Ascendants of Ancients Sovereign - By Phillip Jones Page 0,258

and fall to your demise. You could appear under a large rock, inside a wall, under the ground, deep below the surface of a lake, in a lava flow or, if you’re really blessed, you could appear with your head stuck in a corgan’s backside. But no pressure, Child, I’m rooting for you.” She winked.

“Ha, ha, ha! Very funny, smart aleck. Thanks for the confidence boost. I can’t seem to remember why I love you so much at the moment. Will you please remind me?”

“Because you need your mother.”

“Yeah, right.” Shalee laughed as she moved to a spot that she had chosen. “I’ve been studying this patch of grass for a while now. I figured this would be the place to start. For some reason, I already knew I needed to be familiar with the area. But don’t ask me how I knew. I was fixin’ to make a trial run.”

“Very insightful, Child. Where’s Precious?”

“I want to do this without the staff. I want to work on commanding my power without that kind of crutch.”

Helga looked worried. “I understand your desire to master your magic, but do you think it’s wise to teleport without it? Perhaps you should use Precious to get a feel for how the magic works. Once you know, you can try again without it later.”

“No, that won’t work. The staff uses words, and lately I’ve been controlling my magic non-verbally.”

Helga gasped. “Since when, Child?

“Oh, you know, here and there. When you’re not around. I didn’t want to worry you.”

“This is a blessing. This is incredible. Can you control your power without words at all?”

“For the most part,” Shalee replied.

“Goodness-gracious!” Helga giggled, stealing Shalee’s phrase. “You’re rubbing off on me, Child. To command your power without words is unheard of on Grayham. I don’t know of anyone who has this ability. Perhaps Amar can command simple magic without words, but I highly doubt that he can command the power of teleportation without his staff.”

The queen smiled. “Well, I’m able to control most everything without Precious. I don’t know how, but it feels natural.”

“The gods have blessed you, Child.” Helga sighed. “I think we both know this is your decision.”

“Shall we give it a trial run then? I’ll stand near the statue over there.” Shalee looked at the stone figure as she moved to it. “You know what?” the sorceress said in a matter-of-fact tone.

“What, Child?”

“Some things never change from one world to another. Look at him. Back on Earth, we had statues of men that didn’t have their privates covered. They called it art, but I thought it was silly. I like the leaf the sculptor put over his privates.”

Helga thought a moment. “I would prefer to see him without the leaf.” Her smile widened. “His anatomy is always rock solid, Child.” She jumped up and smacked the statue’s behind.

Shalee rolled her eyes. “Lordy, I’ve tainted you. You’re becoming incorrigible.”

The ladies gave each other a high-five. Helga kissed her hand and blew it in the direction of the leaf for good luck.

Helga then reached out and grabbed Shalee’s shoulder. “Oh Child, I forgot to tell you. I did what you said and had BJ touch me on that one spot you told me about and—”

“Stop!” Shalee cried as she covered her ears. “T.M.I.” Again, the ladies laughed.

A fair series of moments passed before the ladies could collect themselves. Helga continued. “If you aren’t going to use words, you should try concentrating, Child. Close your eyes and focus on where you want to be. That’s what I would do.”

Without answering, Shalee closed her eyes and took a deep breath, then thought of the grassy area next to the blossoming bushes. She pictured herself standing there.

Helga screamed. “Ohhhh, Child, Child, Child!”

Shalee did not want to open her eyes. She could not tell if her friend’s tone was good or bad.

“You did it! I’m so proud of you!”

Shalee opened her eyes and looked around. A big grin appeared on her face. She pulled Helga into her arms and both ladies began to bounce around the garden to celebrate.

Sam walked up. “Is there something you two need to tell me? What’s going on?”

Shalee let go of Helga and then pulled Sam into her arms. After a quick wink in Helga’s direction, Shalee told Sam to close his eyes.

The next thing the king knew, he was standing in their bedroom. He would have said something, but Shalee held her hands over his lips.

“Shhh. Don’t say anything. We have something to celebrate.” She