I don't own The Slayers.  I do own Varrie, Darick, the Shadow and Flame clans and the obsessive crazy guy.  Please, please review!

A Brutal Attack!

The Penumbra charged at both Lina and Varrie,  the attack was brutal.  They separated the two of them first.  And then two of them came at Varrie with long swords and tried to cut her but she dodged most of the swings but had no time to get any of her own hits on the two.  By this time Lina had drawn her short sword.  Two people came up to her one had a large wooden staff the other had a spear.  At first the two men sent after Lina stayed back waiting for her to use so sort of spell but when none came the to attacked her. 

The two women danced, rolled and ducked under and around the slashes of Penumbra weapons.  Lina managed to get close enough to slide low and slash at the upper thigh of one of her assailants.  He hissed and grabbed the deep slash, but a second latter got back to her and fought. 

Varrie was holding her own among the two men she was fighting.  But they finally got smart and one of them was at her front while the other went around to her back.  Then the one behind her poked his blade into her back and said.  "Drop your swords, or I'll put this through your back."

When she felt the sharp metal tip poke into her back, she stood straight up and listened to the words.  After the man spoke she throw her swords behind her, then did a backwards flip and landed right behind the him.  She knelt down and picked up her swords, and stood up right behind the man with one of her swords in his back.  She felt a sharp pain in her back as she brought up the hilt of her other sword and cracked it done on his head. 

Lina was not having much fun and was wishing for her magic, but she was doing well against her assailants and soon had almost crippled one.  Varrie was now by her side and the attackers were down to only two.  The two women fought hard and the fight lasted in total of 15 minuets before all four of the attackers were down on the forest floor bleeding, out cold or both.

After a few seconds they looked at each other's ripped shirts, jackets and leggings then they looked around them and laughed.  They laughed at each others now worn and dirty clothing, and the fact that they had beaten four people from the Shadow clan by themselves, but mostly they laughed the laugh of the exhausted when every thing seems funny.  When they stopped laughing Lina walked up and slapped Varrie on the back.  Varrie winced and arched her back.  Lina took her hand away when she felt something warm and squishy on the other girl's back.  She looked at her hand, "Varrie, what happened your bleeding!."  It was more of a statement then a question.

"One of them must have scratched me that's all."  She shrugged it off and winced again.  Lina put her finger on her new friend's wound and healed it in a couple of seconds. "Thank you."  She said to Lina, then turned to where her brother had been and said out loud.  "What are you going to do now Darick?"

A hand grabbed Lina from behind and covered her mouth and with that done he plunged the dagger into Lina's upper thigh.  He smiled when she gave a muffled cry of pain and fainted onto him.  He put her gently on the ground making no sound. 

Then he turned to the other one the girl who had been right in front of him then hit him from behind.  He scowled, she had made a fool out of him, him one of the top Penumbra assassins.  He looked at the back of her head and saw the clip, oh well at least she was a low level Blue of the Flame clan and not and Red.  To save his reputation he would have to kill her.  Though, that was really too bad because although she was a Flame she was quite pretty and would have been a good prize.  He shrugged oh well that's the way it is.   But as he walked closer to her he recognized her.

He remembered now.  He, Darick and that strange man had been scooping out the Inn restaurant combination.  They had been hiding, lying face down in the rafters shadow's because no one ever looked up and the rafters in and Inn or restaurant.  Well no one usually did but she had looked up right at them for at least one long minuet.  But saw nothing as The strange man had cast a quick spell to protect them from prying eyes.  For that whole minuet he had looked right at her face, and her uniform taking her in and memorizing every detail.  He had know then that he had to met her.   He felt Darick looking at him and he turned to him, Darick gave him a disgusted look and turned his back on him.  He kept on eye on the waitress and one eye on the target which wasn't hard because she was the one waiting on them. 

Darick looked at him and saw his attention was split and where it was split.  "Keep your mind on the task at hand!"  Darick had barked at him,  "Isn't she a little young for you?"

And he had replied.  "Enough of my mind is on this task, it's boring all they do is eat!"  he rolled his eye's and said.  "And as for the girl I think she's old enough for me."

"You moron that girl is obviously only fifteen years old." Darick hissed at him.

"That's plenty old enough for me."  He said not looking up.  "Besides how old is Lina Inverse? 16? 17?"

"You Pervert!!! She's just a little kid!!!"  He hissed.

"My, my I'm afraid Darick is right!  That is quit perverted and kinky too!"  The strange man said.  "And Lina Inverse is eighteen years of age."  He paused, "True thought is to young for me,"  With that he stuck out his tongue. "But at least mine is legal." 

Darick groaned and hit both of the men.  "Both of you are perverted!!!  You,"  He turned to the strange man.  "We do not need to know what goes on in that filthy, perverted not to mention kinky mind!  And you," He rounded on him.  "Don't go chasing jailbait, especially not her."  He pointed at the waitress.  "I know you see the way she moves, and know by now every detail of her body."  He said sourly, "she isn't a normal waitress, and that means she's probably a Flame.  Which means you can't handle her!  Do you hear me?"  He hit him again to get his attention which was back on the waitress who must have felt him looking at her because she was looking up again.  "She is Flame and she is off limits!!"

'She will be mine!,' He had vowed. 'And I will be able to handle her!'

He would prove Darick wrong!  He could and would handle her.  He thought to him self as he snuck up on her.   He got closer to her he would show Darick and teach her a lesson at the same time.  He was right beside her now as he leaned in and whispered into her ear.

 The voice was right behind her as it (was the one belonging to the man she had knocked out) whispered into her ear as he poked the tip of his sword into her back.  "You should never forget an enemy just because he's down.  Now drop your swords," he paused and remembered what happened last time he had said that.  "In front of you." 

She barely had time to throw her weapons in front of her, before he grabbed her shoulder to keep her in front of him.  Varrie was not happy about that little fact, she didn't like his slimy hands on her.  So she did the most natural thing in the world for any woman to do in that situation.  She turned and fast.  But her attacker had been expecting a slap, and raised his arm to block the attack.   But was sorely mistaken because instead of raising her hand to slap, she put it back and pulled out the fire like clip in that had held her long brown hair up.

His vision was blocked by the sudden waves of long slightly wavy brown hair and didn't see the glint of her tiny dagger that it was until it had slashed a long gash in the arm that held her shoulder.  He howled in pain as the wound burned but did not let her go, instead her spun her around and put his arm diagonally across her chest so her arms couldn't move.

 "Now for that," he whispered in Varrie's ear.  "You will be sorry!  Yes you will be very sorry!"  He whispered the promised into her ear.  Oh how she hated his breath on her face and in her ear.  She struggled against his grip.  She wanted to die but he didn't want to kill her, no that would be to easy.  Before he had just wanted to show Darick that he could handle her, but now he wanted every one to see that he would not tolerant of such things.  But how he wondered?

He thought for a second as Varrie struggled and tried harder to stick her little dagger into his leg.  Yes he thought that was it.  He would break this she-devil from the Flame clan.  And he would do it in front of his whole clan,  proving once and for all that he was ready to ascend to Umbra.  With that he grabbed the dagger and plunged it into her side.

She saw the glint of the small dagger and struggled harder yet but it was no use he was stronger then she and had her arms pinned down so she couldn't scratch him again.  She screamed as the burning dagger pierced her skin then the pain spread across her body.  She wondered if this was the cursed dagger for a few seconds before her world went black and she fell back into the man that held her.

When he heard the scream Darick had been talking to a figure cloaked by the darkness.  Upon hearing it he was right beside the them as his sister fell against the man that held the dagger in his hand covered in blood.  He cursed himself for not paying more attention to the battle.  He looked from the bloodied man to the blood soaking through his sister's dull white shirt and onto her dark jacket.  In seconds he had taken in the seen, and gathered from the small dagger in his sister's hand and the slash on the man's arm what had happened in just a few seconds before.

Again he cursed himself and the man, he cursed the man silently he would have to understand this whole mess before he could legally kill the man in front of the clan.  Though he didn't show it Darick was angry on the verge of being irate when the man appeared next to him and placed a hand on his arm.  "I will transport all of you back to Shadow headquarters."  Said the man out loud.  "You can settle things in the dojo latter."  He said just loud enough for Darick to hear.

Darick thought for a few seconds before he said.  "Yes, that would be preferable."  He nodded and suddenly the surroundings changed and Darick found himself along with all his men and the two women back at the base.