Hey, hey! Well, here it is, my first Slayers fan fic (which, by the way, is
owned by Kadokawa Shoten and TV Tokyo) and my first non-Tenchi fic, too. Tell
me what you think, because I really want to know.

Special thanks go out to my pre-readers: Davner, Drakstern, Fish, Little
Masa-ouki, Big D, Tamysan, and Will Z.

Lina: Well, the four of us had teamed up again in hopes of finding a cure for
Zelgadis's... condition.

Amelia: And it looked like we found a really good lead, too!

Lina: Yeah, unfortunately, some weird knight showed up and ran off with Gourry!
And to make matters worse, Zelgadis and Amelia abandoned me!

Amelia: (sweatdrops) You're not still mad about that are you? This could be
Mr. Zelgadis's only chance to be human again.

Lina: Yeah, yeah.

Amelia: Anyways, Lina took shelter from the rain in an old barn, where she ran
into an old friend of hers, Tensado. Meeting a childhood friend like that, it
must be destiny!

Lina: While I had to hole up in a barn, Amelia and Zelgadis got to spend the
night in a nice cozy room at a roadside inn.

Amelia: (sweatdrops again) Don't say it like that! You make it sound like
something happened!

Gourry: Isn't anyone going to mention that the strange knight is actually my
brother, who's got some strange plans for me that I don't understand?

Lina: Who cares? You're not even in this chapter!

Amelia: (sighs) Let's just get on with the fic.

***

Slayers GO!
Chapter 2: Getting There is Half the Fun!

It was early morning. The sun had risen, and Tensado was awake, watching Lina's
sleeping form. Before you go thinking this was a romantic moment, it was
anything but; Lina was sprawled out over a haystack, filling the entire barn
with her snores and drooling more than a little bit. Tensado's eyes left Lina
and wandered up, as if looking at something beyond the barn roof.

"Ceiphied?" he asked tentatively, "From what I've gathered, you can hear me, and
I just wanted to say thanks. I don't know why you did this, but I'm grateful,
and if there's anything I can do for you, don't hesitate to ask." At this
point, Lina let out a very loud snore. "I have to admit, though, your choice of
messengers is a bit odd."

Tensado hummed tunelessly as he prepared breakfast. Unless Lina had changed
since he had last known her, and this was one aspect of Lina that he doubted
could be changed, the smell of food would wake her right up. Sure enough,
moments later she was wolfing down the freshly prepared food.

"You know," Lina said, through a mouthful of sausage, "I probably should stop by
and see my sister. She'll-" Lina stopped to swallow before continuing.
"She'll kill me if she found out I was in town and didn't say hi."

Tensado thought about exactly what to say carefully before finally speaking.
"Actually, Lina, Luna isn't in town right now."

Lina was halfway through another sausage at this point. "Really? I didn't
think she'd leave the restaurant."

"I've kept in contact with her the past couple of years. About a month ago, a
couple of Red Dragon Knights showed up." As he said that, Lina looked up at him
suspiciously. Tensado shrugged. "Didn't seem like bad people to me. They
apparently though she was in danger here," he explained, "They insisted she come
with them somewhere safe."

Lina stared at him. "Where?" she asked.

Tensado merely shook his head. "I didn't ask. I thought it was better if I
didn't know. It was a good thing they came, though. A week later she was put
up as a target."

Lina choked on the sausage she was eating. "WHAT? Who's paying for it? I'm
gonna go give 'em a piece of my mind!"

"That's the funny part," he told her, "As far as I can tell, this is being put
up by the Guildmaster. There's been a lot of funny stuff going on lately, like
we," he stopped and corrected himself, "like THEY are preparing for something
big. I think the contract on your sister might be part of whatever it is."

Lina frowned. She didn't get along very well with Luna, but they were still
sisters, and she definitely didn't like the idea of assassins coming after her.
At least Luna had gotten out of there in time. Still, she had to wonder if the
Red Dragon Knights who came to escort her out of the city had any connection to
the one who kidnapped Gourry.

"Hey," she said, "I don't suppose you saw a Red Dragon Knight come by the other
day." Tensado shook his head. "Didn't think so." It had been a long shot.
She had filled him in on the details of Gourry's abduction the night before, and
he hadn't mentioned seeing one then.

"I can ask around a bit," Tensado said pensively, "I have a couple of contacts
that I THINK won't turn me in to the Guild." Tensado smiled in spite of
himself. All his life he had lived with the guild. It gave him power and
control over ordinary people. It gave him protection, and insurance. With the
Guild, he always knew exactly what he was doing, and where he was going. That
was all gone now. His life had descended into absolute chaos, and he couldn't
stop smiling.

Lina seemed to notice this, too, for she gave him an odd look. "All right,
let's go see these friends of yours. The longer we wait, the farther away from
us that knight will get."

***

Amelia stretched her arms and let out a tremendous yawn. Still not quite awake,
she started towards the window to look out at the morning. Halfway from the bed
to the window, however, she tripped. She cried out in alarm and flailed her
arms wildly, but neither of these actions did anything to slow her descent to
the floor.

"Oi," Zelgadis said, sitting up from the floor, "Watch where you're going!"

"Sorry!" Amelia said, embarrasedly, "I just wanted to see if the storm had
cleared up. I guess I forgot you were there." Zelgadis sighed. She was such a
klutz. Still, she was his only lead on the most promising cure he had found so
far.

"Forget it," he told her, "Let's just go."

They took turns getting dressed, like they had the night before, and, after a
quick breakfast, they left the roadside inn to continue their journey. Neither
of them noticed the well-dressed man who watched them as they left.

***

"Well?" Kenno asked, "Are you ready to go after her yet? Any of my other men
would have left the moment I gave the order, but not you. I would almost swear
that you enjoy making things complicated, Jenso."

Jenso smiled, ignoring his boss's taunts. "And yet, fully aware of this, you
still choose me for the most important of your tasks. Obviously, the results I
bring make up for the 'complications' I add."

"If you delay any longer, I may change my mind," Kenno told the spirit shaman.

"I have conversed with the spirits, and they have told me about the Bandit
Killer. Even now she prepares to venture into Zefielia, in search of
information."

"Is that all your spirits have told you?" Kenno snapped, "We already knew that!
Do you take pleasure in vexing me?"

"I understand your impatience, my Lord," the spirit shaman said calmly, "But I
would ask you bear with me. The spirits have told me other things as well. The
thing the Bandit Killer searches for is no longer within Zefielia. She shall
journey to the south if she wishes to find it. The Wolf Spirit has an unusually
heavy presence, though, and I am not sure why."

"I'm sure that means more to you than it does to me," Kenno said, dryly, "If you
care to elaborate, then by all means, go ahead."

"The Wolf Spirit and I do not get along," Jenso explained, continuing to show
his endless patience, "His presence is very strong around Lina, but he will not
tell me why. He has informed me that he shall kill me."

Kenno sat back in his golden throne. "You seem rather calm for a man who has
just foreseen his own death," he observed.

"I do not take the boasting of the Wolf Spirit seriously. The spirits can tell
me of the present, but their words of the future is merely their own
speculation."

Kenno sighed. "As fascinating as I find your relationship with the spirits, I
am a very busy man at the moment. Are you ready to go, or should I ask one of
my other lieutenants?" Kenno looked at his shaman dangerously.

"No, my Lord," Jenso said quickly. He reminded himself that while he was a man
of patience, his Lord was not. "I shall prepare to meet her when she leaves the
city. The spirits exist most strongly where nature is undisturbed. I am sure
you would agree it would make sense to meet such an admirable opponent where I
am strongest."

"Yes," Kenno nodded, "Very prudent. The testing grounds should make her an easy
target, but do NOT underestimate her. I want her dead, do you understand?"

"Of course, my Lord," the spirit shaman replied.

"Then go!"

***

"So who are we going to meet?" Lina asked, as the two of them walked down the
streets of Zefielia.

"His name's Len," Tensado said, "He sits outside the Red Tiger Inn begging for
coins while stealing from anyone generous enough to come close. He also lies,
cheats at dice, and sleeps with women of questionable repute."

"Gee," Lina said dryly, "What are his good points?"

Tensado thought for a moment. "As far as I can tell, those ARE his good
points," he smiled, before becoming serious, "He's good for information, though,
and he won't lie to me. He knows what I'll do to him if he lies to me."

Lina repressed a shudder at that comment. Tensado was a nice guy; it was hard
to believe he was, until recently, an assassin.

She shoved those thoughts out of her mind, only to have them replaced my even
more worrisome thoughts: her sister. She wasn't sure if she was glad that her
sister wasn't in the Red Tiger Inn or not. On one hand, it meant she didn't
have to deal with her. On the other hand, though, Lina was worried about her.
Why was the Assassin Guild after her? And why was the Order of the Red Dragon
protecting her?

At the same time, she also had to wonder if this was connected to Gourry's
abduction, and if it was, then how?

Tensado apparently figured out what was on Lina's mind, for not shortly after he
started talking. "You know, it's possible that Red Dragon Knight took your
friend for the same reason they took Luna. I haven't seen any orders for - What
was his name? Oh right, Gourry. Anyways, I haven't heard of anything, but I've
been holed up in that barn for two weeks."

"I just wish I knew what was going on," Lina sighed, before screaming out loud,
"I HATE BEING LEFT IN THE DARK!!!"

Tensado winced. "Itai! You don't have to yell," he told her, "At least we know
SOMETHING."

"Yeah?" the redheaded sorceress grumbled, "What's that?"

"There appears to be at least two opposing teams: the Order of the Red Dragon,
and the Assassin Guild. Either the Guild wants to accomplish something that the
Order doesn't like, or Luna can do something that the Order wants, but the Guild
doesn't. Your friend might be in a similar situation."

Lina kicked a stone. She wasn't in the mood to go over things logically, but it
was better than just sulking. "So why did they kidnap Gourry, then? Why not
talk to him about it?"

Tensado pondered that for a bit. "Well, again, we don't have much to go on, but
I can guess a few possibilities. Maybe the Order is afraid Gourry would try to
attack the guild, rather than go into hiding."

"Gourry WOULD be that stupid," Lina conceded.

"We don't know if the Order is the good guys, either," the ex-assassin pointed
out, as they approached the inn, "The only thing we know for sure is that they
want Luna and Gourry for something. The fact that they attacked and abducted
him suggests that they're going to go through with their plans, whether Gourry
agrees or not."

"Once we catch up with Delvier, we can ask him," Lina sighed. She really did
not like this situation, but at the moment there wasn't much she could do about
it. "So where's this Len guy, anyway?"

"He should be around here somewhere," the young man replied, scanning the area
until he spotted the urchin. "Oi, Len!" he called out. Len, who was reaching
for the purse of an unsuspecting tourist, quickly pulled his hand backed and
smiled, nervously.

"Ah, Tensado!" he said, forcing a smile, "I haven't seen ya in a while. Whatcha
been up to?"

Tensado smiled back, but it wasn't a friendly smile. "Leave the talking to me,"
he whispered to Lina, "And agree to anything I say." Lina nodded, and he turned
his attention back to Len. "You know I can't tell you that, Len. Now, why
don't we cut the chit-chat and get down to business?"

Len's grinned widened a bit, showing his yellowed teeth. "A good idea, if'n ya
ask me. Now, what's it ya want to know?"

"Have any Red Dragon Knights passed through the area lately?" Tensado asked.

Len looked appraisingly at Tensado. "How much it worth to ya?"

Tensado's eyes narrowed. "You know how it works, Len," he said, "I pay you for
the information you have, not the questions I ask. Tell me what you know, and
I'll pay you for what it's worth to me."

"Right, right," Len said agreeably, "There were two of 'em in this very inn last
night."

"Good," Tensado nodded, "Describe them."

"The first one was a short, stocky fellow. Real serious and all that. Almost
cut my hand off when I was..." Len looked around nervously, "well, that's not
important."

"And the other one?" Tensado asked.

"'Bout as opposite of the first fellow as you could get. Really tall. Light-
hearted, too. Laughed a lot, y'know. He came in late last night with a blonde
fellow on his horse."

Tensado was silent for a moment. "I need to know where he was going."

"You're in luck," Len smiled, "This is valuable information, though, keep that
in mind. I overheard 'em talkin'. The short one was gettin' a mite impatient,
he told the guy to hurry up an' bring the blonde down to Seyruun."

To Lina's surprise, Tensado reached out and slapped the beggar on the side of
the head. "Not that one, you simpleton, the first one."

"Sorry," Len said, giving Tensado an angry look, "That one said somethin' 'bout
goin' to check on a knight or something over in Elmekia."

"Thank you," Tensado said politely, "That's all I need to know." He turned to
Lina. "Give him a few coins for his time."

"What?" she asked.

"That was the deal," Tensado said, giving her a meaningful look, "Fifty coins
per day, plus expenses. This is an expense. Pay the man."

Lina sighed. "Yeah, yeah," grumbled as she dug out a few coins and tossed them
onto the street in front of Len.

"Don't worry, ma'am," he said reassuringly, "You'll get your money's worth."

Len leered at her, which made the young sorceress rather uncomfortable. "That
short one stand her up or somethin'?" he asked.

Tensado leaned over him to whisper, but Lina's sharp ears caught every word.
"What have I told you about asking questions? I'm here to get information, not
give it. I'd keep that bit under your hat, if I were you. You start spreading
rumors that SHE was turned down by a lowly knight, and you might be my next
contract, and I really wouldn't want to have to kill a friend."

Len swallowed, nervously. "Won't tell a soul, I swear!"

"A wise decision," Tensado said, as he took Lina's arm and led her away from the
inn.

*Whap!*

"Itai," Tensado said, rubbing his head where Lina had hit him, "What was that
for?"

"Next time tell me when you're going to do that!" Lina said, angrily, "What was
all of that for, anyways."

Tensado continued to massage the back of his head. "Len probably doesn't know
that I'm not working with the Guild anymore, so in order to keep him from
getting suspicious, I had to pretend you were my client. If he figures out that
I've gone free-lance, he'll turn me in to the Guild as soon as possible."

"So you faked interest in the other knight to throw him off our trail," Lina
concluded.

"Precisely," Tensado said with a wink

***

Amelia sang as she skipped down the forest path. "This is the song that never
ends..."

A large vein was throbbing on Zelgadis's head.

"It goes on and on my friends..."

Zelgadis clenched a fist, in an attempt to control himself.

"People started singing it, not knowing what it was..."

Several more throbbing veins appeared on Zelgadis's forehead.

"Now they keep on singing it forever just-"

Zelgadis snapped.

"STOP SINGING THAT DAMN SONG!" Zelgadis yelled. Amelia eeped and came to a stop
in mid-stride, which is a bad idea when one is skipping.

"Itai!" Amelia said, picking herself up off the ground.

"Please," Zelgadis said, rubbing his temples, "That song is REALLY annoying."

"Really," a sly voice said from the side of the road. They looked to the side to
see Xellos standing there, smiling as usual. "I thought it was a rather catchy
tune." He began to hum.

Zelgadis threw his sword at the Mazoku. Xellos disappeared at the last second,
and the sword embedded itself in the tree, wobbling back and forth for a few
seconds.

"That's what I missed about traveling with you, Mister Zelgadis," Xellos said,
appearing on a branch of one of the many trees that surrounded them, "Your...
cutting wit."

"Why are you here?" Zelgadis snapped, as he retrieved his sword.

"Really," Xellos said, sounding slightly insulted, "I would have thought you
knew me better than that, but since you asked..." He bent forward, cupping a
hand to the side of his mouth in a conspiratorial fashion. "The reason I'm here
is..." Amelia leaned in to listen. Xellos stood up and smiled. "A secret!"

Amelia facefaulted.

"Don't tell me you didn't see that coming?" Zelgadis said disdainfully, "He's
just here to cause trouble."

"Oh," Xellos said, frowning slightly, "You figured it out."

Zelgadis ignored him, and began down the path. "Let's go, Amelia."

"Bye, Mr. Xellos!" Amelia called out as she ran to catch up with the chimera.

"Oh," Xellos called after them, "You might want to watch out for the..." There
was a loud clang of metal against stone as iron teeth sprang from the ground
into Zelgadis's leg. "Bear trap," Xellos finished, "Yareyare."

"What kind of sadistic bastard puts a bear trap in the middle of a forest road?"
Zelgadis muttered, as he bent down to pull the trap apart. He screamed out as
electricity crackled around the trap, running up his leg in great arcs.

"Sadistic appears to be the right word," Xellos observed.

The lightning stopped, and Zelgadis collapsed to the ground, panting.

"Are you all right?" Amelia asked, rushing to his side. Zelgadis didn't answer.
Sitting up, he again attempted to force the trap open. He gritted his teeth as
the trap electrocuted him again.

"Apparently, it reacts to any attempt to open it," he noted.

"So you're trapped?" the princess exclaimed, "There must be some way to open
it!"

"Dammit," Zelgadis swore between clenched teeth. Amelia blinked. The electricity
had stopped, yet Zelgadis appeared to still be in pain. She bent down to examine
the trap, and her heart jumped. Zelgadis was bleeding. The metal teeth of the
trap had somehow managed to cut through the chimera's impossibly hard skin.

Zelgadis swore again. Something was wrong, and not just the fact that the trap
had broken through his skin. He felt hot. It was only early spring, he thought,
it shouldn't be that warm out. Everything was blurry. It felt like his blood was
evaporating.

Amelia gasped as Zelgadis fell unconscious. She turned to Xellos, tears in her
eyes. "What's going on, Mr. Xellos?" she asked, "What is this trap?"

Xellos examined the trap himself. He nodded and hmmmed and muttered to himself
as he looked at it from different angles.

"Well?" Amelia asked impatiently.

"Well what?" Xellos asked.

"What do you think?" Amelia said.

"What do I think about what?" Xellos responded curiously.

Amelia sweatdropped. "About the trap!"

"What trap?"

"The trap on Mr. Zelgadis's leg!"

"What about it?"

"What do you think about it?!" Amelia practically screamed.

"What do I think about what?" Xellos asked.

"What do you think about the trap on Mr. Zelgadis's leg!!!" she yelled.

"Well the handiwork is very nice," Xellos smiled, "It's hard to find
craftsmanship like this these days."

"That's not what I meant!" Amelia cried, falling into a sitting position. She
sniffed loudly twice before bursting into full tears.

Xellos blinked in confusion. For several moments, he stood there, watching
Amelia sitting in the middle of the road, crying her eyes out. Finally, he
tentatively reached out a hand and gently patted her on the shoulder. Amelia
wrapped her arms around him and cried into his robes.

"There, there," Xellos said in what he hoped was a reassuring voice, "I was only
kidding. The trap is obviously enchanted to cut through anything, even Mr.
Zelgadis's leg. And it was apparently poisoned as well."

Amelia looked up at him with teary eyes. "So what can we do?" she sniffed, "We
have to get that trap off his leg but..."

Xellos got the feeling she was about to start crying again. "Just because we
can't open it," he said quickly, "Doesn't mean we can't break it. You know, if
you freeze metal enough, it becomes brittle."

Amelia brightened. "What a great idea!" she exclaimed. She gave Xellos a big hug
before turning her attention to Zelgadis and the trap. Xellos thought for a
moment, before concluding that the female mind was a much greater mystery than
any of his 'secrets.'

Amelia knelt down and pulled Zelgadis's leg onto her lap.

"FREEZE ARROW!" she called out, summoning a bolt made of ice. She took the bolt
in her hands and drove it down onto the bear trap. Ice sprung forth, wrapping
around the metal jaws until the entire trap was covered in frost. She looked
around for something she could use to break the trap, finally settling for
Zelgadis's sword.

Xellos had taken a position sitting on a tree branch where he could view the
entire scene from above. He watched with interest as Amelia removed the sword
and sheath from Zelgadis's belt. Standing up, Amelia brought the end of the
sword to rest on the frozen trap. She raised the sword, and brought it down as
hard as she could, where it bounced of the trap with a dull ring.

Amelia frowned, but she was not the type to give up so easily. Spitting on her
hands, she lifted the sword higher this time, so the hilt was level with her
face. Again, however, she didn't have enough force to break the trap.

"Ceiphied," she whispered in prayer, "Please give me strength." She raised the
sword as high as she could, until it was over her head, and she lost balance and
fell over backwards.

"Why don't I help you," Xellos said, appearing over Zelgadis's inert form. He
brought his staff down, almost imperceptibly, on the trap, which shattered like
a ceramic bowl.

"Thank you, Mr. Xellos," Amelia said, smiling at him, "You're not that bad for a
Mazoku."

"Please," Xellos said, pretending to be hurt, "I go out of my way to help you,
and you insult me." He smiled.

"RECOVERY!" A ball of white energy appeared before the princess's hand, which
she directed into the wounds on Zelgadis's leg. She hoped that healing his
chimera skin was easier than harming it. To her relief, the spell worked, and
the punctures closed and disappeared.

"DICLEARY!" she said, drawing on holy energy to purge the poison from his body.
She could feel the poison as it left, and she could feel traces left behind,
traces that resisted the holy might she drew upon. She frowned. She had done
all she could, but Zelgadis didn't look much better. She had to take him to a
professional healer, but how? She turned to the Mazoku who stood there watching
her.

"Mr. Xellos," she said, clasping her hands in front of her, and giving him one
of her biggest smiles.

She wants something, part of Xellos's mind told him.

No, he thought back, She's just grateful that I helped Zelgadis, that's all.
Humans are odd like that.

I wouldn't be too sure.

"You've been such a great help," she told the Demon, "And I can't thank you
enough."

See? he thought, Just like I said.

"But I was wondering if you could to me one more teeny favor," she said, holding
out to fingers barely separated, as if to show how small the favor was.

***

Amelia continued to skip down the road.

"Thank you so much," she said to the Mazoku priest.

"Don't... mention it...," Xellos grunted, as he slowly made his way down the
path, carrying the unconscious chimera on his back. The HEAVY unconscious
chimera. "Yareyare," he sighed, "How did I get into this?"

I told you, that part of his mind taunted.

Shut up.

Pretty soon, Amelia began to sing again. "This is the song that never ends..."

Xellos watched her for a moment or two, before he shrugged and joined in.

***

"Do you see them?" Tensado asked quietly, without breaking his stride at all.
They had left Zefielia a while ago, and had recently entered the forest. They
hadn't made it far before Tensado's sharp eyes picked out a group of creatures
waiting in ambush.

"Yeah," Lina said. She too, acted casual to avoid letting their would-be
ambushers know they had been spotted. "About a dozen of them in the bushes on
the left." She wrinkled her nose. "Beserkers by the smell of it."

"If we wait until we're close enough, we can blind them with a quick lighting
spell," Tensado suggested, "We could be past them before they know what hit
them."

Lina, however, wasn't listening. She brought both hands in front of her and
began to chant.

"Origin of all power, glittering burning red flame, gather to my hands and be my
power."

Tensado sighed. "I suppose that will work, too."

"FIREBALL!" Lina smiled wickedly as she launched the crimson orb at the
beserkers. Their screams filled the air as fire engulfed them. The nearby
trees burst into flame, as well. The fire spread from tree to tree at an
alarming rate.

Lina's smile faded. "What's going on?" she cried out, "Isn't it a bit WET for
this?" The fire spread along the path, too, and soon they were surrounded by
the blaze.

"It's a trap," Tensado said, shaking his head.

"I can't believe I walked into that one," Lina groaned, "Oh well, simple
solution." She held out her hand, palm forward. "MOS VARIM!" A ball of light
flew from her hand into the fire, extingishing every ember around it.
Unfortunately, as soon as it had passed, the flames spread back into the
extinguished area again.

"It's too big," she sighed, "We'd better run. There's a clear path over there."
She took off through the burning forest. Tensado quickly followed suit.

"You are aware that this is exactly what they want us to do, right?" Tensado
asked as he ran up beside her.

"Better than burning to a crisp," she pointed out, "We'll deal with whatever's
next when it comes up." Tensado couldn't really argue with her logic, and the
two of them ran down the only available path through the inferno. "Over there,"
she said, pointing to a cave in the hillside.

Tensado slowed down. He didn't like caves in the best of situations, and the
fact that he knew someone was out to kill them only added to his aprehension. A
burning branch came crashing down behind him, scattering embers onto his cloak,
and he decided that the cave was still preferable to burning alive.

The inside of the cave was filled with a heavy, white fog, which almost seemed
to glow. Anything farther than five feet was blocked out by the thick mist.

"Strange place," Lina said as she peered at what she could see of the cave
walls. Tensado didn't respond. Lina turned to see her old friend standing just
inside the cave entrance, silouetted by the raging fire behind him. "Something
wrong?" Lina asked.

"I don't like caves," he said in a dead voice, "Small places make me nervous,
remember?"

"Don't tell me you're still afraid of being trapped in," Lina laughed, "Get over
it. This cave has been here for hundreds of years, and it will probably be here
a hundred years from now." Lina shook her head. "You'd never catch me with a
silly little phobia like that."

Tensado took a tentative step into the cave, looking around. "I suppose that's
a good thing," he said, with the smallest trace of a smile, "Because a place
this damp is probably crawling with slugs."

"W-what?" Lina began to sweat. "You... you really think so?"

"Definitely," Tensado grinned, "But it doesn't really matter, right? It's not
like you have any 'silly little phobias' or anything."

Lina rubbed the back of her head nervously. "Let's just get out of here as
quickly as possible. Someone set this all up, and I don't like that." She
looked down the dark cavern. "First, let's get some light. LIGHTING!" Nothing
happened. "LIGHTING!" she said again, but still no light appeared.

"It's not... 'that time,' is it?" Tensado suggested, uncomfortably.

"NO, IT'S NOT 'THAT TIME!'" Lina yelled hitting him on the head.

"Could have fooled me," Tensado muttered under his breath. "Let me try.
LIGHTING!" But he had no more success than Lina had. "Very odd. Fortunately,
I have a couple of torches." He searched through his pack, and a produced a
pair of torches, and a piece of flint. The moisture in the air made it hard to
light the torches, but after a couple of tries, the oily rags caught. He used
the torch to light the other one, and handed it to Lina. Torches in hand, the
two of them began to explore the cave.

"This cave just gets weirder and weirder," Tensado noted.

Lina blinked. "What now?"

"Look at the walls, and tell me what you see."

Lina examined the wall for a while, but she couldn't find anything unusual about
it. "I don't see anything," she admitted. Her eyes widened. "You're right! A
place this damp should be covered in fungus."

Tensado nodded. "It's almost as if this fog wasn't here until recently," he
mused out loud, "But that just doesn't make any sense."

"Well," Lina said, as she made her way down the cavern, "We'll just have to add
that to the list of questions for when we find whoever set up this trap, won't
we?"

***

"Come on, Mr. Xellos," Amelia called down the road, "Hurry up, we're almost
there!"

"Easy for you to say," Xellos sighed, shifting Zelgadis on his back. "I bet you
don't even thank me for this," he told the unconscious chimera. Xellos
continued to make his way to the cabin, where Amelia was waiting impatiently.
From what they had been told, the owner of the cabin acted as a doctor to the
farms that surrounded them. A good thing, too, for they were far away from any
real cities.

Amelia knocked on the front door, and after a short wait, an grandmotherly old
lady opened the door.

"Hmmm," the woman said, looking Amelia up and down, "Haven't seen you around
before, dearie. Are you new to town?"

"Just passing through," Amelia told her.

The woman looked stunned. "What?" she said, shaking her head, "A young girl
like you shouldn't be traveling alone. It's just not proper."

Amelia sweatdropped. Not proper? What was that supposed to mean? "Um, don't
worry," she told woman, "I'm not alone. My friends are right back there," she
said, pointing to the chimera and the Mazoku, who had finally reached the porch.
"One of them's been hurt. We were told a healer lived here."

"Ah, yes, they must mean my husband," she said, "Well come in, come in." She
gestured them into the house. It was a nice, cozy little house. Amelia took an
imediate liking to it.

"Now, then, what hap - oh my!" she exclaimed as she saw Zelgadis, "I think your
putting a little too much faith in my husband, dearie."

"Oh, it's not that," Amelia explained, almost casually, "That's the result of a
curse. He's been injured though, and and we need your help!"

Xellos dumped Zelgadis into a chair with a loud thump, before sitting down next
to him to catch his breath.

"What's all that ruckus down there?" a grumpy voice called down from the second
floor. There were several lound clunks as an old man made his way down the
stairs with the aid of a cane. His eyes fell on Amelia, who smiled nervously at
him, then moved on to Zelgadis's inert form. "Why didn't you tell me there was
a patient?" He hobbled across the room to inspect the shaman. "Powerful bit of
magic on this one, huh? You there," he pointed at Xellos. "You look like
you've got a strong back, put him on that table." Xellos sighed as he picked up
Zelgadis and brought him where the doctor had directed.

"All right," the elderly doctor said, "Tell me what happened." Amelia quickly
filled him in about the enchanted trap they had found on the path. The doctor
listened to her patiently, then nodded. "Sounds like he's suffering from shock,
as well as the lingering effects of the poison. I'll see what I can do." As
the doctor examined Zelgadis and asked Amelia questions, Xellos decided to rest
his feet, and sat down in a nearby chair.

"Would you care for a cookie?" Xellos looked up to see the doctor's wife,
holding a plate full of cookies towards him.

"Don't mind if I do," he smiled. He picked up one from the tray and bit into
it. "Not bad," he said around a mouthful of cookie.

"I don't think we were properly introduced," she said, "I'm Anna Tella, and my
husband is Abram."

"Metallium," Xellos said, nodding his head politely, "Xellos Metallium, and
that's Amelia, and the stiff one is Zelgadis."

"How are you related?" she asked.

"Related?" Xellos asked, curiously.

Mrs. Tella sighed. "What's this world coming to?" she asked, "A young girl just
traipsing about with strange men. No sense of decency at all."

Xellos suddenly smiled to himself. This would be fun. Oh, this would be a LOT
of fun.

"I'm sorry," he grinned, "I think I misunderstood you."

"Oh?" Mrs. Tella said, " So you are related?"

"Well, not exactly," Xellos said, then he added with a wink, "Or rather, not
yet."

"Really?" Mrs. Tella smiled, "You're getting married?" Xellos nodded. "That's
wonderful!" Amelia, hearing the outcry, came over.

"What's wonderful?" she asked, curiously.

"Amelia dear!" Xellos said, rising from his seat to hug a very confused Amelia,
"I just told Mrs. Tella the news."

"Huh?" Amelia blinked, surprised to find herself suddenly embraced by the
Mazoku, "What news?"

"I'm so happy for you," Mrs. Tella said, dabbing at her eyes with a hankerchief,
"It's so nice to see a girl getting married at a proper age. So many girls
these days are running off to be sorceresses, or swordswomen, or archers, or
other such..." She paused to find the right word, "Nonsense, when they should
be finding husbands and starting a nice family."

Amelia sweatdropped. She started to protest, but Xellos cut her off.

"I know you didn't want to tell anyone," he said, "But it's really only PROPER
to tell her."

There was a long moment of silence before Amelia finally caught on. "Oh," she
said, "Um, yeah, I suppose."

"She's just shy," Xellos smiled, giving Amelia a squeeze. Amelia was inches
away from tears. "See? She's so happy, she ready to cry."

***

They had been walking into the cave for the last half hour, with no notable
changes. The heavy fog made it seem like they were walking down an endless
corridor. He didn't like it at all. At first, he thought the fog might help
him forget he was in a cave, but it didn't. If anything, it made the cave seem
even smaller.

"I wonder if something lives here," Tensado pondered aloud, more out of the
desire to break the monotony than any real curiousity.

"It's possible," Lina replied, "I wouldn't be surprised if some bears or trolls
took advan-."

"Shh!" Tensado suddenly hissed, "What's that?" he whispered, tensely. Lina
cocked her head to one side and listened. At first she thought Tensado was
imagining things, probably due to the stress of being enclosed for so long. But
then she heard it. It was barely audible, but it was there: a heavy, low
humming sound. "What is it?" Tensado asked again.

"I don't know," Lina told him, "But it could be a clue to who sent us in here.
Let's follow it." She was sick of this. She didn't like getting led around,
and she didn't like not being able to see more than five feet. She wanted a
direct confrontation, someone she could be specifically mad at. If this noise
could give her that, she wasn't going to pass it up.

Tensado nodded, eager to put an end to this as well, albeit for slightly
different reasons, and the pair chased after the mysterious sound. Fortunately,
the dampness of the fog muffled any echoes that might have confused them, and
after a few twists and turns, they saw a pair of lights, flickering through the
fog.

Lina and Tensado exchanged a wordless glance. They slowed down as they got
closer to the lights. The cave widened into a large cavern. The mist began to
thin as the cave grew larger, and soon they saw a dark shape moving through the
mist towards them.

Roaring, the dark shape charged, revealing itself to be a massive bear. Lina
and Tensado leapt away as the bear attacked.

"Kind of fierce, isn't he?" Lina quipped, "Let's see how he feels after I'm done
with him." She brought her hands in front of her in preparation for a spell.

"Be careful what you cast!" Tensado said in a strained voice. The last thing he
wanted was fireballs being thrown around.

"Don't worry!" the redhead smiled. She pulled back an arm as if drawing a bow.
"FLARE ARROW!" But nothing happened. "Not fair!" she yelled as she ran from
the enraged bear.

Tensado, meanwhile, flung a handful of throwing knives at it. They hit their
mark, but the bear's hide was so thick, it didn't even notice the knives
embedded in its skin.

"All right," the assassin muttered, as he saw the ineffectiveness of his attack,
"Let's try this. ICE LANCE!" As before, though, there was no noticable effect.

Lina leapt away from two more of the bear's attacks. "DO SOMETHING!" she
yelled.

"I'm trying!" Giving up on knives and spells, he drew his sword and charged.
His blade bit deep into the bears hide, and while it wasn't a great wound, it
was enough to get the bears attention. It turned on the young assassin, glaring
down at him with angry eyes. Tensado sweatdropped. "Now, I know you're
probably mad, and rightfully so, but..." The bear swung at him and he leapt
away. "Okay, Lina," he said, dodging another blow, "Your turn!"

Lina drew her own sword, but was hesitant to attack. The bear had shrugged off
Tensado's attack like a bugbite, and she doubted her attack would do much
better. They had to find some other way. Meanwhile, the bear pressed Tensado
farther and farther back, towards a dark line in the mist. Lina's eyes widened
as she realized what it was.

"Tensado! Watch your footing!" she called out. He ducked under the bears next
swing, and his foot fell off the cliff Lina had tried to warn him about. The
bear slashed at him again, and this time, it connected, drawing out a great
spurt of blood from his shoulder. Tensado fell backwards over the cliff, barely
managing to catch hold of the ledge.

The bear reared onto its hind legs and bellowed out a triumphant roar. Lina's
mind raced. There had to be something she could do! Tensado couldn't hold on
much longer, especially not with that blow to his arm, and if he tried to get
up, the bear would finish him. But what could she do? Magic didn't seem to be
working, and her sword seemed pointless. She might as well try to ram it...

...Off the cliff. It might work. It was a long shot, but it was her best
chance.

"Aim for it's legs!" she called out, hoping Tensado still had his sword. The
bear turned to face her, but Tensado, who did indeed still have his sword, drove
his blade into the bottom of the bear's lifted foot. The bear bellowed in pain,
and turned his attention back to Tensado.

Lina took a deep breath, and ran as fast as she could. She had to build up
enough momentum to make up for the massive difference in weight. She gritted
her teeth as she threw herself into the beast. At the same moment, Tensado
slashed at the bear's other paw.

Screaming in rage, the bear toppled over. Tensado winced as its claws raked his
back. The pain caused him to drop his sword, but, somehow, he managed to keep
his hold on the edge of the cliff.

Lina ran to the cliff, and helped pull him back onto solid ground. They both
sat there for a minute, catching their breath. They heard the sound of someone
clapping.

"Very impressive!" a deep voice said. They looked up. On the far side of the
cavern, just barely visible, two torches burned in their holders: the lights
they had seen earlier. Below that, was a large metal box, that appeared to be
the source of the humming. Every few seconds it let out a loud hiss, as fog
shot out of its edges.

Standing in front of this machine, was the owner of that deep voice. It was a
man, a very large man. Truth be told, the bear they had just fought had very
little on him in size. Tatoos of all sorts of animals covered his body, and he
leaned on a massive axe.

"Who are you?" Tensado demanded, "What do you want?"

"I don't have to answer to a boy like you," the man grinned evily.

Tensado drew one of his daggers. "I should tell you, that I've had people look
down on me before," he said, "But never twice by the same person."

The man burst into laughter. "You're a funny boy," he said, hefting the axe
onto his shoulder, "Let's see what you've got."

Lina and Tensado exchanged glances and simultaneously charged. Not being
impaired by the injuries like Tensado was, the young sorceress reached him
first. Still laughing, he brought his axe down on her sword, knocking it
harmlessly to the side. He grabbed her by the throat and tossed her to the
side.

She crashed into the ground with a loud thud. She looked up just in time to see
Tensado's attack. Just like earlier, time seemed to slow down for her. She saw
the giant step to the side of the dagger. She knew what was coming next, but
there was nothing she could do. The tattoed man spun around, and buried his axe
deep into Tensado's gut.

She watched in horror as her oldest friend flew into the mist, the axe still
embedded in his body.


To be continued...