Chapter Nine

Filia panted as she ran towards the place where she knew Xellos to be. She had gone and teleported ahead of Lina and the rest so she could see if she could find the Mazoku. She stopped dead in her tracks when she heard something in what she assumed was the throne room.

"What is that? It almost sounds like someone is crying!" Filia thought, as she pushed the heavy doors open and looked inside. At first, she didn't see anything, but then, she saw the very person she had come to save, sitting in the middle of the filthy room, staring blankly at a projection on the wall, as tears flowed unchecked down his face.

"Xellos?" Filia asked. Her heart broke when she saw him cringe, and it ached even more so when she saw the look in his eyes.

"Filia-chan…………………." Xellos trailed off, as he started to collapse. Filia was at his side in a heartbeat.

"Xellos? What happened? What did that demon dragon do to you?" Filia asked, surprising herself with her concern.

"Not to me, Filia-chan……………..but to the Mazoku…………." Xellos replied, with a violent shudder.

"The Mazoku? What happened? Tell me!" Filia demanded, startled when she saw the look of pain in Xellos' lavender gaze.

"They're all gone…………….and I am the last." Xellos said, softly. It was then that the situation struck home in Filia. The Mazoku race had just been wiped out, leaving only one survivor. How ironic it was that the survivor was the one that had wiped out her own race! Part of her wanted to laugh at Xellos' misfortune; the other, wanted to cry with him.

"How did it happen?" Filia asked, as she tried to console the grieving Mazoku.

"A plague……………..the demon dragon released a plague into the Mazoku realm. He also cast a sealing spell so that I could not go back to that realm and join Zelas-sama and the others. They all died within moments of the plague becoming airborne. All we could do was watch……………….." Xellos said, his voice so soft that Filia had to strain her ears in order to hear him.

"We? Who's 'we'?" Filia asked.

"Shiroi was the other one that had to watch the…………the 'genocide' as he'd called it. Even though he's an elf, he tried to argue for the lives of the Mazoku, despite the fact that he was as powerless as I to stop it." Xellos said, as his shuddering finally ceased and he relaxed into Filia's arms. Filia remained silent, knowing that Xellos needed the peace in order to gather his thoughts again.

"Filia-chan?" Xellos asked, after a few moments.

"Hmm?" Filia replied.

"Why did you come alone to save me? I thought you hated me." Xellos said, almost repeating word for word what he'd said when Filia had first found him wounded.

"I came because I wanted to. For some reason, my heart yearned for you. I can't explain it." Filia said, quietly.

"It's strange………….even though I don't have a heart………..I felt the same way." Xellos murmured, as he allowed himself to drift into slumber.

"Elmekia Lance!" Lina shouted, as she blew some more Orcs away.

"Nice shot, Lina!" Ashram shouted, as he went into the melee the lance had caused and took out some more dark creatures.

"Oh yeah!" Lina said, nonchalantly, then went back to the business at hand. They had almost reached the inner sanctum of the fortress; a huge, stone theater that could have seated well over a thousand.

"Welcome to my humble abode, Heroes, though I wasn't expecting you." A sinister voice sneered, from all around them.

"Who are you? Are you the demon dragon?" Lina asked, as a male figure appeared in front of the group. Evil laughter answered them, as reddish light illumined the scene.

"Oh hell…………." Ashram muttered, as he and others who had lived in or near Lodoss and Marmo backed up a step at the sight if the demon dragon.

"He almost looks exactly like……………….." Spark muttered, as he held his sword before him.

"Like who?! Who does this guy remind you of that's making you guys all afraid?!" Lina asked, as she glared at the demonic being.

"He resembles the darkest wizard to have ever cast his shadow on Marmo or Lodoss…………………Wagnard………….." Aldonova murmured.

"Wagnard………..?" Lina repeated, as the others readied themselves for a fight.

"So, I see that my appearance has some effect on you, brave Heroes of Lodoss! You were fools to think you could ever stand against me!" the demon dragon snarled, as he hurled a powerful spell at the Heroes. With yells, they all leaped to avoid the spell. Lina yelped when her foot found a loose stone and stumbled before she could get very far.

"So you are the greatest sorceress in the world, eh? Clumsy, flat-chested little wench!" the dragon roared, as he spit flames at Lina. Before Lina could even cry out or fire a spell in response to his 'flat-chested' remark, she found herself surrounded by water.

"What the…………?!" Lina yelped, as she turned her gaze to Gourry. Gourry stood off to one side, his eyes closed in concentration as he called upon the water spirits to protect Lina.

"Gourry!" Lina cried, stunned that the swordsman had saved her with his magic.

"Stay out of this, elf!" the dragon snarled, before spitting some more fire, but this time in Gourry's direction. Lina gasped as a black blur leaped in front of Gourry and shielded him.

"King Ashram!" Gourry and Lina cried, in surprise.

"Hurry and get out of the way………….I don't know how long the SoulCrusher can hold these flames off!" Ashram said, from between gritted teeth. With a numb nod, Gourry moved quickly out of the way, while Ashram did his best to cover for him.

"Hang on, Ashram!" Parn shouted, as he went to the aid of the dark knight. Unsheathing the Holy Sword as he ran, Parn placed himself alongside the rapidly weakening Ashram.

"Thank you, Parn. But how are we going to kill that dragon with both magical blades being held up here?" Ashram asked, trying to hide how tired he was becoming.

"I'm sure Lina and the rest can think of something." Parn said, already beginning to feel the strain of holding up the invisible barrier.

"Fireball!" Lina shouted, hurling her magic at the dragon and hitting him square in the face. With a roar, the dragon leaped back, clawing at his face. At the same time, the flames ceased, allowing Parn and Ashram to lower their defenses for a moment.

"Ra-Tilt!" Zelgadis and Amelia shouted, sending the powerful astral attack at the dragon.

"I summon the spirit of the earth, mighty beast of the ground below, I beg of you, bring our enemy out of hiding so we can fight him!" Callisto whispered, bravely. There was the sound of rock shattering, then the sound of the dragon being brought down to their level.

"Good thinking, Callisto-san!" Amelia encouraged, before a blast of energy burst from the rubble covering the dragon.

"Foolish elf!" the dragon snarled, before getting a fiery attack from Rain and Teim.

"Don't forget about us, dragon." Teim said, in a low, deadly voice.

"That's right. You killed the White Priest, and now you must die." Rain said, with ice in her voice.

"Foolish woman. You cannot hope to defeat me." the dragon growled, his eyes glowing with hellish ire.

"No, but we have hope, right minna?" Lina asked, as she and others surrounded the evil beast. The dragon looked around, suddenly realizing that he was surrounded. Then an evil smile replaced his momentary look of shock.

"Fools. Even with the two magical blades of Marmo and Lodoss, you cannot possibly defeat me." the dragon snarled, amused with the anger he saw in Lina's eyes and in those of her comrades.

"Your overconfidence could spell you end, Tern." A man's voice said, from above.

"What?!" the dragon roared, as a white-clad figure appeared above them.

"But it can't be…………………" Teim muttered, as he stared at the figure in disbelief