Lineage of Zeal, Book One: Rosemary

Chapter Twenty-three: Thorns of the Past

"Is he alright? He seems to be pretty intact for all the gore around here."

"Well, this is Courtney we're dealing with. He's been through quite a lot following Rosemary around. If I had to guess, I'd say she's the one who did this to him so his blood wouldn't be out there too. She seems pretty rough, but she's not a bad person. I wouldn't be helping her if she was."

"Where is she, anyway? Wasn't she with you?"

"She was, but then you happened. And I don't feel her in the area. She probably left after she took care of things with those Faith knights. That sounds like her, leaving sleeping beauty here so he won't get into trouble while she charges into battle. She really does care for him, even if she wouldn't admit it in a thousand years. Too bad for Courtney she has a strange way of showing it."

Courtney felt a grunt coming on, but he resisted, opting for a less unbeautiful sigh. The prince sat up and opened his eyes with a lethargy that suggested he was a blind man seeing light for the first time. On his right, he noticed Leviticus kneeling next to him, a curious expression on his face. On Courtney's left was a woman he was unfamiliar with that shone brightly of purple. Courtney wasn't sure what to make of this stranger. She wasn't present when he awoke earlier, nor was she when Rosemary—

"Where is she?!" the prince demanded of the incubus, grabbing two fistfuls of beige tunic. "Where's Rosemary?!"

"We were hoping you could tell us," said Leviticus, rising together with Courtney and catching the prince when his legs momentarily gave way. "Or did she not say anything before she put you back to sleep?"

"No! You misunderstand!" said the prince as he stumbled about the bloody battlefield, Leviticus close at hand. "There was something wrong here, something different. She took on that dark form, but she was no different from her normal self!"

Leviticus grabbed just above the prince's elbow to stabilize him. "You mean she's overcome her demon? That should be a good thing, shouldn't it?"

Courtney pulled free from Leviticus's hand and fell to his knees amidst the blood-spattered grass. "Do you not realize what that means? Have you no combat experience? When she was that dark being before, there was no room in her mind for compromise. She could not be reasoned with. She destroyed on a whim."

Again, Leviticus knelt by Courtney's right, and Lavender shadowed the incubus. "But that's a good thing. She won't be controlled by demonic impulse."

"You have no idea how the combative mind works, do you, Leviticus?" Courtney laid both palms on his forehead, closed his eyes, and dropped his chin to his chest. "The strength of Rosemary's demonic form was not her increased power, but her impulses themselves. They were murderous impulses, desires to kill, to destroy everything between her and her desires without holding back. Now, when she assumes that form, she retains her humanity. And you, my demonic friend, should realize that though she much enjoys battle, she has little desire to kill her opponents without such an action being made necessary."

Leviticus looked from the ground to Courtney, whose face remained hidden behind loose hair. "So this means...?"

Courtney ran a gloved hand through his hair and interlaced his fingers behind his neck as he looked to the cloudless sky. "This, Leviticus, means that if her opponent realizes this, Rosemary can be goaded into making a predictable mistake. One that will render all her power to naught and leave her open to attack. A greatsword has immense power, but if you can predict the path of the blade, all that power is reduced to nothing."

"It was a weapon!" Leviticus exclaimed, jumping to his feet. "Lavender, what was that weapon their leader had? Could you tell its origin?"

Lavender flushed and looked away from Leviticus. "I'm not exactly great at sensing things outside of human souls. If you hadn't been making your presence so apparent like you were, I wouldn't have known you were there."