Chosen Legacy (Book Five of the Chosen Universe)

Chapter Thirteen

LIZA

The bird that appeared before her began speaking excitedly. Hurry! Come with me! Lido requires you! It said.

"Hmmm... Lido doesn't usually go out of his way to contact me," Liza said aloud. "Okay. Is he home?" The bird chirped in the affirmative, so Liza nodded. "I'll be right there." She opened a portal and found her way to Lido's hut.

"I got your message," she said casually as she entered the house.

"Hello, Liza," Lido said. "You are actually here for Denni."

"Denni... Conner's daughter, right? Hi, nice to meet you. What's up?" Liza asked the girl who sat on the cot in the hut.

"Liza... Lido says you're really powerful with magic," Denni said.

"I'm a Campbell Sorceress, so yeah. Why?"

"Zell gave me two powers when he had me... The ability to heal pretty much instantly, and apparently, immortality. They're useful, and I'd like to keep them, but I don't want them to be under his control. Do you think you can break his spells and then recast them yourself? I'd rather be tied to someone I can trust, and Lido suggested you."

Liza considered this. "I can remove the powers for sure. Power extraction's one of my stronger skills. As for giving them back... I can cleanse the instant healing and give that back without an issue... Immortality's not a power, though... Not exactly. I'd have to make you immortal myself."

"Can you do that?"

"Well, I mean... Xia turned a horse immortal, so how much harder can it be to do it for a person, right? Sure. I'll figure it out."

"Liza... This is very intense magic. Are you certain?" Lido asked.

"I'm certain that Denni having powers Zell has control of is a very bad idea. I'll find a way," Liza promised.

Five minutes later, she started the magic. She was easily able to extract the instant healing, and it wasn't as hard as she'd imagined it would be to strip the immortality from Denni. However, when she pulled the last of it out, something attacked her. Liza was flung against the wall by an invisible force. She hit her head hard.

"Liza!" Denni cried in alarm as Liza started having a seizure.

The next thing she knew, Lido was holding onto her. "Owwww..." Liza mumbled. She put her hand to her head and came away with blood. "Ugh. Asshole."

"Are you okay?" Denni asked.

"He booby-trapped the spells. I'm fine... Just sore."

"Liza... Take a break," Lido said firmly. He began tending to her head injury. He called in Tedius, who quickly healed the bulk of the damage.

Her head was killing her, but she knew she needed to finish what she'd started. After about an hour of rest, Liza cleansed the instant healing ability before transferring it back to Denni. Then, the bigger part of her work began.

Xia, guide me... She thought. She hoped her ancestor would give her the strength to pull this off. She knew Zell wouldn't see losing control of Denni's powers coming, and that was important. She could do this...

It took everything she had, but Liza was able to restore the immortality to Denni. Right after she did it, her nose began to bleed. "Ugh..." Liza groaned. "That's never a good sign..." She mumbled to herself.

"Liza... You must rest," Lido said firmly. "Stay the night. You cannot return home like this."

Liza sighed. "You're right. Okay, I'll crash here tonight... I just need a good night's rest and I'll be fine. I burned myself out a little bit."