Part 2: Zelgadis


My beautiful Syreeta, my precious Tamar. I will remember you till I die. No matter how much it hurts me to do so, I will never lose these wonderful memories of you. But so long as I keep the memories so close, the closer I must keep the pain. My heart still holds you both, but it has since cracked from the strain. I will not forget you, my beautiful wife, my precious daughter.


Zelgadis looked down lovingly at the head of dark hair nestled against his chest. Gently he combed the strands with his fingers. He was so happy. He couldn't believe that he had originally objected to the idea of an arranged marriage. But Syreeta, she was everything he had ever wanted in a woman. Beauty so incredible that it made men stop in the streets and stare. Intelligence so high that her graceful remarks stumped even the highest of scholars. Strength so overwhelming that she could stop armies with a single spell. And she loved him. Bending down, he kissed the top of her head again.

A light tap on his knee distracted him from his menagerie of thoughts of his wife. Syreeta laughed gently and picking up Tamar, asked the petite child if she was jealous. She pouted sweetly and bobbed her head up and down, making each of her curls bounce. Zelgadis grinned at this and wrapped his wonderful family in a huge hug. He was so happy.

But it was not enough. He wanted to give his family a perfect life. He wanted them to live in a palace. He wanted Tamar to have the finest schooling and the most expensive toys. He wanted it so that Syreeta would only have to work for pleasure, and not money. But he could not do that. At best, he was a skilled swordsman. Nothing more. Mercenaries did not make enough money for his dreams to be realized, and besides, he didn't want Tamar having to grow up worrying about her daddy doing dangerous work. He had to learn magic. But that was something his body just couldn't do. Kissing his daughter's plump cheeks goodbye, he went to forest to practice. Someday he would be strong.

A sudden noise behind him in the bushes startled him. Frightened, he tried to remove his sword from the log it was lodged in. The cursed thing would not move. As the figure stepped out of the shadows, Zelgadis was mildly relived to see it was Rezo. Rezo offered him power. Power could give him what he wanted for his family! Syreeta and Tamar could have whatever they wanted! If he was strong in magic, he could jobs that actually paid well. He had agreed.

The pain was excruciating. It seemed as though every cell in his body caught on fire and then crystallized, the icicles ripping through them. Wave after wave of pain hit him, but the worst was the fear. The fear he would never see them again, the fear that Tamar would grow up without a daddy.

Zelgadis slowly opened his eyes to see the forest. Holding out his aching, trembling hands before him, he could see the change. He was hideous. Stumbling to his sore feet, he walked with throbbing legs. With each step, his body was a horrible burden, but he walked on.

Finally coming to the clearing, Zelgadis fell to his knees. Not from pain, for that had been forgotten, but by the sight that met his horrified eyes. His home was burning, and he did not see his family outside. He tried to run towards the house, but unused to his body, he fell. Struggling again and again to get up, he pulled himself along the ground towards the burning building. By that point though, all that was left of the once proud home was darkly burnt branches of walls. Finally managing to get to his feet, he waked inside the remains of the house. Lying, dead, wee the bodies of his family. Beside them, in a crystal that would not burn, was a letter from Syreeta.

If you wonder why I did it, world, I'll tell you now. When Rezo came to us and said that my husband, my beautiful husband was dead, life was in that instance, no longer worth living. That's why I burnt the house and myself down. Tamar, she begged me to let her join me. It wasn't fair for her to go on without her daddy, so that's why she burned too. Goodbye, cruel world. I hope to see my husband soon.

Zelgadis fell to the ground, ashes unsettling into a puff of smoke about him. And despite the dagger he drove into himself at that moment, his body would not die.


Syreeta, Tamar, I almost pray for the day I die. I cannot love again in this world. The pain is too much. To feel this heartbreak again would be... there is no word to say it. So I will let no one close, until the day I die. And then I will have you again, my wife, my daughter.


Part 3   |   Fanfiction