The Sorceress: Blossoming Power

Waking up from being knocked out, Lifen was bewildered to find herself lying on a soft bed, not the usual hard bed made of feather loaded bedspread and a single bolster filled with raw cotton that she was used to, but the type that her body sunk down, with bed coverings so smooth to her skin, and would, no doubt, transport her back to dream land if not of the putrid smell of bird feces invading her nostrils all the way to her sinuses, giving her a headache.

Alarmed, she sat up, looked down, and relieved, seeing she was still in her robe. She knew it was hers with the crudely hand-sewn phoenix design that her late husband bluntly described as a wet chicken with sagging long red feathers.

Then she held her breath while trying to sense her intimate parts and breathed out. "Whew! Good! No one touched me. So what could be their purpose for bringing me here?"

A hand reached into her hair and touched the partly wet poop on her slightly damp hair. Disgusted, she gazed at the gooey, foul-smelling substance on her fingers. This substance annoyed her to the point she wished to beat her kidnapper black and blue to vent her annoyance and frustration for the humiliation she got in front of the guards and her clansmen, mostly for kidnapping her in the middle of her bath.

Curious of her location and wishing to continue her bath, she swept her gaze on the room and only found a door. There were no windows or any other passageway, nor any furniture present than the bed. She peeped in the space between the two wooden carved doors but saw only a wall beyond.

Lifen tried pushing the door, but it wouldn't budge. She placed her palms on the walls, feeling every space, but only found concrete walls.

"Fine. I think I need to meet these people."

By knowing what she was capable of, she had no qualms and remained calm, though she was ashamed for being taken away that easily. But only felt a slight regret. She gave herself a leeway for being impetuous, sometimes. For her, as long as they didn't tie her on a stake to be burned, or chain her under the ocean to drown to death, she was optimistic that she could escape.

Uncomfortable with her stinky disposition, she sat down, relaxed, with a palm propping her chin, elbow resting on her folded knee, and called out with a voice full of authority, like a queen calling out for her servants. "Guards?" 

No one came. Again, "Guards?" Louder this time. 

As an answer to her call, the door opened on its own. A man with flamy-red hair with a few strands of gray, clad in a white robe, hands on back, entered the door.

Lifen gave him a once over and was impressed. She surmised he was in his early fifties, but still had that youthful charm in him. His graceful and confident gait told her he was nothing but a man of authority. 

"You have awakened," he said with a charming smile, like a husband greeting his beloved after a flaming honeymoon night.

"Yes, indeed. I have awakened. Isn't that great?" She said, free of tension, like she was talking to someone she knew for years, smiling with her white teeth shown, in the same sitting position with the folded leg swaying without care ‒ like she was not a prisoner at all.

"Now that you've seen me awakened, how about giving me a full home-service bathtub brim with warm water? Don't forget to include a nice-smelling soap to clean my hair. And, of course, include a nice dress as well. You don't want me staying here with nothing on it, right? That would be a disaster to all men, you know?" She winked. "Or do I need to go out and look for a pool or a stream to bathe myself?"

The man chuckled, amused by her calmness and eloquence.

He gave Lifen an impression that he was not someone easy for her to handle. She believed he could be somebody in charge or someone trusted by the leader to look after her, or... could be the leader of her abductors. She hadn't seen this man before. But his red hair spoke that he was from Bernavoles Vados, and could be one of the foreign merchants. 

Whoever and whatever he was, she would stick to the role she projected right now and find out where she was and seize a chance to escape.

"Oh, so, you find me amusing." She clucked her tongue and shook her head. "Is it really that amusing to find a woman in my disposition?" Lifting dirty strands of hair, "Gosh, I can't believe men no longer hold women in high regard." She got up and went closer to the man, standing on her toes. "Sir, I will be glad to amuse you after a refreshing bath." She said with a soft and alluring voice beside his ear.

The man tilted his head up, laughed out loud, and looked down straight into her almond eyes. "Are you not intimidated? I heard you're a good fighter. Don't you want to attack me so you can escape?"

She turned her back on him, sauntered with h.i.p.s swinging, sat at the edge of the azure covered bed, and back in her previous posture. "Escape? Attack?" Her brows rose. "I would love to but I'm no fool. How about we talk and tell me why you abducted the governor of this city. I will hear your plea and find a solution to your problem as long as it is not against my moral principles."

The man cracked up. "You really live up to your reputation, governor. I look forward to talking with you later." He clapped thrice and women came in bringing a large tub for a person, clothes, and other amenities and lady accessories laid on golden trays. Men followed with buckets of water and poured in the tub.

The man left her under the women's care. 

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Outside, his countenance went sullen and marched to a long hallway until he reached an enclosure, a deadend, but he didn't stop there. He went straight through it like such a barrier wasn't there at all. He appeared somewhere in a tent. Looking from within the tent's view, no one could decipher such a gateway existed. 

There, a group of men waited. Lifen's kidnapper and the five remaining men in black knelt in between two standing armed knights in full gear. More men who looked like entrepreneurs and dignitaries surrounded them.

"Who told you to attack the governor's clan and kidnap her?" The man who came in from the tent's wall said. "Are my words have no worth here? Do you still respect me as your prince? Or you have sprouted wings and wished to rebel."

"It's my fault, my prince. My brothers are innocent," said the man with a hat, head bowing.

"Galdriel, would you mind explaining this fault?"

"I am not rebelling, your highness, but we can't go on like this. We need to bring the stones as soon as possible. You know that."

"Of course, I know, but do you think... with what you're doing you can save our necks from being revealed? You know the consequences if our existence is known. And, how are you going to explain the deaths of your clansmen to your elders?"

"There are other caves to extract stones. Why here?" The man kneeling beside Galdriel said in vehemence.

"Shut up!" Galdriel shouted at that man and faced the prince with reverence. "I'm the one responsible, sire. Let them go. I will face the punishment, even death, if you see fit. But I'm only doing this for our sake and not for any other reasons."

The prince didn't mind Galdriel, but bent down at the other person. "Why not here, Faltheth? You know the answer, don't you?"

Faltheth didn't reply, but looked away for a time and faced the prince again. "We can ask the locals in every country. For sure the people know where they are."

"If asking was that easy, then why can't we find the caves here? Was that your brother's job?" The prince turned to a person standing at the side. "Tell him, Dheries. Why can't you find it?" 

"We can search it on our own. We will find it without showing ourselves." Faltheth said before Dheries could speak.

"Are you a fool or what? Then why can't you sense those caves, Falteth? Please, do educate me. It seems I lack knowledge and in need of your godly instructions." The prince said, pacing in front of them, fists clenched. 

Sensing the prince's anger, Faltheth looked down, pondering. After a time, he answered, faltering. "I... don't know, sire. Forgive me."

"Oh, my goodness. Who sent you here? Why didn't you know this?" He raised his arms in exasperation and shifted at Dheries again. The latter avoided the prince's deep-blue eyes gazing stiffly at him. "What? So you don't know either?" Then to the kneeling Galdriel. "Including you?"

Galdriel didn't reply, staring down at the brown embroidered carpet.

"Galdriel?" The prince lashed. A leg raised but held it and put it down. He hurriedly examined each face in the tent. "Does anyone know here the reason beside myself?"

"We know, your highness." Dheries said, stuttering. 

"You know? Then tell this brother of yours why. Speak!" He yelled the last word, fuming this time.

"The… previous Chief Guardian hid those places from our radar. And… and the last excavators were wiped out by her, and... and so was the vein's map. That… that's why we can't easily find the caves." Dheries' palms went cold. His back drenched with sweat.

"Yes. That's right. The woman hid them well so we can't see them, even if it's in front of our noses. So cunning. I give it to her. To become a world's Chief Guardian is indeed something. The Great King chose them well. He is really a genius. If not for the last leader's diary, we wouldn't be able to find the stones and this place." The prince said and sat on a wide bench. 

He sighed, palms resting on his knees, and looked up. "Even if we have the map, we are not that strong to win against all the spirit guardians. Don't you forget that our powers are limited here. We could have reigned on this planet a long time ago if we could." With a booming voice he added, "Now, you carelessly displayed yourselves to the new Chief Guardian. Have you seen that light days ago? She will soon sense our presence and stop us, same as the one before her. Damn you, people. Why did the king send me these ignorantes?"

"We'll just hope her powers are not at its fullest yet. We might stand a chance." He finished his speech with a heavy sigh.

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