My Sorcerer

Chapter 6

Before she got too far, she felt a hand wrap around her wrist. “Wait!” Pierceton said quickly.

“What?!” she yelled at him while ripping her wrist from his grasp.

“Of course, you don’t think this is a dream,” he said while rolling his eyes. “You asked for something realistic. Think of something unrealistic,” he nearly demanded.

She glared at him disapprovingly. “I don’t like your tone,” she growled at him.

“Just do it. If you still don’t believe me, I will let it go, and you’ll never have to see me again,” he promised.

She sighed. “Fine,” she agreed. Closing her eyes, she thought of something unrealistic: a pegasus. When she opened her eyes, no pegasus greeted her. “There you see, I thought of a pegasus, but there isn’t one here. This is not a dream.”

“Look behind you,” he said with a triumphant smirk.

Glancing behind her, she saw a pegasus where Fang had been. Shocked, she stared, unsure of what to say or do now. “Now what?” she grumbled, unhappy about being proven wrong.

He had a gleam in his eye before he spoke. “Let me take you out of the dream.”

“How do you do that?”

“Just relax and let go. I will take care of the rest,” he instructed, as though it were a great, clear, and understandable explanation.

She stared at him, confused and unmoving. “Okay, just sit down with me.” She slowly followed his instructions and took a seat, with him sitting down in front of her. “Now give me your hands.” She hesitantly reached out her hands, and he took them. Electricity shocked through her hands. She began to pull away. “It’s okay,” he said, trying to reassure her. Her heart clenched, and tears threatened. The last one to hold her hands like this had been her ex.

“Now close your eyes and clear your mind,” he said calmly, soothing her and bringing her back to the present, away from her memories. “Focus on my voice.” She did as he asked. Slowly, the world felt like it was fading around her, but not in a way that caused her to fear. She sat like this for a few moments before she decided to open her eyes. She held back a gasp as she looked around to see wispy white clouds surrounding them and the orange, yellow light of the sun slipping through them. She gazed around in amazement, confused as to what was happening. “Close your eyes,” he repeated his previous instruction. Begrudgingly, she did as he said and closed her eyes again. “Focus on me.” She sighed. He was so bossy, and she was not enjoying it.

It was his turn to sigh in frustration. “Look, if you don’t focus, I can’t focus on getting you out of your dream world and back to reality. You need to trust me,” he implored her.

“Okay,” she mumbled and worked hard to clear her thoughts and focus on him. Focus on the strong hands holding hers. Focus on his steady breathing. Focus on the small sparks she felt passing between them. Seconds felt like minutes, and minutes felt like hours passing her by. “Open your eyes, Cora, you are back in reality,” he called her back to him.

She did as he had instructed and opened her eyes. He sat in a chair next to her bed, holding one of her hands. She peered around the room, trying to remember how she had gotten there before she felt pressure on her legs moving up to her stomach. She looked down to see Fang lying on her, with a big smile. Once Fang saw her looking, she launched herself at Cora’s face and started licking her happily. Cora tried to move out of the way of her licking, but it was futile; by the time she did stop, Cora felt drenched. Pierceton had not let go of her hand. Instead, he had held on, and when he saw Fang had stopped, he made a towel appear above her face. She grabbed it with her free hand and wiped herself off.

“Thank you,” she whispered. Starting to realize he was still holding her hand and that she had her own grip on his hand. She felt the same electricity between their touch that she had felt when she had touched him in the dream. She shook the curiosity from her mind. It probably just had something to do with him being a sorcerer. He was magical after all, and she had always pictured magic as having some electricity to it.

Quickly, she wiped her face and then slid her hand out of his. As she did, there was a distinct feeling of emptiness left behind, promptly followed by the desire to grab hold of his hand once more. “What is wrong with me?” she thought. Pulling her gaze away from her hand, up to his face, she saw he looked a bit sad as well, but once his eyes met hers, he brightened his expression. “How are you feeling?” he asked, breaking the silence that was becoming awkward.

“I bit better. Sleep, food, and water really made all the difference.” She smiled over at him. Flashes of her dream, playing in her mind. How she had bumped into him at school, his kindness. How he had brought her the wallet, his thoughtfulness, the sparks. How he had been at the forest edge trying to save her, his magical brilliance. Her mind was whirling. What am I thinking?! He’s a sorcerer, I don’t even belong in his world… or do I?” Her mind flashed back to the conversation her parents, fake parents, had been having with that mysterious man. He had said they were too near wolf territory. “What did that even mean? Were they somehow talking about werewolves? Am I one of them?” she pondered.

She had been so completely consumed by her thoughts that she hadn’t heard Pierceton begin to speak to her. A hand grasped her shoulder, getting her attention, “Cora? Are you alright?” his expression filled with worry.

“Yes, sorry. I was caught in thought.” She blushed, embarrassed that she had worried him and had not been listening to him. “What were you saying?”

“While you were asleep, the hunters came here. I am sorry. I was so intrigued by your arrival, I had forgotten to disperse your scent and tracks outside.” She stiffened at his words. “Don’t worry,” he said, rubbing his thumb on her shoulder, where he still had his hand. Somehow, the action was very soothing. “I was able to deter them from here, at least for the time being. If they are smart, they will not return,” he reassured her.

“How did they not find me? I was here. It should have been easy for them to find me,” she panicked.

“Don’t worry. I am a great sorcerer,” he responded confidently, with a smirk across his lips. “It was child’s play really," he chuckled. “I simply shrouded you in the darkness that hides your presence. I also may have put the sleeping spell on you, but I didn’t want you to wake to their presence and panic, not knowing that they couldn’t see you,” he quickly explained.

She took in his words; he really was a good sorcerer, unlike the ones depicted on TV and in movies. “Thank you.”

“My pleasure. They had a wizard among them, and it is always so much fun to mess with them.” He shrugged, trying to appear as though it was nothing, but really, his expression gave it away. He had had fun and was maybe even hoping to do it again soon. “Yes, I almost forgot. I had overheard them talking about you. You had said that you don’t know why they are chasing you, correct?”

“I think I do now. Unless my dream was really all just a dream,” she said, looking nervously away from him.

He thought a moment before speaking. “It is possible that your mind replayed the events of that day, giving you a chance to listen and understand what was really happening. Tell me what you think is the reason. I believe I can help clarify it for you,” he spoke confidently.

She took a deep breath, gathering her thoughts while trying to convince herself that she wasn’t crazy for what she was about to say. “I think the people I thought were my parents actually kidn*pped me. They were afraid of something happening on my eighteenth birthday. They called it a change or something.” She scrunched up her face, trying to remember exactly what was said. “They also said something about wolfsbane and wolf territory. I thought they were talking about Fang at first, but it didn’t make sense. I think, I mean, I think they were saying that I am a… a…” her voice trailed off. She couldn’t bring herself to say it.

“A werewolf,” he finished. She appeared shocked and uncertain about what to say next, so he continued. “You may be unaware due to the wolfsbane in your system. If they have been giving it to you for a long time, it may take time for it to circulate out of your system,” he tried to explain in a way that would be understandable. “You also have not turned eighteen, correct?” She nodded in response. “Then you will not have felt your wolf or shifted yet.”

“Shift?” she asked, clearly confused.

He thought for a moment, trying to figure out if there was a more delicate way to explain everything to her. “Let’s start from the beginning. You were kidn*pped under the pretense that you were a werewolf. Females are actually referred to as she-wolves, but if your 18th birthday passes, and you don’t shift, then they may have simply taken the wrong child at the time.”

“But they needed to send proof of life once in a while, that’s what they said,” she informed him, hoping he would find a logical reason that she still could not be a she-wolf.

He looked sadly at her, as though he knew she was a she-wolf. He was pitying her. She hated that look. “Maybe the family they thought they stole you from was keeping up the façade that you were their child, while actually having their child with them.” He pondered this new idea, unconvinced.

“You don’t believe that,” she sighed. Tears threatened to spill; this was all too much for her. One day, she was a normal human girl, and the next, she could possibly be a she-wolf. She pushed herself into a seated position with her free hand. Pierceton moved with her, neither letting go of the other’s hand. “This can’t be happening,” she groaned as she drew her knees to her chest, finally letting herself cry. Finally believing she was really a she-wolf.

“Don’t cry,” he tried to soothe her. He brought his free hand up to her cheek and started brushing away her tears. Small electric sensations hit her with his every touch, but she was too upset to wonder what they could mean.

She was sobbing now, even with his futile attempt to calm her. “W..why… is this… happening… to… to me?” she hiccuped as she continued to cry.

“It’s not all bad,” he said, smiling at her. “You got to meet me after all.” He winked at her, making something stir inside her.

“But…” she began, but hiccupped mid-sentence.

“No buts, let's try looking on the bright side,” he encouraged her.

She took a few deep breaths, calming down before speaking again. “What’s the bright side?”

He smirked, smugly, before even speaking. “You get to see all the magic you want, and I’ll even take requests... a request.”

It did sound nice. Still, there was so much to take in. So much to understand and learn. “Thank you for trying to comfort me,” I whispered. My heart was beginning to feel so heavy that I could hardly breathe. Suddenly, she realized just how close he sat to her and how his hands were placed. It was all too intimate. She raised her hands to remove his from herself.

“My apologies,” he muttered as he shifted back a bit, allowing for my space to be between them.

“It's okay. You were just trying to comfort me.” The space was good. It really was. She was trying hard to convince herself that they shouldn't be so close. They hardly knew one another. But being close felt right. Electrifying and somehow calming. She felt less calm since they had made space between each other. It was confusing.

He suddenly stood, seeming embarrassed and confused as well. “It's getting late. We can discuss things further in the morning,” he muttered as he moved around the room, mumbling under his breath.

Every few moments, something would appear or change inside the house. The couch was set up like a bed. A second chair appeared at the table, and all the dishes that had not been a set suddenly were a set. It seemed he was preparing the house for two and a dog. Somehow, it warmed her heart and soothed her. She allowed her mind to wander and think about her situation. It was depressing, but somehow watching him create things with magic lightened her heart.