Disclaimer: Not my characters of course.

I took a long time to update after the previous cliffhanger, and it is mainly because I find this part quite hard to write. Especially Phyllis and Mesmerons powers. Phyllis power and the amount of power she has is linked with her emotions, that part is clear to me, but knowing how she will react and describing it accurately are two different things.

Chapter 28

Bonny realized with horror she would not reach Asterix in time. Her scream did not seem to reach him either. But Phyllisd leapt forward and drove her sword through the roman's chest. Bonny gasped.

Only when the blade hit his feet, Asterix saw the sword that the roman had been holding. Marcus image disappeared, his dark eyes replaced by the terrified ones of the mouse-haired man who was falling to his knees without a sound. Disbelieving, he stared down at his chest. Phyllis fierce grip on the heft that now protruded from it kept him from crumbling to the ground. She drew shuddering breaths, but she was still fixing the Romans' face with wide eyes.

Asterix' shock over seeing the sword that almost pierced him was quickly replaced by the painful realization that Phyllis was still staring at Marcus. Bonny grabbed his shoulder, looking at him helplessly but before they could do something, Phyllis face darkened. She tightened her grip on the blade, put one foot against the roman's chest and pulled back. This time, he did scream. The sound drowned out all the remaining battle sounds around them. Bonny felt the agony in it and she pressed her hands against her ears in attempt to drive away the sound and the pain that it filled her with.

Phyllis closed her eyes, knowing that when she opened them again, Marcus would be as gone as he had been for the past eight years. She knew he was an illusion, but she had not wanted to make him go away. Mesmeron had almost succeeded. Almost. But she had heard the romans sword swing through the air, and it had made her act out her worst nightmare. It felt different. She did not feel the shock or horror that overwhelmed her when she watched Marcus die by her hand in her dreams. She felt nothing but blinding rage. She turned to the others, not even bothering to see if the illusion was really gone.

They were staring at the man who lay dying at her feet with wide eyes. Asterix was the first to meet her eyes and she saw him flinch. "Back to the village," she breathed.

Phyllis' voice sounded like a snarl, and she looked nothing like Asterix had ever seen her. He had thought he had seen her enraged. He was wrong. His eyes traveled to the sword she held, the blood trickling onto her hand from the blade. Her eyes were not merely black, they burned with rage that was desperate to come out.

Bonny cringed at Phyllis' words. Back to the village meant leaving the man in front of her to die. But to save him would have drained all her powers, even if Phyllis had not pulled back the sword. But she had. Bonny blinked. Phyllis had made it easier for her to live with what she had thought she would never do.

"We need to go," Bonny turned her back to the dying man and tried to make Asterix move, but the magic potion was still active, and he was immobile. He did look at her though.

"You want to leave her like that?" he asked, staring at Phyllis.

Bonny looked at her too. The fog around them was shifting towards Phyllis, gathering around her hands. Soon they would be able to see Mesmeron, and he would be able to see them. She made her decision.

"If we don't go now, we'll be dead before she needs us."

Asterix realized that she was right. He had been within a second of dying twice the past few minutes, and he would have if Phyllis had not been there. But she seemed to no longer see them now, consumed by the rage that made her powers flare dangerously. And so he nodded to Obelix, and they too did something they had never thought they would.

They ran.

The air burst as they reached the village gates, when Phyllis pushed the fog around her hands forward. It raged over the fields. The other warriors retreated at full speed, and the remaining Romans were blown of their feet.

The field went completely silent. Bonny joined Manilla again, and the shield around the village became visible again. Asterix noticed it did not prevent the other warriors from returning to the village, and he hoped the same would go for Phyllis. He ran towards Cacofonix' hut. Even from up there, it was hard to distinguish Phyllis as the shield became more solid than he had ever seen it. Soon, he could do nothing but guess what was happening on the other side.

Phyllis smirked as she felt the protection around the village rise to unknown heights. Her dark eyes stayed focused on Mesmeron, who was now about 20 meters away. He held his staff without actually leaning on it and he had stopped moving towards her. Apparently he had guessed her current state well enough. For someone who Manilla claimed had no emotions, who knew no love or hate, he knew how to toy with them well enough. But his plan had backfired, and they were now face to face, with the village beyond his reach. The situation she had hoped to create years ago, was lying open in front of her and the buzz in her ears was so loud she did not even hear his words, trying to lure her. Her powers soared towards him like lightning, and he had to raise his staff quickly, redirecting her attack, not towards her, but the shield around the village behind them.

"What is she doing?" Bonny asked, her brown eyes wide as Phyllis' powers hit the shield she was holding up with Manilla. "Is she attacking?"

Asterix shook his head in irritation. "Why on earth, would she do that? She asked you to do this didn't she?"

Bonny looked back at him with equal irritation. "Weren't you there just moments ago? Didn't Mesmeron just make her attack you? Why wouldn't he be able to make her attack…."

"She didn't attack me," Asterix said frustrated, and when he saw Obelix look doubtful as well, he added "She just stopped me."

"And you did", Obelix said, "But what if you hadn't? If that old guy wasn't such a show-off, showing us what she saw, you would have tried to stop that Roman and….."

"There is no point to all those 'if's', Obelix, it didn't happen."

Bonny looked worried…"What if she tries to get back in? Maybe…."

"Enough!" Manilla said, squeezing her eyes shut in order not to lose concentration as she spoke: "Asterix is right, enough with all the "if's". We have to hold this shield no matter what is happening on the outside. That is what she wanted from us and we are going through with it."

Phyllis turned from the shield to Mesmeron, furious.

"There there, dear, did you expect me to play fair? You should know better by now. Especially since you started this little game, I get to twitch the rules. Speaking of which, why haven't you gone home? Do the people behind there mean more to you than your mummy and daddy? I guess not, since you let them go against my will. Don't kid yourself my little raven. You're not one of them."

She lashed out again, but this time with a powerful hush of wind, and Mesmeron swirled through it, until he was far closer to her.

"Good, good, but not as good as me. You could be though. What are you afraid of, Phyllis? The word evil ? Power is not evil. Getting what you want is not evil."

Phyllis saw him get closer, staff held in front of him. Getting it from him would even the odds, she was sure. It seemed to emanate power, as if Mesmeron used it to stock power. He had gained others' power by force. Maybe it was easier to control them this way? Because she was struggling against her power constantly, holding back because she was not sure if they would still be aimed at him if she didn't.

She leapt forward to strike the staff with the bloody sword. For a moment, Mesmeron seemed startled. He had not predicted she would do this. For the first time, he looked angry and a second later, it felt like one of Obelix' fists pounded her. She flew back like a ragdoll for almost ten meters before she could slow herself down, and her vision blurred from pain. But it was a purely physical attack, and Mesmeron let her recover. She knew it was not an act of mercy….he had always been reluctant to kill her. In fact, he had only tried once. She was not surprised he hesitated now. She incorporated the very thing he wanted…the power to heal, without all the peaceful attitude around her. He had to learn from her before. Even without her around, it seemed he had gotten closer to his goal. He was able to deflect her attacks as she launched at him again. As if he too could shield himself.

It did not matter…all you needed for that was the strong wish to defend. To heal, you needed more than to want injuries cured. You needed to focus on live, on growth, on improvement. For Bonny that was enough, but Phyllis, her powers failed or peaked with the room she had left in her heart. Mesmerons' ability to defend himself with his powers proved something. He did not need to acquire healing power; if he could have the right mindset, he would have it. Which meant that no matter what, he never would. It was the most comforting thought she had had in a long time.

There was another idea tugging at her mind, but it refused to become clear with Mesmeron now sending images of the village behind her burning to the ground behind the still present shield. She knew it was an illusion. But it made her anger flare again. She was just a testing object, being dissected in an attempt to discover her secrets. She let her emotions reign, creating a powerful whirlwind around her, that swept her up from the ground and allowed her to look down on Mesmeron. He seemed to see her amount of focus on him as at least a little threatening, because he leveled with her, sending a wave of lightning her way. It twirled around her, instead of hitting her, and she grinned. Mesmeron had just taught her a new trick….even though she was angry as hell, she could fend of his attack. Mesmerons eyes narrowed dangerously when he too realized that he was not getting any information out of this battle, but she definitely gained some from him. He closed his eyes for a second and right before she redirected the lightning towards him, he made the wind around her fall.

Phyllis hit the ground full force, not even half expecting this to happen. The lightning bounced against the shield around the village and hit a large tree that immediately caught fire.

She was hurting. But even though he had caught her by surprise, she had surprised him as well, however briefly. There had been a sliver of a chance for the odds to turn in her favor, and it brought her back to her feet.

Bonny's frustration increased. They all heard the intense battle that was going on, without having the slightest idea of what was going on. All she knew was that Mesmeron himself had not tried to break the shield yet, and it worried her because it meant he was focusing on Phyllis. Her need to know, to see, lessened her hold on the shield, and after a few times, Manilla and Asterix stopped commenting on it. The Gaul was straining to see beyond the shield himself, and when it became more transparent, it felt too much like a relief to make Bonny reinforce it again. She heard some murmuring in the crowd below Cacofonix hut, but no one asked her to stop.

Still, the battle was hard to follow and it was not clear who got the upper hand.

"This is insane," Obelix said suddenly. "Why by Belenos are we here, while the battle is going on THERE?"

The same question had been ringing in Asterix' head from the moment they had passed the village gates. It was a relief to hear it being said out loud, and he turned to Getafix, who seemed to be pondering it as well. "Well", the druid said after a moment "If…" He was interrupted by a cry of surprise from Bonny and they flipped around to see that Mesmerons' last blow has launched Phyllis into the air, and that she was now falling down towards the shield around the village.

Another cliffhanger, oops. Anyway, I won't torture Asterix with watching from the sidelines any longer. Well, I will, but only until I have written the next part.