. He had longed for humanity to rule earth. Luke had sworn to avenge his mother’s death by killing every magical creature to ever exist. Now, he was considering peace. Did that make him a coward? A bad leader? But a lot had changed since he had left Chi. A witch had salvaged his life, his father had died, his brother might die.

Stephen had been a magical creature all along.

If Luke had learnt anything since he began his mission, is that life was not a straight line. Surprises have a way of altering one’s perceptions. Even with the availability of the vessel, humans would most likely lose the war. They might succeed in killing a lot of creatures but in the process, lives would be lost. All races would be wiped out, the earth annihilated. After losing his warriors, after losing Tony, after losing his father and Stephen; Luke was not ready to suffer any more losses. Yes, peace was something he was considering. He would rather have the people of Chi safe inside the walls than dead outside the perimeter.

“Would you snap out of it? She needs our help!”

“Then maybe she should ask for it!”

“Perhaps she still thinks we are hugging!”

Luke shot Lawrence a glare, Lawrence did not flinch. The prince averted his gaze to the losing witch. She was currently sprawled on the ground, her chest heaving and her neck craned. She was moaning, her leg had been injured. Luke shifted his eyes to scout for the swords. They were beside the gigantic spider who seemed to be recuperating from a blow delivered by the mage. Once again, the witch had taken a hit for them. Why? For the past hours Luke and Lawrence had been nothing but a liability. She would certainly be better off without them. In fact, Luke was willing to wager that the witch would have completed her mission a long time ago if it wasn’t for them.

“I have an idea. Distract the spider…”

“Me? No way! You distract it! It is your brilliant idea!”

“I never called it brilliant…”

Without warning, Luke launched a stone towards the vile, screeching creature and then shoved Lawrence forward. Luke proceeded to hide in the bushes and waited for the spider to come after Lawrence. As anticipated, the gigantic spider became irritated and very much aware of Lawrence’s presence.

“You are dead to me Luke!”

While the spider was distracted by Lawrence, Luke reemerged carefully from the bushes and made his way stealthily around Lawrence and the spider to the pile of swords. Before he could reach them, however, Luke stumbled, catching the spider’s attention. He would never be able to reach the swords in time.

“Luke, run!”

He couldn’t. His body refused to move, just like it had refused to move in the presence of the behemoth they had encountered. This time he would die, Rose was not physically able to save him.

He had called the mage by her name, the shortened version.

“What are you doing Luke, run!”

Luke closed his eyes and waited. Perhaps he was meant to join his parents in the world beyond. Perhaps he was destined to join all the men he had forced to come with him on this mission. Perhaps he was destined to die trying to save his brother.

Except he didn’t.

Luke fluttered his eyes open, blinking to focus his vision.

“How…how were you able to…to-“

The petite woman with intense green eyes was not able to complete her sentence. A vessel-draped sword was run through her by a disconcerted Lawrence. The two men watched as the petite woman fell on the ground. She began whimpering as the vessel gnawed on her flesh creating searing pain within her. The whimpers turned into screams as dark veins began making themselves visible throughout her body.

“I do not understand, where is the spider?”

“She is or at least was the spider…The moment she reached your vicinity she shifted into a human…It was the most peculiar thing I have ever seen…”

“But how? I mean there must be an explanation…Perhaps it’s the sword? The vessel?”

“No it’s not prince…It’s you, you barred Martha from accessing her powers…she could not maintain her form because she was in the presence of an anchor…”