A low growl woke Amelia from her sleep, but it quickly became an unhappy gurgle. She tiredly looked down at her unhappy stomach before feeling the ache in her neck from having fallen asleep leaning against a tree. Her head flopped back against the tree trunk again as her vision adjusted to movement just beyond the forest's edge. At first all she could make out were large shapes, immobile and constant. Smaller shapes flitted between the larger shapes, making noise as they went. As her eyes grew more accustomed, Amelia realized she was staring at a town just beyond the forest. Her heart began to beat faster.
"Mister Zelgadis," she whispered, "it's a town!" Amelia clambered to her feet as best she could, intent to seek out the local market for a decent meal. She took a few steps then realized no one was following her. "Mister Zelgadis?"
A quiet snore drew her attention to the still chimera, who was still slumped where she had left him the night before. His head was still leaning into his lap as he slowly breathed in and out.
Amelia's spirit sank. In her eagerness to gain a good meal she'd forgotten Zelgadis' own predicament. She walked over to him and cast Flow Break, dispelling the Sleep spell she had placed on him the night before. No sooner had the spell gone off, Amelia felt a wave of exhaustion nearly rock her off her feet. She toppled toward Zelgadis, leaning heavily against his back to keep her balance. She grunted as she pushed herself up again. Zelgadis never so much as budged. "Mister Zelgadis, stand." Amelia spoke, nearly falling again when he suddenly rose to his feet.
With a simple command to, "follow", Amelia again set off toward the town, this time with Zelgadis walking behind her. As they got closer to the town Amelia reached back to grip Zelgadis' hand, feeling herself becoming nervous. Upon entering all eyes were instantly on the two newcomers. People continued to go about their business in the afternoon sun but Amelia could still feel people staring. She tried to pay them no heed as she wandered down the street, intent on finding even just a food vendor.
A few streets later Amelia found the local farmer's market, feeling herself becoming overwhelmed with all the wonderful smells of FOOD! Having grown up as she had, she'd never quite realized what it meant to starve. She better understood Lina's violence when kept from food so long. Amelia wanted for nothing more than to tear into the nearest delectable delight but knew better. As she wandered looking for something to sate her hunger, a woman from a nearby booth beckoned to her.
The woman smiled kindly as Amelia approached, picking up a small bushel of produce. "New here, little lady?"
Amelia nodded. "We were just passing through." She glanced back at Zelgadis, but he stood motionless. Amelia turned back to the older woman. "Ma'am, do you know where the nearest city is?"
The older woman clucked her tongue. "All in due time. You don't look like you could get there under your own power as is! Get into some trouble, did you?" She looked at Amelia with concern.
Amelia nodded her head. "I did, yes, but thankfully that's over now." Her stomach suddenly roared.
"My goodness!" The woman looked at Amelia in shock. "When was the last time you had a decent meal? Here now, this won't do at all." She quickly looked through her bushel before producing an apple. "Here you are, dear, it's not much but it's certainly better than nothing." She held it out, smiling all the while.
"I, I couldn't.." Amelia paused, but as she looked at the apple it seemed all the more appealing. Her stomach protested, almost begging to consume the offered apple. Amelia reached out. "I can pay for this," she spoke shyly, her hand drawing ever closer to the apple. The woman continued to hold the apple out to tempt Amelia. With a last glance at the woman, Amelia swallowed her pride and grabbed onto the apple. She started to pull it away from the woman, but the woman's grip suddenly tightened.
With a grin the woman pulled Amelia's arm closer before latching onto Amelia's wrist with her free hand.
Amelia stared back in shock. "What are you doing? Let me go!" Amelia tugged to be free but the woman's grip was strong.
"Sorry to mislead you, little lady, but you're worth something!" The woman grinned.
Amelia suddenly felt a pressure on her back, turning her attention to see Zelgadis was starting to move forward, pushing into her, his eyes blazing red. She whipped her head back to look at the woman. "You don't understand, you need to let me go! He'll kill you!" Amelia tugged to be freed again, but still the woman's grip was too strong.
"I'm not afraid of your puppet," the woman almost laughed. She released her hold on the apple to clap her freed hand onto Amelia's arm, pulling all the while.
Amelia did her best to remain in place, trying to keep herself in front of Zelgadis. "Ma'am, let me go now!" The sound of metal sliding against leather rang in her ears, Amelia dared not turn around to see what she knew was happening. She grit her teeth as she silently cast a spell. With an apologetic look she dropped the apple and aimed her palm at the woman. "Diem Wing!"
The woman was taken by surprise, releasing her hold on Amelia as she was blown across the market. Amelia sagged to her knees, suddenly seeing black spots in her vision. Her hand fell to rest on top of the dropped apple, Amelia exerting what energy she had left to grip it. She felt herself being lifted off her feet, again feeling Zelgadis' arms wrapped around her protectively. "Mi..ser Zelga...dis, run," she managed to get out, then felt herself fall into darkness.
What happened next only came to Amelia in snatches as she struggled to regain consciousness. She could hear shouts and tugs at her clothing at times, but before long nothing but cool air and the rustling of grass and leaves soothed her. She had no way to tell how much time passed, but Zelgadis kept running. Amelia was feeling herself succumbing to sleep again when suddenly she felt herself falling. Reality came screaming back as she hit the ground hard.
Amelia moaned as she tried to sit up, pain coursing through her limbs. What had caused her to fall? Better yet, why had Zelgadis let her? She would have called out to him but she couldn't quite muster the energy, plus she doubted he would respond anyway. She turned her head to look behind her. She felt her heart stop to see Zelgadis lying on the ground, not moving at all.
With a cry she spun herself around, pulling up beside her fallen companion. She silently breathed his name as she tried to roll him over. His face was so firmly dug into the earth she was sure he was suffocating. Her muscles would not obey as she tried to move him, Amelia falling against the still man uselessly. With a cry she tried again, refusing to give up. At last she got enough of a grip that she was able to roll Zelgadis onto his side.
Amelia almost wished she hadn't, Zelgadis staring eerily back at her. She gasped when she looked into his eyes. They were no longer glowing red, but they were hardly glowing white. The light in his eyes seemed to be fading fast. Amelia felt her fears grow as she realized she had no idea what to do.
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Author's Notes: This was originally going to be longer, but I've not had the time to actually sit down and write it, and it seems a good place to have a cliffhanger anyway. (I'm evil, yes.) This part was actually really hard to write, too. It's fact that Amelia becomes extremely exhausted when she over extends herself casting magic, but it's hard to gauge exactly how much and just what it would do to her. I tried to be as realistic with it as possible, factoring in the fact she's not had any real food or sleep for well over a day. Not to mention all of the stress from the past day.
What's wrong with Zelgadis, you ask? Good question. It shouldn't be too hard to figure out if you've been following along, but for now I reveal nothing. I really do hope to be able to write more in the near future, so hopefully his plight won't remain a mystery for long.
(Please don't be afraid to review if you liked this! Poor writers are not psychic writers, we like being thrown the proverbial bone every now and again..)