Heart of Darkness

Chapter 49

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

That was all that Jedah had dared spare, the only fragment of power that he allowed free from his focus on Lina, that single thought that flew through the world to the mind that it needed to find.

It was enough.

Zelgadis stepped into the room, appearing out of the air with only a soft pop of displaced air to betray his arrival. Silence settled, and the man who wore his shadow like a mantle walked to the bed. He reached out with his right hand, and took up Lina’s left hand, the hand with the plain gold band on the third finger. He said nothing to Jedah, did not even acknowledge the other’s presence, instead looking quietly to Lina’s ring, then looking past it and blanching.

He knew this spell. He recognized the magical touch as his own, though he could not recall casting it. His magic filtered through the sorceress on the bed, seeking the identifiers of the spell, and what he discovered made his blood run cold. It was his own power that echoed back, sparking a reaction within him.

Memory flashed, a dark anger pulsing through him, pain, anger, hatred. Broken, torn, pain had ripped through him, leaving him breathless and alone. In that aloneness, he’d realized that he was not just Mazoku, he was Shabrnigdo’s Avatar! He was Power, he was the Successor, not Jedah! He’d wanted to trap Jedah, to neutralize him. Set a trap.

He’d set the trap.

He remembered, his stomach falling to his feet. He’d crossed the line, broken that boundary that Jedah had referred to before. He’d made the change from one to the other and become drunk with power. He grew cold, an empty feeling creeping through him as memory flashed again. He’d become what he’d sworn not to… lost control and become worse than Xellos. He’d created a trap with a spell specifically designed to tear the Astral form from its victim and destroy it bit by painful bit until there was nothing left but the core of the spirit. That hollow pit opened wider as he realized that Lina had been the one caught by his trap.

Lina. He’d hurt Lina, was hurting her. He’d forgotten that she could find him in much the same way that Jedah could and he’d hurt her. He had to save her. There were no options. He had to save her, and nothing in the world could stop him. No Hellmaster, no Avatar. He would do whatever it took to bring her back from the edge where his magic had sent her. Nothing was beyond him if he was hell-bent on doing it. And he was hell-bent on bringing Lina back.

Still Zelgadis said nothing, but Jedah could feel the buildup of power, could see the dark glitter of Zelgadis’ magic washing out from him, cascading down over Lina and beginning to undo the spell. Ignoring Jedah, Zelgadis lifted his other hand, his left with its own golden band glittering, bringing it to rest on Lina’s shoulder. He would save her. He had to.

The glitter grew, shifting from one of Zelgadis’ hands to the other. It had a full circle now, and Jedah saw the power fed into it, knew that it would succeed. He pulled his own magic back before Zelgadis’ could reach him, moving away from the bed and walking to the chair where Xellos was slumped. There wasn’t much time left; the Trickster Priest was fading, the magic holding his corporeal appearance down to its last feeble attempt at effort.

Jedah lowered his hand, touching Xellos’ hair, a glittering fire alighting between Mazoku as he used powers that he couldn’t have used with Lina. A brilliant violet glow awoke at Jedah’s magic, beginning to burn away the spell while feeding the injured Mazoku the power that he needed to recover himself. The old link between himself and the Trickster Priest reopened, and Jedah could reach into Xellos as easily as he might have reached into himself.

Jedah could feel the wounded Mazoku under his grasp, could taste Xellos’ pain. It wasn’t the kind of pain that was of any use, wasn’t the pain that could be turned into power. It was a pain designed to burn away a Mazoku’s mind, to reduce them to using their own form to maintain themselves. It was far nastier than the Raugnut Rusyavuna… for while that caused a mortal physical eternal pain and eternal painful destruction; this sought the very core soul of a Mazoku and twisted it against itself for all of eternity.

Xellos groaned softly, that soft and universal sound of pain, and Jedah’s fingers entwined a bit tighter into the purple hair as he willed the power stronger. It flooded through Xellos, burning brilliantly like a beckoning candle in a darkened window. Master, servant, lover, the bond between them was beyond mortal comprehension.

Xellos, I need you. Don’t leave me.

The thought flickered from Jedah to Xellos, and Jedah felt the unfocused response. Xellos had no intentions of leaving, had no desire to give up. He was fighting as hard as he could to regain precious Astral footing and recover. Jedah couldn’t lose Xellos. Not when he was right here… not after losing Zelgadis. The pain would be more than he could bear. Damn his heart, damn his father for his mortal soul and damn his mother on the general principle of the thing.

It would work out.

It had to.

The door to the room burst open and Sylphiel came running in, only to come to a dead stop as she registered what she was seeing. Gourry, only steps behind her, drew his sword, bladeless. As the Sword of Light burst into life, Gourry planted himself in front of Sylphiel. He might have been too late for Lina, but he’d be damned if he’d let them hurt his wife too. “Zelgadis, let Lina go. Jedah, take your toys and leave.”