A.N.- Ahh... I've noticed a problem. When I got rid of the authors note, the chapter got duplicated. I fixed it. Yeah, oh and I need more reviews, so review damnit!!! Oh, also, I got an idea for a new Jounouchi/Mai fic. I dunno if it's good though, I was thinking an old western. @_@ I dunno about it though. It's really the only thing I got left, I can't come up with any ideas that haven't been used.

Demon Star - Coda - Yufsters- Okay, Gaia is gonna have a bigger part now. Just not as big as the Celtic Guardian and the Mystical Elf. And thanks for pointing out that 2 & 3 got reproduced.

Formerly Introduced Duel Monsters Cast:

-Celtic Guardian: Berriez
-Mystical Elf: Shannon
-Kojikocy: Koji
-Ancient Elf: Daimeon
-Masaki, the Legendary Swordsman: Masaki
-Neo, the Magic Swordsman: Neo
-Dark Magician Girl: Sabrina
-Protector of the Throne: Aya
-Dark Magician: Chanron -Gaia the Feirce Knight/Gaia the Dragon Champion: Gaia
-Black Luster Soldier/Dragon Master Knight: Ryuujin
-Souls of the Forgotten: Various spirts of dead warriors and nobility
-Swordstalker: Swordstalker
-King of Yamimakai:Kirgen
-Sorceror of the Doomed: Yaji
-Baron of the Feind Sword: Zenow
-Mr. Volcano: King Volcano

Newly Introduced Duel Monsters Cast
-Curse of Dragon: Curse of Dragon



Of Elves and Demons
Chapter 6
By: Joey/Mai fan15



Gaia looked up at the sky, gray clouds were gathering and thunder began to sound, "Maybe we should find shelter, it looks like it's gonna rain."

Masaki looked up also, "It's just rain."

"Yeah, but you could catch hypothermia from it. And if someone gets sick, we'd have to get them to the nearest town and leave them there, occasionally stopping so that they can rest," replied Gaia.

"Yeah, Gaia's right. We should get inside somewhere. But there's nowere to go right now," stated Ryuujin.

Berriez jumped down from his horse, just as rain began to fall, "This map says that there's a mountain about a mile from here, we could probably make it in about two minutes if we go as fast as we can. The horses can go up to thirty miles per hour, right?"

"Mine can go seventy," boasted Gaia, patting the purple neck of his horse. Berriez got out a compass and started turning until he faced about eighty seven degrees. Then he pointed, signaling that's the way they should go.

The group started off as Berriez jumped on his horse, then sped off to the location that he had specified. The group already was out of hearing range, "Hey, wait up!"

They obviously didn't hear because they all kept going. Suddenly, a purple creature raised up from the ground, causing Berriez's horse to rear up in horror. Berriez fell to the ground. The horse ran off with all his equipment. Luckily it was bread to always go back to the Eheru, so it would be there in a few days and Berriez knew where his stuff would be.

After his horse dissapeared from view, Berriez wiped some mud off of his face and looked up at the creature that stood before him. It brandished it's sword that was made out of boned material. It started towards him and Berriez scrambled back, too slow. The sword stabbed through his hand, causing him to yell.

Again, the monster raised it's sword and brought it back down. Berriez rolled out of the way, the sword sunk into the ground where his head was a split second ago. The beast pulled it out of the ground very easily.

Berriez laid on the ground, gasping and tightly holding his hand. His face and hands were covered in blood and mud. After a few seconds of letting Berriez regain his composure, he brought down the sword again, peircing the armor that protected his right leg as well as the leg itself. This time, Berriez screamed louder. Praying that he wouldn't die like this, that someone would hear and come back.

His prayers were answered as the next blow aimed for his head was blocked by a familiar, red lance. He looked up to see Gaia's horse standing there, but he could distinctly see Gaia's arm. A few feet away, Neo was on his horse, busy activating an energy spell, "We heard you scream kid. Looks like we came at an opportune time, huh."

Just then he shot the blot at the beast who reared back in pain. As Gaia flung Berriez over the back of his horse, Berriez tried his best to speak," Wha... what is that?"

"Looks like the Swrordstalker. It's supposedly a mythological best used in the Raimeon Wars a long time ago, but now... now it's proved to be real."

Neo spoke up as he blocked a slash with his sword, "Get Berriez out of here! I'll hold him off long enough for you to get away!"

"No, I'm not leaving you behind!"

"Just do it! I'll be alright!" yelled Neo as Gaia started off. Berriez watched through tired eyes, blood, and mud. Everything seemed to be happenng in slow motion. The slashes, the battle cries, everything. A few seconds after Neo and the Swordstalker fell out of sight, Berriez heard a loud yell. Then another, but it was cut short. Now they had to assume that Neo was dead. The first to be sacrificed by this war. He closed his eyes as guilt overwhelmed him.

Within minutes, they arrived at a cave. Shannon instantly got up and ran to Berriez, "What happened?"

Gaia spoke for him, "A demon that's supposed to be a myth attacked him. By the time we got there, he was already in a bad condition. His hand was stabbed through and his leg had a huge gash in it, I think it's broken. Blood was all over his face, the cuts were being infected by dirt and mud. His horse was gone, with all his equipment. Shannon, do you think you can heal him?"

"Yes," Berriez watched as she walked over to him, tenderly taking his hand. He watched as his blood spilled out onto her dress. She didn't seem to mind as she struggled to heal him. She moved to his leg, it took a little longer to heal it, but within minutes, it was done. No scars, nothing. She even cleaned the blood and mud. All his energy was restored, he was good as new.

"We have to get out of here now!" shouted Ryuujin, "Where is Neo?"

He looked over at Gaia who shook his head. Masaki stood up, "As soon as this is over, we'll give him a proper burial. But right now, we should get going, it could be here any second."

The group jumped on their horses, as Berriez stood idly. Shannon rode over to him, "You can ride on mine. She moved toward the back of the horse, letting Berriez be in control of the reigns.

Shannon slipped her arms around Berriez and held him tightly, making him turn crimson as they all rode out of the cave. Once outside the sped off, Gaia started to speak, "No more stops! We're not losing anyone else!"

Ryuujin nodded, accepting Gaia's proposal, "We have to summon the Mythic Dragon so that we can win this war and stop the Swordstalker."

Berriez glanced behing him at Shannon, "Thanks for... healing me. If it wasn't for you, they would have had to leave me there... to die."

"If it wasn't for me, you all wouldn't have to have made this journey at all. You would have never been injured, Neo wouldn't be dead, all of you would have never had to go through all this," she replied, laying her head on Berriez's back. She began to sob.

"Don't worry, it's not your fault. Neither is Neo's death," replied Berriez.

"No, it's not that. Don't get me wrong, I'm sorry that Neo died. I'm sorry for anyone that had died. I'm just worried about... about you. I've seen you near death twice. Next time you might not be too lucky..." she started as she hugged closer onto Berriez's back.

Berriez didn't say anything, he didn't know what to say. He had only been with one person before this, and they were never in a life or death situation. Berriez sighed as he felt Shannon's tears come through his tunic, "It's alright. Stop crying. I won't die anytime soon."

"How do you know that?" she responded as she dried her tears on her sleeve.

"I just do," he then yelled up to Ryuujin, "How much longer until we get to the Dragon Kingdom?"

"We should be there tomorrow morining, very earily. Maybe an hour after midnight," he replied.

Berriez turned back to Shannon, "Once we make it there, we'll all be safe. Tatsuokouku is supposed to be inpenetrable."

"If we make it there," she replied.

Berriez beacme frustrated at the negativity that Shannon possessed when things seemed hopeless, but he didn't show it. He just squeezed one of her hands that was around his stomach, "It'll be alright."



"Lord Kirgen, Lord Kirgen! Great news!" yelled Daimeon as he burst into the throne room.

Kirgen rose up from his seat, "The Swordstalker killed the princess?"

"...Umm... no... But he did seriously injure that other elf, he says that he might have killed him. Another two come to his rescue, one of the two picked up the body and ran off, while thge other one stayed and fought," answered Daimeon.

"What happened to him?"

"He doesn't know, the Swordstalker drove his sword through the warrior's chest. But he dissapeared in a bright light after the sword went through. We think it's because he had previously been infused with a jewel that dimension jumpers use. It causes them to disinegrate if they are killed so that there is no evidence," he replied.

"Dispatch the Swordstalker again in a few hours," ordered Kirgen.

"Yes sir," Daimeon walked out of the room. A smile spread across his face. The army would be ready soon. The elves forces would be torn apart in a matter of time.



Berriez looked up at the night sky, holding onto Shannons waist from behind with his left hand. She had fallen asleep about two or three hours ago, so he stopped and switched positions with her so that she wouldn't fall off.

He couldn't help but feel... empty wasn't the word... strange. He couldn't describe it, but seeing five others instead of six... it felt... strange. He didn't know how many of them would get through this, if any at all. Maybe Shannon was right, but there was no point in stopping. If they stopped they would surely be caught and killed.

Berriez slowly advanced toward Gaia. He then whispered as not to wake Shannon, "We're supposed to be there in maybe three hours, right?"

"Yeah, personally, I can't wait. It'll be good to be home, besides, I'm getting trouble of traveling," replied Gaia.

Berriez nodded in agreement, "Yeah, I know what you mean. I almost got killed... twice. By the way, thanks for saving me."

"No problem," Gaia gestured to Shannon, "besides, when we heard you scream, my horse was the only one fast enough to get to you in time. And if I didn't, Shannon would be soooo mad at me. I'd probably would have been banned from even setting foot in Eheru."

Berriez looked confused at this, "Why?"

"God you're dense... it's obvious she likes you. Ryuujin told me about you two at the inn," stated Gaia.

Berriez turned red but do to the amount of light, no one could tell "That was just because she was scared."

"Oh," Gaia pushed on, "I still think she likes you though."

"Yeah... right," Berriez looked down at Shannon's sleeping form and tightened his grip around her, "A princess would never want a bohemian."

"Don't be so sure. Ryuujin was a wanderer, and now he's the king of Tatsuokouku," encouraged Gaia.

"King? Than what's he doing here?" asked Berriez, he was surprised to hear that a king would volunteer for escort duty.

"We Tatsuokians always hold other beings and species before ourselves. That's why the dragons and D-humans can co-exist," replied Gaia, "But even this is a little unorthodox, I think it's because Ryuujin is good friends with Shannon's father."

"Oh, it's just I didn't think a king wouldn't do something like escort duty."

"Well, back to you and Shannon. What happened that night?" asked Gaia.

"I was going to sleep when I heard her scream. So I rushed in there with my sword. When I got there, she collapsed and I put her back into her bed. She wanted me to stay with her bacause she was scared. Then Ryuujin came back. I told him everything, then I went to my room to get a blanket. And I slept on the floor," lied Berriez, not wanting to tell anyone that he had slept with a princess.

"Sounds to me like she likes you. She could have asked Ryuujin or one of the others," stated Gaia.

"That's just because I was the first one there."

"Stop trying to fool yourself kid. She likes you, there's no denying it," Gaia watched as Berriez lowered his head and looked at Shannon, "I'll leave you to think about that kid."

As Gaia's horse galloped ahead, Berriez couldn't help but think Gaia was right. He was denying it. He looked back up ahead at the others, wondering what time it was. Suddenly Shannon stired awake and Berriez let go of her. She was still half asleep, "Berriez, what time is it?"

"I don't know, it's too dark to tell," he replied. Shannon reached into her bag that was tied around her waist and pulled something out. A few seconds later she put it back, "It's about a quarter past midnight. Ryuujin said that we would be there in a few hours, right?"

"Yeah," Berriez waited a few seconds before continuing, "Are you alright now?"

She nodded as she leaned back onto Berriez's chest, "I can't wait. It'll all be over with soon."

Berriez nodded in agreement, unconciously putting his arm around Shannon's waist as he had it before, "Do you think the Mythic Dragon will be able to beat the Swordstalker?"

"Of course, it's the most powerful beast in existance. Unless the three gods do exist. But still, what are the chances of anyone finding them?" she replied as she gently put her hand over his.

Suddenly the rest of the group slowed their horses and gathered their equipment, Berriez followed suit, "What's going on?"

Ryuujin lit a torch, illuminating the entrance to a cave in front of them, "There's a stairwell that leads to the other side of the mountain where we keep the dragons."

"I thought that it'd be a few more hours." stated Shannon.

"We're just making great time I guess. We did run pretty fast after Gaia got back with Berriez," replied Ryuujin.

Berriez helped Shannon down from her horse and took the reigns as he began to lead it up the stairs, following her. A few minutes later, they came to a door with two people guarding it. After Ryuujin walked up to them, they exchanged a few words then were let through the gate.

After getting their horses in the stables, Ryuujin went off to his throne room while Masaki and Koji walked off to the city's market. Gaia led Berriez and Shannon to the dragon caves. Once there, Gaia showed off his dragon, "This is Curse of Dragon. He's slower than my horse, but he's much stronger."

Berriez watched as Shannon walked over to the baby dragons which were nearby. He then turned back to Gaia, "That's gotta be the strongest dragon here."

"Nope, Ryuujin's is much stronger. It's made of three fused Blue Eyes. Some spellcaster came here a while back and incanted a fusion spell on three of the Blue Eyes as a gift for Ryuujin. It's too dangerous to show though," stated Gaia as the two walked away from his dragon, "You and Shannon should go to bed soon, we have to summon the Mythic Dragon tomorrow."

Shannon got up as she and Berriez followed Gaia to a local inn. Since the place was heavily guarded, he didn't have to stay in the same room as she did. He led her to her door and an akward scilence fell. A few minutes later, Berriez decided to break the scilence, "Well goodnight..."

Shannon nodded as she closed the door to her room and Berriez headed off to his. Once in the solitude of his room, he collapsed onto his bed and ran a hand through his hair, "Maybe Gaia's right."



A.N.- R/R, please. Also if you want, tell me if the western type thing is good or not. Cause personally, I don't know.