The Draykon Series (1-3)

Lokant: Chapter Thirty

Realising Eva's intent, Tren made to stop her as she brushed past him, but he was too late. She was gone.

Idiot, he cursed himself. Eva could be difficult occasionally; he knew that, and he ought to have handled her with greater care when she was in such a delicate frame of mind. Stupid, to burden her with that when she already had so much else to come to terms with. And he'd made such a royal mess of it all.

He hoped he hadn't ruined his chances completely. A flash of panic lanced through him at that prospect, and he shuddered. One mistake and he might have fucked everything up forever.

'If she doesn't want it, I'll take it.' Andraly stood in the doorway, wearing an inviting expression. She wandered into the room, stopping far too close to him. 'Though I have to say, you aren't great at sweet-talking a girl.'

'Huh. What?'

'You heard me.' She smiled up at him.

'I thought you were angry with me.'

She frowned in annoyance. 'Why would you think that?'

'You were quite vocal about it when you found me standing outside your tower.'

'Oh, that,' she shrugged. 'I wasn't really that unhappy to find a good-looking boy on my doorstep, trying to get in.'

He backed away several paces. 'Look, apparently you heard some of our conversation so you'll understand if I don't take you up on your, er, offer.'

Andraly chuckled. 'How about if I change the offer?' She slid her chestnut wig from her head, exposing white hair bound into braids. Each one of these was quickly unbraided until her hair hung loose.

'Now, watch closely,' she commanded.

'Er, I really need to-'

'Watch!'

Unfortunate that she was standing between him and the door. He glowered at her, his temper wearing thin.

His irritation turned to shock as her features blurred and altered, becoming more delicate and refined. Her eyes grew in size and changed colour; her body lost some of its voluptuous curves and became slimmer and a little taller.

After a few seconds, Eva stood before him. Eva exactly as he knew her, down to the tiny half-dimple that appeared in one cheek when she smiled.

'What the -' He backed away, stumbling over furniture as she followed him around the library.

'Impressive, isn't it? Are you sure you won't change your mind?'

'That's a sorc trick,' he gasped. 'How did you...?'

She wrinkled Eva's elegant nose. 'Illusions are sorcerer territory, yes, but this level of sophistication is rare. That, as you must know, is because you would have to build all the personal details yourself. Nobody really knows another that well. But that is not what I am doing.

'This, dear boy, is pure Lokant. It's a mental trick, see. I encourage your own mind to tell you that it's Eva that you're seeing. It's completely convincing to you because it's built from your own impressions.' She kept coming on relentlessly, closing the gap between them. Tren found himself with his back to the wall, his exit cut off by the approaching Eva-lookalike.

She grabbed his hand and applied it to her torso. 'It even feels convincing. See how easy it is to deceive oneself?'

Tren tried to pull back his hand but she was scarily strong. 'Let go, ' he said angrily. 'I don't care how much you can make yourself look like her, you are not Eva.'