Chapter Twenty: Lost and Damned

Trepidations weighed Billy's heart down as he followed Tommy, Kimberly, and Dulcea away from the rockslide that had cut them off from their three friends. But the decision to continue had been made, and he could not argue with his Princess or her chosen knight, so he followed them in gloomy silence and hoped for the best.

After a while, Dulcea seemed to become aware of his dark mood and slowed down so she could fall into step beside him. "Something is bothering you," she observed.

"Affirmative," he said with a sigh. "I fear that our friends may encounter unexpected difficulties that they may not be able to overcome without our assistance."

Dulcea nodded slightly. "They may," she allowed. "But I do not feel that anything is amiss thus far." Seeing his perplexed look, she explained, "Before we reached this mountain, I took the precaution of imprinting each of your auras into my mind. I can sense each of your life forces from a distance. If any of you, including Jason, Trini, and Zack, is seriously injured or even killed, I will know."

Billy did not respond to that because he was not particularly reassured. He did not see what good it would do them to know if their friends were in danger, when they still could not hope to reach them in time to be of any use. Thankfully, Dulcea did not seem bothered by his lack of appreciation for her 'precautions', and was content to walk along in silence.

It was a long time before they ran into any more pitfalls. Thankfully, after the rockslide they were all more or less on the alert for trouble, and when Rita finally made another move, they were ready for it. One moment the four of them were walking down the path, and the next moment the ground beneath Kimberly's feet simply disappeared.

The Princess cried out in fear and began to fall into the pit that had opened up beneath her, but Tommy had quick reflexes. He was able to catch her and pull her out before anything untoward could happen. For a moment after the close call, Tommy simply held Kimberly close. The two spoke quietly to each other, but Billy could not hear what they were saying. He did not particularly mind, except that this seemed like it was not the most opportune time for the two to explore their affections. Rita could strike again at any moment, and they were acting as if they were the only two people in the world.

In order to hide his frustration with their antics, he wandered over to have a look at the pit for himself. It was roughly circular, perhaps five feet across and twenty or thirty feet deep. Billy noted with a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach that the bottom of the hole was lined with thick wooden spikes that had been sharpened to dangerous looking points. Kimberly was lucky indeed that Tommy had been able to catch her; there was no way she could have survived a landing without being impaled.

Finally, Tommy spoke loudly enough that everyone, not just Kimberly, could hear. "Come on. We have to keep moving."

"What if there are more pits?" Kimberly asked, her voice trembling slightly. Billy felt bad for being irritated with her a moment ago. She was obviously quite shaken by what had happened, and Tommy was only being kind by taking the time to comfort her.

"We'll just have to be careful where we step."

Tommy could not have had any idea just how true his words were, but the path ahead turned out to be littered with hidden pits just like the one that had nearly ensnared Kimberly. They were completely indistinguishable from the surrounding terrain - a feat that must have been accomplished by magical means - until one attempted to put weight on them, at which point the illusion failed and the traps were revealed for what they really were. It was easy enough to get by them, but Tommy still seemed ill at ease.

As he pointed out, "It seems awfully weird that she used to send monsters against you, but now she's just left holes in the ground."

He was right. It did seem awfully passive for a sorceress who had given Tommy the ability to summon enormously powerful monsters at will. He could not think of any reason for her to do something like this, unless she was simply conserving her power for the ultimate battle. And if that was the case, Billy was not looking forward to meeting this Rita Repulsa.

He did not know why Kimberly had been so insistent that he accompany her and the others on this quest in the first place. He was not a mage. He was not even a warrior by any means. He could not hope to help them in the battle to come. At least Kimberly had thought to give him the magic sapphire to protect him, but he was not sure how efficacious that might prove against a sorceress's power - and he definitely did not want to find out. As they began to move forward again, being careful to test the ground in front of them before each step, he found himself wishing that he was back home in the castle archives instead of wandering through a maze in search of a sorceress.

In the end, he supposed it was too late for such pessimistic thinking, since the way back through the maze was presumably blocked and in any case leaving it would not reduce the threat Rita posed. He would be no safer back home than he was right here. With that in mind, he tried to feel more determined than he had before. Maybe he would not be required to fight, or find himself on the wrong end of Rita's magic wand. Maybe he would simply be required to record the battle for posterity.

The idea cheered him, and looking at Tommy in his dragon-enchanted white armor, he could almost believe it.

They had only been walking a short while after that when Billy realized that Dulcea was no longer following them. Looking back, he saw her standing some distance behind them, unmoving, a look of consternation upon her face.

"Dulcea, has something -" he started to ask.

She grimaced. "I cannot continue with you."

Tommy and Kimberly turned back at that. "What?" they asked, almost at the same time.

"I must go back," Dulcea explained. "Jason's life force has... all but disappeared. Your friend's life is in serious danger."

Billy felt his heart sink. No wonder things had seemed so easy on their end; Rita had been busy with their friends. If she had really managed to take out Jason... then he did not have much hope for Trini or Zack. And once those three were out of commission, it would only be a matter of time before Rita turned her eye, and her magic powers, on the survivors.

"What are we going to do?" Kimberly asked.

"You are going to keep heading toward the tower," Dulcea said sharply. "There is no time to waste. I will go back alone and see if anything can be done for Jason, Trini, and Zack. Whatever you do now, do not let Rita separate you further."

Billy and the others looked at her expectantly, but she did not seem to have any more wisdom to impart.

"That's it?" Kimberly asked. "What are we supposed to do, hold hands or something?"

"If you must."

The Princess frowned, but Dulcea paid no attention to her. Instead, she ran her hand over the pendant she wore around her neck and headed back the way they had come - moving much faster than seemed possible.

"How did she..." Billy wondered aloud.

"Remember how she gave me a charm so I could find Erë faster?" Tommy said. "She's using it now. Come on. We have to trust that she'll take care of Jason and the others. And while she's doing that, we need to stop Rita."

With his fears only increasing by the second, Billy was reluctant to keep going. He would have preferred to accompany Dulcea, even if she was heading straight toward something that had managed to incapacitate Jason. But he was not given a say in the matter. Kimberly grabbed him by the hand, linked her other hand with Tommy's, and they set off again.

They went down several dead end paths before finding one that led them out of the maze entirely. They stood now at the edge of an enormous cleared area surrounded by a curved wall with openings set into it at evenly spaced intervals. At the center of that huge clearing stood Rita's tower: a massive, crooked thing that looked as if it could not have been created by mortal means. The stones seemed to almost melt and fuse together, rather than lying in even rows like ordinary architecture. Tiny windows spiraled almost all of the way to the top, which was surprisingly unfortified. The only entry point appeared to be a large reinforced wooden door set at ground level.

Billy had a bad feeling about that door. They did not have a ram or any other means of obtaining entry, nor did they have the supplies required for any sort of successful siege. All Rita would have to do to keep them out was bar the door, and they would be at an impasse.

Rather than dwelling on the impossibility of gaining entry to the tower, Billy carefully took stock of the rest of the clearing. At a point nearly halfway between where they stood and the tower's entrance was a large statue. Even from a distance it was obvious that the thing was grotesque, combining bits and pieces of various animals with an overall human shape. It had large armored wings and a face that looked like it might belong to a lion.

"That is one ugly statue," Kimberly commented.

As if it had heard her insulting it, the 'statue' came to life.

-x-

Trini heard the sickening sound as Scorpina's sword pierced through armor and flesh, but she did not want to believe what she had heard. It had all happened so quickly - the fight with Scorpina, Jason shoving her out of the way of what might have been a mortal blow - that she was not entirely sure exactly what had just happened, only that she was afraid to look.

But she knew she had to look. She had to know. And when she turned to see, there was no denying the hole Scorpina's sword had punched in Jason's armor. He'd dropped his sword, his right arm hanging useless at his side as he stared uncomprehending at Scorpina. For her part, Scorpina seemed entirely unconcerned. Instead, she was content to step back and inspect her blood-stained sword.

Oh, gods, no.

Trini fairly shook with rage. Her throwing knives appeared in her hands by magic and she hurled them at Scorpina, hoping against hope for a lucky shot. She did not wait to see if either of the blades actually hit their mark, but hurried to Jason's side instead. She knew she was leaving herself open to attack, but trusted Zack to keep her safe. Right now, all that really mattered was that Jason needed her help.

Something was very wrong. She could tell he was unsteady on his feet, and his knees buckled just as she reached him. It was all she could do to catch him and keep him from falling.

"Jason, come on. Snap out of it," she urged. His eyes were open, but he gave no sign of having heard her at all. Panic seized at her heart and she turned to glare at Scorpina. "What did you do to him?" she demanded.

Scorpina smirked. "If he doesn't bleed out from that wound, my poison will see that he meets his end."

Poison...

Trini's vision blurred; she realized belatedly that it was because her eyes had filled with tears. They might have had some hope of fighting Scorpina off and binding and treating Jason's injury - although Trini had her doubts about his ability to use his sword arm after this - but there was nothing they could do about poison, except hope he was strong enough to beat it. And she had her doubts about that, too.

She blinked the tears away and looked around her, knowing that time was of the essence. She and Zack would need to act quickly. She did not know why Scorpina was waiting so long to attack again, but they would have to stop her and find a way to help Jason, and...

For a moment all she could do was stare in confusion. Zack and Scorpina were gone. She had not even heard them leave. She tried calling for Zack, but there was no response. Wherever he was, he either couldn't hear her or couldn't get back to her. Which meant...

She looked down at Jason, held awkwardly against her, and felt overwhelmed.

He was a knight. He had been a warrior ever since the day she first met him. She had known, logically, that whenever he went out to do battle, even just in a tournament, that he risked death. Although she could not recall a single instance of a knight dying in battle, she had always known it was a possibility. And so she had thought she was prepared for that eventuality. She had been wrong.

Nothing could have prepared her for this, for the sudden pain deep inside or the flood of horror and guilt and if-onlys. She couldn't bear the thought of Jason dying. Back on the day of the melee, when she and Jason fell into the river and nearly drowned, it had been different. She had known only grim determination that day. Fueled by her ring's power, she had been able to save him.

She couldn't save him now.

She sank to her knees, careful not to jostle him, and felt tears spring to her eyes again. This time she let them fall. "What were you thinking?" she asked, knowing he would not hear her. She tried to say more, but the words were lost in a sob. She hated that Zack had left her to deal with this alone; it was so much easier to be strong in front of someone else. But right now, all but alone and with nothing to do but wait for the end, she could not help but let go of hope - and let despair and dark thoughts into her heart.

Because if Jason died, she suddenly wasn't sure life would still be worth living.

She would never be sure how long she waited. She tried to make Jason as comfortable as possible, even forcing herself to leave his side in order to get to the medical supplies in her pack and at least attempt to stop the bleeding. But in spite of her best efforts he was soon burning up with fever and his face was still tense, as if he was in a great deal of pain. Worse, his wound continued to bleed in spite of her best efforts. Anguish dulled her senses and made time seem to drag on forever. It felt like she spent hours watching him slowly deteriorate, but might have been mere minutes.

Somewhere amid the haze of fear and despair, she thought she heard the sound of footsteps. At first she thought she must have imagined it, but a few minutes later she couldn't deny it any longer. She really could hear someone approaching. She knew she should prepare for the worst, but she couldn't bring herself to move. As the sound drew closer she looked up, expecting Scorpina - or Zack, by some miracle - and was astonished to see Dulcea instead.

"Dulcea? What are you doing here?" she asked.

Dulcea ignored the quaver in her voice and came to kneel beside her. "What has happened here?"

Trini's eyes burned, but she had no more tears left to cry. "I don't know where Zack went," she said, aware that she was starting her story all out of order. She struggled to sort out her thoughts, to get the order of events right and not end up babbling hysterically. "But we were fighting Scorpina, and she stabbed Jason and he's been like this ever since. She said there was poison..."

After a long pause, Dulcea said, "I can try to heal him."

Trini had not dared to hope, but... "Please! Help him."

Dulcea was silent, sitting very still, for a long time. So long that Trini thought for a moment that something had gone wrong. But then she became aware of a stirring of air, like a small cyclone, gathering around them. It was just big enough to encompass the three of them, and gaining momentum every second.

Suddenly Dulcea's hands, which she had pressed flat on the ground, began to glow faintly blue. Trini watched in stunned silence as Dulcea placed one hand over Jason's heart and the other on his forehead. She had never seen such a direct and deliberate use of magic before, and it seemed both terrifying and enthralling.

At first she thought that this hope might simply be in vain, but then she noticed that Jason's wound had stopped leaking blood and that he seemed less feverish. Slowly, his pained expression eased and it began to seem that he was only sleeping and not suffering after all.

The moving air calmed. Dulcea withdrew her hands and the glow around them disappeared. "I have done all I can," she said, feeling for a pulse at Jason's neck. When she found what she was looking for, she sat back and sighed. "He should live."

Trini could see that he was breathing evenly and easily now, and nearly cried with relief. He was still alive! But fear still nagged at her. "Shouldn't he have woken up or something?"

"The poison was working on him for a long time," Dulcea confessed. "I could purge it from his body, but I could not reach him. It may take some time for him to come back."

Trini did not entirely understand what Dulcea meant. "But he will... come back, won't he?"

Dulcea stood up and looked down at her. "I may have healed him too late." Seeing how distressed this made Trini, she knelt again to put a comforting hand on her shoulder. "It could also be that he just needs help finding the way back. Call him, and he may return."

"How do I call him?"

"The same way you would call to him on any other day."

Trini frowned in consternation. Dulcea got up and this time she started to walk away. "Your friends will be needing me," she said without looking back at Trini. It suddenly seemed to Trini that Dulcea was exhausted, that it had somehow taken a lot out of her to heal Jason the way she had. "They had almost reached the tower when I left them."

"Of course. Go help them, if you can."

Dulcea glanced back. "Keep him safe."

Trini looked down at Jason, but he still showed no signs of awareness. "I..." When she looked back up, Dulcea was gone. "I will."

-x-

The 'statue' was definitely not a statue. Kimberly thought her heart was going to stop from surprise when the monstrous thing moved as if in response to her voice. And it didn't just move, it moved toward them, drawing its sword as it came.

"What is that thing?" she asked.

"That's Goldar," Tommy said, as if that told her anything at all. Seeing her frustrated glance, he added, "One of Rita's top minions."

"I see. Um, any idea how we're going to get past him?"

Tommy shrugged. "Not really." He drew his sword. "But I'm pretty sure we can take him."

Only 'pretty sure'. Just what Kimberly wanted to hear. And from the look of it, Billy felt the same way.

But there was no time to argue or worry, because a second later Goldar was practically on top of them. Tommy put himself between Goldar and his two friends, easily turning the monster's powerful first strike aside. Goldar pulled back after that to sneer at him.

"So, the traitor returns," he growled.

Just the sound of his voice made Kimberly feel like she needed a bath.

"I was a traitor when I served Rita," Tommy responded. "But now I serve my true Princess. I'll never let Rita control me again!"

As the two armored warriors clashed again, they moved so quickly that Kimberly found the fight difficult to follow. She felt as if her heart was caught in her throat the entire time, and fear for Tommy practically overwhelmed her. One mistake was all Goldar would need, she was certain. She wondered if she ought to get her bow ready. If she could manage to distract Goldar, or even hit him... but the risk of hitting Tommy instead was too high. She couldn't take that chance.

So she waited, torn between horror and exhilaration, until she realized that Goldar had changed tactics. He flung Tommy aside with remarkable ease, but he didn't attempt to follow as the knight rolled to a stop and got back to his feet. He wasn't interested in Tommy anymore. He was...

Kimberly shrieked and fled as Goldar suddenly came after her, his sword slicing down where she had been standing a second before. Heart pounding from the near miss, she ran as fast as she could. She had never really understood her instructors' insistence on learning this particular trick, but now it all made sense: with practiced ease, she shrugged out of her travel pack, skidded to a halt long enough to pull her bow free and string it, and had her quiver on her back and her first arrow nocked almost before Goldar realized he had missed. With her arrow firmly targeted on him, she continued to back away.

"There is energy everywhere, but only a select few are able to harness its power. You have that ability." Remembering Dulcea's lessons, Kimberly wondered. Maybe she didn't have to just run away. Maybe... She slowed her breathing, made each step as deliberate as possible, and closed her eyes. She felt the energy in the frigid air that whirled around her, felt the strength of the stone beneath her feet, and pulled all of that inside and made it her own, just as Dulcea had taught her.

When she opened her eyes, she saw Goldar through a sheen of pink light. He was closer than she'd expected, and approaching fast.

For a moment she panicked, thinking she was still too much of a novice and too slow to have tried using magic when she could have just run away and let Tommy handle it. Then Goldar opened his big, stupid mouth. "I serve Rita Repulsa, the greatest sorceress to ever live! You'll never defeat me with such puny magic," he laughed.

Kimberly scowled. Excuse me? Puny? The pink flames that had surrounded her focused suddenly, drawing in to wreath her hands before spreading to engulf her bow and arrow. Goldar barely had time to look surprised before Kimberly snarled, "Wanna bet?" and loosed her arrow.

The arrow flew true and hit the target exactly, piercing through Goldar's left eye before exploding in a blaze of pink flames. There was no way he could have survived; the explosion took half of his head with it. As Goldar toppled over, she could see Tommy and Billy staring at her in surprise. They had seen her practicing with Dulcea, of course, but during those sessions Dulcea had only been teaching her the basics. She had never attempted something like this.

"That'll teach him to call me puny," she muttered into the awkward silence.

"That was amazing, Kim," Tommy said, breaking out in a wide grin. "With power like that, we shouldn't have much trouble with Rita."

But Kimberly barely heard what he was saying. Pain lanced through her head. She cried out and dropped her bow in favor of clamping her hands over her head, as if that could help. She recognized this pain. It was the same pain she had felt several times during her training sessions, the result of pushing her magic too far too quickly.

Tommy was by her side in an instant and Billy was not far behind. "Kim!"

"What is it?" Billy asked.

She waved them off. "Give me some air. I'll be okay."

And a few minutes later, she was. It was extremely difficult to focus when the pain in her head made it hard to even see, but she carefully grounded herself again and let the earth take the power she had raised but failed to use. She was actually surprised by how much extra energy she had been able to pull in; she had never had such good results during her training. As she felt it draining from her body, her head felt lighter and the pain faded, but fatigue took its place. She hated to disappoint Tommy, but it would be very difficult for her to do that again any time soon.

"Okay," she said, and realized with chagrin that she was only still on her feet because Tommy was supporting her. "I think I'm okay now."

"Are you sure?" Tommy asked.

"Yes," she assured him. To prove her point, she stepped away from him then, and to her delight she was able to do so without swaying or swooning. Someday, she knew, she would be able to do magic without side effects like this. If only she had had more time to study with Dulcea first, she might have learned. But she had not. She had to work with what little she actually knew and what she could successfully improvise, and hope she didn't hurt herself or any of her friends in the process.

She took a couple more experimental steps forward with no ill effects, even stooping to retrieve her bow, then looked back to Tommy for approval. "See? Just fine."

Tommy seemed more concerned by Rita's tower than Kimberly's progress. Following his gaze, she saw that the tower's windows had started to emit green smoke, which fell slowly and clung to the ground, almost oozing toward them.

"Maybe it's just me," she said, her voice sounding far too loud in the sudden eerie silence, "but that does not look good."

As she spoke, the tower doors swung slowly open as if to beckon them inside.

-x-

Jason came awake with a sense of dizzy confusion. He did not remember actually losing consciousness, but he must have. One moment he was in a very dark place, and then the next time he opened his eyes he was lying on his back with his head cradled in Trini's lap.

Everything seemed out of focus, but he realized quickly that this was reality and the dark place before had been a dream. A very vivid dream, where he had encountered Scorpina again and been subjected to her whims in a way that was half erotic and half torture. But Scorpina had disappeared suddenly, just when he thought she was going to kill him, leaving him to wander around in darkness. But then he had heard a voice calling to him... Trini's voice. Somehow, following the sound of her voice had brought him back here.

"Trini," he managed to say. He sounded awful, like he'd just come back from the brink of death. Maybe he had.

"You're awake," she murmured, eyes widening. "I can't believe it. You're awake!"

"Heard you calling me," he tried to explain. He felt so damnably weak. He couldn't even move; it had been a tremendous effort just to open his eyes.

"Oh, thank goodness," she said, her voice trembling slightly. Tears rolled down her face.

"Don't cry," he told her.

"Don't cry? You almost died!"

For a moment he thought she was going to yell at him or, worse, lecture him. But instead she just furiously wiped the tears away and glared at him.

"I'm sorry," he said. It was only half a lie. He wasn't sorry at all that he'd put himself in harm's way to save her life, but he was sorry that it had upset her so much. He hadn't meant to hurt her. He'd actually meant to do exactly the opposite, only it hadn't quite worked out like he'd hoped.

"Just promise me you won't try anything like that again," she said at last.

He wasn't willing to make that promise, so instead he just said, "Yeah, I know, I've got to learn to trust that ring of yours to keep you safe."

She nodded, trying not to smile.

Suddenly Jason realized that something was missing. "Wait, where's Zack?"

Trini closed her eyes and grimaced slightly. "I don't know. I think... I think he went after Scorpina."

That was what he had feared. He tried to sit up, but his body wouldn't obey him. He was pleased, however, to note that moving wasn't as impossible as it had felt a short time ago. Bit by bit, his strength was returning.

"Oh no," Trini cautioned. "You're not going after him."

"Wouldn't dream of it," Jason muttered, trying again with only a bit more success. "I just want to sit up and take a look around."

She looked like she did not quite believe him, but she helped him up anyway. He was pleased to find that once he was sitting he could stay that way, rather than just falling down again. He still felt very, very weak, but now he could definitely feel that some of his strength was beginning to return. It was slow going, however. He was just going to have to be patient.

"So, Zack's gone, and there's been no sign of Scorpina?"

Trini shook her head. "I haven't seen anybody, except Dulcea."

"Dulcea..."

"She cured you from the poison and healed your wound. Then she just took off again."

Dulcea... That was a good sign. It meant they still had a chance at finding a way to meet up with Tommy and the others. If they could make it that far. In that moment he made up his mind to try.

"Help me up."

"Jason..." she protested, but she knew from years of experience that arguing with him would only make him more obstinate. "...Fine. We can see if you can stand. And then we'll decide what we're going to do."

She sounded exasperated, but she was smart enough to get everything ready in case he was able to stand, in which case she knew he would want to keep going. He waited patiently while she went through all of their packs and sorted out what would be most necessary. She stowed the medical supplies, a small amount of food, and a change of clothes for each of them (and Zack) into her pack, then tested the weight. They would just have to come back for the rest later, if they could.

She seemed especially determined to make sure he did not aggravate his injuries, so he allowed her to put his right arm in a sling that she'd set aside earlier, even though he no longer felt particularly injured. If it made her feel better, he would go along with it.

When she had decided that everything was ready, she helped him get to his feet. He was not strong enough yet to do it himself, so it took a bit of effort on her part, but they managed to get him upright. To his frustration, he felt lightheaded and lost his balance almost immediately. Trini steadied him, looking remarkably unimpressed by his progress.

"Maybe you should sit back down," she suggested.

"I'll be fine," he muttered. But when he tried to take a step forward, he found that it was extremely difficult to keep from tumbling forward. As if the poison hadn't been bad enough, it was really throwing him off-balance to be unable to use his right arm.

"At least slow down a little," Trini urged. "There's no rush."

They both knew there was, but that she just did not want him to push himself too far too quickly. So far as he was concerned, he would have time to rest up later. Right now Tommy, Kimberly, and Billy – or Zack, wherever he was - might need their help.

"Come here," he said. Trini stepped closer, confusion on her face, and he slung his good arm over her shoulders before testing his balance again. She was shorter than he was, but not short enough for it to be awkward, and the added weight did not seem to be more than she could bear. He was pretty sure that, with her help, he could manage not to fall flat on his face. "Better," he decided. "Now let's go."

She looked at him skeptically. "Go? Jason, are you sure? You can't even walk on your own yet."

"Yeah, I'm sure," he said. He knew he couldn't let this setback stop him. He had to keep pushing forward, or he would feel - would be - completely useless. "Pick a path, the one Dulcea came from, if you can remember. We still need to get up to that tower."