Chapter 4.5
The Journey to Sairaag
As luck would have it, the distance between Dakeyras and Sairaag was only a few days travel. And it was with this knowledge that the foursome headed out of the civilisation of the village and into the dangers of the surrounding forests. Lina naturally led the way - And who could stop her? This was the life she was used to: Out on the open road, travelling on a journey thwarted with danger and the ever-present opportunity to make a quick buck!
Gourry followed behind the red-head, also looking quite delighted. Off to another adventure! Off to another helping of food, treasure and bandits to clobber! Of course, he would gladly do anything with his sorceress friend. Why, he would even march right into the bowels of Hell - just as long as it was with Lina.
Amelia and Zelgadis followed a short distance behind - together.
But they weren't as eager as the swordsman and the sorceress. Zelgadis walked along, with his usual grim mask of determination - only now it was integrated with a reluctance to see Martina again.
Amelia, however, was different. She didn't look too bothered but she was growing worried by the chimera's grim expression. What was even worse was that a deathly silence hung between the two. This was not good. Not good at all.....
Amelia's hand clenched into a fist. She had worked so hard to get Zel to warm up to her. She had worked so hard to get Zel to surrender to her. She had worked so hard to get the chimera to return her love for him. She had worked so hard to get this far.
And there was no way in Hell she was turning back.
"Zel?" she asked.
The chimera didn't answer. Instead he let out a grumbling noise.
Amelia was indeed perplexed by this, but she didn't falter.
"What's on your mind?"
"Why am I doing this? Why am I going back to Sairaag?" the chimera asked.
"To see Martina and Zangulus of course!"
"That's just it!" Zel groaned. Who'd want to see them again?!
Amelia smiled a sly smile. She could tell what Zel was thinking....
Cunningly, Amelia slipped both her arms around Zel's arm and continued walking. Instantaneously, Zel's face broke into an enormous blush.
Amelia picked up on this and her smile grew even wider. This was good......
"It's their wedding anniversary you know." she whispered softly. "Oh, think how great life would be when one gets married..."
As Amelia neared the end of her sentence, she brought stress onto the final word. This made the chimera's face grow even redder. When Amelia noticed this, she giggled teasingly. He was so uncomfortable with all things romantic - yet this disgust provides an area of change. An area of change which would be plenty enough to keep the princess occupied.
Zel didn't look at the princess. Instead he blushed a blush that was brighter than a basket of ripe tomatoes. He knew Amelia was but teasing.....
....but there was absolutely no chance in Hell that he would get used to this romance crap.
Suddenly he heard a noise.
Immediately he stopped dead in his tracks.
What was that? He was certain he heard a.....
Suddenly, Amelia's face broke out of a smile and into a look of concern.
"What's wrong?"
"I do believe" Zel replied slowly. "We are not alone...."
Then, much to Amelia's disappointment, he pulled his hand free.
Suddenly Lina's ears picked up the sound of a twig breaking. She could easily identify the sound after spending so long on the road and contending with over-ambitious brigands. The sound could only come from one source - If someone had stepped on it!
Immediately she stopped dead in her tracks. Behind her, Gourry immediately sensed danger. if Lina had stopped in her journey, then something must be wrong.....
"Lina! Is something wrong?"
"You know Gourry" the sorceress grinned. "I think we are about to be ambushed."
"Ambushed?"
Suddenly the swordsman's eyes lit up. Ambushed? If Lina is talking about being ambushed then it could only mean one thing....
A decent fight!
Lina turned around to see Zel and Amelia hurry on their way up to join the sorceress. Judging by the look on the chimera's face, Lina could tell he too was aware of these intruders.
Wherever and whatever they were.
"So" Amelia asked. "Where are these bandits?"
She bore a manic glint in her eye. A glint that could only come from being a Champion of Justice.
She got her answers much sooner then she expected.
Suddenly, from the trees came a deathly wail. This was followed by a clacking of bones and the movements of long deceased joints.
Seconds later, a huge mob of skeletons burst from the trees, clutching rusting weapons and riding on the most malevolent and forbidden sorcery. It was these skeletons that surrounded the foursome.
The four grouped together, back to back.
"What's this?" Amelia said. "The dead are being denied of their eternal rest? This is a violation of the Code of Justice! Why....."
"Amelia?" Zel asked. "Can that wait?"
Next thing the chimera knew, Amelia brought a fist down onto his head!
"You dare interrupt a Champion of Justice?!?"
"Hey!" Gourry snapped. "We're meant to be fighting these skeletons! Not ourselves!"
The princess and the chimera nodded. And with that, Zel and Gourry both drew their swords with dramatic flourish. Amelia and Lina opened their hands, ready to release a spell most destructive. The scene was set for a titanic clash.....
"Right" Lina grinned, as the skeletons advanced. "Which one of you numbskulls would like to be first?"
The sorceress was merely seconds away from preparing a fireball as the skeletons advanced....
But to her surprise the skeletons in front of her didn't seem interested in her! Instead they walked right past her, completely oblivious to the legendary bandit-killer.
Lina blinked in astonishment. She turned her head to see Gourry and Zel suffering the same problem. They too shared equally surprised expressions.
"What's going on here?" Lina snapped.
"They're all ignoring us!" Gourry said. "They're all walking past us...."
".....And towards Amelia." Zel finished grimly.
That was true. All the skeletons were advancing onto Amelia. They had succeeded in cutting her off from the other three and now bore down on the surrounded princess with weapons raised.
Amelia blinked in horror. She had never faced a large number of opponents such as this! And neither in such a small space.
Desperately, she cast a fireball into the ranks of undead. It succeeded in blasting some of them to a crisp. Yet still the horde advanced. In desperation, she let out a whole series of fireballs. These fireballs incinerated the horde and created a large space around the princess. But to no avail. There were just too many skeletons. Too many skeletons that continued their relentless advance. The situation looked grim.....
Suddenly a furious voice rang out from the behind the horde.
"YOU BASTARDS! I'LL TEACH YOU TO IGNORE ME!!!!!"
Immediately, Amelia's eyes lit up. She could recognise that voice a mile away. Lina!
Suddenly the horde of skeletons were blasted apart by a series of fireballs. The undead turned away from their target only to face an oblivion of flame. These fireballs were then followed by another danger - a tall swordsman with a wicked blade who creamed the skeletons with no difficultly whatsoever. The tall swordsman was accompanied by, much to Amelia's joy, a chimera wielding a deadly blade which cut through the horde with the greatest of ease.
Amelia let a sigh of relief. Zel! He wouldn't let her die! He wouldn't let her succumb to a death most horrible such as that! He wouldn't leave her in times of crisis! He really was someone who really cared for her....
Within seconds the horde was completely destroyed. All of the skeletons were destroyed with the combined talents of Gourry, Zel and a rather furious Lina.
Amelia looked up to see a rather compassionate Zel place a gentle hand upon her shoulder, Gourry looking pleased with himself and Lina looking quite annoyed.
"Did they have any idea as to who they're dealing with here?!" the sorceress muttered.
"Are you all right?" Zel asked, his voice radiating with concern.
Amelia smiled and nodded.
Aside from the skeleton's attack, the trip to Sairaag was relatively uneventful. Apart from the odd bandit gang, roaming monster, over-ambitious swordsmen wanting Lina's head, resting at some tavern and feeding frenzies, the entire trip was fairly quiet, and nothing out of the ordinary happened.
However, one day's journey short of Sairaag, something unusual occurred.
One evening, the foursome had found themselves unable to find an inn. Being stuck in the middle of a highway with a rapid decrease of natural light, they had little choice but to pitch some tents for the night. Lina, not willing to place her trust in either Gourry or Zel, insisted on having her own tent. Gourry seemed quite obliging - even though he pitched his tent quite close to Lina's. This left Amelia and Zel left to share the last tent. Amelia didn't look too bothered but Zel looked absolutely embarrassed.
Yet despite these rather awkward sleeping arrangements, the rest of the night passed without incident.
It was in the early morning when Zelgadis awoke suddenly. Although his senses were laden with sleep, he still managed to detect a soft breeze caressing his face. Zel, although still confined to a state of being half asleep, blinked. A breeze? Here? What the hell....?
Zel's lazy eyes relocated their gaze upwards.....
....Only to see the tent flap open and dancing in the soft morning breeze.
Zelgadis raised a lazy eyebrow at this sight. What's this? Who had opened up the tent....?
The chimera turned his head over....
....Only to see an empty space.
Suddenly, although still in a state of being half-asleep, Zel's brain registered a state of alarm. Amelia? She's not here?! Where has she gone? Why would she disappear so abruptly at this early hour?! He had never known her to do something like that.....
....Unless something was wrong...
Zel rolled over and sat up in his sleeping bag. He then pulled himself free from his confinement and poked his head out of the tent.
All around was a soft morning mist, coating everything in a haze of grey. It was in this haze that all objects within a two metre radius were concealed from human eyes. All it needed was the light of the sun to come and penetrate all of it's shielding power.
Zel blinked at this haze. Well, this is good. If Amelia is somewhere out here in this mist then she's certainly not going to be easy to find.....
Suddenly his ears caught the sound of someone coughing.
Zel grinned. Well, that sound could certainly help him find Amelia....
He then stepped out of the tent and made his way through the mist, in the direction of the coughing.
But this was no ordinary coughing. Instead it was extremely violent and came in various spasms that were at once both rapid and relentless.
Zel blinked at these spasms. Something was amiss here. Something didn't feel right....
Eventually, Zel caught sight of a humanoid shape situated in the mist. This shape was hiding under, what appeared to be, a heavy blanket and sitting upon a fallen log.
Yet as Zel approached this figure, he could recognise the voice pitch of the coughing and the basic shapes of the figure itself.
It was Amelia.
Zel increased his pace towards the princess. Already now, he could sense something was wrong.....
"Amelia!" he called.
The princes turned her head in the chimera's direction but it wasn't long before she returned her head to it's previous position.
Zel made his way over to the princess.
"Amelia?" he asked. "Is something wrong?"
When she didn't answer, Zel immediately hit upon the notion that something was indeed wrong. He then sat down on the log beside her.
And for a time not a word was spoken. A silence hung upon the two. A silence that was both deafening and an annoyance. Zel wanted to know what was troubling Amelia. It wasn't like her to behave like this. If there was a danger plaguing her then.....
Suddenly the silence was broken by another one of Amelia's coughing spasms.
This only added to Zelgadis' annoyance. She was suffering from the most terrible of coughing and all he could do was sit in silence! Now he was in a position where he felt he had to do something. He couldn't sit by when Amelia was in trouble. He had to do something. Anything!
Gently he reached out his hand and laid it gently on Amelia's shoulders....
And then the princess raised her head towards his direction....
Only to reveal her eyes being full of tears.
Zel blinked as the princess buried her face into his chest, sobbing loudly.
Closing his eyes, the chimera then began to gently stroke her hair....
And suddenly he opened his eyes again. Something didn't feel right here.....
Something was wrong here: Previously when he stroked her hair, it seemed so soft, so delicate. Now it seemed more...
....rigid?!
Zel's eyes hardened. First Amelia disappears, then she erupts in coughing spasms and now this! Something was going on here. Something that was most definitely not right here.....
"Oh, Zelgadis!" Amelia sobbed.
Immediately, Zel was brought back to earth to concentrate on the princess' condition....
"Amelia, what were you doing out here?" Zel asked, in a manner that was at once both compassionate and tender.
"I had the most terrifying dream!" the princess exclaimed through her sobs.
"Yes, go on...." the chimera said, prompting her to explain. If this dream was indeed troublesome enough, then he must know what happened in it. And if it was enough to break her to tears then it must've been a distressing dream indeed.
"I was in these woods" Amelia wept. "And I saw this man cutting a tree with an axe. Then the man looked up at me and his eyes.... They burned! They burned with such a force...."
Amelia never got to finish her description. Instead she collapsed into Zel's rocky chest, bawling her eyes out. The shock of the princess' dream had become too much to bear.
Zel closed his eyes and tenderly wrapped his arms around the princess cradling her quivering, weeping form.
"It's all right now...." he whispered.
Chapter 5
Contents