Disclaimer: Come on, I said this at the beginning of the last chapter. I own nothing.

Return of the chimera

Thank you Mr. Zelgadis

Time passed slowly. The girls had stopped talking, and were now sleeping. Eruk too, was drifting into sleep. He wasn't completely asleep, but he didn't notice the noise from outside. He didn't feel the explosion behind him before it was to late.

The force threw him up against the opposite wall. He heard the sound of running, but then lost his focus. He was sitting in a daze, not sure what to do. He snapped out of it when he heard Taki scream, "Get away from me you demon". He stumbled to his feet, and charged forward to help her. He did notice that her attacker had a vaguely familiar shape, but didn't give it much thought until he made a punch at his enemy. The pain in his hand was almost unbearable.

The man turned around. "Mister Zelgadis!" Sylphiel shouted. Eruk stumbled back. Zelgadis? That strange bountyhunter chimera? What was he doing here?. Taki was still screaming, and trying to get away. Zelgadis moved away from her and pulled up his hood and mask, "Sylphiel take care of this girl" he shouted. Eruk had finally regained his senses. He ran over to the chimeras side "Mister Zelgadis, why are you here?" he asked. The chimera didn't even look at him "I'm here to get you out of course. Now are you going to stay there all day, or are you going to escape?".

Eruk didn't have time to respond before a group of bandits rushed into the cell. The fight was on. Eruk did his best to hold back the 2 bandits that attacked him. They weren't really that good fighters, but in his current condition he had trouble holding them back. He had time to look at Zelgadis, he didn't even seem to break a sweat. Eruk focused on his own battle. He blocked and attacked continuously, and he managed to drive his attackers back.

Zelgadis pushed forward, the bandits didn't seem like they were a challenge for his swordsmanship. Eruk made a wild swing and took one of the bandits out. With only one opponent left, he felt more confident. Zelgadis made short work of the last 3 bandits with a flare arrow. Now the only one left of the bandits was the one Eruk was fighting. Zelgadis charged forward, using his demonic speed and knocked the bandit out cold. "That should take care of them for the moment, now let's get out of here" Zelgadis shouted and started running out of the cell. Sylphiel quickly got up and followed him.

Eruk followed, but stopped. Taki was missing. He couldn't just leave her. He turned back, and found her hiding in a corner. She was shaking. Eruk grabbed her hand "come on, Taki, we have to get out of here now!", he cast a recovery spell on himself as he spoke. "That was a monster, a real mazuko" she kept on mumbling to herself. Eruk pulled her to her feet "I'll explain later, just trust me". She nodded and got up.

Eruk led her outside, there was no sign of Zelgadis and Sylphiel, except the bandits lying dead or knocked out.

They made it to the hallway the contained the entrance to the hideout. The secret door was open, Zelgadis and Sylphiel had escaped already. "Come on Taki, we're almost out of here" Eruk looked back to make sure she was following him. "Eruk! look out!" she screamed. He turned just in time to see someone swinging a huge sword at him. He hit the ground as fast as he could. The sword missed him by inches. It was the bandit boss.

The huge man charged forward and made a powerful backhand swing at Eruk. He was hit in the chest, and thrown up against the wall. He got back on his feet "you got me by surprise there, don't push your luck *boss*" he warned. He was not in perfect health, but he was convinced that he could beat this opponent as well. "Don't make me laugh newbie, I have taken out stronger opponents than you" the boss laughed.

Eruk knew he had to rely on his speed, it was obvious that he couldn't match his opponents raw physical strength. The bandit made another swing with his sword, Eruk nimbly dodged it and made an attack to his legs. The claws left 3 bloody marks across the right knee. The bandit was in pain, but he didn't have any intention of loosing. This time Eruk made the first attack, he made a slashing attack with his right hand. The attack pushed the bandits sword out of the way, just as he had hoped it would. Using the velocity he had build up during his first strike, he spun around and made a left hand backhand slash. The strike connected directly with the bandits troath. The boss got a surprised look on his face, and dropped dead.

He grabbed hold in Taki and ran forward. Taki was unprepared for this and fell, right next to the dead bandit. She was laying down for a few seconds, then got up and followed Eruk through the sewers.

The tunnels were pretty dark, but Eruk was pretty sure where he was going. He found the place the gang had used as an entrance. He climbed up the stairs and pushed the cover away. He was almost blinded by the sun, all he could se was a lot of legs. He was ready to fight for his life, but then realized that the legs belonged to some of the soldiers from the palace. They reached down and pulled him out. "Thanks guys" he said "there is a girl behind me, could you help her as well?". A few second later, Taki was pulled out of the sever. She passed out shortly after. A guard caught her before she could hit the ground.

Sylphiel rushed to her side, and looked at her "no need to worry, she is just exhausted". Eruk went over and picked her up "is there anywhere I can borrow a bed for this poor girl?" he asked the guards. The 4 bandit slayers were escorted to the palace. There Eruk was shown a room he could put Taki in until she woke up.

In the throneroom, Eruk and Sylphiel were told the story of how Zelgadis had arrived just after Sylphiel had been captured. He had agreed to help out pretty fast, even though some of the guards heard him muttering something about how Amelia would never let him hear the end of it if he didn't.

Authors notes:

I think that was the shortest chapter so far. Not much to say on this one, but keep on reading.

In the next chapter Eruk and co. will be facing something far worse than bandits and assassins. They will be facing an enraged Lina Inverse!! Oh the horror!!!! Ok, maybe she's not enraged, just a little upset, but knowing Lina, that's bad enough.