“I’m still trying to figure out what a cambion is,” Oaklie said, not daring to move.“I’ve never heard of anyone called Rahab and I’m twenty years old.”
He sneered at her response.“Cambions all have special abilities,” he said.“You obviously possess the talent to infiltrate my mind and plant suggestions inside it.That’s how I carved your likeness out of that oak branch.”
Her confusion was growing at his accusations.“I seriously have no idea what you’re talking about,” she said, beginning to grow angry herself.
He ignored her and lowered his sword slightly.“Rahab doesn’t know I’m aware of his trap yet,” he said craftily.“I can turn the tables on him and use his own weapon as bait.”
Growing tired of the conversation, Oaklie brought her mental shield back into place.He didn’t sense her swell of power as she sent her magic into the coffee table behind him.Fusing everything resting on it in place so they wouldn’t fall to the floor and alert him, the wooden table silently rose behind him.Four arms with shackles on the ends formed.She locked eyes with the knight and his focus became absolute when she smiled at him.Like all men, he was easily distracted by a bit of flirtation.
Striking as fast as a snake, the arms shot forward and the shackles clamped around his biceps and thighs.The table fused with the floorboards to hold him in place.Roaring and thrashing, the warrior was caught fast.
Oaklie rolled sideways out of the chair before Arkas could try to stab her.She used the recliner for cover and waited for her captive to calm down.“You do realize I could have easily killed you, right?”she pointed out.To enhance the threat, she prodded him in the back with a sharpened section of wood that suddenly jutted out of the coffee table.
“Whydidn’tyou kill me?”Arkas snarled in rage.“Isn’t that Rahab’s goal?Or does he intend to capture me and try to draw my commander into yet another ambush when he tries to save me?”
His scornful tone bit deep even though she was still clueless about the people he was talking about.Rubbing her spine where she’d been stabbed, her palm was bloody when she examined it.Her jacket and shirt were ruined and she didn’t have many jackets to spare.“Do you really think I let myself get knifed in the back on purpose?”she asked in derision, showing him her stained hand.
Arkas considered the question and eyed her warily.“Why don’t you feel evil?”he asked.“Is it yet another trick you can perform?”
“The only magic I can use is manipulating wood,” she told him.“I can’t infiltrate anyone’s mind or use tricks to make myself not feel evil.I’m just me,” she said, feeling weary and defeated.
Arkas frowned, then stopped struggling against the shackles.“Your skill is impressive, female,” he said in grudging admiration.“I have many questions, as do you.Perhaps we can piece the truth together if we remain calm and call a truce.”
“I’mcalm,” Oaklie said defensively.“You’re the one who held a sword to my neck.”
He had the grace to look guilty.“Cambions have always been evil in the past eras,” he said stiffly.“I’ve never encountered one of your kind that didn’t try to kill me before.”
“Past eras?”Oaklie murmured, indecisive about what to do.He felt like he was a good man, but he’d just threatened to kill her.
Thunder rumbled, rattling the windows in their frames.It was about to pour with rain and she was thirsty.“Wait there,” she ordered.“I’m going to change my clothes and put the kettle on.Do you want something to eat or drink?”
“Knights don’t require any sustenance,” he said, stoically remaining still.
“Of course you don’t,” she muttered sarcastically, then headed to the kitchen.She poured water into the kettle, then put it on the stovetop to boil.Keeping her senses focused on her guest, she went to her bedroom and stripped to her waist.Cleaning her fully healed back with a wet washcloth in the bathroom, she was glad her pants hadn’t been ruined as well.
Dressing in her bedroom, she hurried back downstairs.Arkas was still contained by the coffee table, which towered over him now.His expression was starting to look bored and his sword was gone.The kettle began to boil, so Oaklie made herself a mug of tea, then returned to the living room.
“Are you going to behave if I let you go?”she asked warily.
“I give you my word, female,” Arkas replied.
Her magic poured into the coffee table and the shackles vanished.He hastily stepped away from the furniture that rapidly resumed its original shape and location.Taking a seat on the far end of the couch, he warily stretched out his leg to push the table further away with his foot.
Oaklie snickered and he flashed her a rueful look.“Amaros will be impressed with your skills,” he said.“It’s a pity cambions and their sires are our enemies.”
That statement sent a strange stab of pain into her heart.She’d hoped he would be able to put his animosity aside, but his prejudice seemed to be deeply ingrained.“Let’s start again,” she suggested.“I’m Oaklie Woods.I’m twenty years old and I don’t know who or what my father is.My mom was attacked by a stranger not long after she married the man who thought he was my biological dad.She told me about it when I turned seven, so I could understand why I’m so different from normal people.”
Arkas took in her short speech, studying her face closely.“As I said, I’m Arkas, a Knight of Order,” he replied.“We were created by Order when this planet was first made,” he began.
Oaklie listened to his incredible tale of two warring factions who were directed by entities called Fate and Anarchy.It was hard to believe he was as ancient as he claimed.He only looked a few years older than she was.
Rubbing her forehead when he was done, she tried to assimilate everything she’d just heard.“So, my real dad is a Soldier of Chaos who must have been released from the Void early,” she summed up.“You think he’s been hiding on Earth this whole time, waiting for the rest of his squad to appear?”
“So it would seem,” Arkas replied.He kept flicking wary glances at the coffee table as if waiting for it to attack him again.
“Wouldn’t there be dozens of other cambions running around who are also his offspring?”she asked.“I find it hard to believe they all managed to hide their talents from humans for this long.”
Arkas shrugged his massive shoulders.He’d slouched down on the couch and was tapping his thigh impatiently.She had the feeling he had a hard time sitting still for long periods of time.“Maybe Anarchy ordered your sire to only impregnate one female,” he said.
