Disclaimer: Not even pleading can make the slayers mine…..Sigh…..
Swordsman and sorceress
Who are they?
A large man walked through the empty hallway. His heavy black armor made a loud noise with each step. Even though he was limping slightly he tried his best to hide it. He was heading for a large, closed doorway. He had always hated to give a report on a mission, no matter if he had been successful or not. It wasn't fear, it was more a matter of dealing with people with word, rather than his sword. He had never been very talkative. To him, all that mattered was getting the job done and move on to the next one. He was a fighter, not a talker. However, his current employer was somewhat different.
He took a deep breath, and pushed the massive door open. Looking around, his eyes quickly adjusted to the dim candlelight inside. If he could choose, he would prefer darkness. It suited him better. He frowned a little at the group of people inside, knowing fully well that his helmet hid most of his face. Somewhere deep inside he was troubled by the actions of his new master. But he was just a mercenary. Sure he had benefited greatly from his new "enhancements", and it was not his job to ask questions anyway. Inside a group of cloaked people were waiting for him. At the sound of the door opening, one of the people left the group. He was an older, somewhat short man. He was dressed like most of the mages that had come from the barrier lands. His long flowing robes reached almost all the way to the floor, and gracefully followed all of his movements. The armored man walked forward and knelt down. "You have called for me?" he asked gruffly. The old sorcerer nodded slowly "Ah Ascard, back in one piece I see". The aging mage walked towards the kneeling man. "So tell me, Ascard, how did it go? I assume you were successful?".
Ascard stood up and removed his helmet, letting his long black hair fall down along his back. The scent of blood slowly spread in the room, causing the cloaked people to turn away in disgust. Across his face he had a large wound. Painful as it was, Ascard refused to give into his feelings. A wound was nothing special, it would heal in time. "They did resist M'lord, but in the end we got them all" Ascard said plainly "and as a special bonus, we got you this". He opened his hand to reveal a red gem attached to a golden chain. The mage nodded "you certainly prove to be better than we had hoped for". He reached out and took the amulet "This is not one of the strongest anti-magic amulets created, but it will do nicely anyway". With a satisfied nod, he put the amulet into his pocket. He looked the black clad warrior over "your already considerable skills, has benefited greatly from the process, haven't they?". Ascard bowed slightly "that they have, M'lord, and my power is growing for every battle" He declared proudly.
The mage distanced himself from the warrior in front of him "Yes, so far you have proven to be our most successful agent" he nodded "you have completed almost all of the missions we have assigned you to". Ascard raised any eyebrow in surprise "almost all of my missions, M'lord?" he asked "To my knowledge I have completed ALL of my missions successfully". The mage turned his back to him "yes, I preferred to let you think that, believing you had made but a small mistake. But it would seem that our little problem have grown". Ascard narrowed his eyes "tell me then, M'lord, just what was that mistake?" The mage looked at Ascard over his right shoulder "Your mistake was in the elimination of the first test subject. You failed in killing a defenseless failure".
Ascard took a step back "I assure you, M'lord, his heart wasn't beating and there was no breath to be detected. I even tossed him into the astral void to get rid of the body". The mage nodded "I know Ascard, I know. But for some reason he's out there alive and well. We have heard from our spies that he's about to leave the barrier lands". "You knew, but didn't care to tell?" Ascard frowned. The mage nodded "I too believed that he was nothing but a weak failure, but somehow he has managed to survive all my attempts to destroy him". The mage stopped talking for a while and stood deep in thought. Ascard started to sweat, he only knew all to well what happened to people who didn't measure up to the standards. He snapped out of his thoughts as the aging mage closed in on him. "You are a different matter though" he smirked " that mission was before your… enhancement… mistakes is to be expected of normal humans". Ascard allowed himself a deep breath, before the mage went on "It's for that reason alone, that you are allowed to live". Ascard swallowed hard "I won't disappoint" he promised.
The mage went back to the group "to make sure of that, Ascard, we have assigned a partner to aid you". Ascard frowned, he didn't need a partner. Either he worked alone, or with a group of underlings that would obey his command. Underlings was useful at times, but definitely not partners. The mage seemed to have read his mind "I know you always have preferred to work alone, but this time you WILL not fail". He made a small gesture with his left hand, and the group moved to the side. "May I introduce your new partner… Neela" he pointed to the spot where the crowd had been moments before.
"Umm, I don't see anyone, M'lord?" Ascard said plainly, surely lord Loid wasn't talking about a pureblood mazuko. They had the habit of just disappearing and appearing as they saw fit. He had secretly hoped that his new "partner" would at least be a chimera like himself, half human, half mazuko. "NEELA!!!" the old wizard, screamed at the top of his lungs.
"Did I miss anything?" a female voice came from a door in the back of the room. "Neela, I thought I asked you to STAY PUT!!!" Loid shouted. Ascard closely inspected the woman who was obviously supposed to be his new partner. She didn't look like she was more than in her mid twenties, in his mind a rookie. She had long flowing blue hair that was a bit curly. Her outfit seemed to be pieced together with everything strange that she could get her hands on. Her main clothing consisted of a red T-shirt that looked like it was a few sizes short. The right leg of her black pants were cut off at the midsection of her thigh. Behind her, a pink cape attached to a ridiculously oversized piece of shoulder armor was dragging along the floor. A cape that was far to long for a person her size, Ascard noticed. Her boots almost looked like a pair of pants, seeing as they reached all up to the mid part of her thigh. The same was the case with her gloves, they covered almost all of her arms, except from a small part in the shoulder area. In her right hand she carried a very large mace shaped like a teddybear. Ascard shook his head. He had nothing against maces, but that particular one was just… so wrong.
"Neela, I hope you have a REALLY good reason for walking out like that" Loid was so angry with her that Ascard was surprised that smoke didn't blow out of the wizards ears. Neela was deep in thought "oh an excuse? Do I really have to come up with one? But that's so hard" she said in an overly happy tone. A couple of people ran out of the crowd to hold Loid back and thereby preventing him from strangling the girl. "Yes, Neela you DO need an excuse" Loid was summoning all of his patience in order to deal with the girl. A smile grew on her face "oh now I know!" she giggled, while jumping up and down "Nimph said that she REALLY wanted to have some candy, so naturally I had to go find her some". Everybody in the room face faulted. "Listen Neela, I'm having more and more trouble tolerating that pet of yours" Loid was fighting to regain his cool. Ascard took another look at her, trying to locate the "pet".
A small movement made him focus on her left shoulder, where a somewhat large lollypop could be seen. A small face peeked out from behind it "oh goodness! Are we on duty now?" the small fairy squeaked. Quickly it opened a hidden room in the shoulder guard, and stashed the lollypop there. Then it flew up and hovered right above the girls head. As soon as the fairy left her shoulder, a change came over the girl. Her eyes changed color from light blue to deep red, and her stance turned more aggressive. She turned her attention to Ascard "that's the looser you want me to work with?" she asked "he's certainly not much to look at". Ascard drew his sword "if you're spoiling for a fight, just bring it on!". She waved him off "please put that toothpick of yours away. I'm here to make sure you don't screw up again, not to humiliate you". Ascard face turned red with anger. Nobody insulted him, or his sword. It was his most precious possession, and the only thing he had from before his transformation.
Loid stepped between the two "you two better get along, or I'll just decide that we don't need either of you". Ascard re-sheathed his massive broadsword, and left the room. "Working with a partner…" he growled "and a crazy girl like her of all things! I'll just have to end this quickly, and get rid of both her and the failure".
Authors Notes:
It's been a week since my last update? Where has the time gone? Well, nevermind that, I'm back and that's all that matters.
I know this chapter is a bit on the short side, but I just thought these guy should have their own chapter. And Mortez2000 thanks a bunch for helping out with Neelas outfit, you ideas really helped me out. And Slayers Otaku-girl, What should Lina and Gourry do, besides eating? There isn't any bandits around, for now… Just kidding. They will get a bigger part as the story progresses.
"Who else is going to join?" you ask. Who's left? Martina? Well, I might still have a surprise or two up my sleeve, but unless you keep reading, You'll never know…. See ya!
