Blood Oath (Book 2 of Alfireán age)

Peace, Be Still

Zaphaniea listlessly crawled down from her pillar and collapsed to the ground as her two giant spheres dissipated. "Take me to the teleportation stone," she whispered.

"You're not going anywhere for a while," Olivia said as she knelt beside her. Several other healers, including Gerhard, Katarina, and Cretan, kneeled around her, checking her over for injuries, and administering healing potions intravenously.

Zaphaniea tried to push herself up on one arm, but her limbs refused to move. "No...," she said, pulling away from the healers. " ... you don't understand."

"I understand that you just had two thousand people's energy fed through your body. You are not going anywhere." Olivia's tone brooked no argument.

"No, the stone...," she swallowed, trying to shove down the pain and exhaustion. "The stone works as an anchor point. It's like the absolute coordinates to this area. It's what lets him scry this place. If he looks and sees that we're not destroyed, he'll be here in a few minutes. And this time, he won't send a hologram."

A horrified shudder ran through the crowd. Alf shot to his feet, scooped her up, and shouted, "Rex, take us to the teleportation stone!"

***

Rex arrived at the crest of the crater then collapsed to his knees and rolled to his back. "We're here," he breathed, utterly exhausted. Alf hid a smile as he looked at him; the poor guy's legs had to feel like pudding.

Zaphaniea tapped his arm. "I need to be right next to it."

He nodded, jumped over the lip leading into the crater, slid down the side, and made his way to the giant gray slab laying crookedly near the center of the oddly-shaped hollow.

As he trotted up to the teleportation stone, his body shuddered, and the memory of Vackzilian standing right where he now stood stopped him in his tracks. It might be his imagination, but he swore he could feel the usurper's immense evil power still lingering in the area.

Olivia, who had followed him down into the basin via Travers Wake, stepped up beside him and wearily laid her head on his shoulder.

For a brief moment, as her eyes met his, Alf's worries faded into the background, and the anxieties of the day drained away. He smiled tenderly at her; they had been through a lot within the last few hours. In spite of it all, though, they were both still alive, and even though neither of them said anything, he could feel the barriers between them crumbling away.

Zaphaniea elbowed him, drawing him back to the present, and Alf gently laid the champion down on the teleportation stone.

"About... time," she teased looking at both of them with a sly look in her eyes.

Alf's cheeks flushed in embarrassment, but the slight slur in the champion's voice drew most of his attention. He couldn't help but frown in concern as she raised her trembling hands and started charging a spell.

Olivia leaned close to him and whispered, "She'll be okay. They gave her a pretty potent herbal cocktail before we left."

"Good," Alf answered as Olivia pulled away and asked, "Can you explain what you're doing?"

Zaphaniea nodded as she struggled to concentrate, and Olivia's eyes lit up with keen interest as the champion started her explanation.

Alf chuckled. Olivia's curiosity knew no bounds. There was no magic spell, no item, and no technology safe from her inquisitive mind. She was once caught as a child by Harold trying to break into the family's vault so she could examine and dissect the magical artifacts sealed inside.