AN: OMG! I'm so sorry it's taken so long for me to update! I'm sorrryyyyyy! But school's been taking over everything, and I got so bored sometimes that I didn't want to type, and... Oh, nevermind... Enjoy the new chapter! ^_^
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Zel stared after them for a second, before he faced the edge of the cliff again. He got as close to the edge as he dared, and looked down at the man in blue climbing up. The man was making good progress for his predicament, but his going was extremely slow.
Standing up straight, Zelgadis started pacing impatiently. He crossed his arms as he walked. Each time he passed the edge of the cliff, he noticed that the man in blue had gone a little further, but not much.
Finally, Zel sighed, and looked over the edge. He called out to the man in blue. "Hey, could you hurry it up down there?" As soon as the job was finished, with the princess dead, then he would get his money and see if he could buy a cure somewhere.
The man in blue stared at him like he was crazy. "This isn't very easy, you know!" he shouted back. "If you want me up there so fast, could you help?"
Zel shrugged, and said, "I could help, but I'm not sure you'd accept it, seeing as I'm only waiting around to kill you."
"It doesn't matter," the man in blue said. "Just get me up there!"
Again, Zel shrugged, and he called out, "Ray Wing!" The spell bubble surrounded the man in blue, and carried him up and onto solid ground. As soon as the man in blue's feet touched the ground, the bubble disappeared.
Right away, the man in blue reached for his sword, but Zel held up his hand to stop him. "Wait until you're ready," he said. "I want a fair fight."
The man in blue said, "Thanks," and sat down on a wide rock. He pulled off one of his boots, and turned it upside down. Several good-sized stones fell out of it.
"I don't mean to intrude," Zel said after a moment. "But you wouldn't happen to be a six-fingered man with five fingers, now would you?"
The man in blue shook his head, and, after replacing his boot, waggled his gloved fingers to prove it. "Um... Do you always ask strangers that?"
Zel shook his head. "No... It's just... My parents were killed by a six-fingered man with five fingers. I wasn't strong enough to protect them. I swore I would kill him, but I never found out who he was. All I remember about him was that he was six-fingered and had five fingers."
"How old were you then?" the man in blue asked, honestly sincere.
Shrugging indifferently, Zel said, "Twelve." He continued on as if the man in blue had never asked his question. "After that, I took up tutalege with my grandfather and his assistants. I devoted most of my life to sword fighting and spells.So when I meet the six-fingered man with five fingers again, I will not fail."
The man in blue stared up at him, truly awed.
"When I see the six-fingered man with five fingers again, I will walk up to him, and say, 'Hello. I'm strong enough to kill you now. You will die.'" Zel finished.
"Wow," the man in blue said, his mouth slightly open in amazement. "You haven't done anything except study sword fighting and magic for years?" At Zel's nod, the man in blue said, "You need a hobby!"
Zel sweatdropped, and said, exasperatedly, "Are you ready to fight yet?"
The man in blue smiled, and said, "Yeah, I guess." He stood up, and drew his sword. Zel did likewise. They faced each other for a moment.
"You seem a fine, if dense, man," Zel said. "I hate to kill you."
Grinning determinedly, the man in blue answered, "You seem like a nice guy. I hate to die."
Zel stared at the man in blue, wondering if he knew what he had just said. Then he shrugged, and lunged forward with his sword. The man in blue spun out of the way, and Zel noticed for the first time that the man in blue had long blonde hair, and he had pulled it back into a tight braided ponytail. After the man in blue had regained his footing, they faced each other squarely.
The man in blue darted in with his sword, but Zel easily parried it. Then Zel took his turn, and his blade was turned aside as well. "You're pretty good," Zel admitted, bringing his sword down in an overhand swing.
"You too," the man in blue responded, easily parrying Zel's attack.
As if that was a prompting, the battle broke out much more furiously. They darted in and out, back and forth, feinting, dodging, parrying, none of them hitting the other. The battle took them everywhere. Up a set of crumbling stairs left over from whatever building had stood there ages ago, across loose stones where they were hard put to keep their balance. At one point, they had to leap off a five-foot drop to continue their roving fight.
Eventually, they ended up back at the cliff edge. Zel was just about to be forced off the edge. His heels were touching empty air. He roughly shoved the man in blue back, and regained his footing. "I'll have to admit," he said, breathing heavily. "You are better than I am."
"Then why are you smiling?" the man in blue asked curiously, forcing Zel back again.
Zel ducked, and rolled under the man in blue's horizontally swinging blade, aimed to slice across his chest. He stopped on one knee and jumped back to his feet before the man in blue could take advantage of his situation. "Because," Zel said. Then he held his sword level in front of his face, and shouted, "Astral Vine!" His sword's blade started glowing bright red with the effect of the spell.
The man in blue stared for a second in awe. Zel took advantage of that, and flew in, aiming his blade for the man in blue's sword. The man in blue reacted, but not quick enough. Zel's sword came in contact with his, and hacked off the top four inches of his blade.
Staring in shock at his sword, the man in blue was unaware of Zel's next move. He looked up just in time to see the sword aimed at him again. He quickly dodged out of the way, and reversed his grip on the hilt of his sword.
Zel watched, confused. What good would it do him to hold his blade upside down?
The man in blue took something from his pocket. It was a thin metal rod. Again, Zel could only stare. The man in blue poked the metal rod at the hilt of his sword, and the blade dropped out. Zel started. Did the man in blue carry an extra blade with him in case this happened?
Grinning, the man in blue looked Zel directly in the eye. Then he shouted, "Light, come forth!" A blade of bright white light emerged from the hilt, glowing intensely even in the early afternoon sun.
"The Sword of Light...?" Zel asked in disbelief. Before he could register any more, the man in blue came in quick and high. Zel regained his composure swiftly enough to block the sudden attack. There was a flash of light when the two magical swords came in contact, but even that could not distract them enough to put a pause to their fight.
If the battle before was furious, this one was even more so. Their movements were lightning quick, and if any spectators watched, they wouldn't see moving blades, just flashes of red and white light.
With one vicious attack, Gourry managed to knock Zel's sword out of his hand. The sword landed tip-first in the dirt on a level at least ten feet below them. Zel looked over his shoulder at where his sword was. There were two thick stone pillars in front of it and to either side, with a wide metal rod stretched between them. Another remnant of the building that once existed there.
Calculating his chances quickly, Zelgadis decided to try it, because he couldn't last long in a fight without a sword. And using magic wouldn't be right in a sword battle. So, taking a deep breath, he turned around quickly, and jumped. He grabbed the metal rod in his hands, and used his momentum to drop himself right next to his sword. He scrambled over there, and grabbed his sword, looking up at the man in blue to see how he would react.
The man in blue grinned. Then he deliberately threw his sword so it landed in the ground near to where Zel was standing. Zel stared up at him incredulously, wondering what he would do next. The man in blue rubbed his hands together in preperation, and leaped at the metal rod, his arms outstretched. Zel expected him to do much the same that himself had just done, and land next to his sword. But he was wrong.
The man in blue must have miscalculated, because he fell just short of the rod, and landed flat on his face in the dirt. Zel blinked and stared while the man in blue groaned and stood back up, spitting dirt out of his mouth.
After laughing nervously for a bit, the man in blue ran forward and grabbed the hilt of his sword, resuming the attack.
The man in blue was relentless. He didn't give up, and kept chargin forward like a bull in a rage. Zel couldn't keep up. While he was getting tired, the man in blue didn't seem to be any worse for the wear. Zel struggled to turn aside the man's attacks, purely on the defensive now. He had to use both hands to lift his sword anymore. Sweat beaded on his forehead.
The man in blue just grinned, and continued to attack almost lazily. Finally tired of playing around, the man in blue spun his sword around deftly, and lopped off the top three-quarters of Zel's sword.
Zel knew he was finished. He stared ahead determinedly, looking right into the man in blue's eyes. "Who are you?" Zel demanded, amazed that there was a better swordsman than he out there.
Shrugging, the man in blue said, "I can't tell."
"I must know," Zel insisted.
"Sorry," the man in blue said.
Zel nodded, and said, "Fine. End it quickly." He knew that the Sword of Light which the man in blue weilded could cut through his stone skin as if it were butter.
"That's mot my style," the man in blue said, walking around behind Zel. "But," he said. "As I can't have you following me, either..." He let his sentence fade away as he lifted his sword-weilding hand, and brought the hilt sharply down on the back of Zel's head.
Zel was astounded at the man in blue's strength, for he was out like a light almost instantly. No man with normal strength could have done that to him, being made of stone and all.
The man in blue sheathed his sword, and turned Zel over onto his back. He patted Zel's shoulder, and said again, "Sorry." Then he quickly ran away from the battlefield, jumping over rocks and crevices, eagerly chasing after Phil, Vrumagun, and Lina.