The Witch: Book Two of The Sorceress Saga Taliesin Govannon (best free ereader .txt) 📖

because I had heard them! In fact… “That reminds me,” I said, turning to Angelique, “there’s something that the one said before I blasted him, something that I wanted to ask you about.”

                “You had me at ‘talking golem’.” she said, smiling.

                I thought for a moment, then it returned to my memory. “It said something about notifying ‘Queen Aleena’… does that name ring any bells?”

                The smile faded from her face so seamlessly, the change was almost subtle. “And you’re sure that they said… “Queen Aleena.”

                “I can almost see it in my head,” I said, eyes closed, “It said ‘Notify Queen Aleena… ‘, and then unfortunately exploded into dirt from the bolt that I shot at it.”

                “What’s the story?” Vincent asked.

                This means that her memory connected to this name is old, I thought, if it’s before Vincent.

                “I shall look into this.” she said, starting to glide towards the exit. “I will reveal all, soon… if it’s needed.” she added, catching my eye before leaving.

                Ever mysterious…

                                                                                                *                *                *

                “Hey, kid!”

                I seriously did not want to open my eyes. I had finally taken a nap… missions in different time zones played with my sleep schedule… and felt like I had just closed my eyes when someone decided to wake me up in the most annoying way possible.

                “I swear,” I said groggily, “whoever is poking me in the head had better get a good head start, because I sense a bone shard in a very uncomfortable place in your future… “

                I reluctantly opened my eyes, only to see a face that I hadn’t seen in almost a year.

                It’s the cave dweller I thought, the Mediterranian-looking woman from some of my earliest visions not named Penelope.

                “I’d be fascinated to see you try that one on me.” she said, her long black hair swaying as she gave a mirthless chuckle. “Come on, kid… we’ve gotta talk.”

                We walked down the hallway that we had walked down before, with the self-lighting torches illuminating our way. It had been several seasons since we’d spoken, but it felt like no time had passed.

                “Long time no see, huh?” I said finally.

                “Sorry for the ghosting, kid,” she replied, “but I just couldn’t take the inner dialog… ‘does Angelique love me, do I love her, yadda yadda’. It made me want to slap you, tell the truth.”

                That was, I felt, completely unfair. “Well, give me a break, this shit’s new to me!”

                “What, you think I knew everything when I was chosen?” she retorted. “Fuck no. I had to feel my way… and I came from an illiterate society, to boot, so… bucking convention, all that shit? Ten thousand times more difficult!”

                “So,” I said, cutting her off, “why did you make contact? It certainly wasn’t just to critique my relationship skills, right?”

                “I should have, but no.” she said, pointing at me. “No, I’m just wanting to talk to you about prophecy.”

                “Oh, fucking great!” I exclaimed. “So, on top of being the Sorceress, and having someone trying to kill me, and having a relationship status that resembles biblical genealogy charts in complexity, now I'm the subject of some lame-ass prophecy?”

                “Actually, I’m talking about your powers of prophecy.” the woman replied.

                “Oh.” I said, chastened.

                “Yeah, psychic levels of prophecy are part and parcel of the powers of the Sorceress.” she continued. “Not just you, either, but people around you.”

                “People around me?” I repeated, feeling a sinking feeling in my stomach.

                “Yeah, the soldier chick is psychic as all hell.” she said, confirming my suspicions.

                “Trust your gut, kid.” she continued, almost reading my thoughts. “It could save everyone’s lives.”

                                                                                                *                *                *

                “So, I just had a talk with Tiffany, before you guys called me back here.” I said, leaning naked against Vincent’s bare chest. “I’ll be starting work with her tomorrow, to develop her psychic abilities.”

                “She really had us going, that vision she had of the dead people inside the stronghold.” he replied, stroking my hair.

                “I wasn’t expecting that from her, honestly.” Gaia added, laying face down across my lap and stroking my calf. “I didn’t get any ‘latent psychic’ vibes from her.”

                “Well, it seems that just being around me can awaken abilities in people who have never had them before.” I said, waving my hands around like a movie wizard casting CGI spells. I rolled my eyes and grinned. Sometimes, you just have to laugh… to keep from curling up into a ball until retirement age!

                "Any idea of who this cavewoman even is?" Vincent asked. "She's given you good info thus far, but it's always good to know where the advice is coming from."

                “No clue.” I replied. “I just know that A… “ I continued, counting on my fingers, “… she’s incredibly old, B, she’s insanely powerful, and C, the only reasons I can say that I ‘know’ these things is because she told me that I should trust my gut. I can’t help it if it just feels right.”

                “If you were anyone else, I’d warn you against confusing wishful thinking with intuition.” Vincent said. “But I know that the Sorceress is supposed to have an almost preternaturally accurate gut, so I’ll go along.”

                “I know that you have a supernatural ability to know what I like.” Gaia said with a lusty grin. She slowly started to trace a path up my thigh with her soft, thin fingers. “I think it’s my turn to test my psychic sexuality.”

                “I have a year's advantage… " Vincent said, looking down into my heavy-lidded eyes, "… of knowing what you like. But I doubt that you'll mind if I rest on my laurels." He kissed me as Gaia found her mark, and I surrendered to their loving.

                                                                                                *                *                *