Jane sat at a pub in one of the new border frontier towns. It was one of these new towns that recently started to dot the landscape near the Eversor borders, she always wondered what kind of people lived in a town like this, board people she figured to herself. This specific town she was currently in, was called Killi's town. Jane thought that It was a stupid name for a stupid town, that was there because of a stupid reason, and as much as she disliked being so close to the Eversor border, a job is a job, and she couldn’t afford, nor did she wanted to turn it down.

She didn’t like to stand out, and her clothes mirrored it, it was a standard explorer beige outfit, a short-sleeved buttoned shirt, tucked inside a loose pair long long-sleeved pants, that ended in a pair of sturdier outdoor shoes. All and all, she looked functional, yet tacky, at least that was what she aimed for. Yet, or the casual bystander, Jane stood out like a rose in a garden of thorns, with her long wavy strawberry hair, the same hair that was tied in a playfully loose forming into a twisted ponytail behind her, while her large golden-green ember eyes seemed to shine and sparkle as if they have a light of their own, mischievous, piercing and above all smart.

She finished her drink, which was basically a club soda in a fancy glass, she never drank alcohol while on a job, it made her head woozy, and it also made her giglish, she didn’t like being woozy nor giglish for that matter, she liked it when she was in control, and she wanted as little fuss as possible, sadly she now needed to play as if she is not. To achieve that, she made sure to unbutton just enough to give anyone close enough a good view of her ivory breasts, and their black lace prison bra. Now all that remained for her was to wait for her prey to come, and since this was the only bar in this so-called border town, with the only inn where someone could possibly stay, and since the so-called switch, was scheduled for tomorrow morning, all she had to do was wait, as long of course, that her sources were correct that is.

So she ordered another fancy soda drink and waited, and she didn’t need to wait long, an hour later three men wearing what seemed like army surplus outfits stepped into the bar, the only visible weapon they had was a holstered knife strapped to their belt, one of them though was also carrying in his arms, what seemed like a dirty blond hair passed out girl. Jane noticed that the one holding the Girl, seemed to scan the room closely, searching for any potential problem, but all he saw was a semi-drunk strawberry-haired girl.

The moment they entered, they started talking out loud, “Bartender, we need your largest room for the night, Our friend here seemed to have… too much fun…” said the one carrying the girl as he laughed out loud, while the other two exchange a High Five and a kind of “Yaa” between them, Jane thought that their acting seemed rather pathetic, but she didn’t really care about acting, yet she now needed some acting of her own.
Without everyone noticing she lowered her hand to her side, her fingers moving softly in the shadow, it was as if she was playing an invisible instrument.
“Room 3 is what you want,” said the bartender holding a key, “But you need to pay upfront,” he added.
A soft almost undetectable scarlet glow appeared around Jane's fingers, masked by the dim light of the bar.
“Dwain here will take care of that,” said the one carrying the blond girl, who also seemed to be in command of the trio, “Dwain go to the bartender and take care of the payment.”
Immediately one of the three went toward the counter, “In the meantime fine sir, we would appreciate it if you give us the key, you see, our lady here needs to rest…” he said with an unwavering tone, that was laced with the promise of troubles if the bartender refused.
Small tendrils of scarlet light flowed from Jane's hand, almost invisible on the dusky floor, they slithered silently toward each of the three men, fading to nothing after touching them.
The bartender seemed to contemplate a second, and then threw the key toward the third guy, “Good choice.” He said flatly and started walking toward the room with the man who was now holding the key.
The one called Dwain approached the bartender and asked, “Room 3 for one night, how much?” his tone was condescending, “And I want food and drinks included,” he added.
“one hundred and twenty-one gold credits,” said the bartender flatly, “Including tax of course,” he looked straight into Dwain's eyes with an unwavering look, “Non Negotiable.” He stated flatly.
Dwain stared at the bartender angrily, but nonetheless took out the credits from his purse and paid, when he turned to leave, he found himself face to face with Jane's naughty cleavage, Her ivory breast ensnared in their silky black cage had seemed to mesmerize him.
“What…” She said in a sarcastic kind of woozy drunken way.
“Nothing, just wondering about you… you know…” said Dwain, whose eyes seemed to be scanning her.
“I am bored, you know… and maybe a tad drunk…” she said while sipping her drink, “I mean,” she giggled, “I am bored,” She moved her hand in a clumsy attempt to fix her hair, removing a strand of strawberry hair while batting her large eyes at him, “nothing to do here just but being bored,” she sips again from her glass and raised it toward Dwain, “And drunk… bored and drunk…” she giggled.
“So basically you are bored,” he answered laughing, but then he seemed to think it over, “Tell you what, we kind of tired and need some rest, I will come later today to… to make sure you are not bored, what do you say?”
“I will be here…Dwain, always am…” she said giggling, while he went up to his room.

“Jane,” Said the bartender.
“Yes, Sam?” Asked Jane with her normal tone, the moment Dwain left. She seemed to resort to her normal behavior.
“Two things I want to ask you,”
“Shoot,” she said looking at him sober.
“First, You are aware that the drink you are drinking is just soda in a fancy cup?”
“I do,” She replied, “I ordered it that way.”
“Fair enough,” He replied.
“And second?” She asked
“Are you that desperate?” he asked with a smile and a pinch of disbelief.
“Dear Sam,” said Jane while finishing the rest of her drink in one gulp, “I will never be that desperate.”
“So what was that all about?” he asked.
“You saw the girl they were carrying?”
“Kind of hard to miss,” he stated.
“That girl is Alysa Dorinth Castilian…” she let the word hang for a while.
“You got to be kidding me?” he said stunned.
“Nope, the freaking princess of house Castilian,” she said with a sly smile, obviously enjoying the situation.
“So why is she here?” questioned a baffled Sam.
“Kidnapped,” answered Jane amused by his reaction.
“No way…” he mumbled, “So what, Castilian troops are going to storm us?”
“Now, don’t be silly,” she stretched her arms, then said, “She is third to the crown not first, the Castilian will not risk open war for this.”
“Open war?”
“This town may lay on the border of the Eversor territory, but it's also on the dead zone between the Castilian territory and the Toreadors Territory, it is located in the free zone between them,” she munched on some peanuts.
“So?”
“So, no family will send troops here, they are bound by the old Treaties, and violating them means open war with other houses, and probably sanction from way above,” she kept munching peanuts.
“Wait you to tell me that the Toreadors kidnapped her?” he uttered in silence.
“I didn’t say that, the matter of fact is, that I don’t know who kidnapped her, I am pretty sure though that it wasn’t the Toreadors.”
“So house Castilian going to do nothing about it?”
“Don’t be silly, that's what I am here for,” she smiled.
“You?”
She nodded indicating a yes.
“Really?”
“Really.”
“You aren’t too successful you know?” said Sam amused.
“And why Is that?” she asked staring at him with her big eyes.
“You didn’t even manage to get an invite to their room…Impressive as your boobs are,” he taunted.
“They are impressive,” she laughed, “But that was not my intention, I merely wanted for them not to perceive me as a threat, I hate making a fuss, I am considerate like that,” She explained while munching some more peanuts.
He was silent for a few seconds, his face seemed baffled, “Why are you telling me all of this? Isn't that put you in danger?”
“I am bored, and I needed half an hour to kill, and no, no danger whatsoever.”
“Why half an hour?”
“I use a small spell, hard to trace, with no signature, and half an hour is how long it will take for my spell to take full effect, and it is also close to when the first transaction will occur,” she smiled and got up, “Time to work she smiled,” and winked at Sam as she went up the stairs toward room number 3.

A few moments later she arrived at the door of room number 3, she stood in front of the door took a deep breath, and opened it wide, and she might have broken the lock as she did.

Inside, the three men seemed to be busy with their gear, one was cleaning his pistol, another was sharpening an ornament knife and the third was arranging his backpack. The moment she entered all eyes were on her.
The apparent leader looked at her suspiciously and spoke, “Dwain, I thought you locked the door.”
“I did, at least I thought I did,” he mumbled, “That’s the drunk girl from the bar, I told you about her.”
“To his defense, the door was locked,” Said Jane, as she entered the room and took a stand, leaning against the open door, her arms folded across her chest, a semi-amused look spread across her face.
“Goddess be dammed, she broke the lock, She is a Guardian,” Spat the leader, and immediately took the gun he was cleaning and pointed it toward her.
The man holding the knife and the one called Dwain, abruptly stood up, each pointing his knife toward her, according to their stance, the one holding the ornamental knife was much more experienced than Dwain, at least in a knife fight thought Jane.
“Ohh, a gun with no bullets,” she laughed, “Now I am really scared.” She gave him an amused look, her arms and pose hadn’t shifted.
“What do you want Guardian,” he said, as his arm holding the gun did not waver, while his other hand put a magazine inside his gun.
“You know what I want, I want that,” she motioned toward the unconscious girl on the bed.
“Well guess what, Guardian,” said the leader while loading his gun, “You can't.”
“First I am not a Guardian, I am not part of any order,” Said Jane with a sigh, “I am just Jane,” she added with a smile, “And second, please do yourself a favor and just hand me the girl, Trust me on this one, you will give her to me either way.”
“You know,” said the leader unimpressed, “The bullet in this gun, was blessed by an air mage, they never miss,” he said with a smug smile, “still want a fight?”
“Oh, you misunderstood,” She said with an apologetic tone, “I most definitely don’t want a fight.”
The Leader looked at her with a confused look.
“Let do this quick shell we?” she said smiling, “You already guessed that I was born with the gift, some with the gift are physically stronger, able to break a wooden lock, and some are faster, able to dodge bullets…”
“Not magical air bullets,” said the leader with a threatening voice, “Is there a point to this speech?”
She smiled, “Of course, there is, so please let me finish,” she added a bit irritated, and when no reply came she smiled again and continued, “As I was saying… All born with the gift of magic are affiliated with a unique form of it, some can manipulate Nature itself, as they are intuned with the creatures and the forest, like the Druids, for example, others manipulate the elements, they are the Elementalist among us …”
“Like that gun pointed at you…”
She gave him an annoyed stare for interrupting her,”… some choose to master a specific aspect, perfecting their control, while some master multiple arts, naturally the degree and power of control vary, but you get what you get,” she looked at them with a strange smile, “And sometimes, some of us get unique powers, sort of special gifts, do you want to know what's my power?” she asked.
“What?” asked the leader impatiently.
“It's Love…” she let the word hang in the air.
“Love…” the leader laughed, “That’s all you got…”
“Yep,” Said Jane, she smiled as if hiding something.
“What were your plans? To fill our heart with love and joy?” he laughed and the other joined him, their laughter seemed to muck her, and it also caused him to loosen his grip on the gun.
“Don’t be silly,” she laughed, “that’s not how it works, I can only add to what's already there, besides in today's world,” her hands moved playfully, creating mesmerizing patterns, causing them to glide elegantly through the air, while enveloped in a soft purple glowing mist, “Science has taught us that most loves are a mere chemically induced state,” she offered with a smile while her arms draw small purple hearts in the air.
“Hey no funny business or I will shoot,” he yawned as he motioned with his gun at her glowing hands.
She looked amused at him, and her tone became softer, “Who are you speaking to?” her voice was but a whisper, “I am but a facade, a dream,” her voice was bearly audible by now.
The smile on the face of the leader slowly turned into confusion, “What…I” he mumbled, as he slowly lay his head on the desk, while his companion lay on their beds.
A second later they were all fast asleep.
Jane smiled and said nothing, she moved to remove the gun from the sleeping man's hold, putting it gently on the table next to him, she then silently went to the bed where the sleeping girl lay, and with surprising ease picked her up gently, she then moved toward the door, opened it and went out.
Before leaving, she swiveled her head and made a small closing motion with her fingers, gentle glowing purple mist enveloping them as she was enhancing her sleep spell. She then used one of her legs to close the door behind her. She almost laughed out loud as the sound of snoring was heard all across the hallway.

She started her way down toward the empty bar, and when she finally reached the end of the stairs, she noticed a man, seemingly in his late forties, but she knew he was older. He was sitting on the bar looking at her, she glared at him, while he nodded back at her with a smile.
She gave him another cold stare as she gently lowered the unconscious girl to one of the larger stools, and then moved toward the bar sitting next to the man ignoring him, “Sam give me another of your fancy soda drinks please.”
“I thought that you would make a lot more racket up there,” said Sam as he handed her the drink, he made sure to put an umbrella inside, he noticed earlier that she liked them.
“I did kind of break the lock,” She said apologizing with a hint of a shy smile.
“And just like that they let take the girl?” he asked, “Somehow I seriously doubt that.” He chuckled.
“I believe that you will find that group fast asleep, isn’t it right Jane?”
“What do you want?” she asked still not looking at him, she was playing with her fancy soda umbrella.
“You know what I want,” answered the man, but unlike Jane who was looking at her drink, his green eyes were pointed toward her.
“Not going to happen,” she said while taking a large gulp from her drink.
“Is this man bothering you Jane?” asked Sam.
“Yes, he is,” she turned to look at the man.
“You want me to throw him out?” he asked with a threatening voice, and from behind the counter, he took out a large shotgun, putting it threateningly on the counter.
“I most certainly do,” she said with a smug smile looking at the man, who was smiling back.
“You heard the lady, out you go,” said bartender Sam, “Don’t make me make you…” he added with just a hint of a threat, his hand resting on the shotgun.
“Sam, as much as I will enjoy this,” she said with a large amused smile, “This is Adrian Gale…” She let the word hang in the air.
“Adrian Gale?” mumbled Sam as if something was poking his memory. He took a good look at the Man, he was big and muscular, almost like Sam was, his short brown hair was carefully cut, his bright green eyes, something about them was familiar, he had seen them before… but where? Suddenly his eyes widened when he understood.
“Yep,” said Jane returning to her drink, “Adrian Gale… First to the order of Dawn, Spear of Terre, and don’t forget,” she said with a sarcastic tone, “Shield of the Euro Republic.”
“My lord,” said Sam his head bowed down in respect, “I am sorry… I…”
“Don’t worry about it,” said Adrian, “Jane has that effect on people,” he sighed, “Tell you what, just to make you feel better, you have my permission to take my picture here at the bar and hang it,” he said with a reassuring voice.
“My Lord, you are too kind,” said Sam his head still bowed in respect.
“But you have to stop calling me, my lord, and stop acting like I am royalty because I am not,” he looked straight at baffled Sam, “Deal?” he extended his arm toward Sam for a Shake.
“Deal.” Said Sam, gripping Adrain's hand firmly, vigorously returning his shake.
He filled their drinks, “Now how did you really beat these guys?” asked Sam.
“Jane here has some rather unique abilities,” Said Adrian with a sigh, “Love for example…”
“Love?” asked Sam baffled.
Jane noticed the baffled look on Sam's face, “Love? No…” she chuckled, “Not this time, but I might have made them kind of sleepy,” she smiled remembering.
“That’s kind of like cheating,” Said Sam with a small chuckle.
“No, it isn’t,” Answered Jane, “Unless you prefer I go back up, and make a wreck? Break a table maybe?” She looked at him smugly, “It was an easy and good win, Bartender Sam,” She said while taking another large gulp from her drink.
“Strangely enough, these powers of hers, only work on the willing or the feeble-minded,” spoke Adrian.
“You mean, the willing or the stupid-minded,” corrected Jane flatly.
“Potato potato,” Responded Adrian calmly.
Jane looked at her watch on the wall, “Time to go,” She said as she stood up.
“You know that there is going to be a sort of a fight out there, right?” said Adrian.
“I know,” She walked toward the unconscious blond girl, picked her up, and looked at Adrian, “Don’t Intervene,” she said flatly.
“I wouldn’t dream of it,” He smiled at her.
“I mean it, Adrian,” She lifted the girl and went toward the exit.
When she left the bar, Adrian turned toward Sam, “Come on Bartender Sam, let's go see,” he said happily, “And take your shotgun with you.”
Without hesitation, Sam did as he was told, After all, this is Adrian Gale, First to the order of Dawn, Spear of Terre, and the Shield of the Euro Republic…

It was a small town, dedicated to hosting adventure or raiders on their way toward the Eversor territory, but it was the dead season, hunting or harassing Eversor is always better near the four seasonal equinoxes, where the power of magic is stronger, so besides a few occupants, the town now was mostly deserted, waiting for the return of the so-called adventurers. The town was comprised of several buildings dedicated to various trade goods and one very large inn.
Naturally, all Border town was also obligated to have very big defensive guns, in case of an invasion, something that Killis had, but like all stuff in Killis, the big guns seem to be deserted, almost like the city, with various plants and weeds growing from and around them. The last 10 years, were free of Eversor battles, the peaceful facade seemed to make people forget the danger and horror that lies just outside their gates.

Since the town was small, since it stood at the edge of the road, and since most vehicles reaching it were outdoor vehicles, designed to travel where no roads existed, it was forbidden to enter the town with a vehicle. Such a thing was common practice for such a town. It prevented all sorts of headaches for the town and made life easier and generally more pleasant for its residents.

But for Jane, it meant a headache of her own, she needed to carry the unconscious princess toward the vehicle's shack, she knew that besides her and Adrian there were at least two more magic-capable individuals out there, she didn’t want to fight, but she suspected that the people who kidnaped the princess, are more able than the three she left in room number three, and as she suspected, two individuals were leaning against the outer wooden walls of the vehicle's shack.

Their eyes were fixed on her, one was a male with long flowing bright hair. The other was a woman, with white and wild long bob-styled hair. They both wore matching black battle robes adorned with dark red lines on their edges. They seem to lean casually against the wall, they seem bored as if waiting for something. When she got closer, she could see their eyes, golden honey for the male, and pale deep blue for the female.
“That’s close enough,” said the male, as both he and the female straightened themself to face her, “If you could put the blond girl on the ground, and move away we will be extremely grateful,” said the female, Jane estimated their age to be around 30.
“Not going to happen,” responded Jane looking at them, her eyes didn’t weaver.
The male closed his palm and his fists burst into flames, his hair flowing like fire behind him. The female closed her open palms in the air, their color turned ice blue, and the air around them seemed to freeze, as a large two-handed ice blade appeared in her hands.
“What if we say pretty, please?” chuckled the male.
Jane stood still for a second, she then moved slowly and gently put the blond girl on the earth, resting her near one of the buildings in the shade, once she was satisfied, she was Comfortably resting, she stood up and looked straight at the fire and ice duo, “Still no,” she answered, her hands resting casually at her side.

“Aren’t you going to intervene?” Sam asked Adrian worryingly.
“Of course not,” answered Adrian, who seemed to munch on some salted nuts he took from the bar, “She specifically asked me not to,” he answered, while his eyes were fixed on the three.

“So be It,” said the male, His hands moved forward-pointing toward Jane, as a wall of blazing fire erupted from them racing toward Jane. Jane simply stood still her body unwavering, almost uncaring while the orange flame raced toward her, as it got close it seemed to grow in intensity and power, but just before the wall reached Jane, it split into two in front of her, and with an almost silent whoosh, it harmlessly vanished at her sides.
Jane looked toward the Fire and Ice duo, her stench did not shift, her hands did not move, her long strawberry hair was now laced with golden shifting strands, free from the hold of its ponytail, while a small sly smile seemed to have appeared on her face,

“You see,” said Adrian toward Sam, “Elementalist can be fearsome, a duo of Fire and Ice can be a terrifying thing to battle against,” he said calmly while munching on his salted nuts, “The more seasoned the due, the harder it is to defend against them, it's probably one of the most effective combos in the magical realm.”
“Yet somehow you don’t sound worried?” mumbled Sam.

A volley of small fireballs, mixed with ice spikes was hurled toward Jane.
She moved her right hand infront of her chest, fingers extended upward while the left was lowered down, palm extending outward. As if by her command, all the fireball was harmlessly shifted toward the left of Jane, their trajectory now changed toward the ground, making a loud hiss as they impacted the earth, their power defused.
But the ice spike's fate was different, they all veered toward the right side of Jane, but instead of crushing on the ground like their fire counterparts, they swiveled around her and raced toward the fire and ice duo, their eyes seemed to widen in shock.
Yet they were not apprentices, they were seasoned fighters, experienced in magical fights, instinctively the two raised their arms, each sprouting a shield of its own, one of raging orange fire, the other of bluish sparkling hard Ice. The shields were raised to stop the hurled bolts, and the air was filled with the sound of the hiss of the melted ice, and mixed with the thump of ice crashing against ice.
And Jane's sly smile seemed to have widened.

“By the Goddess,” said Sam as he observed the battle.
“Jane is not magical,” Said Adrian still eating the salted nuts, “Jane is among the rare few that has Psychic affinity,” Said Adrian calmly, “And rarer among them is the power to manipulate matter and energy…” his voice became silent as his eyes seem to drift toward the rooftop of one the building next to the fight.
“That is not fair play,” he mumbled.
Sam follows Adrian's line of sight, and to his surprise, he sees on the rooftop a man holding a rifle targeted at Jane, a sniper.
Adrian reached with his hand toward the sniper, for a second it seemed that reality folded itself between them and the rooftop sniper, as Adrian's hand snatched the surprised sniper from his position over the roof and hurtled him onto the ground next to them, and in a split-second, reality snapped back to normal.
Adrian kicked the rifle from the stunned man's arms, “Sam if he moves shoot him… but in the leg or something.”
Without hesitation, Sam took out the shotgun and pointed it toward the stunned and very fearful sniper.
“My pleasure,” answered Sam smiling menacingly.

The Male fire Elementalist roared in anger, his hand sprouted a large fire blade as both he and his Female counterpart charged toward Jane.
Shining twin translucent purple blades, made of psychic energy sprouted from Jane's hands. She then lunged forward, gliding quickly on the earth, propelled by an invisible force, her lunge carried her toward the charging duo, meeting them head-on.

“Stand up,” Said Adrian to the sniper, “and let's go,” he then motioned to Sam to pick up the rifle.
Sam did as he was told, then hurried the sniper to move faster.

Jane had a sly smile on her face, and her hands moved like lightning, as she swiveled her body along with one of her blades and continued her lunge toward the Female Ice Elementalist.
The Ice blade was raised in an attempt to block Jane's strike, but the psychic blade passed through the icy blade with ease, shattering it into a million shiny pieces as it kept moving unhindered toward the female hitting her square on her shoulders, sending a surge of psychic energy throughout her body. For a second, the Ice sorceress stood frozen in mid-motion, her blue eyes staring in confusion, she looked baffled at Jane, blinked twice, and collapsed unconscious on the warm earth.
Jane's eyes turned toward the male, her pose was that of battle, but his hands were turned upward toward the sky, all fire devoured from them, while his head was turned toward the ground in submission.
“Good call,” Said Jane as the blades vanished from her hand and her pose relaxed.
She looked at Adrain, and Sam, as they slowly approached, while behind them was the bound sniper. When they arrived she stated angrily to Adrian, “I asked you not to intervene,” she said annoyed.
“I didn’t,” he answered innocently.
“And that is?” she said pointing at the Sniper.
“That is a man that was using a non-registered magic firearm,” replied Adrian innocently, “As a Guardian and a member of the Order of Dawn, I am supposed to stop such things,” he looked at her grinning.
Jane simply sighed, “I have a princess to return, have fun with these bunch,” she said as she gently picked the unconscious girl in her hands and moved toward the vehicle shade.
Adrian's voice changed from cheerful to serious and then to ominous as he turned toward the Male Elementalist, “You know who I am?”
The male nodded yes his eyes were looking down.
“Good,” said Adrien, “Now pick your unconscious friend, and let's go toward the inn over there,”
The Male did as he was told, then said with an apology tone, “We did not know that you were involved, my liege.”
“I am not,” responded Adrian with calm, as they walked toward the inn.

 

The rest can be found at the new and upcomming book: When time Breaks