Heart of Darkness

Chapter 47

Jedah wasn’t sure where the conversation was going to go, but it felt as if it was going quite wrong. He stood there, watching Zelgadis, keenly aware of the danger that had crystallized in the air. He, Jedah, was Hellmaster, not Zelgadis as Cassandra had thought. Jedah could choose to be Avatar too, if he wanted, but it just didn’t suit him. Hey, no-one had told Jedah that only L-Sama was allowed to be capricious. He might change his mind tomorrow, but today he was content to simply be Hellmaster. Well… maybe not content. Not with the way Zelgadis was regarding him.

Those cerulean blue eyes hardened, the shadow of the Mazoku darkening within Zelgadis. Jedah could taste the power; feel the unspoken promise heavy in the air. “I am leaving, Jedah.” Zelgadis rose to his feet, the shadow collected about him as if it were a cloak. “I am going to walk out of that door, and you aren’t going to stop me. Hellmaster you may be, but you’ve told me that you can’t stop me if I’m ‘hell-bent’ on doing it.” The ghost of a dry smile touched his lips. “I think we’d both rather not put that to a true test.”

Jedah stood there, watching Zelgadis walk to the door, painfully aware that he’d managed to completely screw this up. He hadn’t wanted to be Zelgadis’ enemy. He hadn’t wanted anything more than what Zelgadis had thought they’d had: kinship. When the door opened and Zelgadis was halfway through, Jedah managed to open his mouth. “I’m sorry, Zelgadis.”

The door closed behind the man who had been called brother with a click that only served to accentuate the mind-deafening silence that had fallen. Moments passed, and Jedah realized that his link with Zelgadis, his ability to Know where he was had been broken. Somehow the loss of that simple link hurt far more than the silence. Once more condemning his heart, Jedah sighed and willed himself towards the one that he could still vaguely sense: Xellos. He might as well go see what the troublemaker was up to…

That link was weak, and weakening more by the moment as Jedah oriented on him and appeared in a quiet and still room in the Palace of Saillune. Well, if Xellos was in the Palace, then that had to mean the rest of them were still in and around Saillune, right? He looked around the room, and spotted Lina on the bed, unnaturally still. He frowned, casting his mind open and seeing the problems in his own fashion. Thirty seconds later, Jedah knew what had happened to them, and how dangerously close he was to losing them both. He had to be dispassionate. He couldn’t allow himself to feel.

The trap-spell that had been set was a cunning one, designed to eat away at the unfortunate who had been caught in its web of silent destruction. Jedah turned to see Xellos in the chair, and if he’d been mortal, his heart would have been in his teeth. Half of Xellos was missing, and Jedah moved to Xellos’ side. The Trickster Priest had obviously taken the brunt of the magical impact, and it had quite literally torn him apart. Jedah couldn’t recall the last time that he had caught Xellos sleeping.

With a wince, Jedah walked over to Lina, and saw with dismay that the spell had scored enough of a hit to begin its insidious work on her as well. She was mortal, and the spell was working faster on her, as she had far smaller reserves of energy to fight it off with… even if she had known what sort of a spell it was. Like as not, Lina had probably thought that she was just tired, and lain back to take a nap. While she slept, the spell would work freely, limbs turning to lead as the spell crept through her fragile physical shell. She’d be dead before morning, for all appearances, passed in her sleep.

Jedah didn’t have much time. He didn’t have a choice, either, for he knew that he couldn’t let Lina die. Not at the hands of a spell that had most likely been cast to trap him. Not with the magic colored by his touch. He could partially restore Xellos if the Trickster Priest faded away, not that he’d be the same, but Jedah couldn’t bring the mortal dead back to life. He couldn’t allow himself to feel, or the choice would be harder. He could react later. For now…

He returned to the bedside, looking down at the woman who had managed to captivate more than one heart that should have been impenetrable. Who could say they understood hearts? Certainly not Jedah, he could barely understand his own. As he considered this, he put a hand on her shoulder and brought his magic to call. He had deep reserves, a well of power that normally slept hidden away, but now he had need of it. He reached into that source, freeing the power within himself.

The illusions shattered in that still room, the figure by the bed with his hand on the redhead’s shoulder suddenly and irrefutably Hellmaster himself. Gone was the innocent boy, gone was the awkward Mazoku. He was the epitome of what every woman dreamed of having for a Mazoku lover, long black hair and perfect features. Eyes as deep as the brilliant winter sky opened, a voice as soft as night whispering the woman’s name. “Lina… don’t give up. Give me time to work this out.” He could feel her faltering under his touch as he worked to undo the spell, worked to break its hold on her without injuring her.

He was losing. The spell wasn’t woven to be broken by his touch, not without doing irrefutable harm to one who was not immortal. And to call the one who had cast it… but he had to. Jedah knew that somewhere deep inside, Zelgadis knew what spell he’d cast. And he was the only one who could undo it.

Zelgadis, I need you here. Lina and Xellos are dying and I can’t save them both.