Chapter Six

Filia looked back, hesitating. She wasn't certain whether she wanted to carry through with her plan or not. All of her friends were still in camp, asleep, and didn't know that she was going on without them. But then thoughts of Xellos overruled all of her doubts. She absolutely had to rescue him, before it was too late. Yet she still didn't know why she thought so fondly of the annoying Mazoku; they were mortal enemies, weren't they?

"Why can't I understand my own heart? What is it about him that has me willing to leave all behind and rush hell for leather into danger? What is so special about that obnoxious Mazoku, anyway?" Filia wondered, as she took one last look at the sleeping group, then transformed into her dragon form, confident that she could travel unnoticed in the moonless night. With a silent leap into the air, Filia took off, leaving not a trace of herself behind.

"Hang on, I'm coming." Filia thought, as she flew into the pitch-black night.

"Oh shit! I knew this would happen!" Lina screeched, when morning had come.

"What's wrong Lina-san?!" Amelia asked, as the entire group came to investigate what the yelling was about.

"Filia's gone off on her own! She's going to try and rescue Xellos by herself!" Lina shouted.

"Damn…………" Ashram growled, now understanding what was going on.

"What can we do? We can't possibly catch up with her now! She must be halfway to Alacrast by now!" Deedlit said, hopelessly.

"We Raywing the rest of the way to Kanon." Zelgadis said, calmly.

"But Zelgadis-san, you haven't recovered from heat exhaustion yet! You can't possibly be thinking to Raywing all the way there!" Amelia said, worriedly. Zelgadis said nothing, but instead turned and looked at Cecil and Aldonova.

"You two know that spell, don't you?" Zelgadis asked.

"Yes. But what are you thinking of doing?" Cecil asked, curiously.

"Split the group into smaller groups and allow each leader to Raywing their people. As I am now, I don't have the energy to transport a group." Zelgadis said, quietly.

"But you're suggesting that those of us who know how to Raywing to move others?" Rain asked. Zelgadis nodded.

"This way, it will be easier to cover the distance between us and Kanon." Zelgadis said, before Lina gave him a very hard pat on the back.

"Way to go, Zel! You're smarter than you look!" Lina said, cheerfully. Zelgadis winced and gave Lina a dirty look.

"Lina, I think you hit him too hard." Gourry said, when he'd noticed Zelgadis' pained expression.

"Oops……………..Sorry Zel." Lina said, sounding a little apologetic.

"What are we waiting for? Let's do this." Ashram said, getting straight to the business at hand. All of the sorcerers (and sorceresses) nodded, and started gathering their groups. Soon they were on their way, with Rain and Teim carrying the majority of the group, since their powers were stronger. Amelia blushed as Zelgadis hung on to her waist. She could tell that he was blushing too, since he would occasionally look up at her. But his weakness worried her; she wasn't used to having Zelgadis depend on her like this.

"I'm not going to die, Amelia." Zelgadis said, startling Amelia from her thoughts, causing her to blush even deeper.

"Hang in there, Gourry!" Parn shouted, laughing as Gourry clung tightly to Lina's waist.

"Why don't you hang in there, Parn?" Deedlit asked, as she threatened to drop him (she was also using the Raywing, so she could take the pressure off of Cecil and Aldonova).

"Whoa! Deed!!" Parn yelped, not liking the idea of being so high up and having Deedlit angry with him. Deedlit smirked and allowed him to tighten his grip; she'd won that argument. Ashram remained silent, knowing that he was better off keeping his mouth shut; but he couldn't resist a slight snicker at Parn's expense.

Xellos shivered. Of all the times he'd wondered what it would be like to feel human, this was the worst time to find out! Shiroi was doing his best to keep him warm, but, without all of his power, he couldn't even cast a simple fire spell.

"I'm sorry, Xellos. I can't even cast the simplest spell in here." Shiroi said, with some disgust in his voice.

"Don't worry about it." Xellos said, his voice soft and weak.

"I wish there was something I could do. You're ill, and there's nothing I can do about it." Shiroi said, guiltily. Then, suddenly, there was a flurry of action as the cell door was thrown open and guards entered, grabbing both Xellos and Shiroi.

"Shiroi!" Xellos shouted, as the elfin youth struggled to free himself from the iron grips of the guards.

"Well, well! So it looks as though Xellos wasn't as alone in here as I'd thought! Truth to tell, I had forgotten that you were in here, brat!" Tern snarled, as he turned his raging red gaze to the elf.

"I'm surprised as well, Tern. Who would have thought that you would forget that I have been in here for almost three years?" Shiroi snapped, defiantly. Tern glowered at the elf, seething at the insolent youth.

"You'll pay for helping Xellos. Watch as I wrench from him the information I need!" Tern growled, as he focused his gaze onto Xellos. Xellos gasped, as the demon dragon's eyes burned into his own, going past them and into his brain. Shiroi shuddered as Xellos let out a scream of agony as the demon dragon took what he wanted then signaled for his guards to drop Xellos and follow him out of the cell. At the same time, they released Shiroi as well, who rushed to Xellos' side.

"Xellos!" Shiroi yelped, as he shook Xellos by the shoulders. Xellos moaned and opened his eyes, but didn't say anything.

"He's in shock. I hope his mind wasn't damaged." Shiroi thought, as Xellos shuddered and closed his eyes again, unwittingly showing his vulnerability to the elf boy when he wrapped his arms around himself.

"Just rest. We'll try to figure out a way to escape later." Shiroi murmured, as he also let a thought that said the same thing flow from him to Xellos, hoping to calm him that way. Xellos nodded, and, after a while, his shuddering breaths lengthened into those of a sleeper.

"I hope help arrives soon. I don't think he can take much more. First physical abuse, then mental. I don't want to stick around for the last kind of abuse." Shiroi thought, as he eyed the door of the cell, knowing that the demon dragon could return at any time.

"Kanon! At long last! It took us long enough to get here!" Deedlit said, getting a unanimous agreement from her compatriots.

"Let's get to King Fiona and tell him that we have arrived." Parn suggested, as he started leading the way to the castle.

"Whoa! Wait a minute! You didn't say anything about us meeting a king!" Lina said, blocking Parn's path.

"Lina, Parn and Deedlit know King Fiona and are on good terms with him. The last time I was here, I was trying to hijack Fiona's people, so I am not exactly on Fiona's favorite people list." Ashram said, coolly.

"But didn't you say that he'd requested help from Marmo? He has to trust you at least a little bit to ask that of you!" Lina shouted, getting some looks from the locals as they passed by.

"I think he always counted on my staying at Marmo while the ships were being sent." Ashram said, with a sigh.

"So he still hates ya, huh?" Lina asked.

"Hai." Ashram said, with a deadpan expression on his face. Lina face-faulted.

"It seems that grudges are held a long time here." Amelia commented.

"Seems that way." Zelgadis agreed, as they started walking again.