…She felt her gut organs leaking out and her hands immediately covered her stomach.
“Use your mana! Block the pain receptors. Stop the bleeding. Then mend the cut,” Master Edwards directed.
Jamie nodded while holding onto her leaking gut. She had already blocked her pain receptors upon feeling the initial stab, however, the incident happened too quickly; she was unprepared to heal and fainted. In the background, a woman said with dismay, “I cannot believe this.”
One day later...
Where am I?
Jamie woke up to the pounding raindrops in a strange room. She found herself surrounded by bamboo on all four sides, with a glass ceiling through which the cloudy sky looked down at her.
Oh, that’s right, the kid slashed my stomach open.
On her right, she heard the crisp crinkling sound of dry scrolls rubbing against each other. A handsome man was tending to some documents with a quill in hand. When he noticed her, he turned and offered a warm smile.
“You’re awake, thank goodness." He gently grabbed her hands.
Jamie’s eyes were never bigger. His hands are callus! He looks so princely that I just assumed they would be soft like a girl's hand. He's so warm and comforting. Stop it! Am I feeling this way because he's just so attractive, or is there more? she wondered. I get butterflies with Master Edwards too. They're so good-looking that I can't tell if it's a genuine connection or just biological urges.
General Ames laughed jovially at her surprised reaction, his eyes twinkling, while hers furrowed, lost in contemplation, searching for the meaning behind her intense emotions.
“You were in bed for a whole day, Edwards took it a bit too far this time.”
With her mind’s eye, she sensed he was injecting mana through her hands. The sensation differed from Lisaria’s healing magic. It was subtle, the flow of mana almost seamlessly integrating, as if it naturally belonged. A gentle boost in energy accompanied the experience. He withdrew his hands.
She touched her stomach, there was no sign at all that it was cut open. She looked back at him. He was observing her. “You could tell I infused some of my mana into you?” he asked.
Jamie couldn't help her eyes from looking surprised. Was I that obvious? she thought.
“Yes,” she said cautiously, unsure of where this would lead.
She observed as General Ames pressed a small green button in a line of colored-coded buttons on the side of his desk.
“That must be your mind’s eye. It would've taken a mage of genius stature to sense that." He grabbed his divinely shaped chin and then leaned back in his chair, lost in thought. She couldn't help but look at him; she was inexplicably drawn to him. The two stayed that way for a few minutes, both unaware that it stopped raining.
He let out a smirk and adjusted his chair to face her directly. “Things are about to get interesting. I cannot wait to see how you will perform during the contest. Have you adjusted well? Is Lisaria meeting your needs? How do you find Master Edwards’ training?”
Knock. Knock.
“Come in, Ms. Alice,” General Ames said and turned his attention back to Jamie. Ms. Alice, dressed in a modest linen ankle-length gown and a lavender-colored apron entered with a food tray table in hand. All the servants of the household had the same uniform.
The smell of smoked gouda, and roasted red pepper bisque accompanied by freshly baked pita bread quickly filled the room. Ms. Alice placed the wooden bed tray table on her bed, “Thank you,” Jamie said. Ms. Alice nodded. She looked over at General Ames. “I’m not hungry yet, thank you though,” he said.
She nodded and swiftly left without a sound.
“Umm. Things are good, I feel like I might die from the training before the contest though. But, I understand he’s doing this for my best interest. I’ve seen the footage.”
"Hahahah!" General Ames' eyes crinkled at the corners with amusement.
“Master Adams is a part of the Veinham family, which means he knows a thing or two about the human body. Especially ones from Pure Earth. That’s what we call where you’re from. You are in good hands, the best.”
He rotated his left hand to show her his left palm, “Pure Earth, the time before humans merged with the elves. Everyone in Mander is a descendant from Pure Earth, but you’re the only one actually from there. The only purebred human in Mander.”
He flipped his right hand, “and here in Mander, there are many districts, as you will find. We discover more and more every day, some with life forms and some without. It is an endless adventure, one that you can be a part of. So, I do hope you reconsider your mission to return home. I suspect even if you managed to return, it may not be what you imagined, but that is purely speculation.”
He folds his arms. “Mander is an amazing world to be a part of, especially if you’re a Veinham.”
She nodded to mask the fact that her mind was racing to make sense of what was just said. Before she could think any further, she found General Ames trying to feed her a spoonful of soup. She blushed. It felt too sexual to lean in and lick the spoon to get at the soup.
She tried to take the spoon from him. He noticed her shyness and smiled mischievously.
“Just one spoon, I want to see if you'll like it. It’s been my favorite since I was a child,” he said.
She gave in and leaned in to sip the soup from the spoon. Her lips were electrified as they unexpectedly met another pair of soft lips. Like tsunami waves, goosebumps shot through her body. She jolted back to an upright position, her fingertips instinctively touching her lips. Her face burned as if the sun were mere inches away.
She looked at him in shock but immediately withdrew her gaze, looking down at her hands. What do I do? This was too embarrassing.
General Ames found he enjoyed teasing her. He cheekily smiled, “Oh no, I might have a new favorite now.”
Her heart pounded like Zeus' thunderous bolts slamming down to Earth from the heavens. She tried to control her breathing. Can he hear my heartbeats? she wondered.
The door swung open, and Benny and Henry strolled into the room.
“That's the boy!” Jamie exclaimed, pointing with shaky fingers, as though accusing a murderer.
While sitting on the edge of the bed, Master Edwards explained, “His name is Benny, he is my little brother. It wasn’t Benny that cut your stomach open, well it was him physically.”
“You can’t tell it was Master Edwards? I told you NOT to move!” Benny climbed onto the bed. “From the start, he wanted to see how you were progressing and told me to attack without holding back. But I did hold back; I didn’t want to hurt you,” Benny said as he tried the soup. Henry squinted his eyes at the lie as he ate Jamie’s pita bread.
General Ames laughed at the lie. Benny wasn’t holding back at all, he knew because he and Master Edwards were watching from his bedroom window. If it weren’t for Edwards dispelling the mana ball, Benny would be injured as well.
The bisque was to Benny’s liking and he began to eat it nonchalantly. “Boys, is there no food in the dining hall? Where is your nanny?”
“She’s not here.”
“That simple will not do. We’ll discuss this later,” he said to the boys.
General Ames turned to Jamie. “They have expressed to me that they like you and asked me to ask you if you would read to them at night since our parents are away.”
Jamie made the mistake of looking at him while he spoke, his eyes, a piercing shade of flaming orange, were never more intense, and it caused Jamie to avert his gaze. I cannot let myself be distracted by romantic affairs or get my hopes up right now. Just look at him. He's like a Greek god.
She was too shocked the first time they met to appreciate how good-looking this man was. Which reminded her of the crazy fateful day, the day she was kidnapped and the day she met General Ames.
[ Three months ago
Vaseland Kidnapped Incident
D3 Earth - Year 2024
Highland Trail, Virginia ]
“Almost done, I promise I won’t be late this time,” Jamie said as she continued to jog on the trail.
“On your left,” a man said as he biked past her.
“Hold on, I see something weird. Talk to you later Mom,” Jamie said and hung up. What is that?
Deeper into the woods, it looked like a man was having sex with someone. She looked away but then remembered these things aren’t always what they seem. Lately, she had been engrossed in forensic files, where in some cases, bystanders could have saved someone’s life if only they had taken a second look.
She slowed down and squinted. The man had his hand over the woman’s mouth and the woman’s head was bloody.
HOLY! What should I do? No one is on the path now, if I say something what if-
Before she knew it, she screamed, “GET OFF OF HER! I’m calling the police!” In the hopes, he’ll just run away. Instead, the man looked up and right back at her. He grabbed something off the ground, it looked like a knife. Meanwhile, Jamie frantically dialed 911 on her phone.
“Highland County, 911, what is your emergency?”
“I’m at the Highland trail, there’s this guy and he might’ve just killed someone! NO! He’s coming at me, I’m running now!”
The dispatcher continued to ask for more information, however Jamie couldn’t hear them. She was running for her life and sprinted at full speed away from the man. Yet, she was no match for him. As he closed in, he started to slash at her with his knife.
Meanwhile, Jamie dug into her pocket for her pepper spray, but then she remembered! Her pepper spray bottle’s lid was jammed and she kept putting off getting a new one.
Suddenly, it started to rain. Then BLAM! The man slammed her to the ground. In the distance, a jogger was approaching them. I just have to fight him off until that jogger is closer! she thought.
She tried to stand up, but the man slapped her as hard as he could. Her mouth bled from the impact. He then grabbed her arms and pulled her off the trail.
The man placed a handkerchief over her mouth as she tried to break free. She started to doze off as the trees whistled from the strong winds. A storm is coming.
At a distance, a mysterious woman, in a black cloak held a lamp with wrinkled hands and smiled. I finally found you, Miss. Vaseland. Great timing too, she thought and chuckled. She started to clap her wrinkled hands together, with each clap, the thunder and wind grew louder and bolder.
Raindrops continued to pound the dead autumn leaves and the jogger that Jamie had hoped could save her, stopped in his tracks and picked up Jamie’s cell phone. He looked around and then put the cell phone into his pocket. The cell phone was in a black case, and on it was a white kitty with diamond eyes sipping tea.
The thunder grew louder until a white flash of light changed everything.
[ Vaseland Castle
D5 Mander
Year 0 ]
Gasped! Jamie caught her breath and opened her eyes. She found herself on a massive bed with no end in sight and was surrounded by nothing but whiteness.
