Air: Merlin's Chalice (The Children of Avalon Book 1) Read Online Free PDF Page B

wot?”
    “Oh, yes, of course,” I said, coming forward. But if this big strong man couldn’t pull the sword out, I had no idea what I could do. I reached up and tried tugging at the handle, as the knight had done, but the sword was firmly lodged in the tree.
    “No, I didn’t mean like that!” The knight laughed. “Of course you can’t pull it out like that. Use your mind, girl, use your mind.”
    I let go of the sword and looked up at the knight. “I’m sorry? I don’t understand.” But a shiver of apprehension ran over my skin like a cool breeze on a hot summer night.
    The knight gestured vaguely. “Oh, I say, you know what I mean. Move it with your mind.”
    “How could I possibly do that?” It was the most ridiculous thing I’d ever heard. I gave a deliberate laugh, but the knight didn’t laugh with me. He wasn’t joking.
    “You know…” The man dismounted and pulled off his helmet to reveal a shock of silver–white hair above a clean–shaven, grandfatherly face. He put his helmet down on the ground, took a step away from me and the horse, and then just stood staring at me.
    For a moment I didn’t know what he was doing, but then I noticed that his belt was unbuckling itself. Gently, it came off of his body and lay down on the ground. The tunic he wore over his armor began to lift itself off his body.
    I was vaguely aware of my mouth dropping open. I snapped it shut again.
    Before the tunic was fully off the man, however, it began to put itself back on again. The knight smiled at me. “That’s how.”
    “But… how did you do that?” My voice was nothing but an awed whisper, but I didn’t care. What I’d just seen was… was… well, magic.
    He laughed. “I used my mind. I just willed my sword belt to come off and then my tunic, wot?” His sword belt was still rebuckling itself around his waist as he moved forward again.
    I took a step backward, keeping some distance between us. It wasn’t that I was scared, precisely. I didn’t know what I was beyond confused and perhaps a bit nervous. My skin seemed to be prickling, but I didn’t know why.
    He didn’t seem to notice or mind. He just pointed at his sword and said, “Now, you try.”
    “I can’t…” It was ridiculous.
    “Have you tried, then?”
    “Well, no. But…” This was more than silly.
    “Then you don’t know that you can’t, do you? If you try it and fail, then, indeed, you can’t, but if you try and can then you can’t can’t, wot?”
    I had to stop and think about that for a minute, untying his logic, but I thought it made sense. Was it ridiculous? Doubts whispered in my mind. Turning back, I looked up at the sword as it sat lodged firmly in the tree a little higher than eye level.
    Could I possibly move it with my mind just by willing it to move? No! That was impossible. A shiver ran through me just at the thought of being able to do such a thing.
    “No.” I turned away. “I’m very sorry, but…”
    “Scared?”
    “What? I’m not scared! I just can’t, that’s all.” I didn’t even want to think about it any further. The thought alone of doing such a thing was terrifying. The implications!
    “But you haven’t even tried,” the knight persisted.
    “No, and I’m not going to. It’s ridiculous. I am not a witch. I cannot simply move things with my mind.” I crossed my arms in front of me, as if that proved my point.
    The knight raised his eyebrows. “No, you’re not a witch,” he agreed. “But you’ve never moved anything just by willing it to move?”
    “No,” I said, stopping myself from even trying to think if I actually ever had.
    “Not even, oh, say, a cloud?” he asked, wiggling his eyebrows.
    A breath caught in my throat making me cough. I had made the sun come out… no, we’d all prayed for it; we’d all done it together. Father Llewellyn had said so.
    “Uh–huh.” The knight smiled. “And you’ve never been able to do anything else that is unusual either, I suppose,