Heart of Darkness
Chapter 13
The ice cold eyes of the one that Jedah had addressed as Zelgadis burned with a cold hotness into the calm light blue ones of Jedah. For a moment, there might have been a flicker of thought, but then the tan figure turned away, as if disinterested. Of course, if that had truly been the reason for turning, it would have meant that Zelgadis had shown an emotion… and Jedah was pretty sure that he hadn’t. After all, Zelgadis was being danced like a puppet on a string to a tune that only the puppeteer could hear. He wondered if Zelgadis knew what was happening, but put that thought out of his mind as the puppet began to slowly walk away from him, to begin the descent towards Ambervale and the hysteria within.
Power lanced away from Jedah, a mere fraction of a thought bringing a villager to his knees. If it was a demonstration that would catch and hold Zelgadis’ attention, then Jedah was perfectly capable of providing. It was, after all, in part his nature. The man screamed in anguish, each sound wrenched out of him as his lungs were gripped by an unseen force, compressed with each pulse of power that Jedah brought to bear.
The figure in tan paused, eyes fixed on the figure below, watching as if mesmerized.
The man was lifted into the air, his cries of pain mingling with his terror, adding a flavor to the chaos of the fire below like the salt that one adds to a meal at the dinner table. The emotion in the village was rich, heady, and full of ripe potential power for a Mazoku, a mortal’s equivalent of the strongest of wines. Jedah would have to be careful, lest he overindulge and become drunk. “You could do this too, Zelgadis. You could become the ultimate Mazoku.” It was a lazy comment as Jedah tilted his head sideways to look to Zelgadis.
Once more, Zelgadis turned, walking back up, those iced eyes leveled on Jedah, a harsh and grating voice issuing from perfectly chiseled lips. There was no emotion in those cold blue diamond eyes; no trace at all of the human that Jedah knew was buried in his own horror within Zelgadis’ psyche. “What do you want with me, Son of Juuou?”
I want to free you from your bonds, whispered Jedah into the mind that was curled in upon itself in horror and despair. I want to show you to the path that will lead you to your ultimate power. He could have entered the other’s mind, but it pleased him more to see those crystalline eyes widen at the mental caress that formed those words. It was but a thought, and yet, it flowed through the chimera before him, setting off ripples within stone, blue diamond glittering with a strange fire that hadn’t been there before. He had struck a chord hidden deep within Zelgadis, Jedah knew. It was only a matter of plucking it hard enough to make it reverberate into a life of its own.
The man in mid-air fell silent, life crushed out of his physical husk. Jedah dropped it as carelessly as he let his arm fall to his side, turning his full attention on Zelgadis. That fire turned into a flicker of emotion in eyes that seemed now more aquamarine than diamond, as if the human within were awakening from a daze, taking back what was his by sheer force of will. Zelgadis staggered, the puppet-strings around him snapping as guilt and awareness flooded through him. He fell to his knees, painfully aware of what he had done, retching on the rocky ground, the bitter taste of bile sharply contrasted against the amber taste of fire in the air. It was enough for Jedah, and he lifted a hand.
Silence
settled through the valley, all noise of chaos, all sounds of flame and fear
coming to a complete and total stillness. Ambervale
sat below them, cold, dead, every inhabitant gone, as if it had been weeks
since the fires had burned out. More anguish flashed in those now-aquamarine
eyes, and Jedah extended his hand to Zelgadis. “Even
in Mazoku, there can be the quality of mercy. Those who yet live will return to
normal lives. Come, Zelgadis. Let us go where we can sit and relax and you can
recover. There is much to learn, much that we can teach each other.”
The human soul trapped in a chimera’s body forced himself to rise to his feet, the taste in his mouth as bitter as the feelings in his heart. There was an instant where everything began and ended all at once, and then suddenly, they were Sideways, a subtle shift in reality making both aware that they were no longer outside of Ambervale.
Lush trees blew in the wind, leaves brushing against leaves in a rush of sound and motion. Waves lapped at a not-so-distant shore, adding an undertone to the leaves. Birds called out in musical twitters, one answering the other answering the other in a chain of a musical dance. It was a tropical wilderness, the rich deep scents of untouched flowers flowing in the breeze. It would have been a picture-perfect place to go on a vacation… if it hadn’t been for the wolves.
Eleven
lanky bodies twisted around the pair, sinew and muscle rippling under grey fur.
Occasionally, one paused to lift a black nose to Jedah’s
relaxed hand, but none of them paid any attention to Zelgadis. He may as well
not have been there at all. He didn’t look away from Jedah,
didn’t react to the presence of the wolves. Jedah
allowed his boyish grin to curl his lips, allowed his eyes to brighten, and
laughed as delightedly as a child might when surrounded by eager playmates. “Now, then. We are on