Disclaimer: things to do in 2004… take over the slayers, 'cause I still don't own it.
The dark sorceress
A new companion?
A huge explosion rocked the usually peaceful inn. Eruks eyes shot open. Something was terrible wrong. He jumped out of bed and looked around. Through the window he saw a flickering orange light and gray clouds raising towards the sky. Fire? What's going on here? He thought. "Nimph, did you see anything?" he shouted. "Stupid magic paper!" the fairy shouted in response "why won't you ever tell me to do anything different than just turn over!". It was obvious that she hadn't noticed anything.
Eruk quickly got dressed and grabbed his belongings as he ran for the door. "Nimph we're leaving!" he snapped the fairy away from the table and stuffed her into a pocket. "Ouch! Watch it, you big oaf!" she cried in protest. As he ran through the hallway a horrible sound sent a chill down his spine. It sounded like someone, or something, laughing. He swallowed hard, the only way out was in the direction of the sound.
As he ran flames started burning their way through the floor, and he was soon surrounded by a blazing inferno. He reached the door to the restaurant. From there the exit was straight ahead. He kicked the burning door open. The sight that met him made him stop dead in his tracks.
"OHOHOHOHO! you fool's dare to challenge the mighty Naga, the white serpent?" The woman he had seen earlier in the evening was standing in the middle of the room, surrounded by several *things*. The chimeras turned in his direction. "There he is!" one of them shouted. Eruk quickly thought his options over, before he ran to the crazy woman's side. It was not something he enjoyed, but given the situation, it was better to be in open space, and not in a narrow hallway. Besides an enemy of an enemy had to be considered a friend in this situation. At least the woman didn't show any love for his enemies.
"Miss, what's going on here?" he asked, hoping that the scantly clad woman knew more of the situation than him. "Oh I can tell you that", a tall figure walked through the flames. "YOU!" Eruk shouted. "Yes indeed" Ascard smirked as he drew his sword. "Listen up, no one is to lay a hand on that guy" he shouted "I don't care about the woman. Kill her and burn the place down!". "OHOHOHO!!!" Naga laughed "How foolish you are to think that I, The great Naga, is killed so easily. FREEZE ARROW!". The spell fired off and flew towards the target.
"Useless!" Ascard shouted as the spell fizzled before him. "Neela, take care of that woman!" he ordered. The blue haired woman shot him an angry glare. "If you would be so kind…" he added nervously.
Eruk felt a draft as Nimph flew from his pocket. "Mistress, why are you doing this? You know it's wrong!" she pleaded. "I'm not the wimpy little girl I used to be" Neela smiled evilly "I happen to like being like this. Now get out of my way, you annoying pest!". Nimph gasped as a backhand blow knocked her unconscious. "That leaves only you and me, hussy". Neela smirked as she turned her attention to Naga "FIREBALL!". The spell fired of and flew towards the target."Oh you amateur!" Naga laughed "FREEZE ARROW!". The two spells collided and dissolved.
"Stay back and let me take care of this failure" Ascard ordered the chimeras. "you think I will go down without a fight?" Eruk shouted as he leapt forward. Ascard blocked the attack and threw Eruk to the ground. "Pathetic" he smirked. Eruk quickly rolled away as the armored man brought his sword down. He got back on his feet and took a few steps backwards. In the corner of his left eye, he could see Naga battling Neela. It was obvious that they were on equal skill level, and that worried him. Even if Naga won, there would still be the chimeras to worry about. If she was killed, he wouldn't stand a chance.
Ascard made another attack that knocked him down. This isn't good he thought at this rate, I will lose. He jumped up and charged forward. His attacks was more vicious this time. "Very good failure" Ascard smirked "it would seem that anger really does make you stronger. If we keep this up, you might be able to win". Eruk could feel that the swordsman was right, but he could also feel his control over his mind slipping.
Ascard made another swing for Eruks head. Quickly Eruk got down on one knee and blocked the attack before it could slice him in half. "Well well, would you look over there" Ascard shot a glance to the right "it would seem that you little fairy friend is about to get a lot hotter". Eruk turned his head in the direction Ascard had nodded. The fire was rapidly approaching the unconscious fairy. "Nimph! No" he whispered.
He let himself fall backwards. Ascard had not predicted this move, and lost balance. With all his powers Eruk kicked the man away, before running to Nimph. "Are you ok?" he asked as he picked the tiny creature up.
Suddenly he felt something move behind him, and he jumped away. In midair he felt a sharp pain in his back. Turning around he saw Ascard standing triumphantly. His sword was covered in blood. "Finally got you" he said. "Like hell you did" Eruk spat "I'm not dead yet". Ascard smiled back "Trust me, If I wanted you dead, you wouldn't be standing now. I just had to wound you". He turned and ran away "Neela, we have done what we came to do! Blow this place up!".
Neela dodged another freeze arrow. "Enough of these stupid games!" she shouted. "Who's stupid here?" Naga cried as she leaped forward. Neela pointed at a wooden pillar that supported the ceiling "I'd say you are! Flare arrow!". As the spell hit the target, the building started to collapse. "See you later hussy. NOT" Neela winked as she teleported away with Ascard and the chimeras. Eruk stood up, and without thinking about it he threw himself against Naga. "Hey what do you think you aHHHHHHHH!" she cried as both of them vanished in a flash.
Flashes of light passed by in lightning speed. To Eruk it seemed like he was traveling through a dark tunnel of nonexistence. He felt like all of his strength was drawn out of his body. On the verge of collapsing he focused all of his magic power in an attempt to control the situation. As he slipped into unconsciousness he saw the otherwise black surroundings gradually turn green.
"Hey look, it looks like he's waking up now!" Nimph cried. Naga however didn't listen, and dumped a bucket of water on him. Eruk slowly opened his eyes and stared up at the sky. "Where am I?" he whispered.
"I was hoping that YOU could tell ME" a female voice inquired. Slowly he turned his head. Even though the sun in his eyes severely diminished his sight, he felt like there was something familiar about her. "Sylphiel?" he asked weakly. "What?" Naga asked "There was that name again? Sylphiel? Who's that?" she moved a bit to the side and allowed him a clear look. He immediately recognized her as that sorceress from the inn. "Oh it's you miss" he sighted. "What?" Naga shouted "first you get me involved in this, and now you ignore my greatness! No one treats Naga the serpent with that little respect!".
Nimph landed on his chest "Please miss Naga! He's just confused that's all". Eruk nodded "I'm grateful and all, it's just…." Naga cut him off "Speak to me with gold, boy". After struggling a bit he managed to sit up "Gold is it?" He asked "well, I guess we could spare a few coins. He pulled a leather pouch from a pocket. Naga quickly snatched it away from him "OHOHOHOHO, I guess this will do for now" she laughed. "Wasn't that all of your money, master?" Nimph asked. Eruk nodded "Yes it was". Naga stood up and started to walk away.
"We better get going too, Nimph" Eruk said as he got up "we wouldn't want anyone to beat us to the treasure, now would we?". Nimph sat down on his shoulder "Uhh treasure, master?" she asked, sounding confused. He smiled at her "yes, you know, the greatest treasure I have ever hunted. Of course, finding it is going to be difficult now that we don't have any travel money". Just as he had expected, a strong hand grabbed him from behind. "Not so fast there" Naga said "did I hear something about a treasure?". Eruk shrugged "I guess you did. But like I said, we can't keep traveling without any money". Nimph leaned closer "Is this some sort of trick, master?" she whispered.
"Well, maybe we can come to some sort of agreement" Naga smiled "If you show me the way to that treasure of yours, I would be willing to sponsor this little treasure hunt". Nimph flew up in front of her "wow, you really will!!! That's so nice of you miss white serpent ma'am" she cried happily. "Of course I won't be working for free" Naga continued "I expect that I will be getting 80% of the treasure for myself". Eruk stopped walking She's tough, I bet Lina would have offered me 40%, but whatever….
"You drive a hard bargain miss Naga" He said "but at least 20% is better that a zero". He extended his hand "I guess this means I'll be working for you then, miss Naga". She took his hand "It's a deal".
"Why did you agree to work for her, master?" Nimph asked. "Well" Eruk started "you and I know that there is no treasure, and I must admit that it is reassuring to have a skilled sorceress on my side". Nimph shook her head "but what will happen when she finds out?". He shuddered "we'll think about it when it happens". Naga stopped walking "Hey, I suddenly remembered something. You never told me your name". Eruk walked past her "I have no name" he said "but some people call me Eruk". Naga started walking again "No name huh?".
"Then could you tell me how we got here?" Naga asked after a while. "I wish I knew…" Eruk admitted "but I believe that it was some sort of astral travel". Naga opened her mouth to say something. "Don't even ask, miss Naga" Eruk cut her of "I don't understand myself".
Nightfall came as the trio reached a fairly large town. "What the plan boss" Eruk asked casually "do we find a inn, or do we go on?". Naga looked around "We find an inn, of course! Do you expect the great Naga to sleep on the ground?". Eruk smiled to himself, he had kind of expected something along those lines "Then it is decided". He looked at the fairy "Why don't you go with miss Naga, while I go find out where we are?". Nimph swallowed hard "but she's so scary master, and what if you never come back?". He sighed "listen, you said that you can feel where I am. You two find an inn, and then you find me". He leaned closer "besides, I need you around to control… my problem…" he whispered. As agreed they split up.
"You know, of course, that I expect that back as soon as possible" Ascard threatened as his sword was carried of to the lab. "Oh no need to worry" Loid smirked "all I need is a sample of the blood". After meeting Eruk in person, even Loid had to admit that he was more than just a failed experiment. In his short life he had learned more than anyone would expect. "And you say that he has even learned magic?" Loid asked again. "If you call that magic, then yes…." Neela sneered. Being a sorceress herself, she was not impressed with the limited magic Eruk knew. But even she had to admit that his unique way of using fire magic was pretty interesting.
"Be sure that the copy process goes smoothly" Loid reminded his robed assistants "We only have this one sample of blood, and with the source gone, we cant get anymore". Neela looked at Ascard and smiled evilly "You see how a job should be done? No one can survive a building being dropped on them". Ignoring her gloating Ascard went over to one of the strange machines "So you're actually giving this another try?" he asked, looking at the body that had started forming in the bubbling liquid inside.
Loid nodded "Yes, he should be ready in a day or so. Then he'll be ready to lead the chimera army".
"So, what you are telling me is that we have be transported to the other end of this kingdom?" Naga asked. Eruk nodded "Yes, from what I can tell, it'll take at least a week before we reach Xen". Naga sighted after downing another mug of wine "I knew, I should have charged you more…". Nimph was sitting in the middle of the table, looking at Naga in horror "are you sure that you should drink more of that stuff, miss Naga?" she asked the tall sorceress as she reached for the bottle again. "OHOHOHOHOHOH!" Naga laughed and stood up "I can handle a lot more that that!". At this time, most of the other guest was running to the exit. Eruk grid his teeth, he had heard that dreadful laugh several times by now and it was only a question of time before he reached his limit.
"Please, no more!!!" Nimph squealed. Naga gave a satisfied nod and sat back down "So tell me, just how big is the treasure?" she asked.
"Well…" Eruk started "supposedly a large treasure is hidden somewhere near the town of Xen. But other than that, I don't know anything.". Naga was displeased by the lack of information. "Look, I have a feeling that we know much more by the time we get there" he promised.
As the evening went by Naga told a lot of tales about her past adventures. She even mentioned that she had a sidekick. "…But alas she couldn't keep up with my talent, and one night she just vanished" Naga finished her tale by downing yet another mug of wine. "That's quite impressive" Eruk said "especial the way you defeated 50 dragons all by yourself". Naga smiled "oh that was nothing, OHOHOHOHOHO!!". Eruk stood up "well, if you'll excuse me" he said "but I'll turn in for the night". He started walking towards the room "you coming, Nimph?" he asked before leaving the restaurant area.
Eruk sat down on his bed "so Nimph" he said "I'm hoping that you can tell me just how we got here". She pointed at herself "Me explain?" she asked "but I thought you knew. It was astral travel. You know the stuff mazukos and dragons do all the time". He slumped back into bed "So I wasn't lying to Naga after all…".
Authors notes:
Hello there, sorry it's been so long since I last updated! More than a week, that's pretty dull for a already written story. Again, SO sorry. I'll do my best to get back to my usual two updates a week now.
So, Naga finally made an appearance! How will Eruk handle his new companion? Will he continue to deceive her with promises of treasure or will he tell the truth? And of course, the really big question is, how long can he put up with her laugh?
And Otaku-girl, how in the world were you able to guess that the mysterious woman was Naga?? Ok ok, sorry about my sarcasm, I just can't help myself sometimes.
Keep reading and reviewing ok?
