Chapter Ten
1376 Words
THE NEXT thing I knew we were in another part of the forest. About us stood a cluster of trees, tall and with huge moss-veiled trunks. There was a stream flowing noisily down from the tree-clad slopes that climbed back towards a green hill on our left. Here, we rested. And grieved. I wept while Kyra lay silently on her side, her eyes cast upon the white hurrying waters.
Soon the sun began sinking behind the westward mountains. The light was fading fast and the evening wind blew across the woods to meet us. It was only then that we eventually regained our full strength.
The witch then sat up and looked at me. “Alison, I’m sorry I couldn’t save Sirius,” she said softly, her voice filled with regret. “He was too far for me to connect. And I misjudged him. He truly had a deep crush on you, so much so that he couldn’t bear to see you get hurt. What he did back there was a courageous act. A little rash perhaps, but courageous nevertheless.”
I nodded and forced a smile. I felt tears welling up again from somewhere deep within when Sirius’s name was mentioned and I walked away from the witch before she could see them. I didn’t want her pity anymore. As far as I was concerned, the grieving was over and I had to move on. Wiping my wet cheeks with the back of my hand, I turned around and asked, “Where is this place? How did we get here?”
“We’re at the furthest end of Dead Man’s Waterfall,” replied the witch. “Ng Chan Villa is about five kilometers south of here. I could only teleport us this far as I was greatly weakened by Drakev’s assault.” She then pointed to the hill. “That’s where the mansion is located. Come, take my hand again. This time I’ll send us there.”
But I hesitated. “Can we go by foot instead? I felt like throwing up when you whisked me here just now.”
“Your dread for this form of travel reminds me of my husband,” Kyra chuckled. “He didn’t like it the first time too.”
“You have a husband?” I asked, curious. “Who is he?”
“Spencer Wang.”
I shrugged. “Somehow I knew you were going to say that.” Then a pause. “He’s dead, isn’t he?”
Kyra furrowed her eyebrows and looked at me as a teacher would at a student with the wrong answer. “No, he’s very much alive and well,” she said, her voice loud and clear as if she didn’t want me to mishear her. “And I need you to save him.”
I was flabbergasted. “Why me?”
“Because you are the Chosen One.”
“You know, this Chosen One stuff reminds me of Sirius calling himself the Special One,” I mused. “It was a joke, of course.”
“I can ensure you this is not,” she retorted, frowning down on me.
“Yeah, I reckon so too, sorry,” I apologized. At the same time I thought, sheesh, is she always this serious? I like her better when she was Old Al – he was more fun. Another pause. “Your husband … what is he like? Is he a sorcerer too? Where actually is he now? Brief me about him if you don’t mind. I’d like to know more about the man I’m going to save.”
“I don’t believe this! I’ve already told you everything yesterday …” she said impatiently then stopped when she saw my dumb look. Her frown was replaced by a smile. “Oh, guess it’s my turn now to say sorry to you. I forgot about your memory loss.”
Following that, she rested her derriere on one of the flat-topped rocks while I squatted beside her.
“No, my husband is not a sorcerer,” she began. “He is human and, just like you, an orphan. A wealthy businessman living in Shanghai during the warlord era, our paths crossed when, under the disguise of a governess, I came to the city to see the sights. I will not bore you with all the intricacies of our love affair that followed. Instead I will come to the point in time when we were married. With his many riches, he could afford to retire and together with me, lived like princes, travelling around the world. Eventually we arrived in Malaysia, or Malaya as it was known then.”
I raised my hand. “May I interrupt you for a moment? I came across an article about your husband’s ageless appearance. How did he manage to do that? I reckon he got some help from you?”
“Yes, my magick keeps him young.”
“I knew it! I knew it!” I said, throwing a fist pump.
Kyra, however, paid no attention to my celebratory gesture and continued with her narration. “Spencer loved Malaya so we decided to settle down and he built Ng Chan Villa. Our aristocratic and high living, however, were brought to an abrupt end on a cold, dark night in late October 1962 when Drakev came calling. I was totally caught by surprise; I never expected myself to be on his list, always having a it-will-never-happen-to-me attitude. He struck me with a lightning blast, knocking me unconscious. He didn’t want to kill me, not yet anyway, as he is a fan of the macabre; he gets a kick of watching people suffer in agony.
When I woke up, I saw the mansion was on fire, and Spencer pinned to the wall at the far end corner, his life about to be forfeited by Drakev. I also noticed they were near to the mirror. Seeing no other option, I commandeered it to take in Spencer and disappear together before I mustered all my strength to teleport myself out of Drakev’s clutches.”
My eyes lit up. “Ah, finally … the mirror,” I said. “I was wondering when you’re going to come to that. Oh please amaze me further, what else does the mirror do apart from what you’ve just mentioned? My, my, you guys have such wonderful toys!”
“Madeline is not a toy,” she said, her tone expressing disapproval.
“You gave your mirror a name?”
Kyra nodded. “And she is like a friend to me. During my lonely moments, she would change into a human-like figure and keep me company. She is also the gateway to many worlds.”
“Wow, a magic mirror. Awesome!”
“Yes she is, but alas, Drakev had her and Spencer imprisoned since that night when he created an invisible energy shield around the mansion,” Kyra said sadly. “Except for Drakev, nobody else can get out or in.” She paused. When she spoke again, her voice was choked with emotion. “Alison, my most cherished wish of seeing my husband again lies with you now. Only you can enter the Villa and retrieve the mirror because you are the Chosen One.”
“But how am I going to find Madeline? You said she had vanished from sight.”
“Don’t worry. Madeline will appear before your eyes when she sees you.”
“She knows me? How come?”
“Because you are …”
“Because I am the Chosen One,” I cut in, then sighed. “Geez, how I wish this were the Toto Jackpot.”
A faint sound of a twig snapping nearby alerted us that someone was closing in. We quickly got up, and under the moonlight, we saw a dark figure emerging from the trees.
It was Sirius!
- Writer
