I Am: The Saviour

Chapter 15

We stood there in dumbfounded confusion, all of us staring at the spot where Mum had so suddenly disappeared from. Rydel opened his mouth a little wider to say something, his hand half pointing towards where Mum had stood, when suddenly a portal appeared through the stone roof and Mum dropped casually to the ground. Henry cried out in delight and amazement, and I sighed in relief. Mum straightened and brushed herself off.

"In answer to your question, there is a spell I can weave with the help of Dragonfly to change your appearance entirely." Mum continued on despite the stunned looks she was receiving from all of us. "I like to call it a Hoodwink, because essentially you're deceiving the enemy and what are you staring at?" She aimed the last part of her sentence at Rydel.

"You just..."

"Disappeared." Finch finished his sentence.

"Yeah, and...?" Mum asked.

"You just...I...W-huh?" Rydel seemed to be truly at a lost for words and I shared a grin with Henry. Mum rolled her eyes.

"As I was saying, the spell is called a Hoodwink. The reason I so suddenly teleported was because to weave the magic you need a sample of DNA from the subject you are planning to impersonate." She held up two barely visible strands of hair. "These are the hairs of General Baron Folc, one of King Zelrox's recently acquired friends and closest advisors following the death of Nadu the Shadow. Basically, one hair equals four hours. I grabbed two, which gives you eight hours to attempt the assassination of King Zelrox. If that fails, you grab Vela on your way out and I teleport you both back to the mountain."

"Wait, what? You want Silver to kill King Zelrox then?" Rydel snapped out of his stupor. Mum nodded.

"It's so straight forward I don't understand why I didn't think of it to begin with. The Hoodwink will take about three days to craft - and that's with the help of Dragonfly - which will give you enough time to work out the technicalities. If you like, we could completely abandon the idea of retrieving Vela and assemble the army in Ranwick Forest, ready to storm the castle and neutralize the soldiers once we have confirmation that King Zelrox is either dead or dying." Rydel looked temporarily unsure. Mum looked out of breath. All of his plans had essentially just been thrown out of the window by Mum, and he was suddenly confronted with the in-your-face reality that King Zelrox could die in less than week's time.

"I think it's a good idea." I moved to stand next to Mum, and Henry hurried to follow me. "That dragon is still hanging around like a bad smell. Walking in disguised is a whole lot easier than having to sneak around and worry about being plucked off the ground like a worm by a hawk. It simplifies things, and lessens the chance anyone will get hurt. Except King Zelrox of course." Rydel stayed quiet for a second, and his hand suddenly reached up and scratched the back of his neck.

I found him talking with Sapphire. She saw me before he did, and after he turned around, she bared her teeth in a silent agreement. I grinned when he rubbed the back of his neck. He always did that when he was nervous, or about to tell a lie.

"Yeah, so uh, about that job. Sapphire isn't too keen." Sapphire butted him in the back with her nose.

"Take that as a yes then Sapphire?" I asked. She nodded. He glared at her and I laughed...

I snapped out of the flashback and stared at Rydel, blinking rapidly to stop the tears from gathering and blurring my vision. He'd said something.

"Huh?"

"I asked if you were sure about this." I stared at him wordlessly, processing his words.

"I want this over and done with. Yes, I'm sure." I eventually replied. Rydel stared at me before sighing. I realized Finch was now standing with us, and we all faced the half-elf with the table between us.