IV

True to Lina's word the broken remains of the towers came into sight well before dusk began throwing its shadows over the land. Seven of them in all, made of various substances, in various shapes, in various forms of decay. The most intact was a gracefully curved one made of white and grey veined marble seemed to only be missing its roof, windows, and doors. The most ruined was nothing more than a heap of limestone on top of a pentagon foundation.

Lina whistled appreciatively. It would take at least a week to search all the towers, and that was if she found nothing. If she found something it could take much longer depending on what it was and if it was completed and intact.

Xelloss had heard of these sorcerers shortly after they had formed their circle. Many lords, insulted by the sorcerers' unwillingness to obey or even pay tribute to any of them had sought to destroy the circle. Every army sent broke upon the towers like ocean waves and were either destroyed or sent packing with the powerful magic wielded by the circle. It was a great place to stop by and enjoy a feast of human suffering as the armies were defeated, or so he heard. Fear wasn't really to his tastes; he preferred sweeter tastes of anger, annoyance, and frustration.

"Come on, Xelloss!"

Lina headed directly for the white and grey marble tower. The most intact was probably her best chance of finding something useful. As she disappeared into the tower, Xelloss paused outside and opened his eyes looking south. He could feel the dragons even from this distance. Dynast would be destroyed if he didn't ask either Beast Master or Deep Sea for assistance. And his time was short; the army was on the move already heading north.

Lina looked up at the Mysterious Priest with an annoyed expression. Four hours he'd been sitting in the southwest facing window frame. The entire time he'd been silent, focused on whatever lay beyond her sight. It wasn't like him at all to be ignoring her or be so serious and quiet for such a long period of time. The fact that she hadn't broke the code on the notes she'd found wasn't helping her mood either.

She slammed the book shut. "So are you going to tell me what's out there yet?"

Xelloss looked startled. Almost like he had forgotten she was there. That pissed the sorceress off even more. Demon or not, he wasn't supposed to forget he was with a beautiful sorcery genius.

Her anger evaporated quickly when he turned his eyes towards her. Even though she was beginning to get used to them, it still took her back a little when he really looked at her like that. A small genuine smile touched his lips.

"Don't worry about it yet." He looked back out the window speculatively. "It will be a while before it will involve us."

Lina's heart jumped when he said us. She immediately called herself an idiot for getting excited over such a simple word. When she looked back at the notes though, her mind was only on the demon in the window.

Several long minutes later, having read the same line more than a dozen times without comprehending it, Lina's nails dug into the book's worn leather cover. Her eyes were drawn up to the demon still sitting in the window staring southwest. Impulse took over and Lina chucked the book at his head.

"Wow I feel SO much better," Lina gushed and grinned as the book connected solidly with the back of Xelloss' head.

"Ow! What was that for?" Xelloss was rubbing the bump left by the heavy book.

"Just because," Lina said immediately, mostly for the lack of a better reason. At least one she felt like sharing. It was much easier to say just because instead of confessing that you are feeling neglected and want attention.

"Well that's certainly not very…" Xelloss stopped in mid whine.

This time Lina was aware of something outside the tower as well. Something very large was flying by the towers, the sound of large wings flapping rapidly drown out all the sounds of the local wildlife.

Xelloss backed away from the window, and stood next to Lina. He hoped the dragon scout would just pass them by. Although it would be an easy task to kill it, Xelloss really didn't want to call attention to himself with an entire army of dragons passing through the area. Especially since Lina was here, and he had orders not to get involved yet.

Lina opened her mouth to ask Xelloss a question and he placed a gloved finger over her lips and shook his head. She closed her mouth again but gave Xelloss death glares. She really detested not knowing what was going on.

As close as Xelloss was to Lina, he could not help his attention drifting to her soft skin and subtle curves. His shoulders shook silently with his mental chuckle. He wouldn't use the word little even in his own mind. She probably would sense it and throw him out to the dragon since he obviously was trying very hard to avoid attracting its attention.

The dragon's flapping slowed as it neared the towers. Lina turned her attention back to Xelloss to try and see what he was planning on doing. Her eyes widened in surprise as his lips covered hers and a hand rested along her cheek with his fingers in her hair.

Well obviously he's not worried about the dragon, she thought. Still she couldn't figure out why he didn't want to be noticed. Usually he rather enjoyed intimidating solitary dragons with his mere presence. Anymore thoughts she had on the matter were wiped away with his tongue entering her mouth. Xelloss had her complete attention as her body started to heat up again. The ease of which he accomplished that was also beginning to bug her, and she could only hope that she had a similar effect on him.

Xelloss was the only one to notice when the dragon started to move on, for which he was doubly glad. It would have been extremely annoying to have his time with Lina interrupted.

Lina turned in his arms to face Xelloss. His hands moved down her body and he pushed her back towards the wall. When they reached the wall, Xelloss slid his hands down Lina's back, down to her thighs, and picked her up in a swift motion. Pressed against the wall with Xelloss' body hard against hers, Lina was surprised that it was not uncomfortable. Normally leaning against cold stone was bad enough, but with Xelloss burning trails across all of her body that he touched it was rather nice.