Chapter 11 - Everyone Ready, Bring on Bandit Number 2!
"Well, looking for that Cornucopia had at least one positive result," Lina was saying.
"What's that?" Amelia asked.
"It got rid of you-know-who. He hasn't shown up since."
Everyone agreed that this was true, except for Gourry who was a little confused.
"Oh!" he said suddenly. "You mean Xe-"
"Don't say it!" Lina exclaimed, cutting off Gourry's remark. "You wouldn't want him to hear you and come investigate, would you?"
Gourry shook his head.
"Well Lina," Kristy said, "I didn't know you were superstitious about that kind of stuff..."
"I'm not," Lina replied. "It's just that with him I don't take any chances."
Kristy thought that was rather funny, and was about to say so, but a glare from Zelgadis told her that she'd be better off keeping her mouth shut. In the meantime Lina seemed to have finally given up on making excuses about the previous incident.
----------
The afternoon was sunny. Lina stretched and yawned.
"What a nice day," she said to no one in particular. Noticing a nicely shady spot nearby she paused.
"Hey, since we're not exactly going anywhere specific, we might as well take a quick break and enjoy the day."
"That's a good idea, Miss Lina," Sylphiel agreed. "I could use a rest."
Gourry blinked, confused.
"Ah, Lina? Weren't you going to look for those bandits?"
"It can wait a bit..." Lina replied sleepily. Gourry turned to Zelgadis- surely he at least would agree, but found the chimera already asleep on the soft grass. A bit perplexed, Gourry sat down, deciding to keep watch since the others seemed to want their sleep.
A few minutes later a low rumble through the ground made Gourry look up. It felt like something big was approaching. Gourry stood up and looked all around, then finally spotted the large golem heading for the group. On its shoulder stood a cloaked figure whose face couldn't be made out.
"Hoho," the figure said, "my plan worked perfectly."
"Hey, who are you?" Gourry asked, stepping forward.
"Ho?" the figure turned, surprised, to look at Gourry. "So, you escaped my enchantment? No matter, my golem will take care of you!"
The golem attacked, the cloaked figure jumping off to the ground behind it. Unsheathing his sword, Gourry fought skillfully. In moments the golem had been reduced to piles of boulders and rubble.
"What?! You... you..." the cloaked figure stammered, then disappeared into the cloud of dust created by the fallen golem.
"Nn... Gourry?" Lina blinked, slowly coming awake. "What's going on?"
"Well, there was this big stone guy..."
"A golem," Zelgadis said, looking at the rubble scattered about.
"So it must have been some sort of sorcerer," Lina said.
"But why did they attack?" asked Amelia. Lina started to say something but was interrupted.
"Hohoho!" a voice said. Everyone turned to see the cloaked figure that had been with the golem Gourry fought. "I almost had you there with my sleeping enchantment."
"Hey, just who are you?" Lina asked.
"Ho, I am only one of the most powerful members of the Kill Lina Inverse Gang!" Tossing the cloak aside, the speaker was revealed to be a black-leather clad sorceress with fiery red hair. "Kokoa, the fierce tigress!"
"Sheesh," Kristy muttered to herself, "blazing eagle, mighty bear, fierce tigress- what's next, iron mouse?"
Fortunately, her comment was not overheard. Kokoa continued to talk.
"You may have escaped my trap, but my golems will take care of you. Hohohoho! Attack!"
She cracked a long leather whip that she had been holding. There was a brief silence, then the ground started to shake. Golems that had been disguised as natural boulders across the countryside charged forward from all directions to attack.
Lina stared at Kokoa.
"Do you really think you can beat me, Lina Inverse, with a bunch of rocks?" she said.
"Hoho, of course not. I never let my darlings alone. Grey Bomb!"
The ground exploded under the feet of Lina and the others, knocking everyone off balance just as the golems attacked. For several moments it was pure chaos as everyone tried to quickly defend themselves and fight back. Gourry had a slight advantage in the fact that it's easier to swing a sword than cast a spell, so he was cutting down golems within moments.
Lina was casting spells the moment she'd recovered her balance, and was dealing quite a bit of damage to the golems in front of her. Kristy had found that her "earthy vine" spell that had caused Lina so much trouble a few days before was quite effective for spotting attacking golems in their tracks. Zelgadis, for his part, would have been destroying quite a few more golems if he wasn't constantly having to help out whenever Sylphiel messed up a spell or Amelia took on more than she could handle.
Finally Lina broke out of the fight and stood facing Kokoa, leaving the others to finish off the golems.
"You know, you guys are really starting to annoy me," Lina said.
"Hohoho, don't you enjoy playing with my darlings?"
"Fireball!"
Lina's spell was cast almost before Kokoa had finished speaking. Kokoa managed to dodge most of the blast, but looked rather angered.
"Why you, I'll show you! Hohohoho! Astral Vine!" Kokoa charged her whip with magical energy, then swung it around to attack Lina. Lina jumped to the side to dodge, firing a Flare Arrow. Kokoa snapped the whip around and deflected it.
"Hohohoho! You can't even hit me like that! Hohohoh- ho?"
Kokoa stopped abruptly- Lina was no where in sight.
"Try looking up," Lina said, hovering above with Levitation. "Now let's try this again, Flare Arrow!"
There was a chance Kokoa might've blocked the attack, except for the fact that several other spells had been cast in her direction at the same time.
"Hey Lina," Kristy said, "you should be more careful, we had to take care of several golems that were about to attack you from behind."
Zelgadis's annoyed expression testified to the truth of the statement.
"At least I took care of that annoying Kokoa person," Lina said.
"I wonder what happened to that guy who attacked me earlier," Gourry said.
Everyone stared at him. Even Sylphiel didn't make a reply.
After a brief pause, Lina spoke.
"Well, that's two down now, only three more and I'll be rid of those stupid bandits."
Everyone agreed with that. Though no one pointed out the fact that Lina hadn't defeated the gang members alone, and if they all decided to leave it would be (and technically is) solely Lina's problem.
Or maybe they were all so used to Lina that they didn't even think about it.
End of Chapter 11
**********
Kristy: After a considerable delay, the author has finally gotten back on track for writing this fic.
Zelgadis: Are you certain that's a good thing?
Kristy: It is for me. And usually for Lina, too, since no matter what she still is the main character of Slayers, after all.
Lina: You got that right. Think I should threaten to Dragon Slave her if she gets delayed too long again?
Xelloss: Now that I would like to see.
Lina: Xelloss!
Kristy: Hehe, he's right, it would be very interesting...
Xelloss: Just not for Lina.
Kristy: Yes. Now it's time to go, so get out of here, all of you! Oh! No, not you guys, readers can stay, I meant everyone else. Err, I better go now. Bye!
"Well, looking for that Cornucopia had at least one positive result," Lina was saying.
"What's that?" Amelia asked.
"It got rid of you-know-who. He hasn't shown up since."
Everyone agreed that this was true, except for Gourry who was a little confused.
"Oh!" he said suddenly. "You mean Xe-"
"Don't say it!" Lina exclaimed, cutting off Gourry's remark. "You wouldn't want him to hear you and come investigate, would you?"
Gourry shook his head.
"Well Lina," Kristy said, "I didn't know you were superstitious about that kind of stuff..."
"I'm not," Lina replied. "It's just that with him I don't take any chances."
Kristy thought that was rather funny, and was about to say so, but a glare from Zelgadis told her that she'd be better off keeping her mouth shut. In the meantime Lina seemed to have finally given up on making excuses about the previous incident.
"What a nice day," she said to no one in particular. Noticing a nicely shady spot nearby she paused.
"Hey, since we're not exactly going anywhere specific, we might as well take a quick break and enjoy the day."
"That's a good idea, Miss Lina," Sylphiel agreed. "I could use a rest."
Gourry blinked, confused.
"Ah, Lina? Weren't you going to look for those bandits?"
"It can wait a bit..." Lina replied sleepily. Gourry turned to Zelgadis- surely he at least would agree, but found the chimera already asleep on the soft grass. A bit perplexed, Gourry sat down, deciding to keep watch since the others seemed to want their sleep.
A few minutes later a low rumble through the ground made Gourry look up. It felt like something big was approaching. Gourry stood up and looked all around, then finally spotted the large golem heading for the group. On its shoulder stood a cloaked figure whose face couldn't be made out.
"Hoho," the figure said, "my plan worked perfectly."
"Hey, who are you?" Gourry asked, stepping forward.
"Ho?" the figure turned, surprised, to look at Gourry. "So, you escaped my enchantment? No matter, my golem will take care of you!"
The golem attacked, the cloaked figure jumping off to the ground behind it. Unsheathing his sword, Gourry fought skillfully. In moments the golem had been reduced to piles of boulders and rubble.
"What?! You... you..." the cloaked figure stammered, then disappeared into the cloud of dust created by the fallen golem.
"Nn... Gourry?" Lina blinked, slowly coming awake. "What's going on?"
"Well, there was this big stone guy..."
"A golem," Zelgadis said, looking at the rubble scattered about.
"So it must have been some sort of sorcerer," Lina said.
"But why did they attack?" asked Amelia. Lina started to say something but was interrupted.
"Hohoho!" a voice said. Everyone turned to see the cloaked figure that had been with the golem Gourry fought. "I almost had you there with my sleeping enchantment."
"Hey, just who are you?" Lina asked.
"Ho, I am only one of the most powerful members of the Kill Lina Inverse Gang!" Tossing the cloak aside, the speaker was revealed to be a black-leather clad sorceress with fiery red hair. "Kokoa, the fierce tigress!"
"Sheesh," Kristy muttered to herself, "blazing eagle, mighty bear, fierce tigress- what's next, iron mouse?"
Fortunately, her comment was not overheard. Kokoa continued to talk.
"You may have escaped my trap, but my golems will take care of you. Hohohoho! Attack!"
She cracked a long leather whip that she had been holding. There was a brief silence, then the ground started to shake. Golems that had been disguised as natural boulders across the countryside charged forward from all directions to attack.
Lina stared at Kokoa.
"Do you really think you can beat me, Lina Inverse, with a bunch of rocks?" she said.
"Hoho, of course not. I never let my darlings alone. Grey Bomb!"
The ground exploded under the feet of Lina and the others, knocking everyone off balance just as the golems attacked. For several moments it was pure chaos as everyone tried to quickly defend themselves and fight back. Gourry had a slight advantage in the fact that it's easier to swing a sword than cast a spell, so he was cutting down golems within moments.
Lina was casting spells the moment she'd recovered her balance, and was dealing quite a bit of damage to the golems in front of her. Kristy had found that her "earthy vine" spell that had caused Lina so much trouble a few days before was quite effective for spotting attacking golems in their tracks. Zelgadis, for his part, would have been destroying quite a few more golems if he wasn't constantly having to help out whenever Sylphiel messed up a spell or Amelia took on more than she could handle.
Finally Lina broke out of the fight and stood facing Kokoa, leaving the others to finish off the golems.
"You know, you guys are really starting to annoy me," Lina said.
"Hohoho, don't you enjoy playing with my darlings?"
"Fireball!"
Lina's spell was cast almost before Kokoa had finished speaking. Kokoa managed to dodge most of the blast, but looked rather angered.
"Why you, I'll show you! Hohohoho! Astral Vine!" Kokoa charged her whip with magical energy, then swung it around to attack Lina. Lina jumped to the side to dodge, firing a Flare Arrow. Kokoa snapped the whip around and deflected it.
"Hohohoho! You can't even hit me like that! Hohohoh- ho?"
Kokoa stopped abruptly- Lina was no where in sight.
"Try looking up," Lina said, hovering above with Levitation. "Now let's try this again, Flare Arrow!"
There was a chance Kokoa might've blocked the attack, except for the fact that several other spells had been cast in her direction at the same time.
"Hey Lina," Kristy said, "you should be more careful, we had to take care of several golems that were about to attack you from behind."
Zelgadis's annoyed expression testified to the truth of the statement.
"At least I took care of that annoying Kokoa person," Lina said.
"I wonder what happened to that guy who attacked me earlier," Gourry said.
Everyone stared at him. Even Sylphiel didn't make a reply.
After a brief pause, Lina spoke.
"Well, that's two down now, only three more and I'll be rid of those stupid bandits."
Everyone agreed with that. Though no one pointed out the fact that Lina hadn't defeated the gang members alone, and if they all decided to leave it would be (and technically is) solely Lina's problem.
Or maybe they were all so used to Lina that they didn't even think about it.
End of Chapter 11
**********
Kristy: After a considerable delay, the author has finally gotten back on track for writing this fic.
Zelgadis: Are you certain that's a good thing?
Kristy: It is for me. And usually for Lina, too, since no matter what she still is the main character of Slayers, after all.
Lina: You got that right. Think I should threaten to Dragon Slave her if she gets delayed too long again?
Xelloss: Now that I would like to see.
Lina: Xelloss!
Kristy: Hehe, he's right, it would be very interesting...
Xelloss: Just not for Lina.
Kristy: Yes. Now it's time to go, so get out of here, all of you! Oh! No, not you guys, readers can stay, I meant everyone else. Err, I better go now. Bye!