Behind My Shadow - Book Three

37. Come Around Again

After I dry off, I summon a new change of clothes to my body in a flash of glittering white light. Now I'm wearing a pair of black skinny jeans and a seamless white crewneck shirt with the sleeves ripped off, a big black circle covers the front of my shirt.

I heft up the cuirass to look it over with amazement. "I got you," I chuckle as I brush some lakeweed off it.

The golden etchings wind around the cuirass to form a massive, beveled Jabberwocky on the back. I whistle and now glance at the helmet perched on the boulder beside me. It's the same platinum color and it too has elaborate golden etchings encompassing it. The visor on the helmet is golden and the plume looks like it's made from the purest, snowiest horsehair although I'm more inclined to believe that it's actually unicorn hair.

Amazing, I smile victoriously. Now all I have to do is find the pauldrons -luckily those two are kept together- and then all I have left to find is the shield before I return to the Palace.

Since this cuirass is too heavy to simply carry on my arm, I decide to just wear it for safe keeping. I take off my shirt and slip into the cuirass that's still warm from the hot springs. It's fits a little big but hopefully -

I gasp with amazement as the armor suddenly takes a breath. It expands before it swiftly shrinks, sealing up around my torso like a second skin. "Whoa!" I laugh with delight. It isn't even heavy anymore! "This is freakin' amazing," I breathe as I look it over. It fits me as well as my silhouette does.

Something unexpectedly digs into me though.

"Ow!" I anxiously paw at the armor and now something falls free and lands at my feet. It weirdly enough looks like a bracelet. "Whoa..." I marvel as I pick it up. It's golden and studded with pearls. When I stroke the pearls, spikes suddenly emerge in a flourish. "Whoa!" I yelp and jump back, dropping the bracelet to the muddy ground. I cautiously pick it back up; the spikes recede into the pearls once more. "Huh..." I glance down at the impression it left in the mud. It looks like the sun. "Cool..." I cautiously wear the bracelet and now put my shirt back on over my armor.

It's really late now and honestly, I am pretty exhausted and here seems to be as decent as a place as any to camp. So with some magic, I fashion myself a tent and a cot and now nestle down, sleeping with my helmet under my arm and my compass under my pillow. In the morning it'll be time to start my ninth Labor and to be honest, I'm kinda looking forward to it.

♣ ♦ ♥ ♠

In the morning, I put my Amulet back on. With this, I'm supposed to be able to summon the Talents of the Alices before me. I feel really grateful that Inez's Talent is culinary skills; with her Talent, I'm able to during anything into food. For instance, I take a rock and use her Talent to turn it into cake. Yeah, it is really incredible. Alice's Talent is controlling the weather, Yvett's Talent is shapeshifting into animals, Inez's of course is turning anything editable, Sofiena's Talent is the ability to morph through any objects, and Adarina's Talent was painting. I really do feel so much closer to them all knowing I'll be able to summon their Talents whenever I need to as long as I wear this necklace.

God, I really love magic, I think happily as I eat some cake for breakfast.

Once I've had my fill, I strike off on my quest again.

I follow my compass through the forest, getting deeper and deeper into a particularly dark side of the woods.

Everything is so humid here, if I wasn't wearing the Amulet I'd be drenched in sweat. As it is, my Amulet keeps me feeling cool and comfy. And I don't even notice I'm wearing the cuirass; it feels just like a second skin.

The rest of nature isn't spared from the oppressive heat though. I can't help but stare in amazement as much as disbelief as I watch the huge oak trees sweat, water trickles over the rough bark and makes the warm soil under my feet sticky. Even the leaves are melting. I make a face as I watch them wilt and fall apart in slimy clumps. The sound of them falling onto the moist ground makes a soft slapping sound in the otherwise quiet stretch of forest.

"Whoa," I suddenly come to a halt as I finally look up from the compass. I see a giant marble "A" standing in a clearing a few paces ahead of me, it's partly hidden by the shadows of the long branches stretched overhead. I glance at the compass again and unsurprisingly it is directing me towards the marble monument.

But I can sense danger surrounding it.

I bite my lip with concern as I look around. I don't actually see anything, but damn, something really has my sixth sense tripping. My nerves are practically on fire with warning.

I cautiously lower my helmet to the ground and inch closer to the clearing, trying to skirt around the perimeter in hopes of possibly discerning what threat is looming. But still, I can't visibly find anything.

I gulp, anxiously looking around once more but I force myself to move closer.

The second my boot steps into the clearing, a deafening crackle electrocutes the air and suddenly a towering fence of blazing white fire leaps up in front me. 

I scream as the flames shoot up under my boot. I'm hurl backwards through the air from the impact and crash several meters away on my back.

The Amulet absorbs the impact and swiftly dissipates the pain, but nevertheless, I feel horribly shaken on the inside, my nerves feel like pop-rocks in soda.

Okay so this place is obviously rigged. I numbly shake my head. Great. Now I gotta figure out how to get past these traps before I can even find the next piece of armor that is undoubtedly hidden in the marble monument.

No biggie, I try to assure myself. I can do this...

I hope.