Page 3 of Trapped By Clocks and Hearts

Piles of books were haphazardly strewn, scrolls and papers cluttered about the floor. Dusty shelves previously only used to store bottles of ale had become host to a disarray of mismatched paraphernalia as I had spent the better part of the last three weeks head buried in my research.

I’d barely slept, barely eaten.

Yet still, what I was searching for eluded me.

I should have been content with my life. I was the most powerful sorcerer assassin for hire in the land. I could have anything I wanted. There was absolutely nothing I could want for.

Except perhaps answers…

For questions that hadn’t plagued me at all until quite recently.

The perpetual cloud cover of my desert home permitted scant streaks of sunlight to filter through the skies. According to the reliable clock, that was built and has been running without requiring fine-tuning for centuries, it was mid-morning.

Sitting back in my seat, I frowned as I took a deep breath. My nose was stuffed, my throat constricting for no apparent reason. I slammed my fist on the table, rattling the bottle of brandy sufficiently enough for my snifter to tip over and its contents to spill over my papers.

Oh, for god’s sake.

Burying my face into my hand, I groaned at the telltale alarm.

Ignoring the splattered mess, I stood abruptly, my chair scraping the wooden floor as it pushed back. “What the hell is she doing?”

Stopping to take a deep breath, I closed my eyes to locate that girl in my mind. I stopped short, my frown deepening, and with a loud, grumbling sigh, I whirled to grab my cloak off the hook by the door and teleported away.

With a burst of smoke, I reappeared above a lush, green landscape.

My nose twitched at the pungent scent of earth from the recent rain mingling with the fragrant trees wafting up to me. The cheery, yellow sun was bright in the sky amongst an assortment of fluffy, white clouds. The air was alive with the cawing, hoots, and howls of the forest animals.

Nothing at all like my remote, desolate corner of the world.

Tulgey Woods was a deceptive place. From a distance, it appeared to be a serene and peaceful forest, filled with charming little animals, and trees and flowers that were wont to chat you up if you dallied for too long.

But the wood was actually the home of a monstrous creature.

With eyes of flame, jaws that bite, and claws that catch, it would arrive like a dark shadow to engulf the entire forest if it sensed even a smidge of mystical power on its grounds.

Not exactly an ideal place to go gallivanting.

Spotting the young woman emerge from the darkness of the forest, my breathing eased a little. She probably almost got suffocated by the trees and flowers in the thick woods, but had fortunately made it out before any of the more carnivorous plants caught her scent.

Folding my arms across my chest, I hovered atop a Tumtum tree a few yards away.

Walking up toward a giant mushroom in a clearing, the girl tucked back her unruly brown hair blowing in the slight breeze. Her long, white lab coat fluttered behind her like a cape. She still wore the same clothes she was wearing when I’d found her.

The mystical fungus a shade too tall for her to prop her elbows on, the girl leaned on the tiptoes of her loafers to regard an inordinately large caterpillar that was perched upon it with a narrow-eyed look. “Hello?”

Not startled at all at the sight of her, the languid blue creature, three feet tall with a slimy, semi-transparent body, puffed smoke out from his gaudy hookah. “Who are you?”

The girl’s nose wrinkled in deep thought. “You know…I actually really literally don’t know.”

The pipe of the hookah poised near its mouth, the caterpillar shot her a look of ridicule. “What do you mean by that? Explain yourself!”

She chewed on her inner cheek, her tone matter-of-fact. “Oh, I don’t really understand it all myself so I’m afraid I can’t tell you who I really am. See?”

The caterpillar folded its arms across its chest. “I don’t see.”

“It’s just…I can’t seem to remember things.”

“Can’t remember what things?” the caterpillar prompted.