Zelgadis' sleep was, as usual, plagued with nightmares. However, they were not the same terrifying dreams of Rezo and his thrice-damned curse. These visions were a hundred times more graphic, and a thousand fold more horrible. The horizon was splattered with drying blood, but he could see no other signs of life. The sung hung low, spreading its crimson light into the gray reaches of the approaching night.
"Lina!" He shouted, repressing a shudder as his echo answered him. "Gourry!" Again, there was no reply. Thunder rolled among the distant clouds.
"LINA!" This time, there was not even an echo. Chills ran up his spine as the wind suddenly increased in speed, blowing back the tail of his headband and cape. A golden glow appeared on the edge of his peripheral vision, and it fast approached him. The gale-strength force screamed, the high pitched sound tearing at his sensitive hearing. He cried out, but his voice was lost in the wind. Zelgadis' heart stopped entirely was he finally saw what was coming. Impaled on a golden rune named Kenaz, Lina's body hung limply from the angular 'C'-like symbol. Close behind was Gourry, with the character Dagez piercing his body. The hourglass on its side wove through his limbs and torso.
"No..." The chimera fell to his knees as the rune-clad corpses circled around him a few times, and for a moment, the light in his eyes died. "I won't let it happen!" He grabbed the symbols between his hands and tore at them, to no avail.
Learn. The wind cried. Learn to protect. That's the only Way.
"Way to what?" he asked, exhausted, confused, and more than a little put out .
Learn the Way. The voice answered. The Way will take you to the correct path. Learn.
"How?" He looked up, determination burning in his eyes.
Use caution, Runecaster. Do not fight the Flow.
"The flow of what?" He was getting fed up with being answered in such a cryptic manner; it was too Xellos-esque for his taste. "Who are you? Why are you telling me these things?!"
We are Wyrd.
"Wyrd?"
Go. Learn.
He sat straight up with a cry of shock, pain, and anger half on his lips. A burning lancelet of agony flashed through his chest, and much to his disgust, he coughed up blood. He wiped his mouth on his sleeve, knowing that the dried blood wouldn't show later.
Deciding he needed some fresh air to clear his troubled mind, the Shaman headed for the woods behind the inn. He had no idea where he was going, but he felt the need to be within the company of unprejudiced nature.
And so, he walked. He forgot the dreams haunting him, allowing the night's gentle breeze to bathe him in its fresh scent. His eyes slipped closed unnoticed, but the wind guided his footsteps, and he did not collide with any mishaps. His spirit, settled somewhere between peace and oblivion, drifted calmly on the astral plain.
Then it hit him.
"RUBY-EYE BLADE!" The power of the Dark Lord cut cleanly through Zelgadis' stone skin, and his carmine blood dyed the green earth in its own morbid shade. The Shaman leapt backwards gracefully, casting a healing spell on the deep wound.
"That was low." He growled, pain distorting his features.
"Your guard was down, stone-man." His attacker replied. "I've come to avenge Arbez - "
"Beg pardon?" He stalled for the time to let his wound heal.
"Arbez." The sorcerer repeated. "Short, stocky, well, more rounded than stocky, got shattered by your damn Vice Freeze..." Then he remembered why he had come in the first place, and slashed furiously at the Shaman. Only Zelgadis' demonic speed saved him from a hair cut that eliminated everything above the neck.
"Hold still and die, damn you!" The aggressor missed his target by a fraction of an inch, but carved a solid oak tree into several hundred toothpicks.
"I have no desire to cease existing," he snapped, "so leave before I have to seriously hurt you."
"DIE!" The mage-swordsman charged the chimera, who prepared to release the Guumueon shield again, but realized that it probably wasn't strong enough to hold against the Ruby-Eye Blade. A sinking feeling entered his gut as he turned to dodge, but slipped on the loose earth and fell to the ground. The tip of the magical blade entered just below his rib cage and ripped through layers of muscle and bone.
"GUUMUEON!" He cried, blood running over his lips. Gold light rippled in a straight line in front of the chimera. The scarlet sword shattered within the barrier, which glowed with Runic power.
"Damn you..." the other snarled. Zelgadis ignored the rant as he cast healing spell after healing spell on his multiple wounds. He felt his energy weakening, and he knew he wouldn't be able to hold the shield solid much longer. To his despair, he found he didn't have the strength to cast Ra-Tilt, even if he had the time to heal.
Lina... he thought, coughing as blood filled his lungs. Help...