Asterix is not mine, but Goscinny's Uderzo's and let's not forget Mébarki and Ferri, to whom I wish the best of luck

Phyllis Chapter 29

It was clear from Bonny's panicked look that hitting the shield would be like hitting the ground for Phyllis. Asterix turned to Obelix, determined to prevent her from crashing.

"Bonny!

Manilla's voice was shrill and disbelieving.

"What! I can't let her crash!" Bonny shouted back.

Asterix looked back and saw that there was a hole in the transparent shield. Phyllis would fall through. But that would not keep her from crashing into the ground. He dashed downstairs from Cacafonix' hut, running forward at full speed. Just as she passed the shield though, Phyllis came to, moving her hands behind her in an attempt to slow down her fall. She moved to a standing position, hitting the ground feet first and sliding backwards through the sand. After coming to a standstill, she collapsed to the ground, breathing heavily. Her clothes were frayed and smoking, as was her hair, loose from its ponytail.

Before Bonny could close the shield, Mesmeron got through, looking immensely satisfied. He focused on the panting girl below him and aimed his staff at her as soon as he reached the ground. Phyllis barely seemed to notice him.

Realizing that directly attacking Mesmeron was suicide, Asterix did the first thing he could think of. He grabbed his chief's shield, which send Vitalstatistix tumbling to the ground. Asterix dashed forward to Phyllis, putting the shield in between them and Mesmeron . The lightning-like power hit the shield so forcefully that he was thrown off his feet despite the magic potion. He landed right next to Phyllis. The shield went scorching hot and crumbled, but the spell itself was redirected to Mesmeron, who barely avoided it. Phyllis stared at Asterix in complete disbelief. First he thought this was because he had come to help her, but Mesmeron mimicked her expression for a moment, before his eyes turned into angry slits.

Asterix understood they were surprised the shield had redirected the spell Mesmeron sent at him like it did. Regardless of why it had worked, he could not pull this trick twice. The shield was gone. He grasped behind him, trying to get hold of Phyllis and head to safety. Instead, he felt her grasping him tightly, her slender arms closing around his chest and her face pressing against his back. Mesmeron's second attack bounced off the most solid defensive wall he had seen up till now. Phyllis had formed a bubble close around them, completely blocking his view on what happened outside. Mesmeron attacked it fiercely, but the sound of his attacks barely reached them and the shield did not budge. Asterix' worries over what would happen if the shield suddenly didn't hold died down quickly when he realized Mesmeron's attacks did not even strain it. If anything, it became more solid. Asterix felt like being underwater, the adrenaline of the battle slipping away rapidly. Phyllis breathing became more regular, but she did not loosen her grip on him.

For a while they didn't speak. But when he no longer heard any sounds of what happened outside, Asterix got agitated. Phyllis seemed willing to drown out whatever was going on, but he was not.

"Phyllis…"

She did not answer, but gripped him even tighter. She knew what he was about to say. And she disagreed. He sighed. He was not the only one who would once again be in danger when she lessened the shield. But Mesmeron had not even been able to scratch it. Which was too much of a sign to ignore. The fight they needed to fight was not bound to be a losing one.

"Can't you see what you just did? If you're strong enough to resist him like that, you're certainly strong enough to beat him. Bonny just saved your life. Don't you want to protect her?"

"She'll stay out of harm's way. You won't."

He couldn't promise her he wouldn't. Not with Mesmeron's full determination to destroy him and a village to protect. Somewhere this turn of events baffled him. He knew she felt she owed him and that she would try to protect him, but he had never anticipated she would simply pull him out of the battle. He had never expected her prepared to give up her attack. Seeing her will to protect him reflected in the powerful shield around them was almost painful.

But his friends could be dying. Obelix….A sudden rush of panic went through him. His will to protect his friends was not less strong than hers to protect him. He knew by now this meant he could get free if he wanted, but he needed her to understand first.

"Phyllis….please don't force me to let…..to let my friends die."

Her arms trembled, and she let him go. The shield disappeared at once, not even fading before it was completely gone. It left him in a daze that slipped away quickly when he saw Obelix throwing a menhir at Mesmeron, who was attacking Cacofonix' hut. Mesmeron sidestepped it easily, but his spell did not hit the hut either. Apparently Manilla and Bonny were still inside.

"Well well, I see Phyllis has managed to let go of her toy," Mesmeron mocked as he spotted Asterix. "Apparently…" He was interrupted as Phyllis aimed at him and effectively threw him off his feet. Before she could hit him again, he forced her to duck out of the way of a wave of fire directed at her.

"Seems I hit a nerve." He said, smirking as he got back up. For a moment, Asterix did not see Phyllis, but then he spotted her somewhat behind Mesmeron, pulling something from inside her vest and throwing it at him. The tiny sharp blade pierced Mesmerons leg, who howled in pain. He clearly had not anticipated a physical attack.

"Seems I hit a leg," Phyllis smirked.

Mesmerons growled, but instead of aiming at Phyllis, he sent another wave of fire towards Vitalstatistix' hut. The roof caught fire, and everyone who had gathered in it ran out in panic.

His second attack was on Cacofonix' hut. Manilla and Bonny blocked it, but the shield around the village disappeared in their effort to do so. A bunch of beaten up soldiers ran in, starting the attack on the villagers that were now running all over the village.

"That's what you get for letting them live," Phyllis bit at Asterix before running towards the mage. She put up a shield of fire around both her and Mesmeron, closing it around them.

"Well that won't last long," Bonny panted, sliding to a stop next to Asterix. He looked at her for an explanation. "Well, magic or no magic, fire drains oxygen. They won't be in there for long. But I suppose it's easier than a protective shield when you're as pissed off as she probably is right now." Asterix frowned.

They both went on their way, Bonny shielding people wherever she could, Asterix joining Obelix and doing what they did best: beating up Romans. True to what Bonny said, the fire around Mesmeron and Phyllis vanished after some time, leaving them both panting too much to fight each other. Phyllis recovered somewhat sooner, but there was no time to aim for Mesmeron as some soldiers came up to her.

Asterix had barely noticed Mesmeron before he hit Cacafonix' hut again, this time striking the tree it leaned on and sending it down, towards an unaware Unhygienix who was fighting some of the last soldiers still able to move. Obelix caught the tree, flinching as he caught it, because it was quite hot from the lightning-like spell. Asterix grabbed Unhygienix and pulled him away, so Obelix could let go of the tree. Obelix launched it towards Mesmeron, but it shattered before it hit him.

They needed a plan.

Asterix turned to talk to Obelix and doing so he spotted Mesmeron again, aiming his next spell at Bonny. She was forming a shield around Getafix' hut, where some of the children and women were now gathered.

The magic potion allowed him to be there in time and push her out of reach. But just as Asterix turned towards the mage, he struck again. The spell hit Asterix straight in the chest.

He hit an invisible field that locked him in the air a few meters high, but he was not aware of anything but the excruciating pain of the spell that burned his chest. He was on fire. At the same time images appeared. He heard Obelix scream and saw the spell hitting him as well, hitting the villagers next. He screamed too, unable to move or think, but in utter horror and pain.

Obelix scream tore right through the sounds of battle, wind and fire. Phyllis knew what it meant before she saw it and her insides froze. The rage she fed on turned to ice-cold fear. She saw Obelix trying to get hold of his friend desperately, but Mesmerons' power around Asterix was so strong even Obelix could not break it. She tried to attack Mesmeron, but her power had frozen with her rage. Desperate, she ran towards Mesmeron, jumping against him and knocking him out of balance. He fell, and as he did, the attack was redirected towards the force that hit him, sending Phyllis flying.

Asterix fell, and Obelix grabbed him. The remains of the spell ran through his hands but he did not feel it. Asterix twisted and turned in his arms, and Obelix had no idea what to do.

"Obelix! OBELIX!" Bonny was tugging his arm, but he did not feel it. He only noticed her when the shield she put up around them seemed to cool the air.

"Put him down, Obelix, please!"

In a haze of tears, he looked at her, seeing her hands alight and suddenly remembering that those hands meant healing, meant a chance for survival. He put Asterix down as gently as he could and she moved towards him, putting her hands on his chest. She winced at the pain that hit her hands, but narrowed her eyes and pressed harder. Ra ge filled her and instead of this new feeling weakening her, it seemed to feed her. Mesmeron would not win again, this time she would rather die herself than to let it happen.

Phyllis squinted, and saw nothing but blurry images. Mesmeron lying down, but moving, trying to get up. Where Asterix had been, there was a blue light…Bonny. Phyllis had seen people killed by Mesmerons' final attack, but Bonny would not try to heal a dead person….there was hope. Still, that shield drained some of the power she would need soon. Phyllis tried to move, but felt she couldn't. Too dazed to stand, let alone walk, she fell back down. Things became more and more dark, and she thought she was fainting, but then she felt a familiar power behind the darkness. She closed her eyes and helped Manilla turn day to night.

Last week, On Thursday the 19th of June 18, 18h15 day turned to night at Kiewit, home to the festival Pukkelpop. In less than a quarter of an hour, a local thunderstorm with an unseen force blew over the site, causing for deaths and many severly injured. All the good preparations and safety measurements that have withstood without waiver in the past were now in vain. 15 minutes of hell left 70.000 festival participants bewildered and scared. I wasn't amongst them. I was amongst that half a million of worried ones, who tried to reach their loved ones for hours.

I feel like there are two people that, if I ever lost them, would make me fall beyond recovery. Whose life I would trade for my own, because there is no dawn without them. One of them was there when the tables turned. And it made me to wish to be there, more than anything I've ever wished for.

We are always full of wishes for the future. It keeps us going, aiming. It keeps us truly alive. But sometimes we overlook the value of simply another day. To have one of those, and many after that, makes me more blessed than anything that could ever come my way.