Patience (The Patience Trilogy Book 1)

crumbs?”

  “Essentially.”

  “Well that's not gonna work.”

  “Children these days, so cynical. Just trust me for once. Who is the greatest sorcerer in terms of power, good looks and charm, all put together in a neat little package for yours truly, ooooooh like a present.”

  Patience sighed. “You are.”

  “I should get a bow and sit under your tree at Christmas.”

  “I do worry about you sometimes.”

  “It does sound a little creepy, doesn’t it?”

  There was an orange light ahead coming their way. At first Patience thought it was just the flame from Grim's hand, but it was larger than that.

  All of a sudden, a bright flash filled the pathway, blinding her for a second. She looked up, now able to see what it was. It appeared to be like a mini sun. A big swirling ball of fire that somehow suspended itself above the ground, spitting flames out to the side like deadly solar flares.

  “What is it?” she asked, keeping her voice at a whisper just in case fire had somehow been able to adapt to listen to speech, how ridiculous.

  “A fire elemental. It is essentially pure raw magic without a vessel.”

  “Are they dangerous?”

  “Oh, I would say so. If you get close it'll reduce you to a pile of ashes.”

  Patience shivered with that thought. “Well, let's not get close to it then, and just go back the way we came.”

  Grim spun his thumbs around each other in a circular motion, biting his lip nervously. “The thing is, we kinda have to get through it. You know the old story. We can't go over it, and we can't go through it, so we're going to have to go under it.”

  “I'm sure in the story they ended up going through it.”

  “Okay, now who’s talking stupid. Have you seen that thing? If we run straight through it, we would be dead instantly.”

  “We're not on a bloody bear hunt!” Before she could say anything else, Grim turned and sprinted directly towards the elemental.

  Patience bit her knuckle nervously as it spat fire in his direction. He shifted his shoulder to the side so that it hit the wall, before sliding across the ground underneath it. He made it to the other side and was jumping on the spot, excitedly waving.

  “Now my turn,” she said to herself, “wait, why am I talking to myself? And then questioning it by talking some more.” The heat must have been getting to her head. Oh wow. The heat. She only realised it as her face was drowned in sweat. Even from this far distance, that elemental was scolding hot. She wasn't looking forward to this.

  She took in one last, long breath. Then her legs began to move, almost by themselves. The elemental got closer. She was terrified that she would trip and fall, pressing her face straight into the body of the creature. But she didn't.

  There was a sound like a screeching kettle as a ball of fire erupted from the surface of the elemental. It seemed on point but she somehow avoided it, though she suspected that it had burned a hole into her jacket.

  At the last moment, she dropped to the ground, kicking her leg out to give her the momentum to move forwards. For a brief moment she was underneath the creature, looking up into its fire as she felt her face begin to have the sensation of melting. But then she made it out the other side, jumped to her feet and joined Grim.

  “That wasn't so bad,” he said.

  “I hate you.” There was another screech and she ducked as the fireball shot over her head.

  “Run!”

  The elemental chased after them as they ran along the path. Patience was too scared to look around in case it slowed her down, but she knew she wouldn't see any fireballs coming if they were fired her way.

  Her breathing became increasingly faster as she struggled to take in air from the thinness that surrounded her.

  Grim stopped ahead of her, she stopped beside him. They were looking over a giant cliff that fell into darkness, it seemed to go on forever. “Jump,” he said. They both dived into the darkness, the elemental becoming a small beacon of light that seemed to escape from their view. She looked down, her heart leaping inside her as her organs seemed to curl. The ground was getting closer. So close.

  A hand gripped hers, pulling her in closer before a gust of wind swept them up and slowed their descent. She curled her hands up comfortably in Grim's cold grip as she wrapped her arms around his neck and rested her elbow on his shoulders. Finally, they touched down on the ground and she was able to let go of him.

  “Phew, you almost got us killed,” she said.

  Grim scratched his head. “I thought I just saved you.”

  “Well, I suppose you did, but you almost killed me before that.”

  “Not really. I had full confidence you would survive.”

  Patience tilted her head. “Really?”

  “Nah, I thought you were a goner for sure.”

  “Thanks.” She turned her attention to the landing zone. It was a small cavern with only one distinct feature about it. A large iron door that reached two dozen metres into the sky, at her level there was a small keyhole.

  “Do you have the key?” said Grim, stepping forward and examining the door.

  Patience gave him a guilty look. “No, I left it at home.”

  “Are you kidding me? Tell me you're not being serious.”

  She laughed like a wicked witch. “It's not nice is it? Come on you big idiot. Oh my God. You're so gullible.”

  “Ha ha,” he said sarcastically, “just open the door.” She felt like he had endured enough teasing, for now, so she stepped forward and removed the small key from her pocket. It fitted easily into the hole, becoming lodged in place before she turned it. The door slowly began to move, a deafening screech sounding as it rubbed against the ground, leaving them a space to enter.

  Patience caught sight of something in that small room. At the edge by the back wall, was a stone in which a single hilt protruded from. It was a shiny black, with flashing purple lines running through it like veins of energy. It was beautiful, and horrifying at the same time.

  There was a voice behind them. “Thank you, my dear.” Patience's stomach churned as she looked over to see Viper stepping in through the large iron door. She was accompanied by a thin man with chalk white skin that hardly covered up the bones within. His small, yellow eyes seemed to follow her as she moved to the side. She assumed he was Jack Ripper, the one who broke into the vault and released the phasewalker.

  “Hello, Viper,” said Grim, he didn't seem all that surprised to see her, “and how are you today?”

  Viper suppressed a smile. “Very good, in fact. Turns out you have done most of the work for us, and now, here it is. The Lamina.” There would be no use pretending to be an estranged man with bladder problems this time, and Grim knew it. They would have to face them. It's not like they could just let them get their hands on that weapon, they would be unstoppable.

  Grim went to move but Viper held up her sword to stop him. “Not so fast,” she growled, “stay exactly where you are. We'll need you yet.” Patience wondered why they would need them, it all seemed rather strange, a mystery in itself.

  Jack crawled over to the hilt and wrapped his fingers around it. As he pulled, Patience could see the muscles on his arm tighten as they became more prominent, but the blade didn't move. His face looked downtrodden and disappointed as he slunk into the shadows.

  “You imbecile,” said Viper, “you can't lift it from that rock.” She turned to Patience and Grim. “The Lamina is an ancient weapon that was created by the Old Ones to bring mortals to their knees. In The Great War it was stolen, and used against them, killing Diabolus himself.”

  Grim tapped his foot impatiently. “Enough of the history lesson,” he said, “what's your point?”

  Viper smiled cruelly. “My point is that it was created by the Old Ones, placed in this rock so that it can never be a threat to anyone again. The only person who can lift it from the stone, is someone who h
as the blood of the Old Ones running through them. Their ancestor.”

  “Well, good job we have none of those,” said Patience, turning to leave, “sorry that your evil plan didn't work out so well, but you can always try again another time.” Viper's eyes fixed on Patience. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

  Grim turned to her. “I think she was talking about you.”

  “Me? But I'm no one special.”

  “Oh, you don't have to tell me that, I know.”

  Viper cut in, stepping closer and grabbing the side of her arm. You are an ancestor of the Old Ones, you have their blood running through your veins. And you will pull that blade from the stone, by any means necessary.”

  It couldn't be true. No way. She wasn't special, she was a nobody. Ever since she was born she knew she had been destined for a boring life that essentially amounted to nothing. How could she be a descendant of the first sorcerers, who eventually went mad with power and started trying to kill all the mortals. What the hell. Now she had an idea how Luke Skywalker felt when he found out that the evil man that he was facing against was actually his father - probably nothing compared to the shock of finding out the girl he kissed a film ago was his sister. No. Patience knew that this was even more of a shock than that.

  That must have been how her uncle knew where it was hidden, could it have something to do with him being an ancestor? Or maybe he was the one who hid it in the first place, that seemed to make sense.

  Patience smiled for the first time. “Okay, let's just say that you're right and I am the only