He thinks to himself,Seriously? Who came up with that title?The second book is titled:“The Air Within You.”
Almost as bad as the first title. But which one should I read first?Victor shrugs.Meh, I’ll go alphabetically since I don’t know the Dewey decimals for these books.
Victor opens the first book and then looks up to where his luggage is. They’re gone. He looks around the room and sees nothing. He looks into Leo’s room . . . nothing. He walks into the bedroom and sees an older woman.
“Umm, hello? May I help you?” Victor asks the stranger.
The woman has short, curly red hair and is dressed in a simple pale blue, knee-length dress with a pleated skirt and a light green cardigan sweater. She looks up and smiles at Victor. “Oh, hi there, Mr. Russo,” She responds in her Midwestern accent. “I’m the maid assigned to you and Mr. Oliveira. Don’t mind me. I’m just here to make sure everything is in order for your stay this week.”
Victor tries to get a word in but can’t.
“There will also be a couple of garment bags from that Clarence Waterlily fella. They sent one over for each of you. And I’m hoping a package that was sent for you arrives later today.” She walks around the bed to the nightstand to place a new box of tissues. Victor tries to talk, but is still unable to get a word in.
“I made sure there was plenty of bottled water for you in the wet bar, and I supplied you with all your favorite snacks. If you should ever need more, there’s no need to call. I have already anticipated your needs.”
She walks around the bed again and heads into the bathroom. Victor still can’t get a word in as she shouts from the bathroom. “I made sure there are lots of towels for you. If you wish to take a bubble bath after your lessons, I put a bottle of bubbles on the sink. There should be plenty of shampoo, and I found the hair products you like to use. But I also provided some that my grandson uses. He has the same hair as yours.”
She starts to walk towards Victor. He moves out of her way as she enters the living room. “Lunch will be here in a couple of hours, so please don’t fill up on snacks. I already know you had breakfast; it’s the most important meal of the day, next to lunch, even dinner.”
She stops talking and giggles but starts up again before Victor can speak. “If you would like turndown service, please let me know later today. I’m going to take your suit to be cleaned and pressed, so it will be ready before you leave for your lessons.Other than that, if you need anything, please give me a call.” She exits the room, leaving Victor in utter silence and confusion.
Leo walks into a shop that sells magical artifacts. He looks inside a small glass case containing rings. He leans over, getting a better look at the variety inside. A woman approaches him and says, “Hello, is there a ring that tickles your fancy?”
Leo looks up and smiles. “Hello. I’m looking for a ring that can assist with Air Magic.”
“I have a few rings to help those with air specialties.” She reaches in and pulls out a small tray of rings. “I like this one.” She holds up a silver ring with a large blue gem.
“Too gaudy,” Leo replies.
“Well, how about this one?” She holds up a black ring with several tiny white gems wrapped halfway around it.
“No, I need something without gems. Like this one.” He points to a metallic blue ring.
She gives Leo a funny look. “Well, this one is very plain. Are you sure this is what you want?”
She hands Leo the ring. “Yes, this will be perfect,” he responds. “He is a strong empath, and the gems will either block his ability or intensify it too much.”
The woman takes the ring back and places it in a small box. “You could have mentioned it was for an empath. I do have some other artifacts that could help.” She walks Leo to the other side of the shop and stops in front of a tall glass case containing wands and swords.
“Everything in here is perfect for an empath and their specialties. If this is for someone learning a new skill, might I suggest this sword?” She takes out a small black sword with blue leather wrapped around the hilt. A round sapphire is attachedto the top of the hilt, and a medium-sized pearl is embedded in the black metal. “This will be perfect for using their empathic abilities when defending against attacks. It will slice the magic in half like butter.”
Leo takes the sword and examines it carefully. “What about Fire? I’m having a hard time seeing if the magic in this will prevent fire attacks.”
She takes the sword and twirls it around with her wrist. “Throw something at me.” She takes up a defensive stance as Leo looks at her. “Come on, throw something at me.”
He takes a few steps back and twirls a blue fireball her way like a baseball. As it comes at her, she swings the sword and slices the fireball in half, causing it to extinguish. She twirls the blade with her wrist again, waiting for more. Leo tosses three more fireballs, more prominent this time. She swings the sword, connecting it to all three. They vanish just as soon as they connect with the steel.
Leo throws a green flame at her. She holds the sword up, and the sword absorbs the flame. The steel begins to glow a greenish color. She swings the blade to the ceiling and releases the green flame onto it. The magic protection of the ceiling extinguishes the green flame.
Leo nods, impressed, “I’ll take it.”
The employee smiles as she walks back behind the counter. “Would you like me to wrap it up for you?”
“Why not?” Leo smiles.
The clerk takes the sword and places it in a deep charcoal box. “You know, we do have some nice harnesses for sale,” the clerk suggests, nodding to a rack with various harnesses for holding swords and other objects.
“Trying to upsell me?” Leo jokes as he walks over to pick out a harness. He finds a simple black one that slings diagonally across the chest. “I take it one size fits all?”
