Amadea and the Divinity Blade - Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Amadea was finally able to return to her chambers after an exhausting afternoon. She immediately dismissed her servants, saying that she didn’t wish to be disturbed for the rest of the evening, and began to pack.

"And just where are you going?" Zira asked.

"With Zephyr, of course," Amadea replied.

"That's cheating!" Zira grinned.

"So, what if it is, I am not about to let Zephyr face such danger without me."

"Well, I am bound to you, so I must come, but would you like my help?" Zira asked.

Amadea gave her a look that said it should be obvious. "Yes."

"Good, then let me teach you a spell of summoning," Zira bade.

"I already know how to summon," Amadea replied over her shoulder as she changed her mind over what she should pack.

"Yes, but this is different. What I have in mind is very far away, and requires a different spell."

"Oh?" Amadea asked with interest. "What? The dragon?"

"No, she's busy granting tokens, remember? I'm talking about a legendary flying horse."

"Zira! Stop teasing me, the flying horses went extinct almost 100 years ago."

"I'm serious." Zira whispered the spell in Amadea's ear. "But don't say it until we are in an open area away from the palace."

Amadea nodded in understanding, and finished changing. She slung her newly packed bag over her shoulder, and gathered some power. She had quite a bit of practice with this spell lately. "Invisibility!"

Zira faded out, and followed the Princess as she climbed down her balcony.

An hour later, Amadea decided to rest a moment, and perform the summoning spell. "Horse of clouds, and winds, and sky, through weather rainy, fair, or dry, hear my plea, I summon thee!"

"You should sleep while you can," Zira advised. "I'll keep watch."

"Right." Amadea was mildly surprised that her body still remembered how to sleep on such hard ground, and drifted off instantly. She awoke the next morning feeling as if she was cuddled up to two warm, hairy blankets, but when she opened her eyes; there was nothing there.

"Zira?"

"Not to worry, they sensed that you were invisible when you summoned them, and responded by becoming invisible themselves," Zira assured her.

"They?" Amadea questioned.

"Yes, a pair of mates answered your summons, since they didn't want to be apart just now."

"I see." Amadea realized that she was still invisible herself. She spent a few moments caressing the horse that was cuddling up to her front. Then she mounted it, and braced herself for takeoff.

They flew - Zira more or less riding the other horse - for hours until Amadea spotted Zephyr.

"We should take a break here," Amadea indicated a grassy place by a river. She was amazed by how far Zephyr had come in a day and a half, but didn't want to show herself to him just yet.

"Hmm, I had forgotten he knew a spell for phenomenal speed," Zira commented.

"Oh, so that's how he's traveled this far! At this rate, we'll be at the troll by this time tomorrow." Amadea watched the grass be eaten by invisible mouths as she ate a couple of the sandwiches she had brought with. She gave the horses plenty of time to eat by practicing some complicated spells. She hadn't been able to do much more than simple spells in quite a while.

Soon enough, she was flying after her beloved once more.

*******

Zephyr silently crept up on the troll with his sword at the ready. The troll was about 11 feet tall, and greener than snot. Trolls were known for their capacity to heal, and it was widely agreed that the best way to kill it was to decapitate it. Though doing so required more luck than skill.

Once in range, Zephyr cast a spell to immobilize the troll, thereby gaining time to behead the creature. The spell hit the troll squarely in the back, and shot right back at him. "Oh sh-!"

Amadea witnessed the blunder from about 20 feet above Zephyr, and quickly cast a shield around him. The troll pivoted as fast as his slow body was able, and tried to bash his attacker on the head only to be deflected by the shield. Amadea whispered what she wanted the horses to do, and prayed they could understand her.

The two flying horses charged the troll, aiming for his weak spot. The first one's hooves landed squarely on the troll’s forehead – temporarily immobilizing him – and the second horse's hooves knocked him unconscious. Amadea cast a spell to restore Zephyr to normal.

"It!" Zephyr flung himself to the ground, rolled aside, and ended in a defensive crouch facing the troll. His face veil had fallen off to reveal an expression of "What the...?"

Warily, he approached the troll. The troll was truly out cold. Zephyr readied his sword, and brought it down to sever the troll's head from his body. The sword was stopped by the troll's windpipe, and caused the troll to open his eyes.

"Not good." Zephyr braced himself for impact. The troll knocked Zephyr away about 20 feet.

"This is bad!" Zira called out to Amadea, "The troll is more powerful than any I've ever come across!"

Zephyr looked in the direction of Zira's voice, but couldn't see anything. The still invisible horses circled for another attack. They succeeded in knocking the troll onto its back, but it’d managed to move enough to protect itself from a worse blow, and was still conscious.

Amadea loudly recited a spell. "Goddess of earth, mother of all, help me to defeat this troll! Imprisonment!" The ground began to bind the trolls hands and feet. A light shot from the troll’s hand, and embedded itself into Amadea’s left hand before she could think to dodge. It disappeared instantly, and she promptly forgot about it.

Meanwhile, Zephyr raced back to the troll, aiming spell after spell at the trickle of blood on its forehead. "Fireball, Ice Spear, Lightning!" Now knowing that this troll was vastly more powerful than the ones he had defeated before, Zephyr took a moment to magic his sword. "Hard as a diamond, sharp as a razor. Sever!" He brought the sword down onto the troll's neck as hard as he could. This time, the sword kept going until it was imbedded in about two feet of ground. The troll’s head rolled down the hill.

Amadea maneuvered her mount in front of Zephyr, and launched herself into his arms. "Oh Zephyr! You did it!"

Zephyr fell onto his back with Amadea atop him - he hoped. "Amadea?" He could feel his lips being kissed, but couldn’t see anything. He felt the air atop him with his hands, and there was definitely a body there.

Zira laughed, and became solid once more. "Amadea, you're still invisible!"

Amadea didn't even bother to stop kissing Zephyr as she released the invisibility spell. The pair of horses followed suit, and were also rubbing noses in an imitation of kissing. They were mates after all, and this amorous stuff amused them.

Zephyr was very glad she was there, even though she shouldn't have been, and allowed her to kiss him as much as she wanted. Zira could tell they were going to be a while, and wandered off to give them some privacy. Amadea began to remove her clothing, but Zephyr stopped her.

"No, I haven't been chosen as your husband yet."

"I don't care, I don't want anyone else. Surely the Gods will allow me to have you, and even if they don't, I'm going to have you anyway." She began to unbutton his clothes while his hands were occupied holding hers on her.

"Amadea! I... I'm... not normal," Zephyr tried to dissuade her.

"I know." Amadea finished unbuttoning his shirt, and ran her hands over his chest. It was cool but not cold to the touch, and was reminiscent of walking barefoot on a smooth cobblestone road. "I love you anyway." She kissed him once more, then trailed kisses across his chest.

"Amadea, please stop, this is wrong." A depressing thought occurred to Zephyr. "I'm not the right man for you. You belong with someone who isn't a freak."

Amadea sat up to meet his gaze. "I don't want anyone else. I. Love. You."

"I don't even know if it's possible to-"

"I'm willing to find out, please don't make me beg."

            Zephyr took a deep breath, sighed, and quit resisting.

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