16. Close Calls


Zael noticed Berith raising a translucent sphere around it. The sphere was familiar to him, and as he tried recalling bits and pieces of his previous battle with Berith, he remembered what it was after a moment. Calista and Arganan fought this beast with him at first, he recalled, and then the others joined in after they caught up with them. It hadn't been too bad once there was many against one.

And with a group of four against one, Zael knew it wouldn't be too hard to deal with Berith, as long as they were careful.

"The sphere's a shield!" He called to Asthar and Therius. "Once we take that down with enough hits, we can move in to damage it directly!"

"Good thinking, lad!" Zael barely heard Asthar's reply over another of Berith's arrows being launched and exploded in Arganan's direction. Arganan himself managed to dodge the arrow, but even he got a bit off balance, shaken by the explosions behind him.

"How the hell is this castle not falling apart from Berith's rampaging alone?" Zael heard Arganan mutter. The Outsider's wielder felt warmth around his own body, and he looked towards Arganan to see the familiar glow of healing magic appear around his hands. "I know this place is a wreck already, but is there any way we can at least stop the damage from spreading?"

"Or stop Berith from moving around, at least." Therius swiped his rapier in Berith's direction, but the beast disappeared at the last second. It reappeared a few feet from Therius, shooting at him, but Therius managed to dodge. "It'll be hard to take down its shield if we can't even catch up with him!"

"There aren't any stunning bombs down here…" Asthar mused. Berith approached Zael, and Zael rolled out of the way of it trying to smack him. He noticed Asthar's eyes widen, before his gaze snapped towards Arganan. "Count, can you wield Holy magic like Lady Calista does?"

"Not as well as her," Arganan muttered, shaking his head, "But yes. Why?"

"Get Berith to aim at you. Once it first, put up a Holy Magic shield to deflect the arrow back at it. The explosions ensuing should stun Berith and maybe even take down its shield!"

"That's a great idea!" Zael burst out, dodging another of Berith's attacks. "Just…try not to hit me by accident?"

"I'll try!" Arganan sighed, just before he threw a Holy Magic spell at Berith. Berith roared, turning to face Arganan, before flinging an arrow at him. Arganan held up both hands in front of him, and a translulcent yellow half-dome appeared in front of him. The arrow bounced off the shield and headed straight back at Berith. As it hit the beast, it went falling backwards into a pillar behind him.

The entire pillar cracked, before it fell apart. The huge chunks of debris landed on the beast, and Zael knew that it was enough to at least pin Berith down for a short time. With that in mind, he lunged at Berith, swinging his blade.

The blade sunk through the flesh more easily than Zael thought it would. Is that why it needed the magic shield? To keep itself safe from such harsh injury?

Its physical defense wasn't as good as its magical defense, Zael realized, as he cut into the beast's flesh. That's why…

Another memory came to him; the image of a Gurak man, a magic shield in front of it destroyed as a flaming knife hit him in the chest. Who was that person? Why was he glowing blue?

Was it one of Zangurak's more-advanced soldiers, perhaps?

"Zael? Zael!"

Zael blinked, only to stare down and realize that Berith wasn't moving. After that, he sensed someone looming over him, and he looked up to see Asthar.

"Lad?" Asthar's eyes were wide, and he tried to put a hand on Zael's shoulder. Being a ghost, however, it just passed through him, and Asthar withdrew his hand immediately. "Are you alright? You just kept stabbing Berith until it was dead."

"I…" Zael looked down at Berith, tried not to gag at the scent of blood, and then looked up at Asthar, straightening himself. "I'm…I remembered something. That's all."

"Was it about Berith, or…?"

"Someone else." Zael swallowed as he sheathed his sword, looking Asthar in the eyes. "He got hit in the chest with something flaming…a knife?"

"I don't recall such an event, so I presume this was after I was dead." Asthar murmured. He took a deep breath. "The more we fight, the more you're remembering things."

"Isn't that a good thing, though?" Zael asked. Why was Asthar frowning at this statement?

"If you get too caught up in your head in battle, it won't serve you well. Be careful." With that, Asthar looked ahead. "There's the last terminal. And the door beside it…I presume, going through there, that's where the Outsider is."

"Right." Zael managed. He took a deep breath, and approached the terminal, activating it. As it glowed blue, so did the door beside it, siding open to the left and vanishing, revealing a path up ahead.

"That's where the Outsider is." Zael heard Arganan speak. "Once we get to it…we can finally turn this castle into a fortress again."

Zael wasn't sure how to feel about it. If it would help save Lazulis, then that was good, but…was there really no other way to stop Zangurak and his forces?