Chapter Three: Mazoku Attack! What, the Dragon Slave?!
Kera was asleep in a few minutes. Zelgadiss looked at her sleeping form, smiling. She was still very much a child in her own way. A child who had been forced to mature very quickly. He wondered how her life had been like. She hadn't told him very much about her parents. Evidently, they had died very recently. Kera was probably travelling because of that reason.
Her magic skills had improved considerably after she met him; and she had learnt several new spells, including the Ra-Tilt, which he had seen her use against a Mazoku. When he asked her about it, she blushed and said that she had learnt it from watching him cast it the first time. At the rate which she learnt spells, Zelgadiss guessed that she could surpass Lina in less than half a year. However, she never used large-scale destructive spells such as Fireball and Dragon Slave, another factor that made her different from the destructive Lina. When in a fight, Kera preferred to use her sword instead of her magic. Maybe she was afraid of causing too much damage.
Also, she never seemed to run out of money. Zel wondered where the young girl got her hands on so much money. Surely it couldn't be from attacking robbers, like Lina. He tried to picture her in Lina's clothes, attacking bandits ferociously, but the image only made him want to laugh. It simply did not fit Kera's personality.
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A tree branch creaking interrupted his reverie. Zelgadiss stood up and drew his sword in one fluid motion. He glanced quickly around the clearing. A shadowy figure stood just beyond the trees. Squinting, Zel could make out glowing, red eyes and long, thin arms. Another Mazoku? This would be the third one this fortnight, at least during his watch. The Mazoku normally minded their own business. What made them want to attack him? Was it because of Kera? That seemed very possible. After all, the first time he met her, a Mazoku was attacking her. But why? What interest did the Mazoku have for a young sorceress like Kera? He didn't think that Kera would know either.
Or was she keeping some secret knowledge from him?
Well, the Mazoku was going to attack anyway. Zelgadiss sheathed his sword and casted Ra-Tilt. Unfortunately, the monster refused to be destroyed so easily. It teleported out of the way and flew towards Zelgadiss with lightning speed. At times like this, Zel wished he had Gourry's Sword of Light. After dodging the Mazoku's first attack, he drew his sword again and cast Astral Vine on it. As the Mazoku flew at him a second time, Zelgadiss sidestepped easily and sliced through the monster with his magically enchanted blade, cutting it in half. The halves exploded in a burst of light that woke Kera. "What happened? What was that bright light?" she asked, gazing around the clearing.
"A Mazoku attacked," replied Zelgadiss, sheathing his sword. "I destroyed it."
"Another Mazoku? That would be the seventh one already," remarked Kera. "I wonder why they are attacking us."
"The eighth, actually," corrected Zelgadiss. "There was one that came while you were asleep."
"Oh. I can't imagine how it would be if you weren't here to protect me," said Kera, blushing a little. "Thank you, Zelgadiss. Sorry for troubling you like this."
"Er… you're welcome," said Zel, also blushing. "It's no trouble, really. I'm just glad that I am able to help you."
There was a short silence.
"Well, I can't sleep now," said Kera. "Why don't you rest first? I'll call you when I get tired."
"Ok," agreed Zelgadiss, settling down.
Kera buckled on her sword and looked at the starry sky. When her eyes started to close, she walked around the clearing to keep herself awake. It was nearly dawn when she woke Zelgadiss. After she did so, she collapsed and was snoring before she knew it. Zelgadiss shook his head, smiling. The girl overestimated herself again. Meanwhile, he could prepare breakfast for both of them while she slept. Incidentally, there was a flock of wild pigeons flying across the clearing. Zelgadiss grinned.
Yawning, Kera woke to the appetizing smell of roasted pigeon. In fact, she was so hungry that she actually ate half of one pigeon. Zelgadiss was very surprised by this fact. After clearing up, they continued the last lap of their journey.
After a few hours, they arrived at the gates of Zoana. Neither wanted to part just yet so Kera went into the palace with Zelgadiss. The guards allowed them into the throne room where the king and a green-haired girl, presumably the princess, was. The king's throne was located beneath a very ugly mask, thought Kera with distaste. However, the princess Martina seemed to admire it very much.
The skimpily dressed princess also showed an obvious interest in Zelgadiss but he ignored her, to Kera's relief. Zelgadiss introduced himself as a travelling mage and Kera as a fellow sorceress. The king was delighted to get two for the price of one, so to speak, and welcomed them both. However, Martina was of a slightly different opinion. Since she had developed a crush for Zelgadiss once he stepped into the throne room, she regarded Kera as a potential rival and treated her that way. Nevertheless, Kera did not mind and humoured her since she was the princess.
Zelgadiss and Kera were shown to their rooms while the king awaited the arrival of the princess of Seyruun. In her lavishly furnished room, Kera felt very uncomfortable and she stood at the window instead, watching the townspeople go by. Suddenly, she caught sight of two very familiar figures. A red-haired girl in sorceress garb and a tall, blond swordsman. Lina Inverse! So Xelloss had been correct. She continued watching them alertly until they were out of her line of sight. Then, she levitated to the roof and continued to watch them.
Lina blasted a hole through the castle wall and the two entered one of the towers. They're probably looking for the rumoured Clair Bible, thought Kera. Well, good luck to them, she thought, smirking. They were very unlikely to find it here. Meanwhile, Princess Amelia Wil Tesla Seyruun had entered the throne room. Both Kera and Zelgadiss were summoned by the king to stand by for orders. Kera stood in a shadowy corner, beside Zel. It seemed that Amelia used to be one of Zelgadiss' travelling companions and quite a close one too. The princess was quite shocked when Zel appeared in front of her and drew his sword. In fact, she was so appalled that she did not even notice that the guards were tying her up.
Kera rolled her eyes, sighing. She quietly returned to her room while the king and Martina went to a tower to gloat over Amelia's capture. However, their victory was short-lived as Lina soon blasted through the tower they were in, saying that they were here to save Amelia. Hearing the commotion, Kera flew to the roof once again. She was stunned to discover that Zelgadiss used to be Lina's travelling companion. No! Why did everyone she met have to be associated with Lina Inverse?
"Lina, omae o korosu," said Zelgadiss, sounding very serious about it.
Kera had mixed feelings. On one hand, she wished that she could continue travelling with Zelgadiss and she hoped that Lina would be injured seriously, or maybe even killed. On the other hand, she wanted to punish Lina herself and wondered if Zelgadiss would turn against her in the future like he was now turning against Lina. Clenching her fists in confusion, she waited helplessly to see the conclusion of their confrontation.
Zelgadiss revealed that he intended to find a cure for his chimera curse in the Clair Bible and Lina told him that the rumoured book was not the Clair Bible but a manual for some sort of mechanical golem and was no use to him at all. Zel gave an irritated glance at his employer, then pointed his sword at the king's throat instead. "Your evil ways are now at an end!" he exclaimed, sounding amazingly like Amelia.
Meanwhile, Martina had slipped off and was busy trying to operate the mechanical golem. Kera noticed her but did not pay much attention since it looked as if Zelgadiss was going to rejoin Lina's group. She was not close enough to hear what they were saying but it was obvious that they had all forgiven Zelgadiss for being a mercenary and turning against them. Kera sighed sadly and started to leave when the ground shook and Martina's huge golem appeared. "What the heck is that?" Kera wondered aloud, while casting Levitation again.
Lina and the others were just as amazed to see the giant golem and were even more astounded when a thin energy blast destroyed a large portion of the landscape. However, when Martina aimed at them for the second shot, the machinery went haywire and collapsed on top of both Martina and her father. The half-buried Martina begged Lina to save her and to everyone's surprise, she agrees.
Unfortunately, her rescue method involved casting the Dragon Slave. Amelia, Gourry and Zelgadiss quickly sounded alarms in the city, warning the people about the disaster that was about to occur. Meanwhile, Kera was trembling with fear and anger as she levitated to a safe distance to watch. Was the Dragon Slave Lina's solution to every problem? What kind of sorceress would be so destructive? Did Lina even care about the amount of damage she caused? With great power came great responsibility. Didn't she understand this fact?
While Kera was contemplating the irresponsibility of her foe, Lina was standing on the remains of a tower and chanting, "Darkness from twilight, crimson from blood that flows; buried in the flow of time; in Thy great name, I pledge myself to darkness! Those who oppose us shall be destroyed by the power you and I possess! DRAGON SLAVE!"
- ~ ~ ~ The End of Chapter Three ~ ~
Well, so far, because I've been following the story quite closely, Kera has only the role of an observer. But don't worry, she'll soon be promoted to a main character soon. Heh… otherwise, I will be in trouble. Kera seems to have no problem with using the Dragon Slave in writerspace, since there're no large buildings to destroy, here. *sweatdrop*
