CHAPTER XVIII

Kurama and the rest barely dodged the sparks, but Chu was not so lucky. He had his back turned and was hit directly. His back arched as the raw energy entered his body.

"Chu!" cried Natsume with concern, running to Chu's side. Ringo did the same.

"Don't worry, he'll do just fine." said Ringo after observing the fallen ally.

"Not if he stays here!" said Jin who was suddenly by their side. "I'll take him back to the Koorime village." with that, a gust of wind carried Chu with Jin following close behind.

"Kisama...!" cursed Natsume. She approached Mayef, but another group of zombies immediately came between them.

"This is helpless!" said Kouko, "There's no end to these mindless fools!"

"I know..." said Touya thoughtfully. "What I don't understand is, why Mayef is using these zombies on us."

"True..." said Enki beside him. "All these zombies could ever do is slow us down."

"He's right." said Kurama. "If Mayef wants us dead, he would have done it by now!"

"Kissama..." hissed Kuwabara, "He's just playing with us!"

"Enough!" yelled Hiei. His bandages flew in the air as he brandished the mark of he black dragon on his arm. "Sou ensatsu..." he hissed, "Kokoryo haa!!!"

The air was pierced by a cry of rage. A black dragon emerged from Hiei's small body snarling it's hungry jaws and headed towards Mayef.

"Mayef!" called a soft voice. "Mayef! Come. Come to me!"

"Yes, Fera, I'll come with you...I'll follow you anywhere you go...!"

Mayef answered her back in his mind. Everything in his mind. It was just another illusion. If only it was real. He looked up into the real world, where these fools were trying to keep him away from his Fera. He saw the snarling black dragon before him, but in its place, he saw instead the face of the one whom have hurt his Fera so. The Mozoku who have kept his beloved's heart. Lifting his arm towards the unwanted sight, he brushed it away, like a cobweb hanging before him in an old forgotten fortress.

The black dragon shrieked as it lost it's prey. It trashed towards the rest of the zombies, dividing twice, trice, to eat them all.

"ah, I almost forgot," said Mayef to himself, "My beloved is about to come, and yet the place is a complete mess! I still have a lot of cleaning to do..." With that, Mayef turned his back on the group and started to walk away, dissolving into mist.

"Where the hell did he go?" yelled Yusuke.

"Baka!" replied Kuwabara, "You should be thankful that he's gone!"

"He's right, mozoku." said Mukuro. She watched as Hiei summoned his dragons back and stood drowsily, looking at the clean path it had left behind. There were still more than a handfull of zombies left, but the others were quickly decreasing their size.

"Come. We must head back to the village to rest." said Enki.

"Right behind you." Kuwabara catches Hiei from falling. The little fire spirit has already fallen asleep.

Fera opened her eyes. Her head was aching and felt as if a sharp rock was hitting it in rhythm with her heart beat. Slowly, she raised herself from where she laid and looked around. She was back were Toji have taken her before; in the old cave. She saw Toji watching her in a corner and revert his eyes away.

"Fera sama." said the youki. "I am so sorry for what happened earlier. I wasn't able to defend you..."

"Back where?" asked Fera as she sniffled a yawn.

"Don't you remember what happened?"

"My head hurts." she rubbed her temple with a frown. "And I'm hungry too..." Fera looked at Toji. The other smirked and took a flask from beside him.

"I knew you would be." he said as he handed it to Fera. " I have something special for you before our trip, my lady." He handed Fera a silver platter on which was a raw piece of meat. Human meat.

"Where are we going?" asked Fera as she examined the strange piece of meat. Lamb, perhaps.

"We're heading for Makai to meet master Mayef."

"Makai?!?" asked Fera, licking her blood stained fingers, "Yusuke and my other friends went there yesterday! Will we meet them too?"

"But of course. But for now, Fera sama, you need to eat for your strength to come back."

Fera picked the meat up and smelled it. The scent was so familiar, yet so distant in her memory. She took a cautious bite, then another. Soon she was smacking her fingers, the meat all gone.

"Would you like some more, Fera sama?" asked the youki before her.

"No thanks, I'm already full."

"Good. Then it is time to leave."

With out a warning, the scene before them vanished and was replaced by the dark gates of makai. Fera shuddered at the sudden cold and realized that there were countless youki at the other side of the screen. They stretched out as far as the eye could see and stared at them. They all fell silent.

"Fera sama..." she heard a few gasp as they looked at her.

"Where's Mayef, Toji?" asked fera.

"He's at the other side of the border," replied her companion, "He's waiting there for you."

"But how do we get there?" Fera eyed the screen. "Doesn't it hurt to touch that screen?"

"You will take us there, my lady, you have the power to do so."

"But..."

"Remember what I told you back at Ningenkai?" said Toji, "Now, all you have to do is think of Mayef sama, and you will be where ever he is."

"Mayef..." repeated Fera.

She closed her eyes and thought of the gentle looking man with the sad eyes. She thought of his gentle smile and the golden hair that fell softly on his broad shoulders. Of his talking eyes and comforting voice. Slowly, little sparks of energy surrounded Fera, glowing around her like a golden halo.

"Now," said Toji from beside her, "open your eyes."

Fera opened her eyes. She was no longer in the dark, damp borders of Makai, but in a spacious room filled with light. There were numerous windows around her where a beautiful garden alive with flowers and fruit could be seen. Before her stood Mayef, his pine green eyes, blank and dead suddenly came alive. They were round with amazement and disbelief as they stared down at the golden pair before them. He held in his arms a bouquet of roses which instantly fell to the ground as he held the beloved Menear in his tender arms.

"Fera..." said Mayef in a quivering voice, "could this be real or are you just another illusion?"

"Mayef..." whispered Fera. Her arms wound themselves around the other, as if they had a mind of their own. "Who are you?"

Mayef pulled gently away from her. He looked puzzled and hurt. He was still holding her as he analyzed what she meant.

"Mayef sama." said Toji, kneeling beside them, "Fera sama have lost her memories, but bits of it seem to return every now and then."

"Is that so?" replied Mayef, holding Fera tighter, "Daijoubu, my love, I shall help you remember." With that, Mayef took Fera's hand and led her to one of the windows on the other side of the huge hall way. Fera gazed outside with the other youki behind her, his arms wrapped across her abdomen.

"Is this Makai, Mayef?" This side was a waste land, full of barren lands and bare fields.

"Yes, Fera, but not quite as you remember it..."

Suddenly, leaves of green sprouted from the ground and scattered throughout the fields. Beautiful trees followed and burst into blossoms and ripening fruits. The ground opened up and a gurgling spring sprouted from it. The crystal clear water flowed and created a stream were colorful fishes splashed. Everything was beautiful.

"Aah..." gasped Fera with amazement, "It's so beautiful!" She looked at Mayef, he was looking down at her longingly. "Mayef, how did you do that?!?"

"Magic, Fera," the other replied "It's the power of life." Mayef leaned over and kissed the blood red lips. Fera blushed as a familiar feeling overcame her.

"It's the power of love."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~