Chapter 2
Bring it On
Yet whilst Lina reflected on the journey to Saillune, and the cruel tricks from that nasty thing called fate, little did she know that said nasty thing was about to hatch another plan on the hapless sorceress.
Lurking in the trees nearby, was a man, whom watched the fight with an intrigued eye.
The man certainly was of handsome features. He had a well-trimmed goatee, a close-clipped haircut and a devilish grin. Dressed in a bronze breastplate with black leggings, a black shirt, and a distinctive red sash across his chest, the man also showed signs of being in possession of a magnificent sum of money. Yet, whilst he may appear as being rich, at the same time he had a wicked sword at his side - This, along with the various battle scars etched across his breastplate, betrayed his true occupation as a mercenary.
Yes, the man was a mercenary and one of the successful kind at that. In his time, he had faced many dangers and killed many men - all in the name of money. This certainly was a dangerous lifestyle but such a lifestyle produced exceptional results. He got excitement, he got to see the world, he made many enemies and he made lots of money.
What more could a mercenary ask for?
With such a lifestyle, however, it was only a matter of time before he attracted the attention of the outside world. Thus, as the man's reputation grew many people came seeking his skills. These men were of various motives and various goals. But, in the mercenary's case what mattered not were the reasons for his employers to hire him but how much money they were prepared to hand over. Henceforth, the mercenary couldn't care less what his employers had hired him for.
The mercenary's name was Aldebrand. And he wasn't liking what he was seeing.
His latest employer had dispatched him on a mission of reconnaissance. Aldebrand was to scour the lands that surrounded his master's secret base and to deal with any intruders.
So far, the mission proved quite fruitful - A bunch of bandits had already made their way into the forbidden zone. Furthermore, they've already set up camp and began to rob any one foolish enough to come close.
Sure, such a bandit gang does have it's uses and potential exploitation - They certainly keep the inquisitive types away and enable his employer's plans to continue uninterrupted. But ultimately, these bandits are intruders. And they must be dealt with accordingly.
Aldebrand was about to confront them - Why should the odds of one against many bother him? He's faced odds like this before and they were more against warriors whom showed signs of experience.
And he would've beaten off the bandits.
Had it not been for a group of more interlopers who marched onto the scene.
These newcomers certainly were an unusual bunch. Unfortunately, the bandits began circling these interlopers - thus blocking any good chances of a good look. But what Aldebrand could see of these newcomers yielded much to the fact that they were a peculiar bunch.
Numbered six, these newcomers consisted of four women. One was short and had fiery red hair. Another, had straight hair and a unusually frail composure. The third was, obviously the youngest of the group and had short black hair. This young woman was sticking close to an oddly tall woman - she too had black hair and, unlike the rest, a...erm.....rather appalling dress sense.
The fifth member of the party was also of tall stature. He was a man with a shock of blond hair and a face that revealed very little in the way of intelligence.
The sixth and final of these interlopers was perhaps the one Aldebrand was most suspicious of. He was humanoid in shape but his skin was anything but natural: It was coloured blue and was dotted with darker speckles. No doubt, this ....thing.....wasn't human but a monster.
And all the more reason why Aldebrand should be suspicious of these newcomers.
All of a sudden, things began to happen. The tall woman opened her mouth and unleashed the most ghastly sound the mercenary had ever heard in his life. It was more horrendous than a dragon's furious scream, more terrible than a demon's death wail and carried all the dread of a thousand blood-thirsty warriors encased in plate armour and armed to the teeth!
And, much to Aldebrand's astonishment, the red-head fixed her companion with a murderous gaze and cast a spell. A spell which sent the tall woman off into the air. And then, whilst still being held in check by the bandits, the young black-haired girl started a rather intense argument with the red-head!
This, naturally, left Aldebrand astounded by these interlopers. What type of people were they? What type of people allow a monster in their company? What type of people possess such a ghastly laugh? What type of people attack their own companions? And what type of people start arguing whilst oblivious to the danger they were still in?!
Needless to say, it certainly took these interlopers some time before they decided to attack the bandits whom were still holding them in check.
And such a task was done with in a minimal space of time and little effort.
Unsurprisingly, the mercenary was bewildered by the events unfolding before him. These people were nothing like he had seen before. They were capable of such commendable fighting prowess but at the same time, they seem prone to infighting - even in times of great urgency.
Either way, these people could prove to be a possible obstacle to the mercenary's employer.
Ironic where one problem was solved and eventually replaced with another....
Nevertheless, he would have to report this.....
Amelia calmly polished off her hands and grinned. Yes, this battle had been won. Another triumph had been achieved in the name of justice!
It was a shame that Lina toasted Gracia at the beginning....
What Amelia couldn't understand is why Lina and Gracia couldn't get along too well. Firstly, Lina referred to Amelia's sister as Naga. The princess was indeed kept in the dark on the origins of this name. But whilst Amelia referred to her sister by her proper name, Lina kept using the 'Naga' pseudonym. Amelia tried to set an example by using the Gracia name but to little effect. Okay, so maybe Sylphiel, Zelgadis and Gourry used both names, but Lina used the Naga name exclusively.
It didn't, however, take long for the princess to reach the conclusion that Lina was using that name out of contempt.
Secondly Amelia had heard numerous times previously that Lina and Naga had travelled together long before Amelia met the red-head. But the arrangement wasn't a satisfactory one - or at least that's what Lina told her.
But Amelia was baffled as to why Lina would be so horrible to Gracia. In the time travelling together Amelia had come to know her long lost sister - Thankfully, Gracia turned out to quite a nice person. She turned out to be of a humorous and resourceful nature, and she seemed eager to help Amelia whenever possible.
She even had a laugh which the princess found amusing!
Oddly enough, neither Zel, Lina, Syl or Gourry shared the same opinions.....
Just then, Amelia looked up to see the remnants of the battle before her.
Lina was busy chatting away to Gourry. The latter looking vacant as ever and the former looking absolutely bored. Nearby, Syl was making herself busy with a healing spell and over there Zel was.....
....stalking over the dazed bandits with his sword drawn.
Amelia frowned. Even though she couldn't see his face, she already knew that was twisted into a horrific expression of rage.
The princess blinked at Zel. What was going on here? This was most unusual: She hadn't seen him behave like this before.....
However it didn't take Amelia long to hit upon what he was thinking. A strong sense of alarm ignited within her brain, urging her to make her way towards him.....
Zel couldn't hear the princess approach. Instead his mind was, as ever, a world apart.
He looked at his hands - in one time in a million over. Yes, his curse was still there. It hadn't gone - and, from the looks of it, it was here to stay.
It was ironic that, mere days ago, he had the cure in his grasp. After all this time, after so much searching and countless months of travelling, he had finally found exactly what had been driving him onward. He had the one thing that occupied his mind from dawn to dusk in his fingers at long last.
But as it turned out, he wasn't the only one whom was stricken with a chimera curse.
No, Amelia, through circumstances most peculiar, had too been turned into a chimera herself.
And so when Zel managed to find a cure of his curse....
....he didn't wind up using it for his benefit.
Thus, ever since that fateful day, Zelgadis has been consumed by inner demons. Punishing himself, cursing himself, deeming himself a fool for not taking the opportunity when he saw it.
And, in punishment for his actions, the chimera......was still a chimera.
Consequently, he felt a rage lurking within the depths of his soul. A rage that had been waiting patiently to be released. A rage that fed on the chimera's newly discovered frustration. A rage that grew all the more larger with each passing day. A rage that was slowly reaping control over unwitting Zelgadis.
Just then, the chimera's ears pricked up. He could have sworn he heard a soft moan.....
The chimera flicked his head around, in the general direction of this new sound.
It didn't take him long to identify the source.
There, bloodied and muddied but still quite alive, one of the bandits struggled up on his elbows. He seemed unable to move his legs.
Zel's eyes hardened. He recognised this man. He was one of the few whom called him a monster and seemed eager to send him back to hell from whence he came.
The chimera could feel his grip tighten around his sword hilt. The time has come for revenge. Whilst Zelgadis may have escaped the gates of Hell today, that's not saying that the bandit was equally fortunate.....
And if said bandit is having trouble getting up, the least the chimera could do was put him out of his misery.....
And in a flash of movement, Zelgadis rode on the desire of vengeance and sped towards the hapless bandit.
The bandit didn't see the chimera approach. Instead, he continued to fight the pain in his injured legs and to get up off the ground.
However this struggle came to an abrupt end. It wasn't long before the bandit found himself staring down the blade of a well-used sword. A well used sword that was gripped by that....monster. Only now the monster was looking quite furious.
Confronted with a frighteningly-sharp end of a blade and a facial expression of pure rage, there was little the bandit could do but grin a foolish grin.
"Ah, heh, heh." The bandit blurted out. "No hard feelings right pal?"
Zel didn't answer. Instead he grabbed the bandit by the scruff of his collar and hurled him upwards. Then, the chimera stuck his foot out onto one of the bandit's injured legs.
And applied pressure.
The bandit yelped with pain - But there was no use in screaming. Particularly when one is faced with a such a wicked blade along with an expression of such homicidal intent.
"Don't kill me!" the bandit stammered.
"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't" growled the chimera in a voice that was as sharp and dangerous as a razor blade.
"Come on!" came the, rather desperate, reply. "My legs are finished! You wouldn't kill a wounded man would you?"
"No I wouldn't" Zel snarled. "I will just make sure he suffers first!"
"You...you.....monster!"
Upon hearing this, something inside Zel snapped. Immediately, his eyes ignited with red fervour. A call for blood was stirring in his veins...
..... and he was all too willing to surrender to it.
"You" Zel growled, in voice that seemed to reveal a faltering sense of self-control, "You are going to be the last man to call me that."
And the bandit would have been cut down there and then.....
..... had it not been for a sudden intervention.
"Wait!" came a shout.
Zel looked up to see Amelia come hurrying over to his side, her face a mix of horror, desperation and disbelief. And hot on her heels came Lina, Gourry and Sylphiel.
The princess had seen everything - and she wasn't liking it at all.
For the past few weeks, Amelia had worked hard to break down the borders that walled herself from the chimera. And in that time, her patience paid off and Zelgadis revealed the humanity hidden underneath the rocky surface.
But what she had witnessed was not the actions of the man she had come to love.
Indeed Zelgadis' behaviour had changed dramatically over the past few days. He became more moody and distant then ever before. He became even more solitary and more withdrawn towards Lina, Gourry, Sylphiel and even Amelia.
And the reasons for this change in behaviour shouldn't come as a surprise. It was fairly obvious that Zel was struck down with bitterness ever since the events in Dakeyras. And his consistent search for a cure had now catapulted into an obsession....
"STOP!" Amelia exclaimed.
"No!" Zel shouted back. "I'm going to make this bastard pay!"
"Forget him Zel!" Lina said. "He's not worth it!"
"Maybe not to you, but he is to me!" retorted the chimera, his voice rich in rage.
Just then, Amelia reached out and touched the chimera gently on his sword hand.
"Don't kill him" she said softly. "Please don't...."
Zel was taken aback by the softness of Amelia's hand. It felt so gentle and so intimate.
And it was in that moment that he could feel the blood-lust inside him slowly evaporate.....
Eventually, Zel relented. He lowered his sword and dropped the injured bandit - who made a thud as his head hit the ground.
"Zelgadis?" Amelia asked. "Are you all right?"
The chimera didn't answer. Instead, he bowed his head.
Suddenly Gourry shouted.
Immediately all eyes turned over to see a man stumbling into the battlefield. Unfortunately for this newcomer, he had underestimated an escape route from his hiding place. And as his flight was blocked with bushes and undergrowth, the man's escape was hardly silent.
Or successful.
Suddenly the man caught his foot on a nearby shrub, sending him crashing down to the grassy floor.
Grimacing with pain, the man looked up.....
.....to see five pairs of eyes staring at him quizzically.
The five adventurers blinked as Aldebrand grinned at his idiocy.
"Who's that guy?" Gourry inquired.
"And why was he hiding in those bushes?" Amelia added.
"I can tell you, I'm not liking the looks of him" Lina growled.
"No Lina!" Sylphiel interjected. "You should be rational about this! Aren't you jumping to conclusions here?"
"Oh come on Syl!" the red-head retorted. "Look at him! He's got a sword and armour!"
"So?" the shrine maiden argued. "And you think he's a warrior from that conclusion?"
"Hrmmmmmm......yes?"
"But why was he hiding in those bushes?" Gourry asked. "You don't suppose that he's been spying on us?"
Immediately, the swordsman found himself at the receiving end of four startled stares.
"W-W-W-What?"
You know something Gourry?" Lina grinned. "You've given me a good excuse to toast this guy!"
"No!" Syl exclaimed - but it was too late.
"FIREBALL!"
Immediately a ball of flame burst out from in front of the sorceress and cruised through the air towards it's hapless target. Aldebrand let out a scream of alarm before struggling onto his feet. Panic gave him the strength to get up off the ground and run. It was then that urgency of the situation that the mercenary found the wings to flee the scene.
With the fireball in hot pursuit.
"After him!" Lina yelled, taking up the chase.
Gourry shrugged and took after the sorceress. Syl, looking rather anxious, followed.
This left Amelia with Zelgadis. The princess turned to the chimera.
"You coming?" she said.
Zel sighed before nodding his consent.
And they sped off together.
Seconds later, Naga the Serpent plummeted in from the heavens, making contact with the ground with an enormous crash.
"You're a meanie Lina......" she mumbled.
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