Chapter 26
Meanwhile, Zephyr was pacing a temporary campsite in suffocating worry. “She’s been gone for days!”
“She’s fine!” Zira insisted, certain that the tie keeping her bound to Amadea would dissolve if something fatal happened to the Empress.
Their camp was set up about 2 dozen feet from the lesser doorway – which Zephyr had erected a barrier around to prevent any monsters from escaping. They had all worked hard to clear out the surrounding area pretty much the entire time Amadea had been gone, and now sat watching the new arrivals attack each other inside the large, inescapable bubble.
Suddenly, Cumulous perked up, and stared intently at nothing. The next moment, she took off as fast as she possibly could. Zephyr sighed in relief.
“Looks like Amadea’s on her way back!”
An hour later, Cumulous returned with Amadea, and the Empress was astonished at how far she had gotten from her companions. Zephyr couldn’t wait for her to dismount, but simply pulled her into his arms the moment she landed.
“Don’t ever do that again!” He vehemently insisted as he squeezed her tight. “You had me worried sick! I had no idea where you were or if you were even still alive!”
Amadea laughed softly, pleased that he had been worried about her. “It’s only been a couple hours!”
“What are you talking about?!” Zephyr demanded. “It’s been 4 days!”
“What?!” Amadea was incredulous with shock. “It can’t have been!”
Her companions all nodded to assure her that Zephyr was telling the truth.
“I had no idea!” Amadea paled as the full implication hit her.
Her job was to find and seal the lesser doorway as quickly as possible, but instead, she had allowed herself to be distracted by a demon she could have just as easily waited to go after. Because of her stupidity, more of them may have come through, and she wouldn’t know until they multiplied enough to be a threat! She groaned, and beat herself over the head with her hand.
She watched the monsters inside the barrier, and realized that she had been right – more worms had emerged. Hopefully, all the newer ones were inside the barrier rather than nesting in the ground.
“Have there been any more attacks?” She asked, trusting that her companions would know what she referred to. Zephyr gave her one last squeezing hug, and set her on her feet.
“No,” he replied. “Once we knew they were there, it was pretty easy to kill them.
“Interesting,” Amadea remarked as she observed the monsters in the barrier. It seemed that the worms and the berserkers were busy destroying the rest of the monsters, and she wondered which of them would win once they had nothing else left to fight.
She shook her head, and allowed a small, humorless smile to twist her lips. It wouldn’t matter because unless she sealed the doorway, the monsters would never stop coming through. She squared her shoulders, and took a deep breath.
Zephyr knew exactly what she was thinking, and shook his head in acceptance. He had just gotten her back, and already she planned to walk into danger! He prepared to go with her; he’d need to cut a door in the barrier he created for her to enter it anyway.
Unlike a regular protective barrier – which was designed to keep things out, but anyone inside could manipulate – this one was designed to keep things in. Therefore, nothing could get in or out, and only its creator could manipulate it. That’s why Amadea couldn’t do anything inside the barrier without Zephyr’s help. Still, it would have been nice if she had at least asked me!
He looked around at all of the soldiers who were nervously keeping an eye on the barrier as they rested. They had all been needed to clear up the infestation over the past 4 days, and were exhausted.
“Everyone, stay put!” Zephyr commanded. “After the Empress seals the doorway, I may release the barrier so that we can finish them off once and for all, so be ready!”
Everyone nodded silently, and watched as the couple marched up to the barrier. Zephyr cut a doorway in it, and then sealed it shut again after they entered it. Amadea let nothing distract her as she walked closer to the doorway, and so Zephyr felt that it was up to him to defend her from attack.
Amadea chanted the sealing spell, and waited for the power to completely gather. She released it, feeling a bit nauseous as the doorway disappeared. Relieved that the lesser doorway was gone, she contemplated the best way to clear out all of the remaining monsters as quickly as possible.
No matter how she looked at it, her powerful new spell seemed like the best solution. “Oh great Goddess, eternal mother of all life, I call your essence into my body. Grant me your power so that I may destroy this enemy who would kill us all!”
Zephyr quickly flung himself to the ground, and cast a spell to protect him from her spell. As much as he appreciated her enthusiasm, he was beginning to wonder if she cared about his life at all! Or does she just trust that I am smart enough to shield myself?
The spell Amadea cast was not really suited to such a small space, nor was it capable of changing direction if needed. This meant that it was not likely to kill all the monsters in one shot, but she was praying that her husband’s barrier was strong enough to contain it, and bounce it around until most of the monsters were dead.
Finally, the power was ready to release. “ETERNAL DESTRUCTION!”
Amadea was half right. The spell tore through the monsters, hit the barrier, bounced and repeated itself twice before the barrier shattered with a loud explosion. The remaining monsters all fell to the ground, groaning in pain. Only the berserkers got to their feet relatively quickly.
“What am I even here for?!” Zira demanded angrily. “I’m supposed to be teaching you my spells, but once again you rush off before I had a chance to do so! I know a much better spell to cast inside a barrier like that!”
“So teach it to me now!” Amadea insisted. “I’ll cast it, and be done with it!”
“Absolutely not! If you cast it now, we’d all be dead!” Zira screamed. “Your biggest problem – Sunny Day – is that you never think things through! You’re always far too eager to go rushing into battle on the blind belief that you will be victorious!”
“I am victorious! I always have been!” Amadea shouted in return. “I have to keep believing it or else I’d never be able to do anything! I’d be too damn afraid!”
“Uh… ladies?” Zephyr tried to interrupt them. They were surrounded by at least a dozen berserkers. Thankfully, all the worms that had been in the barrier had died in the explosion.
“Believing in yourself is fine, but you need to use your brain too!” Zira insisted.
“Oh, you’re one to talk! Miss Too Reckless And Stubborn For Her Own Good!” Amadea retorted.
“Ladies!” Zephyr roared. “Now is not the time!
Amadea lost all patience, and combined two spells so that she could finish the berserkers once and for all. “Quicksilver Fists of Justice!” The quicksilver spell temporarily boosted her speed so that she could out-maneuver the monsters, and the Fists of Justice spell focused all her power into her fists so that she could beat them up in a thoroughly satisfying way.
She wasn’t the only one who used the Quicksilver spell. Zephyr, Luna, and Kyle all cast it as well, and between the four of them, they had the monsters defeated in no time! Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
“I’m exhausted, and positively ravenous!” Amadea announced.
“Just what we wanted to hear,” a duet of ominous voices replied.
“Demons!” Zira roared as if she should have known something like this would happen.Go To Chapter 27
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