Chapter 9
"The trap"
Zelgadis could hardly believe what he had just heard. Priests? He shook his head and felt a smile creep across his face. But it wasn't a smile of joy. It was the result of sheer frustration. Suddenly, someone they had considered an ally had turned out to be a complete stranger. Then again, what had he expected?
He tried to move, but immediately regretted it. A sudden, excruciating pain shot through his entire body, and for a moment, he felt as if more parts of his body ached than should have been possible. He froze in place, trying to control the overwhelming sensations, and then carefully pushed himself up from Amelia's lap. Without taking his eyes off Maya, he reached for his sword. It felt heavier than before...
"Priests? What exactly is that supposed to mean?" he spat in irritation, struggling to point his blade in her direction.
"Hey, hey! Calm down!" Tamaki replied, raising his hands in a gesture of surrender.
"You're telling us to calm down?" Amelia shouted, coming up behind Zelgadis. "Who are you, anyway? What priests? What is this all about?! You've been lying to me all along!"
"Amelia..." Kirei began hesitantly.
"Shut up!" she snapped, her eyes burning with barely contained anger.
"She's right," Lina chimed in, standing firmly by Amelia's side. "For your own good, you'd better come up with a very convincing explanation for all these lies. You never intended to take us to a witch, did you?"
"Eh..." Tamaki sighed, rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment. "Well... no... I mean, we were going to, but then Maya had this idea, and, well... you know..." He trailed off, unable to meet their gaze.
"I don't know about the rest of you, but I've had more than enough of these priests for a while," Lina muttered, pulling herself up with Gourry's help. "Come on, we'll figure it out on our own."
"Wait!" Tamaki shouted. "That doesn't mean the witch doesn't exist!"
"You've got to be kidding me," Amelia said coldly. "And you really think we're going to trust you after all this? That I will trust you?" Her voice trembled with anger.
"But..." Tamaki tried again.
"There is no but!" Amelia cut him off with an angry shout. "I trusted you..." She looked at her former friend with open contempt.
"Stop, it's not his fault, we had no choice," Maya interjected quietly, drawing Amelia's attention away from Tamaki and Kirei.
"Had no choice?" Amelia repeated mockingly. "And who exactly forced you to lie to everyone?"
Amelia had no intention of listening to any more explanations. In fact, she didn't care at all. She could feel her anger rising, and on top of that, everything still seemed so unclear. Unable to bear the sight of her former friends, she quickly made her way to the exit with Zelgadis, Lina, and Gourry. They would figure it out. They would come up with a new plan and somehow get out of this nightmare of a place. The most important thing was that they could act together.
When they reached the exit, she heard Rei's voice behind her:
"Amelia..." the boy tried to speak softly. "Let me explain."
"I'm not listening to you, you liar!" Amelia shouted angrily. "I don't know why you dragged me on this whole trip if we weren't even going to see a witch. I thought I knew you, but I guess I was wrong." She gave him a quick look and turned to leave.
Zelgadis saw that Kirei was about to say something else, but Maya silenced him with a wave of her hand. Only then did he realise that she was their leader and had the final say. In any case, it didn't matter now - her explanations wouldn't change anything.
"They didn't have to listen to any more lies or rely on tricksters," he thought bitterly, and with that in mind, he followed his friends, although it wasn't easy since he felt terrible.
He was still weak from the spell he had used to save Lina's life. As he struggled to leave the destroyed building, he felt as though he were sinking deeper into an unknown, dark abyss with every step, until the faint light of their earlier campfire faded away completely. In response to his thoughts in the surrounding darkness, Gourry spoke up:
"It's dark... Lina, don't you think we should go back?" the blond-haired man asked hesitantly.
Even though Zelgadis couldn't see Lina's face, he could almost feel her smile.
"What, Gourry, are you scared?" the sorceress asked provocatively. "What could happen to us that's worse than being stuck in the same building with a bunch of lying scoundrels? Lightning..." she muttered as she answered, then continued, "Would they have killed us or something? We don't even know if they planned to. With people like that, you never know..." she stopped and looked at Amelia.
Zelgadis followed her lead. For a moment, he expected to see pain, disappointment, or tears, but when the light from the spell fell on Amelia's face, it revealed that she was completely expressionless. He wasn't sure which of those reactions would have been better. He stared at his friend's face for a long moment. Amelia's eyes were distant, her gaze chillingly blank. When she realised the others were watching, she quickly lowered her gaze and commanded:
"Let's go." Her voice remained neutral, drained of emotion. The tone was not sarcastic. It wasn't bitter, as Zelgadis had expected. It was empty. Empty as a deep, black hole...
That feeling of a 'deep hole' subdued his earlier anger and frustration at the deception they had just experienced. He had completely forgotten that they had just been deceived. Instead, strange, ambivalent feelings arose. A little concern mixed with other emotions he wasn't quite sure about. But the sense of desperation was becoming more and more apparent. He approached Amelia, even though the general weakness and loss of energy made him dizzy and nauseous. Still, he wanted to look into her eyes.
"Amelia, what's wrong?" he asked seriously, putting a hand on her shoulder.
"It doesn't matter," the girl said so quietly that it was barely audible.
"Doesn't matter? What do you mean 'doesn't matter'?" Lina chimed in, also moving closer to her friend.
"Life. My life..." Amelia replied coldly, shaking off Zelgadis' hand.
"You know that's not true..." Zelgadis began comfortingly, not discouraged by her rejection.
"I know?" Amelia suddenly laughed bitterly. "No, Zel, I KNOW it's true. I don't remember anything from my past, except for a few brief flashes in my dreams. You told me my father had died recently, and I don't even remember him! All I had were these people, and now it turns out they've been lying to me all along! So tell me, Zel, what's the point of my life now? What do I have?"
Zelgadis didn't react immediately. He was trying to find the right words to express his feelings. The worst part was that he couldn't find any at all. He groaned inwardly, cursing himself, when Gourry's unexpected voice suddenly rang out:
"You've got us, Amelia..."
The girl looked at him in surprise. At first, she was still torn by the bitterness and resentment of the past, but the sincerity of the blond's words simply overwhelmed her. Amelia's face softened, and a faint smile flickered on her lips.
"We shouldn't stay out here too long," Lina spoke up suddenly. "We'd better find a place to rest and come up with a new plan." She illuminated the path with a spell and began to walk slowly along the rubble.
Zelgadis took a deep breath and took a firm step, slowly following Lina. He could feel his own body weighing him down. He figured it would be a few more hours before he regained his strength.
They walked slowly, barely speaking, the pale light of the spell casting a narrow path through the darkness and ruined landscape. Zelgadis could swear he smelled blood in the murky air. The silence was occasionally broken by the ominous rattling of chains, their muffled groans echoing throughout the area. He tried to stay alert, using his chimera senses to monitor everything around him, but the pain slowly spread through his body, drowning out any attempts at concentration. Everything was hurting...
When he saved Lina's life, he transferred a significant amount of energy to her, energy that he hadn't had a chance to regenerate. He didn't know how much longer he could keep up this pace. Lina had obviously noticed his exhaustion, because she finally decided:
"We need to rest; this place should be fine." She pointed to the entrance of the next building. Its eastern side was completely collapsed, and the rest was barely standing, but the main entrance remained untouched. It certainly didn't look "fine," but they had nothing better. "It would be nice to have more light..." she muttered, looking at Zelgadis.
"Don't count on me, I'm ashamed to admit it, but I can't even cast that spell right now," he replied sheepishly. "But Amelia should be able to do it, right?" He gave the black-haired girl a meaningful look; after all, he had taught her this a few days ago.
After a brief reminder of her magic lessons, a small ball of light appeared in the girl's hand. Satisfied with the result, Lina and Gourry nodded in agreement, and then they all slipped silently into the building, with only the rubble scraping under their feet.
"It's quite spacious here..." Gourry remarked, stopping at the entrance and looking around.
They found themselves in a large hall that looked more like a ballroom than a living space. Directly opposite the entrance was a wide staircase leading to the upper floor, and on either side of it were corridors leading to various parts of the old villa. Zelgadis thought that someone very rich and important must have lived here. Now, however, all that remained of what had once been a beautiful estate was what lay before tchem - peeling plaster on the walls, miles of cobwebs, and decay in the air.
"We should check the building..." Amelia remarked, heading for the stairs.
"And find something to eat!" Gourry added. "We left all our supplies behind..."
"Sure, then let's get to work. I suggest this corridor!" Lina shouted enthusiastically, quickly heading for the dark passage on the right.
Zelgadis opened his mouth to protest, but before he could speak, Lina froze. She lowered her hand that had been holding the spell and slowly, very slowly, began to back away from the corridor. A strange growl echoed from the darkness ahead of her. Zelgadis looked in that direction but saw nothing. Gourry instinctively grabbed the hilt of his sword, watching the redhead's every move. Lina was already several steps away from the ominous passage when her foot hit a shard of broken glass, which shattered loudly under the pressure. Meanwhile, the growl in the corridor grew louder and inched closer to the sorceress...
"Run!" Lina suddenly shouted, and without waiting another moment, she darted down the opposite corridor.
No need for a second reminder. Gourry immediately ran after the redhead, while Zelgadis pulled Amelia along, despite the intense pain. They were about to run into the eastern corridor behind Lina and Gourry when the ceiling above them suddenly began to collapse. Plaster fell from the ceiling, followed by the entire ceiling crashing down. They couldn't move through the falling debris. Terrified, Zelgadis glanced at Lina and Gourry on the other side of the passageway, which was soon entirely blocked by debris from the ceiling and furniture from the upper floor. Quickly turning to look for another way out, he saw a group of Undead heading straight for him.
Only now did Zelgadis have a chance to see them up close. At first glance, they looked human, their bodies and figures perfectly normal. But their faces and movements were anything but human. Their expressions resembled those of starving beasts. Zelgadis quickly remembered what he had heard about them. They were soulless men, creatures now intent on hunting them. He swallowed hard, desperately trying to think of a way out, but nothing came to him.
The Undead approached at a steady pace, like a predator stalking its prey, and a wild, hungry grin lingered on their faces. The swordsman was horrified to see that many were armed with ordinary weapons. In a desperate move, he shoved Amelia ahead of him as they turned and fled towards the stairs. He knew they were walking straight into a trap. What other way could there be to escape from the top floor of the building?
Now there was no choice...
(…)
A trickle of cold sweat ran down Lina's forehead as the collapsed ceiling separated her from her friends. She couldn't see anything behind the thick wall of rubble and shattered furniture, and the deafening silence only added to her fear.
"Lina, what are we going to do?!" Gourry shouted, shaking the redhead and gripping her shoulders.
"What do you mean, what? We're getting out of here, and fast!" she replied after staring at him for a long moment, then broke free from his grip and started looking for an exit.
She must have walked down the empty corridor, accompanied by the glowing ball of light, and ended up in a large library. She looked around the room for an exit, then started walking along the shelves.
"Get out of here? What about Amelia and Zelgadis?" a confused Gourry asked, following Lina.
"They'll be fine..." she mumbled, and started inspecting the nearest window between the shelves.
"They'll be fine?" Gourry scoffed. "I don't think you saw..."
"Yes, I saw!" the girl shouted, cutting him off. "I saw what it was when I walked into that damned corridor! And I'm telling you right now, I don't want anything to do with it, and besides, what can we do now?! I don't want my soul to become dinner for some disgusting monster. Zel's not an idiot, unlike some people..." she added under her breath, making sure that Gourry didn't catch her exact words. "So he'll manage. We shouldn't worry. You'll see, he's like a cockroach, he'll survive anything..." She laughed nervously, still fiddling with the window.
"Maybe he would have SURVIVED, but I think you forgot that he used up all his energy saving YOUR life!" he interjected.
Lina looked at him in surprise.
"You, Gourry... Am I getting the feeling that you're really against me?" she asked menacingly, turning away from the window and walking towards him.
It was really strange that the usually submissive Gourry was speaking his mind, disagreeing with her, and it wasn't about food.
"Yes! You're a terribly selfish person," he said, crossing his arms over his chest.
"Me? I'm selfish? Perhaps I should remind you that Zel saved my life, a life I almost lost because of your stupidity!" she shouted, stamping her foot nervously.
Gourry looked at her disapprovingly.
"You know, Lina, I didn't think you were that selfish. You can run away if you want, but I'll find a way to help them."
"Really? Then enlighten me, oh great swordsman, what are you going to do now?" she asked mockingly, raising an eyebrow in expectation.
"Do what I usually do," he replied with a smile and reached for his sword. However, when he drew it and tried to activate the Light Sword's ability, instead of a beam of light, a black, concentrated energy appeared, growing stronger by the second. "Aaah! What's wrong with my sword?" he shouted, simultaneously deactivating the sword's magical abilities and returning it to its normal form.
"You're a fool, Gourry," Lina remarked. "Have you forgotten that your little toothpick is useless in this world? Better put it away before you hurt yourself and help me with this window. If we want to get to them, we have to get out of here first. Hurry up!"
(…)
The wooden stairs creaked under their hurried footsteps, illuminated by Amelia's spell, which moved with them. Zelgadis felt every part of his body hurt; he could barely muster the strength to run, let alone fight. He would have preferred to stop and give himself up immediately. But he wasn't alone; he had to at least ensure Amelia's safety. When they reached the next floor, they were faced with another fork in the corridor. The corridors ran in opposite directions, and along the walls were entrances to more rooms. He tried to push Amelia towards the nearest one, but she pulled him deeper into the right wing.
"There were no doors," she gasped. "Here!" She ran into one of the abandoned rooms at the end of the corridor. As soon as Amelia slammed the door behind them, Zelgadis dropped to his knees and curled up on the floor, overwhelmed by the piercing pain.
"Zel! Are you okay?!" She rushed to him and placed her hand gently on his forehead.
"Don't worry about it now..." he groaned, brushing her hand away. "Amelia, we have to barricade the door..." He tried to stand, but another wave of pain stopped him. Dark spots danced before his eyes, and he had to fight to stay conscious. "I'm sorry..." he moaned in pain.
"I'll do it." She stood and quickly scanned the room.
She couldn't find anything useful to barricade the door with, except for an old, falling-apart wardrobe. Without thinking too much, she struggled to get it into position. As soon as she did, there was a loud bang. Someone was banging on the front door. Zelgadis looked at Amelia in horror. There was nothing he could do in his condition; he couldn't even stand up. He cursed himself for his weakness.
"Give me your sword," the girl suddenly demanded.
Zelgadis looked at her in surprise, but he didn't have the strength to protest. With difficulty, he unfastened the sheath's clasp and pulled out the sword, which she deftly caught in her hands.
"You know how to use that?" he gasped in shock. His Amelia had always been against using weapons.
"Kirei taught me a little..." she murmured in reply, focusing all her attention on the trembling wardrobe.
The shaking grew stronger, and every passing second stretched into uncertainty. Finally, a painful truth dawned on Amelia. She might no longer be the helpless girl Zelgadis had once known, but in this situation, what chance did she have? Either way, they were doomed to fail—but even so, they couldn't just give up without a fight, she thought, tightening her grip on the hilt.
"Amelia..." Zelgadis suddenly groaned. "I'm so sorry..."
She didn't answer, but as she turned to look at his face, she felt as if something was missing inside her. And just as she was about to grasp it, the thought slipped away again. An unbearable sense of anticipation stirred within her. It had been there from the very beginning, ever since she first saw him. At first, she thought it was due to her memory loss, but later, she realised that she didn't feel that way about Lina or Gourry, even though she had forgotten them as well. No... this was something completely different, she decided.
She was still staring at his face when, all at once, the wardrobe behind her crashed violently to the floor, and the door burst open with a loud bang. And at that moment, something clicked into place in Amelia's mind.
She spun toward the door and shouted,
"Lightning!"
The light she had conjured earlier exploded above her head like a projectile, blinding everyone in the room. She hadn't even known it was possible to use that spell in such a way. No one had ever told her, but she had simply felt it…
Seizing the opportunity, she lunged at her enemies, delivering swift thrusts and strikes.
When Zelgadis opened his eyes after the blinding flash, two bodies were already lying on the ground, and Amelia stood beside him, struggling to push back the sword of one of her attackers.
"She's too strong..." Amelia finally gasped as she wrestled with the Undead.
It wasn't long before Amelia's strength gave out, and the sword slipped from her grasp. Before she could retrieve it, the enemy shoved her to the ground.
"No!" Zelgadis shouted as the Undead raised her weapon above the girl, preparing for the final strike…
Amelia hit the floor, the metallic taste of blood filling her mouth. She quickly turned to face her attacker and froze at the sight of the gleaming blade poised above her. Clenching her fists, she squeezed her eyes shut, bracing herself for the pain that never came.
When she opened her eyes again, she saw a dagger embedded in the woman's head. Before she could even begin to process where it had come from, a voice called out, and at the same time, the Undead's body collapsed lifelessly to the floor.
"Bastards!" Lina shouted, glaring defiantly at the two remaining Undead as they advanced towards them. "Kicking someone when they're down? How about picking on someone your own size?" She leapt down from the overturned wardrobe and drew her sword.
"Come on!" Gourry echoed, unsheathing his own weapon. Even without its magical power, it remained a deadly tool in his hands.
Amelia breathed a sigh of relief as the Undead ignored her completely, turning their attention to Lina and Gourry instead. She pushed the woman's lifeless body away from her legs and forced herself up from the floor, intending to help Zelgadis - only to realise with horror that he was gone...
"Zelgadis?" Amelia cried, frantically scanning the room.
She hoped he had hidden somewhere, found shelter - but with each passing second, that fragile hope crumbled. Zelgadis had vanished, along with his sword.
She turned in disbelief to Lina and Gourry, who had just finished defeating the last of the Undead.
"Where's Zel?" Lina asked suspiciously, meeting Amelia's troubled gaze.
"I..." Amelia began. "He... disappeared..." she finally choked out. She had no idea how that was possible; she had only taken her eyes off him for a moment!
"He... what?!" Lina roared, striding over to Amelia and grabbing her by the shoulders. "Damn it! You were together! How the hell do you not know what happened to him?!"
Lina's further accusations became nothing more than an incomprehensible stream of words to Amelia. She stared blankly into the redhead's eyes until, at last, one sentence managed to break through her daze.
"This is your fault!" Lina shouted, and something inside Amelia snapped.
No longer holding back her emotions, she punched Lina straight in the face, sending her stumbling backward - right into Gourry, who, luckily, caught her in his arms before she could hit the ground.
Stunned, the sorceress touched her aching cheek and lifted her gaze to the dark-haired girl.
"If it weren't for your bloody recklessness and carelessness, none of this would have happened! But no, of course, you always have to act first and think later!" Amelia shouted, panting with anger.
They were stranded in a collapsing building, they had just been attacked by a horde of Undead bastards, and to make matters worse, Zelgadis had literally vanished - and they had no idea what had happened to him. It was all too much.
Hot tears of frustration welled up in Amelia's eyes.
"My recklessness?" Lina repeated, shaking off the shock of her friend's outburst. "And you're saying this is my fault? Say that again, sweetheart, and I'll show you exactly what 'my recklessness' means!" she hissed, ready to lunge at Amelia but Gourry had no intention of letting that happen.
"Girls!" the blond interrupted, tightening his grip on the struggling Lina. "If you keep screaming at each other and tearing into each other, we'll never get anywhere! If you want to find Zelgadis, you'd better start working together. It doesn't matter who's to blame, it happened, and now we have to do something about it." He finished his piece, then let go of Lina and walked out of the room.
"Gourry..." Lina turned sharply, watching the blond leave. She struggled to reconcile the sense in his words with her own pride - an almost impossible task. She was almost offended that the idiot was right. Because, damn it, this time she really had to admit it. To him. Not the great and powerful Lina Inverse.
"Ugh..." she groaned awkwardly and glanced at Amelia. "I think he's right. I..." she started, but before she could finish, Amelia simply stepped forward and hugged her tightly.
It took Lina a moment to realize that the girl's body was trembling with suppressed sobs.
"Lina, tell me we'll find him..." Amelia whimpered against her friend's shoulder, finally letting her emotions spill over.
(…)
Thirst.
Zelgadis woke to find his tongue stuck to the roof of his mouth. He had the feeling he hadn't had anything to drink for several days. He opened his eyes and slowly rose from the dirty floor, surprised to find that his previous exhaustion was completely gone, replaced by a feeling of utter rest.
"I thought you'd never wake."
The familiar voice came from behind him. He froze for a moment, then turned carefully.
The white-haired girl who had attacked them a few hours earlier was looking at him with interest. He turned away without a word, not sure what to make of the strange situation.
They were in a small room filled with old, dusty furniture. Against one wall stood a massive bookshelf, crammed with all sorts of books. Thick, leather-bound volumes gleamed ominously in the dim light. Opposite them was an ancient sofa with two large armchairs to match. The whole set was upholstered in beige fabric that had long since lost its former lustre. Next to the sofa was a chipped table on which someone had carved strange, unintelligible symbols. Zelgadis' attention was particularly drawn to the old piano that stood opposite the door, by the window. At first, Zelgadis wondered if it was still usable. Aside from these important pieces of furniture, the room was cluttered with various objects and antiques. A thick, dusty, dark green carpet lay on the floor, and the wallpaper on the walls was peeling, revealing an unidentified colour underneath.
"What happened?" Zelgadis asked.
He tried to make his voice sound confident, but he couldn't hide the note of nervousness and confusion. The girl didn't take her eyes off him, only offering a sarcastic smile in response to his question, leaving it unanswered.
"Drink," she said instead, tossing him a water skin. Zelgadis eyed it suspiciously. "Don't worry, I didn't poison it..." she added, addressing his doubts.
He looked at her sharply. If she wanted to kill him, she would have done it already, he thought, and decided to take a sip of the fresh water. Never in his life had water tasted so good. He took several large gulps, soothing his sore throat, and tossed the water skin back in her direction. The girl caught it with a swift motion and tucked it into her cloak. After a moment, she stood and walked over to a large bag, searching through it for something.
Zelgadis watched her closely. He noticed that she was quite tall for a woman, about his height, and he wasn't the shortest either. Her body was lean and athletic - no surprise, considering she wielded a sword. But what struck Zelgadis the most was her hair. Long, white strands that flowed gently down her shoulders. Zelgadis felt a little embarrassed, but he had to admit, she was beautiful. When she turned, she was holding his sword.
"Where did you get that sword?" she asked, examining the hilt carefully.
"I've always had it. A relative gave it to me, why?" he replied, not understanding the sudden interest in his weapon.
"Really?" she murmured, running the tip of her finger along the sharp blade.
Zel watched her closely; there was something familiar in her eyes, but he couldn't put his finger on it. Just when he thought he might be able to figure it out, the thought slipped from his mind.
"What's your name?" he asked, feeling a growing fascination and curiosity about the stranger. When the question hung in the air, she tore her gaze from the sword and looked at him disapprovingly.
"Why do you care?"
"Am I embarrassing you?" Zelgadis scoffed, rising to his feet.
He didn't want her to discover his temporary weakness or his growing interest. But before he could get fully to his feet, the girl had lunged at him, threatening him with his sword.
"Don't mock me, boy..." she warned in a cold, ruthless tone, dragging the blade across his chest.
"So?" he pressed, ignoring the threat. He needed to learn something from her.
"Hmm..." she thought for a moment, still holding the blade against his chest. "I don't think I need to answer you..." she murmured, looking deep into his eyes, then began pressing the sword harder against him.
Zelgadis smirked in response, and before the white-haired girl could react, he knocked the sword away with his forearm and, in one swift motion, spun her around to face him, pinning her hands in a strong grip. She may have been armed, but he still had his skills and the speed of a chimera that an average person couldn't match.
"Never threaten me with my own weapon again," he whispered coldly, resting his head on her shoulder. "Now give me my sword," he asked with feigned politeness.
At first, the girl tried to wriggle out of his grip, but when she saw the futility of it, she reluctantly released the weapon, which clattered to the floor. They stood there in silence for a long time, during which Zelgadis could hear the rapid beating of her heart and her uneven breathing. He was sure his own breathing was leaving its mark on her delicate skin.
"Nirali," the white-haired girl finally replied, breaking the silence. "My name is Nirali," she repeated softly.
At the sound of that name, Zelgadis' stomach twisted in protest, a feeling he could not understand.
"Nice to meet you, Nirali, I'm Zelgadis," he murmured, pulling her closer and tightening his grip. "Now tell me, what am I doing here, and what happened to my friends?" His tone remained cold.
"You should be thanking me for saving you from the Undead..." she groaned in response, obviously in pain from his grip, but Zelgadis didn't care. He wanted to know more.
"How did you manage to bring me here?" he asked, and when Nirali refused to answer, he tightened his grip, twisting her arms further.
"I used magic..." she groaned, moving closer to him to ease the pain.
Now they were almost glued to each other.
"How do you know how to use magic? Tell me!" he shouted in a threatening manner.
"My Master gave me this power!" she cried out sharply, trying to break free, but once again, Zelgadis was stronger.
"Who is your Master?"
"I'm not telling you!" she retorted. "Besides, if I were you, I'd start worrying about your sweet little girl..." she hissed venomously, taking advantage of Zelgadis' sudden confusion to break free of his grip.
She didn't manage to get very far, though, because after a moment, Zelgadis used his superhuman speed to pin her to the wall again. He seized her hands and crossed them over her head, keeping her from casting any spells.
Their eyes locked, and there was no pulling away. Large blue eyes looked up at him with a strange gleam, and before he knew it, Nirali had moved closer, gently brushing her lips against his. Zelgadis closed his eyes and concentrated on her soft, full lips. With each passing moment, the shy kiss became more passionate. He pulled her closer to him and, releasing her hands, began to run his fingers over the girl's body. Nirali tangled her fingers in his hair and threw her right leg over his hip. Zelgadis could not resist; he felt the unrestrained desire building within him, and as his hand began to touch her hip...