Heart of Darkness

Chapter 57

Her sister’s voice had been right behind her. “Come on, keep moving.” And so, Amelia had kept moving, following Sylphiel, following Gourry carrying Lina. Lina. Brilliantly burning redhead so very still in the arms of one who protected her once upon a time. If ever there was a definition of Horribly Wrong, this was It, in her opinion.

She didn’t know how much worse it could- would get.

Amelia turned to ask Naga where they ought to go, and came to a halt when her sister wasn’t there. “Naga?”
Amelia’s query caused Sylphiel to pause and turn around to see what was wrong. “Where’s Naga?” The Cleric asked, dismayed to see that the other princess wasn’t with them.

“I don’t know! She was right behind me…” Amelia began, but her voice faded away into uncertainty. Naga had been there, right?

“Guys… it’s Lina…” Gourry said in surprise, looking down at the pale Sorceress in his arms. “I think she’s breathing!” He knelt down, settling Lina onto the carpet and supporting her head. “Hey, Lina!” His voice was so encouraging, as if he expected her to open her eyes and miraculously be fine.

She didn’t answer, and Amelia and Slyphiel moved to Gourry’s side to see if Lina was truly breathing, or if it had been hopeful thinking. If Lina was breathing, even a little… Sylphiel had, of course, magic for one more spell. She was exhausted, she was beyond where she could happily cast anything, but a good Cleric always held enough power back in reserve for the worst case scenario. And this, Sylphiel decided, seeing Lina was taking feeble and shallow breaths, was it.

Sylphiel placed her hands over Lina’s heart, as she had once so very long ago, and reached deep within herself for the power that lay there in reserve. Drawing it forth, she focused her thoughts, her gaze, her very soul on the redhead in her husband’s arms. “Lend me strength…” she whispered, and began to cast a spell that she hadn’t cast for almost seven years.

Amelia watched, her heart in her throat, as Sylphiel began to cast a spell that she could only barely recognize, could only vaguely sense. This was Holy magic, worked on the last vestiges of the Flare Dragon Cepheid. This was magic that she’d tried to cast herself once upon a time, a spell that she’d desperately tried over and over to cast. She hadn’t been completely honest with Lina that time. She’d let Lina think that she hadn’t cast the resurrection spell on Zelgadis because it had been bad… timing. The truth was that the spell was outside of Amelia’s scope. Her magic was too Shamanistic in nature.

Gourry felt the energy draining from him, felt an emptiness in his arms and legs. It felt as if they were growing heavier, as if he were trying to lift something insanely heavy… even though he was only sitting there with Lina’s head cradled in his hands. He lifted his blue gaze to his wife, saw that she was casting something, saw her whole being seem to be focused on her hands above Lina’s heart. And he realized it in moments.

Sylphiel was casting the Resurrection spell on Lina, borrowing the life-force from all who were nearby. He could see Amelia struggling to stay on her knees, saw the servant-girl who had been by the door fall to her knees with a bewildered gasp.

The last time that Sylphiel had cast Resurrection, had been on Lina, and they had been below the Holy Tree Flagoon. This time, they were in the Royal Palace of Saillune. The sheer proximity of the Sword of Light boosted the casting, but it wasn’t like last time. Sylphiel could only barely feel the draw, the life-forces swirling. She could only almost see them converge and spill over the frail redhead. “Holy Cepheid… lend thy strength to Miss Lina!”

Time seemed to stretch, the space between heartbeats lengthening until Amelia wanted to scream with no breath. Darkness tingled on the edge of her awareness, a direct contrast to the brilliance that burst forth from Sylphiel’s hands and cascaded through the room, obliterating everything from sight.

Lina Inverse Greywords sat up with a sharp gasp, crimson eyes wide. As she did so, Sylphiel sagged sideways, worn beyond reckoning, power fading as fast as awareness. With Lina safe, she could rest. With Lina safe… Sylphiel’s eyes closed and she sank into an exhausted sleep.

“What the…?” Lina asked, looking around in confusion. She wasn’t sure where she was, but it wasn’t where she’d been. She had a splitting headache and she couldn’t understand why Gourry, Sylphiel, Amelia, and a servant girl were all sprawled out on the floor, unconscious.

Unless… Jedah must have come… and he’s taking things up with Zelgadis! I have to stop them! They can’t fight in Saillune! They’ll destroy the city! Lina got to her feet, stumbling in surprise. She felt so weak… what in the world had Jedah cast on everyone? Some sort of high-level sleep spell? A flicker of magic sense flared and she turned to look. They were down that hall, probably on the other side of that door way down there.

All right, that’s it. Time to settle things once and for all. No matter which way this ends up, I’m not giving up on Zelgadis, and I won’t let Jedah do anything stupid. He may be a Mazoku, but whatever Zelgadis did to Xellos can probably be done again to Jedah. And while he may be a Mazoku, may be the son of the Greater Beast… he’s a friend. And I can’t let anything happen to him.

With a singular strength of will that she’d used before when things came down to the line, Lina began to walk down the hallway, back the way that she’d been carried unknowingly, back to the room where a showdown was taking place.

Back to Zelgadis and Jedah.

Back to what probably could be the end.