OmaRosa ~ chapter 8

by Bambi Hawkins in 1886 steampunk Venice

“I’m a charm worker, you see,” Seymour went on enlightening me on the Levana. “Tiombe and Tarachan were charms. Penn gives me more charms for the missions that I accomplish. I’m hoping that I’ll be able to get Delaney this time, especially since this mission meant so much to him.”

            “Who’s Delaney?” I asked.

            “She’s a rabbit,” he replied. “I’ve been waiting to get her for awhile. See, I was a magician’s apprentice before I became a Levana, and I favor rabbits above all the other animals. Delaney is a hard one to earn, though. Penn actually made her for me to work harder for.”

            “What was your first charm?” I inquired, genuinely curious.

            “Tiombe,” he responded, his voice light. “We’re pretty close. I usually let her wander around and socialize with the other members.”

            “What other charms do you have?” I asked, now probing for more about these charms. What were the non-animal ones like?

            “I only have five,” he said heavily, as if it were such a disappointment. “Tarachan and Tiombe, of course, and three non-living ones. One is a sword, the other is fire, and the last is a worthless tree. I don’t see the point in a tree. Penn told me that it’s good for climbing, but I haven’t used it once yet.”

            “You may have to use it sometime,” I suggested. And with a jolt, I realized something that could have spared Tiombe her injury. “You could’ve used it to get over the wall, you dope! Tiombe might’ve been fine right now.”

            “It would take too long,” he reasoned patiently. “I would have to find it first, and then would’ve had to activate it and then turn Tiombe back into a charm. And then we would have to climb it, and then turn that back into a charm. There simply wasn’t enough time.”

            I folded my arms, scowling at his reasonable reply. “Excuse me for caring about your chicken.”

            “I’d appreciate it if you didn’t insult Tiombe,” he corrected, his voice hot now. “She was the one who got you out of there.” There was silence as I fumed silently to myself, angry again. It was awhile before either one of us spoke again, but Seymour broke the silence. “How long have you been a Levana?”

            “A month,” I said, still holding a grudge. “As of today.”

            “Oh?” he said. “So you’re rather new. What can you do?”

            “Pull things from dreams,” I grumbled, guilt flooding me as I thought of how I had never told Franny. “That’s how I got the bell.”

            “Really? Can I see it?”

            I pulled it form my pocket, holding it up from my eyes. I searched for any markings, any trace of the floral patterns that I had seen earlier. I was discouraged to find that it looked like any other bell, silver and small. I held it out to him.

            “So this must pretty important,” Seymour marveled at it, spinning it around. “Penn asked me to specifically ask for the bell. He told me that I couldn’t leave you behind either. Said that you were just as important as the bell.”

            I thought about this for a moment. Me? Important? I felt anything but when I lived on the sullied streets, shunned and avoided by the people that used to respect me. I couldn’t be important.

            “Oh,” I said flatly, not quite sure how to respond to what he had said.

            There was another silence as we walked on, progressing at an even pace through the forest.

            “It should only take another day or two until we reach the portal,” Seymour informed, breaking the silence once more. “But we can’t be too late – Penn can only let the portal last so long.”

            “Will we be able to ride Tarachan again soon?” I inquired, not favoring the idea of walking for days.

            But it was only when Seymour had turned to me to answer that I felt a heavy impact and then I was flying through the air, a blurred shape above me. I landed with a heavy thud and felt my breath escape my lungs. As I struggled to regain my breath, I saw only two golden eyes staring down at me.