Chapter 11

He didn't need a spell, didn't need to follow a hard-sought Astral trail to know where Zelgadis went. No, all that Jedah had needed to do was go to Ambervale. The ruins had been the start of it all, and Jedah knew that some part of Zelgadis would find it apt that he chose it as 'home'.

Zelgadis had created it, and it, in turn, created him. Even to Jedah, it had a twisted sort of symmetry.

Not too long ago, Jedah had bought Lina here, brought her at her command. He'd regretted it, and been immensely relieved to be called out of it with her in tow.

He hadn't been too happy to discover what Xellos had, but there hadn't been anything that he could do about it. The Heart was too well guarded by a spell that he could barely comprehend. He, unlike Lina, didn't dare touch it.

He picked his way through a level of the Tower, hearing the wind whisper through the cracks, the stones groaning against each other as the ruin moved slightly. It reminded Jedah of the sound a soul might make in anguish, an echo of what the heart might feel if it had been torn asunder.

Jedah shook his head at his own folly as he moved across, searching for any signs that Zelgadis was using this as a home base, as he suspected. What he was finding was that the tower was empty, as desolate as a heart left to try and recover when it had no desire to do so.

Echoes of memory flickered, tainted impressions of the past attempting to make themselves known. Jedah only half-listened, searching the emotions that clung in the air for something that might whisper an answer, a solution to the problem that was of his own crafting.

Zelgadis may have created Ambervale, but it hadn't been Ambervale that had created Zelgadis. No, that dubious honor belonged to Jedah. Ambervale just happened to be where Jedah had initially broken Zelgadis apart, where he had reached into a realm where he did not belong and torn open the then-chimera's heart.

His own heart contracted suddenly, the pain bringing Jedah gasping to his knees, alarm flashing in his eyes. Silence fell around him, the darkness and stillness piercing his mind with an oppressive hand. He forced his breathing to still, forced himself to focus for a moment. Why was he here, what was he doing? What right did he have to try to repair what he had done?

Fool he was, tromping through the ruins of a dead man's memory, trying to find some indication that hope still existed. A pathetic and dim emotion, hope couldn't last in the face of such powerful opposition. No heart big or small could possibly dream of overcoming these odds.

Silly, silly little boy playing at being Human, toying with things so fragile, so easily broken as a Mortal heart. He was more, he was so much more. He could create, destroy, and create again all at the whim of a thought. He was the master of mayhem, Hellmaster himself!

A rush of power brought him back to his feet, glittering with a blue as black as night. He was the power; the power was his mind, his heart, his soul. What need did he have for the pathetic mortals anymore? He had all that he needed within himself, all that he had to do was reach out and call it forth.

Wait, a thought rippled through. He'd taken that drastic step to protect Zelgadis. The youth wasn't supposed to have been taken by Rezo. Everything that Jedah had done was to try to undo what had been done.

Done by the hand of Rezo.

Under the control of Shabranigdo.

Jedah had moved against Shabranigdo.

What the hell had he been thinking?

The glimmer of thought flared, but a darker flare reached up and swallowed it whole.

Darkness.

Pain.

He gasped again, crashing hard to his knees, the force pushing him into the floor, dust billowing as the already dangerous ground threatened to give way and send him falling.

His heart seized, constricting again, and Jedah curled into himself, his impression of human form taking a position that it had not known before.

Pain lanced through him again, words echoing in the agony, words that he had to strain to hear in his own cries of anguish. He could hear the whispered words now, could hear them as if it was his own voice whispering them.

It was.

"Too close, you're too close. She'll burn you, just like the others. Let him go, let him plan. When the time comes, crush him and take it as your own. You have the power, they trust you."

Betrayal. Return to Shabranigdo.

Pain coursed through him again, his voice breaking under the strain, a small part of him wondering at that sound, so lonely, so anguished, so very like… Zelgadis.

Brilliant ice-blue eyes snapped open, the full power of Hellmaster bursting freely through the ruin. He'd been unprepared, hadn't sensed the trap until it had been too late. But as the blood flowed similarly, so too did magic, and Jedah's magic was close enough to Zelgadis' that he could break open the trap and set himself free.

He stared at the floor between his hands, realizing that he was on his hands and knees. He felt as if he'd been beaten both physically and mentally, felt as if every fiber of his being had been stretched to almost breaking and then snapped back into place once more. In mortal terms, Jedah was beyond exhausted and ready to fall over.

Yet, he couldn't.

He knew now, oh, how clearly he knew! Zelgadis was cunning, dangerous, a bigger threat than Jedah had wanted to admit. He was powerful beyond what he should have been, and quite coldly insane.

Jedah had to find Lina. He had to find her and warn her before it was too late. He only hoped that Xellos had decided to obey him without the necessity of orders for once and actually protect the sorceress as he had asked.

Slowly, painfully, Jedah drew himself to his feet, drew the darkness around him and left the Tower.