21. Leila

TWENTY-ONE

LEILA

" D o you really think that such a walled-in place is a good idea to practice this? What if there's a cave-in from a blast?" Leila asked.

She was looking around for books. There were none.

"I thought you said this was your private study? Do you have another room where you keep your scrolls?"

Xanthus had remained unusually quiet since they had descended to this sanctuary of his. Or that's what he had implied anyway.

Leila couldn't put her finger on it, but something seemed off. Was he upset with her for leaving the academy?

Before she could ask, she heard the door behind her creak.

She turned and saw it slam shut and a bar dropped across it.

"Professor… what's going on?" Worry crept into her voice. She was beginning to feel like she had when she had first seen Drystan in her office.

Xanthus kept his back to her when he answered.

"Don't you already know, my child?"

"Know what?" she asked nervously.

Leila looked around and noticed no other doors in the room. She was locked away underground with a powerful sage.

Is this what claustrophobia feels like? she wondered.

"Know what I've been training you for."

Xanthus turned around slowly.

Leila had never seen her wise trusted mentor look so cold and cruel.

His golden eyes felt like they were burning into her, prying her for things that she couldn't offer. They were full of greed.

Leila stepped back, but Xanthus closed the gap.

"I need what has already been asked of you," he said. A cruel smile played on his thin lips.

"For what?" she asked, though Leila had a pretty good idea.

"You know what for. You need to travel back into the past."

"Why? Why do I need to do that?"

"That's for me to know."

"What if I can't?"

Xanthus simply shrugged. "Then you die."

Leila's heart dropped. Her gut twisted up and her mouth went dry.

"You're going to kill me?"

"Only if I have to."

She was in shock. This man had been her mentor and now he was talking about killing her as if he were picking up bread.

"But… But, you know me. You've been teaching me how to wield my powers."

He stepped closer to her.

"For my benefit."

"I trusted you."

"I can't help that. But don't feel bad. You're not the only one. I can be very… convincing." He took another step toward her.

Leila stepped back, but she was met with a wall.

There was no time to panic. This was the time to think. She needed time.

"So, you hired Drystan, that shifter, to what? Come get me? "

Xanthus's wicked grin went away. He clicked his tongue in annoyance.

"Yes. In hindsight, that wasn't the best choice. He was a little too, how shall I say, hot-headed?"

"Tsh, you could say that," she mumbled.

"I needed someone dangerous and capable. He had no ties to anything so there'd be no questions, and he wanted the past altered as much as I do. It seemed easy enough to aid his escape." Xanthus flicked a speck off his cloak, a look of annoyance crossing it. "I have to admit, I didn't think he was the type to squeal about his means of escape. I had to do something about that."

"Altair? You framed him just because? Wasn't he a friend?"

"You don't make it in this world as long as I have by being loyal to anyone but yourself."

Leila couldn't believe the smugness she was not only seeing, but hearing. It was heartbreaking that she had been so na?ve. But she needed to stay focused.

"But why go through all that? Especially since you could have just kidnapped me anyway," she said gesturing around the room she was now locked in.

"Leila, dear. You were unmotivated. I knew you could travel through time. But nothing was pushing you the way you needed. I figured putting you in danger could act as a catalyst to activating your powers," he said as if it had been an obvious solution.

"So, you hired someone to kill me in hopes I would time jump to save my life?"

Xanthus smiled again. "And it worked."

Leila thought about it. Had it worked? Was fear really her biggest motivator?

"You know I'm right. I can see it on your face. That's why you couldn't get it before." Xanthus chuckled. "But you will. You have to."

Leila was searching for that hum. The one that vibrated her true powers within her. She needed them more than ever. She could have sworn she felt it continuously since the incident in her office. But now, there was nothing. As if she were empty. She had to keep him talking.

"If you want me to do this, I need to at least know what I'm doing it for. It could help me understand and maybe motivate my powers."

Xanthus narrowed his eyes at her, but only for a moment.

"It's simple really. We belong in a world where there is no war, discrimination, and many other things that Pandora's box has let out."

"I don't understand. You want a perfect place?"

"It's more than that," he snapped. "It's a utopia. Something we deserve and I know where we went wrong. I was there. I can stop certain events from happening that are detrimental to the natural order of things."

Leila raised a skeptical eyebrow. "The natural order of things?"

"Yes. How things should be should other things not have influenced it."

"But that's just your opinion on how things are."

Xanthus looked down his nose at Leila as if she wasn't worthy of an ounce of time.

"You know things could be better. We all know that. Sorcerers should have more respect. Shifters can be the animals they want, but loyal to us. There are many things that need to be adjusted, Leila." He walked away from her, deep in thought.

She knew there was no possible way, but she couldn't help but look longingly at the door. Her heart was hoping that at any moment Rehn would bust through, like before, and save her from this nightmare.

But that wouldn't happen. She had left thinking they had solved the mystery. And, to add to it, no one knew where she was. She had to fight this battle by herself against the man who taught her about her own powers.

Xanthus turned back toward her, his long fingers tapping his chin.

"Now, what event to start with is the question."

"You don't even know if I can do it." She tried to find strength and reflect it in her voice.

"Well, we know what happens if you can't, so I sure hope you try. I need your time manipulation powers to do this. It's for the greater good, you'll see."

"We can't mess with time like this. You know that. It can change everything."

"Exactly!" he cheered. "You finally get it. Change. We need change."

Suddenly, Leila felt the hum she had been searching for.

She tried to keep her face morbid as Xanthus went off on what event would be blessed enough to be the first change. She didn't want him to know that her edge was back.

Leila let her body become a buzz of power as she thought of what to do with it.

She didn't want to send him anywhere in time. He couldn't be trusted. Then, she thought about when she had manipulated time to change clothes and places of things.

"Now then, let's give this a try, shall we?" Xanthus asked maliciously.

"Let's," Leila said with her own smile.

Xanthus looked puzzled at her sudden change of demeanor.

Then, Leila saw herself pop up by the door.

Xanthus saw it too. It stopped him in his tracks.

Leila's smile grew as she saw herself now standing in a different spot.

Before she knew it, there were multiples of her all over the room. She had manipulated time to show her in the different spots she had stood in different parts of time.

Xanthus was baffled as his head swung around the room trying to keep up with all the Leila's appearing everywhere.

"What are you doing?" he asked, a note of panic evident.

"What you asked," Leila replied shyly. "Manipulating time."

The room became overwhelmingly full of Leilas and Xanthus seemed to be drowning in them. He couldn't find the real Leila. He kept exhausting his energy and powers by blasting the clones that kept popping up around him.

She watched the panic begin to ebb onto his face as each one he hit with magic fizzled and then popped back.

The power surge was humming stronger within her now.

How could it be fear fueling her when her confidence was only growing?

A crack at the door made both Leila and Xanthus snap their heads away from the chaos.

When she saw what had busted through the door, Leila's heart lifted and the humming intensified greatly.

Rehn came surging through in his magnificent bear form. His auburn coat glinted, even in the shadows of the dark room.

A roar started low, then grew menacingly loud.

She watched him charge straight at Xanthus, who had been so overtaken by Leilas that he had no time to react to the bear heading his way.

Leila quickly looked away from what she knew Rehn was about to do. The sounds would be enough.

She heard a cut-off scream, then the snapping and crunching of bones.

Xanthus was dead and she was safe.

Her king had stormed the castle and finished off the villain.

She turned to see Rehn walking over to her, naked and gleaming with sweat.

All of her clones vanished as her eyes were locked on his.

When he got to her, she started to say something, but instead, he wound her tightly in his arms and kissed her as if he'd never let her go.