Chapter Twelve: Wait! Taking a breather is necessary!
A/N:
The author's notes are at the START for a purpose.
First off, I am so very, very sorry for the long delay. Frankly, I'm surprised that people are still reading this, and still asking me to finish it. Well, darn it, Slayers Revolution has started, so there's some inspiration.
It's been a long time and many things have happened RL, but the thing was, I had written myself into a great, big, fat hole and had no idea how to write myself out of it. None of the options I had for a long time made sense, nor did they stay true to the characters, all of whom had pretty much come to life and trounced my neat little plot.
Also…
Last September 12, 2003, Za Metallium, my fellow Slayers fanfic writer and a very dear and old friend, died. I miss her so much.
More RL things happened. I graduated, surviving my final year in college. I had gotten married and the marriage had fallen apart, and since then I've met someone else, and had a son with that man, named Rhys. My father also passed away unexpectedly early 2006, and since then I've been rather preoccupied with the task of keeping my family afloat and surviving. In other words, RL reared up, and didn't just eat me, it swallowed me whole and let me marinate in it's belly.
Even so, my thoughts would turn back to this story. Every so often, I would open it up, and look, and read, and try to figure it out. It's taken me years, but that's just how hard that problem was to write out of and still maintain a sense of reasonable feasibility that I've been using in my plots. The story had grown and I had lost control of it.
For years. It's annoyed me, and now, hopefully, I'm finally able to try write myself out of that Pit of Author Doom. If the writing style has changed noticeably, it's because my writing style seems to have changed.
To Za, my darling imouto-chan, and my Dad, this is for you. I promised to keep writing. I will keep writing.
Gourry glanced up at where Zelgadiss perched in the branches far above the camp. He was privately surprised that the boughs hadn't broken under the stone—skinned Chimera, but then, Zel was leaning against the trunk, where the branch was strongest. He blended in perfectly into the light—and—shadow patterns of dim starlight and darkness.
With a sigh, Gourry turned to look at where Sylphiel lay hidden tucked into her cozy den. He would have liked nothing more than to curl up with her, for the night had only grown colder as the hours passed. The swordsman fancied that his breath was beginning to frost the air.
But he could not allow himself the luxury of sleep. Not when he had failed so abysmally, the one he had sworn to protect with his life.
I wonder if she is all right. Inwardly, secretly, Gourry cursed Filia's wanton disregard for anyone else's safety but her own. If it hadn't been for her…
No. If I had guarded like I'm supposed to, none of this would have happened. Guarding's my job, and I was stupid for ignoring my duty. Guiltily, Gourry stared at the fallen tree under which Milgazia had made shelter for himself, Val and Lina. Worry gnawed at the blond—haired man's heart, sawing away at his self—confidence. Countless questions floated through his mind, all dealing with the desire to know that Lina was okay, that he would have the chance to redeem himself as her guardian.
Finally, deciding that Zel could keep watch alone for a few moments, Gourry crept to the burrow in which Milgazia and Lina slept, moving quietly.
To his surprise, Milgazia was awake, sitting with his legs folded under him, cradling the precious egg that contained Val inside. The Ryuzoku Elder held it cuddled against his chest, the tatters of his cloak further wrapped around the nest basket. A soft, dim magical light lit the tiny chamber, though there was no discernable source. Gourry bit back a gasp of surprise, seeing the Elder's eyes glowing a preternatural gold in the dim light, but relaxed when the Dragon beckoned for him to enter.
Gourry managed to crawl into the cubby until half of him was inside. The rest of the tiny space was taken up by Lina's belongings, and Lina herself. Milgazia had bundled her up in thick blankets, and all the blond swordsman could see of her was her pale face, her dark lashes and the small 'o' of her mouth stark and visible in the near—blackness of the den. The den itself was warm, much warmer than outside, as though there was a blazing fire just a few feet away.
"What is it, Gourry?" Milgazia whispered, his lips barely moving.
Gourry looked up at him, and then back at Lina, who slept blissfully, cocooned in warmth. "I was just wondering…Will she be all right?"
"She is much better than before, Gourry." Milgazia reached out and took Gourry's hand by the wrist, and placed his hand against her cheek. "She is warm now."
Gourry felt all his muscles nearly give out in relief. "Yeah. That's good, right?" he frowned slightly, placing his other hand against his own forehead. "She feels feverish."
Milgazia nodded. "That means her immune system is fighting off the poison. The fever is burning it from inside, and soon she will be well."
"Oh." With a sigh of some relief, Gourry relaxed again. "That's good to hear. I haven't seen Lina this sick, ever." His hand lifted from her cheek and clenched into a fist. "I can't believe that a bunch of damned bandits got the better of her. If you hadn't been there…" Bright blue eyes lifted to meet glowing gold ones. "Thank you, Milgazia. I don't even want to think of what would have happened if you hadn't been there to keep an eye out for Lina. In a way, I think I failed her. You did my job for me… watching over her." Dimmed with sorrow and guilt, those blue eyes lit upon Lina's pale face again. "I'm sorry, Lina. I failed you. I wasn't there when you needed me the most and look where it got you."
Milgazia gazed at the young man, and understood. "You feel that you failed her, by not being at her side, as you feel was your duty."
Gourry nodded, his expression aggrieved. "I should have been there."
Milgazia was silent a few moments, then he spoke. "Events happened too fast for us to fall to our usual roles in a crisis. Amelia and Sylphiel were the only ones in the camp when Lina and I arrived, and we don't know how long ago it was before that the bandits had raided our camp. It has been long enough surely, for them to have gone back to their fortress. Immediate action had to be taken, or else worse may have happened to Val. You and Zelgadiss had to remain behind, and I assume Zelgadiss was the one who chose to patrol, am I not correct?"
Gourry paused, frowning, then asked, "Let me get this straight…you're saying that you and Lina had to charge right after the bandits because you didn't know how long ago they'd stolen our stuff, right?"
Milgazia nodded. "That is correct. I think Lina found Val's egg inside an oven."
"Okay, got that. And the rest of what you said is that Zel and I had to stay behind and keep an eye on the girls, and Zel was the one who wanted to patrol, right?"
"Yes." Milgazia sounded puzzled. "Why do you ask?"
"Oh, just making sure I got it. You're a lot more patient, Milgazia, than Lina is. If I didn't get it, she'd just bash me over the head for being stupid." A shy grin appeared on Gourry's youthful face, making him even younger. "Lina talks a lot, and she can sometimes sound like my old schoolteacher, and my teacher's voice always put me to sleep, you see…"
A slight sweatdrop appeared on Milgazia's brow. "I see…"
Gourry shrugged. "Yeah, well… I understand what you're trying to say, Milgazia… I know it's true and that there wasn't anything I could have done to change how things happened. But see… it's my job to protect Lina. So even though I know that there isn't anything I could have done I still feel that it was my fault for not being there to protect her."
Milgazia tilted his head slightly to the side, in that faintly draconic way he still retained in his human form. "I think she would have been much angrier if she found out that you abandoned your task of protecting Sylphiel and Amelia."
Gourry looked up in surprise. "What do you mean?"
"I believe that Lina knows you would do the right thing — stay behind and watch over the others, because they were in as much danger as we were. We did not know that there wasn't an ambush waiting for us when we returned to camp, and if there was, and all of us had gone, leaving Sylphiel and Amelia behind…"
"Yeah…" Gourry's eyes widened all the more. "I see what you mean."
"Zelgadiss would have known too, that it was better for him to go on patrol, not you. We were all assuming then that whoever had taken our belongings could also overwhelm a Ryuzoku like Filia," Milgazia continued.
"Yeah, I remember Zel said something like it. That it would be better for him to go because he was magic and I wasn't… well, my sword is but that's something else. You could probably drop a huge rock on Zel and nothing would happen to him. Me, if I didn't see it coming… though that would be hard to miss, I'd go splat." Gourry shook his head. "And what would Sylphiel do then? I know it would break her heart if something happened to me, even though I know that somehow she knows that it might happen someday."
"You belittle your abilities as warrior. You stood with Lina and the others against dangers that should have overwhelmed you, but here you are, alive and well." Seeing Gourry's eyes glaze over slightly as the swordsman tried to puzzle out the praise, the Dragon Lord continued to speak. "As for Sylphiel… you are the man she loves, Gourry. You and she are promised to wed, and your duty is to protect her, and to make sure that she will always have a husband to welcome back from battle." Milgazia's lips curved into a smile, though the swordsman couldn't see it. "I Witnessed your proposal, remember?"
Gourry felt a light blush color his cheeks for a reason he couldn't understand. He felt almost sure the ancient Ryuzoku was teasing him, but he wasn't ever sure, with Milgazia. He returned his gaze to Lina, and shook his head. "Until I find Lina a new guardian though, I'm still her guardian."
Milgazia reached out and patted his wrist comfortingly. "I am aware of that. But taking care of Lina is not your job alone. It is ours, and similarly, she watches over us. We are, after all, friends, are we not?"
"Yeah." Gourry's smile returned. "Friends look out for each other. And they also keep promises. I promised, Milgazia. I promised Lina I'd look out for her."
"Then I make this promise to you, Gourry Gabriev…" Milgazia held his hand out solemnly. "I swear on my life to watch over her whenever you cannot."
Gourry stared into the softly glowing eyes, and did what he always did… obey his gut feel. The blond swordsman reached out and clasped the Dragon Elder's hand tightly in acceptance of the promise. "I'll hold you to that vow. If you break it, you answer to me."
"I shall not break it."
"You better not." Gourry grinned. "I'd hate to beat up on a friend."
Zelgadiss slipped quietly from one tree to the next, as silent as the mist that blanketed the wood. As daylight had colored the sky from velvety black to deep purple, he had decided to find a more defensible position. He woke Amelia and Sylphiel from their cubbies and told them to break camp as quickly as possible. He ignored Filia, who sat looking up at them with large uncertain eyes, her gloved hands wringing themselves nervously on her lap. If she wants to make herself useful, I don't have to tell her what to do.
Zelgadiss finally found a steep incline that ended up as a thirty foot sheer cliff wall, slippery vines snaking up the stone face. A tiny treelike bush clung to a minute ledge, its small, red berry like fruit resembling apples. The vines hid a small cave, barely six feet in floor area, and with a low—ceiling that Amelia had to bend in. She discovered a crack in the wall that allowed her to discover another chamber beyond, and set to the task of making the crack wider, chipping away at the wall with carefully placed spells. Milgazia ordered Filia to haul the group's belongings to the cavern, carrying Lina carefully in his arms, Val's egg lying upon her belly. The once—proud Dragon Maiden complied without a word. Sylphiel set about helping Amelia widen the hole, while Milgazia did the former Shrine Maiden's normal task of gathering together breakfast, foraging amongst the bushes near the cliff wall, and harvesting some of the tiny tree's berries. Gourry and Zelgadiss eliminated the traces of their former encampment, discovered a nest of quail's eggs and set about preparing new traps.
Milgazia and Filia took over the job of widening the cavern door, Milgazia having the younger Ryuzoku put her mace to good use. She burst through the wall, finding herself in a chamber much larger and more comfortable than the outer one. They lost no time in moving Lina, Val and their various belongings into the new chamber, while Milgazia explored the rest of the cave. He came back, reporting that he had found a freshwater spring, and a natural chimney that let fresh air into the cave. While Amelia and Sylphiel strengthened the cave walls with various spells and prayers, Filia was made to prepare the morning meal. Gourry and Zelgadiss went to work digging pitfalls and lining them with miniature dug haut spells, and Milgazia looked for the chimney entrance with the hopes of disguising it.
For Filia, though she moved with careful efficiency, the few hours spent in preparation seemed like an eternity of mistakes. She crushed the tiny eggs in her fingers as she fried them, and was unable to pick out all the eggshells. She put too much salt in one egg. The skillet had heated too much and burned the last two. The hot oil burst and splattered her. Sylphiel came and helped clean her up, and gave Filia the prepared skillet bread for her to fry. Filia thought that making the loaves bigger than the prescribed two inch balls would mean better meals for everyone, but only resulted in having the centers of the bread uncooked. By the time Sylphiel took over, Filia felt that everything that the Elder Milgazia had said the night before was true.
I'm just a child playing at being an adult.
More than anything, Filia wanted to cry. To lose herself in tears and misery, like she would do when she couldn't lash out in rage, to seek refuge in weeping. Like a silly little girl.
Filia clenched her fists on her lap, having taken her meal separately from the others, curling up behind a stalagmite and trying to find support against its unmoving bulk. Tears formed, dewing her large blue eyes, but in her mind, she could practically hear Xelloss' taunting voice.
That's it, Filia…cry like the helpless maiden you really are. Useless! I'm so useless! I nearly got Val, Lina and Milgazia—sama killed! For what reason? Because Xelloss teased me with a song that I only proved true.
As if bad thoughts could summon a Mazoku, Xelloss himself appeared. He seemed to bleed right out of the shadows, and he practically radiated self—congratulatory satisfaction.
"Is there any sign of the enemy?" Zelgadiss asked.
"I noticed some of them creeping around, but I've rearranged all the traps I could find." Xelloss' grin turned particularly nasty, "So they're being extra careful not to lose too many limbs. In fact…" the Mazoku priest reached behind him and pulled from his cloak several vicious bear traps. "I had a few extra so I thought perhaps to decorate some a little closer to home."
With an almost fiendish delight, Xelloss ran one loving finger down the teeth of a trap. "Where shall we plant my lovely flowers? They will like to eat any pests who try to bother us."
Milgazia looked away, his own encounter with the cruel implements too fresh in his mind to appreciate the vicious but somehow righteous cruelty of the Mazoku Priest.
Gourry, however, regarded the traps with some unease. "The problem is, if we set them too close to our own base, we'll probably step on them ourselves."
Zelgadiss nodded assent. "That's quite true. I am not comfortable with our current defense perimeter; it is simply too lacking to do much protecting."
Sylphiel was looking upward, then blinked. "What if we put a trap up where the chimney is? We've concealed it, but …" she trailed off helplessly, then wrung her hands in dismay at the thought of setting the trap just there.
"That's a really good idea, Sylphiel…" Xelloss bowed deeply to her. "I didn't expect that to come from you." He cocked his head sideways. "No insult intended, of course."
Sylphiel shook her head. "I know how horrible those things are… but what those bandits did to Lina and Milgazia—san was far worse."
Amelia nodded. "I know how she feels. I'm not very happy about those things either, but I would rather they incapacitate our enemies instead of us… and we also have Lina to protect!" Her large blue eyes watered briefly, remembering the damage that had been done to her friend.
"Besides… if we leave them alone, who knows how long they'll terrorize this region." Gourry laid a comforting hand on Sylphiel's, and squeezed Amelia's shoulder. "There are plenty of innocent people they'll hurt. For all we know… they already have." He winked at Amelia. "All in the name of justice, right?"
They had found the gory remains of Greya's patrol, and what little they were able to find, led them to believe that this was the true reason why they banditkind had to fear the Bandit Slayer. This band were by no means soft nor weak, but upon seeing what was left of the once proud bandit maiden, several members had run off into the bushes to become violently ill. Those that remained wept, remembering her as one of the most dedicated and cunning of their company. The tales of pain and horror that were rumored to have been suffered by bandits under the cruel hands of the Bandits' Bane paled in the face of reality. The ones who did not run buried what remains they did find, and when the others returned, gathered up what weapons they had and turned to seek their revenge.
Their leader, Segrywr Stoneclaw the Weretiger, had been slain when the fortress had collapsed. Nearly two—thirds of their fighting force had been eradicated, buried alive under solid rock. Those that remained were thirsty for revenge, wanting nothing more than the head of the socereress called Lina Inverse, decorating the top of a pike. Now she was weak and if they were to have their vengeance, they would need to strike fast, and hard.
The one who had assumed command was a tall, wiry human named Iwashiro the Blade, once the leader of the raiding band known as Bloody Trail. Of Stoneclaw's remaining lieutenants, he was the most feared, his lust for blood outweighed only by his loyalty to the weretiger who he called master. Even fellow bandits took care not to anger him, for the Blade was known to kill men for the barest insult. His victims' skin was said to have been the source of leather for his gloves, hat and boots, and it was said his belt was braided with the hair of his female prey. With his lord's death, his bloodlust arose, and was at last in accord with his twisted honor's demand for vengeance.
Madness with purpose, Iwashiro stood upon the stone where they had found Greya's rapier buried up to the hilt in the granite boulder. None of them had been able to dislodge the blade from the stone, and it seemed to them that it served as a grave marker for all who had died that disastrous evening.
"It was thanks to the bold and solid leadership of Segrwyr Stoneclaw that we bandit gangs in the region united and formed a more disciplined, more profitable army. He gave us all a purpose, and look where it brought us: we were the most feared bandit gang in the region and we owned everything wild and unprotected from the border of Dils to the town of Keshva! Our territory has never been equaled in the past thousand years, and yet, with a small, demon—possessed witch's spell, we were laid low. We cannot allow this to pass, for are we not the Doom Brigade, forged together by ties stronger than mere greed?" he waited for the murmurs of agreement to die down. "Did we not terrorize this region for nearly two decades without pause, and no authority was strong enough to bring us down? Well I say a mere stripling sorceress who carved her reputation in blood upon foes weak and nothing like us must not defeat us! Let us teach the meaning of fear upon those who sought to destroy our fellowship of death!" A rousing cry was his answer, and deep inside him Iwashiro exulted, knowing he had them in his palm.
"My fellows… our foe is weak and poisoned. Even if the Red Haired Demon is living, she most assuredly is not capable of more than breath. She is the most powerful of our foes, and though her allies are worthy of caution, we are also legion compared to her small band. We can overwhelm them! For the memory of Stoneclaw, for the souls of our comrades in arms, we cannot rest until we have shed the blood of Lina Inverse, the Bandit Bane! May we all be cursed if we fail, our own deaths disturbed, until our purpose is met!"
"Kill Lina Inverse! Avenge Stoneclaw! Avenge the Doom Brigade's fallen! Kill Lina Inverse!!"
Ok, while at 6 pages this is very short of my usual 8 pages, I felt I should end the chapter here. The chapter would have been too long, and it needed halving. Thanks to Rune, Silve and Ashe for beta-reading! See you soon, hopefully.
