Heart of Darkness

Chapter 9

 

               Zelgadis wasn't certain what was wrong. Every time he saw Lina, every time he got close enough to call out her name, she'd take off into the distance again... on foot.

               It wasn't at all like her.

               In fact, there were several things that weren't like her, now that he stopped to think about it...

               Something nearby blew up, and with reflexes born of years traveling with Lina, Zelgadis took off at a dead run to find out what had just happened, no thought at all given to taking to the air, no thought at all of simply thinking himself there.

 

               She snarled. The human turned chimera turned something else wasn't easily falling for her ploy. She'd have to redouble her efforts and find another way to win over her prey.

               Or she'd just have to do it the hard way.

               A thought, and preparations were being made. She was annoyed that he still thought like a human, but perhaps she could use it to her advantage. After all, humans were ever so much more delicate than chimeras… let alone whatever her prey wanted to call himself. And if he thought that he was delicate, well that would give her an even better edge over him than simple little mind games.

               It was time to up the ante.

 

               The little group stood outside of the cave, and Lina scowled as she registered Xellos' grip around her waist.

               "Hey."

               Xellos ignored her, those deep violet eyes open and staring intently at the cave opening.

               "Hey." This time, it was accentuated by a sharp smack to the side of the Mazoku's head. Lina would warn him once, then blast him back to Sairuun if he didn't pay attention.

               "Oh, so sorry Lina... I guess that I'd forgotten," with a little half laugh, he released her and looked expectantly back at the cave entrance. "So, then, what is in here...?" He certainly didn't sound as if he knew.

               "Some old ruins," Lina replied testily. "If I knew that, Xellos, I wouldn't have invited you along!"

               The rest of the group, which consisted of Jedah, Amelia, Naga, Sylphiel, and Gourry, cringed. Lina was being completely unpredictable, and none of them wished to be the focus of her attentions right now. At best, she'd singe. At worst... well, Gourry had lived through a Dragon Slave once. He didn't really want to do it again, and Naga knew all too well what Lina was capable of calling down against her enemies. She wanted no part of that cast upon her, thank you very much. She still shivered at the thought of that beach and the look in Lina’s eyes afterwards…

               "Miss Lina," Amelia ventured. "Shouldn't we go inside and see what Mister Xellos can do?" She knew it was a bit of a risk speaking up like that, but someone had to do it, and Amelia was counting on her white magic to help save her skin, should Lina be offended.

               As Xellos moved away from Lina, moving opposite of where Jedah stood, Lina nodded. Little by little she was becoming aware that there was either fear or at the very least a very healthy respect for Jedah in Xellos' world... and she was pretty certain that it wasn't respect. But she'd get to the bottom of that later. "...Yeah, let's go. But keep the magic used to the barest possible minimum." She'd learned that the hard way, hadn't she?

               It was dark inside, and as Zelgadis had taught her, she lit the torch inside by more mundane means, taking a small tinder box out of a pocket in her cloak and setting to work with flint and a bit of metal that she’d thought useless. It still seemed like a waste of time and effort… but.

               "Where'd you learn that, Lina?" Naga asked, frowning at the mundane fire. It was much simpler to will the fire into existence, and such an effort put into something so simple was completely alien to her.

               "Zelgadis insisted that I learn. It wasn't my idea of the best way to start a fire, but I'll admit, it has its uses," Lina replied, lifting the torch to cast light about the room. Golden-orange light flickered for a moment as the torchlight passed through a breeze, but it stayed lit and the walls around them began to become visible.

               "It's much safer to light a torch that way in an unknown place, than to cast a light spell," Sylphiel chimed in, and Lina set her teeth. Yes, she'd established that, yes she'd argued the point with Zel... why did everyone have to say it, even after she'd acknowledged it?

               "This is interesting," Jedah said, moving to a set of carvings on a wall. Whether or not they were truly interesting was moot. It It served as a redirect, and Jedah was handy with those. It served to conceal, distract, keep eyes from prying where they didn’t need to be prying… and most of all, in this group, it managed to preserve what precious little peace there was. And peace meant sanity. “Can you move the light a little closer, Lina? There’s something over here that I can’t quite make out." His fingers found a symbol and traced it as Lina, holding the light aloft, approached.

               “What is it, Jedah? Do you know this writing?” Lina asked, starting to wonder about the young man who claimed to be the younger brother of Zelgadis. After all, Zelgadis had said that it was a long story… and she’d never quite gotten to the bottom of that. She’d taken Jedah at face value because Zelgadis vouchsafed him.

               Jedah took the torch from Lina, and held the light closer to the wall. Fingers traced the symbols deftly, lips murmuring something that sounded like nonsensical sounds, and then Jedah looked up to Lina, eyes wide before he looked back at the wall. “Nope, not one word of it.” As the little group fell over, he continued blithely on, cheerfully enjoying the chaos that he had caused by his little joke. “I can read all of them.”

               It was only Amelia’s frantic grabbing at Lina’s feet that kept the redheaded sorceress from being able to leap onto Jedah to pound him flat. “Miss Lina, you can’t hurt him! He’s Zelgadis’ brother, and we need him to read the writing!”

               “Start reading, Jedah,” Lina grumbled as she picked herself up and pried a foot out of Amelia’s hand. “I want to know precisely what it is that we’re dealing with.”