Zelgadis' Gambit
Chapter: 7
The Showdown
To say Lina was angry was an understatement. She was ready to declare war on all thieves and bandits until she found Zelgadis and gave him a piece of her mind. She stomped down the road as she grumbled to herself about how she was going to kill a chimera once she saw him again. It was at this moment that Lina heard from behind her, "Don't worry Miss Lina. He might have gotten ahead of us but we will stop the Black Wolf."
Lina gnashed her teeth at the sound of Amelia's voice. She had not told her or Gourry that the Black Wolf was actually their friend Zelgadis Greywords. She could not bring herself to do it but at the same time could not help but want to beat him into the ground for what he had done. Lina continued walking while venting some of her anger, "Yeah Amelia, but have you stopped to think that while you where looking for me the Wolf and his goons grabbed three other paintings. We only have one left."
Amelia frowned as she could tell that Lina was not happy that the Black Wolf had made fools of them once again. This thief had shown his skill but Amelia was sure that the main reason Lina was so passionate about catching the man was because he did not fear the name Lina Inverse and did not quake or show any signs that he was worried because she was around. It had to be a different feeling for Lina as most people would cower if fear at the mention of her name but this man took on her challenge without even showing a bit of fear or stress. 'It's new to Miss Lina most people wouldn't dare make her angry and yet this man seems to enjoy it,' Amelia thought as she watched Lina stay in her funk as they continued down the road.
Lina continued to march along as she continued to curse Zelgadis' name in the back of her mind. They were heading to the place where the last painting was kept and she could not wait to pay him back for their last meeting. 'Oh, don't worry Zel. I'll make sure you pay for humiliating me and once I'm done I might think about forgiving you,' Lina thought as she smiled evilly and ran her hands together.
It had taken most of the day but soon Lina and company had made it to the place that held the last painting of Lei Magnus. Much to Lina's chagrin the paintings home was the royal palace of Zoana. Lina and her crew walked into the throne room to be greeted by Martina and Zangulus looking at them from their thrones. Zangulus smirked before replying, "So Lina, I hope you come in peace this time...we really can't afford to rebuild the city again."
Lina ground her teeth before breathing deep and answering, "No, we are here you warn and help you."
"Warn us of what," Martina asked as she looked at the young sorceress with a bit of suspicion.
"You are the owners of the sixth painting of Lei Magnus. The Black Wolf has returned and laid claim to the five other paintings. If we do not stop him here then all will be lost," Lina replied as she looked at the two monarchs.
Zangulus thought for a second before saying, "I had heard that the infamous thief had returned...but why are you interested in him?"
"None of your business," Lina replied as she looked away and incline her nose.
Martina smiled before replying, "I get it...he must have insulted the all mighty Lina Inverse and gotten away."
Lina glared at the young woman before saying, "Look do you want our help or not. He has bested all of the security of the other five locations. Again, if he gets the last one then he will never be caught."
Zangulus nodded before saying, "Ladies, let's worry about the thief. Lina we welcome you to help protect the last painting but I must ask you not to blow up the city this time."
Lina blushed as she was reminded about the last time she had come to the kingdom. After shaking off the feeling Lina nodded before saying, "Fine, show me where the painting is kept."
It was late at night in the royal gallery as the group of guards kept watch over the last painting. As the night dragged on the guards tried to keep themselves from getting sloppy. The Black Wolf would be coming for the painting the only question was when he would arrive. As the clock struck the midnight hour two black balls landed on the floor of the gallery. Before the guards could attempt to investigate the balls burst and unleashed a gas into the room. The guards could not even yell as the gas knocked them out. As the gas began to clear a bubble lowered down to the floor carrying the Wolf, Fox, and Jackal. Zelgadis let the bubble go as he approached the last painting. "Finally, the last painting...all the work has been worth it."
Zelgadis approached the painting before he heard from behind, "Too bad all that work for nothing."
All the lights in the gallery came on to reveal a mass amount of guards surrounding them. At the front stood Lina Inverse with a smirk on her face. She moved forward slowly before saying, "How does it feel to be the one on the receiving end Wolf?"
Zelgadis smiled before turning, looking at his two lieutenants, and saying, "Fox get the painting...Jackal I'll give you half."
"Very gracious," Jackal replied as he squared up to fight the mass of guards.
Lina huffed before saying, "You're an idiot if you think you can defeat all of us."
"Clearly, Lina you have never dealt with a corner wolf," before pulling the sword hilt from his belt and commanded, "Light come forth!"
The sword of light came to life at the will of its new master. As Zelgadis stood and waited for the attack before hearing from his left, "Hey, that's my sword!"
The whole room facefaulted on the weight of the broken tension before Lina stood up and shouted, "Gourry just shut up and attack!"
The mass of guards moved forward as the thieves moved towards them. Jackal produced move of his gas balls as began to throw them into the back of the guards before switching to normal smoke bombs. "Heads up," Jackal called as he tossed a group into the air.
The smoke bombs arched over Jackal's head before landing and throwing up a smoke screen around the room. The guards tried to find their way towards their target but the smoke made it hard to see. As the front group moved their target became apparent as the sword of light swung at them knocking multiple guys down. On the other side there was a lot of shouting along with a lot of clanging as the high pitches of martial arts was heard. Lina knew that it was to Zel's advantage to keep the smoke up so she shouted, "Duck," before casting, "Bomb Di Wind!"
The wind blew through the room and cleared the smoke to just see the thieves had gathered around each other. The one named Fox had gotten the painting out of the frame and was handing it to Zelgadis before he smirked and said, "Too late."
With that Jackal opened his cloak and more smoke bombs exploded around them. Lina watched as she waited for their move. First, out was Jackal, attacking the guards with a flying kick before running for an exit. Second, was Fox as she produced knives and copied Jackal but going out of the opposite side. Lina cursed as she called up, "Ray Wing," and headed for the roof knowing Zel had taken off already.
Lina crashed through the dome and came clear of the smoke to see Zelgadis flying off into the distance. Lina took off after him while hearing, "Miss Lina wait," from behind her as Amelia had taken to the air after her.
Zelgadis landed back in his base knowing Lina was on his tail. He shouted as he ran towards the front, "We are under attack...to your post!"
As he was running in a ton of bandits ran outside to prepare themselves for the attack. 'Give me time,' he thought in the back of his mind as he ran down the stairs to where he kept the rest of the paintings.
Zelgadis hit the stairs, lunging down them three and four at a time, before hitting the bottom and running into his technical lab. He unrolled the painting and placed it in the spot waiting for it. He backed up and drew the sword of light while thinking, 'This should show the incantation,' before shouting, "Light Come Forth!"
As the light shown from the sword he could see words forming on the paintings. He smiled as he thought, 'Here we go,' while he began to chant the incantation.
Lina was coming up quick on an abandoned building in the middle of the forest. She recognized the place. It was the same base Zelgadis had used when they had first met, 'Old habits die hard I guess.'
As Lina drew closer she dove as arrows were launched at her. She pulled up slightly before casting a fireball on the first line of the defense. She rolled again as more arrows came her way. "Okay, that's it," she shouted before yelling, "Dragon Slave!"
The spell exploded as it leveled everything within the area. Lina landed where the church used to be and walked around. She looked around for a lower level as she knew Zel would be smart enough to bury the area he was working in underground. After a moment she came across the a hole with a stairway built into it. "Found you," Lina proclaimed as she raced down the stairs as she heard chanting from below.
Zel was in the middle of the incantation when he felt the ground shake. In the back of the his mind he knew that was Lina. He continued on and hoped he could complete the spell before she got through the defenses. As he was to the last stanza of the spell he heard from behind, "Give it up Zel...It's over."
He ignored her and continued as he was almost there. He heard her run towards him but he kept going. As he was about to finish he felt her crash into him before he hit the ground. He opened his eyes to find Lina on top of him while saying, "It's over."
As he was about to reply the whole room shook. They both looked up to see an odd glow coming off of the paintings. "What did you do," Lina shouted as she looked back at Zelgadis.
"You are the one that stopped the incantation," Zelgadis shouted back before both were hit with an energy from the painting.
Both Zel and Lina disappeared as the spell released its energy into the room. After a moment all was quiet until a voice called, "Miss Lina?"
Amelia walked down into the room to find nothing but the paintings. She was happy that the paintings had been recovered but her friend was missing. "Miss Lina where are you?"
Disclaimer: Any characters or ideas from The Slayers do not belong to me. I am not selling this material, just writing for the heck of it as I go.
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