Passion In Print

The LasT

sorceress

Marguerite Arotin

Passion in PrinT Press www.passioninprint.com

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. Copyright 2011 by Marguerite Arotin

All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. Published by Passion In Print Press 3052 Gaines Waterport Rd. Albion, NY 14411 Visit Passion In Print Press on the Internet: www.passioninprint.com

Editing by Katrina Knights

Print ISBN# 978-1-60820-472-4 ebook format ISBN#978-1-60820-473-1 Issued 2011 This book is licensed to the original purchaser only. Duplication or distribution via any means is illegal and a violation of International Copyright Law, subject to criminal prosecution and upon conviction, fines and/or imprisonment. This eBook cannot be legally loaned or given to others. No part of this eBook can be shared or reproduced without the express permission of the publisher.

Dedication and Acknowledgements: Dedicated to Chris, who helped me dive into a fantasy world by helping me set up a fictional convention, and to my husband and son for their love and support. Also, to my sorceresses, all the fantastic critique partners who helped on this story, and my awesome editor, Katriena, for believing in my story. Thank you everyone!

Prologue

“No,” Dazzart whispered, lifting the broken body of his mother from the smoking stones outside of the Cave of Torture. The scent of sulfur made his eyes water and confirmed his worse fears. “No, you will not die. You cannot leave me.” Ogres weren’t supposed to cry, but his voice trembled all the same. He pushed back a strand of her bloodstained golden hair, and she fluttered her eyelids open. Praise be to the God of War, she lives. “Dazzart...” She coughed and blood sputtered from her mouth. “Tell me what to do, Mother. Show me how to heal you.” He stroked her cheek, so soft and fragile, unlike his own rough, green skin. “Shall I find Eolande?” “No, not even the elixir can... It’s my time, son. You must accept this.” He clenched his teeth. “I’ll kill her. I found Father inside the cavern. I swear Adieal won’t breathe much longer because of what she did to you both.” Her cold hand caressed his cheek and he shivered, missing her usual warm, gentle touch. “My son...” His mother, once the most powerful and beautiful sorceress in Carnitha, smiled. She had a chipped tooth and crimson-stained lips, but Dazzart had never seen a lovelier smile. “You cannot destroy Adieal alone.” “I have the armies of Carnitha on my side. I might not rule my homeland, but I do run the military.” “I know. Your father and I were proud when... Son, I cannot hold on much longer but I had a vision...must…” “Tell me, Mother. What is this vision?” Her second sight had never failed. She’d foretold Dazzart’s rise to Tribal Leader when he was a small ogreling. “A sorceress with a good heart shall vanquish the evil from Carnitha. Find her, Dazzart. She will destroy Adieal. Promise

2 Marguerite Arotin me...” She didn’t finish. Her eyes rolled back and her body fell limp. He closed her eyelids, kissed her forehead, and placed his mother on the ground. A tear slid from his eye. He was a strong ogre, but the loss of his fair sorceress mother brought tears to his eyes. “I don’t know how I’ll find her, or where, but I vow to you, I shall find the sorceress. It will become my life’s mission.” Dazzart’s battle cry echoed as he entered the cave, found the body of his father, and carried him out. He placed his ogre father’s body beside his mother and slammed his fist into a large boulder, splintering the rock into two pieces. Rage flooded his body, and he desired nothing more than to break every bone in Adieal’s body. Alas, he knew better. Only magic could destroy the evil sorceress who had murdered his parents. He would find her, this kind-hearted woman, even if he had to cross the Great Divide to do so.

Chapter One Janet sighed as her son, a grumpy teen with bushy hair and big, brown eyes, attempted to make his way to the front door. She expected to enjoy some alone time with Spencer, her flesh and blood. After all, Saturday was her one day off. Although, since dust bunnies dotted the grungy carpet, she knew her housework needed to be done. She sighed as she stepped in front of the doorway and impeded Spencer’s way. Things wouldn’t have gotten so out of hand with the housework if it wasn’t for Spencer and his damned Ogre Nation computer game. She had created her own kickass sorceress character, and now all she wanted was to spend some quality time with her son, his elf avatar, Nidhogg, and her sorceress avatar Maurelle. “Where do you think you’re going?” She raised her brow as she awaited Spencer’s reply. “Um, I had plans with Dad.” “Not going to work, son-of-mine. You know your father’s in Vegas with Stacy.” Stacy the white trash slut. Oops, did I just think that? For Spencer’s sake, Janet tried her best to act civilly towards the woman who’d broken up her marriage. She’d always greet Stacy with a smile on the occasions when they met. Still, sometimes those evil little thoughts crept in. “Um, I...” “Don’t you want to play Ogre Nation with your mother? I thought you loved that game.” “I do. Look Ma, I sorta got an invite for this Ogre Convention and Online tournament. Don’t even think about asking if you can go. I’m meeting a friend there and—” “And what is this friend’s name?” Spencer only stared at her. After looking her son up and down, Janet realized he had dressed a little nicer than normal.

4 Marguerite Arotin New, black Levi’s replaced the usual torn jeans. Instead of his faded gray Nike sweatshirt, he wore a new red and black Puma sweatshirt. He even smelled nice. She could have sworn he was wearing some kind of Calvin Klein cologne but couldn’t put her finger on the exact kind. She flashed her son a knowing grin. “Is this friend a girl?” He shrugged. “Maybe.” “Don’t play games with me, Spencer. You wouldn’t be all dressed up if you were just meeting Mike, Kevin, or Garret at the convention. Why didn’t you tell me? You know I love the game too.” “I...um...I’m going to miss my bus if you don’t let me go.” “Where is this convention, Spencer? Is it in Dayton or Columbus? You’d have to take countless buses to get there.” “It’s in Cleveland.” Janet frowned and crossed her arms over her chest. “You expect to take a bus to someplace that’s four hours away? “Kevin said there’s a charter bus leaving from Dayton. I was going to walk to his house and—” “No, you’re not taking the bus. I’m coming with you and driving.” “Ma, the convention and tournament are by invitation only. Only the best players get invited.” “Listen, Mister, you’re the one who got your mother addicted to the game.” She jabbed her finger into Spencer’s chest, hoping to make her point. “If it wasn’t for my need to connect with my only son, the dishes would be done regularly, I’d be able to make real dinner instead of Stouffer’s frozen lasagna, and the carpet we’re standing on wouldn’t look like a dirt volcano erupted. I’m coming with you and I’m driving. I’ll use your invitation to get in.” “Fine,” Spencer huffed as he rolled his eyes. “Let’s go then. I don’t want to be late.”

The LasT sorceress 5 Spencer pulled out his iPod and headset the minute they entered Janet’s trusty Mustang. She sighed, wondering why her only child chose to listen to a blaring racket. No doubt to drown my voice out. Janet was a child of the eighties and loved the music. Spencer was a child of the millennium and the ear­ splitting noise he claimed rocked. Janet turned to Spencer. “So have you heard anything about Ogre Quest’s upcoming release? I saw the game trailer on YouTube last week. Looks pretty cool.” No reply. She tried again. “Hey, how many of your friends from school are supposed to be at the tournament? I ran into Mrs. Finnegan at the bank. She said her son’s in trouble. Did Kevin mention anything about being grounded?” Spencer stared blankly at his iPod screen, watching some bizarre thrash metal video without acknowledging his mother. “Okay fine, you know what...I was just trying to talk to you. I mean, you used to tell me everything. Now I don’t even know how your day went or who you hang around with. So much for attempting to be an involved mother.” She pulled on to the freeway and wondered if Spencer acted this way when his father took him for the weekends. Probably not. He’d talk to his father for hours. Her ex probably knew all about the girl Spencer was meeting at the convention. Janet opened her window to allow some fresh air into the car when they hit a traffic jam on I-71. The scent of fresh-cut grass filled her car from landscape crews mowing the roadside lawns. A monarch butterfly landed on the car window and flew away when Janet moved the car a few inches forward. Once upon a time, she used to go for picnics in the park with Spencer and Dave on days like this. She smiled, recalling how Dave removed his glasses to play catch with Spencer, even though he couldn’t see two inches in front of him without them. After playing catch, they’d dig into a bucket of KFC.

6 Marguerite Arotin The picnic days dwindled when her ex began working longer and longer hours. They ended when Dave came home on one day with lipstick on his collar, screaming about how he wouldn’t have cheated if she hadn’t been so damned frigid and insecure. A car honked behind her, bringing her back to the present day. “Yeah, I know. I’m going,” she muttered as she hit the gas. Spencer rolled his eyes, and Janet decided she was better off not understanding what he’d muttered. Traffic in downtown Cleveland bit the big one, and the fact that the Indians were in town only made matters worse. Impatient people waiting in long rows of cars lined the exit for Ontario Street. Sunlight glimmered off the black Lincoln in front of her, and Janet wished she could get out of her car and bask in the glow. Ah, well. If sitting in this stupid traffic jam meant spending quality time with her son, and getting to meet the girl he got all dressed up for, then she could stand the claustrophobia for a little while. At last, traffic finally started moving and Janet thanked God she wouldn’t have to be stuck in her car with a sullen teen for much longer. She pulled on to Lakeside Avenue and then into the convention hall parking garage. As she neared the gate, Janet hoped she had the two dollars for parking. These days, she mostly relied on her bank card. It was rare she held cash in her hands, except at work, since she handled money all day long at the bank. She nudged her son. “Got any cash on you, kiddo?” He removed his headset. “What?” “Money. I need two dollars for parking.” “Don’t you have some change in the ashtray?” “Sure, I forgot about that. Thanks.” He put his headset back on his ears without replying. Janet sighed as she rifled through the ashtray and pulled out eight quarters. Finally, she found a parking spot and walked through the

The LasT sorceress 7 lower entrance of the hall with Spencer beside her. A large banner with the spiked club shield of Carnitha, the kingdom of ogres in the games, hung over the front door. All the major characters were pictured beside the shield. Dazzart, the ogre Tribal Leader, grasped a large spiked club. His brawny green body dared any intruder to cross. Ogre Queen Lilania and King Jerard sat on their thrones. Even the enemy characters were there. Janet shivered as she looked into the cold black eyes of Adieal, the enemy of all the sorceresses. In this picture, she stood behind a swirling purple vortex, her sword raised high above her head. Janet had yet to defeat her. In fact, she had killed Maurelle, Janet’s character, twice. Spencer shook his head as she shuddered in fear. “She’s not real, Ma. Come on, let’s go inside. I want to see if I can find Anita.” Janet nudged her son. “Ah, your girlfriend?” “She’s just a friend, Mom. You know Gilraen Elenzar, the elf barmaid who works at the Drunken Duck, right?” “Yeah, she’s the one whose boobs you’re always staring at.” Janet gasped, realizing she had spoken her thoughts aloud. Strike one, she’d insisted on going. Strike two—she’d mortified her only son. She only had one strike left today. Maybe it would be best if she kept her mouth shut. Spencer’s cheeks flushed as he clenched his fists. “Please don’t talk so loud, Mother. God, you... Look, I think Gilraen is hot. What guy wouldn’t? Anyway, Gilraen is Anita’s character. I met her while we were playing together at a library by Dad’s house. She’s a nice girl, but we’re only friends.” Then why’d you get all dressed if you’re only friends? She didn’t dare ask her son aloud. Janet knew she’d already embarrassed Spencer enough for one day. They followed the crowd inside. Spencer handed a pretty girl with long, black hair and vivid green eyes his invitation. He eyed her sparkly purple bikini and flowing fairy wings and smiled. “So, Eolande, where should we visit first?”

8 Marguerite Arotin Eolande? How did Spence know which costume the girl wore? “How often have you played this game, Spence?” “Eolande came to the aid of our party a few weeks ago while you were at work. She gives you the lifeforce elixir if you run into problems. She only comes to you if you get something like one hundred thousand quest points.” His voice took a real know-it­ all tone, and it bothered the hell out of her. The girl dressed as Eolande nodded. “I would have preferred to dress as Queen Lilana, but I heard that Glenn Bowden’s daughter is coming dressed as her. Eolande’s fun and all, but my thighs look too big in this teeny little costume.” Spence grinned and looked down. “I think they look just fine.” Janet rolled her eyes. Come on, Spencer. We’re here to meet your girlfriend, remember? A faint blush colored the fairy girl’s cheeks. She scribbled something on a piece of paper as she spoke to Spencer. “Um, thanks. Let’s see here. I’ll give you a schedule. Mr. Bowden from Ogre Quest Enterprises is scheduled to speak first at eleven. I’m certain he’ll have some cool things to say about how he developed the game. The playoffs begin at noon in the network room down the hall. There are a limited number of computers, so make sure you sign up early. You can also visit the booths. I heard that the guy dressed as the elf over at booth twelve has a movie petition he wants to send to Hollywood. There’s all sorts of Ogerite merchandise on sale too. Here are your maps and schedules.” She smiled and winked at Spencer as she handed him two sheets of paper. Spencer glanced at the sheet of paper, smiled at the girl, folded it up, and placed it in his pocket. As they walked away, Janet’s curiosity got the better of her. She asked to see Spencer’s schedule. “You have your own.” “She wrote something to you before she gave it to you, didn’t

The LasT sorceress 9 she?” “Um...no, she didn’t.” “I can tell when you’re lying, mister.” Spencer took after his father and tugged at his arms when he lied. “What is it? Did she give you her name, phone number, cell phone number, e-mail, or all of the above?” “Her name is Lissa,” he grumbled, “and she gave me her cell phone number.” Janet threw her hands up in the air. “She’s too old for you. She looks like she’s seventeen, and you’re only fifteen. Plus we’re supposed to meet your girlfriend.” “Anita isn’t my girlfriend.” Spence clenched his fists. “She’s just a friend. I don’t have any girlfriends because when I wanted to ask Laurie Phillips to the homecoming dance, you embarrassed me by picking up the phone and telling me that I was too young to go out on a date.” Janet had forgotten about that. She supposed the shock, after picking up the phone to call the ex and overhearing Spencer talking to a girl, had made her blurt out something she didn’t mean to say. Spencer was a nice-looking kid, and she’d known that day would come. It was just that...well, the fact that she had a son old enough to date made her feel old. Oh, come on now, girl, thirty-six isn’t old. God, she needed a social life. Then maybe she’d stay out of her son’s. Too embarrassed to say anything else, she wandered beside her son in silence. Third strike, no more chances to spend quality time with her only son. Janet sighed as she veered off and found a booth with guidebooks for the first and second Ogre Nation games, Ogre Nation: King Jerard’s Curse and Ogre Nation: the treasure of Carnitha. The guy at the booth looked just like King Jerard. He wore an ogre costume with grayish green latex skin, a gold crown around his large head, and a brown fur cloak. She stifled a giggle, thinking the ogre get-up made him look ridiculous.

10 Marguerite Arotin “Doesn’t that costume get a little warm?” she asked, handing him her credit card to purchase the guidebook to the first game. “It does, but I don’t mind. King Jerard is my favorite character, and Mr. Bowden insists that all the vendors come in costume. It’s part of the agreement for booking the booth.” “Thanks,” she told the mighty ogre king as he handed her the guidebook in a plastic bag. She glanced around, and sure enough, all the vendors were dressed up. Janet counted ten King Jerards, seven Queen Lilianas, five ogress Princess Bannicks, six Adieals, and five Zoemith the Wickeds. There were quite a few vendors dressed in various unknown ogre, elf, sorceress, fairy, and dwarf costumes. She assumed they were dressed as the characters they played in the game. But it wasn’t just the vendors. No, there were King Jerards, Queen Lilianas, elves, evil and good sorcerers and sorceresses wandering around the convention hall. She suddenly felt a little out of place in her plain black T-shirt and blue jeans. Janet walked over to the booth that Lissa pointed out as having the Ogre Nation movie petition and smiled at the kid manning the booth. He was a little older than her son and dressed as a simple country elf with light blond hair. Thick, Coke-bottle glasses made his brown eyes bug out, and she wondered why he didn’t just give in and get contact lenses. “You really think this could make Hollywood interested in doing a movie?” She flipped through the thousands of signatures. “Maybe. There have been rumors of a movie floating around the net for about a year now. I just hope this will get things moving.” An Ogre Nation movie wouldn’t be a bad thing. It would probably make Glenn Bowden very happy, as the movie rights would bring in more money for him. She signed the petition as Spencer walked up with a cute auburn haired girl who wore a black Ogre Nation T-shirt.

The LasT sorceress 11 “We added your name to the playoff that’s taking place after Mr. Bowden speaks,” Spencer said. Janet guessed he wasn’t too angry with her if he’d signed her up. She only hoped she wouldn’t embarrass her son again. The girl standing next to Spencer grinned and said, “I’m Anita. Spencer has told me a lot about you. I hope you’ll be a member of our party when we play. We could use a good sorceress.” She shook Anita’s hand. “I’ll be happy to be a member.” Anita was a heck of a lot cuter than the Eolande girl at the registration counter. Silver, wire-rimmed glasses framed her soft blue eyes. She had a sweet smile too. Janet adored her instantly. “We should go find a seat. Mr. Bowden will probably start speaking any minute,” Spencer said as he pointed to the stage at the back of the convention hall. They managed to find seats in the front row. One by one, the folding chairs filled up with humans, ogres, fairies, elves, dwarves, sorcerers, and sorceresses. The curtain rose and revealed a backdrop of the gilded forest and a figure dressed as King Jerard. Janet wondered if he was the guy from the guidebook booth, but then glanced over and saw the vendor Jerard eagerly counting the money he had earned. The Jerard on stage growled into the microphone in front of him. “Esteemed Ladies, Gentlemen, Ogres, Fairies, Elves, and Dwarves, it is my honor to introduce the creator of our world. Please give a round of applause to Mr. Glenn Bowden.” The crowd went nuts as applause, hoots, and whistles filled the room. It was like they greeted a rock star when Mr. Bowden walked on to the stage. He bowed and waved to the audience as if he was really enjoying himself. He’s actually sort of a cute geek. Janet had seen photos of him on his website but never noticed how tall he was or how gorgeous his eyes were. She had a theory on geeks. There were two different types. The cute ones looked nice on the outside, but once they started talking, the nerd side shined through. Her ex was an average nerdy geek when they met and turned into a

12 Marguerite Arotin cute one after he lost weight and had his vision corrected. The problem with Dave was that his ego grew once he went from a regular geek to a handsome, but conceited, intelligent man. She smiled as she looked Glenn over. He had golden-brown eyes, perfectly groomed ash blonde hair, and was dressed in a nice brown suit. Most of the pictures on the Ogre Quest Enterprises Website pictured him wearing a dumpy gray sweat suit that did not accentuate his sturdy build. When he took the microphone, she noticed no wedding ring. Janet sighed as she flicked her long, brown bangs out of her eyes. For a moment, she wished she had Maurelle’s tanzanite eyes, velvet hair, and firm bosom. A woman like Maurelle would command the attention of a man like Glenn. A dull woman with mousy brown hair, gray eyes, and fat thighs would never get a second glance. When he spoke, Janet loved the tone of his voice. Very smooth and masculine. Okay, he had a sexy voice, and he was cute, smart, and rich. Why wasn’t he wearing a wedding band? Maybe he’s divorced or a widower. Ah, cut it out, Janet. He’s way out of your league. Stop ogling him and pay attention to what the man is saying. “As always, it is an honor to be here. Being amongst those who love the game I created is always a pleasure. Thank you for making Ogre Nation the bestselling online game of the past five years.” He paced the stage as he talked, and Janet tilted her head to see if she could get a good view of his ass. Spencer muttered something under his breath about how he shouldn’t have brought his mother. “I heard that, child of mine,” she whispered. “Just remember, you’ll still need a lift home. I could leave you here.” “I could find a ride home. I think Kevin’s here someplace.” “If his mother didn’t ground him. I saw Mrs. Finnegan at the bank. Kevin stayed out too late on Thursday night.”

The LasT sorceress 13 That shut Spencer up, and Janet smirked because she was able to bask in the smooth voice of Mr. Bowden without any more interruptions from her son. “Before we begin the Ogre Nation Playoff Tournament, does anyone have any questions?” the very nice looking, wealthy, and with any luck, single guy up on the stage asked. The elf from the movie petition booth raised his hand, and Glenn pointed to him. “Is it true that there is a movie in the works?” “The rights have been sold but we’ve yet to read a satisfactory script. All of us at Ogre Quest Gaming Enterprises want a magical script, one that can truly transport the moviegoer to the Kingdom of Carnitha. We have not found a screenwriter capable of doing so yet. Are there any other questions?” A teenage boy dressed as a dwarf with a long, gray beard raised his hand. “When will the third Ogre Nation game be released?” “It’s still in the works. However, we hope to have a preview of the game in flash movie format soon. The title of the game will be Ogre Nation: The Last Sorceress, and the quests will deal with freeing the last of the mighty sorceresses from the lair of Adieal and Zoemith. Are there any other questions?” Hold it, The Last Sorceress? Did that mean Janet wouldn’t be able to play Maurelle in this new game? She nervously raised her hand. Glenn looked her way, smiled, pointed at Janet, and the next thing she knew, King Jerard handed her a portable microphone. Normally, Janet hated public speaking, but the fact that her beloved Maurelle was in danger of dying off overrode her nerves. When she grabbed the microphone and stood up, her only child hid his head in his sweatshirt. Sorry to embarrass you yet again, kiddo. “You call the game The Last Sorceress. Does this mean that the players can’t play the sorceress avatars in the new game?”

14 Marguerite Arotin To her surprise, Glenn’s amber eyes brightened. She wondered what was going through his head. He didn’t answer right away. Instead, he gave her a dazzling smile that revealed two dimples. Her heart melted into goo. “As I said, the game is still in development. I had no idea that the sorceress character was still popular. We might be able to keep that particular avatar in the game.” Goose bumps raced down her spine as he raised his brow, and those yummy eyes looked her up and down. “Thank you for your question and your interest in the character. Can I ask your name?” My name? Mister handsome multi-millionaire wanted to know her name? Somehow, she managed to squeak out, “It’s Janet. Janet Lind.” “Ah, well thank you once again for your interest, Ms. Lind.” Heat raced through her body when he flashed his perfect smile. “Now without further ado, let the tournament begin. In the next room, we have two hundred and fifty networked computers. If you signed up, please check in with King Jerard at the door before you enter. I will preside over the game dressed as Dazzart the Bold. Please see me if you have any questions or computer issues while playing the game. Thank you one and all for coming, and I hope you enjoy the tournament and the rest of the convention.” The room erupted in applause. Janet finally caught a decent view of Mr. Multi-millionaire’s very nice behind as he walked away. Nice and tight, just the way she liked her buns. She wondered how a computer geek found the time to work out. Eh, with that boatload of money he probably had a personal trainer. Oh, how she would love to be that personal trainer. He’s gotta look great with his shirt off. I can see those muscles flexing... Stop it, Janet. You’ve got a game to play. You are not going to be able to concentrate when he walks by and you’re daydreaming about what’s underneath that ugly ogre costume. She lined up behind Spencer and Anita at the door. When

The LasT sorceress 15 they got to the door, King Jerard asked what their real names were along with the avatar names. “Spencer Marcus, Nidhogg Windhaven.” The mighty ogre king looked at his list and crossed Spencer’s name off. Anita was next. “Anita Kenyon, Gilraen Elenzar.” And then it was her turn. “Janet Lind. Maurelle Windhaven.” The ogre king looked at his list, glanced at her, and asked, “May I see your invitation, please?” “I came with my son. He did sign me up, didn’t he?” “You are on the signup list but not on our main list. May I please see your invitation?” “Spence, show the king your invite.” “I told you not to come, Mother,” Spence grumbled as he rummaged through his pocket. “I don’t need to see your son’s invitation. I need to see yours.” “I don’t have one. Spencer brought me as a guest. Guests should have every right to play too,” she protested. Someone dressed as Dazzart approached the king and pulled him away. When Dazzart winked with an amber eye, she knew he was Glenn. He’s coming to my rescue? I have to talk to him after the tournament. Mmm, he’s just so... When the mighty ogre king returned, he grunted, “Mr. Bowden has allowed an exception for you to play, Ms. Lind. All three of you are free to enter.” The doors opened, and Spencer and Anita walked in. Janet glanced around the hall for Glenn before she entered. Many ogres crowded the red-carpeted aisles, but no sign of her ogre. She wanted to thank him for making an exception, but he was gone. She only hoped she could thank Glenn for his kindness once they got inside, and that she wouldn’t do anything stupid. The last thing she needed was to run into Aideal first thing in the game and get killed off in front of the handsome game

16 Marguerite Arotin designer and CEO.

Chapter Two When they entered the room, Janet noticed a distinct metallic scent from all the computers. Each terminal sat dormant on plain white desks. Top of the line, flat screen 24” monitors stood tall and proud, waiting to dazzle each gamer with the promise of high definition graphics. She was glad they didn’t go the laptop, tablet, or Netbook route for the tournament. Playing Ogre Nation on the big screen was the only way to go. The chairs in front of each station looked comfortable enough with their plush cushions. With seats like that, the tournament was bound to last awhile. She found three computers next to each other in the back of the room. Spencer took a seat at the end, and Anita situated herself between them. Janet wasn’t sure if Spencer didn’t want to sit next to his mother because he was still embarrassed or he preferred to sit next to the adorable Anita with the sweet dimples. She couldn’t figure out why the cutie remained “just a friend” to Spencer. Janet took a deep breath, rubbing her damp palms on her pant legs, knowing she had to redeem herself in her son’s eyes. Plus, she had a certain handsome guy to impress. She secretly hoped that a kiss would be her reward for winning the tournament. King Jerard walked into the room and shouted out, “Creatures from the realm of Carnitha, you may turn on your computers.” The moment they turned the computers on, the game and all their avatars appeared on each individual screen. Janet scratched her head and muttered, “That’s odd. Spencer, we didn’t bring our flash drives along, did we?” Spencer shook his head no. “Wasn’t on the invitation. Yeah, it is a bit weird that the computers just boot straight to our character info. Isn’t it?”

18 Marguerite Arotin Janet shrugged. “Ah well, maybe they’re just programmed that way.” “Yeah, we both play online all the time so maybe they saved our character profiles from the server we usually select or something.” Janet smiled. Leave it to her son to come up with a more technical answer. Maurelle’s profile flashed onto the screen. Her sorceress was a buxom, raven-haired beauty who wore her long tresses in a braid. Maurelle’s strength as a sorceress grew each time Janet played because she used the winning from each quest to buy more spell books. She used the time between battles to let her character study them. She often thought about buying her new clothes or armor but the leather bra, bikini bottoms, the strap around her thigh where Maurelle kept her staff, and the sturdy suede boots would be something Janet would wear herself, if she had Maurelle’s bodacious curves. Besides, Maurelle was a wizard with her defensive spells. Purchasing armor would be a waste of her hard-earned quest winnings. The opening cut scene that flashed onto the high-def screen showed a breathtaking, tall, copper-haired sorceress. She wore a long blue cloak over a sapphire dress with gold trim and puffy sleeves. In her hand, she clutched a golden staff with a turquoise stone on top. The sorceress glanced over the shoulder of a man wearing a white muslin shirt, red cape, and brown trousers. The man’s long, gray hair was pulled into a neat ponytail, and his face was pleasant enough. He sat at a large desk with a scroll in his hand, and the voice that streamed from the speakers for him was authoritative and regal. He sort of sounded like Captain Jean-Luc Picard. Janet smiled because Patrick Stewart was one of her favorite actors. “A sorceress with a good heart shall be the one to vanquish all evil from Carnitha.” He paused and smiled at the sorceress. “It has to be you, Ionwe. You are the most powerful sorceress

The LasT sorceress 19 around, my dear wife.” Ionwe kissed the top of the man’s head. “Only because you taught me everything I know, Olorin. I think I am ready to face Adieal and Zoemith. We’ll reclaim the Book of the Damned, and Adieal will no longer be a threat to our world.” Janet raised her brows questionably as she listened. Book of the Damned? What the heck was that? First time she’d ever heard of it. It sounded like something out of a horror flick. Olorin clenched his wife’s hand. “Then go forth and do so. I, too, believe you are ready.” Janet huffed. “Hmpf, no one should be ready to face that witch or her evil lackey.” “Knock it off, Ma. I’m trying to hear,” Spence whispered. He rolled his eyes and pointed at the computer screen. “I think they’re letting us play the new game!” A flash of white light appeared on the screen, and Adieal’s evil laugh blared from the speakers. Janet rubbed her pounding ears. The bass was a little too much. The Drunken Duck flashed on the monitor, a small Englishstyle pub in the village of Pravoka. It was a thatched-roof building with the crooked sign of a fat duck in front of the oak door. The Drunken Duck was a popular gathering place for all the gamers and where Janet loved to begin her quests. There were always some great players in the Drunken Duck Tavern, making it easy to assemble a killer party. Gilraen, Anita’s elf avatar, tended bar at the Drunken Duck. Her pale hair was tucked neatly behind her pointed ears, and she wore a white, lace-topped shirt and dark skirt. The girl was a skilled archer, although Janet knew Gilraen got asked to join many quests because of her physical traits. The game was popular with teenage boys because of the attractive, largebreasted, female characters. She found Nidhogg, her son’s elf avatar, seated at the bar and typed, “Do you see anyone else here we can get to join our

20 Marguerite Arotin party?” “I just saw Alunil Griggory walk through the door after us. He’s in my homeroom at school. We can look for him and hope that he hasn’t joined anyone yet. He’s the only one I recognize,” Nidhogg replied. Anita pointed on the screen to a frowning ogress seated at a corner table. “I know her. She’s Gomick Berum. She’s always hanging around here, and we’ve done a few quests together. I can ask her.” “Well, I don’t really know anyone well enough to ask,” Janet typed. “But I think we’ll have a good party with two elves, an ogress, a sorceress and—what is Alunil?” “Oh, he’s a dwarf.” “Okay, add a dwarf to our party. Do any of your friends have any special skills?” “Gomick is a whiz with a club,” Gilraen’s reply flashed on the bottom of the screen. Spencer responded with, “Alunil is pretty decent with a sword, and we all know how awesome Gil is with a bow and arrow.” She smiled when Anita blushed at Nidhogg’s comment. “We’d better go round up our party and get going. We don’t want someone else to complete the first quest,” Anita typed with the rosy blush still coloring her face. “Okay,” Janet keyed. “Gil, you go grab Gomick. Spencer, you find Alunil and we’ll get our little party going.” While Nidhogg left the tavern and Gilraen went to talk to the ogress, she slid her eyes from the monitor for a moment to look for Glenn. The massive ogre body of Dazzart the Bold walked through the rows of desks with a teenage girl dressed as the ogress Princess Bannick. The registration counter had said he had a daughter. Guess she didn’t dress like the queen, after all. If there was such a thing as a small ogress, it was the little

The LasT sorceress 21 princess. She only came up to Dazzart’s waist, and when she turned, Janet noticed she had the same eye color as her father. Dazzart caught Janet’s gaze and winked. She grinned, returning her focus to the game with shivers racing down her spine. A short time later, Nidhogg returned to the tavern with a dwarf whose bushy brown beard was almost as long as he was tall. All five of the avatars headed to Fort Greenbalm to visit the mighty Dazzart. The line to get into the massive, brown stone fort wound its way through the tall, stately pine trees to the edge of the Pravoka border. Didn’t surprise Janet too much, because Dazzart was the military leader for the Carinthian army. He assigned the quests, and there were a lot of gamers in the room. She grinned, devising a clever plot to get her party farther ahead in the line. “Okay, gang.” Her smug fingers flew across the keyboard. “I don’t know about the rest of you, but I really don’t want to spend the entire tournament waiting in this line. If we all hold hands, I can do a transport spell and move us farther ahead.” “Can’t you just summon a growth?” Nidhogg asked. A growth was a mass of vines that swirled around the body, or even a whole building, transporting players elsewhere. Janet knew the spell to summon one, but the spell was unpredictable. Not to mention, Janet didn’t have enough confidence in Maurelle’s abilities yet to summon one. Summoning a growth was one of the more complex spells, and if a player didn’t cast it right, the vines might only wrap around part one body part and transport that part. She wasn’t about to have Maurelle’s beautiful head transported and not the rest of her, especially not with the handsome ogre watching the gamers. “Too risky. A transport spell will take us there, and it’s much easier to cast,” Janet replied. She glanced at her son. Sure enough, he bit his lip. She knew what her son thought about Maurelle. He never once told her Maurelle wasn’t good enough to fight alongside Nidhogg. Still, he made his mother feel that way. Her child was just like his

22 Marguerite Arotin father in that respect. He was always slow with the compliments, quick on criticism. “Let’s all hold hands and concentrate on where we need to be,” she keyed and shrugged off the little jab to her heart. The avatars grabbed hands as Janet typed the action, “Cast tspell= destination front of line.” She watched with glee as a flash rocketed across the monitor, and all the avatars were transported to the mighty wood doors of the fort. It worked. Janet only hoped the sexy beast, Glenn, had seen the clever spell. The guards escorted the party inside, and someone tapped her. She glanced over her shoulder and spied Dazzart. He leaned over her and whispered with that oh-so-husky voice, “Nice work. We have five sorceresses in here now, and not one of them has thought about using the transport spell. You get extra points for creativity.” Sure enough, a hundred points were added to the score. She turned to thank Glenn, but he was gone. Damn it. Guess she’d have to wait until after the game was done to talk to him. But hell if she didn’t want to talk to him right there and then. Get to know the guy better. No. Now wasn’t the time for flirting. Not when she had a game to concentrate on. Besides, she was probably out of practice when it came to the flirtatious, getting­ to-know-you, bullshit chat. On the screen, a mighty ogre tribal leader paced the center courtyard of the fort. Janet noticed two new things about this ogre. The first was that Dazzart’s eyes were a unique blend of gold and brown. The second was that when he spoke, the voice that came out of the computer speakers sounded familiar. Like that of a certain sexy multi-millionaire. She guessed he must like that character if he voiced him and modeled the ogre after himself. Ogres did make the best warriors, and she did admire their strength. “Your first quest,” the bulky ogre with the smooth voice said, “is to go to the Dark Forest and find the key hidden there. Beware of the goblins that guard the map. They were ordered

The LasT sorceress 23 by Adieal and Zoemith to guard the key with all their powers. If you return with the key before nightfall, I will give you a reward and information for your next quest. When you are ready, I will summon a growth to take you there.” The vines wrapped around Maurelle and Janet smiled. Piece of cake, goblins don’t like light. All I have to do is use my white light spell when I enter the forest. She closed her eyes and imagined the computer screen filling with that zap of white light. It was one of Maurelle’s best spells, and it had never failed. Instantly they were transported to the dark forest. Janet leaned toward the screen and whispered, “Now we get to work.” Janet jerked her head when she heard a sudden gasp behind her. A teenage girl shouted out, “It’s a growth on the walls. How cool is that!” Sure enough, long, green vines spilled out of the plain white walls. The thick vegetation climbed like wild weeds. The scent of the computer room changed from metallic to organic, like the smell of fresh-cut grass. “My God, what special effects,” she murmured. “Mom,” Spence snapped, “pay attention.” She frowned, but returned her gaze to the monitor. The goblins were quickly dealt with and the key retrieved. Not long after her party had completed several quests, she watched Mr. Super-sexy Multi-millionaire escort several unlucky players out of the room. She assumed gamers were given the boot of the tournament once their avatars died, but since Spencer sat there silently keying in his actions and phrases, she nudged Anita and asked, “When you die, are you out?” “It was on the sign-in sheet. There are no saving posts in the game. Once you die, you’re out.” Adieal and her cave of torture were the next stop on the quest map. Ugh, how I can face that bitch here in front of all these gamers when I can’t face her at home? Soon enough, they stood in the dark, dank cave of torture.

24 Marguerite Arotin Janet hated the lair of Adieal and Zoemith. The black walls of the cavern showing on the screen, the dripping sound and creepy music coming from the speakers, always made her skin crawl. However, this time the scene looked different. There was a large, silver cage in the corner of the cavern protected by an electric blue force field. Inside the cage sat the beautiful sorceress, Ionwe, and her husband, Olorin. Maurelle started towards the cage, the silver key gripped in her hand. She stopped when Ionwe spoke. “You cannot save us until you destroy Zoemith and Adieal.” On cue, Zoemith stepped out of the shadows and gave a menacing laugh. His silver eyes wandered across the group. He brushed his hand through his wild white hair. Zoemith might have had a skinny build, but Janet never underestimated his power. He wasn’t as hard to defeat as Adieal, but still a formidable opponent. “Destroy them,” Adieal ordered. Janet couldn’t see the witch yet, but the cold voice was enough to make her body stiffen. “As you wish, my love.” Janet suddenly realized Zoemith always did as he was told. Adieal had him wrapped around her little finger. Wondering if the party could use Zoemith’s one weakness to their advantage, she spied a black book sitting next to the cage. If that’s what I think it is, we can use it to distract them both. The Book of the Damned, the same one from the intro. “Someone needs to grab that damned black book!” Everyone in the party moved their characters over to the book, and she heard Adieal cry out, “Zoemith, stop them.” With the witch’s love-struck sidekick distracted, Janet found the chance to disarm him. She keyed in, “Cast levitation spell on Zoemith’s staff.” It worked. Anita turned, gave a cute wink, and Gilraen pulled her bow back. The pretty elf took Zoemith out with an arrow directly to his heart.

The LasT sorceress 25 “Nice job, Anita,” Janet whispered. “Easy peasy, I knew just where to hit him. I don’t know what we’re going to about Adieal, though.” Just as Anita spoke her name, the wicked sorceress appeared on the computer screen. Her long, brown hair, parted down the middle, hung over her shoulders, past her shapely bosom, and down to her waist. Though she was beautiful in her bloodred velvet gown with golden brocade cuffs, Adieal’s eyes always frightened Janet. They were dark as coal as she gazed down upon the characters with pure, evil anger. “You shall not take the captives. They are mine. I will absorb their power and become invincible.” Adieal reminded Janet of the evil stepmother in Disney’s version of Snow White, regal yet cruel. Before Janet could think of anything to cast, she hit Maurelle with a spell that sent her poor avatar crashing into the cavern wall. She breathed a sigh of relief when Maurelle staggered to her feet. Thank God, she was still okay. Hmm, now what am I gonna throw at that witch? In a flash, Gilraen sent an arrow toward Adieal. The witch deflected it and sent it straight to Gilraen’s heart. Maurelle walked to the wounded elf. Janet tried to type in a healing spell, but Adieal sent a fireball to her avatar. “Oh no you don’t.” She typed in a deflecting spell. The enchantment worked and sent the fireball shooting back to Adieal but it was too late for poor Gilraen. She put her hand on Anita’s shoulder. “Sorry, hon.” Anita flashed an adorable little smile, though her pretty eyes welled with tears. Poor kid. Janet wished Maurelle could have saved her. “It’s okay, Ms. Lind. I should’ve known better. The only way you can defeat her is with magic. Good luck.” Thanks, kiddo. I’m gonna need it. She smiled when Spencer rose and gave Anita a hug before slumping to his seat. Back in the game, Nidhogg and Alunil both had their shields

26 Marguerite Arotin raised and were huddled in a corner of the cave while Adieal laughed wildly and threw fireballs their way. Gomick was about to charge at the wicked sorceress with her club when Janet had Maurelle block her. “No,” she typed, attempting to steady her quivering fingers. “It takes magic to kill her. You wouldn’t happen to know any spells at all, would you? “The only spells ogres know are the ones for summoning a growth,” Gomick replied. “Can you summon a growth around her?” “I’ve tried it before, but she always breaks free. She does something where the vines all die.” “Crap, I guess I have no choice,” Janet responded, with her head throbbing from the pressure. Maurelle threw spell after spell toward Adieal, but she only laughed and deflected them. Janet knew it was only a matter a time before she killed off the entire party, so she turned to Spencer. “I think we should surrender,” she sighed. “What? Come on, Mom. You’re not even trying. Yeah, she’s tough, but I know you can defeat her if you try. Why don’t you do a transport spell on her?” “I’ve tried that before but she deflects it back to me. Haven’t figured out how to block her deflecting spells yet. Look, hon, I’ve tried to everything to get past her, and I cannot do it.” Spence clenched his fists and said, “Dad was right about you.” “Right about what?” Janet asked while Maurelle deflected three huge orange fireballs. “I don’t like it when your father badmouths me.” “He wasn’t badmouthing you. He just said something that’s true.” “Listen, kiddo, if you don’t tell me what your father said, I’ll

The LasT sorceress 27 ground you for a month.” “He said you have no confidence. He said once he got skinny and had laser vision surgery, you became an insecure wreck. He got tired of dealing with it.” Spencer’s cruel words dug like a knife to her heart. She didn’t want to play the game anymore, stopped deflecting, and let Maurelle get hit. Numb, she watched through misty eyes as Maurelle’s beautiful body burned. She didn’t care and only watched as the rest of the party died, until a big hand squeezed her shoulder. “Sorry, Ms. Lind. But it’s time to go,” a sexy, baritone voice whispered into Janet’s ear. A small piece of her broken heart wanted to look into those gorgeous eyes of his and maybe find some comfort. But she couldn’t stand seeing his disappointment. Instead, she headed straight for the door. She was a failure as a mother and a gamer. Spence hated her now. Nothing she could do, nothing she could say would change that fact. A small voice deep inside whispered, Your son is right. Maybe she did have a few confidence issues. Any woman who stuck by the guy she loved when he was a geek only to be tossed aside when he got better looking would feel the same. Any woman who was constantly compared to her perfect sister growing up would think she wasn’t worth much. But Janet hated to hear it from the mouth of her only child. When they headed for the exit, a grayish green hand grabbed her shoulder. She turned and looked into those big, warm eyes and expected to see disappointment. But there wasn’t. Those amber brown eyes glittered with what looked like amusement. He handed her a brown paper package. “Here, open it when you leave,” Glenn said. “Um, thanks, I guess. Will you be doing another conference in the Cleveland area anytime soon?” “We will meet again, very soon. Do not worry, Maurelle.”

28 Marguerite Arotin He was gone before she could ask why the heck he’d called her Maurelle. Janet did see him hand identical packages to Spencer and Anita. Anita gave her an awkward little smile as Spencer rushed straight for the exit. His face was red and his fists were still clenched. She wanted to say she was sorry for giving up without a fight. Her pride prevented her from speaking to him at all. Spencer charged through the door and stopped. Janet almost ran into him. “Spence, what the—” She broke off as she looked over his shoulder. One white stone room, covered in thick vines, was all that remained of the massive convention hall. She would never know if the vendors or the rest of the convention goers noticed that the entire network room had vanished, but her jaw dropped as she turned. They stood in the middle of a huge forest. There were no forests in Cleveland. The Metroparks ran through the suburbs, but even the Metroparks had roads. Tall, majestic trees surrounded her. Deer ran wild and free. A dragon with thick, blood-colored scales soared above their heads. It’s wild, lionlike call held Janet spellbound. Hold it, a dragon? No, it’s an airplane. It has to be a plane, if it was a dragon that would mean we were all in the... “M-mom, d-did y-you s-see that t-th-thing?” “It’s an airplane, sweetheart. That’s all it was. Come on, let’s go find our car.” “N-no, that was not an a-airplane.” “Spencer is right,” a small voice whimpered. Anita approached. Her entire body trembled. “It was red. It had scales. I heard it roar.” This cannot be happening. Carnitha is not real. We’re still in downtown Cleveland. We’re not that far from Burke Lakefront Airport. It was just a special airplane decorated like a dragon. Maybe the air show was in town?

The LasT sorceress 29 A tree branch snapped behind them. Janet turned to see a very large ogre with golden-brown eyes smiling at them. “Open the packages now. It should explain a lot.” The paper crinkled in her hand when she slowly ripped through her package. She didn’t know how to react when she found the leather get-up Maurelle wore and a large, golden book. The only thing missing was the staff. But before she could say anything, the handsome man dressed in an ogre costume handed her a golden staff with a large opal stone on top. He grinned, and Janet shuddered at the sight of his glistening fangs. “It was too large to wrap. Go try it on. I’m eager to see how you look in it.” “Okay, this isn’t funny, Shrek.” She winced when Spencer looked to the sky, as if he prayed for a dragon to fly by and carry him off to its lair. Sorry, kiddo. I know that one was pretty bad. Slipped out of her mouth before she could take it back. She sighed when Dazzart laughed. Why is everything I say or do the end of my child’s mortal existence? Then again, she was pretty sure this was the end of their mortal existence. “Shrek, yes, I saw the movie,” the ogre replied. His raucous laughter filled the forest before he continued. “Real life is far more interesting. I wonder where your movie moguls get their ideas from.” “Okay, we’ve gotten off track here. We shouldn’t be discussing movie ogres. We should be talking about why you gave us this stuff. Number one, I don’t have the body to wear this sort of thing...” “Oh, I beg to differ.” He laughed. “Look down.” Her boobs had ballooned to twice their normal size. Now, she wasn’t about to complain about it but did feel pretty uneasy about the sudden chest growth spurt. It wasn’t just her breasts, though. Her legs were longer. Janet’s jeans looked more like capris. She reached behind her neck, gasping as she realized her plain old short hair was gone. It was longer and felt like

30 Marguerite Arotin it had been braided. She grabbed the braid, tossed it over her shoulder, and saw that it was velvet black. Janet glanced over at Spence and Anita. They had changed too. Anita was now a pretty little elf with silvery blonde hair and very pointy ears. Spencer was a tall elf with black hair, dark blue eyes, and a frightened look on his face. “What the hell did you do to us?” she shouted. “Change us back right now.” “I can’t,” the ogre replied. “You are no longer Janet Lind. Henceforth, you shall be Maurelle Windhaven, your son shall be Nidhogg Windhaven, and Anita, you shall be Gilraen Elenzar.” “No, no, no! No, this sort of thing doesn’t happen. This is a sick joke. Did my ex put you up to this? Take off that ridiculous costume now and change us back.” “Why is my human form more appealing to you, my sorceress? I saw the way you looked at me during the conference.” His voice was still very husky and very sexy. It made her long to see the man beneath that mask again. She reached forward and gave his chin one heck of a yank. Very odd—it didn’t feel like latex. He grabbed her arm, and she felt a loss of circulation from his strong grip. “I would advise you not to do that again. Put on your uniforms now, please. The others are all waiting at Fort Greenbalm, and I have to return in time to welcome the rest of the gamers to our world.” She stood there, frozen for a moment, rubbing her pulsating temples. Her heart pounded, and she could barely breathe. Okay, so the guy I thought was my knight in shining armor is really an ogre, I am not Janet anymore. A dragon flew over my head. Holy crap, the growth on the walls of the network room, that’s how the bastard lured us here. It was real. This place is real. I’m really a sorceress. Oh shit, that must mean Adieal really existed. At that point she did what any woman in her position would do. She freaked out.

Chapter Three Janet had no idea how long she swung her fists into Dazzart’s massive, hairy chest, cursing him out. She screamed at a decibel so loud, the deer ran for cover. It appeared not to bother the ogre at all. He stood there and smiled. Two large, stained fangs protruded from his bottom gum. God, she missed the one hundred watt smile of her Mister Multi-millionaire. The moment she realized Dazzart wasn’t wearing a mask, it all sank in. Her blood boiled with fury. “You asshole, you tricked us all,” she screamed as tears of rage streamed down her face. “How dare you? You led us all here under false pretenses. I want you to take me, my son, and my son’s girlfriend—” “She’s not my girlfriend, Ma,” Spence interjected. She gave Spence a reproving look of motherly irritation. “Fine, the girl that’s my son’s friend. Take us home now.” Dazzart grabbed Janet’s arms above the elbows and hoisted her into the air. She gasped in utter shock. “Enough,” his bold voice bellowed while her legs quivered a good two feet above the ground. “You will go to Fort Greenbalm. I will explain everything to you when all of the players have arrived.” It was strange how his voice, even though she now knew it didn’t belong to the handsome Mr. Glenn Bowden, still turned her body into a quivering mass of Jell-O. You could have stirred her bones with a wooden spoon. “Fine,” she answered through clenched teeth. “Now will you please put me down?” He set her on the ground, and Janet wondered how someone so handsome in on Earth could be so hideous in this world. Yet, despite the fact that he was big, green, hairy, and had two large, white horns sticking out of his head, those warm eyes still melted her heart. His eyes looked right through her sorceress flesh and into the heart of the petrified suburban mom.

32 Marguerite Arotin When Janet was able to speak again, she asked, “How are we going to get to Fort Greenbalm and where the hell are we? I might have played the game often enough, but I sure don’t know my way around here.” Dazzart’s huge green arm pointed straight ahead. “You are in the middle of the Gilded Forest. Fort Greenbalm is to the west, two miles away from here. You can do a transport spell to get there or I could escort you. My daughter is here and can greet the remaining players as they arrive.” Ah, his daughter, the little ogress he’d walked with during the convention. “Is she really the princess?” she asked, her frazzled brain still trying to comprehend the fact that this world was real, the scary witch was real, and the handsome Mr. Bowman was really an ogre. Janet would have given anything to see Glenn’s smile one last time. “Yes, she is. I don’t have time to explain it all now. How do you wish to get to the fort?” Janet pondered this for a minute as she tapped her foot on the hard forest floor. Doing a spell in a game was one thing, casting a spell for real scared her to death. “We’ll walk.” Her eyes could not believe the sheer magnificence of the gilded forest as they walked through it. The brisk scent of pine filled the air. She smiled because it took her back to days at camp as a Girl Scout. There were deciduous and evergreen trees, similar to the foliage of Earth. Beams of radiant sunlight danced off more unusual trees with glittering golden bark. She was tempted to break off the golden bark. She remembered from the game how the bark was collected and traded as money, but continued because she didn’t want to face Dazzart’s rage. The branches, leaves, and pinecones underfoot crunched in steady rhythm as they trudged onward. Janet glanced over her shoulder at Nidhogg and Gilraen, who were slowly trailing. They looked as amazed as she felt. Nidhogg’s huge blue eyes had a deer-in-the-headlights look as they walked. She knew her son was having a difficult time comprehending

The LasT sorceress 33 it all. Although she was still a little angry at him for what he said during the playoffs, her mothering instincts took over. She walked over to him and put her arm around his shoulder. At home, Janet had to reach up to put her arms around Spencer, but Maurelle’s sorceress body was taller than his elf body. She kissed him on the cheek and said, “It’s okay, sweetie. I know how shell-shocked you are right now. We’ll get through this, kiddo.” He flashed the most adorable grin and asked, “Does this mean I don’t have to go back to school?” Janet laughed, knowing Spencer would be fine. “You’ll have to ask the big ogre over there,” she said, pointing to Dazzart, who lumbered several feet ahead of them. “You know what? I have a boatload of questions for him. I’ll ask.” She ran up to him, inhaled once, and began the barrage of questions. “Okay, Shrek, why did you bring us here? How long are you keeping us? What do you plan on doing with us?” He turned. “One question at a time, and I would advise you not to call me Shrek again. I do not speak with a Scottish accent, nor am I as cute and animated,” he said with his bold, commanding voice. She had to admit Dazzart the Bold was the perfect title for him. He could have tamed an entire army with that voice. A part of her found it sexy as hell, but a part of her questioned the fact that she found anything about a big, green ogre sexy. “Um, okay. Why did you bring us here?” “We needed more heroes. We brought armies from the elf nation of Eliana, from the fairy nation of Fariana, the magic nation of Veneficium, and the dwarf nation of Elbumnum. Most of them perished in battle. We had no other choice but to bring others from beyond The Great Divide.” “Hold it. What the heck is The Great Divide?” The ogre’s voice sounded kind and patient as he replied, “A division between your world and our world. It’s located at the

34 Marguerite Arotin edge of the Gilded Forest.” Ah ha! The Great Divide was a way out and back to the normal world. “Okay, well, bye. I guess I’ll go take my son and his girlfriend back to this Great Divide thing. Been nice meeting you, Dazzart...Glenn...whoever the hell you are.” Janet started to walk away when a massive green hand encircled her arm. She struggled, but couldn’t break free from the iron grip of the beast. “It’s not that easy,” the ogre explained, “I spent several months looking for a world like yours. The divide could take you to any world. It’s a portal, and it is not known where you could end up.” “I’m willing to take the risk,” she huffed, struggling to pull away. “Why? Isn’t this what you’ve always wanted? To live in a land where anything is possible? To use the power of good to fight all the evil that threatens your world? We need you here, Maurelle. Sorceresses of your magnitude are not easy to come by.” “What about that Ionwe chick you had in the game? I’m sure she’s a good enough sorceress. Or that Olorin guy? He looks like he could take on anything.” “Ionwe was a powerful sorceress. Unfortunately, she perished in a battle with Adieal. Olorin is her husband, and he will be the one training you.” Janet shook her head, trying to comprehend that the witch who haunted her nightmares was real. “Dazzart, I cannot do this. I’m just a single mom who has a crummy job at a bank. I am not and can never be a powerful sorceress.” He pulled her close, and she noticed another interesting thing about him. Janet always thought, since ogres were so ugly, they would stink. But Dazzart had a very rugged, very masculine, outdoorsy scent to him. She was surprised by how his woodsy scent made her knees buckle, and even more surprised that she liked being in his

The LasT sorceress 35 huge, muscular, ogre arms. He flashed her a toothy grin and said, “You can do this. You have the power within you. Olorin will help you find it.” Then he released her. “Will you be involved in my training at all?” she asked, knowing he played a big part in the game and hoping he did so in this world as well. She could count on him and wanted to trust him. Of course, she’d once thought the same thing about her ex. But somehow Dazzart didn’t seem like the sort to let anyone down. “I will help you as much I can. Now we must go. The others are waiting for us at the fort.”

§§§§ Fort Greenbalm looked like it had leapt off the screen from an epic fantasy movie. The programmers for the game had captured the massive, gray stone walls, the solid wood door, and each one of the four sturdy towers with iron roofs perfectly. Looking at it on a computer screen could never compare to looking at the huge structure up close and personal. Janet wondered how long it took to build the fort but as she watched the heavily armored ogres who guarded it, she knew it couldn’t have taken that long. Brutes that big could have built the structure in just days. Dazzart turned to Janet when they neared the door. “Before you enter, you must put your uniform on. I will wait here if you’d like to go behind that gooseberry bush to dress.” She didn’t trust the way the ogre eyeballed her, but decided to go along. Curiosity to see how the clothes looked on Maurelle’s body, and her curves, ensnared her. She would have never worn anything this risqué back home. As quickly as she could, Janet changed into the leather outfit while Nidhogg and Gilraen changed into their new clothes behind other shrubs. She looked down and was shocked by how well it seemed to suit her new form. The leather bra clung to her new, Dolly Parton-sized boobs like a glove to a hand. It was like

36 Marguerite Arotin slipping into her favorite T-shirt and sweat pants at home after wearing a suit and pantyhose at work all day. She never knew leather could feel so darn comfortable. Now it felt like she was meant to do this. It felt like she had been living a lie as Janet Lind and was really meant to be Maurelle, the mighty sorceress. Suddenly, she didn’t want to go home. Spencer did a double take when the newly transformed sorceress walked out from behind the bush with the old clothes draped over her arm. Both he and Anita had already changed clothes, and her kiddo looked quite handsome in his plain white shirt and brown suede pants. “Wow! I wonder what Dad would think if he saw you now.” “Not that I care what you father thinks anymore, but it’s nice of you to say that, sweetheart.” She smiled and patted her son on the back. Janet changed her mind about not wanting to go home when she felt the golden eyes of the massive ogre gazing at her new body. She had never had anyone, not even her ex, look like they wanted to devour her. His eyes blazed through her sexy leather get-up, and she swore he licked his ugly fangs. She started to run but the huge, green beast grabbed her arm. “Come, the others are waiting inside the fort.” “I guess I really have to do this, don’t I? Ugh, had I only known what I was getting into, I would have never come to the stupid tournament.” The edges of Dazzart’s stern mouth started to twitch, and she wondered if he was trying to form a smile. “I don’t believe that,” he said, “I think you were destined to be a sorceress, Janet.” A chord struck deep inside Janet at the sound of her real name from his lips. She didn’t really believe in destiny. She was one of those people who believed you just muddled on through life trying to figure out where you fit in. But Dazzart believed plain old Janet Lind was meant to be a mighty sorceress, and his belief was enough to send her walking through the large door.

The LasT sorceress 37 She noticed a large congregation of all sorts of creatures the moment they stepped into the courtyard of the fort. There were many large ogres, several stocky dwarves, graceful fairies fluttering about on their long elegant glittering wings, and regal elves. There were five women, each one distinctively dressed, but all were carrying staffs with precious stones set into them. The sorceresses, yep those are the girls I belong with. Most of the ladies were Caucasian, but one woman had dark cocoa skin. One small girl caught her eye the most. The petite slip of a sorceress sat huddled in the corner beneath her red velvet cloak. Janet might have been transformed into a mighty sorceress— however, she was also a mother, and it made her walk over to the shivering girl. She knelt down next to her and asked, “Are you okay, sweetheart?” The young woman lifted back the hood of her cloak, and her pretty, crystal-blue eyes glittered with tears. Instinctively, Janet brushed a wild orange curl away from the young sorceress’s forehead. The girl wiped away her tears and forced a smile. “I’ll be fine, thanks. I didn’t expect things to turn out this way.” Janet laughed. “Hon, that’s the understatement of the year. I don’t think any of us expected to be here. What’s your name?” “My new name or my old name?” “Both. My birth name was Janet—my new name, I guess, is Maurelle.” “My old name was Amber, my new name is Alande.” “I like the name Alande. It’s a good name for a sorceress. Why don’t you come with me, and I’ll introduce you to my son and his friend?” She seemed a little hesitant at first, but finally stood up. “All right, I guess I’ll go with you.” Her cloak slipped from her shoulders, revealing a cool and funky get-up. She wore a red corset with black satin ties, red and

38 Marguerite Arotin black striped tights, and thigh-high black boots. Janet hated to admit it, but her outfit was a lot more creative than Maurelle’s Amazonian gear. It showed enough creativity to make any Hollywood costume designer turn as green as Dazzart. She led Alande to Nidhogg and Gilraen and introduced her. “Hey, kiddos, I met another sorceress. This is Alande.” Nidhogg looked at her funky get-up, and being a male, his eyes wandered over to her small, yet perky little boobs. Janet winced when Gilraen rolled her eyes. Her kiddo, she realized, was an idiot for not noticing the cute blonde elf with her own nice bosom delicately framed by her lacy shirt. “Hi, my name was Spencer, now it’s Nidhogg.” Alande looked at him in disbelief “Nidhogg? Where did you come up with that name?” “One of those elf name generators.” “Yeah, I got Alande from a gaming name generator.” Gilraen relaxed a little and offered Alande her hand to shake. “I used to be Anita but now I’m Gilraen, Gilraen Elenzar.” “Awesome name. I thought about being an elf, but my exbest friend talked me into being a sorceress.” “Why is she your ex-best friend?” Janet asked. “We had a fight when we got here.” Alande pointed to a beautiful girl with long, curly, dark hair who wore a black velvet skirt with red glitter scattered all over it. “That’s her right there. Her name was Christine, now it’s Belladonna. The reason why we’re here is because she convinced me to use the cheat codes and hacks she got for the game.” That really set Janet off. She never cheated on a game. It wasn’t fair to watch other players get ahead because some nerd got a hold of codes to break the system. She felt her face turn red. Nidhogg must have seen what was coming next because he grabbed his mother’s shoulder. “Mom, stay out of this. I remember how you took on that

The LasT sorceress 39 bully in my third grade class. It did more harm than good. You don’t want to get involved in their fight.” She grinned, remembering how she’d grabbed Tommy Wilcox, the little punk who had been harassing her son for months, by the ear, and hauled him back home. It was her nature to take charge when her family was in trouble. She fought with Dave about her butting in all the time when they were still married. Her ex would’ve called her a buttinski if he was with them but of course, he was off in the real world of Vegas. She did worry a slight bit about what Dazzart would think, but then she thought of how he’d defended her on Earth, using his weight as Ogre Quest CEO to get her in the kingdom. She was pretty sure he’d approve of her wanting to defend Alande. “I won’t do anything stupid, kiddo. Heck, I’m not even sure of how to use this thing yet,” Janet replied, glancing at her staff. “I just want to talk to the girl.” Nidhogg seemed satisfied by her response. Janet marched over there and stood in front of little Miss Belladonna. Bella’s lips formed a pout when Janet glared at her with her arms crossed against her chest. Janet fought the urge to slap the girl. “Excuse me,” she said, pointing her finger in a scolding fashion at the petulant sorceress, “but you have some nerve dumping your best friend like that. She’s frightened to death of this place, and you just drop her like she’s yesterday’s news.” Bella huffed. “Had she brought the codes with her, we wouldn’t be here. We would’ve won the tournament and walked away with the grand prize. This is between me and Alande. I don’t like you telling me what to do.” Janet burst into laughter. Belladonna was such a moron if she thought Dazzart would have let her go. “You idiot, the ogre rigged the convention to bring us all here. He told me so on the way here. There was no grand prize.” “Oh, well um, I didn’t want to be at the stupid tournament in the first place. Amber made me.” “Did she put a gun to your head?”

40 Marguerite Arotin “No, but...”

“Did she hold a knife to your throat?”

“No.”

“Then she did not make you come. You came of your own

free will, hon.” “I’m still not speaking to her ever again.” “Never is a mighty long time, and it looks like we’ll all need to work together here.” “I would never work with her.” Her nasty comment was the final straw. The little snot had pushed Janet to the limit with her ignorance. She gripped her staff, recalling the words of a spell that she typed in the computer screen to push characters around. Her eyes glared at the stubborn sorceress as she mentally chanted, Pusher, Pusher, Push. Janet had only meant to push her over to Alande, but her anger got the best of her. She gasped as the raven-haired sorceress went flying into the wall. It took a minute before Belladonna stirred. Oh, heck, they’ll lock me up for murder in this strange world. She let out a sigh of relief when the bratty sorceress stirred. The room grew quiet, and her face heated. Everyone in the courtyard had seen her screw up. “Not bad,” a regal, masculine voice echoed from across the room. She turned and saw the man who would be training her. His heated, emerald stare made her want to run for the hills as he tossed his silver ponytail behind his broad shoulder. She remembered the ruggedly handsome face from the game. “But I suggest you save your energy for the battle field, instead of using it on your comrades,” he scolded. Way to go, Janet, she thought. They hadn’t even started training yet, and already she had ticked Olorin off. She was really in a heap of trouble and hoped it wouldn’t get back to

The LasT sorceress 41 Dazzart. Then she worried why she cared so much about what a huge, brute of an ogre thought of her. Maybe it was because she still remembered how nice he’d been to her in human form. Or maybe…just maybe it was because he was the first guy who’d believed in her in a long time.

§§§§ “Is this the last of them?” Taberton, the gruff, three-foot dwarf king asked Dazzart as he escorted more unknowing recruits into his world. “I believe so. I think we have a good selection of fine soldiers here,” Dazzart replied, not really glancing behind him at the final four gamers. They were scared, he knew. The stench of fear radiated from them. But of course there was no going back for them now. “What do you think of the dark-haired sorceress I just escorted?” The elf king thoughtfully rubbed his long, gray beard. “I don’t know. Do you think she could be the one? She certainly has spunk. I don’t know too many women who would be brave enough to pound on an ogre’s chest the way she did.” Dazzart wanted knock the smirk off of the dwarf king’s face, but he knew he had to watch his temper. The alliance between kingdoms was fragile. One fist to an elder leader of the dwarf tribe could cause it to crash down. “I don’t know. I think she could potentially be the sorceress my mother spoke of. She doesn’t see it, though. She’ll need training and confidence boosting. If only I were more skilled in the ways of magic, I’d oversee her training personally.” “Sure you would.” The ogre king gave Dazzart a sly wink. “Are you certain her physical attributes aren’t what you find the most intriguing? She is beautiful, and I saw the way you looked at her once she changed into her uniform.” “Her beauty doesn’t matter,” Dazzart grunted. Though he found her beautiful in her human form too on Earth, with her stormy gray eyes and curvy body, he knew he could never have

42 Marguerite Arotin her. They were from two different worlds. “Keep telling yourself that, my friend.” Taberton gave Dazzart a playful punch on the arm. “Denial won’t give you a warm cot at night but that feisty, fiery sorceress just may.” Dazzart skulked off, choosing to ignore the dwarf king’s innuendo. He had no time for a sexual conquest with any member of his army. No matter how pretty or feisty they were. He had battles to win and dead parents to avenge.

Chapter Four Janet stood in the massive open courtyard of Fort Greenbalm, wondering what her fate would be for pushing Belladonna into the wall. Her feet were planted firmly on the stone floor while almost everyone whispered and pointed. For a moment, she forgot about her troubles when Dazzart returned with the rest of the gamers from the tournament. He swept his little girl into his arms. The love he felt for Princess Bannick radiated from the warm smile on his face. He might be a big brute, but he had a soft spot for his darling daughter. She liked that and wondered if maybe there was a big heart beneath that leathery skin. Her gaze followed the ogre as he conferred with Olorin. She grimaced when Olorin pointed her way, but whatever the sorcerer told the big guy didn’t seem to affect Dazzart’s opinion. Dazzart waved and winked. She breathed a sigh of relief. The gamers were divided into proper groups based on class and race. Dazzart organized a mass of brutish ogres, a short dwarf with a long, silver beard called all the dwarves over as he stood on a large platform, and the Eolande fluttered above them on beautiful, amethyst-colored wings. The fairy called over her own with the gracefulness of a butterfly. Janet reluctantly waved good-bye to Nidhogg and Gilraen as they were taken away by an attractive male elf with thick, black hair, and olive green eyes. She didn’t know much about the elf prince, Brimbor, and only vaguely remembered him from the game, but she had to trust that her son would be okay. She had to think of Brimbor as her son’s teacher now. She then turned her attention to the intimidating form of Olorin. He watched like a hawk while the sorcerers and sorceresses congregated in the center of the fortress courtyard before him. “You are here because Dazzart believes you can be trained in

44 Marguerite Arotin the ancient ways of our magic. He thinks each one of you has greatness within you.” He paused and looked directly at Janet. She could have sworn daggers flew out of his eyes. “However, I do not share his beliefs.” She wanted to slap him for the terse comment, yet somehow managed to keep her cool. Janet knew Olorin was going to be brutal. His wife had passed away. Now, he had to train them to go fight the same wicked sorceress who had murdered Ionwe. She felt for him, but refused to let him put her down. “Well,” Janet replied, puffing her chest and giving Olorin a challenging glare. “We have gotten a lot of training from that computer game. Who’s to say Dazzart is wrong?” Several of the women in the group gaped like they couldn’t believe what came out of her mouth. One of the men approached Janet and gave her a high five. She smiled, figuring that if Olorin already hated her, she had nothing to lose by speaking the truth. At least, she hoped so. “Ah, yes, the woman who threw one of her fellow sorceresses against the wall. What, may I ask, is your name?” Janet held her ground and glared at him with her hands on her hips. “My name, before I was dragged into your world kicking and screaming, was Janet. My name now is Maurelle Windhaven.” He flashed a stern glance that said he refused to back down. Janet suddenly felt empowered. She’d always wanted to tell the chauvinistic branch manager at the bank off, but never did because she needed the steady paycheck. At that moment, she had no fear of Olorin. She figured the worst he could do was send her home. She was in for a surprise, however, when he raised his staff and sent her crashing against the wall. He laughed as she rose, rubbed her aching back, and swore at him under her breath. “I gave you a taste of what you did to poor Belladonna. Remember, you must take responsibility for any spell you cast.”

The LasT sorceress 45 Janet had learned an important lesson. For the most part, as Olorin began his training, she managed to keep any smart-ass comments to herself. Olorin started with a lesson about their staffs. He pointed to the ruby set into the top of his own staff. “The stone is the source of your power. Different stones have different specialties. Your duty, as a sorcerer or sorceress, is to tap into the power of the stone and release it. Now, I know each one of you chose your own staff when you played...” He paused and rolled his eyes. “…Dazzart’s little game, but I am certain you didn’t know the magical properties of the gemstones in the staffs you picked. Different spells are needed to release the power of each stone, but it is essential that you believe in the words to give the spells their maximum power.” One by one, he began to examine the staffs. He walked over to Alande first. As he clenched her golden staff in his hand, he lightly ran his finger over the garnet stone. “Garnet, ah, yes, a good choice. Garnet has two different magical properties. It can spread joy but it spreads discord amongst lovers. It’s an ideal stone for quarrelling mate spells.” Then he picked up Janet’s staff. “It would seem that our troublemaker chose opal. Another good choice.” “Glad to see it meets with your approval,” she muttered. Olorin ignored her and continued, “Opal is an excellent protector stone. It is also said to have properties for keeping a youthful complexion. Back in my land of Veneficium, I knew quite a few vain sorceresses who rubbed an opal stone on their faces every night to try to keep the wrinkles away.” That got Janet a little curious so she asked, “Did it work?” “I wouldn’t know. The only sorceress I ever paid attention to was my late wife.” She felt like an idiot for asking. From the way he mentioned her, she could tell Ionwe was never far from his mind. He continued and walked over to the dark-skinned sorceress.

46 Marguerite Arotin “Ah, a diamond. You must be left-handed. Correct?” The girl nodded. “Yes, how did you know?” “The magical properties of diamonds are at their most potent when used in the left hand. They all but guarantee a victory for the spell caster then. It’s also very good for calming panic attacks and undoing enchantments. An excellent choice.” Everyone learned how coral preserved children from goblins and anything evil, and crystals were a good protector stone with excellent healing properties. Emeralds were outstanding for relieving blindness or other diseases of the eye, lodestone healed wounds, pearls comforted the heart, rubies warded off misfortune, and sapphires brought vigor to the body. Janet listened intently because his lecture was rather interesting, but eagerly awaited learning how to tap into the powers of the stones. “Are we going to learn any spells at all today?” she asked. “No. We’ll save spell demonstrations for another day. I think you have had an excellent start in your training. I believe it is now time to eat dinner, and then prepare to sleep. You will all learn more tomorrow. Now we will go to the west tower of the fort. The dining hall is located there.” When Janet walked through the courtyard to the west tower, the sorcerer who high-fived her earlier introduced himself. “My name’s Tristam Ferweather. I can’t believe how you told Olorin off like that.” Tristam had rusty hair, light brown freckles scattered over his cheeks, and dazzling silver eyes, which matched the color of his breastplate. He appeared to be around the same age as her son and wore a long dark cloak. Janet returned his adorable grin. “Thanks. My name’s Maurelle, but formerly I was known as Janet.” “Ah, I remember seeing you online. I played the game for close to a year.” He looked around in childlike awe at the towering pine trees surrounding the outside of the fort and the sturdy gray inner walls. “But I never expected to be playing it

The LasT sorceress 47 for real.” “Yeah, me either. I played with my son all the time. He’s training with the elves now.” “Can I sit with you at the dinner table?” Janet turned to Alande, because she had promised her before the lesson that they could sit together at dinner. Alande nodded as she gave Tristam a flirtatious smile. As she walked alongside the two teens to the dining hall, Janet formulated a plan to get Alande and Tristam together. She figured life might as well go on as normal, even in a fantasy world. Besides, playing matchmaker might help her not to think about a certain ogre, or how nice it felt to be in his big, strong arms. The sorcerers and sorceresses began filing into the dining hall, along with the elves, fairies, and dwarves. The humongous hall resembled pictures from a medieval storybook. A white granite fireplace stood against the left wall. Tall, oval, stained glass windows allowed the golden sunlight to come into the room. The rays danced off the wings of the fairies as they fluttered around. Paintings of king and queen ogres decorated the front wall. A portrait of the current Carnitha royal family sat right in the center. Princess Bannick was a tiny infant when the portrait was painted and sat on her mother’s large lap. Gazing at the portrait, Janet recalled how she wanted to ask Dazzart what happened between him and the queen. She glanced around the room, hoping to see him, and was pleasantly surprised to feel two large hands fall upon her shoulders. “I heard you were bit of a troublemaker during today’s lesson,” a sexy, commanding voice growled. His incredible voice gave her goose bumps. He pulled his arms away, and Janet turned around to look at him. His huge, green arms were crossed against his massive chest as he awaited an answer. “Didn’t mean to be a troublemaker. I got the impression Olorin doesn’t like us.”

48 Marguerite Arotin “He doesn’t,” Dazzart agreed. His normally warm eyes suddenly filled with wild rage as he glanced at her black and blue shoulder. “Did Olorin do that to you?” She wondered why he looked angry. Why did he care what Olorin did to her? Janet knew she had to calm him down. The last thing she needed was a mad beast throttling Olorin. “It’s nothing. Doesn’t even hurt anymore. He just wanted to teach me a lesson. I um, sort of, well, I did the same thing to another sorceress before our lesson.” She hated admitting her screw-up to Dazzart. She might’ve not wanted to reward him with any kind of romantic notions, but it was still nice knowing he believed in her. Knowing she wouldn’t be alone in this strange new world. Dazzart smiled. Though his fangs still bothered her and his green, wrinkled face was hideous, little by little, the ogre was growing on her. What he did next shocked the living daylights out of her. She glanced over at Tristam and Alande, but both appeared to be distracted when the ogre began to rub her shoulder. Backrubs always turned her on, but having a massage from an ogre beat out a rubdown from the greatest Swedish masseuse. His large hands kneaded through her injured shoulder. In a flash, Janet forgot how much it hurt. She expected those hands to be rough, the kind of hands that were made for killing, not for pleasure. But he put just the right amount of pressure on her shoulder. The heat rose to her cheeks when she imagined what else those mighty hands of his could do. “Wow. That was...” Janet didn’t get a chance to thank him. He rushed to the head of the table. “Damn it, where’s he going?” she whispered. “Where’s who going?” She saw her son pulling out a chair. Gilraen sat down, and Janet loved Nidhogg’s gentlemanly manners because he waited for her to take her seat first before sitting down next to the pretty elf. “Oh, no one.” She decided it was best to change the subject.

The LasT sorceress 49 “How did training go?” Nidhogg shrugged. “Eh, went okay. You were the talk of the training though, Ma. Still can’t believe you sent that girl flying across the room.” “I know, I know. Believe me, because I paid for it during our lesson with Olorin.” He glanced at her shoulder. “Ouch. Looks like you did. Are you okay? I could send an arrow flying his way for you.” This was the first time her child had ever offered to stick up for her. A beaming smile spread across her face. In that moment, she was glad they were stuck in this fantasy world together. Janet knew it would be the perfect opportunity to repair their lousy relationship. Before she could answer Nidhogg, Dazzart stood up and gave a mighty roar. The room quieted as everyone turned to look at him. It was a very effective way to get the crowd’s attention. “Ladies and gentlemen, in a moment we will serve dinner, but I think you should know why you were brought here.” He paused and looked at the portraits hanging on the wall behind him. “There is a dark threat against our nation and the surrounding nations. You know her as Adieal from the game I created to bring you here. She and her partner, Zoemith, once lived in our neighboring nation of Veneficium. The High Sorcerer of Veneficium at the time, Olorin’s father Dagzi, banished them to the Thunder Mountains after Adieal and Zoemith tried to overthrow Dagzi, with a book that summoned demonic forces. That book was recovered but, somehow, they grew in power. Our ogre armies could not defeat them. We were desperate for help.” He looked at Olorin. “Olorin and his wife Ionwe offered us armies of sorcerers and sorceresses. Most of them were defeated.” He looked over at the handsome elf who trained her son and the rest of the elves. “Brimbor, the crown prince of Eliana, offered armies of elves. They were defeated as well.” Then his gaze turned to a wise looking old dwarf with a long

50 Marguerite Arotin platinum beard. “Taberton, the king of Elbinum, offered us armies of dwarves. They too failed. I went forth to look for new heroes and found your world. We are counting on all of you to defeat the evil that threatens us. If you cannot, we will be out of options, and Adieal might set her sights on the worlds beyond The Great Divide, including your beloved home of Earth.” A murmur rumbled through the crowd. Everyone whispered things like, “Could they really do that?” or “Does that mean we’ll have to stay here until Adieal and Zoemith are defeated?” Janet didn’t say anything because, after facing Adieal so many times in the game and failing, she had a feeling all the gamers brought to Carnitha would die in this strange world. Janet gulped and tried her best not to let her fears prevent her from enjoying dinner. She always managed to find solace in food, even though everything she ate went straight to her thighs and hips. She glanced at her lean, muscular thighs and hoped her sorceress body had a higher metabolism. One by one, Ogres began filing into the dining hall carrying covered plates of food. The savory scent of roasted chicken lofted through the room when the servers removed the lid. The sweet scent of glazed carrots, though they were blue in this world instead of orange, was the next to fill the room. Her stomach began to rumble, and she realized that it had been a while since she last ate. As the plates were passed down the table for everyone to partake of the feast, she wondered how long they had been in this strange world. It felt like hours had passed. When Janet realized she still had her watch on, she quickly looked at it. She was shocked to see that the digital display read “12:30.” It was twelve-thirty when everyone had entered the network room for the tournament. “What the hell?” she asked aloud. Janet saw a green hand reach down and touch her wrist. “Technology does not work in our world. Clocks, cell phones, iPods, any sort of electronic device will not work. You’ll have no

The LasT sorceress 51 need for that. Time runs differently here.” “How does it run differently?” He removed his hand from her arm and crossed his arms against his massive chest. “A day here is the same as five minutes in your world. Why do you think we’ve been able to bring so many from your world over without being noticed?” “What happened to the others who came before us?” He didn’t answer. He shook his head and walked away. His actions confirmed her worst fears, and she was only able to nibble on her food after that. So much for finding comfort in food. She pushed her dinner away, rose, and walked out of the dining hall. Nidhogg stopped her before she got all the way out. “What’s wrong, Mom?” “I’m not hungry. You enjoy your dinner and make sure you keep an eye on Alande for me. Let me know how she’s getting along with Tristam.” As Janet exited the fort, she noticed the sun was setting. She gasped at the beautiful sky. Instead of fiery tones, the Carnitha sky turned lavender, blue, and a deep plum color. The stars, as they start to appear in the sky, were something to see as well. Carnithian stars weren’t little, flickering, clear diamonds—they were glittering rubies, sapphires, and emeralds. She gazed into the rainbow-colored sky and stood awestruck by the magnificence. “Wow,” she whispered. “Yes, the dusk sky in Carnitha is truly a sight to behold,” a bold, male voice agreed. Janet turned and smiled at Dazzart. She hadn’t heard him tromp through the woods behind her. Maybe she’d been too lost in her own thoughts to notice him. “Sure as heck beats our sunsets at home.” “It’s one of the reasons why I miss my homeland when I leave

52 Marguerite Arotin to bring back more heroes. I wanted to do a scene like this in the game, but was outvoted by the programmers and designers.” “Why us? Why did you take people from our world to bring to yours?” she asked. “Because humans from your world are most like the creatures from ours. You dream, you yearn for adventure, and well, humans have the capacity to love.” The ogre blushed as he said the word love. Yes, he was a beast but Janet found it rather cute the way his leathery cheeks turned a bright shade of crimson. She’d never thought ogres were the type of creatures to blush. She walked towards him and wrapped her arms around his large waist. “Thank you for the massage earlier. It really helped my shoulder feel better.” He removed her arms from his waist. “No, this isn’t right. Ogres are not allowed to be with beautiful women. Ogres are too hideous. If you’ll excuse me, I must return to the fort.” Janet watched in a daze as he walked away. He did speak the truth. Ogres were ugly, and she had never been even the slightest bit attracted to any of them while playing the game. So why couldn’t she get Dazzart out of her thoughts?

Chapter Five When it came time for all the good little sorceresses to go to bed, Olorin led everyone to two silver tents. In between the two tents, Janet spied a rustic log cabin. “The cabin is mine,” he explained. “I will be keeping my watch in there during the night. The tent to the right belongs to the women. The one to the left belongs to the men.” “Where are the elves camping?” she asked just as Olorin started to walk away. Janet really wanted to ask where the ogres where sleeping, but decided against it because the question sounded weird. After all, ogres weren’t the most likable creatures, even though she liked a certain ogre. Everyone now knew Nidhogg was her son, so the interest in the elf camp was understandable. He pointed to a wooded area right next to the fort, at the edge of the gilded forest. “Elves are there. Now let’s get some rest. You will have a busy day of training tomorrow.” She joined the other sorceresses as they walked to the tent and smiled, watching Tristan bid good-bye to Alande by kissing her maiden hand. In the distance, Janet heard a strong, feminine voice call out, “No, I don’t want to go back to the castle, Daddy. You can’t make me. Mother doesn’t love me. All she cares about is being queen. Step-papa wants me to be a perfect little princess all the time.” Princess Bannick almost crashed into Janet as she ran from her father, who trailed behind. The ogress sat on a log, wiping tears away from her golden brown eyes. Janet thought the girl would be a real looker in her human form, since her daddy made a gorgeous human. Instead of joining the others, Janet walked over and parked her tush next to the princess. “Hi. Mind if I chat with you?” Janet wanted to wrap her arm

54 Marguerite Arotin around the young ogress, to give her some sort of comfort, but didn’t want to startle the princess. She still recalled the way Dazzart had pushed her away when she tried to embrace him and figured ogres didn’t enjoy physical affection. “What do you want?” Princess Bannick’s snotty tone almost made Janet walk away, until she saw Dazzart staring intently at both of them. She took a deep breath. “My name’s Maurelle, and I have a son about your age. He lives with me, though sometimes he has to go see his father. I hate it when he leaves.” The princess wiped her eyes. “Really?” “Yeah, really. But I let him go because I know his dad loves him too. I’m sure it’s the same way with your parents.” “Ma says a lot of mean stuff about Daddy. I’ve never heard him say a mean word about her.” Janet felt for the girl. It couldn’t have been easy being caught in the middle. Then she thought about Spencer. She’d badmouthed Dave since the divorce and knew he did the same to her. She thought Spence sided with his father too much, but maybe he defended her when she wasn’t around. Thinking her son might defend her made Janet see him in a different light. “It’s not easy when your parents split up. I know it has to be rough, and I bet he feels like he’s caught in the middle. I’ve told my son a bunch of times he doesn’t have to choose sides when we fight, though I’m sure there are times when he feels obligated to do so.” She placed her hand on the ogress’s broad shoulder. “I know your mother loves you. I love my son, and I’d be heartbroken if he decided he didn’t want to live with me anymore. Both of your parents want what’s best for you.” “I guess you’re right,” the princess conceded as she rose. “I should get going. She’s expecting me back home tonight. Thank you.” Janet stood up and smiled. “You’re welcome.” As the princess walked away, Dazzart mouthed the words,

The LasT sorceress 55 “Thank you,” when he wrapped his arm around his little girl. She sighed and waved before heading into the large white tent to join the other girls. The inside of the tent didn’t look like much—dirt floor, iron bunk beds with standard white sheets and pillows, and a small, whitewashed privy in case the girls needed to make a midnight trip. Janet hadn’t been camping since the age of sixteen and wasn’t a fan of it. She yearned for her own bed with its black satin sheets as she claimed a bunk of her own. But when she plopped down, Janet found her accommodations to be very nice. The pillows felt like fluffy cotton balls. The sheets were big and puffy like the most comfortable down bed you could imagine. “Nice,” Janet sighed, stretching her arms out. The other women agreed with her. The ebony-skinned gal rose from her bed, smiled, and said, “Damn, nicer than my bed at home.” Janet laughed and sat up. “Yeah, and to think I was dreading sleeping here tonight. My name’s Maurelle, by the way.” “I’m Drusilla. But you can call me Dru. At home, my name was Tasha.” Drusilla smiled and tossed back the purple silk hood of her cloak, revealing a mass of tiny black braids. “Both very nice names. My name back home was boring with a capital B. It was Janet.” A tall sorceress with rich, shoulder-length auburn tresses wearing an off the shoulder, emerald gown, rose and grinned. “Ha, I think I should get an award for the dullest name ever. My name was Betty. Blah, I think my mother might have been watching too many episodes of The Flintstones when she named me. My new name is much more fun.” Janet chuckled as the young woman twirled around for dramatic emphasis before announcing, “It’s Secillia.” Alande, who had chosen the bunk above Janet, pointed to a bunk in the corner where Belladonna lay with the sheets pulled over her head. “That one over there who’s still sulking like the

56 Marguerite Arotin spoiled little brat she is had the name of Christine before we came here. Her new name is Belladonna.” Belladonna sat up and threw a pillow at Alande. “Shut up, I don’t want to be here. I hate this place.” Tired of the bickering, Janet walked over to Bella’s bed, pulled her out, and marched her over to Alande. “Now, I am very sorry I forced you into the wall. I didn’t mean to. I was just trying to get you back together with your best friend. There now, I said I was sorry. It wasn’t so bad. You can say the same thing to Alande.” “Sorry,” Bella muttered as she rolled her eyes. “I’m sorry too, Bella. I know you really don’t want to be here but let’s try to make the best of it, okay?” Alande asked with a slight smile. “Yeah, sure, whatever, can I go back to bed now?” Alande rolled her eyes and placed her hands on her hips. “You are a total brat. I don’t know why I ever chose you as my best friend.” Bella walked over to her bunk, grabbed her staff, and then returned to Alande’s and Janet’s bunk. “How did you use the pusher spell on me?” Janet yanked the staff from Bella’s hand. “Enough, little missy. Don’t make me call Olorin in here. Believe me, because I don’t think you’d want to be punished by him. I could drag the ogre in here too. I would love to see how he takes care of a little snot like you. Now apologize to Alande, and I don’t want any more fighting out of you girls. We need to save our energy for the battlefield.” “Sorry, now can I go back to bed?” Bella muttered in a nasty tone. She sighed because, as much as she liked the other girls, Janet knew that Miss Belladonna would be a thorn in her side. “Fine, go. Just remember that someday we’ll all have to work together as a team.”

The LasT sorceress 57 She crawled back into her bunk, shaking her head. And she thought teenage boys were terrible. Janet had had no idea until she met Belladonna that teenage girls could act ten times worse.

§§§§ Dazzart tossed and turned again in his bed. His willful daughter was part of the problem, and then there was his mother’s prophecy and the fact that in his three previous trips to Earth he had yet to find the sorceress. But most of all, his restlessness was caused by a long-legged, curvy sorceress with spirit and spunk. He rose from his cot and punched the walls of his tent. He knew the risk. He knew sorceresses were attractive, but why did this one seem so needy? Like she depended on him to personally train her. Why did she look to him with sweet, soft gazes? Why did she make his blood burn hotter than any ogress he’d ever been with? No. He stomped his foot. He didn’t care what Taberton had said. Didn’t care that her skin was soft and warm in his arms when he tried to convince her she needed to stay in his world. It didn’t even matter to him that she smelled like roses and lilacs. Or even how sweetly she had spoken with Princess Bannick and convinced her to go home to the castle. He wouldn’t give in to her temptation. Being the offspring of a bloodthirsty ogre and a beautiful, mystical sorceress, he knew damned well what the consequences could be. His mother had never said anything about the sorceress belonging to him or her being stunningly beautiful in both her human and magical form. Only that she would have a good heart. He’d watched her interact with the others and knew there was a sweet, kind heart beneath the luscious curves of her breasts. He returned his cot and lay down, wishing things were different. Maybe as Glenn Bowden, his human counterpart on Earth, he might have stood a chance, but not as an ugly, battle-hardened ogre. His eyelids grew heavy and he drifted off to slumber. At least thoughts of the voluptuous Maurelle and

58 Marguerite Arotin pretty Janet would block out the nightmares of Aideal, or so he hoped.

§§§§ Dazzart awoke before the first cry of the storkephant the next morning. Anxious to get reports from the heads of all the armies, he started with the fairy queen’s white, glittering, castlelike tent. “Some talented potion makers in the fey ranks,” Eolande reported with a beaming sunshine smile and a flicker of her lavender wings. “I think they should be well prepared to fight soon. Didn’t you say something about seeing goblins at the Amincola border?” “Yes, my scouts spotted them and reported back to me just after dinner. I hope the newest recruits will be ready to fight soon.” He hated thrusting untrained soldiers into the heart of battle but sometimes you didn’t have a choice. “I can find out from the others how their troops are progressing as well. My wings need a good stretch this morning.” “Actually, you may check with Brimbor and Taberton, but I would like to speak to Olorin.” “Is it regarding the dark-haired sorceress with the attitude and curvy body?” Dazzart grunted, wondering why he was so easy to read. Wondering if everyone in the camp knew how much he cared about Maurelle. Eolande giggled. “I have no idea why ogres must always hide their feelings. Fine, if you wish to speak to Olorin, then go do so. I’ll check in with the rest of the troops and report to you later.” Dazzart stomped over to Olorin’s cabin. He didn’t like speaking to the king of Veneficium at all. Olorin had always looked down upon Dazzart’s sorceress mother and her rash decision to free an ogre slave and marry him. But he was begrudgingly thankful that Olorin had agreed to train the

The LasT sorceress 59 mages, because the sorcerer was far wiser in the ways of magic than Dazzart could ever hope to be. He pounded on the door several times. Olorin finally greeted him, sleepily rubbing his eyes, and standing before Dazzart in a long silver sleeping robe. “What do you want at this time of morn’?” “I need to speak with you regarding your trainees.” “Lazy and stupid as drunken ducks, the lot of them,” Olorin replied with biting disdain in his tone. “I don’t know if they’ll be ready to perform simple healing spells yet, let alone the lightsummoning spells we’ll need to defeat the goblins.” “Even Maurelle?” “Ah yes, the troublemaker. She does have a fire in her soul. That I will not deny. Why do you take such an interest in her?” “I…um…” He wasn’t quite ready to tell Olorin he thought she could be the one. Olorin’s late wife was supposed to have been the foretold salvation sorceress, or at least both Olorin and his wife Ionwe had thought so. “I think she has great potential.” A sneer spread across Olorin’s face. “Could it be that you, an ugly beast, are smitten with the beautiful sorceress?” Dazzart clenched his fist. “Call me ugly again, High Sorcerer. I dare you.” He then growled to emphasize that Olorin stood on shaky ground when he threatened an ogre. “I don’t need to say the words to you. Why aren’t there any mirrors in the camp? Because you forbid it. You do not wish to be reminded of how you truly look. You would not stand a chance with her, and you know it. She’d laugh in your face.” He was in no mood to let Olorin goad him, but he did need to make sure the troops were trained quickly and efficiently. “Train them all. Quickly too, for we shall travel to Amnicola tomorrow.” Dazzart turned and walked away, figuring it would be better to beat up a Gilly Tree instead of Olorin’s smug face.

§§§§

60 Marguerite Arotin The sound of a drowning elephant woke everyone at dawn. At least it sounded like a drowning elephant. Janet was still learning things about this new existence that made normalcy seem boring. She put her hands over her ears until the annoying sound stopped. It was too bad Earth’s technology didn’t work in Carnitha. She would’ve traded the loud beeping of her alarm clock for the sound of whatever-the-heck that was any day. She rubbed her eyes, hoping Olorin would allow her to shower someplace and get a decent meal before training. At home, Janet had her own morning rituals. Shower, coffee, bagel, and off to the lame-ass job. She noticed the cute, upside-down face of Alande, with her frazzled orange curls, as her head dangled over the edge of the bunk to greet Janet. “Morning. Did you have a nice sleep?” “Sure did. Did you by chance dream of any nice-looking sorcerers with freckles?” Janet had fun teasing her, since she didn’t have a teenage daughter to rib. “Um, well, no. But he is sort of um, well, adorable, isn’t he?” “Tristam is very cute. Seems like a nice guy too. You should go for it.” Alande bit her lip and then confessed her dilemma. “Well, um, you see, I had a boyfriend back home. I thought about breaking up with him because he was a jerk, but I didn’t get around to it. If I hooked up with Tristam, would that be like cheating?” Janet shook her head. “If you were going to break up with the jerk, it wouldn’t be like cheating at all. Go for it.” “Thanks, I think I will.” The girl flipped from her bunk and stretched. Janet grinned. It was nice at least one of the girls had found someone to “hook up” with. She tried her best not to think about Dazzart. The stubborn ogre kept creeping into her heart despite what he had said the night before. Was it weird that she wanted to feel those huge arms wrap around her again? Was it

The LasT sorceress 61 odd that she found comfort in his woodsy scent? It’s for the best. Janet rose and stretched. She hadn’t come to the tournament looking for love. Too many bad blind dates and a few one-night stands had left her jaded since her divorce. Still, she had never met anyone quite like Dazzart. Every time he looked at her, she felt nothing was impossible. It was as if destiny put her here to defeat Adieal. It had been a while since any man boosted her confidence the way he did. She rubbed her eyes, deciding there were more important things to worry about. Today would be the first spell-casting lesson. She wanted to prove to Olorin that she was more than just a troublemaker. She wanted to show him how Maurelle could kick ass. Now fully awake, she walked over to Olorin’s cottage and knocked on the door. Before she greeted him, Janet winced when Olorin’s gaze headed straight to her breasts. After the way he treated her in class yesterday, she didn’t take too kindly to him ogling her. “Um, is there someplace I can clean up before our lesson? I always took a shower in the morning at home and—” “There’s a waterfall a little bit away from here or you could use my private bath. I would be eager to assist you.” She raised her brow as Olorin’s eyes wandered downward to her legs. “Why would you be eager to assist me with a bath? I got the impression you didn’t like me yesterday.” “There’s a fire about you I admire. I don’t think you’ll ever be a great sorceress, but I do admit your physical attributes are amazing. It’s been a long time since I have trained a sorceress as beautiful as you, and I can teach you many things in the bedroom as well.” Not in this lifetime, jerk-off. “I don’t think this the proper conversation to have with a student. I would appreciate it if you pointed me in the direction of a place where I can wash up alone.”

62 Marguerite Arotin “There’s a waterfall beside the Thunder Mountains. However, it’s quite a distance from here. My bath is closer, and I would be willing to scrub your delectable back and shoulders for you. I would think that would make up for pushing you into the wall yesterday.” Janet did find Olorin attractive. His features had a ruggedly handsome appearance, the usual aquiline nose, bold chin, and so on. If he didn’t act like such an ass, she would have been flattered by his proposal. There was also the dead wife he claimed to have loved so much. She had some morals, damn it. Sleeping with a man whose dead wife might be warm in her grave gave her the willies. “Um, think I’ll just use the waterfall,” she said, inching away from him. “Just point me to it, and I’ll go ahead and take a very quick shower.” “It’s tucked away in the Thunder Mountains, behind the fort. Do be careful. It’s close to the dark forest. I could go with you if you’d like.” “No, I think I can get there and back in a jiffy if I use a transport spell.” Janet hadn’t tried a transport spell yet and wasn’t sure if it would work, but she figured trying and failing would be better than being escorted by a sorcerer with lust in his head. The thought of those wicked green eyes peeping at her while she was naked just gave her the creeps. She closed her eyes, thought about the location of the waterfall, gripped her staff tight, and thought, Transporto, Transporto, Transporto, go. In a flash, she was there. The spell actually worked. The waterfall tumbled down the hill of a grand purple mountainside, and the sound of rushing water invigorated her. Janet couldn’t wait to get under it. “This spell casting thing is actually pretty darn easy.” She removed her leather brassiere and hung it over a tree branch.

The LasT sorceress 63 Janet proceeded to slide her leather panties downward and tossed them to the grass. Next, she took a moment to admire the body she had wished for. No flabby tummy, sleek calves and thighs—she could get used to having the perfect body. Not a single hair down below either—her new sorceress body was as smooth as a baby’s behind. If her legs did get hairy, she supposed there might be a spell to take care of that. She decided to check her spell book later for shaving spells. She unbraided her long hair and let it cascade down her back. Next, she stepped underneath the thick, cool water. It gushed over her body with a pressure she could never get from her showerhead back home. Janet turned around and let the water pummel her new­ fangled body. She didn’t know quite why, but she began to think about the massage Dazzart gave her as the cool water brought her nipples to a stiff peak. She closed her eyes and envisioned two huge, green hands rubbing her breasts. Those firm hands worked their way down across her firm stomach, to the valley below her navel. She jerked open her eyes and gasped, “Hold it. You’re fantasizing about an ogre?” Okay, where the hell had that come from? It unnerved her because normally she wasn’t a slut who slept with a guy…or beast she barely knew. It rattled her to the core how much she really did want him. Still, ogres were creatures to be feared, not to have sensual daydreams about. Ogres were big, bad monsters who ate princesses in fairytales. But as she thought about it a little more, the idea didn’t seem that out there. Ogres had tremendous strength, which could be an asset in the bedroom. The heat rose through her body as she thought about Dazzart’s extra large proportions. Big green feet and big green hands would equal a super-sized cock. She had to splash the cold water over her body several times just to cool down after that. She stepped out from underneath the waterfall and shook out her hair, enjoying its new thickness as well as the silken feel the water gave it. She found her clothing and quickly dressed.

64 Marguerite Arotin Walking away from the mountain, she heard Olorin calling for help. It sounded as if someone or something had strangled him. Janet pushed aside a branch and saw a thick, green arm held out stiff and straight. At the end of the arm was a giant hand, crushing a grasping, kicking Olorin against a massive black boulder. Dazzart’s oval shaped eyes held true glee. His ferocious mouth curved in a half-cocked grin as he observed the struggles of the helpless sorcerer. Olorin’s legs kicked in protest. He spied her and gasped, “Maurelle, tell the beast to put me down.” “Dazzart, what’s going on?” “I caught him trying to watch you from a ledge above the waterfall as you bathed. Should I kill him?” He wanted to kill for her? As flattered as Janet was that her beast wanted to defend her honor, she didn’t want him to kill her teacher. At least, not before a few more spell casting lessons. His offer was a major turn on, though. If Dazzart wasn’t choking Olorin, she would have rushed right into the ogre’s arms. “Let him go,” Janet said, flashing her beast a seductive smile. Dazzart glanced in her direction and frowned as he dropped Olorin. For the first time, Janet saw the heart of a true warrior shine through, and she knew Dazzart loved to fight. No man had ever fought for her before. Her ex had never defended her, and all she really wanted since she was a little girl was a white knight to battle for her honor. Dazzart might have not looked the part, but she was beginning to see that knightly beauty was only skin deep. As Olorin rubbed his throat, she walked over to Dazzart and kissed his rough, green cheek. “Thank you. It’s nice to know I have you looking out for me.” Heated blood raced through her body when she watched Dazzart to see what his reaction would be. Would the beast carry her into the bushes for a dangerous quickie? Oh damn, he couldn’t, not with the pervert of a sorcerer staring at them.

The LasT sorceress 65 Would Dazzart promise her some hot ogre sex later? No, instead her beast grunted, “I look out for all the heroes I bring to Carnitha,” and proceeded to stomp off. Olorin stumbled off behind her ogre while she stood there dumbstruck. Olorin shot an icy glare in her ogre’s direction. She felt a rivalry brewing between the man and the beast. Janet felt like someone had doused her with ice water. You’d think he would be a little nicer to me after I helped him with his daughter last night, she thought as the beast stomped away. But no, off he went, acting like nothing had happened. Were all ogres that stubborn? She shook her head, knowing seducing the beast would not be easy. She wondered if there were any love spells in her spell book.

Chapter Six With her body cleansed and her appetite sated with a delicious little treat called a ginger tart, Janet stood in the center of the courtyard of Fort Greenbalm. Most of the other sorcerers and sorceresses were beside her. Little by little, the rest walked in. Bella was the last to show because whatever woke everyone else up didn’t make her budge out of her bed. Janet felt a little sorry for her when Olorin sent daggers to the ill-tempered sorceress with his piercing green eyes. Though Janet had successfully completed two spells, she was eager to learn more. Recalling how the bastard had acted like a peeping tom earlier, she gripped her book tightly to her chest to prevent Olorin’s gaze from wandering there. He didn’t even glance in her direction. He was all business now. She had to bite her lip to prevent herself from laughing when she caught sight of the bruises on his neck. “We will begin with a few simple spells. The levitation spell is perhaps one of the easiest spells to memorize and cast. Open your books to page ten and grip your staff. Concentrate on the words written on the page. You need not speak them. You only have to think them. The true sign of a great sorcerer is the ability to channel the spell through the mind.” Janet opened the book to page ten, looked down, and saw a single word printed in blood red ink. Levitate. Memorizing that spell would be a piece of cake. She gripped her staff, closed her eyes, and emblazoned the word levitate into her mind. Before she knew it, her body had risen into the air. She looked around and saw Olorin floating with her. As the rest of the class “Ohh­ ed” and “Ahh-ed” below them, the son of a bitch gave her a wicked grin. Janet lost her concentration and crashed down to the hard stone floor. Olorin lowered himself back down as Alande and a darkhaired sorcerer rose up into the air. “Excellent work, Alande

68 Marguerite Arotin and Burtram. A special accommodation goes to the beautiful Maurelle for being the first to levitate herself. Although she did lose concentration...” You made me lose my concentration, you creep, she thought, rubbing her sore tush. “She did an excellent job of channeling the spell. Remember, when it comes to magic, spoken words are not important like the power of the mind is. You have to visualize the words of a spell to use them at full potency.” From that moment on, Janet knew spell casting would be easy. She was always a visual gal. While reading a book, she could visualize what the characters looked like. Yet she still feared the powers of her mind were no match for the dark powers of Adieal. She dreaded going into battle with her. “When will we have to fight?” Janet asked. She had a feeling everyone would soon be cast into the throes of battle, but she didn’t know when. For the sake of protecting her son, she needed to prepare herself for the worst. “I fear that day is coming sooner than I would like,” Olorin replied. “Yesterday, Dazzart received word that an army of goblins was spotted near the river town of Amnicola. He has advised me to train you as quickly as possible so we may journey there tomorrow.” Goblins didn’t seem that bad. They were an easy challenge because they feared light. If they were planning an attack on Amnicola, the battle would take place at night, and a massive light spell would send them shrieking. But what if it’s more than goblins? Janet tried to ignore the skeptical voice that seemed to speak up whenever she felt assured. The rest of the sorcerers and sorceresses generally seemed to think slaying the little monsters would be piece of cake. Alande whispered to Tristam, “Goblins are easy.” Tristam replied, “Yeah, all we have to do is shine a little light in their way and they’ll go running.”

The LasT sorceress 69 At least the kids were confident, but Janet wasn’t convinced of an easy victory yet. She remembered from the game how shifty Adieal was. If the real Adieal was anything like her game counterpart, Janet knew they could face more than the hideous little monsters. “Are you certain it’s just the goblins?” she asked, trying to hide the quiver in her voice. “Nothing is known for sure yet. All we know is what our scouts have told us. Amnicola is an important town of Carnitha. It’s a port on the Albi River and is very close to the borders of Veneficium, the kingdom of Magic, and the Elven Nation of Eliana. If the enemies took over Amnicola, most likely they would strike the bordering nations. I would not underestimate Adieal—she might be sending the goblins in first as a ruse. Our scouts are first-rate, however, and they have never sent us false information. They have assured Dazzart it’s only goblins but I plan on going into battle with an open mind.” Janet planned to go into battle with an open mind and a petrified heart. But maybe with a brave ogre at her side, her nerves would melt away. Yeah, she liked that thought and smiled. Olorin tapped his staff on the ground to regain everyone’s full attention. “Let’s continue with our lesson, please. I’d like to teach you some basic spells for summoning the elements. Please turn to page sixty-five of your spell books. Here you’ll see a page with spells for summoning earth, wind, water, and fire through the power of your staffs.” The spells for summoning elements were darned easy. A sorceress or sorcerer only needed to think, I summon the element of...whatever they wished to summon and continue on to wherever they desired. The girls and guys had a decent handle on it too. Janet grinned when Alande summoned a bit of fire to the top of her staff and created a handy torch. She bit her lip to prevent the fit of laughter that threatened to come out when Dru summoned water to Olorin and got Mister High-andMighty all wet.

70 Marguerite Arotin The only one in the group who had trouble was Bella. The poor girl tried to summon earth but got her own face all muddy. Janet guessed that was not where she wanted it when she stomped her feet and pouted. Though Bella’s whining got on her nerves, Janet decided she’d try to help her. She approached Bella and brushed the last bit of dirt out of her long, dark hair. “Are you visualizing where you want the element to go?” She clenched her fist and stomped her feet. “No, I don’t know how to do this. I can’t do this. I want to go home.” “If all you keep thinking about is home, you’ll never succeed with any spell. We have goblins to defeat tomorrow. Granted, goblins are pretty easy to defeat—however, they can still devour you if you don’t hit them with light. I know you don’t want to be here. Hell, I didn’t want to be here at first. Now this place is growing on me. I don’t want Adieal to destroy it. You need to stop acting like a spoiled brat and concentrate on your spells. Now, where did you want the earth summoned to?” She pointed to Alande and smirked. “I wanted to get some dirt in her pretty orange curls.” Janet didn’t agree with Bella’s choice, but knew she had to help her so the girl would kick some goblin butt tomorrow. “Close your eyes and think about the words in the spell. Next, you’ll need to think about Alande’s orange curls.” She nodded and closed her eyes. Within minutes, dirt flew into a shocked Alande’s curls. For the first time since Janet had met her, Bella smiled. “Thanks.” “No problem.” Janet then summoned water to Bella’s face. She figured someone had to pay her back for getting dirt on Alande. Janet laughed as Bella gritted her teeth and used her red velvet cloak to dry off. A soaking wet Olorin tapped his staff to get everyone’s attention again. “That will be all for today. If we have time

The LasT sorceress 71 before we leave tomorrow, I’ll teach you a few healing spells. You are now excused from the lesson and may enter the dining hall.” Janet tried to walk away with the rest of the group, but Olorin grabbed her arm. “I hope you don’t think you have a future with the disgusting beast,” he warned as he wrung out his silver ponytail. His cool gaze once again wandered to her bosom. She lifted his head with her hand to force him to look into her eyes. “At least the beast knows how to treat me. He always looks at my face when he speaks to me.” She turned on her heel without another word to the arrogant sorcerer. Janet entered the dining hall and looked around for Dazzart. She smiled as he came stomping into the room. The portraits shook as he made his thunderous entrance. She laughed as he glared at Olorin. Olorin made sure he sat all the way at the other end of the table, as far away from the ogre as he could. Janet tried her best to catch Dazzart’s eye. She must have watched him a good ten minutes or so, hoping he would at least take one quick glance her way. When the mighty beast looked her way, she flashed him a sultry smile and thrust her chest out as far as she could. Dazzart quickly turned his head, and Janet let out a defeated sigh. Nidhogg and Gilraen appeared at her side. Her son shook his head. “An ogre, Mom? Come on, you can do better than that. I mean, you’re the talk of the fort, everyone here loves you, and you’re going after an ogre?” Janet didn’t know how to respond, and her cheeks heated when she realized Nidhogg had seen her wanton behavior. How could she tell him what her attraction to Dazzart was when she wasn’t sure herself? She didn’t know if his sexy voice got to her, those fiery eyes, the way he always defended her, or the fact he made her feel like anything was possible. Or maybe the magnetism she felt for Dazzart was a combination of his best qualities.

72 Marguerite Arotin “I’ve dated worse,” Janet finally replied. “Yeah, but you could do better now. I heard Olorin has his eyes on you.” She shuddered at the mention of the creepy sorcerer’s name. “Bleah, don’t me get started on that arrogant sorcerer. He’s a good enough teacher and all but I can’t stand him. I think if you get to know Dazzart you’d understand why the beast is growing on me.” Nidhogg sighed. “I’ll never understand you. Didn’t back home and I sure can’t now. But I do like the change in you. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you so confident.” She smiled and patted her son’s back. “Kiddo, that has to be the nicest compliment you’ve ever given me. Thanks.” Janet only wished her ex were here so she could show him her strong, bold sorceress side. She would love to push both him and his slut into the wall with her pusher spell. Janet erased all thoughts of her idiotic ex from her brain when her beast rose. Her super sexy, ogre beast let out another one of those awesome growls of his to get the attention of everyone in the dining room. Once again it worked, and Janet sat in awe of him, wondering if he growled in bed. “We have Army scouts looking after each town, village, and countryside. We were just informed early today that an army of goblins has been spotted outside Amnicola. My scouts assure me they have only seen goblins, but we will need to be on guard. We will leave tomorrow. We must protect the city of Amnicola at all costs.” The dwarf king, Taberton, spoke up. He had a gruff voice for a man of such short stature. “You cannot expect our army to be ready yet. We have only had a day to train them. The recruits are not ready for a battle.” “We have no other choice. Amnicola lies too close to Veneficium and Eliana. If they take control of the city, they can easily attack the bordering nations from there. We all know it has always been Adieal’s goal to claim her birth nation.”

The LasT sorceress 73 Janet thought about what Dazzart said and recalled from the game that Veneficium was the nation of magic. If Adieal gained a foothold in that nation, there was no telling the havoc she could wreck on everything else. Like Dazzart had said, even Earth would be in jeopardy. Nidhogg whispered, “Are they crazy, Ma? We just got here and now they expect us to fight? They say it’s only goblins but it could be more.” “I don’t think Dazzart thinks we have any other choice. We’re the only army Carnitha has right now. We’ll get by. We just have to believe in ourselves.” “Is this really my mom speaking, or is it the mighty sorceress?” “A little bit of both,” she whispered, gently placing her hand on top of her son’s hand. “A little bit of both, kiddo.”

§§§§ Before she went back to the tent for the night, Janet caught sight of Dazzart, sitting on a gray boulder and gazing up at a magnificent, amethyst colored moon. Astronomy didn’t seem like an ogre-like hobby, but then again she was learning Dazzart was not your typical ogre. She walked up to him and asked, “Mind if I sit next to you?” He shrugged, so Janet took that as a yes. “How often do you have full moons in Carnitha?” “Our moon is full all the time. It made it very difficult when Adieal brought the werewolves here.” “Great. She’s got goblins, demons, werewolves—what else are we up against?” “She turned about half the dragons against us. The other half, luckily, were too loyal to be swayed by her promise of treasure. She also has alrunes and—” “Okay, what the heck is an alrune?” “Female shape-shifting demons. They can change into any sort of female living creature.”

74 Marguerite Arotin “So these alrunes could take my form?”

“Sure can, they are very sneaky.”

“Yikes.” Janet shuddered. “Okay, that gives me the willies.

All right, what else does she have?” “Gorgons.” “You mean those creatures like Medusa who can change you into stone with their eyes?” He nodded. “Medusa was one of our own who somehow escaped our world and ended up in your ancient Greece.” Okay, so even the myths of Earth were real. She wondered if the Loch Ness Monster and Bigfoot were creatures born in Carnitha who escaped to her world. She didn’t ask, however, because she wanted to know what else the army would be up against. “Any other lovely evil creatures I should know about?” “Succubi and Incubi.” “You mean the demons that have sex with you while you’re asleep?” “Yes, and they’ll steal your soul in the process. Though I don’t have anything to worry about, a succubus would never bother an ogre.” Janet put her head on his green, bumpy shoulder. Dazzart had such low self-esteem he didn’t believe he had much to offer a woman. She could relate, because on Earth she had felt the same way. “Did you really mean what you said about ogres not belonging with beautiful women?” “Yes, I did.” “Why?” “Why?” He turned around and faced Janet. His golden brown eyes looked right through her, melting away any preconceptions she had about ogres before crossing the Great Divide. “Because think of all the stares we’d get. Think of what our children

The LasT sorceress 75 would look like.” “Children?” She backed away from him and shook her head in disbelief. “Dazzart, I think you’re jumping the gun a little here. Look, I’m not saying I want to marry you or anything like that. Been there, done that...” She took a deep breath and shivered a bit. Commitment was the last thing she needed right now. “Not quite ready to do it again. But I am attracted to you. I don’t know what it is about you or why I am so drawn to you. All I know is I want you, and if you decide you feel the same...” She rose, started walking away, turned on her heel, and continued. “I’ll be waiting for you in that tent over there.” In a low, gruff voice, Dazzart mumbled, “Do not count on it. I must meet with my lieutenants and strategize for tomorrow.” Janet glanced over her shoulder and replied in the sultriest voice she could muster, “I know you have a battle to plan but afterwards I hope you’ll come see me. Sex can be a great way to release some tension, you know.” She didn’t know if her words had gotten through that thick, ogre skull of his. Janet hoped they had but was disappointed when she waited up half the night for him and he never barged into the tent. Eventually, she gave up and drifted to sleep with strong, green arms wrapped around her in her dreams.

§§§§ Olorin had nothing to add from a spell casting perspective when Dazzart called the heads of each kingdom together to discuss battle plans, but Dazzart assumed he was still sulking over the waterfall incident. In spite of himself, Dazzart had to smile when he glanced up from his maps and saw the High Sorcerer glaring at him. “I think the latest troops are the best yet, especially my dwarves. I know I might have seemed a bit alarmed at dinner about bringing them into battle, but then I thought about how valiantly they dueled in our mock battles,” Taberton boasted as he sharpened his sword collection on a golden whetstone. “By the time we reach Amnicola, they should be as ready to slice

76 Marguerite Arotin down the hobgoblins as my real dwarf army.” “Some keen archers in my lot of elf trainees as well,” Brimbor added, making sure each arrow end was sharper than the peaks of the Thunder Mountains. “I think we’ll be ready.” “But what if it’s not only goblins?” Eolande asked. Dazzart nodded in agreement. Leave it to the wise and pretty fairy queen to voice Dazzart’s true fears. “It could be a trap. So we must be prepared for that as well. I’ve learned never to underestimate Aideal. Make sure your troops are prepared to face larger threats than goblins. We’ll put the elf archers out in the back. Have the ogre’s ready for hand to hand combat along with the Taberton’s dwarves and their blades. Mages should be on the frontline with defensive, offensive, and healing spells ready, and I’m trusting Eolande and her fey will have a fine crop of potions brewed.” “That I will, sir,” Eolande replied with a smile. “I’ll make certain I have plenty of the elixir of life on hand too.” With that she fluttered her wings and flew out of the tent. “I must go over the spell books tonight and make sure my sorcerers and sorceresses will be prepared to visualize them tomorrow,” Olorin said, and Dazzart chose to ignore the way the High Sorcerer muttered, “But I doubt they will,” under his breath as he walked away. “So …” Taberton began and glanced upward at Dazzart with a mischievous look in his cobalt eyes. “I heard about you catching the high sorcerer spying on a certain sorceress as she bathed and—” “No.” Dazzart pounded his fist on the table, causing the maps to shake. “I lost my temper, pure and simple. Rage got the best of me, and someone had to defend—” “Wait a second,” Brimbor interrupted, returning the arrow to his quiver. “I’ve heard from multiple members of our camp how you watch the sorceress but never really approach her. Now you’re defending her?”

The LasT sorceress 77 “I would defend any of the troops if they needed me to do so. It’s my job as the group’s military leader. However, some need more defending than others.” “Like lovely long-legged sorceresses?” Taberton teased. “Bloody spikes!” Dazzart swore. “We have a war to rage, and I can certainly contol my urges when it comes to Maurelle.” “Even in the face of war,” Brimbor replied when Dazzart turned to walk away, “love and even pleasures live on. You must take solace in what you can. Remember that, Tribal Leader.” Dazzart returned to his quarters, the elf prince’s words still haunting him, along with Maurelle’s promise of a night of pleasures if he desired her. He certainly did desire her. He yearned to take her into his arms and kiss each curve of her body. He wondered if she’d be willing to press his spiked club into his spine as he climaxed. Would she be that brazen? No, he wouldn’t think of it. If anything he’d take her to the edge of the Great Divide and make love to her in his human form, not as a lusting, crazed beast. But not tonight. He needed his full strength for battle, and so did she.

§§§§ The next morning Janet awoke to that damn drowning elephant. This time she had to find out what the heck woke everyone at the crack of dawn. She knew her hair looked like crap since she hadn’t had time to braid it. Her tresses swung limply down her back, but she didn’t care. She was prepared to use all her sorceress powers to shut the noise up because it took away from her precious beauty sleep. She marched outside, staff in hand, looked up into a pine tree, and saw the strangest creature ever standing on a thick branch—an enormous, seven-foot, silver bird with the trunk of an elephant. It raised its trunk up in the air one last time, and she clenched her staff tightly in hand trying to think of a spell to shut the odd bird up. As Janet concentrated, a giant hand pulled her arm. The

78 Marguerite Arotin commanding voice of her sexy ogre said, “I would not do that if I were you.” She turned around and saw Dazzart grinning. In a flash, he pulled her staff right out of her grasp. “Why not?” Janet bit her bottom lip to prevent herself from saying anything else stupid. She was furious with the ogre for taking away her source of power. “Storkephants are nearly extinct in our land. Queen Lilana loves the birds and forced her husband to create a law banning the hunting of them.” “I don’t want to hunt it. I just want to shut it up.” “Even magic is not to be used against the birds. Penalty is a year in the dungeons of Grayton Castle.” “Great, just friggin’ great. So how long do these storkephants keep going on like that?” she asked, covering her ears as the bird raised its trunk and gave out another annoying cry. “Until everyone around the fort is awake. Storkephants are the only thing that can wake an ogre up. They didn’t awaken me this morning. I’ve been a bit anxious regarding the battle and have awoken without the aid of a storkephant lately,” he admitted. “I’m sorry. I can only imagine how hard it is to train a bunch of misfit gamers and computer geeks and get them ready for real battle.” Dazzart smiled. “I chose all of you because I believed those you call misfit gamers and computer geeks had a fighting spirit in their souls. Including you, Janet.” She felt her cheeks overheat. Not only because of his faith in her and everyone else he brought over to his realm, but because he’d remembered her real name. “So, um…tell me more about these storkephants.” “There’s a huge settlement of them at the edge of the Gilded Forest, which is why the fort is located here.”

The LasT sorceress 79 Janet knew there was nothing she could do. She sighed. “Fine, I’ll leave the birds alone. Can I please have my staff back?” “Before I give this back to you, I want you to know I was very tempted by your proposition last night. The meeting went well and broke up early. I thought about paying you a visit.” Ah ha, so she had gotten through to her beast. She gave him a sly smile and wrapped her arms around his massive, hairy chest. “Really? So why didn’t you join me? I waited up half the night for you.” He removed her arms and returned the staff to her hands. “What is it that you call it in your world, ah, I think they call it a one-night stand?” “It wouldn’t have to be a one nighter, Dazzart. I’d be happy with you in my bed for more than one night.” “And what about the day? Would you ignore me then?” “I told you yesterday, I am not ready for anything serious. I just want to have fun with you while I’m here.” “Sorry, my sorceress, I want more than that. If we were together, I would want it to be forever. But we cannot be together. I have a war to fight, and you have spells to cast. You need to prepare to face the goblins tonight and stop thinking about me.” She put her hands on her hips and narrowed her eyes. “I don’t understand you. I don’t understand why we can’t be together for one night. I don’t see why you are being so darned stubborn. It’s not every day a beautiful sorceress throws herself at an ogre.” He looked down at the dirt as he replied in a hushed tone, “It has happened before.” Janet raised her brow. “Really? When?” “I wish I could tell you everything. I wish I could let you in. But the last time I let anyone into my heart, she chose the king instead of me. I shouldn’t be talking to you. I have to meet with my legion.”

80 Marguerite Arotin She didn’t stop him as he stomped away, though she did wonder if he referred to his past relationship with Queen Liliana, the mother of his daughter. A part of her wanted to tell him all about Dave, to let him know how she had been through the same thing. Yet the other voice in her head reminded her not to get involved with him. If they managed to defeat Adieal, Janet would have the chance to go home. She knew Dazzart loved his world too much to make Earth his home permanently. She made a promise to do her job and forget about the huge, sexy, green-skinned beast.

§§§§ “I still can’t believe we’re going off into battle,” Alande said later, as she rolled the blankets off the top half of her bunk. “How far away is this Amnicola place?” “I don’t know. I wish we had a map or something to go by.” There was a map that loaded each time Janet played the game at home. It always gave her a clear idea of where she needed to go for any quest. This being the real thing, Janet missed the map. She had no idea of the size of the nation of Carnitha. Was it as big as the whole United States or only as large as Texas? Janet knew very little about the town of Amnicola. From the game, it looked like a quaint little river port town. She also remembered that passenger boats ran up and down the Abli River from there, and that the dumbest of the ogres towed the boats. She wondered what Dazzart thought about his fellow ogres being used as slaves. Then remembered she shouldn’t think about him at all. Instead, she asked Alande about how things were going with her and Tristam. If Janet’s love life went nowhere, at least she could live vicariously through the sweet little sorceress and her normal sorcerer boyfriend. “He’s so cute and nice,” Alande gushed as she hopped down from her bunk. “He’s even offered to carry my blanket for the trip.”

The LasT sorceress 81 Sicilia must have overheard the conversation because she walked over and asked with a grin, “Do you think you could talk him into carrying mine too?” “And mine,” added Dru. Belladonna was still too busy sulking to add anything. Janet noticed her pouting while she rolled up her blanket. Janet laughed along with the other girls as they packed up what little belongings they had. She thought about saying she knew someone who was big and strong enough to carry everything. But she didn’t. With the exception of the bratty Belladonna, she liked all the girls. Yet, she knew they would think her weird if she mentioned her fascination with Dazzart.

§§§§ Olorin gave them a quick lesson in healing spells before the army gathered up the last of their belongings and began the trek to Amnicola. He explained that fairies were actually better with healing, because they were skilled potion makers, but sorcerers could heal a few simple wounds with magic. “If you turn to page twenty of your spell book,” Olorin said while the wagons were being loaded up behind him, “you’ll be able to read several words for healing burns, cuts, and other minor abrasions. We don’t have time to practice them right now, but I want you to at least memorize the words before we leave.” Janet read each one of the words in her head. The word cool, she learned, was used to healing burns. She knew that one would be easy to remember. The word seal was used for mending cuts, and the word remedo would heal broken bones. When everyone was finished reading, Olorin had his students repeat the words over and over again to insure everyone would remember them. As Janet said the words, she caught sight of Dazzart. He ordered one of the ogres to load up the wagon with barrels. For one brief moment, their eyes met. Instead of seeing lust in those warm, brown eyes, she saw sadness and regret. He

82 Marguerite Arotin looked away, and Janet continued reciting the words, wishing she had met the ogre before Dave screwed her over.

Chapter Seven Several hours later, the Carnithian army stood outside the tiny village of Pravoka. Janet laughed and nudged Nidhogg when she saw the familiar, crooked sign of the Drunken Duck. “Can you believe it really exists?” she said as they walked toward the village. “I’m still in awe that Carnitha actually exists. Every morning when I wake up, I have to pinch myself to make sure I’m not dreaming,” her son replied. “I know. A few days ago I was just an ordinary mom with a sucky job, and you were just a grumpy teenage boy—” “I was never grumpy!” She grinned. “I beg to differ, child-o’-mine. I hope things will be different between us when we go back home.” “Ma, I’ve been meaning to talk to you about that. Even after we defeat Adieal, I don’t think I want to go home.” Janet raised her brows and flashed him an irritated look. “What? Don’t be ridiculous. You still have school and friends back there. Not to mention your father. What the heck am I supposed to tell him when he comes to pick you up for the weekend or when he calls asking about you?” Nidhogg shrugged. “I don’t know.” “Exactly. You have not thought this through. We can’t stay in this fairytale land forever.” Deep down Janet wished they could, but she knew their time beyond the Great Divide wouldn’t last forever. When they got to the village, Dazzart got everyone’s attention with another one of his mighty growls. She might’ve given up hope on ever having any sort of relationship with the ogre, but that growl still sent goose bumps down her spine. “We will be taking a ferry across Lake Regilus when the sun

84 Marguerite Arotin is midway in the sky. We need to be in Amnicola by dusk. Until then, feel free to explore Pravoka or the neighboring town of Adlerbranch. If you need to purchase anything, visit Gareph.” He pointed to a large ogre with mean, red eyes standing beside the wagon. “He will provide you with gilly bark for your purchases. I expect everyone to be on time.” Janet watched as a crowd gathered before the Gareph. Her stomach grumbled big-time, and the Drunken Duck looked inviting. She wanted to get some gilly bark, but decided to wait until the crowd thinned out. Nidhogg and Gilraen appeared to be in the same frame of mind. “So what are your plans, kiddo?” Janet asked Nidhogg while they waited. “I’ll probably head over to the Drunken Duck first to get something to drink and eat.” Gilraen tapped Nidhogg on the shoulder. “Oh, and don’t forget, we were going to go look at the archery shop.” “Oh, yeah, we could use some more arrows. What are you gonna do, Ma?” “Probably head over to the Drunken Duck as well. Then I might browse through my spell book.” “You should look around in Adlerbranch too,” Gilraen suggested. “I’m sure they have book stores there. Maybe you could find a few more spell books.” “Maybe, but I want to study this one first. There’s a lot of spells in here I haven’t learned.” They waited until the crowd cleared out and, luckily, Gareph still had plenty of gilly bark left. He handed out their share of five pieces each, and Janet looked at the strange currency of Carnitha—a pure golden sheet, about the size of a dollar, but with nothing printed on it. The gilly trees in the Gilded Forest were still covered in bark, and Janet was curious about the gilly bark mining process. “How come the gilly trees still have plenty of bark?”

The LasT sorceress 85 The ogre grunted. “Don’t know. Just grows right back, in time, after we take it. Always has. New gilly trees sprout up too. The fairies are always planting seeds.” She had to smile at that. They had entered a world where money did indeed, “grow on trees.” The inside of the Drunken Duck reminded Janet of an old English pub, not that she had ever been in an authentic pub. She had only seen pictures. There were six large, wooden tables with twelve chairs around them. A decent sized oak bar stood in the left corner. Behind the bar, a large, ugly dwarf slid a glass of amber ale down to an ogress with plump, red lips. The place smelled like a combination of tobacco and stale beer. The distinctive scent was the only thing she couldn’t get from entering the Drunken Duck while playing the game. Gilraen, Nidhogg, and Janet found an empty table at the corner of the tavern. She got the impression the place was busier than usual due to the Carnithian army being in town. All the tables were packed, and there was only one ogress to waitress. She had a grumpy frown on her face as she rushed out of the kitchen carrying six plates loaded with what looked like hamburgers and fries. She set the plates on a table with six hungry-looking dwarves and stomped over to Janet’s table. “Whatcha want?” She scowled. Janet looked around and didn’t notice any menus on the table. The waitress seemed to be in such a sour mood that she didn’t dare to ask what they had. “Um, I’ll just take whatever you gave to those dwarves.” “Kay, that’s one deer patty, smothered in gooseberry jelly, on a wheat toasty, with pickled potato strips.” Venison burger with gooseberry jelly and pickled potato strips? That was what she’d ordered? She assumed the wheat toasty was the bun. “Um can you not put the gooseberry jelly on it and skip the pickled potato strips?” “Fine,” the beastly waitress growled. “No jelly and no strips.” She turned to Nidhogg. “Whatcha want?”

86 Marguerite Arotin “I’ll have the exact same thing as the dwarves.” Teenage boys have weird tastes, she thought, shaking her head. She remembered how her son often took pickle and peanut butter sandwiches to school with him. Next the ogress turned to Gilraen. This time she didn’t say anything, only glared until Gil placed her order. “I want the same thing as Nidhogg, minus the gooseberry jelly.” Well, that sounded a little better. Janet didn’t know why Gilraen wanted the pickled French fries but thought, To each their own. While waiting for the orders, Janet set her spell book on the table and began to read it. The book had over five hundred pages. There were some simple, one-word spells but the complex incantations contained large paragraphs of text. Janet scratched her head and hoped memorizing countless spell sections wouldn’t give her migraine. One spell caught her eye, a very complex spell with one paragraph of text to memorize. However, it looked like it might come in handy during a nighttime battle. One by one, she chanted the words, “Bring us the light of day, lest we perish in the night. Illuminate our enemies so they may be seen. Cast out the darkness with pure, radiant sunlight.” “What is that, Mom?” Her son’s voice brought her out of a weird trance. She rubbed her eyes and temples. Janet didn’t know why, but as she concentrated on the spell, her head throbbed. “It’s a spell for bringing out the sun at night. Must be a difficult one too because my head feels like it’s about to explode.” Gilraen slammed her book shut and took it away. Janet tried to grab it back but Gilraen protested. “No, that’s obviously too much for you. You’re an excellent sorceress but I don’t think you’re ready for that spell yet.”

The LasT sorceress 87 “She isn’t.” Janet saw her pompous teacher striding to their table. Great, just what I need. She wondered where the hell he had come from. Olorin pulled out a chair and took a seat next to Janet. “I cannot even summon the sun. The only one I knew who was capable of such a feat was Ionwe.” “How did she do it?” Janet asked as she continued to rub her burning temples. “I do not know. Ionwe was able to tap into a higher power. You are a good sorceress. However, you are not, and will never be, as powerful as my late wife.” Forgetting about the headache, Janet grabbed the spell book away from Gilraen. “We’ll just see about that.” Something about the tone of Olorin’s voice set her off. A strong desire to prove him wrong filled her heart. Janet repeated the words over and over again until the grumpy waitress brought out the food. When she took a bite of her burger, which turned out to be very yummy, she repeated the words in her head. Even as she bid farewell to Nidhogg and Gilraen, the words kept running through her brain. Eventually, she developed what felt like a horrible, numbing migraine, and her stomach threatened to purge the deer patty. She wondered why those words pushed her body to its limits and made her physically ill. Janet only stopped thinking about the spell when she looked out the window. Crap, if she didn’t hustle, she’d miss the ferry. She slammed the book shut and raced out the door when she realized the sun was in the center of the sky. She kept running until she saw the army gathered in front of a massive ferry on the white, sandy shores of Lake Regilus. Dazzart had a very stern expression on his face. He looked as if he wanted to throttle her. “Sorry, I, I know it’s no excuse but I did not know how long I was sitting at the Drunken Duck.” “We were just about to leave without you. Olorin said he saw

88 Marguerite Arotin you studying the sun summoning spell.” She couldn’t lie to Dazzart. “Yes, I was.” “It’s a dangerous spell. But I believe you have the power within you to complete it.” She looked up at him, stunned, rubbing her temples because her head still throbbed. “What?” “You heard me—now get on the ferry.” Her head ached, and it literally hurt to think. “Yeah, sure. Is there some place on the ferry where I can sit down? I feel like crap.” “There certainly is.” And then the big green beast swept Janet off her feet and carried her to the ferry. She smiled at him. “Why are you doing this?” “I knew you were a force to be reckoned with the minute you asked about the sorceress at the convention, but even mighty sorceresses need to be carried from time to time.” Though her body ached, her heart was warmed by Dazzart’s words. Maybe I’m getting through to him, she thought as her sweet beast nearly tripped over a duck who staggered around her ogre’s huge leather boots. Though Janet was puzzled about the duck, she didn’t have the energy to ask Dazzart about it. Instead, she just replied, “Thanks.” “You rest now. I need you to be on the frontlines of the battle, and you can’t fight if you’re exhausted.” It sounded like the best advice she had gotten in a while. When Dazzart set Janet down on a plush, gray chair, she drifted off to sleep.

§§§§ “Mom, Mom, wake up. We’re here.” Her son’s voice awakened Janet from an erotic dream involving a naked ogre and a levitation spell. She woke up

The LasT sorceress 89 blushing and wondering if Dazzart was around. She knew it would be impossible to look at him after her dream and not imagine him naked. “Oh, um, Dazzart isn’t here, is he?” “He already got off the ferry. Said something about a meeting with his lieutenants at a local inn. Are you okay? You almost looked green when he set you down.” “Yeah, I feel much better.” She did. It was either the sleep or the naughty dream that had invigorated her. Janet liked to think it was the latter. “Did Dazzart say what the plan was once we got to Amnicola?” she asked, stretching her arms out to the canopy over the ferry. “He said we were supposed to all be at the edge of town by sunset—until then we’re free to explore the city. He said if we need anything to drop by the Swan Dive Inn. I guess the inn will be our headquarters while we’re in town.” Exploring the town sounded great to Janet. With her brain pretty much fried from her attempts to memorize the sun summoning spell, she knew some sightseeing would do her good. The town of Amnicola reminded Janet of a cute little nineteenth-century river town. Small, red brick buildings lined the cobblestone streets. She inhaled the scent of fresh bread coming from a bakery on the street. The Albi River cut right through the heart of the town and long, sleek boats were pulled on a gravel pathway by the biggest, ugliest ogres she’d ever seen. Janet heard the crack of a whip and watched as the captain of a boat forced an ogre to work harder. Dazzart stood by a quaint, red brick inn with a golden swan on the sign. He held a ton of maps in his hands and dropped them when he heard the crack of the whip. She watched as he flew into a fury and charged towards the boat. “Wait.” Janet ran after him. She knew how he felt. It was shoddy treatment but grabbing the whip away would only make

90 Marguerite Arotin more problems. She blocked his way as he reached the river, gripping her staff tightly. “Dazzart, stop. This isn’t the way to change things.” “Out of my way,” he growled. “No, I...” Why was she stopping him? He had every right to be angry. Suddenly, the reason why jumped into her head and heart. “I don’t want you to get hurt.” His stern expression softened a bit, and the warmth returned to his gorgeous eyes. “Really?” “Yes, really. Maybe you can talk to the king about changing things.” “If I were king,” he growled with that sexy baritone that made her knees weak, “such things would not be happening.” She wrapped her arms around his large waist. “When you become king, then you can change it.” “If I become King of Carnitha, would you be my queen?” Janet didn’t know how to answer him. “I’d need time to think about it,” she answered honestly. He turned and watched the boat sail off. “My father was a slave here, many years ago.” His voice sounded distant, lost in painful memories. “What about your mother?” “My mother was a beautiful sorceress from Veneficium.” Janet remembered the conversation from last night. “She’s the one? When you were talking about sorceresses falling for ogres, it was your mother?” “Yes.” That was why his eyes were so human-like. He must have inherited them from his mother. He was a half-breed, and her heart ached for him. She wondered what it must have been like, growing up in a land full of ogres, knowing that you were different. Dazzart was smarter, slightly better looking, different from all the others. It must’ve been rough to prove he would

The LasT sorceress 91 make a great military leader, but still he rose to the rank of Tribal Leader. By the same token, Dazzart didn’t fit in on Earth either. Sure, he made a hunky human, and he seemed to like her world, but it wasn’t his home. She could only imagine how rough it was for the ogre, trapped inside the body of a man. “She had visited Carnitha and saw my father getting whipped by a boat captain in this town. She felt sorry for him, freed him, and the two fell in love.” “Are your parents still alive?” Janet asked. She reached up and placed her hand on his large shoulder. He shook his huge head. “They were charged with guarding Adieal and Zoemith in the Thunder Mountains. When the two raised their army of demons, my parents were murdered.” “Oh, Dazzart...” She didn’t know what to say. Janet placed her head on his shoulder as warm tears dripped from her eyes. Dazzart caught a single teardrop with one of his large, green fingers. His huge eyes were completely dry. “Do not cry for my mother and father. They did their duty. I had risen up the ranks to Tribal Leader by then, and I did mourn them. But I knew I had a job to do as well. Stopping Adieal and Zoemith became my life’s mission.” She wiped her tears away and asked, “Since your father was from Amnicola, would you mind showing me around the town? I mean, if you have free time. I know battle strategy can’t be easy.” He grinned, linked his muscular green arm with hers and said, “My meeting went well, and I feel we are prepared to face the goblins tonight. It would be an honor, my lady.” Dazzart was a complete ogre gentleman as he showed her around the town. He took Janet to a bookstore where she found a spell book with many more spells than she had in her book. She bought it on the spot. He showed her the small chapel where his parents were married, a charming white clapboard

92 Marguerite Arotin church complete with a towering steeple. If I were to get married in Carnitha, it would be here, she thought as they walked by and the lyrical sound of church bells filled the cobblestone street. He also showed her the small shanty where his father once lived. The roof looked like it was about to collapse, and the shutters on the broken windows were all crooked. Janet really enjoyed her tour of Amnicola, but soon the sun began to set, and they both knew the goblins had to be dealt with. “Are you nervous at all?” he asked as they walked to the town’s edge. “A little. Who wouldn’t be? But I think I can do this.” “I know you can,” he replied as they waited for the rest of the army. “That’s why I wanted you in that tournament.” She suddenly remembered how he’d invited her to participate. “I never did thank you for that, did I?” “You don’t have to, my sorceress. Just work your magic tonight.” “I’ll do my best,” she promised. Janet decided to look through her new spell book while they waited. She found a particularly useful spell for illuminating enemies. Knowing the threat to Amnicola included goblins, she thought lighting up the little buggers would work great. A cool breeze came from the north, ruffling the page of the book. As she looked up, a flash of lightning lit up the rainbowcolored dusk sky, and a rumble of thunder followed it. Janet winced as a cold raindrop fell upon her shoulder, followed by another one. “This is highly unusual,” Dazzart said with a scowl upon his grayish-green face. “Thunderstorms only happen in the Thunder Mountains.” “Perfect, freaking perfect!” Janet rolled her eyes and set her book down when Olorin approached her. They were about to face the very first battle in the middle of a downpour.

Chapter Eight Janet stood with her fellow sorceresses and sorcerers at the front of the line on that cold, stormy night. They were to be the first offense and defense. She’d told her fellow practitioners of magic about the enemy illumination spell, and they all agreed it would be perfect to use against the goblins. On Olorin’s orders, they were to make the little buggers glow like a bonfire. She clenched her staff tightly while the cold wind swirled around her, the falling raindrops blurring her vision. Through the flash of lightning from the north, she saw them. A horde of small, hairy, black beasts, with huge, bat-like ears came marching in. The goblins had arrived. “Be ready, ladies and gentlemen,” Janet whispered. “I...I don’t know if I can do this,” Alande said. Her voice shook as much as her body. Janet grabbed Alande’s shoulder and looked directly into her wide, pale blue eyes. “Yes, you can. We cannot do this without you. All of us need to work together.” Fear made Janet shudder internally. She was probably the least likely candidate to give the girl a pep talk, but her experience as a mother taught her to push aside those fears. They needed to work as a team, and she could not let that frightened little girl know her true feelings. As the goblins advanced, Janet held her breath as they waited for Olorin’s order. The rain pounded against her skin, and the words of the spell raced through her head. Illuminate those who wish to harm us. She closed her eyes and could almost see those ugly little things glowing like sun fire. The heavy sound of marching footsteps grew closer and closer to the town, and the thunder rumbled in the distance. “Now!” Olorin cried out. She clenched her staff so tightly that her knuckles turned

94 Marguerite Arotin white. Her mind cried out the words of the spell. Illuminate those who wish to harm us. One by one, the goblins lit up like glowing embers. Her heart soared. The spell worked. With a whoosh, the arrows from the elves stationed behind her began to fly into the air. It was a little startling at first, and she fought the urge to duck. The goblins did not stand a chance. Arrows hit their marks as the light blinded the goblins before the ugly creatures even had a chance to attack. But as the arrows pierced the beasts, she noticed the battle was far from over. Growling and snarling noises suddenly erupted from the woods surrounding Amnicola, and at least a hundred werewolves and demons marched out of the dark shadows of the trees. Janet had never seen anything so gruesome, and her body froze. The massive, demonic forces fell into organized ranks, snarling as their faces were illuminated by the dead and dying goblins. The hairy wolves bared sharp teeth, ready to cut through flesh. The demons had their swords, maces, and battleaxes ready to strike. Her heart told her the army from hell was prepared to fight to the death. The chilling wind and pounding rain swept over her. The copper scent of goblin blood combined with the sulfuric scent of fire and brimstone. The disgusting odor made her eyes water and her stomach churn. She almost wished she had her dull job at the bank back. Arguing with some idiotic customer over the amount of money in their checking account would have been heaven compared to this nightmare. As another white flash of lightning lit up the darkened sky, she saw a ghostly white horse charging through the woods. The rider upon the horse’s back was a hideous demon with bloodred flesh, a bushy red mane, and a long, serpent-like tail. With blood dripping from his long and lethal fangs, he had a face that would forever haunt her nightmares, the face of a snarling lion. He must have been a general in the armies of hell, because when he called out, “Charge!” all hell literally broke loose. The demonic troops ran to the army faster than the lighting flashing through the dark sky.

The LasT sorceress 95 “Again, use the spell again!” Olorin cried out. Janet clenched her staff. Illuminate those who wish to harm us. She glared directly at the general, and soon enough, his dark red skin lit up. She let out a sigh of relief when an arrow hit him in the shoulder but gasped because the wound didn’t stop him. Her heart pounded when the monster continued charging forth. Alande tightly gripped Janet’s arm and sobbed. Janet grabbed Alande’s shoulder and shook her. “Use the spell!” She didn’t mean to yell at the girl, but damn it, their lives depended on her spell casting. Besides, she had to make sure Alande heard her over the thunder and howling wind. “But...” “No buts. Just do it!” She nodded through her tears, closed her eyes, and soon a big, hairy werewolf lit up like a jack-o-lantern. A silver-tipped arrow flew into his heart, and the beast stumbled to the ground. The spells were working somewhat, but not everyone used them. Janet noticed Belladonna sitting on the ground and shrieking like a banshee. Bella rocked back and forth with her arms wrapped around her long legs. Oh hell, Janet thought as she raced to her. She knew the girl was not meant to be a sorceress, but they needed her. She crouched down beside Bella and gazed into her shellshocked eyes. “Bella, you have to use the spell. If you don’t, you will die here. Do you understand?” The girl nodded. “Then get your ass up right now and use that illumination spell,” Janet shouted in her face as she yanked her from the ground. Bella clenched her staff and asked, “W-ho should I u-use it on?” “I don’t care who you aim it at. Just do it, now!”

96 Marguerite Arotin Bella looked over and illuminated the smallest demon in the army. “Great. Now find another one,” Janet shouted over the rolling thunder. “Damn, never seen anything quite like this,” Dru said. She stood next to Bella with an awestruck expression on her lovely dark face. “I know. Gotta use the spell, though. Okay, Dru?” “What? Oh yeah, sure, the spell.” Dru looked at a six-foot, brown-haired werewolf and lit him up. Janet found a few more demons to hit and watched in horror as the arrows missed their mark. The beasts had worked their way into the Carnithian ranks. Now they needed something else—the sun summoning spell. Janet closed her eyes and tried to recall the words until her head felt like it was about to burst. Damn it, where the hell did I leave my spell book? In a flash, she recalled last holding the book before she moved to the front of the line with her fellow sorcerers and sorceresses. Janet fumbled around for her tome as the chaos continued. The demons battled face-to-face with the ogres and clashed swords with the dwarves. She was astonished by the raw strength of Dazzart when he throttled four demons, two in one hand, two in the other. For a moment, she wanted to offer him her help, but knew she had her own mission. Janet ran through a barrage of arrows until she tripped over something. She gasped when she realized it was a body, but not just any body—a male sorcerer wearing a cloak, one of her own group. She flipped him over and cried out as she looked into the freckled face of Alande’s sweetheart. “No, no, no, Tristam, get up. Damn it, get up.” She lowered her head to his chest. He still breathed, but barely. Janet touched his neck and felt warm, sticky blood upon her fingertips. Yet, somehow, she came to her senses and remembered something her son had said about the fairy,

The LasT sorceress 97 Eolande. The elixir! Oh God, I’ve got to find her before it’s too late. “Eolande,” Janet shouted out over the thunder and prayed the fairy heard her cries. “I need you, please.” Before she could call Eolande again, Janet heard a fluttering of wings above her, looked up, and spied a pretty fairy dressed in a glittering, purple bikini. Janet lifted the dying sorcerer into her arms. “He needs the elixir. Hurry.” Eolande nodded, landed on the ground, and Janet handed her the young sorcerer’s limp body. Janet willed herself to rise and pushed her way through the battlefield. Finding the book became her mission. As she rushed through the battlefield, Janet caught sight of a dwarf with long, curly black hair strangled in the tight grip of an eight-foot muscular demon. The eyes of the beast were as red as his skin, and horns protruded from his shoulders. She used the levitation spell to pull the dwarf away but before she could continue on, the demon ran directly into her and grabbed her breast. “Such a pretty thing,” the filthy beast sneered. The demon’s breath reeked like decaying flesh. She turned her head to avoid smelling it. “I could have so much fun with you.” He ran his long tongue over his black lips while she struggled to escape his grasp. “In your dreams, evil incarnate.” “I like it when you talk dirty. No one has ever called me that before. I like your spirit. Go on and fight me. I love it when my prey fights.” Janet realized he was nude, and felt his rock hard erection rubbing against her thigh. She found a way out and kneed him directly in the balls with all the force she could muster. He released her and wailed in pain as he rubbed his injured devilhood. She continued her urgent search.

98 Marguerite Arotin She tripped over a severed werewolf head. Neck bones protruded from its hairy form, and the metallic scent of its blood made nasty tasting bile rise up her throat. When Janet swallowed and reminded herself she did not have time to be sick, she looked down and saw it. Her spell book...her salvation. She reached for the tome and rummaged through the spells until she found the one she needed. Olorin rushed to her side. “What are you doing? You should be out there with the... Oh, no you don’t. You cannot do that spell.” “Leave me. Can’t you see it’s our only hope?” “You’ll kill yourself. You just do not posses that sort of...” He paused to use a pusher spell on a werewolf that was heading directly for them and then continued, “…power.” “I can do this,” she protested, her eyes studying the words of the spell. He grabbed the book away from her and slammed it shut. “No, you cannot.” The next thing she knew, Dazzart charged through the battlefield. The mighty beast pulled the book away from Olorin. Janet noticed how bloody her ogre’s hands were as he handed it back to her. “Let her try.” She had a sudden urge to give her ogre the biggest, sloppiest kiss she could. But there was no time for that. She made a mental note to kiss her hero after the battle. When Janet had the words firmly set in her throbbing head, she clenched her staff tight and looked up to the stormy skies. Oh God, please let this work. She took a deep breath and let the words of the spell take over her head. Bring us the light of day, lest we perish in the night. Illuminate our enemies so they may be seen. Cast out the darkness with pure, radiant sunlight. Janet’s head felt like it might explode as the words formed in her mind. The energy drained from her body as she panted. Her

The LasT sorceress 99 knees buckled, yet she found the strength to smile as the clouds parted. The first rays of bright, glorious sunlight shone down upon her weakened, soaking wet, exhausted body. She tried to keep the sunlight out as long as she could. The werewolves rushed back into the woods as the hair dropped off their bodies and they lost their muscular frames. The beasts transformed into mere weak mortals and raced into the woods. The demons, blinded by the sunlight, screeched and stumbled into the wilderness. Except for the general. His blood-red eyes seared right through Janet’s flesh as he charged at her. For a brief moment, fear almost made her lose her concentration. Suddenly, she remembered her son was here. Her girls, the sorceresses, were still behind her. Her ogre, the only one who believed she could do this, was here too. She had to protect everything that was precious to her. Fear would not hold her back. “Oh no, you don’t,” she whispered. And while still keeping her head to the sky and concentrating on the sun, Janet somehow used what little remaining mental strength she had to conjure a pusher spell. The foul beast and ghostly horse were shoved deep into the dark wilderness. When the last of the enemies were gone, she looked down from the sky, closed her eyes, and collapsed into an abyss of darkness.

§§§§ He had been such a fool, pushing her, encouraging the sorceress to do so much. Although she had brazen spirit, it was contained within a fragile body. While he sent the fairies and mages out to heal the wounded, Dazzart scooped Maurelle’s unconscious body into his arms. Her son rushed to Dazzart’s side. “My mom…” Tears welled in the boy’s eyes. “Is she okay?” The steady rise and fall of her chest made Dazzart sigh in relief. He hadn’t killed her by forcing her to use the sun summoning spell. “She’s fine. Exhausted but breathing. We need to get to her to the Swan Dive Inn. I’ll stay with her during

100 Marguerite Arotin the night.” He tenderly gazed at her face and brushed a sweatsoaked tendril of hair from her forehead. “I’ll watch over her.” “Me too,” Nidhog said, wiping away a tear. “I mean, she is my mom, and she’s always been there for me when I was sick.” Together they walked through the battlefield. The fatalities were limited thanks to Maurelle’s brave sacrifice, but Dazzart hated the fact that the spell had taken so much out of her. “I should have never told her she could use that spell.” Nidhog paused, reached up, and put his hand on Dazzart’s shoulder. “Listen. There’s something you have to understand about my mom. If you tell her not to do something, she’ll do it anyway. She’s stubborn like that. Used to drive my dad crazy.” “Used to?” Nidhog removed his hand. “They’re divorced. Thanks for looking out for her. She needs someone to do that, and well, I haven’t exactly been the best son to her.” Dazzart felt his rocky heart soften at her son’s admission. “She still loves you though, and there’s always time to make amends with your mother while you still have her.” He swallowed hard, trying to forget the painful memories of his own sweet, sorceress mother. “Will you hold open the door to the inn when we get there?” “Yeah, it’s the least I can do for the woman who not only brought me into this world, but also saved my life today.”

§§§§ When Janet opened her eyes, she wasn’t in Amnicola. She lay in a large, dank cave that she remembered from the game. It was Adieal’s lair, The Cave of Torture. She crouched behind a large, midnight-colored boulder when she heard a stomping sound. She peeked out and saw the large demon general with the lion’s face. She shuddered, recalling how he had challenged her after she summoned the sun. “Adieal, I bring you news from the battle,” he growled. “What news do you bring, Baal?” Janet didn’t see the witch,

The LasT sorceress 101 but her cold, regal voice echoed through the cave. “We were not able to take the town.” “What?” Her voice raged, and the cave shook with her fury. Then, Janet saw her. She wore the same blood-red velvet gown she always wore in the game. Her dress clung to the seductive curves of her tall, graceful body. She had full, crimson lips that any woman would kill for and any man would long to kiss. Her long, chestnut hair was luminous even in the dark, dismal cave. She flew to Baal and wrapped her long fingers around the demon’s large throat. “Amnicola should have been ours.” “Should have,” Baal agreed, “but it is not. I have no excuse for our failure. All I can tell you is the army of Carnitha has a new sorceress. She summoned the sun.” “You lie. The one woman who could summon the sun is dead.” “I speak the truth. I would never lie to you.” She released his throat and glared back at him with those cruel, onyx eyes. “What is her name?” “I do not know. But I will find out. I will send an alrune into town to learn her identity.” Janet felt a warm hand fall upon her shoulder and turned around. She stared into a pair of familiar sapphire eyes and the beautiful face of a sorceress ghost. But Ionwe did not look like a ghost. Her fair skin looked luminous, not pallid. Her copper hair still shone like sunbeams. When Ionwe spoke, her voice was a mere whisper but the words sent goose bumps down Janet’s spine. “She knows about you now, Maurelle.” “No, no,” she cried out. Janet backed into the wall of the cavern and blacked out again. When she opened her eyes, she wasn’t in the cave anymore. She lay in a warm bed, tucked under a big, warm quilt, surrounded

102 Marguerite Arotin by the caring, concerned faces of Dazzart, all the sorceresses, her son, and Gilraen. She bolted up out of the bed and turned to Dazzart. “She knows,” she whispered with a very hoarse voice. “Adieal is coming for me.”

Chapter Nine “Mom.” Nidhogg raced to Janet’s bedside. “Are you okay? I can’t believe you pulled a stunt like that. You had us all scared to death.” She flashed her son a huge grin and leaned forward to kiss his cheek. “You sound too much like me. I’m fine. I had to protect you, kiddo. It didn’t matter how much my head pounded or how ill I felt. I couldn’t let the monsters hurt you.” A tear slipped from his navy blue eyes. Janet pulled him close and gave him the tightest hug her tired arms could manage. “Don’t cry, honey.” “I’m not crying, Ma. I just have something in my eye.” “Yeah, sure, sweetheart. It’s good to know you were worried about me.” “Course I was. I’m your son.” “We were all worried about you,” Alande added, wiping freeflowing tears from her puffy eyes. “Even Bella was worried.” Alande appeared to have been crying for hours. Janet remembered the weakened state she’d found Tristram in. “Oh sweetheart, how is your boyfriend? Did he get the elixir in time?” She nodded and blew her nose into a lacy handkerchief. “Thanks to you, he’s fine. He’s resting now.” “Which is exactly what you should be doing,” Dazzart scolded. “It took a lot out of you to summon the sun. I had to carry you here.” “Okay, so where am I?” Janet looked around the unfamiliar room. The white, lacy drapes on the window gave the room a pretty touch. The sunshine colored comforter draped over her was nice and soft. “I reserved rooms for everyone at the Swan Dive Inn,” Dazzart replied, tucking Janet in snugly.

104 Marguerite Arotin “Swan Dive Inn...Drunken Duck?” Janet chuckled. “Who the heck comes up with these names?” Dazzart did not even crack a smile. His dour expression told her how he carried the weight of his nation upon his broad, green shoulders. “You should be resting. You were delirious a few moments ago. Screaming and calling out Adieal’s name.” Janet remembered the dream. At least she thought it was a dream. It seemed so real. She could still feel Ionwe’s hand on her shoulder. “Baal, the demon general, told her about me,” she whispered. “She’s sending an alrune to find out who I am. I’m such an idiot. I drew her attention, didn’t I?” Dazzart reached out and lightly touched a strand of her hair. “No. You did what you had to do to save the army. Because of you, my sorceress, our casualties were few.” “How many did we lose?” She had to know if the sunsummoning spell was truly worth the effort. “About fifteen. An elf and a sorcerer were bitten by werewolves. If we try to work with them at night, however, we might be able to convince the sorcerer, the elf, or maybe even both to join our side.” They had lost about seventeen out of two hundred. Janet wasn’t holding out much hope about the elf and sorcerer who were bitten by werewolves. Her spell had worked. She might have drawn Adieal’s attention, but the casualties had been low. She hung her head and said a small prayer for those they had lost, but sighed in relief as she thought about everyone she’d saved. Janet remembered Dazzart had given her the chance to cast the spell. Olorin had tried to stop her, but Dazzart, her ogre, supported her. She owed him something for his loyalty. She pulled his big, green face close to hers and kissed him. To her surprise, his huge fangs did not get in the way, and his lips were soft, not leathery like she’d thought they would be. He tasted like ginger and wine, and she would have given anything for

The LasT sorceress 105 the kiss to last longer, but when she slipped him the tongue, he pulled away. Everyone in the room, Nidhogg, Gilraen, the sorceresses, and even Dazzart were stunned by her brash move. Silence hung over the air like a gloomy cloud, and everyone gawked at Janet as if she had suddenly sprouted horns in her head. She didn’t care. Dazzart, whether he wanted to admit it or not, earned that kiss, along with a small part of her wounded heart. Her ogre’s green skin flushed to a bright shade of crimson as he stood up and commanded, “Everyone out, right now. The sorceress needs to rest.”

§§§§ Dazzart exited the room, still awed by the power of her kiss, dazed and confused, so dizzy he almost couldn’t find the staircase. How had she done that to him? Why did she do it in front of her son and friends? Her lips were softer than a rosebud and tasted like gooseberry wine. The sweetness of it all caused his ogrehood to swell, and he hoped no one else in the room noticed the rather large bulge between his legs. Ogres were not supposed to be aroused by sugary kisses, but somehow the sorceress had gotten the better of him, gotten through the fortress he’d built around his heart and body. He nearly tripped over the first oaken step, however managed to regain his footing. As he continued stomping downward, he knew he didn’t deserve her affection. He’d pushed her too hard for his own selfish reasons. He’d wanted to see what she was capable of and to find out if she was the foretold sorceress. Of course, she’d exceeded his wildest dreams when she’d summoned the sun, but at the cost of her health. By the time he’d reached the first floor hall, he knew he’d have to take better care of the sorceress. Make sure she never collapsed like that again. And if she turned out not to be the one, he wouldn’t search the realm of Earth for another sorceress. Humans were too precious to trifle with.

106 Marguerite Arotin In the main hall of the inn, Gareph greeted Dazzart with the usual scowl on his face. “I think I might have found the scout who gave us false information. I do not know if it’s her for certain or not, but perhaps one of the mages can illuminate her to find out if she’s an enemy or not?” The only mage Dazzart truly trusted with such a task was sleeping now. Her long legs probably dangling off the bed and her breasts rising and falling with each breath she took. Even in her human form, as Janet, her legs were amazing. Petite and curvy, but he was willing to bet that even as Janet she could wrap them around his frame when he entered her. Why was he thinking about the sensual features of the woman again? The last thing he needed was for his arousal to perk up even more, especially in front of his lieutenant. “I know of a sorceress who can illuminate the spy,” Dazzart said, trying to retain his composure, “But we must give her time to rest.” “Not too much time. We don’t want the enemy escaping,” Gareph grunted before stomping past Dazzart. Dazzart knew he needed a cold shower before he faced her again. Something to kill the lusty hormones in his blood and return him to his warmonger state.

§§§§ Janet listened to her ogre and rested for a while after everyone exited the room. She awoke several hours later, fully recharged and ready to take on any demons that came her way. She rose, stretched, and decided to examine her room a little closer. She took in all her cozy accommodations. A bouquet of the most unusual looking red and white polka-dotted roses in an amber glass vase graced the window seat. She picked up one of the roses to smell it and smiled, inhaling the sweet fragrance. Though the pretty flower looked odd, it smelled like a rose would on Earth. She peeked through the white, crochet draperies and loved the nice view of the Albi River as its silver waters cut a path directly through the town.

The LasT sorceress 107 She spied her spell books sitting on an ivory nightstand and reached for the newest volume. As she opened the front cover, she read that Ionwe had collected and transcribed the spells. She closed the cover and wondered how Ionwe had failed against Adieal. If Ionwe had more power than Olorin, who was a very powerful, but enormously arrogant sorcerer, then what chance did Janet stand against Adieal? Sure, she could now summon the sun. Ionwe could do it as well, and the spell had not helped her defeat Adieal. Was there some secret to defeating the wicked witch that Janet didn’t know yet? With Adieal out for her now, Janet had to learn that secret. She knew she had to speak to Olorin, though she still didn’t trust him. She knew he was the one person who could help her. She returned the book to the nightstand and set out to find the haughty wizard. As luck would have it, Janet ran directly into Olorin the minute she left her room. He gave her a slight smile. “I am glad to see you are well today. I was looking for you. I wish to tell you I was wrong. You are powerful enough to summon the sun and did so perfectly.” Janet almost fell over with shock. “Thanks. Um, I have a question for you.” “What is it,” he asked, caressing her cheek, “my beautiful sorceress?” “Well, first of all, I am not your sorceress.” “Not yet, at least, but go on.” She rolled her eyes because she’d never give her heart to an arrogant prick like him. “Well, um, do you think I have the power to deal with Adieal and Zoemith?” He lowered his head. “I do not know. Ionwe failed against her. My wife set out against the two of them because of the prophecy.” “What prophecy?” He started to walk away, but Janet grabbed his arm. “Dazzart

108 Marguerite Arotin told us not to speak of the prophecy to any of the sorceresses. He said it would put too much pressure on you.” She remembered the intro to the game, The Last Sorceress, and wondered if that was the prophecy Olorin had mentioned. “Was it...” Damn it, what the hell were the words they used in the game? “Did it have something to do with a sorceress with a good heart?” “I cannot say. Dazzart would not like me speaking to you about this.” “I won’t tell him,” Janet promised. If this prophecy had to do with the reason why she was brought into this world, she had the right to know. “The prophecy was made by Dazzart’s mother, Karene, before she died. She was gifted with second sight and predicted a sorceress with a good heart shall vanquish the evil from Carnitha.” “So Ionwe thought she was this sorceress?” Olorin paused for a moment, and the mournful look in his usually stern green eyes answered before he managed to find the words. “Yes, she set out to defeat Adieal on her own and was destroyed.” Janet placed her hand upon his shoulder. “I’m sorry.” The lusty look in his emerald eyes returned, and she quickly removed her hand. “You remind me a lot of her. You may not look alike, but you have her spirit, her charm, and you are a beautiful woman in your own right.” “I’m not her. Three days ago, I was plain old Janet Lind, a single mom with small boobs and a big butt.” “Yet you certainly managed to fit the role of sorceress perfectly. You were made for this task, and we were made to be together.” He pulled Janet close to him, so close she felt the stubble on his chin and the whiskey on his breath. The scent reminded her too much of the night she kicked Dave out of the house.

The LasT sorceress 109 “Let me go before I use the pusher spell.” “You don’t have your staff with you,” he whispered. “You left it in your room. You made a big mistake there, my dear. Sorceresses should never go anywhere without the source of their power.” “Oh yeah,” Janet replied, clenching a fist behind her back. “At least I still have the power of my five fingers.” With that, she knocked him hard in the jaw. He released her and clutched his jaw. She grinned and quickly returned to her room before he had a chance to stop her. Janet vowed never again talk to Olorin without her trusty magic staff.

§§§§ Sometime later, after Janet’s little altercation with Olorin, someone knocked upon her door. She was lounging on her bed, reading her spell book, and called out, “Who’s there?” “Dazzart. I need to speak to you for a moment.” She set her spell book aside and moved to open the door. “Hi, Dazzart.” “Hello, Janet. You are looking well rested.” “I love it when you call me by my real name, and I love the fact that you believe in me. But I wonder why you did not tell me about this prophecy thing?” She wrapped her arms around his waist. He pulled away and broke free of her arms. “How did you learn of the prophecy?” “A little birdie told me.” She couldn’t stand Mister High­ and-Mighty, but she did give him her word. “Who told you? I demand to know! No one was to speak of my mother’s foretelling to any of the sorceresses.” God, she loved his voice. So damn bold and sexy, even more so when he got angry. “It’s not important who told me. Was the prophecy why you created the Last Sorceress game, to bring a sorceress to

110 Marguerite Arotin Carnitha?” “Yes, Adieal murdered the sorceresses we brought from Veneficium.” She widened her eyes in disbelief. “Does this mean there aren’t any women left in Veneficium?” He nodded and lowered his head. “Yes, there are only children left. We ran out of resources and needed help from your world. She killed all the sorceresses I brought from the last convention, and I knew I had to find someone she could not destroy.” “It’s not me,” Janet whispered. She wondered how she could live up to such high responsibility to bring peace to an entire magical world. “Adieal could kill me as easily as she did the others.” With a huge finger, he lifted her chin. “You don’t know that for sure. I believe in you. I know you’ll know what to do when the time comes, and I vow to stay beside you. Just in case you need someone to pick you up and carry you again.” She rested her head against his hairy chest, and he rubbed his hand down the small of her back. Warmth shot down her spine from his touch. “Thank you. I hope you’re right about me knowing what to do if I have to face Adieal though.” “Come, I need your assistance, and afterwards I’ll escort you to your next lesson with Olorin.” Not a word passed between them as they walked together down the long, winding staircase of the Swan Dive Inn. Janet tried her damnedest to figure out how she really felt about the ogre. The revelation that he was part human made sense—it explained her attraction to him. But was she still just physically attracted to him, or was there something more to her desire? When Dave broke her heart four years ago, she vowed never to give her heart to a man again. She went on the occasional blind date and had a few cheap flings, but she hardened her heart. She had promised herself to protect Spencer from ending

The LasT sorceress 111 up with another asshole for a father, but she now realized she was protecting her own heart, her own dreams from getting crushed again. Was she ready to give her heart willingly to the big green beast, especially if the war ended tomorrow and she had her chance to return home? Standing in the foyer decorated with golden swan wallpaper, she stopped and asked Dazzart, “Did you like it when I kissed you?” He turned his head toward her. “Ogres do not talk about their feelings.” “I liked kissing you,” she replied, caressing his hand. “Beautiful women are not supposed to like kissing ogres. Ogres are to be feared. Not kissed.” She rolled her eyes and sighed. “Fine. I guess I’ll find Olorin on my own after I help you.” They walked, once again in silence, into a large space that reminded Janet of a meeting room in a hotel on Earth. A large, oak table dominated the center of the room. The floor glittered with beautiful golden tiles. Worn out old maps decorated the north wall, and at last she could tell how large Carnitha was from looking at them. The ogre kingdom was the exact size and shape of Alaska. The next largest bordering nation was Olorin’s Veneficium. Janet turned her head when she heard a gruff, feminine voice ask, “You asked me to meet you here, Dazzart?” A tall ogress dressed in leather armor stood before them. Thick, dark hair cascaded down her back, and if she didn’t have the typical ogre fangs and bumpy green skin, she could have passed for Xena, from one of Janet’s favorite shows, Xena: Warrior Princess. “Yes, Rewor, I did. Please wait here a moment.” Dazzart pulled Janet to a corner of the room. “I need you to use the illumination spell on her,” he whispered. She looked at Dazzart and then at the warrior ogress. “Do

112 Marguerite Arotin you think she’s a spy?” Janet whispered. He nodded. “Use the spell.” Rewor must have known what Janet was about to do because the ogress bolted toward the door. Janet gripped her staff as the words formed in her head. Illuminate those who wish to harm us. The mighty ogress lit up like a jack-o-lantern. She tried to flee, but Janet used a pusher spell to move her to Dazzart. Dazzart gripped Rewor’s arm, and Janet suddenly recalled her dream. “Are you an alrune?” She growled. “No, I am not. Adieal promised me riches beyond my wildest dreams if I gave Dazzart the wrong information.” Dazzart pulled on her long, dark hair with his other hand and looked like he was about to tear Rewor’s head off. “I trusted you. You’ve been a scout with my army for years. You assured me there were only goblins in Amnicola when you knew perfectly well that demons had been spotted there as well. Are there any more spies with my scouts?” She didn’t answer, and Dazzart responded by wrapping his massive hand around her thick, green neck. “Do not push me. I could strangle you right now.” “No,” Rewor gasped, “I was the only one.” Dazzart released her neck but grabbed her arm. “Why? After all the army has done for you, why would you betray us?” “Trust means nothing to me when I can have riches beyond my wildest dreams.” Three large ogres dressed in copper plated armor came stomping into the meeting room. Dazzart shoved Rewor into them. “Transport her to the king. Jerard will make sure she pays for her traitorous activities.” The ogres trouped out of the room, gripping Rewor by both her arms and her hair. Janet reached up and placed her hand on Dazzart’s shoulder. She tried to think of the right words to say

The LasT sorceress 113 to him. His clenched his fists, and the eyes she loved so much narrowed into tiny slits. He pulled away and threw one of the large, oak chairs into a corner. Tiny splinters of wood flew through the room as the chair shattered. She shook her head and approached the huffing and puffing beast. “Did destroying furniture make you feel better?” He slammed his fist on the table. “No, it did not. Damn her! Damn the bitch and her legions to hell. Why must she always be one step ahead of me? I’ve worked too hard to have her destroy my reputation as a good leader.” Janet put her hand over his large green fist. “I take it you’re talking about Adieal?” When he didn’t answer, she continued, “I saw you in battle at Amnicola. You’re a fearless warrior, Dazzart. Four demons at once? God, I couldn’t hit four demons at the same time with one of my spells. Adieal might be manipulative and cold, but you have something she doesn’t possess.” He turned his head and looked at Janet. His eyes widened, and she loved the way they softened. “What’s that?” “A good heart to match your warrior spirit.” She moved her hand from his fist to his chest and felt his strong heartbeat racing beneath his hairy chest. “If you’ll excuse me, I’d better find Olorin. Lord only knows what Mister High-and-Mighty will do to me if I’m late for my lesson.” He caressed her cheek, and once again she saw his good heart shine through his warm eyes. “Olorin would never do anything to you. He might be the High Sorcerer but I would kill him before I allowed him to hurt you. Go to your lesson. I need a few moments alone.”

§§§§ Janet found Olorin in the parlor of the inn. The room was beautiful, and a crystal chandelier hung from the ceiling. An ivory fireplace with swans carved into the hearth stood against the front wall, but Olorin ruined the ambiance with a nasty

114 Marguerite Arotin scowl. She had no regrets about hitting the jerk. He’d earned the bruise. She noticed an attractive young man with pale hair who had a nasty bite mark on his slender, fair neck, walking into the room. She wondered if he was the sorcerer the werewolf attacked. Poor kid. Too young to be cursed. He didn’t look a day older than twenty. Her girls arrived next. Belladonna actually smiled at Janet. She had a very pretty smile on her rose-pink lips, and the expression was a pleasant change from her moody pout. Finally, she saw Tristam. He looked pallid and tired, but he was alive, and that was all that mattered. “I don’t know how to thank you,” Tristam said as he wrapped his arms around Janet’s waist. “You saved my life.” “I know you would have done the same for me,” she replied, rubbing his broad shoulders. “I’m just happy I found you in time.” Olorin cleared his throat and all eyes turned to the stern wizard. “The battle was a success, thanks to Maurelle. But we will face many more battles, and I’m afraid most of you are unprepared. You cannot let your fear defeat you.” Alande elbowed her arm and whispered, “How did he get that bruise on his jaw?” Janet quietly snickered. “I’ll tell you later.” The sorcerer turned his gaze her way. “Do you have something you would like to add, Miss Windhaven?” “No, you may continue.” He cleared his throat again and went on while he paced back and forth in front of the grand ivory fireplace. “You cannot let your fear defeat you,” he repeated. “I have faced Adieal’s demonic army many times, and I have learned to set my fear aside. Today, I will teach you a spell for blocking out your fear and sending the weak emotion to your enemy, so you may be an effective warrior.” A spell for blocking fear? The arrogant sorcerer definitely

The LasT sorceress 115 got Janet’s attention. She wondered if she could use the hex when the time came to fight Adieal. If Janet could send her fears Adieal’s way, maybe, just maybe she could defeat her. “Repeat after me—I will cast my fears upon you and use them to defeat you. It’s a very simple spell and works well against the weak-minded.” Maybe Janet wouldn’t be able to use the spell against Adieal after all. “What about using it against those with a strong mind? Would it work against them as well?” she asked as the other sorcerers and sorceresses began to repeat the words. “The hex is not as effective against those with a strong mind. I cannot see anyone using this spell against you, Maurelle, for you have a very strong mind.” “Thanks.” Janet wasn’t expecting the compliment. She knew he was in foul mood since she had punched him earlier. It took guts to admit she had a strong mind. She repeated the words and tucked them into a corner of her head she saved especially for spells. She wanted to remember them all because she was curious to see if they would work in her homeland or not. She must have chanted the words of the spell at least a hundred times before Olorin told everyone the lesson was over and they were free to join the others in the dining hall. As Janet started to walk away, Olorin caught up to her. She didn’t feel nervous around him when lust filled his eyes again, because this time they were in a crowd of other sorcerers and sorceresses. Plus, she had her staff this time. “I meant what I said earlier about you having a strong mind,” he told her. “I have thought about using a love spell on you, but I know it would not work because your mind would block the enchantment. I will tame that strong will of yours someday. I was able to do so with Ionwe.” “How many times do I have to tell you? I am not Ionwe!” “I know. However, you remind me so much of her. I heard

116 Marguerite Arotin how you kissed the ugly ogre. This is not one of the fairytales from your world. A kiss will not turn the beast into a handsome human prince.” Part of what Olorin said made sense. Dazzart might have gorgeous eyes and a sexy voice, but the rest of him was hideous. A piece of her yearned to see the hunky Glenn Bowing again— however, she was not about to admit her true feelings to the conceited, pushy sorcerer. “I believe there’s a prince inside that ogre.” It was the truth. She believed that deep down inside there was a human prince struggling to get out. “Believe what you want, but I think you’ll be gravely disappointed.” Olorin huffed his words as he walked away.

§§§§ He couldn’t sleep. Instead Dazzart paced the floorboards of his room. With each creak beneath his boots, he hoped he wasn’t keeping anyone else awake, and he wondered what the sorceress was doing in her room. Was she sleeping? Was she having another nightmare about Adieal? How would she respond if he knocked on her door and told her he wanted to be with her tonight? Blast it all to rocks! It obvious she wanted him, but still he couldn’t offer her his hideous ogre body. No, he’d have to take her to the edge of the Great Divide. He knew his human form didn’t look like Brad Pitt, but she’d certainly seemed to find him attractive enough when they first met during the convention. Would it be so bad to take her for one night? Give her what she wanted so badly and maybe find a little bit of happiness in her arms? No. It wouldn’t. He needed some sweet release and escape from the brutality of war for one night. She needed someone to watch over her, someone to show her how incredible she was too. Mustering up all the courage he had, he reached for the onyx door handle. He hoped if she said yes, there wouldn’t be

The LasT sorceress 117 any regrets on her behalf in the morning. He smiled when he realized it was up to him to make her so happy there wouldn’t be.

§§§§ That night, as she lay sleeping, Janet awoke with a jolt when someone knocked on the door. She rubbed her sleepy eyes and rose before asking, “Who’s there?” “It’s Dazzart.” Her ogre? Her beast paying her a nighttime visit? Janet’s heart did several somersaults as she walked to the door. When she opened it, he stood there before her. His hands trembled as he touched her arm. “I asked you once if you preferred my human form. Do you?” She couldn’t lie to him. “I thought you made a very sexy man.” “Is it true what you once told me, about sex being a great stress release?” She chuckled. “I’ve always thought so. Why? Do you want to be with me?” “I want to be with you tonight, and there is a way I can do so as a man. Would you like to be with Glenn?” A part of Janet was slightly curious to know what it would be like to make love to a beast, but she also yearned for the sexy multi-millionaire to let her clutch that tight, naked tush of his. “Yes, I would love to.” “Take my hand then and cast a transport spell to the edge of The Great Divide.” “We can’t do it here?” She was curious as to why they had to leave her nice, cozy room. “Not if you want me as a man. Olorin placed an enchantment upon me that allows me to take human form only at the edge of The Great Divide. The spell is how I am able to live in your world as Glenn Bowman.”

118 Marguerite Arotin Why the hell didn’t that son-of-a-bitch tell Janet that? He’d told her there wasn’t a human prince inside of Dazzart. The lying SOB was the sorcerer who cast the spell to make Dazzart into a handsome prince. Suddenly, the sorcerer’s reasons for lying became clear. If Olorin wanted Janet for his own, he had good reason to hide that information from her. “Could you cast the spell? I can’t since I don’t know where the edge of The Great Divide is located.” Her heart throbbed and her head was filled with passionate thoughts. She knew she couldn’t concentrate on casting the spell. “Give me your staff,” he ordered, reaching for her hand, “and close your eyes.” Janet didn’t know what the future would bring, but she did know she would enjoy her night with Glenn as much as possible.

Chapter Ten When Janet opened her eyes, she stood in the middle of the Gilded Forest with the purple moon shining down upon her. She turned to look for Dazzart but he wasn’t there. She glanced down and noticed she stood at the edge of a huge, shining, silver cliff. She couldn’t see the bottom. The overhang dropped into a hazy cloud of nothingness. “Do not take a step further. You could fall into the Great Divide, and I don’t want to lose you,” a very sexy voice whispered into her ear. Strong, fair-skinned, human arms wrapped around her waist. She turned around and looked into a pair of fiery warm brown eyes. She ran her fingers through Glenn’s silky, ashen blond hair. “It’s you. I’ve wanted to do this since I saw you up on that stage,” she teased, grabbing his firm ass. Her large, sorceress breasts pressed against his bare, rockhard chest. Janet noticed his torso wasn’t the only thing that was hard. She felt how much his hardened cock stuck out from his tight leather pants. His golden brown eyes blazed with an untamed fire. Janet’s stomach filled with butterflies as she gazed into those eyes and knew they burned for her alone. “I know you have. I want something from you too,” he growled and grabbed her butt as well. “Whatever it is, I’ll do it. I’m at your command, my sexy multi-millionaire,” Janet whispered as she nibbled on his earlobe. He laughed. “Whatever gave you the impression that I was a multi-millionaire?” “Well, your games sell big time, and you must make a killing off the licensing fees.” She kissed his firm Adam’s apple. “Well I suppose I...wow, that feels nice,” he replied while she left a trail of soft butterfly kisses across his neck. “I guess

120 Marguerite Arotin I...sweetheart, can you please stop it for one minute so I can think?” She looked up at him and stopped nibbling on a nipple, which she’d found hidden within his coarse chest hairs. “I like it when you call me sweetheart. Your wish is my command, oh sexy one.” He grinned, and she really wanted to dive her tongue into those two adorable dimples, but he’d told her to stop and she had to listen. “Now, I guess I have made a lot of money with the games but a lot of it goes to the other board members of Ogre Quest Enterprises. I also give a lot away to charity because I have no need for it in my world.” He paused a moment and stopped grinning. “The money isn’t why you wanted to be with me, is it?” “Of course not, you silly fool!” He claimed her mouth with a vengeance. This time he did not push her away when she slipped him the tongue. Instead, they tangoed with their tongues. She held nothing back while they kissed. The wild, ginger taste of his lips sent shivers down her spine. He cupped her breast while she brazenly gave the ass she loved so much a tight squeeze. She was left all hot and bothered when he unexpectedly pulled away. “No, the sorceress is beautiful but I want to make love to Janet, that feisty woman with the stormy gray eyes.” “Why? My own husband didn’t even want Janet. Why would you want her when you could have a curvaceous sorceress instead?” Not to mention, she didn’t know if it was possible to switch back to Janet. Maurelle’s sorceress flesh suited her so well that turning back to the boring, suburban mom would not be easy. “Your ex-husband’s an idiot. I saw so much spirit and spunk in Janet. It’s why I knew I had to bring her here. The sorceress has Janet’s spirit, but I loved Janet’s sweet face, firm bosom, and cocoa-brown hair.”

The LasT sorceress 121 It was too good to be true, the fact that he accepted her for the woman she was. God, where has this man been all my life? “Is it even possible to transform into Janet?” He placed his hand on her shoulder. “I use my sorcerer side to put an enchantment on anyone from your world. It’s similar to the one Olorin put on me. At the edge of the Great Divide, you can be Janet again, if you wish to.” He desired the boring suburban mom as much as he did the sorceress? Why hadn’t she met him before Dave? Why couldn’t she have married someone like him who accepted the bold woman along with the insecure little girl? Janet knew she had to give in to Glenn’s request. How could she deny him anything after the way he gave her confidence such a huge boost? She closed her eyes and thought about being Janet, the plain old Janet Lind without any extraordinary sorceress powers. When she opened her eyes, her boobs had shrunk back down to their normal size. She touched the back of her neck and the long, black braid was gone. Her legs were shorter and stockier. She had her normal body again. Glenn smiled at her and this time she didn’t resist the urge to lick those dimples. Her tongue dived right in. He pulled Janet close as his hand wandered across her breast and then down into the loose folds of her leather bra. He then lowered a bra strap and nibbled on her shoulder. “Oh God, it’s been too damn long since I’ve done this, and it feels amazing.” She moaned as he quickly discarded her bra, knelt down, and teased her taut, pink nipple with his long tongue. “How long?” he asked as his hand tenderly cupped her breast. “I don’t remember, maybe two years. I bet women probably throw themselves at you when you’re in human form.” He laughed as he rolled her nipple across his fingers, sending shivers down her spine. She only hoped he planned to spend equal time on the other breast.

122 Marguerite Arotin “I’ve only had sex once in human form and that was a while ago too. I believe it was after the first Ogre Nation game was released.” Janet thought back and remembered that the first game had come out about five years ago. “No way! It’s been five years since you’ve had sex as man?” His wonderful fingers found the other nipple as he nodded. “Even longer since I had sex as an ogre. That was, hmm, oh yes, I just have to see how this strawberry pink bud tastes.” She did not want to stop him from his exploration of her “strawberry pink bud” to ask him how long it had been since he had sex as an ogre. She let him continue. A shockwave of pure pleasure shot through her body as he nibbled on her nipple. She couldn’t remember the last time a man spent so much time on both breasts. She found herself so caught up in the moment that she almost forgot about the question. After a few delicious minutes he replied, “It has been exactly thirteen and a half years since I had sex as an ogre.” “Wow, long time,” Janet agreed as he swept her off her feet and placed her on a soft patch of moonlight-bathed grass. “I can’t believe you’ve gone that long. How did you remember about the half though?” “My daughter, Princess Bannick, is twelve and a half, and ogress pregnancies last a full year.” “So you were with the queen?” Janet wondered what Queen Liliana’s husband, the mighty King Jerard, had to say about the affair. “I was with Liliana before she married Jerard and became the queen. She fell in love with both of us and decided she’d rather be with a king then with me.” Janet touched the rough stubble on Glenn’s chiseled chin. “She was the one who broke your heart, wasn’t she?” Before he could answer, she kissed his cheek. “Yeah, I know how it feels

The LasT sorceress 123 to be dumped. I was married for ten years when my ex-husband, Dave, left me for a blonde bimbo.” “Your ex-husband was crazy. I don’t understand how any man could dump you.” He kissed her again, and Janet felt how much he wanted her, even though she wasn’t a powerful sorceress anymore, as his hard-on pressed against her bare thigh. She felt the heat and wetness pooling between her legs while her body pleaded to be joined with Glenn. “Hmm, I’m not wearing pants. Just these cute little leather bikini bottoms,” she said, playfully swatting his butt. “You shouldn’t be wearing pants either. Take them off for me.” He stood up and slid his loose, black leather pants down. She smiled when she realized he wasn’t wearing any underwear. He stood before her like one of those classical, naked, Greek male statues bathed in purple moonlight. Except none of those statues had a hardened erection that stuck out so far it appeared to give a mighty salute. Janet had to taste him. She started out slowly by running her tongue across the shaft of his mighty cock and continued by inserting the entire length of him in her mouth. She sucked him like he was a lollipop and enjoyed every minute of it. “Wow,” he gasped as she worked her own special kind of magic on him. His eyelids fluttered, and she knew he enjoyed her wicked talent. Secretly, Janet had always loved giving head. It was such a power trip to have a male at the mercy of her mouth and tongue. But this time was different. She didn’t want to toy around and tease Glenn. She loved the musky taste of him and wanted to show him all the tricks her mouth knew. She didn’t get the chance to do so because he pushed her down when she wrapped her fingers around his thick shaft and began to stroke him. “No, keep that up and I won’t be able to stop myself,” he growled and then nibbled on her neck. She smiled and stroked his hair. “And would that be a bad

124 Marguerite Arotin thing?” “Yes, because I want to thrust myself inside you.” He rubbed his body against hers. Every inch of his chiseled, muscular abs felt decadent against her soft belly. “Thrusting is excellent, but first we have to do away with my leather bikini bottoms.” “I had that planned.” He shocked the hell out of Janet by taking her bottoms off with only his teeth. It was wild, but she loved his kinky action. She loved it even more when he tossed her leather undergarment to the ground and lowered his mouth right between her legs. His warm breath against her clit drove her crazy in a good way. When he licked her and proceeded to thrust two very talented fingers deep within, she lost it. She came with a fury as his delicious tongue swirled round and round, and those long, incredible fingers pumped in and out. “Yes! Oh my …” she cried out while stretching her hands above her head and clenching the cool, soft grass. When he had finished, Janet opened her legs as far as they could go for him. She’d never wanted or needed a man inside her as desperately as she needed Glenn at that moment. He did not disappoint her. He quickly thrust his strong hard-on deep inside her. It was almost as if he had given her his world, and she gratefully accepted everything he offered. He touched her cheek and kissed her forehead. “I wish I could be with you all the time like this, sweetheart, but they need us both to fight Adieal. Promise me you’ll never forget this night.” “I promise,” she replied, grabbing his butt and forcing him in even deeper. “I could never forget this night. You’re the only one in Carnitha who wanted plain old Janet Lind.” “I love plain old Janet Lind,” he whispered as he pulled out a little and then thrust back in again. “I love her as much as I do the sorceress.”

The LasT sorceress 125 She didn’t know how to reply to his sentiments. Her own feelings about the man and the ogre weren’t as easy to define. But as Glenn quickened his pace, sucked and nibbled her neck, and toyed with her nipples, she forgot all about it and allowed herself to enjoy the pure pleasure of the moment. Her orgasm hit her hard and fast when he called her by her full name. “Oh Janet. My beautiful Janet L-Lind.” Janet’s last brief fling hadn’t even called out her full name when he came. The fact Glenn not only called her beautiful, but also called her true name, sent her body flailing beneath him as much as the pleasure wave she rode did. When her man gave up every bit of himself, he collapsed on top of Janet. She wrapped her arms around his warm, sweatsoaked body. She ran her fingers through his wild, moonlit hair and looked out at the rainbow colored stars of Carnitha. “I wish I could stay here forever like this,” she whispered, kissing his cheek. He rolled beside her, protectively wrapping a strong arm across her body and replied, “We both know that’s not possible. We have to be back at the fort tomorrow. More training to do, and I have to meet with the scouts to find out if anymore of Adieal’s army has been spotted.” “I’m going back home when the war is over. I can’t stay here. You know I love your realm, but my place is back in my world with my family and friends.” He brushed away a stray brown lock of hair from her eye. “We’ll worry about that when the time comes. Right now we have to get dressed, change back into our regular forms, and transport back to the Swan Dive Inn before dawn breaks. Are you ready to go?” Janet would have liked to stay out there at the edge of the Great Divide for just a few minutes more with the sexy Glenn Bowman. But she knew he was right—there was still a war to fight and they still had work to do.

126 Marguerite Arotin “Yes, just find me my clothes and I’ll get dressed. Right now, I can’t get up to find them—too tired.” “In that case, I guess I’ll have to carry you back to your bed at the inn.” She smiled. “I’d like that.” “Even if it’s the ogre who is carrying you?” “Yes, I like being carried in the big strong arms of the ogre.” When they were both dressed, and had transformed back into the ogre and the sorceress, her beast remembered his promise and lifted her into his huge arms as he clenched her staff and cast the transport spell. Janet closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep, nestling against her ogre’s large neck and inhaling his woodsy scent.

§§§§ When Janet awoke the next morning, the sun shone through the crocheted curtains of the bedroom at the Swan Dive Inn. She rose from her bed, stretched, and wondered if last night was a dream. It didn’t seem like a dream. She could still smell Glenn’s sweat as it covered her while they had sex on that cool grass. She could still taste his cock and feel the way he nibbled on her neck when their bodies were joined. She wrapped her arms around her shoulders and still felt the warm, strong, green arms of the ogre as they gently lifted her and carried her to her bed. But the dream about Adieal seemed real as well. Would Dazzart admit the truth if she asked him about it? Janet shrugged. His human alter ego was certainly more forthcoming then the stubborn ogre side. She undressed from the leather getup and headed to a small bathroom next to her main room—a simple enough room with white marble tiles, a toilet and a small shower. No mirrors though. Ah, well, she had a mirror on the dresser in the main bedroom. Janet marveled that the place had plumbing like any hotel bathroom would on Earth. For once, she was able to use

The LasT sorceress 127 a nice toilet, instead of the privy. The showerhead was a bit wimpy, though, compared to the cool waterfall she’d bathed in at the fort. She entered the bedroom, grabbed a small, round mirror and a brush from the nightstand to brush her long, black hair. She tossed her hair over her shoulder and saw all the proof she needed that her sexual tryst was not a dream. There was a red mark upon her graceful neck which was the exact size of a human mouth. Glenn had given her a hickey.

Chapter Eleven Janet joined the rest of the army downstairs in the large dining hall of the Swan Dive Inn. Nidhogg, Gilraen, and Alande all complimented her on how nice her hair looked down. She didn’t want to braid it and leave her neck exposed. She knew they all thought her relationship with Dazzart was odd. They all looked at her as if she had transformed into a huge ogress when she kissed her beast. Lord only knew what they would think if they knew he could transform to his human form and left her with a love mark. Unfortunately, her late-night tryst did not stay a secret very long. Gil caught sight of the hickey when Janet shook her head as soon as the ogre waiter asked if she wanted hash browns with her storkephant egg omelet. “Is that what I think it is on your neck?” Gilraen said with a smirk as she tried to lift Janet’s hair away. She turned her head and placed her hand over the abrasion. “No, it’s nothing.” Gilraen’s eyes held a mischievous twinkle. “Okay, I know Olorin has the hots for you, but I don’t think you’d let him mark you.” “Bleah, no way.” Janet shuddered and removed her hand. There was no use in hiding her hickey. She sighed, knowing damn well everyone at the large table soon would know about her fun night. Nidhogg sat next to Gilraen and teased her a little too. “It wasn’t someone who’s big, green, and has fangs, was it, Ma?” Janet rolled her eyes. “I plead the fifth.” Gilraen winked. “Yeah, now that I think about it, your mother did give Dazzart one heck of a kiss when she woke up after the battle.”

130 Marguerite Arotin “No comment.” “Yep, and Dru mentioned she saw Dazzart knocking on your mom’s door late last night when she got up to use the bathroom,” Alande, who sat directly across from Janet, chimed in. Crap, now her secret was really out. Ugh, she was a grown woman and despised the thought of having to defend one blissful night of pleasure. “Please leave me alone, guys. Nidhogg, I have never once pestered you about your relationship with Gil.” “There’s nothing to pester me about Ma, we’re just friends. But you did give me plenty of grief when I wanted to date at home.” Janet guessed she had. Payback was a bitch. “Alande, I’ve never once teased you about Tristam, have I?” “No, you haven’t. Yet, I still can’t believe you did it with an ogre.” She paused a second and gave Janet a wicked smile. “What was it like? Did he have a super big—?” Janet quickly reached over the table and covered Alande’s mouth before she could say another word. “Enough. All right, I hate to kiss and tell, but if you’ll just shut up one minute and listen... Dazzart did come to my room last night. He said it was possible for him to change back into a man if he was close to the edge of the Great Divide. He used a transport spell to take us there, changed himself into Glenn, and, well, if you want to what know what happened next you’ll have to buy the book.” She clutched her fork and gave everyone a challenging glare. “Hope my statement answers all questions. I want to eat my breakfast in peace.” Everyone stared at Janet with varied expressions—shock, amazement, admiration. No one said another word, and she was able to enjoy her breakfast without further interruption. The storkephant omelet tasted delicious, similar to the Western omelets Janet got from the local diner at home. The

The LasT sorceress 131 toast was a little weird—a greenish color and a little too dry for her taste. Regardless, she ate everything on her plate because she knew starting her day with a huge breakfast would refuel her sorceress bod after her fun, but exhausting, night. Janet knew rumors would soon fly about her, Dazzart, and Glenn, but she didn’t care. She only hoped that if the rumors did start, Olorin would get an earful and leave her the hell alone.

§§§§ The minute Dazzart exited his room the next morning, Olorin confronted him by sticking his staff into his face. “I could end your days, all of them, for taking advantage of the spell I gave you to seduce Maurelle.” Dazzart grunted in reply and shoved Olorin against the wall. “I didn’t take my human form to seduce Maurelle. I wanted Janet, her human counterpart. You don’t know the woman or the sorceress the way I do and you never…” He wrapped his massive hand around Olorin’s neck. “…ever…” He paused once more and punched the wall to the left of Olorin’s head with his free hand. “…ever will. You need to stay away from her.” He loosened his grasp on the sorcerer because Olorin was starting to turn purple. “Are you forgetting who it was that suggested you visit Earth?” Olorin asked, rubbing his neck. “I encouraged you to go the realm of my ancestors because I knew of their potential. If it wasn’t for me, you would have never met her or brought her to Carnitha. I could easily take the enchantment that turns you into a human away.” “Are you threatening me, High Sorcerer?” Dazzart cracked his knuckles. “I could easily pound you into the ground.” “I’d like to think of it as more like blackmail. Give her to me, and I can train her to be as a great of a sorceress as Ionwe once was. And I promise I won’t remove the enchantment.” A rage shot through Dazzart when he realized Olorin wanted to mold her into his late wife. Ionwe was beautiful and talented,

132 Marguerite Arotin but Janet had so much more potential. He clenched his fist and ripped the staff out of Olorin’s hand. “No, never. I don’t care if I’m never a human again, but I’ll blast you to kingdom come if you touch her again. She’s not Ionwe, and you can’t force her into being someone she’s not. I’m sorry for your loss. I did like your late wife, perhaps a great deal more than I care for you, but you have to let Janet find her own path, her own magic.” He dropped the staff, angry with himself for letting Olorin goad him. And a bit sorry for the sorcerer who was still under his late wife’s spell. “If she thinks she’ll find it with you, she’ll be gravely mistaken. I’ll leave the enchantment for now because I don’t see you having a future with her,” Olorin replied, stooping to get his staff. He then disappeared in a flash. Dazzart knew it wasn’t worth it to hunt him down and confront him again. He wished his sorceress had kept what had happened last night quiet. Things would have been so much easier had she kept her mouth shut.

§§§§ Olorin cornered Janet and asked to see her neck while they waited on the silvery shores of Lake Regilus for the ferry to arrive. “I don’t have to show you anything.” She glared at Mister High-and-Mighty and wrapped her fingers tightly around her staff. A duck staggered and collapsed at her feet. She raised one brow and pointed to the passed-out duck. “Alrighty, is this why there’s a Drunken Duck Inn and a Swan Dive Inn?” “Yes, Lake Regilus is filled with whiskey.” Janet shook her head at how matter-of-factly Olorin answered her question. Lakes filled with whiskey, huh? There has to be more than just alcoholic ducks in this strange world. “We should be discussing your infatuation with the hideous ogre and not ducks.” Mister High-and-Mighty took a deep breath and continued, “Dazzart was only supposed to use the

The LasT sorceress 133 enchantment before he crossed over to your world.” Olorin didn’t look at Janet as he spoke. His eyes wandered over the crystal water of the lake, and his voice sounded a million miles away. “I don’t know what you heard but what happened between me and Dazzart is our business, not yours.” “I must find a way to prevent him from using the enchantment unless he has to cross the Great Divide,” the sorcerer huffed. “Good luck with that. He’s part sorcerer. He could fight any block you placed.” “Yes, but he’s more ogre than sorcerer.” He wrinkled his nose in disgust. “I have no idea of what his mother saw in her beast of a husband.” “I do. You are so damn obtuse. Do you really think I care if he’s an ogre or a man? It’s what’s inside that I’m drawn to. He’s got a great big heart underneath his tough ogre exterior.” “You’re a fool.” He grabbed her shoulder. “I am the ruler of Veneficium, the High Sorcerer. When the war here is over, I could take you back to the land of magic and we could rule there together. You’d be my queen.” “I don’t want to be a queen. Hell, there are some days when I don’t even want to be a sorceress. When this war is over, I just want to go back home, where I belong.” “If that’s the way you feel—” “Yes, it is.” Luckily, she spied a tiny, sterling craft floating in the distance that grew in size as it approached them. She was very relieved when the ferry parked at the large steel dock and even more so when Olorin marched onto the bobbing craft without saying another word. Janet hadn’t been lying to Olorin when she mentioned there were some days when she did not want to be a sorceress. She loved this world, as well as her newfound power. But her life was a heck of a lot simpler in Ohio, drearily counting the money in

134 Marguerite Arotin her cash till every morning. Once on the boat, she tried to look for Dazzart but finding him was impossible. The craft was huge, and Janet was cornered by four pretty, nosy sorceresses as the ferry rocked back and forth on the bumpy waters of the lake. “How long did it take for Dazzart to turn back into Glenn?” Dru asked as she swung her long, dark mini braids over her shoulder. “Glenn sure is a heck of a lot easier on the eyes than Dazzart,” Sicilia added before Janet got a chance to answer Dru. “How was he?” “It’s no use, girls,” Alande said as she shook her head, causing her wild curls to bob. “I don’t think we could get anything out of her even if we used a truth-telling spell.” Janet cocked an eyebrow at Alande and found a seat on an empty steel bench. “Hmm, truth-telling spell. Do you think they have one of those?” Bella plopped down next to Janet and wrapped her arm around her shoulder. Janet found it to be a strange gesture from a girl who once hated her, but Bella had been nice to her since the battle. Janet figured maybe Bella had grown up a little during combat. A little voice inside her head reminded her about the alrune Adieal had mentioned. She reminded that negative voice there were big ogre guards at the Swan Dive Inn. She didn’t think it was possible for an alrune to take the form of one of the girls without someone noticing. “If Maurelle doesn’t want to talk about it, she doesn’t have to. A lady never kisses and tells.” Alande rolled her eyes as she sat down next to Bella. “Humpf, that from a girl who told me all about her second base make-out session with Jason Reynolds underneath the bleachers during the homecoming football game.” “Yeah, well, the make-out session was a different time and place,” Bella whispered. Janet smiled when she saw a faint blush

The LasT sorceress 135 color her cheeks. “I think I’m gonna go on deck to see how far we are from Adlerbranch.” “Well I hope the rest of you girls will listen to Bella, because I’m not talking. I think I might just study my spell books until we get to Adlerbranch.” “Um, can I ask you a question?” Alande’s voice sounded serious. Janet assumed she wasn’t going to ask about Glenn or Dazzart. “Of course. What is it, hon?” “Well, the summoning the sun spell, do you think... Um, I was sorta wondering... Could you teach me how to do it?” the orange-haired sorceress finally blurted out. Teach her how to summon the sun? Janet could barely remember how to do it herself. It took so much out of her, and Alande was only a teenager. The incantation could kill the girl if she tried. “No, believe me, it’s not the sort of spell you want to mess around with.” “Then why did you cast the spell?” “I don’t know. I honestly don’t know. I think I just pushed myself to do it because I knew we could seal our victory. We weren’t exactly a well-trained army yet, and the rain only made things worse. Not to mention I wanted to protect you girls and my son. I couldn’t stand the idea that any of you might get hurt, or worse.” Janet sighed as she placed her hand on Alande’s shoulder. “Hell, I’m not even sure if I could do it again.” “I think you could,” Secillia said as she plopped next to Janet. “Me too,” Dru added as she sat down next to Secillia. “I started playing the game back with the very first Ogre Nation, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen a sorceress quite like you.” Janet wished she could take all the girls into her arms and give them a huge hug but she didn’t. All of the sorceresses were like her daughters, and she hoped they would stay in touch after the war, when everyone went back to our ordinary lives.

136 Marguerite Arotin “Thank you. You girls are awesome and I mean it. Someday we’ll all take on Adieal together, and I cannot wait to see the look on her face when she crosses our paths.” “Yeah,” Dru said with a cute and wicked smile. “We’ll kick her ass.”

§§§§ The cool tones of a Carnithain sunset were settling in the vast sky by the time the army made it back to Fort Greenbalm. Janet finally saw her ogre and figured it would be the perfect time to talk to him. She tapped him on his huge, green shoulder while Dazzart conferred with a much larger ogre. He turned and merely grunted. “Fine, just wanted to say hello. Guess, you’re gonna act like nothing happened last night, huh? Well I suppose I’ll go study my spell book and—” He growled, turned around and grabbed her arm. “I did not expect you to brag about what happened.” “I didn’t brag, you moron.” She flicked her hair over her shoulder to show him the hickey. “You left me a little gift, and when Gilraen saw it at breakfast, well, they pretty much guessed most of it.” “Oh.” “Yeah, oh is right.” “Olorin was not pleased. He mentioned something about removing the enchantment.” Janet touched his rough, green cheek. “He said the same thing to me. You are half sorcerer. I believe you can stop him.” “Even if I can, I don’t know if I want—” She placed a finger on his dark gray lips. “Don’t. Don’t tell me that you will never take me to the edge of the Great Divide again.” She stood up on her tiptoes and lightly whispered into his ear, “Because I won’t believe you. We might be busy with the war but I know you still want and need Janet.”

The LasT sorceress 137 She kissed his cheek and walked away. She didn’t know if he really needed her but she hoped he did.

§§§§ Princess Bannick ran straight for Janet the minute she walked into the dining hall. It was a nice surprise to see the young princess again. The crystal tiara she wore looked too small and dainty for her head, but the pink satin gown she wore was pretty, and her golden hair was arranged in two perfect little braids. Unlike her father, Bannick didn’t have the large fangs. She’s sort of cute for an ogress, Janet mused as the princess wrapped her arms around Janet’s waist. “You are the talk of Carnitha, Maurelle. Mother is dying to meet the sorceress who summoned the sun, and she was impressed when I told her about how you talked to me.” She smiled when the ogress dropped her arms. She had a tight grip for such a little beast, and Janet was afraid the princess would squeeze her to death. “Nice to know I made a good impression on royalty.” Princess Bannick glanced over to her father and winked. “I think Daddy likes you too. I see the way he looks at you.” Janet patted her green head. “I like your daddy too.” Her face brightened. “Great. If you marry him, can I live in your world? I love Earth. I love watching movies, playing baseball, eating hot dogs. All of my best friends are there, and the boys are so cute.” Janet chuckled and shook her head. “I can’t make any promises, sweetie. I do like your father but things are uncertain right now. Also, I don’t want you to forget about the talk we had about your parents. They both love you, and I know your mom would miss you if you came to my world.” The princess sighed and shrugged her broad shoulders. “All right. I guess I’d better go and sit with Daddy at the head of the table. I hope you will marry him though. I know you’d make a great wife for him.”

138 Marguerite Arotin Janet laughed as she walked away. Kids come up with the darnedest ideas, don’t they? Funny how ogre children weren’t that different from children on Earth. She found the table where her son and Gil sat and made her way over to it. Nidhogg smiled at Janet when she pulled out a chair. “Seems the young princess has taken a fancy to you, Ma.” “Yeah, I like Bannick too. Wonder what she looks like when she’s in her human form? She’s a cute ogress and I bet she’s an adorable little girl.” Dazzart rose and gave that snarl, which Janet loved so much, to get everyone’s attention. “I have two things to inform you of tonight. The first is a message from Queen Liliana and King Jerard. The princess has just informed me the king and queen were very impressed when they learned of our victory at Amnicola, and we are invited to Grayton Castle next week. The king would like to reward a few heroes.” Wow, the palace? She had briefly caught glimpses of it in the game but had never had a quest that allowed her to see the inside. From what she remembered, the castle was double the size of Sleeping Beauty’s Castle at Disneyland and made from sheets of gray slate. Evidently, Janet was not the only one impressed by the news. Excited murmurs filled the hall. “Next, I would like to inform you that our training time here will be limited once again. Our scouts spotted a pack of werewolves in the woods just outside of Adlerbranch. They have already attacked several townspeople. We will have one brief training session tomorrow morning, and then we must leave immediately for the town.” Werewolves didn’t worry her too much. If she could find the strength to summon the sun again, they would be easy to deal with as mere mortals. But Janet was worried that she wouldn’t be able to work the spell again. She was also terrified of the army meeting up with more than just werewolves. Many of the demons, including the nasty general, had survived the last attack. What if the werewolves were just a diversion?

The LasT sorceress 139 She decided not to let her worries ruin dinner. The roasted duck breast on her porcelain plate smelled delicious, though she did wonder if it was once a drunken duck. She also remembered how amazingly sweet those blue glazed carrots were. A sorceress could not fight or memorize her spells on an empty stomach, so she dug right in.

§§§§ A shrill cry from a storkephant once again woke the sorceresses up the next morning. Janet didn’t miss their dawn cries while they stayed in Amnicola, but like everything else in this crazy fantasy world, she was getting used to them. She rose, stretched, and thought it odd Belladonna was already awake and pacing around in the tent. She was usually the last to get up because she slept bundled deeply under the blanket with a pillow over her head. Janet didn’t think even a freight train could wake the girl. She was about to go over and say good morning to Bella when a cute pixie of a sorceress with wild, orange curls jumped down from her top bunk. Janet shook her head, wishing she still had the same spirited energy in the morning. At Alande’s age, she did. Now, even in her sorceress body, it took a cool shower and a cup of rosewood tea, since they didn’t have coffee beyond the Great Divide, before she could take on the world. “Morning, Little Miss Sunshine.” Janet laughed and climbed out of bed, patting the top of Alande’s carrot head. “Morning. Isn’t it a wonderful, beautiful morning? Don’t you just love the wild cries of the storkephant?” Okay, Janet was getting used to the birds but no one could love something that made that sort of annoying call. The girl was obviously crazy or.... Janet grabbed Alande’s shoulder. “Did something happen with a certain freckled sorcerer last night?” The girl looked like she was about to rocket off into space,

140 Marguerite Arotin positively possessed by the type of giddiness that only young love could bring. “He kissed me, he kissed me,” she sang as she leapt up and down. Janet pulled her close and gave her the hugest hug. “Oh sweetheart, that’s wonderful.” The other sorceresses clamored around them. Janet was relieved not to be the center of attention in the tent for once. It was Alande’s turn to shine, and she rose to the occasion. “Can I tell you all about it?” Alande eagerly asked as she sat down on the bed. “I’ll clobber you if you don’t,” Bella replied as she sat down next to her friend. “Oh my gosh, it was just so...” She collapsed on top of the bed and continued when Bella pulled her back up. “It was the most romantic thing, like ever! Tristam offered to walk me back to our tent after dinner last night. We were walking along hand­ in-hand. He stopped in front of a rose bush. He picked the most beautiful blue and lilac polka dotted rose I had ever seen. I put it in my hair and then, oh, he pulled me close and wow. I have never, ever been kissed like that before. He is so much better at kissing than that jerk at home.” “So what happened next?” Sicilia asked as she sat down next to Bella. “Did he swear his undying love to you?” Alande’s pale cheeks changed to a deep crimson as she turned her head and gave an adorable, bashful smile. “He, um, he um...did say he loved me and said he’d like to keep dating me when we all go home.” Janet noticed the look of envy in most of the other girls’ eyes. Belladonna’s silvery eyes did not look the slightest bit envious. She smiled as she gave Alande a hug, and Janet thought it was nice the two girls had finally worked out their differences and were the best of friends again.

§§§§

The LasT sorceress 141 Olorin told everyone to gather in front of his cottage just after breakfast. He waited for a good ten minutes for Belladonna to arrive, tapping his silver magic staff on the ground and clenching his fists, before he lost control of his temper. “Where is that girl?” He stomped his feet. His green eyes raged with fury. Janet felt sorry for Bella, knowing the girl would have to endure his wrath when she finally did join everyone. “She w-was at breakfast, s-ir,” Alande stuttered as she clenched Janet’s arm and backed away from the sorcerer. “She was? Well, that does not explain where she is now. I will not tolerate those who arrive late to my lessons.” Belladonna ran in front of the cabin a mere second after Olorin spoke. The sorcerer gripped his staff even tighter as he glared at Bella. For a moment, Janet feared the poor girl was doomed. “Now that everyone is here,” he huffed, “we shall begin our next lesson. Today I will teach you some more defensive spells. The main reason why sorceresses and sorcerers do not wear armor is because we are skilled at deflecting. First, I will teach you how to deflect weapons because that is easy. Blocking spells is another matter altogether. Only the most skilled...” He paused a moment and looked directly at Janet. She stood staunchly to let him know that his flattery would get him nowhere. “…the most skilled sorceress or sorcerer can deflect a spell. I will teach you that later but if you are interested in learning, you can find spell blocking techniques on page one hundred and seventy-five of your spell guides. Right now, I want you to pair off. An ogre private will be bringing us weapons soon. One of you will use the weapon while the other deflects it.” Olorin walked over to Janet and grinned. “If you don’t mind, I would like to face you in your mock battle.” Oh, hell. She looked around, wondering who she could

142 Marguerite Arotin hijack as a partner to avoid going head-to-head with Mister High-and-Mighty. Janet saw Bella and grinned when she waved her over. She knew it would piss him off if she took Belladonna as her partner. “Sorry, Olorin. Bella and I have already agreed to be partners.” “Yes, we have,” Bella quickly replied. “Well if a sorceress of your magnitude would rather battle with a third-rate sorceress than face the High Sorcerer of Veneficium, I guess I have to choose someone else.” “Thanks,” Janet whispered to Bella. “You’re welcome. Just so you know, I’m pretty nervous.” “We’ll do just fine. Ah, here comes the ogre with the weapons. Think I’ll go see if I can find a good sword.” Bella didn’t even try to block Janet when they fought. She was careful enough not to hurt Bella, but surprised the girl didn’t even make an effort. When it came time to trade places, however, she attacked Janet at full force. She wondered what had gotten into Bella because she nearly took off Janet’s arm before the words of the defense spell formed in her head. Then it occurred to Janet the girl opposing her was not Bella. She knew there was something odd about her and remembered her dream. But how could Janet prove it? She came up with the idea when Bella charged at her again. Instead of thinking the words of the defense spell, a different spell formed in her head. Illuminate those who wish to bring us harm. Sure enough, Bella lit up like a jack-o-lantern. She dropped the sword and tried to run. Janet used a pusher spell to push her directly into Olorin’s cottage. When she collapsed on the ground, the being formerly known as Bella took her true form. She transformed into a cross between a woman and a cat, with the pointy ears and long tail of a cat, but without the whiskers. Her bronze skin glistened in the sun, and

The LasT sorceress 143 her long, straight hair was the color of caramel. Her ruby red eyes glared at Olorin as he yanked her to her feet. “We have an alrune in our midst,” Olorin sneered as he pulled the shape-shifter’s arm. “Lesson over. I have to take her to Dazzart.”

Chapter Twelve “Let go of me,” the alrune growled as Olorin marched her inside the fort. “You will pay for this. I can call upon Adieal whenever I wish.” “Then call upon her now, you hellspawn,” Janet challenged. “Come on, bring her here. I’ve been meaning to have a word or two with her.” Olorin turned around to face Janet, still gripping the arm of the shape-shifter. “Return to your tent. I did not tell you to follow us.” “She tried to kill me. I have the right to go with you.” Plus, Janet wanted to know what the demonic creature had done with Bella. “Fine, but stay out of the way when we question her.” They found Dazzart inside the fort, huddled over a large table filled with maps. Olorin whistled to get his attention and the ogre glanced up. Dazzart clenched his fangs the moment he saw the alrune. He marched over and grabbed the alrune by her throat. Flames of rage appeared in his normally warm brown eyes and for a moment, Janet thought he would kill the alrune at once. Instead, he roared into her cat-like face. “Who are you and why were you sent here?” “I cannot talk unless you release my throat,” she gasped as her copper face turned blue. Dazzart relaxed his grip and asked again, “Who are you?” “My name is Utra.” “Why were you sent here?” “Adieal sent me here to kill the sorceress who summoned the sun.” Dazzart slammed Utra against the stone wall, and a tear fell from her blood-colored eyes. “You have failed. The sorceress is

146 Marguerite Arotin still alive. How do you wish to die? Should I strangle you or snap your demonic body?” Oh god, no! They still didn’t know what had happened to Bella. “No, Dazzart. Don’t kill her yet.” Janet rushed over to his side and lightly touched his arm. “Bella may still be alive—” “That is highly unlikely,” Olorin interrupt