Mirror, rorriM
Chapter 6
Of course, it would have been Zelgadis that Lina had just run into, and the solid chimera turned to see the sorceress sitting on the floor looking up at him irritably. Keenly aware that it was a bad situation growing worse, Zelgadis muttered an apology and stepped sideways away from the door.
Lina scowled and picked herself up off of the floor, brushing at any (non-existent) dust that she might have picked up. Shooting a glare at Zelgadis, she stalked across the hallway, opened the door, and left.
The first thing that Lina discovered after she'd stepped outside was that it was drawing close to night-time. She probably should have spent the night at the Guildhouse, but the thought of spending a night under the same roof as Zelgadis was completely out of the question. He'd wanted her to leave him alone, so by Cepheid, she'd leave him alone. Idiot. She thought to herself, ignoring the hurt that tugged at her. Yeah, sure, he's friendly when it gets him what he wants. I'm glad Amelia isn't around to see this. It would probably break her heart.
She hadn't thought of the princess in a while, and the memory of the over-eager girl brought a faint smile to Lina's face. Maybe she'd go visit Saillune and see how Amelia was doing. That was guaranteed to be a place that Zelgadis wouldn't go…
Lost in thought, Lina walked along the road, approaching the forest slowly. Distracted such, she didn't notice that someone was following her.
Zelgadis was feeling the beginnings of a headache. First Kearne and his nonsense about dreams, and now Lina acting like… well, like that. He walked along the dusty road, absently noting the two sets of footprints that extended ahead of him as he contemplated why Lina was being so nasty. One set of prints he knew was Lina's. Her prints were small, the stride short in proper proportion. But the other set was heavier, the prints deeper and longer, as if a taller person was hurrying along. By the wear, the prints weren't all that old. All this he noted without truly paying it any attention whatsoever.
But when his eyes caught the second prints meshing with the first prints, he started to take notice. He stopped to look at the scuffmarks in the ground, tracing the pattern of what appeared to be a scuffle. The larger prints were the only ones that continued along the road into the forest.
So what had happened to Lina?
He crouched to examine the prints. There were a set that looked as if her feet were sideways, and then a clear handprint in the dirt. He set his hand lightly beside it to compare size. Yes, that looks like Lina's handprint… he thought. He looked up and towards the forest where the other prints led. But why didn't she fly? She didn't even seem to fight that hard.
He sighed and stood. It was never easy. It never went the way that he wanted it to go. Ever. He pulled his hood up around his head and moved towards the forest. Here he went, off to the rescue of someone who would most likely be totally ungrateful for his actions. Once more, drop everything and go stare down some unknown evil and not know if it was the last thing he'd do.
He was such a pushover.
The world spun around the petite sorceress, and she vainly tried to force her own thoughts clear. Drugged… something across her face… a sickeningly sweet smell that made her want to breathe it and yet made her gag at the same time. Someone was carrying her. Not Zelgadis… who?
She flailed for a moment before the scent grew stronger and the world faded into darkness.
The man carrying the sorceress looked to his assistant. "Don't overdo it. We can't kill her yet. She has to stand trial for what she's done."
"My daughter's dead, thanks to this witch. I say we skip the trial. Everyone knows who did it," replied the blonde man, voice and eyes hard with anger.
They continued to pick their way through the forest, towards a refuge that had been hastily constructed to house survivors from the disaster of a few days ago. The man carrying Lina stopped, turning to look behind him. "Someone's following us."
The blonde stopped, looking around them wildly, seeing no-one. "How can you tell? Everything makes noise in this damn place."
"There's someone there. He's good at being quiet, but not good enough. Come on out, I know you're there," the other said.
From the shadows, a figure cloaked in tan coalesced, crystal blue eyes the only thing visible of the individual. A voice that was pitched just too softly issued a single and quiet demand: "Put her down and I won't have to hurt you."