Novel Jumper

Chapter Three

 ¨Lilia?" Connor called, sounding concerned. Not wanting him to think that she had fled, Lilia clattered down the unstable staircase and stopped in front of him and Azca.

"Hello," she said in the stunned silence that followed.

"So this is her?" Azca asked Connor, looking Lilia up and down, taking in every detail. She felt like a bug under a microscope and recalled that Star of Winter had portrayed Azca as being a rather unsettling man. She tried not to squirm.

"Yes. Give her the sword," Connor said shortly, obviously not in the mood for pleasantries.

"Come, sit down," Azca said after another silent moment of awkward scrutiny. Lilia sat in the chair she had formerly been occupying and curled her hands nervously in her lap. She tried to remember what Star of Winter had said about the Sword of Truth. It was a magic-infused katana blade that identified if people were lying or being truthful...did it hurt if someone lied while holding it? She couldn't remember - her apprehension was the centerpiece of her focus.

I have nothing to be worried about. I don't plan on lying, she reminded herself.

Azca reached underneath his cloak and unsheathed a katana blade. It was ordinary in every aspect besides the fact that it was incredibly clean, polished to the point of shining. It was so pristine that Lilia, in her disheveled state, felt unworthy to even touch it. However, when Azca held it out to her, she took ahold of the handle with both hands, taking a deep, calming breath as she did so.

"What is your name?" Azca asked.

"Lilia Well."

The sword remained still.

"How old is your soul?"

An oddly phrased question. It gave Lilia pause. Then she recalled that Azca himself was a little over a century old, but had frozen his body at the age of twenty nine. Maybe he believed her to also be a witch? Either way, whether it be referring to her body or mind, she only had one answer. "Um, sixteen as of today."

The sword remained still.

"What is your purpose here?"

This question really halted Lilia. She didn't quite know the answer. It wasn't like she had actively chosen to be transported into this book. Trying to forget her fear of the sword's power and her ever-increasing unease that none of this was a dream, she answered as honestly as possible. "Figuring out why the hell I'm here."

The sword shivered ever so slightly and Lilia's fingers tingled. Everyone noticed the movement and the men tensed. Lilia, heart rate increasing, tried again. "Seeing this through until the end." After all, I'll be forced to do that until I wake up.

The sword did nothing, but Connor did not relax. "What is 'this?'" he demanded, using air quotation marks.

"Whatever this situation is. This dream, this story. Whatever's going on," Lilia attempted to clarify, unsure of how else to phrase it. The sword seemed to accept this answer, however, for it remained still.

Azca took a deep breath and forged on with his questioning. "How did you get here?"

"A book," Lilia answered immediately. The sword stayed still and she sighed in relief - so the mysterious book had been the culprit. To clear up the confusion that was evident on Azca's and Connor's faces, she told a condensed version of her story.

"So you come from a different world?" Azca asked, all formality gone from his voice and excitement gleaming in his eyes.

"Yes. I don't know if it's just a different world or the real one or an alternate dimension or what - "