Chapter Recaps
Chapter One – The villain and protagonist are introduced. The villain is mysterious wizard bent on revenge. Twenty five year old Lauriana and her two brothers and two cousins find a secret room. Smoke fills the room and they lose consciousness.
Chapter Two – The five wake up in a parallel world where they find themselves physically altered. Lauriana is taller and stronger, her brothers a dwarf and combatant, her cousins an elf and magic tyro. A wizard (Zeke) offers to help them figure out why they were brought to his realm and a place to stay. We meet Ash, a sorceress and expert on prophecy.
Chapter Three – The five learn they can’t leave the realm until they complete a quest. We meet Dagreth, a dragon.
Chapter Four – Trainers arrive to train the five companions. Lauriana meets her trainer, Mikell and is disturbed because he acts like he already knows her. Marcus her older brother is suspicious. Sheridan meets Gertie, Marcus meets Sledge, Jenessa meets Petrick and Winnie meets Tandril.
Chapter Five – It is up to Lauriana to complete the quest. She grows closer to Mikell. They learn more about the prophecy and what Lauriana must do. She finds out that Mikell has dreamed about her for the last twenty five years and was in love with her before they met. They almost become intimate, but Lauriana does not want to be unfaithful to Ari (Her serious boyfriend that was left behind.)
Chapter Six – We learn a little about the antagonist’s (The Master) past. After reliving the execution of his parents for unlawful use of magic in a nightmare, The Master goes to a small room in his lair and stares at a portrait of a strange woman. Lauriana decides to move forward with her relationship with Mikell since she realizes she may never get to go back to her world again.
Chapter Seven – Mikell met The Master in the Arcane Mountains. The Master didn’t harm him because he knew Mikell would train one of his greatest adversaries (Lauriana.) Ash discovers a prophecy saying that the future of world will depend on the union of Zotara’s worthy heir (Lauriana) and the king who refused his crown (Mikell). Lauriana is nearly killed by a cross-bow arrow. Mikell decides to move into Lauriana’s room to protect her. Marcus suspects something is going on between his sister and the ranger and decides to find out. As Lauriana wakes up in Mikell’s arms Marcus knocks on her door and demands to be let in.
Chapter Eight – We meet Martika who has a meeting with The Master. He insists that she work for him. Knowing she has no choice and greedy to get rewards she agrees. Marcus and Lauriana argue. She tells him nothing happened between her and Mikell the night before, he interprets it to mean they’ve never been intimate. It’s decided that the trainers will accompany Lauriana, her brothers, and cousins on the quest. Lauriana admits to Zeke that she would consider staying in his world with Mikell if they complete the quest.
Chapter Nine – Lauriana takes a fall in training and keeps the injury to herself. Winnie, Jenessa, Marcus, and Sheridan all have mysterious training accidents.
Chapter Ten –Lauriana blames herself for the training accidents. If her family hadn’t stayed in this world to help her they wouldn’t have been hurt. Marcus and Mikell come to an understanding. The Master visits Lauriana in her sleep, but she unaware of his presence. She later collapses. She is healed by the wizard, but needs rest for a few days.
Chapter Eleven – An evil woman, Martika, arrives at the Keep. She claims to be betrothed to Mikell and is there to take him back home for the wedding. Lauriana leaves with Dagreth. Mikell yells at Martika. Lauriana returns. Mikell tells her some secrets of his past. He was betrothed to Martika and was set to rule his kingdom. He broke the betrothal with her and turned the throne over to his younger brother.
Chapter Twelve – Lauriana punches Martika before the woman leaves. Mikell and Zeke share suspicions about Martika and decide to keep the threat from Lauriana. Lauriana has a reoccurring dream about The Master. She meets The Master.
Chapter Thirteen
-1-
“Wake up, wake up!”
Lauriana opened her eyes and saw Mikell’s concerned facing looking down at her as he shook her. She let out a sigh of relief when she recognized her room in the Keep. She clung to him as tears started to flow. The dream had seemed so real.
He stroked her hair. “Shhh, it’s okay now. It was just a dream. I’m right here.”
Her eyes were wide with terror. “I couldn’t find you. I…” She jumped when she heard a knock at the door.
The door flew open. “What happened?” Zeke asked. “I was walking by when I heard a scream.”
“I think she’s fine,” Mikell said. “She had a nightmare. A pretty horrific one it sounds like.”
Ash arrived and exchanged concerned glances with the wizard. “Why don’t you come down and sit by the hearth in the Great Hall. Ash will make you some tea to help calm you and when you’re ready you can tell us about your dream.”
She looked at Mikell. “I’m not going to leave your side.”
Despite the heat from the hearth, Lauriana felt chilled. Half a cup of tea later, she was calm enough to talk.
Ash lit her pipe and took a couple of puffs. “I know it not be pleasant. But it be important that you not leave out any details.”
“I don’t understand. Why do you want to know about my dream? What difference does it make? It was just a bad dream. I don’t want to talk about it.”
Zeke smiled warmly. “I don’t want to alarm you, but in this world dreams sometimes have significant meanings. We need to determine if your dream means something or if it was in fact just an ordinary dream.”
Lauriana swallowed hard. “The Master, he spoke to me in my dream.”
She watched as Zeke and Ash glanced at each other. Mikell had a distant look in his eyes. As she began to talk, she couldn’t shake the feeling of dread that came over her, almost as if The Master was in the room with her. She could feel his dead black eyes on her. Mikell tightened his arms around her as she talked. She gave him a tight smile.
“I don’t think I’ll ever sleep again.” Soon after she made the comment, she yawned. She finished the tea and started feeling drowsy. Within a few minutes, she fell asleep in Mikell’s arms.
When he was sure, she slept soundly, Mikell spoke.
“I had a nightmare too,” he said quietly.
Ash and Zeke looked at each other startled.
“About The Master as well?” Zeke asked.
“It started similarly to Lauriana’s. I woke up in the middle of the night in a shelter. She was gone. I left to find her. When I got to the edge of the clearing, The Master had her chained to a bed. He said, ‘you’re too late, Ranger. She’s mine now to do with what I will. I’d like to say taking her away from you was a challenge, but you never had a chance. You’re not worthy of her, nor should you have fallen in love with her. It turned you into a weak, pathetic fool.’
“The next moment she was in his bed and he was having his way with her. She was screaming my name begging me to save her. I kept trying to reach her, but no matter what I tried I couldn’t get any closer…” He tightened his arms around Lauriana. When he felt composed again, he asked the question he dreaded asking. “What do you think it means?”
“I am afraid it means The Master has a link to you and Lauriana.” Zeke stroked his beard. “I think he entered your dreams to taunt you, to try to shake your confidence, to try to get you to make mistakes. I also think that it means he’s afraid. Otherwise, he would not have risked entering your dreams. By doing so he has revealed himself to us.”
“Why does he want Lauriana?” Mikell asked.
“I don’t know. That is what we need to find out.”
“I think I know where that answer to that question be. Wait here.” Ash stood up and left.
Mikell sat silently staring into the fire. Ash returned a few minutes later with a large tome in her hand.
“I just came across this book of this morning, it be about The Master. I haven’t had a chance to look at it yet.” She began leafing through the pages.
Zeke shifted in his chair. “Well, what does it say woman.”
“Don’t rush me you old fool. Here it be.” She took a moment to read it silently. Ash’s face paled. “He needs an heir.”
Mikell stiffened. “What?”
“To become strong enough to strike back at a world he feels has wronged him he must have a male heir. The heir must be created through the union of The Master and his mortal enemy. Without the offspring of Zotara’s worthy heir The Master cannot become invincible.” Ash closed the book.
“The Master must know that if he had a child with Lauriana they would produce a wizard,” Zeke said. “If he offers the child to the Lord of the Underworld as a sacrifice, Mephisto will make him invincible.”
Mikell gently laid Lauriana down on the couch. He got to his feet and began to pace. He could see now that keeping the threats to her life from her was a mistake. He wasn’t sure how he was going to tell her. He was certain now that Martika worked for The Master. She told The Master how close he had become to Lauriana. If it took the rest of his life, he would make the woman pay.
“Take it easy my boy.” Zeke stood up and put a hand on Mikell’s shoulder. “Just because The Master wants to capture her does not mean he’s going to succeed. I have a few tricks up my sleeve. The Master is not so powerful that he can enter the Keep; otherwise, he would have done so already and taken her. He’s not as strong as I had feared. I think it would be best if you took Lauriana to bed and try to rest.”
Mikell picked her up and took her back to their room.
Ash watched the boy leave and sat in silence a while listening to the crackling of the fire. “It seems that child be destined to be with child. The question be will it be The Master or Mikell’s child? One will mean the end of the world, the other the world’s salvation.”
Zeke squeezed her hand. “We will have to do all we can to keep her from The Master until she’s ready to defeat him. I hope our efforts will be enough.”
“Aye, I pray the gods be with us.”
-2-
He kept control until he reached his chamber. Then he began to shake. What had gone wrong? When his hand was steady, The Master poured himself a glass of strong wine. He pulled on a warm robe and sat by the hearth. When was the last time he had felt cold? He couldn’t remember. He stoked the fire and stared into the flames. He knew sleep would not come to him tonight.
He hadn’t felt this way in hundreds of years. What was it? He picked up her panties, the item that allowed him to rifle through her mind at night and clutched it tightly.
The Master had spent each night over the last few weeks visiting Lauriana in her sleep. He watched her dreams and read her thoughts, all preparing for their meeting tonight. Yet he had been unprepared. What had shaken him so much…?
It was her eyes. He’d only seen that look in a woman’s eyes once before. Hundreds of years had passed but he still remembered the look. Davinia had the same look in her eyes. He would have to be very careful now. He was treading on shaky ground. The girl had the power to throw all his plans awry. Yes, he’d have to take precautions. For the first time in all his years of planning, The Master felt a twinge of doubt.
-3-
Mikell watched her sleep. Sunlight streamed through the window giving an ethereal effect to Lauriana’s strawberry blond hair. His breath caught as light settled around her head like a halo. If only he knew of a way to keep her safe. She stirred, opened her eyes, and sighed in relief when she saw him in bed next to her. She threw her arms around him and pressed her body against his. He wrapped his arms around her.
“It was only a dream.” Mikell ran his hand down her arm and she winced in pain. She looked down at her forearm and gasped.
Panic filled her eyes. “If it was just a dream, why do I have that man’s handprint burned into my arm?”
“I don’t know. We better talk to Zeke.”
Mikell told her what Zeke and Ash had said about the dream. He couldn’t bear to tell her about his own dream, still etched in his mind and too fresh. He forced the memory back. Thoughts of The Master touching Lauriana filled him with rage. He must control his temper.
A tear rolled down her cheek. “Before we go to Zeke would you hold me a while?”
Mikell wiped the tear away with his thumb. “Of course I will.”
He studied her face as he watched her dress.
“I’m ready to go.” She looked at him. “Why are you looking at me like that?”
“There was something The Master said to you last night that you didn’t tell us. I want to know what it was.”
Lauriana turned her back to him. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Mikell grabbed her arm and turned her back to him. “You’re a terrible liar. Tell me.”
Her eyes welled up with fresh tears. She sat down on the bed. Her voice came out in a whisper. “He said that I was as evil as he was.” Tears started flowing freely. “Because I hurt Ari and I will hurt you too.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
”Because it’s true and I didn’t want to think about it.”
“Lauriana, no. You are not evil. You’re doing the best you can in a difficult situation. Come here.” He hugged her and she buried her face in his chest.
-4-
Lauriana sat quietly in Zeke’s study as he examined her arm. “The Master must have tapped into dark powers to leave a mark like this in a dream.”
She gripped the arms of the chair so hard her knuckles turned white. “Is it safe for me to sleep?”
“As long as you stay defiant in your dreams. Do not believe what he tells you and do not give up no matter how hopeless it seems. I believe that if The Master were able to reach out and take you he would have done so by now. The only way he can reach you in the Keep is through your dreams.” The wizard headed toward the door. “I’ll get Ash. This type of burn cannot be healed by magic. She is more effective at treating a burn of this nature than I am.”
The wizard rushed out. Mikell took Lauriana’s hand. “Are you sure you are okay?”
She frowned. “I wish you’d stop asking me that.”
“Then answer the question.”
“As long as you are by my side, I’ll be fine.”
He smiled and squeezed her hand. “I’m not going anywhere without you.”
Zeke returned with Ash. She examined the burn and shook her head. “I will do my best but these types of burns be resistant to healing.”
Ash spread a thick salve on the wound and began wrapping Lauriana’s arm with strips of cloth.
“Zeke, do you think there will be more dreams?” Lauriana asked.
“I’m afraid there will be. Whether you both will continue to have more dreams I can’t say.”
“Both?” She looked at Mikell startled. “You had a dream about The Master too?” He nodded. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I didn’t want to talk about it. If you’ll excuse me there’s something I have to do.” Mikell left. Lauriana paled.
Ash patted her hand. “Don’t you be worrying about him. He just needs to deal with the dream in his own way.”
Zeke rose and headed for the door. “I will check on him.”
Lauriana watched as Ash finished wrapping her arm.
“Try to keep it dry,” Ash said. “We’ll change it again after the evening meal.”
“Ash, why won’t he tell me about his dream?”
“Because talking about the dream will be reliving some of his worst fears.” She’d say no more about the dream. “The Master be playing on Mikell’s fear that there might be something out there he cannot protect you from. The same as he plays on your fears of facing him alone. That’s why it be so important to be defiant. Do not give into your fears. Don’t worry about Mikell. He will work his dream out on his own.”
-5-
As Mikell walked, the ambience of the Rose garden started to calm him and help clear his mind. He needed time to gain control of his emotions. Otherwise, he was playing right into The Master’s hands. If he went off into a flying rage, he would be of no use to anyone and get himself killed. He knew he should’ve told her about his dream, but he knew it would upset her. And he didn’t want to think about the dream ever again.
“Are you okay my boy?” Zeke asked. The light breeze caused his robes to flutter around him.
“Where’s Lauriana?”
“She is safe with Ash.”
“I’m sorry for rushing off like that. I needed time to clear my head. When I think of what he wants to do to her…”
Zeke put his hand on Mikell’s shoulder. “I understand. We will do everything we can to protect the girl. The Master is afraid of something or he would not go through the trouble of invading your dreams. Invading dreams is risky at best. Why don’t you come back to the study with me?”
-6-
“Ash? Are there details about my future that you haven’t been telling me?” Lauriana asked.
Ash froze for a moment and then continued to sort through tomes on the wizard’s desk. “Aye. I’ve been keeping some information. I feared that if you found out ahead of time it could alter the prophecy. I can tell you this, your union with Mikell be crucial to saving us all. I did not tell you before because I didn’t want you to be feeling like you had to love the boy. From the looks of it, you be already in love with him.”
“I would have felt pressured to like him. Knowing the importance of our union may have made it more difficult to fall in love with him. I mean I might have fought my feelings harder. I guess I can understand why you kept that from me.”
Other questions popped into her mind, but before she could ask any more questions, Zeke and Mikell returned to the study.
“I think we better get to the Great Hall. I can imagine everyone is getting antsy by now. How’s the arm?” Zeke asked.
Lauriana smiled slightly. “It feels better. The burning has stopped.”
Ash gave her a stern look. “If it be bothering you again, tell me. I do not care if it be night or day.”
“Okay I will.”
Mikell squeezed her hand. “I’m sorry I took off so abruptly.”
“That’s okay I’m glad you are back.” She smiled at him. “I guess it’s time to face the others.”
She let out a big sigh. Every time something happened, her brothers and cousins wanted to know all about out it. She didn’t like being the center of attention. Everyone focused on her too much lately.
After Ash and Mikell left the room, Lauriana stopped Zeke. “Could I talk to you a minute, alone?”
“Certainly.” Zeke shut the door to his study. “What’s on your mind?”
“I’m worried about Mikell. I want to know what the dream he had was about. Why did he run out like he did?”
Zeke raised his eyebrows. “Isn’t that something you should be asking him?”
“I’d ask him if I thought there was any chance of him telling me. I know he has been keeping things from me that he thinks will upset me.”
“I see.” Zeke sighed. “Mikell’s dream was similar to yours except that in his dream you were captured by The Master. He tried to rescue you, but no matter what he did, he couldn’t reach you. He left here because he needed time to get control of his anger.”
“I wish there was something I could do for him.” She dropped into the chair in front of the desk. “But even if there was I don’t suppose he’d let me. He doesn’t want me to even walk down the hallway alone.”
“In that regard I agree, at least until we have determined what the potential dangers are. The best you can do for Mikell is to love him with all your heart and trust him, that will help him more than anything else.” Zeke squeezed her shoulder.
She looked up at him. “I already do.” She took a deep breath and let it out. “You told Mikell that you were concerned about me getting hurt, but that’s only half of the truth. Isn’t it? You’re also concerned that he might get hurt.”
“You are correct.” Zeke leaned on the front edge of the desk. “You are a perceptive young lady. Has Mikell told you about his past and the conflict with his parents?” She nodded. “That boy has had so little happiness and has never had anyone love him for who he is. I would hate to see him lose you. The other women who have been in his life did not touch his vulnerabilities nor did they understand him. They were selfish young women who wanted to possess him. He’s a legend. He has spent his life helping people, saving lives. He has never had a woman who has simply wanted him for himself and not his reputation.”
“Zeke I hope you believe me, I’d sooner die than hurt him. I don’t know what I would do without him. He gives me strength. I don’t know what I will do when and if I am faced with the choice of staying here with him or going home. But every day I love him more and I can’t bear the thought of having to make that choice. At the same time I still love Ari and can’t imagine a life without him.” Lauriana looked down and studied her hands. “I have made such a mess of my life. Most of the time I force myself not to think about it.”
Zeke clasped her hands. “You are a wonderful, dear girl and I’m grateful that you are in Mikell’s life no matter how long it might be.”
“Thanks.” She stood up, kissed him on the cheek. The wizard always had a way of making her feel a little bit better.
-7-
Lauriana picked at the food on her plate. Marcus and Sledge left well before sunup to buy horses for those who didn’t have one. As soon as they got back the party could leave. The thought of looking for The Master did little to perk up her appetite. Gertie left for her village last night. The others sat in the Great Hall eating. Several conversations were taking place but Lauriana couldn’t focus on any of them. Heading for the mountains was her idea. What if it wasn’t the right decision?
She looked up at the portrait on the wall. Zotara started it all, someone one hundred years gone. It was to end with her. She started at the sound of her name. Winnie was looking at her.
“We’ve all been talking and if you wanted to wait to leave, we’d all understand. We know you haven’t been sleeping well and we know about the nightmare.”
“I appreciate that, but I think we should stick to the plan. Nothing is going to change by tomorrow. The Master is after me. The sooner we can find him and stop him the better. I’m still scared, but I won’t let that stop me.” Lauriana set her jaw firmly. “I refuse to let him control what I do. I’m committed to see this quest through to the end.”
She looked her brother and cousins in the eye, one by one. “I want everyone to think hard before they answer. Do you still want to go with me? This is your last chance to go home. Once we get on the road there’ll be no turning back. I release you from any responsibility or duty you feel for me. I’ll try to do what needs to be done with or without you.”
She waited for either her cousins or brother to change their minds. When no one did, she wasn’t sure if she was more relieved or more anxious. Now she’d have more help to complete the quest, which Zeke thought was important. But at what cost? Now she’d be responsible all these people’s lives.
As the party rode away, she didn’t look back. Would she ever see the Wizard’s Keep again let alone her home? It felt like she had been away from home for so long already. Her time with Ari seemed like a lifetime ago.
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