Author's Note: Since I have been asked many times now: no, I haven't forgotten about Zack and Trini.

-x-

Chapter Thirty-Six: A New Age Dawns

Nervousness threatened to overwhelm Billy as he and Katherine made their way slowly into the depths below the castle. He knew he ought to feel at least a bit more confident after the more or less successful battle against Zedd's forces, or at least because of the magic armor that protected him, but at heart he was still no warrior. He would fight because it was necessary, but at the same time he would hate the necessity.

Even so, he knew that he and Kat were the only ones left that could rescue Jason and Dulcea. They would have to manage somehow, warriors or no. From her wide eyes and stoic silence, he gathered that Katherine felt much the same way he did, and the thought was almost comforting.

All things considered, they were lucky. The stairways and halls leading deep beneath the castle were well lit by torches set into the walls, so they did not have to fumble in darkness, and except for the two of them the halls and stairwells all seemed to be emtpy. They followed a twisting stair down until they encountered a landing. The stair continued to spiral down into the dark, and Billy wondered if they ought to follow it. Irrationally, he wondered if Zedd wouldn't have thrown their friends into the deepest, darkest cells in the dungeon and simply left them to rot. Rationally, he knew he and Kat should begin their search, methodically, at the beginning and make sure to miss nothing.

He had hoped that they were done with Zedd's henchmen after the battle, and considering how empty the ground floor of the castle had appeared, but that hope proved to be in vain. He and Kat had only ventured a few steps down that narrow, but well-lit stone corridor when they were discovered by a squad of six of the strange men that Zedd employed as minions.

Horrified, Billy backtracked in a hurry, brandishing the hewn sapling he'd been using as a makeshift quarterstaff since the siege. The guardsmen were not intimidated and brandished their own weapons in response as they continued implacably forward.

"Stay behind me, Katherine!" Billy warned, though he really had no idea what to do. Against one of the guards he might have a chance of victory. But against six, he knew the fight would be hopeless even with his magic armor. Perhaps it was a blessing in disguise that they did not give him too much time to ponder his fate.

The hall was cramped, which meant that his opponents had to come at him in ones and twos, but the narrowness of the hall also restricted his movement with the quarterstaff. Billy kept backing up, wishing that he had had time to convince Adam or Rocky to accompany him, but he knew his time was running out. They could only back a few more feet down the corridor before they would run into the stairwell again and find their backs against a wall.

"Billy, are you using your ring?" Katherine asked quietly.

He nodded, wondering what she was getting at. He'd seen no harm in telling her that he had the sapphire ring, nor in explaining what he knew of its properties to her. But she'd had no better idea than he what it was capable of or what use it might be on their journey. Had she learned something of which he was unaware?

"Did you know you can create weapons with it?"

Now that she mentioned it, he was aware of that fact. But seeing that he was already armed with the quarterstaff, he wasn't sure what good that might do him.

"Make me a crossbow," she murmured, not needing him to explain his consternation.

It clattered to the floor at her feet almost before he even consciously thought about it – a finely crafted crossbow all in blue, complete with a quarrel full of bolts.

Grinning, Kat scooped it up and readied the first bolt. "Just keep them back as best as you can," she said. "I should be able to get rid of them with this."

Billy did as she said, wondering where this newfound courage had come from. Aisha seemed to have rubbed off on her during their infiltration of the castle… not that he was likely to complain when it meant she was about to save his life.

She put the first bolt through the leading guard's throat. He fell to the ground silently and died and vanished, leaving only his five companions. Billy tried his best to keep the remainder at bay while Kat reloaded the crossbow, but his skill was limited in spite of Aisha's daily lessons. He kept wanting to look over his shoulder to gauge Kat's progress, but he knew he had to keep his eye on the enemy instead. If they managed to corner him and Kat, it would all be over.

A second bolt fired and a second guard went down. Katherine's aim was truly impeccable, or perhaps it was just the magic from her weapon.

"Remember," Kat said, "your armor isn't regular armor. It's magic. It can protect you from them in ways a normal suit of armor couldn't. I know you can be brave, Billy."

He had a feeling he knew what she wasn't saying: she'd backed up as far as she could and now their options were to stand their ground or try and get back up the stairs with Zedd's guards on them. Either way, their odds of survival, much less victory, were not good. But he did his best to do what Kat said. He could be brave. He thought he would rather die bravely, defending his friend, than to die a coward alone and forgotten in a cell.

So he gave a shout and charged at the remaining guards, wielding his makeshift quarterstaff like a lance. One of the guards got past him before he could whip the staff to one side, but he heard the sound of the crossbow firing and he knew Kat had got that one, too.

Three down, three to go.

Somehow, whether by magic or by sheer luck, they managed to dispatch the remaining three guards without injury to themselves, and found themselves standing in an empty hall. Billy half expected more guards to appear at any moment, but it seemed Zedd was otherwise occupied and for the moment at least they could proceed unmolested.

They hurried down the hall as best they could, but it was lined with doors on both sides and they had to check each of these for signs of their missing companions. The first one, from which the dead guards had emerged yielded only the guards' post, where they must have spent their time when they were not patrolling the dungeon. Billy and Kat found the enormous master key ring there, but little else of interest, and so they returned to the main hall.

The doors were made of old, thick wood and studded with metal, and for the most part they were locked. Only the guards' outpost had been unlocked. There was no telling what horrors might lurk behind those doors, but they had to be checked, so despite his reluctance Billy cautiously opened the viewing slits and peered past the iron bars and into each of the cells.

A few were empty. Most were packed with more incredibly lifelike statues like the ones they had encountered earlier. Billy tried not to think about what that might mean, but he found himself taking the extra time to unlock each of the cells anyway, to at least symbolically release each of the poor people trapped within.

After a long time they came to the large door at the very end of the hall. This door was not locked as the others had been, and Billy felt particularly wary of opening it. He knew it was ridiculous, but the room beyond gave him a very, very bad feeling and the last thing he wanted to do was open the door and go in. He glanced back at Kat, almost hoping that she would agree that they should turn and head back to the stairwell, but she grimly gripped her crossbow and waited for him to open the door.

He took a deep breath and did just that, and wished he had not. The room beyond the door was much larger than the cells he and Katherine had thus far encountered, but it was filled not with human statues but with instruments of torture. But that was not what caught his attention. It was the fact that Jason was lying on the floor at the center of that room, recognizable only from his armor. When he heard them enter, he sat up and looked their way, and they realized he was tethered by a chain fastened around his wrists at one end and around a metal loop in the floor at the other. He looked like he'd been through hell.

Throwing caution to the wind, Katherine was at his side in a moment. Billy was more cautious. And so was Jason. He was clearly wondering, just as Billy was, whether this was some kind of trick or trap. And that was enough to convince Billy that this was the real Jason and not merely some trick of Zedd's.

"Are you all right?" Kat asked.

Jason stared at her for a moment like he couldn't believe she was actually there. "He got inside my head," he muttered.

"It's okay," Kat went on. "We'll get you out of here."

But looking at his old friend, Billy had to wonder if Jason would really be okay. Whatever had happened, it had clearly troubled him a great deal.

Jason's shackles didn't have a lock. They were merely lengths of chain sealed around his wrists and to the floor. It didn't take Billy long to magic up a saw that was not particularly elegant, but served its purpose well enough. Breaking through the chain was the work of a few minutes with a sawblade that couldn't break.

Even though he was free, Jason seemed reluctant to get up. He looked at Billy for a long time, and his dark eyes were filled with hurt and something that looked oddly like guilt.

Billy looked away. He fully expected Zedd to come looming out of the flickering shadows that lurked at the edges of the room, but the evil lord did not make an appearance. "I hate to push," he said, "but you don't happen to know what became of Dulcea, do you?"

Jason shook his head. "They separated us before they threw me in the dungeon. I don't know what they did to her after that."

"We have to find her," Katherine murmured. "Tommy was going to find Kimberly… I think he intends to fight Zedd himself. He's going to need her help."

That got Jason moving. Billy had a bad feeling as he watched Jason climb to his feet. Jason had obviously been through a lot since his capture, and Billy wasn't certain that trying to help Tommy fight Zedd was the best course of action at this point. But he knew better than to argue with Jason or get in his way once his mind was set on something. Once that happened, all Billy could really do was help.

"Keep looking for Dulcea," Jason said, still watching them warily, as if he did not quite believe they were who they said they were, or that he was really free from Zedd's chains. "I'm going to help Tommy."

But in the face of sheer angry foolishness, Billy at least had to try to put a stop to it. "Jason, you are exhausted. You are unarmed. How much help do you really think you can be to Tommy right now? You should rest -"

"I'll rest later," Jason countered. Billy had a feeling "later" meant when either I am dead, or Zedd is.

"That plan is most unwise," Billy protested. He looked to Kat for support, but she looked just as lost as he felt. And that was how he missed when Jason removed his gauntlets and used the magic ruby that Kimberly had given him so long ago. There was the faintest shimmering of red light, and by the time Billy looked over to see what had caused it, Jason had completely altered his armor. No longer was he unarmed or missing his helm.

This armor was all red, the color of blood – or just the same hue as the ruby. It was no longer dented and worn from long weeks of travel, but perfect and shining in the dim torchlight. The helm seemd to have something of a dragon's fierce visage to it, and in his hand was a bastard sword of exactly the style Jason had always preferred on the tourney field. The blade, too, was red.

"Does it look like my plan is unwise now?" Jason asked.

To Billy he looked like something wrought of blood and fire, terrible in its fury and its desire for vengeance. What did Zedd do to you? Billy wondered, and felt his heart sink. He couldn't in good conscience let Jason go after Tommy and Zedd alone, not when there was no telling what he might do or how vulnerable he might really be. And at the same time they could not afford to give up their search for Dulcea. The only possible choice he could see would be to split up.

Jason had not waited for Billy to figure out what to do, which was in itself another alarming sign. He had already departed from the chamber by the time Billy thought to say, "Katherine, you should go with him."

"What about you?" she demanded. "And Dulcea…"

"I will locate Dulcea. But right now, I think Jason needs your good sense more than I do," he admitted.

"Me?" She sounded taken aback, but the more he thought about it the more he knew it was the right course of action. In the past, Trini had always been able to get through to Jason, and Katherine was very like Trini in many respects. If anyone among them had a chance of helping Jason now, it was Kat.

"I'm not certain that in his current state of mind Jason can truly tell friend from foe," he admitted. "When he's this angry, Jason is prone to acting without thinking. He is unlikely to listen to me regarding this matter. But if anyone can convince him, it's you."

Katherine looked doubtful, but resolute. She nodded once, wished him luck, and departed after Jason.

Alone and filled with trepidation, Billy regarded the large door at the opposite end of the room, the mirror of the one he and Kat had come through. He had a feeling he would find more dungeon cells on the other side, and he was right.

He hoped to find Dulcea in one of those cells, but he found only more statues. When he reached the end of that hall, he came to another staircase and followed that down to the next level, where he found more cells and more statues. As before, he unlocked each of the cells and left them that way even though he knew that the people within could not escape from the magic that bound them. He had no way of knowing who they had been in life, but he had a feeling that they were not criminals but the ordinary people who had lived in the castle before Zedd came to power.

Four levels and innumerable cells later, Billy found the one where Dulcea was being held. He was pleased to see that she was alive and at least visibly unharmed, though she was bound to the far wall by many chains. It was clear just from looking at her that Zedd feared her power.

"Billy!" she gasped in surprise when he entered. "Where are the others?"

"Taking care of Zedd, I suspect," he said, hastening to free her.

She was silent as he unlocked her and helped remove the chains, and when he was done she looked upward with wide eyes and said, "We must hurry. Your friends are in grave danger… I fear we may already be too late."

-x-

In the castle courtyard, Aisha stirred. "What hit me?" she asked, failing to sit up and settling for blinking her eyes blearily. It couldn't have been longer than a few minutes, but it felt like she'd been unconscious for hours.

Adam let out the breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding while Rocky managed a rueful smile and said, "Zedd hit you. Guess that's what happens when you spear an evil sorcerer like that."

Ordinarily, Aisha would have had some sort of comeback ready; instead, she just groaned and closed her eyes again. "It feels like he tried to rip my head off," she murmured.

"I thought you were dead," Rocky admitted.

"I'm a little bit harder to kill than that," Aisha teased weakly. "Where's my ring?"

"It came off when Zedd attacked you," Adam told her. He picked it up and offered it to her, but she shook her head.

"I don't want it back just yet," she told them. "I'm not sure I really want that kind of power."

Adam had no doubt that the ring's magic had saved her life, but he respected her wishes. "I'll hang onto it for you until you decide what to do with it," he promised.

"Don't touch it with your bare skin," she cautioned, sounding wearier by the moment. "Keep your gloves on when you handle it or it may bind itself to you."

"Might not be a bad thing," Rocky commented, glancing upward at the keep, where they knew their friends were very likely doing battle with Zedd. "We might need that power, and if you don't feel up to it –"

"We don't know what happened to it when Zedd zapped me," Aisha murmured. "It could be dangerous to use it now. I think we should wait until Dulcea's had a chance to look at it."

It had not occurred to Adam that the gem's power might have been somehow affected by Zedd's attack, or that it might have been booby-trapped, but now that Aisha had brought it up he was more wary of even carrying it for her. But at the same time, he knew they couldn't just leave it there in the courtyard for anyone to find. So he slipped it into one of the pouches at his belt and decided that would have to be good enough for now.

"I'm not sure I want it back, anyway," Aisha went on. She seemed to be speaking almost as much to herself as to Rocky and Adam. "That kind of power… it's a little too convenient. It's easy just to rely on it without thinking of the consequences… or get carried away and reckless. Dulcea and Trini warned me I might not be able to ever get rid of it if I accepted the ring, but now that it's off… I… I don't know if I want that responsibility back."

Adam watched her somberly. He completely understood where she was coming from. He'd been worried about that ever since the day she showed them the ring and told them Trini had given it to her and pledged her to protect Kimberly. In a way, he was glad to see that burden lifted from her, if only just in part.

"Come on, 'Sha," Rocky muttered, shifting his grip on Aisha so that he could pull her up onto his back and carry her more easily. She wrapped her arms around his neck, resting her head on his shoulder while he hooked his arms around her thighs and staggered to his feet. "I want to see what's going on in there." He glanced to Adam. "You're going to have to keep us safe. I can't exactly fight like this."

Adam nodded, hating the necessity, but knowing he would defend the two of them to the death if he had to. He would have preferred to have both of them at his side and in fighting shape, but he knew they were in danger the longer they stayed in the open like that, so he led the way into the castle and tried not to look back too often. It was better to keep moving and see if they could find some way to help their friends, or at least stay out of trouble.

-x-

Jason knew Katherine was afraid to follow him, but in his current state of mind he almost didn't care whether she followed or not. In fact, he half thought she would just get in his way. Right now, he wanted to destroy Lord Zedd, not wind up having to protect Kat – or anyone else – from Zedd's minions.

But Billy had sent her along for a reason, so he didn't complain when she caught up to him, but he didn't go out of his way to make her feel welcome, either. He was still in turmoil inside, still reeling from the way Zedd had simply reached in and played with his mind. Deep down, he knew that Kat and Billy and all the others were friends, but the memories of them hurting him were too fresh even if he knew they were false.

And since healing those emotional wounds was going to take time, for the moment he was perfectly happy to focus on getting revenge on the man that had caused those wounds in the first place. He didn't have to ask Kat for directions; the castle was laid out almost exactly the same as the one back home, and he was able to navigate out of the lower levels and up into the keep without getting too lost. All the while, Katherine dogged his steps but did not speak or interfere.

In a way, her presence was soothing. She probably could tell he was hurting just as much as Billy had, but she was willing to simply follow and not pry or offer platitudes or assistance… someday he knew he'd have to let her know that he appreciated that. Because right now what he needed was some sort of closure, not promises of a shoulder to lean on or a willing ear to listen, though he knew Kat would happily have provided both of those things.

As they made their way higher and higher into the castle, he began to expect an attack from every door or stair that branched off the main hall that they were following. He glanced back at Kat, relieved to see that she had brought the crossbow with her. "Can you use that thing?"

Her expression was grim. "Yes," she said, and loaded a bolt into the crossbow for good measure.

"Good," he told her. "Because I think we're about to need it."

They were near the end of the hallway, about to open a door onto another stair which would lead them up again, and his sense of foreboding had been growing more intense with every step. He'd learned enough in the last several hours to know that inexplicable feeling of dread grew worse when Zedd was near.

Sure enough, the door immediately in front of them flew open suddenly, flooding more of Zedd's zombie-guards into the hall. Jason did not wait to let them make a stand. Instead he rushed headlong into them, trusting to the magic of his armor to keep him safe. He remembered only too well what had happened when he had not trusted Kimberly's magic to protect Trini, and he remembered all the ways it had helped Trini during their fight against Rita Repulsa. And now he just had to believe it would do the same for him.

The zombies seemed unable to land a decisive blow against him. The ruby-red armor was remarkable at turning aside even the most direct attacks, and his magic-powered sword sliced through his enemies' armor like a hot knife through butter. He knew that that kind of power should have alarmed him and made him cautious, but now it just made him reckless… and relentless. Blood-lust rushed through him as he destroyed Zedd's minions, thrilling to take out his fury on the hapless zombies, who disappeared as soon as he had dispatched them.

He had felled a dozen of them at least – and Kat had taken down two more with her crossbow – before he heard Katherine cry out and realized he'd become so caught up in wreaking destruction on his enemies that he hadn't thought to keep Kat safe. He'd let the guards get around him, not caring if he ended up surrounded. He realized with a pang that he'd let his inner pain completely cloud his judgment. He couldn't let Kat pay the price for that.

Whirling, he saw that she'd tumbled under the weight of one of the zombies. She'd managed to put a crossbow bolt through his throat, so he disappeared almost as soon as he took her down, but there were two more of the warriors closing in on her. There was no way she could get up and get her weapon reloaded in time to save herself.

A part of him wanted to leave her behind anyway, and just keep looking for Zedd so he could have his revenge that much sooner… and that part appalled him. He hadn't fully realized just how much Zedd's little game had messed him up until that very instant. You think you've won, Zedd, that you've destroyed me and everything I stand for… but you're wrong, he thought.

He threw off the three remaining zombies that had been closing in on him and rushed back to Kat. He kicked one of the two zombie-guards into the nearest wall and let his momentum carry him forward to interpose himself between Kat and the remaining zombie. He'd misjudged the angle slightly and staggered to one knee, but still managed to block the incoming sword strike. And from there it was a simple matter of deflecting his opponent's sword and running him through. The body disappeared as soon as Jason's sword pierced through its gut, so he was able to effortlessly whip the blade around to the side, slicing deep into the second guard as it recovered from hitting the wall and came after him. That guard disappeared just like the first.

That left only the three he had been fighting originally. For whatever reason, the steady stream of guards had ceased. Jason knew they had to take advantage of the respite while they had the chance, so he surged back into the fray, intercepting the three zombies before they could reach Kat. He dispatched two of them, and was surprised when Kat put one of her bolts through the final guard's eye.

He turned back to Kat and helped her up. "I'm sorry," he told her. "I should have paid more attention to keeping you safe."

"It's okay," she said, giving a weak smile. "You remembered in time."

He had, but that was a small comfort. He'd been too reckless in his desire for vengeance. Now he could only hope she knew he wouldn't let it happen again.

Keeping Kat close behind him, and keeping a much closer eye on her now, he led the way into the stairwell and up… to where he knew Zedd – and vengeance – would be waiting.

-x-

Kimberly could not comprehend what had just happened. One minute she'd been waking up, free from the spell that had bound her, looking at Tommy, smiling in spite of herself because together they were unstoppable… and the next moment Zedd had appeared behind him. On some level, she realized that Zedd had stabbed him in the back with his own sword, but the sight of that sword's blade in her husband's chest had sent every thought right out of her head. Every thought but terrified anguish.

And then it all abruptly came crashing back. "Tommy!"

The white armor that he'd worn into battle since the day he received the dragon Erë's blessing was beginning to turn black where the blade had pierced it, and the magical taint was spreading slowly outward from the wound.

Kimberly gave a wordless shriek of rage, intending to unleash all of her magical fury at Zedd, but nothing happened. Her magic didn't respond to her. At all. It was as if she had no magic.

Even Zedd seemed confused by that, but it passed quickly. Laughing triumphantly, he shoved Tommy out of his way. Kimberly couldn't take her eyes off Tommy as he crumpled limply to the floor, at least not until Zedd tried to grab her.

Suddenly her survival instincts kicked back in. She squirmed away from him as best she could, her hand closing tightly around what she realized belatedly was a pink diamond approximately the same shape as the one she had accidentally trapped herself in. Only this one was real. And this one held all the power of her bottled-up magic.

As soon as it touched her bare hand, the surge of power overwhelmed her. It was just like her magic had always been, only it all seemed to be right at her fingertips, rather than elusive and confusing. It embraced her, wrapping around her, protecting, empowering. She knew even before she opened her eyes what had happened: somehow she had created a new gem like the ones from her family's ancestral crown, only she hadn't had to give her life to do it.

She didn't worry about the repercussions of that now, or the fact that she was now clad in pink armor and armed with a shining pink sword. All she knew was that she had to kill Zedd in time to save Tommy, and that she had the power to do it. She just wasn't sure exactly how to pull it off.

With Tommy unconscious she couldn't use him to boost her power, so instead she focused on pulling on power from everywhere around her and merging it with the power in her diamond. She gathered it to her, as much as she could while still avoiding Zedd's tainted aura. If she drew that power to her, she knew she would be lost. As the seconds passed, Zedd watched her and did not move, looking haughty, as if he had already won and was only waiting for her to realize it.

Didn't he know she never gave up that easily?

The air filled with pink light and began to crackle with power. Zedd pulled back slightly, as if even being near that power was unpleasant for him. As far as she was concerned, that was a good thing.

"You cannot defeat me, Kimberly," he told her, and her temper flared. At the same time, the pink glow intensified. Zedd was undeterred. "You can only join with me. Now that your husband is dead, there is nothing to keep you from joining me as my queen."

"He is not dead," she spat. "You may think you've won, but this battle is far from over." Her mind raced, wondering if she could put her sword through Zedd's heart before he realized what was happening, or if she could simply use her magic to smite him where he stood. She could, she knew somehow. But if she did, she might not have the energy left to save Tommy.

For an agonizing moment, she hesitated, not sure whether to kill Zedd or save Tommy.

And suddenly, she saw past Zedd that Jason had come through the door, all blood-red armor and fiery fury. He said nothing, but stalked immediately toward Zedd as if there were nothing else in the world except the two of them. Kimberly realized with a start that Zedd was so focused on her and so confident that he had already won that he had no idea Jason was there at all. Hoping Tommy could wait a little longer, she determined to keep it that way.

She looked up and met Zedd's gaze, trying to look as hopeless and helpless as possible, as if she had no recourse left, as if he were on the brink of victory instead of facing imminent defeat.

Zedd laughed –

And then Jason was directly behind him.

His blood-red blade flashed in the torchlight, cleaving through metal and bone as easily as flesh. Zedd's head tumbled from his shoulders and rolled across the floor. The air filled with acrid black smoke – just like that, it was over – but Kimberly did not even wait to see if Zedd was truly dead. She would let Jason worry about that. She trusted him to take care of it.

Right now the only thing that mattered was Tommy.

She rushed to him, aware that an immense amount of magical power still swirled dangerously in the air around her, threatening to lash out if she did not find a way to direct it or dissipate it soon. Soon, she promised as if it were a living thing that could understand her intent, but Tommy comes first.

By some miracle he was still breathing, though only just. She cradled him against her, despair consuming her as she realized just how much she did not know about magic. She knew in her heart of hearts that magic could save him as long as he was still breathing, but she lacked the knowledge to do so; Dulcea had only taught her the rudiments of magical defense, and had not begun to teach her healing at all. She had not the slightest idea what to do, but she knew she had to save him. She simply couldn't imagine life without him.

"Tommy, no," she murmured, feeling as his life-force grew weaker and weaker. Her eyes widened as she realized that she could indeed feel his life-force, monitoring him just as Dulcea had done for them all when they went into battle against Rita. She prayed that Dulcea was doing the same thing now, and would know what danger Tommy was in, and would come soon… but she knew she couldn't wait that long. Tommy couldn't wait that long. A few more moments, and he would be gone if she didn't do something.

Looking at him, tears blurred her vision and streaked down her face. "I don't know how to heal you. I don't know what to do, but you can't leave me like this."

He did not answer; she did not know if he could even hear her at all.

She was afraid to remove the blade, which was still embedded in his flesh, but she clasped it between her hands and tried her best to find a place of calm. She knew enough about magic to know that calmness was imperative. Nothing would happen if she could not calm herself. Somehow, she managed to set aside her frantic fear for Tommy enough to find that calm place where she could work magic. Her grasp on that calmness was tenuous at best, but she grabbed hold of every bit of magic that she could and reached out for Bryndis, and for the First Queen's wisdom.

Help me! she thought desperately. She had no sense that Bryndis was there with her, but gradually she realized she did have a better idea of what to do. She vaguely felt the presence of another woman, not her mother or her grandmother, but perhaps six or seven generations removed… and remembered Queen Avelyn Hart, who had been a renowned healer. She could feel her ancestor guiding her, letting her know what to do. Slowly, carefully, she funneled her power through the blade and into Tommy.

Let him be strong. Let his flesh heal, and his wound mend cleanly. She did not know whether she actually spoke the words aloud, or if it was all in her head. She had no idea where the words came from, but she could not seem to stop them. His power is mine and my power is his. His blood is mine and my blood is his. His life is mine and my life is his. While I live, do not let him die.

What she still did not know was how to get the sword out of him without killing him, or actually heal his wounds.

He was breathing in time with her now, and she fought against rising panic, knowing she had tied his life to hers. I'm keeping him alive, she realized, half in awe, half in terror. What if she messed this up? What if he died anyway? What if…

Horrified, she realized she was losing her grip on her magic, and that much of her power was flowing uselessly away into the air around her. If she didn't get a handle on it soon, she knew she would have little chance of saving Tommy or stopping the outward flow of power. She wasn't sure what would happen when she exhausted that store of power, but she knew she didn't want to find out. Don't panic, don't panic, she repeated mentally, though it did her no good.

"I'm here, Kimberly," Dulcea said suddenly, and Kimberly could have wept in relief. "Let me help."

Even though Dulcea was leaning heavily on Billy and was clearly in no condition to be working miracles, Kimberly was only too happy to let her do just that. She closed her eyes as Billy walked Dulcea over, and let Dulcea's magic intertwine with her own… guiding and directing her power to where it was most needed. She knew she should have been exhausted, but somehow using her magic this way didn't seem to drain her energy the way it always had before. Instead she let Dulcea have as much power as she needed. She would have given it all, forever, just to have Tommy back.

Dulcea held her hands over Tommy's chest, blue strands of magic flowing between them; Kimberly noted that the black smear had ceased to spread across his armor, but there was no outward sign yet that his injury had started to heal. And yet somehow, she knew that it had.

She watched and watched as Dulcea skillfully wove the healing spell. She watched as Billy, under Dulcea's careful instruction, removed the sword and Tommy's flesh began to knit back together. She watched, barely breathing, hoping that she was helping enough, and eventually reached the point where she could no longer feel her body or her magic, and watching was all that she could do. The rest would be up to Dulcea.