DAVENTRY: In the time of the Third Age of Mankind, the Mazoku, Xellos, appeared
before a Fire Dragon priestess…in a vision…
FILIA: BAKA NAMAGOMI!!! *WHAP!!*
XELLOS: ITAI!!!
DAVENTRY: His words are recorded in the Diary of Filia Ul Copt…
XELLOS: There will come a time when one who has the heart of a Mazoku…but not
Mazoku born…shall rain Nightmare's fire down upon us…and the Reichsvarrin…a time of
great darkness…shall embrace the world…
Lina Inverse ducked another blast of dark energy and braced for the explosion that
was sure to follow. She wasn't disappointed, and the earth beneath her rumbled. Looking
to her right, she saw Gourry and Amelia crouched behind a boulder just as she was. To
her left, Sylphiel was leaning over Zelgadis, concentrating on a healing spell. The
chimera's unconscious state and the small dribble of blood seeping from his lips was the
only hint that he had been struck dead in the chest by a blast from a black dragon only a
minute before.
"Lina!" Gourry shouted to her, his sword was unsheathed, but he was unsure what
he could do with it against such a large and wild opponent. "What do we do?!"
Before Lina could reply, another blast of dark laser breath crisped the air between
them. A roar shook the air around them. Lina saw Sylphiel repeating the healing spell
over Zelgadis' body again, a tear running down her cheek as he started to slip away.
Lina grit her teeth and stood up. "Gourry, Amelia, take Sylphiel and Zelgadis and
move back." She stepped out before the black dragon.
"LINA!" Gourry shouted.
"Miss Lina! You can't!" Amelia agreed.
Lina ignored them and started walking towards the beast, chanting with each step
she took. This wasn't just some run of the mill dragon. This was Ancalagon the Black.
Three times the size as any other black dragon she had ever seen, and six times as cruel.
"…In thy great name, I pledge myself to darkness…"
XELLOS: Death himself shall walk with the human race…His army outnumbering the stars
themselves…
Ancalagon hissed at her as she approached, not sure what to make of the little
firefly that had decided to challenge it.
Lina threw a look over her shoulder and saw Gourry helping Sylphiel drag
Zelgadis away from the battle zone. Amelia was hesitant to leave.
"…May all the fools who stand in our way be destroyed…"
Ancalagon seemed to realize that Lina was up to something. Black energy began to
coalesce in his mouth as he prepared a laser breath spell.
"…By the power you and I possess!" Lina raised her hands before her and took
aim. She was less than a hundred feet from the dragon, which was now aiming at her.
Ancalagon the Black roared and fired!
"DRAGON SLAVE!!!"
XELLOS: Their numbers shall leave the world barren and crush the breath from your
dragon clans…
Hellfire shot from Lina's hands just as the laser breath reached her, the two spells
combining in a bright flash of magic light, whiter than even the sun's powerful rays. Lina
flinched away as the energy from the two spells merged right in front of her.
Then the explosion hit.
XELLOS: The Mazoku shall choke on their own blood…and only corpses shall be left for
them to feed upon…
Farther away, Gourry, Amelia, and Sylphiel, still dragging the wounded Zelgadis,
were thrown forward by the shockwave. They stayed on the ground, covering their ears as
the world seemed to fall down around them. Rocks and debris were thrown everywhere
faster than bullets. Gourry crawled on top of the screaming Sylphiel, protecting her from
the wave. Amelia had put the stone skinned Zelgadis between her and the blast zone and
held on tight.
After what seemed like hours, the explosion subsided. Amelia raised her head and
blinked. Her entire body was covered in ash and dust. She coughed dryly, trying to expel
dirt and debris from her lungs. She stood up and was surprised to see that she was still in
one piece, as were the others.
She blinked suddenly.
"Miss Lina!" she gasped. She ran forward, back towards the where the center of
the explosion had been. She crested a hill and looked down.
Where Miss Lina had been, there was now a large crater almost a hundred yards
wide.
There was nothing in it.
"Miss Lina?" Amelia whispered. She cupped her hands around her mouth. "MISS
LINA!!" She heard Gourry walking up behind her but didn't wait. The princess climbed
down into the crater. "MISS LINA!! ANSWER ME! MISS LINA!"
"LINA!" she heard Gourry call out. "OI, LINA!!"
Amelia stood in the center of the crater and turned back to Gourry. There was
nothing left. Nothing. The blond swordsman looked at her as horrified realization crept
into his face.
Nothing left at all.
Tears welled up in Amelia's eyes, and she fell to her knees. "Miss Lina," she
whispered. "Miss Lina…"
Gourry's fists clenched, his eyes shut, and his teeth were gritted in pain.
"LIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!"
XELLOS: With a resounding thunderclap…the dark curtain shall fall…
Slayers: Fatherland
Chapter 1
The Dark Curtain Falls
The Fourth Age of Man
1,000 Years Later
Slender fingers searched from one book to the next, quickly, hurriedly, and all too
aware that if those fingers were caught rifling through these books, it would mean extra
chores for Fish Espe.
"C'mon, c'mon," the young mage grumbled under her breath. "I know he has it here.
Ah!" Triumphant, the girl, no more than seventeen, pulled a red leather bound book from
the shelf and started leafing through it.
Surely the spell she had been seeking for three years would be in here…
"Bells…Barley…Barter…" she read, searching down the list. She smiled.
"Breasts. Augmentation and enlargement! This spell was first pioneered by Sorceress
Gracia Wil Naga Sey and…" She broke off when withered hands suddenly reached out
and grabbed the book from over her shoulder.
"Extra work, young Espe?"
Fish squeaked and turned suddenly. "Master Daventry!" She looked from side to
side, her hand going up to her head and running through the short, red hair on her head as
she searched her mind desperately for a good story. "I was…cleaning your laboratory, not
that you ordered me to, I just thought it would be nice, and all of a sudden, this book just
falls from the shelf onto the floor! Well, you always told me that there's no such thing as
coincidence, so I thought it must be fate telling me to take a look and…"
"Fish…Shut up."
"Yes, Master." Fish sighed and waited for the elderly sorcerer to detail a
punishment for her.
"You know you're not supposed to be trying any of these spells," Daventry
reminded her.
"Yeah, I know…" She sighed at the reminder.
The older man pulled on his graying beard as he thought. Finally, he took a breath
and began. "It's awfully warm out today. The children in town could use a break, don't you
think?"
(Aw, shit,) Fish thought to herself.
"Therefore, as your punishment, you will make ice today, set up a little table near
the playground, and make snowcones for the children there…For free," he added.
Fish turned pale. "FREE?! C'mon, Master Daventry! The fruit juice is expensive
and…well….FREE!? THE MERCHANT'S BLOOD IN MY VEINS WILL NEVER
ALLOW IT!"
"Yes, well, the merchant's blood in your veins should've thought of that beforehand.
Off you go." He stood to one side and gestured towards the door.
The sorceress in training grumbled as she stalked off. Snow cones…Feh!
Children…FEH! She hated children. All they ever did was eat and be loud…
She grabbed the necessary supplies and was soon dragging a folding table down the
Atlas City street. It was busy this time of day, and as she stepped off the curb to cross a
street, a car zipped past, nearly hitting her. She eep'd and dropped her table, jumping back
and shaking her fist at the car.
"ASSHOLE!"
Picking up the table again, she started across the street. She heard a familiar voice
on the other side and blinked. "Hey, Will!" she cried. "How about a hand!?"
A boy about her age looked up and saw her predicament, putting down his sack of
newspapers and rushing into the street to help. With the boy's help, it didn't take long to get
the table to the others side of the street.
"Thanks, Will," she said as the sandy-haired boy picked up his newspapers again.
"No problem." He smiled. "Where are you going, anyway?"
"The school. Old man Daventry caught me looking through his books again. Now I
have to spend the day selling snowcones."
"Bummer. Beats papers, though."
"I guess." She looked down and saw the headline.
"SEYRUUN INVADES XOANA!"
"Wow," she said quietly. "I hadn't heard about that yet. That's only a stone's throw
from us."
"That's nothing," Will told her. "I hear the Reich Chancellor ordered Zephilia to
allow Seyruun to cross their territory so they can flank Xoana. The king of Zephilia told
him to fuck off, so now Seyruun's bombing them in retaliation."
Fish bit her bottom lip. "You think they're coming here?" she asked.
"Atlas has a treaty with Seyruun," the paperboy reminded her. "Then again," he
went on darkly, "They had a treaty with Xoana too…"
The sorceress took a breath and smiled. "Well, it's none of my business, right?"
she asked. "I have to go make snowcones…Cepheid damn old codger…"
Will laughed. "Bye, Fish!" As the girl continued dragging her table down the
sidewalk, the boy continued to hock his papers. "READ ALL ABOUT IT!! SEYRUUN
INVADES XOANA! REICH CHANCELLOR ORDERS XOANA SURRENDERS!"
The sun was going down as Fish pulled the folding table back up the steps towards
the Master's house. She continued to grumble. Those freak'n kids had homed in on her in
seconds… It was awful. Her wonderful magic talents wasted making frost for those little
goblins…
She gave one last pull as she approached the front door. All that was left to do was
drop off the Master's table, and it would be done. Fish gave the door a slight push, but
paused when she heard voices from inside. She strained to listen.
"We can't sit around and do nothing, Ty," an elderly woman was saying. Fish
blinked. That was the Master's first name.
"We've heard stories," another man said. "From inside the conquered territories
and from Seyruun itself. Stories about magic users being deemed a danger to the state and
just disappearing."
"My sister lived in Namor," another woman spoke up. "She was a healer
priestess, but I haven't heard from her since Seyruun annexed Namor three months ago."
"And what do you suggest we do?" Daventry asked. "We four against the Reich?"
"There has to be something we can do!" the first woman persisted. "I can't believe
that sorcerers have become so impotent over the centuries that we would allow such…such
things as these rumors claim to happen!"
"I'm not arguing with you," Daventry told her. "My question is a valid one, and still
is unanswered. What do you suggest we do?"
"What about the dragons?" the man asked. "Perhaps they can help."
The first woman sighed again. "I thought of that. I have been in correspondence
with the Lady Sethra of the Golden Dragons."
"And?"
"She says that…that the war on the continent is the human's concern. It does not
affect them, and they will make no effort to affect it."
"So what DO we do?" the young woman asked.
Daventry answered. "We sleep. You are all welcome to stay here as long as you
wish. We can pick up this conversation in the morning when we're rested."
Fish backed away as the meeting began to break up. She didn't want to disturb them
in the middle of something important. Hell, she was in enough trouble as it was. The
sorceress decided to just leave the table on the porch and go home.
Before she could make her getaway, however, the door opened, and the Master
stepped out. "Ah! Fish! How was your day?"
"Kids suck, Sir," she said without preamble.
"Indeed they do," he agreed. "That's why it's a punishment."
Her eyebrow twitched.
"Come, young Espe. Let's go for a walk."
Fish sighed and fell into step next to her teacher. The Master liked to take walks in
the evening, and occasionally dragged his hapless student with him, boring her to death
with lectures about how to take her magic further.
Feh! As if SHE needed help on how to do that! She was only seventeen and
already making up spells as she went! Okay, so often they didn't work…okay, ninety-nine
percent didn't work…But those that did kicked so much ass, it was unreal!
Still, he was the master and she was the student. Blah, blah, blah, blah, freak'n
blah!
Tonight was different, however. He was silent as he walked. She threw a few
glances in his direction. "Master? Is everything all right?'
He took a breath. "Fish, there will be times in your life when you're going to have
to let go of the comforts of your life and make a drastic change for the worse…on
purpose."
"Feh! Bag that!" She rolled her eyes.
He smiled. "You don't get it now, but one day you will." He walked a little
further, up to the shore of the lake that sat on his property. "Did I ever tell you the story
about this lake, Fish?"
"Yeah, yeah," she said. "You once caught a fish, THIS BIG…" She held her arms
wide apart.
He laughed. "No, I mean how the lake was formed."
"Nope. Never heard that one."
"It's kind of what I was talking about earlier. You see, young Espe, this lake is
actually a crater…and was formed when Lina Inverse fought her last battle against
Ancalagon the Black."
Fish blinked and looked out at the lake. Lina Inverse? The Sixth Wiseman of the
Third Age? She had died HERE?
She must have said this out loud because the Master was nodding. "One thousand
years ago tomorrow, as a matter of fact." He turned to her. "Lina Inverse was probably the
greatest sorceress who ever lived, Fish."
"Oh, I know!" the young girl told him. "I remember reading about her when I was
younger. She's the one who inspired me to learn magic. I always wanted to learn how to
Demon Enslave someone like she did!"
The Master smiled. "That kind of power was lost long ago. Sorcery is not what it
used to be, Fish. A thousand years ago, the same kind of spell you were using to make
snowcones could've been used to fire icicle arrows at goblins. Simple fire starting spells
were explosive weapons."
"So what changed?"
"People changed, Fish," he told her. "Sorcerers stopped using that kind of magic
to help people, and instead used it for their own purposes. After awhile, kingdoms began
outlawing the teaching of black magic. After so many years of forced ignorance…we lost
those abilities."
"Bummer."
"Yes," he sighed. "But in its place white magic flourished. Diseases and injuries
that could not be healed a thousand years ago are nothing now."
"So what's the connection to Lina Inverse?"
He smiled. "Lina Inverse died while her friends were dragging one of her closest
compatriots to safety. Self sacrifice, Fish."
She looked out at the water, at Lina Inverse's tomb.
She KNEW there weren't any fish in this damn lake. What a freak'n liar…
Fish sighed as she wrote out the incantation for a fire starting spell for the one
hundredth time. Even with a war on, the Master insisted that she learn the old fashioned
way. Memorization.
A week had passed since the old fogies visiting the Master had left. Xoana had
fallen three days after that. Zephilia was still holding out, and many of the people in Atlas
cheered them on. There was some talk of Atlas actually sending military aid, but that was
shouted down early on. No one in Atlas wanted the wrath of the Seyruun Reich to fall on
them.
The Master was sitting in his rocking chair near the window, listening to the radio.
And of course, being the dinosaur that he was, he couldn't DARE listen to anything written
less than fifty years ago, something that SHE might like! NOOOO!
"Fish, how many times have you copied that spell?"
She grinned and looked up. "One hundred exactly! All done!"
"One hundred! Excellent! Twenty more and you can have lunch."
"But you said I only had to write it one hundred times!" she accused him hotly.
"Yes! What a horrible teacher I must be! Go on."
She growled and started writing again. "You know, I bet Lina Inverse didn't have
to learn magic this way!"
"Quite right," the Master told her. "If I recall my history correctly, Lina's sister,
Luna, taught her her first magic spells…"
"See?! Hands on shit!"
"And when Lina got them wrong, Luna would beat her with a bamboo stick."
"……..I hate you."
He smiled. "Excellent."
"I still say…"
"Shh!"
"But…"
"Hush!" he ordered, turning up the volume on the small radio.
"…Repeating this special report, the Atlas government has just informed this
station that Seyruun tanks have crossed the border from Xoana and have engaged Atlas
Army installations near Gest. Reports coming in suggest that anywhere between two and
five Panzer divisions have crossed our borders, and that the AA, while fighting bravely, IS
in retreat."
Fish looked up, a knot of cold fear in her stomach. "The…They're coming this
way?"
The Master continued to listen.
"…And…As I report this, my producer is telling me that he can see planes flying
over Atlas City, the Star of Seyruun emblazoned on their wings." Soft thuds could be heard
over the radio. "And it's true! It's true! I can hear it now! The air raid sirens are going off
right now! Atlas City is being bombed! Please stay tuned to this station! Emergency
broadcasts will continue un…"
Suddenly, there was static.
Fish swallowed fearfully. She had heard all about Seyruun's lightning raid attacks,
their "Blitzes." If they stayed true to form, Atlas City would fall in a matter of days if not
hours! She looked up at the Master in bald faced fear.
"Master?" she asked.
"Fish, come with me," he told her. Walking towards the back of the house where
he kept the library.
"Where are we going?" she asked quickly. She didn't like to admit it, but she was
scared right now. Very scared.
"Fish, pull yourself together," he ordered. "It'll take time for them to secure the
city. That's where they'll concentrate their attacks." He started pulling books off his
shelves and handing them to her. "Put these in your satchel. Then go to the kitchen and
grab as many canned goods as you can and take them with you."
"With me where?!" she asked. "What are you talking about?!"
He took her by the shoulders. "Fish, I want you to take these books and as many
supplies as you can carry and go into the forest, up into the mountains. You'll be safe there
until this blows over."
"Me?! What about you?!"
He smiled. "I'm a little old to be traipsing through the woods, Fish." His smile
fell. "Besides…I'm quite sure I'm on one of their lists. If they come here and find the
house empty, they'll search."
"Now wait a second!" she cried. "Let's not get ahead of ourselves here!"
"Fish Espe!" his voice barked. "I am still your Master, and you WILL obey my
instructions!" Fish went silent. She swallowed nervously. "These books," he explained in
a softer tone of voice, "Are one of a kind spell books. There are no others like them in the
world. If the Reich gets them, they'll burn them. You have to protect them until this is
over." Fish took a breath. "Do you understand?"
She nodded.
"Then start packing up. Quick now," he prompted. Fish turned to her assigned
tasks.
As she packed her small duffel bag, she paused as the soft thuds of distant
explosions were heard.
It was her business now.
Fish tossed the empty tin can into her small campfire and grimaced. If she had to
eat ONE MORE canned sardine, she'd scream. Despite her name, she wasn't a big fan of
seafood, especially when that seafood was disgusting and oily and raw and…
Blech!
Searching through her supplies, she sighed. It appeared that she wouldn't have to
worry about eating more sardines. She had just eaten the last one. Looking around her tiny
campsite in the nearby Atlas mountain range, she took stock of her situation.
Three weeks up in the mountains hadn't done much for her appetite. She was also
cold, lonely, and scared. Fish had expected the Master to come up looking for her, tell her
that it was all over and that she could come home, but here it was, week three, and still
nothing. She was out of food and out of ideas.
"I guess I'll have to go down and see things for myself," she whispered.
She took the books Master Daventry had given to her and hid them in the hollow of
an old tree near her camp, secure inside a leather satchel. Then, gathering up what resolve
she had left, she started down the mountain towards home.
Master Daventry's house was on the outskirts of Atlas City, between the city and
the mountain range, so naturally Fish checked there first. She knocked on the door, but no
one answered. Biting her bottom lip, she came to a decision and stood back, raising her
arms in the air.
"Oh great….um….door gods!" she cried. "…Whoever…you
might…um…be…..Open this door that blocks my path! I COMMAND IT!!
SUPERDOOROPENINGSPELLNUMBERTHREE!!!" She pointed her hands at the door.
Nothing happened.
Her eyebrow twitched. Super Door Opening Spell Number Three had shown
promise when she had first created it…Of course, the spell often required simultaneous
kicks and thrown bricks before the door would actually open.
On a hunch she reached out and turned the knob. The door swung open. Fish
preened.
"Super Door Opening Spell Number Three strikes again!" She walked inside and
started looking around. A part of her had expected the place to be ransacked, but
everything seemed to be peaceful. "Master?" she called out. "Are you here?"
She wandered slowly through the house, feeling like she was in a suspense novel
where the heroine wanders into a dark room just like she was doing right now and was
suddenly set upon by an attacker…
Something screeched from her right, and she screamed, running back into the living
room. Looking back, she saw a black and white housecat walk in after her.
"CALLISTO!" she screamed in chastisement. "You damn stupid cat!"
The Master's housecat replied by sitting down and cleaning himself.
Fish growled, then paused. If Callisto was still here and healthy, then that meant he
was being fed, and THAT meant that the Master was still around!
She growled again. And THAT meant he had been yanking her chain. He probably
sent her up into the mountains as some kind of exercise…
"Jerk-off," she muttered.
Behind her, the door squeaked. She turned suddenly and saw Will standing in the
doorway.
"Fish?!"
"Will!"
He walked up to her and put down a paper bag he had been carrying. "What are
you doing here?!" he hissed. "Mister Daventry said you had left! That you went to
Zephilia!"
She blinked. "I did not! He had me go up into the mountains and hide some of his
shit! Where is he, anyway?!"
Will just blinked. "Fish…they took him. Almost two weeks ago."
"Whaddya mean?!" she cried. "Who 'took him?!'"
The sandy-haired boy took her by the shoulders and sat her down on the couch. He
looked frightened and motioned for her remain quiet, as if the walls themselves had ears.
"The Reichstaffel," he hissed.
"What?!"
He nodded. "A couple of days after they came in, they started rounding up the local
mages. Healers, fortune tellers, stuff like that. Said they were a threat to the purity of the
state."
"And they just LET them do this?!" Fish asked in amazement.
"Hey, Fish!" Will cried defensively. "You try living with soldiers walking the
streets and panzers rolling down Main Street, and see how quick YOU are to do
something!"
"Jeez, I'm sorry," she growled. "So what does this have to do with the Master?"
"I guess it took longer for them to get to him, but they did. They RS came and took
him. Him and all the books out of his library."
"Took him where?"
"They have some kind of camp at the south end of the city."
"Define, 'camp,'" she said.
"Just some fence and some tents," Will told her. "Lots of RS guys."
Fish blinked. "Hey, what are YOU doing here, anyway?"
He smiled sheepishly. "Mister Daventry asked me to feed Callisto."
"So you spoke to him?"
He nodded. "I went down there with a friend who was looking for her father.
Mister Daventry saw me and asked me to help with the cat. I asked him where you were,
and he said Zephilia." He blinked. "But why would he tell me that if you were really in
the mountains?"
Fish took a breath. "In case the RS ever asked you where I was," she answered.
She stood up. "Take me to him."
Will looked uncomfortable. "Fish, that was a couple of weeks ago, and even then
he didn't look too good. Security might be better. We just got a new territorial governor
and…"
"Will," she interrupted. "I'm going to go see Master Daventry. If you're too
chickenshit to go with me, fine, but don't make up some bullshit excuse!"
"I'm not!" Will barked defensively, rising to his feet. "Things are different now,
Fish! They don't NEED a reason to arrest you and throw you in there! Peope DIE in
there!"
"Are you going to take me or not?" she asked.
"No!" he cried. "No fucking way!" He turned away from her. "Dammit,
Fish…I…I've seen that place."
"Say it! You're scared!"
"You're damn right I'm scared!" he shouted back. "Look, I'm here to feed Mister
Daventry's cat! If you wanna go fuck with the Seyruuns, that's your problem!"
Fish looked at him in rage while tried to be nonchalant as he filled Callisto's bowl
with food from the paper bag he had brought with him.
"FUCK YOU!" she screamed and stormed out of the house. She wiped a tear
away as she marched down the street.
(Fucking asshole!) she thought. (Well, fine! I'll do this on my own! I don't need
that chickenshit's help!)
Fish watched in awe as a Seyruun panzer rolled down the street in front of her.
Bombed out shells of buildings were still being cleaned up in Atlas City. Aside from these
changes, however, people seemed to be going about their business. Even so, the tension
could be cut with a knife.
She crossed the street, making her way towards the south end of town. The
sorceress had managed to get directions from a shop keep who seemed reluctant to talk
about it. Why shouldn't they talk about it?! How were things ever going to change unless
people talked about it?!
It didn't take very long to find it. She looked down at the fenced-in yard that was
once part of a high school soccer field and gulped. Make-shift guard towers stood at each
corner. The yard was double fenced topped with razor wire, leaving a path for guards to
patrol in between the two perimeter fences. And there WERE guards, armed with rifles
and dogs.
Inside the fences were hastily-thrown-together huts and tents. Some people were
milling about. The sun was going down, so she figured most of the people were inside
their 'homes.'
Her breath caught in her throat, and for a moment, she decided to turn back. She
just couldn't take the sight. It frightened her an almost primal level.
Ironically, it was a Seyruun soldier who kept her from fleeing.
"Hey! Girlie!"
She tensed. Were they going to arrest her? She turned and tried to look nonchalant.
"Um…Yes?"
A young soldier walked up to her, smiling. "Hallos," he said in a bad form of her
own language. Seyruun had gone through a cultural change over the centuries as more and
more immigrants from southern territories had entered the kingdom after the Mazoku
barrier fell. For a while, it seemed that the kingdom had been facing a catastrophe as the
two cultures clashed, but then, things stabilized, and the two cultures fused. Even the
languages mixed together. While most Seyruuns could speak the language used by the rest
of the continent, many had their own form of speech mixing that language and the language
of the southern barbarians. It had done nothing but help isolate Seyruun even more…
"Um…Hello," Fish said, trying to sound friendly and innocent and nonthreatening.
He smiled. "You're pretty," he said. "You should'n be hare. Dangerous."
An idea formed, and she batted her eyes at the soldier. "I'm sorry, but I'm looking
for my uncle. They told me he was in there." She pointed at the encampment.
"In there?" he asked with a smile.
"Yes," she said sadly. "But I don't know how to find him."
"You come," he told her, taking her hand. "We find, yes?"
"Oh, thank you!" she squealed, dabbing at her eyes with a kerchief. The soldier
led her down to the fence. Two guards stopped them and addressed the soldier in their
own language. Fear welled up in Fish again as she was certain they were going to arrest
her. A few moments later, however, she was being led to the fence.
She searched through the yard with her eyes, looking for a familiar face in the dark
crowd. "Um…Uncle Ty?" she called out, wary of using the word "Master" after her
encounter with Will.
"Miss Espe?" She turned her head forty-five degrees to the right and saw a woman
approaching the fence. She recognized the woman as one of the sorceresses who had
stayed the night at the Master's house all those weeks ago, Miss Corin.
"Miss Corin!" Fish held the fence with her fingers.
"You fand yor uncal?" the soldier asked from beside her.
"Um…This is a friend of my uncle's," she explained. "Can I have a few minutes?"
The soldier smiled lecherously. "Shure. I be back soon." He started to walk off.
"What are you doing here?" Corin asked the apprentice. "You shouldn't have
come!"
"Please, Miss Corin. I'm looking for Master Daventry," Fish whispered through
the fence in response.
Corin regarded her for a moment, then nodded. "I'll see if he's regained
consciousness yet."
"What do you mean!? What happened to him?!" Fish stopped the woman before
she could leave.
The old woman was silent for a few moments before speaking again. "The new
territorial governor has been…speaking with him."
"Wha…"
"I'll be right back." The old woman walked quickly away while Fish waited
anxiously. Almost five minutes later, Corin returned, supporting Daventry on her shoulder.
His face was bruised and bloodied, and one of his hands was bandaged tightly.
"Master Daventry?" Fish whispered. "What happened? You're hurt."
He smiled tiredly at her. "I was introduced to nobility, Miss Espe."
"Why haven't you healed him!?" she demanded of Corin.
"Fish," Daventry said warningly. "It's not up to them. The governor has had
wards chained to their ankles. No one in here can cast any magic anymore."
"Master Daventry, I…"
"Listen to me, Fish," he cut her off. "I want you to leave. Go back up into the
mountains and make your way to Zephilia. You'll be safe there."
She shook her head. "No, I can't leave you like this!"
"You can and you will," he told her weakly. "This is what I was talking about
before Fish. Down by Lina's Lake. Do you remember?"
She nodded tearfully.
"Good." Behind her, Fish could hear a car pulling up as Daventry continued
talking to her. "The books I gave you. Are they safe?"
"Yes, I hid them in…"
"Quiet!" Fish shut her mouth in surprise. "Do not tell me where they are. I just
wanted to make sure they were safe."
"Yes, they are," she said quietly.
"Good, good." He looked up at her. "Fish, take those books to Zephilia and hide
them. Do you understand?"
"Yes, but…"
"Now go. I have another appointment with the governor." He chuckled fearfully.
"Who is this governor?" Fish asked him.
The car door opened and out stepped a shapely leg encased in a black high heel and
stocking. This smooth gam was followed shortly after by the other as the territorial
governor for Atlas stood up. The wind picked up, and she was forced to adjust her
lavender hair behind her. The red band on her left arm featuring the black star of Seyruun
clashed with her black Reichstaffel uniform.
The young soldier who had opened the door for her saluted smartly, clicking his
boot heels together. She gave him a tired salute of her own as the door on the other side of
the car opened and allowed her traveling 'companion' to step out. She growled under her
breath. She realized that Atlas was a gem in Seyruun's crown and had to be protected, but
did the Reich Chancellor REALLY need to saddle her with a Gestapo political watchdog?
"Well, isn't this nice?" the watchdog asked, adjusting his had before raising his
leather riding crop towards the camp. "Quite posh, don't you think?" He smiled
unctuously.
"It's not supposed to be 'posh,'" she informed him, starting toward the main guard
gate. "It's supposed to sap any hope or defiance out of them."
"Tsk, tsk, tsk," the watchdog replied. "No need to be snappy, Colonel Gabriev. It
was merely an aesthetic observation, not a criticism of your methods." He raised the
riding crop in salute as he fell into step next to her.
"Just remember not to interfere," she reminded him. "You're here to observe, not
participate."
The Gestapo officer smiled again. "Oh, I assure you," he said. "I'm looking
forward to…observing you, Celeste. May I call you 'Celeste?'"
Colonel Celeste Gabriev rolled her eyes. "You may certainly not," she told him.
"Pity," he commented. He went silent as the guards at the gate saluted sharply and
opened the gate for them.
"You know, Celeste," he continued a moment later. "With your…unique gifts…you
would be of quite some help to us."
"I have no intention of joining the Gestapo," she told him flatly. "I don't enjoy
killing Seyruun soldiers."
The Gestapo man smiled. "Perhaps I was not referring to the Gestapo…"
Before she could ask what exactly he was talking about, she looked up to find the
object of her search, surprisingly, standing next to the fence and upright. After their last
session, she was quite sure he'd be in bed recuperating. As she was wondering what could
drag him out of bed, she saw a young, red haired woman speaking to him through the fence.
The astral essence around the girl was thick with magical energy, magical energy
that the Colonel, thanks to the unique gifts the Gestapo officer had just mentioned, could see
like a phosphorescent flare.
"Colonel?" the Gestapo officer asked, arching an eyebrow.
Gabriev raised an arm and pointed at the girl, who still hadn't noticed them.
"ALARUM!!!" she screamed.
Fish looked up to see a uniformed woman pointing at her and screaming. "Oh,
crap! That's my cue!" She paused for a second and turned back to the Master. "Master,
I…"
"GO!" he shouted at her.
Fish took off down the other side of the fence. Spotlights were already coming on,
and a blaring alarm was going off. She could hear dogs barking behind her and soldiers
yelling in the guttural Seyruun bastard tongue.
Looking up ahead, she saw a section of outer fence that they hadn't put razor wire
on. She raced towards it at top speed, her lungs burning for oxygen. Behind her she could
hear a feminine voice shouting at the guards chasing her.
"NO FIRING! I WANT HER ALIVE!"
"Oh, freak'n wonderful!" Fish muttered. She jumped up and grabbed the chain link
fence about halfway to the top. She started climbing just as the dogs reached her, barking
up at her. She managed to pull herself up over the fence and fell on her butt on the other
side, the dogs still barking and snapping at her from their side of the fence. She backed
away on her hands and rushed to her feet.
Soldiers were rushing from the gate towards her. She continued to run. If she
could make it into the town itself, she could get away. The sorceress was thirty feet from
the street when a car pulled up and stopped right in front of her. She stopped in her tracks.
Will poked his head out the window. "Fish! C'mon!"
"Will?!"
"Hurry up!" he begged. Fish ran around to the passenger side and got in, closing
the door as the car sped down the street. Behind them, guards shot their rifles after them
futilely.
Daventry and Corin looked up as the gate swung open and Gabriev entered. Before
any of them could move, the RS officer stepped forward and brutally backhanded the
sorcerer. Corin looked ready to leap at the woman, but a guard held her by the arms.
"Would that redhead be the student you say you don't have?" Gabriev asked
snidely. As she waited for an answer, another man in a black uniform entered and watched
the scene with some amusement. "Huh?!" she screamed at Daventry.
The sorcerer said nothing.
"I'm rather bored with this song and dance," Gabriev told him. "So this will be the
last time I ask. Who was that woman, and where can I find her?"
The sorcerer looked her in the eye. "What woman?"
Gabriev snarled and pulled her sidearm from its holster. She aimed down at the
man and started to pull the trigger when suddenly a riding crop slapped her wrist, causing
her to flinch. Her shot went wide, striking the dirt next to Daventry's foot. The RS officer
turned angrily to the Gestapo officer.
"Now, now," the Gestapo man oozed. "It wouldn't do to execute him before he's
told us where he's hidden the Claire Bible manuscript, now would it?"
"I told you," Gabriev hissed, "Not to interfere."
The Gestapo officer smiled again. "Come now, my dear Celeste! Surely you're
aware that in extreme cases of Reich security, Gestapo authority supercedes that of the
Reichstaffel."
Daventry watched as Gabriev glared hatefully at the Gestapo officer. "What is so
damn special about that book?" she hissed acidly.
The purple eyes of the Gestapo man narrowed into thin slits as he smiled.
"That…" he said, "Is a secret."
To Be Continued…
Author's Notes:
Slayers doesn't belong to me. It belongs to Kadokawa Shoten.
I want to thank my prereaders, Fish, Will, Sethra, and Cav for all their help, and most
especially Fish, our heroine in this fic. ^_^ Thanks, guys.