Chapter Eight: Attack of the Chaos-Dragon Garv!
After Martina had completely recovered (with Kera's help) from her fight with Lina, she and Kera started to travel towards Seyruun where there were some rumours of a Clair Bible. "Ooh… that Lina!" Martina said in a voice full of hatred. "She must pay for what she's done to me!"
"It's no use just saying that all the time," said Kera. "We must figure out a plan that will work."
"Hey, haven't I been thinking out all the plans?" Martina muttered.
"Yeah, but they were full of flaws," reminded Kera, frowning.
"Why don't you come up with a perfect one, then, Kera-san?"
"Er… Well…," stammered Kera uncomfortably. "I can't seem to be able to think of any good ones yet. When I get a really good idea, I'll inform you."
Martina gave her a sly glance out of the corner of her eye. "You've been too distracted, haven't you, Kera-san?"
"I don't know what you mean," replied Kera, looking bewildered.
The green-haired princess grinned shrewdly and said, "I may not be as smart as you are, but I know love when I see it. You're in love with Zelgadiss, aren't you?"
"Wha-what?!" Kera exclaimed, blushing. "No! I'm not!"
"Heh heh… your face is completely red, Kera-san," said Martina, grinning widely. "It's no use denying it. I saw how you acted around him when we were in the same inn. If it wasn't for the disguise… Oh! Poor Xelloss-san. He'll be so jealous of Zelgadiss when he finds out. And-"
"Stop!" Kera shouted suddenly.
"Ke— Kera-san?" Martina asked in concern when Kera stopped walking forward. "Wha-"
With fists clenched tightly, Kera stood staring at the ground. "Don't say any more. I don't want to hear any more."
"Kera-san, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-" gasped Martina, her eyes opened wide.
"Go away, Martina. I mean it. Get lost, NOW!" Kera shouted furiously as she pushed Martina roughly to the ground. She then tossed a heavy bag of money into the now frightened princess' lap. "Take back your money and get as far away from me as you can," ordered Kera, glaring at Martina.
"Kera-san? What's going on? I don't understand…" cried Martina, tears filling her eyes. "Why are you chasing me away? I thought we were friends?"
"Friends?" Kera laughed in Martina's face. "Since when was I your friend? Don't assume that I helped you because I wanted to be your friend, foolish girl. I've tolerated you long enough. Why are you still here? Didn't I tell you to get lost? Scram!!"
Taking the money, Martina ran away in the other direction tearfully. What had come over Kera-san? They had been talking amiably for one moment, then the next moment, they seemed to become enemies. Why did Kera want her to leave? Martina could not figure it out. She only knew that if she did not follow her orders, something terrible would happen to her. Something that would be worse than any number of Lina's fireballs. Did Kera-san really hate her so much? Tears continued flowing down Martina's face. Was she really so detestable?
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Kera watched Martina's retreat with satisfaction. Forgive me, Martina-chan, she thought sadly. Once the princess was out of sight, she continued walking forward grimly. "You might as well come out now, Mazoku," she said quietly. "I know you're there."
Deep, echoing laughter sounded as a large figure of a red-haired man with a large sword slowly shimmered into view. "Hmmph! You let the princess get away," said the man in a deep voice. "But she doesn't matter. You are the one I've been looking for."
Crouching in a battle-stance, Kera placed her hand on her sword hilt and said, "So you're the mastermind behind all those Mazoku. I was wondering when you would show up. What do you want with me?"
"First, let me introduce myself. I'm called the Chaos-Dragon Garv," he said, bowing slightly. "Perhaps you've heard of me?"
"Cha-Chaos- Dra-Dragon Garv?!" Kera gasped in shock, stumbling to her knees.
"Ah, so you have. You don't have to bow to me, though," said Garv. "Not yet, anyway."
"Wha-what do you want with me?" Kera repeated, hastily getting back on her feet.
"Kera Yurion, I would like you to join my forces," said Garv. After a pause, he corrected his statement, "Wait, scratch that. I must insist that you join my forces."
"Why? Why are you choosing me?" Kera burst out. "Of all the people in the world…"
"I decided that you would make a very good addition to my forces. An addition that would enable me to fulfil my wish to take over the world," he replied.
"You're not answering my question," said Kera with narrowed eyes. "Besides, I would never join forces with Mazoku even if my life depended on it."
"Well, that's too bad," said Garv regretfully as he unsheathed his sword. "I guess I will have to kill you to make sure that you don't join the other side, then." He paused, then said, "However, I'm not totally merciless… I think. I will give you a fighting chance by letting you hit me with everything you've got. Then I'll kill you."
Kera gritted her teeth in fear and rage. Without warning, she unsheathed her sword and lunged at Garv, yelling, "Astral Vine!"
Garv parried her thrust almost effortlessly. Swiftly darting away, Kera shot a Ra-Tilt at the Chaos-Dragon Lord, which did exactly nothing. "You'll have to do better than that to injure me," said Garv disdainfully. "Try using more powerful spells."
Clenching her fists in utter fury, Kera forced herself to shut her eyes as she intoned, "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!!"
To her surprise, Garv was caught unawares by this particular magical attack. It caught him directly in the chest and the resulting explosion leveled more than half of the forest. Sweatdropping, Kera glanced at the damage she had caused and turned to leave. That was a nearly fatal mistake. Garv teleported behind her and slashed her back with his enormous sword. Fortunately for Kera, his move had been calculated more to injure than to kill. Coughing up blood, Kera collapsed on all fours.
"This has been rather amusing," remarked Garv as he dusted himself off. "I never considered the possibility of you casting such a destructive spell like the Dragon Slave. I'll give you another chance. Join me and I will spare your life."
"I would rather die," gasped Kera, breathing heavily.
"I'll grant your wish, then," said Garv, bringing his sword down for a final strike. "It's really too bad, though. With your incredible learning ability, you could be the most powerful sorceress in the world. Why do you have to be so stubborn? Then again, I can do to you what I did to Valgarv… What's that you're saying?"
Kera was mumbling something under her breath. "If even the power of Shabranigdo cannot defeat you, perhaps some higher power…" Eyes closed, she was very pale from exhaustion and loss of blood. Nevertheless, she forced herself to stand up and chant, "Brightness beyond whitest light, paler than the palest twilight; Lady of Light, gleaming like silver upon the Sea of Chaos…"
"What?! What kind of chant is that? It can't be the Giga Slave…" said Garv, staring at Kera in awe. "STOP!! What are you doing?!"
He leaped at her, intending to end her life with a swift, downward stroke of his sword. However, Kera continued relentlessly, "I call upon thee, swear myself to thee! Let the fools who stand before us be destroyed by the power you and I possess!"
Bright light gathered in Kera's outstretched hands. Dark clouds covered the sky as lightning crackled and thunder boomed. The ground shook. She looked up at Garv with gleaming hatred in her eyes and grinned. Daunted by the power she possessed, Garv recoiled. Raising her light-filled hands above her head, she brought them down hard with a cry, "AURA SLAVE!!"
The light in Kera's hands exploded, sending silver streaks of light flying in all directions. The massive explosion of light devoured Chaos-Dragon Garv whole. His hastily raised shield just as quickly shimmered out of existence. "It's not possible!! Nnnnooooooooo!!!!" he bellowed in pain and terror as he was completely consumed by the inexorable forces summoned by Kera's spell.
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The dark clouds parted and blue sky soon appeared again. The forest where the sorceress Kera and Chaos-Dragon Garv fought had become a large, barren plain. A dusty wind blew across the sandy ground where there had once been the tall, leafy boughs of trees. The solitary figure of a girl stood in the middle of the plain, tears drying in her unseeing eyes. Without a cry, she toppled to the ground and lay very still, only the wind fluttering her bloodied cape and dark-brown hair.
In another part of the world, Xelloss turned sharply around, staring at the ominous sky with his garnet eyes narrowed. A bead of sweat trickled slowly down his face. Something of great importance had just occurred, but he didn't know what. His brow furrowed in anxiety, the Trickster Priest teleported away.
Blinking in surprise, Lina Inverse glanced at the spot that Xelloss had just vacated. What happened? She had never seen him so uneasy before. Looking at the darkened sky with suspicion, she wondered if the thunderstorm had anything to do with it. A munching sound interrupted her thoughts. She turned to look and saw Gourry swiftly eating everything edible on the table. "Gourry!! Why didn't you tell me that the food had arrived?!"
"I saw that you were thinking and did not want to disturb you," mumbled the swordsman between mouthfuls.
Lina started eating in frenzy, with the thought of Xelloss' disappearance at the very back of her mind. "Don't give me excuses! You just wanted to take advantage of the fact that I was preoccupied to eat more food!"
"Lina-san, it's your own fault that you were too absorbed in your thoughts that you didn't notice the food was here," added Amelia, also stuffing herself.
"What? Amelia…!!"
Sipping his tea, Zelgadiss sighed and thought, I wish they didn't have to talk while eating.
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In yet another part of the world, Martina Zoana Mel Navratilova looked at the brightening sky and sighed in relief. "Looks like there isn't going to be a storm after all," she said. "I wonder why the sky became so dark just now. Was Lina Inverse casting another of her destructive spells? Sigh… I wonder Kera-san is doing now. Surely she is in a much better state than I am."
Martina looked down at her torn, dirty clothes and sweatdropped. "I guess I'll just have to buy new clothes at the next town."
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Meanwhile, back in the desert created by the battle, a tall shadow loomed over Kera's limp body. "It's hard to believe that a young, fragile-looking sorceress like you is able to cause such damage to Lord Garv," said the cloaked figure. "If it was up to me, I would end your miserable existence right now. However, as Lord Garv would say, killing you would be a terrible waste of resources. Hmmph! If I leave you here any longer, you would die anyway."
Kera's hand twitched. Smiling contemptuously, Valgarv picked her up carefully and slung her over his shoulder. "Put the girl down, Valgarv. You're not taking her anywhere," came another voice. "She belongs to my master."
A certain purple-haired priest flashed into view. "Xelloss!" said Valgarv, his smile disappearing. "I should have known you would appear. Hmmph! But even you can't stop me from following Lord Garv's orders."
"And why can't I? I am also under orders, you know?" Xelloss said, smirking at Valgarv. "It seems that this little girl is very popular with our lords, eh?"
"If she is that important to Zelas Metallium, you wouldn't want her to die, would you?" Valgarv said scornfully. "If we fight, she might get injured accidentally."
"Yes, that's true. So if you simply hand her over to me, she won't get injured and everyone will be happy," said Xelloss, smiling.
"You must think I'm an idiot," laughed Valgarv. "I will nev-"
He was interrupted by the sudden appearance of Xelloss' knee at his abdomen. Grasping at his midsection in pain, Valgarv lost hold of Kera. Before the unconscious sorceress fell to the ground, Xelloss snatched her out of the air and vanished after casting Mega Brand and Dark Mist. Valgarv picked himself up from under the rubble caused by Xelloss' Mega Brand spell. The fog from the Dark Mist spell was still too thick to see through but he did not need his sight to know that the priest had disappeared once again. He clenched both fists in fury at his ignominious defeat and teleported away.
~ ~ ~ The End of Chapter Eight ~ ~ ~
Well! Poor Kera-chan… what will happen to her now? Where is Xelloss taking her and why is Valgarv after her too?
