The Severaine

Chapter Seventeen Between Life and Death-1

Chapter Seventeen

Between Life and DeathThe energy in the training room seemed to shift, causing Zo to look up breathlessly from the wall where she rested. Daniel stood in the doorway, his pained expression driving her to her feet.

“Daniel?” she questioned in disbelief. The figure looked to her before he sank to his knees in the doorway Seiken had only moments ago left through. What she was seeing didn't make any sense. Her hurried steps carried her towards him. With each step she took the world around her faded, the magic used to light the training hall extinguished to leave only the two of them. They stood in apparent blackness, it was a view she was familiar with, and thus she understood. Daniel had not come to her, she had once more been drawn to him.

“Are you real?” he questioned softly, his voice a low mumble that betrayed his exhaustion. His words so quiet they had nearly been lost in the cushion of darkness. He glanced up towards her, resigned to his fate if the person before him turned out to be Marise. He just didn't care anymore.

Zo took a moment to study the energy created by the surroundings. This wasn't like the last time, the energy here centred solely on him, it was not open to her manipulation. The sensations here were also different. She closed her eyes trying to understand them more. They were in neither Darrienia, nor Gaea's star. They were isolated in a place neither Oneiroi nor monster could access. The boundaries of this area were created with the sole intention of keeping them sealed within and refusing access to all else. She knew she could not leave, not until he allowed her to.

“A dying dream,” she whispered in horror. Seiken had briefly spoken to her about such things during a slight reprieve in one of their sparring matches. It was a dream that existed between life and death. A place no Oneiroi could enter, or even see, unless they were called to attend. Normally the Oneiroi in the closest vicinity would answer the call. They were a rare occurrence, most passing through sleep to death were content to do so, but occasionally the path was not so easy, and an Oneiroi would attend to guide them through their choice between life and death. Those who chose life would often wake, saying they had seen their life flash before their eyes. This was the Oneiroi, guiding them the only way they could by showing them what they would leave behind if they gave up the fight.

“I have to know.” He spoke again, unaware of the words she had spoken. She cautiously closed the remaining distance between them before moving to sit beside him.

“What do you think?” she asked softly.

“I think I saw you die.” As he said this, Zo, for the first time, was able to see the events from another perspective, from one who had been forced to watch…

…“That seems fair, and you will release the Grimoire, you understand what that means?” Night questioned. Daniel wondered why he was doing so. It was clear even if he did not understand this, she did. She would use whatever words were needed to ensure he freed them from the cage. She had convinced him that within the prison the final Grimoire lay hidden within her friends' possessions. It was a clever plan, but Daniel feared for her. She was taking an enormous risk. Night was a God, lacking in but one of his powers. Even so Daniel did nothing to betray her bluff. Her actions were the only thing which would ensure they were released and could get out of this situation alive.

“I know.” Her voice seemed confident as she answered him. Night was clearly satisfied with the agreement. The air around him, Acha, and Eiji began to crackle, and the space in which they were confined began to shrink. The force of the alteration pushed them staggering forwards into the room, expelled by the magic as it vanished to leave only a solid wall in the place their prison had once stood.

Daniel took no time to further examine the magnificent heptagonal room, a room which sliced its way through all planes and dimensions. He had seen enough of it already. Instead he used the magic's momentum to hasten his approach to Zo, whilst trying to find their means of escape. He knew now, feeling the immense aura of power from the being, that there would be no surviving a confrontation with him. Their only chance, for now at least, was to retreat.

“You really are your mother's child!” Night made no attempt to speed things along. He allowed them this moment, unaware that even as he held her, Daniel was planning their escape.

“Why did you have to come?” he whispered, feeling Zo's body trembling beneath his touch. He pulled her closer, promising to himself he would never let this man hurt her. He would stand between them, protect her with his life. He had already seen enough of the situation to realise that escape was a very optimistic endeavour. He closed his eyes, trying desperately to invent a plan which would see they all reached the door, but the only one he could think of would require a diversion, and that diversion needed to be him. He had a promise to keep.

“I have every faith in you, Daniel Eliot.” He felt her pull away from his embrace. Only as he opened his eyes did he realise he no longer faced the door. It was then he caught it, the thought she hadn't quite managed to shield from him through their connection. She had every intention of honouring her deal. She had come here to die. In that moment he couldn't move, couldn't find the strength to question her. If not for the unexpected side-effect of being linked to each other he may never have known her intentions.

“What have you done?” he finally forced the whisper from his throat. He felt himself try to force a breath, but the swelling in his throat made breathing almost impossible. Her hand squeezed his shoulder gently. By the time he realised her hand had slipped down to his chest, that her movements mirrored those used by Marise to serve a very specific purpose, it was too late.

Pain spread through his chest, cushioned by another magic, one which had not been present when Marise had struck him in this manner. Even so the force of the blow propelled him backwards in an all too familiar fashion, his body colliding with his friends. For a moment he could only stare at the glass above him, his eyes swarming with darkness as he struggled to breathe.

He saw the shimmer of a barrier growing to encase them. Despite his pain, his difficulty to draw breath, he was on his feet quickly. He struck his hand against the barrier, the blue energy distorting the air before him. He understood all too well now, her actions, her words, all had been the truth. She wasn't deceiving Night into releasing them, she was trading for them. He struck the field again, realising her satchel was no longer in his possession. Night seemed to smile as he placed his hand upon Zo's shoulder, almost as if claiming her as his own.

“Every time a Grimoire is located, it must first be released before its power returns to me. In the past, I have just had messengers bring it to me and read the incantations written upon its surface. Although their pronunciation lacked finesse the desired effects were brought to fruition. The tomes were sealed with a life, as such the cost to reverse it is the same. This is, after all, the only way to release a spell formed by the sacrifice of another.” Daniel's fists continued to strike the barrier as Zo turned her back on them. He felt the warmth of blood in his palms as his fists forced all the power he could muster behind each blow. Yet still it would not yield.

'Is that what you've agreed to?' his voice screamed to her mind. Fear and anger mingled through the challenge of his thoughts. 'Is it?' he demanded, his barrage ceasing as he heard her answer.

'To win, I have to lose.' He closed his eyes as the weight of her thought hit him. He heard her tearing through the lining of her bag.

“What's she doing? I emptied it back at the Perpetual Forest, there's nothing in there,” Eiji stressed before looking to Daniel in horror.

“Daniel, you always said I would lose something in there.” She pulled a small rectangular object from the bag covered in a finely embroidered white cloth. She turned her head slightly to look at him briefly. “I left it there for safe keeping, and well, I guess I forgot about it.”

“That's—” Daniel gasped. Every word, every single word she had spoken since arriving in this accursed place had been the truth.

“The book that Elder Robert gave me for saving his life? Yes.” She rose to her feet, the Grimoire now clasped in her trembling hands.

“Damn it, Zoella!” He flicked his weapon together instinctively as he begged to find a way to defend her, to keep his promise. He would not, he could not, lose her, not like this. He couldn't understand why Eiji and Acha weren't helping him. If they could shatter this protection, they could still save her. “I made a promise, don't you make me out to be a liar,” he warned. Although she did not turn back to look at him, he could feel her fear and despair through their connection, emotions that only served to fuel his every blow. If he could just penetrate the barrier, he could still save her. She was weakening, he could see it, and that meant her magic was, too.

“Daniel, you kept your word, I never lost myself.” Eiji grabbed him before he struck out again.

“Damn it, Zo, that's not—” He stopped; his words froze in his throat as she slowly opened the book. The air seemed to grow heavy.

“Daniel, don't,” Eiji whispered. “Don't make this any harder on her.” It was only as he heard Eiji's words his energy died. He realised the truth and now he had, he knew there was nothing he could do to change it. Her constant struggle against Marise had taken its toll. Each time she had fought against her she had sacrificed a piece of herself. She stood before them now, doing what she did, because her time was so limited. She had given almost everything she was to protect them, and he knew now this final act would destroy what small fraction of her remained. A fraction so minute he only now realised that the figure before him no longer looked like his friend.

The Grimoire contained only one spell, the one needed to reverse the sealing and restore all that had been lost. The light surrounding her as she read seemed almost from the heavens. A radiant, beautiful light filled with magical energy. The ancient words fell effortlessly from her lips until she spoke the final decree.

“Díno ti zoí mou.” In the ancient language, it translated to mean, for this I pledge my life. Although there were many different interpretations it always resulted in a sacrifice of some kind for the one who had spoken them. It was a vow repeated by those pledging their service to another. Daniel only now realised these four words, those used across the world to pledge a person's life to a cause or master, were those of an ancient spell.

The air began to haze, reducing the figures of those before him into just silhouettes. Another figure seemed to join them, thrusting the body of his friend backward as what he could only assume to be the figure's hand entered her chest, ripping another figure into existence before both vanished.

With the price satisfied, the haze cleared, vanishing as if it never was. The atmosphere felt charged, he already knew the figure who stood before them was no longer Zo. She like her magic had vanished…

…“Daniel, I'm so sorry,” Zo whispered as the haunting images of her final moments faded. Daniel had not so much as cast a glance towards it; there was no need to, he knew the scene by heart.

“You did it to protect us, to protect them,” Daniel acknowledged, his voice lined with a tired anger. “Damn it, Zo, can't you ever think of yourself?”

“Daniel, what is happening, why are you here?” She placed a comforting hand upon his shoulder, hoping it would encourage him to confide in her, to trust their old bonds of friendship.