SLAYERS INHERITANCE

"The Heart of the Beast! Battle at Wolfpack Island!"

by Michael Hopcroft

"I'm Anya Inverse, and nothing pisses me off more than being stuck in a room with no door against my will be a creepy Mazoku priest! I can't believe this creep was ever one of Mother's friends!  Oh, the words I'll have with her if I ever get out of this mess!"

The roaring beast glared at Valgaav. Valgaav was actually surprised he had not pounced already.  Just as the monster leaped, Valgaav let loose with his breath weapon. The monster shattered and dissipated in mid-leap. It was then that Valgaav realized the teleport had left him completely disoriented. He had no idea where he was.

Still, it was no time to panic. Valgaav headed down the corridor, trying to stay alert and focused and not thinking too hard about what Anya might be going through.

He gave up quickly on seeking our Cardanis. The chimera prince could be miles away by now. But it was clear he needed directions of some sort. If he could find Xellos, he might get some answers. All he had to do was find an intelligent Mazoku and hope it felt fear….

***

Anya mentally ran through her list of spells. Dragon Slave? It was designed to attack beings, not walls, and would raise too much of alarm. Fireball? Probably ineffective. Then something struck her – maybe if she could remember a spell that would get rid of the wall with a minimum of bother… SHE HAD IT!

"DEMONA CRYSTAL!" shouted Anya, and an icy chill spread from her hands to the wall she was touching, covering and penetrating it with a sheet of ice. With one good kick, the wall shattered into a million pieces and Anya stepped through the opening.

Anya drew her sword and began to chant. "Spirits of air and darkness, spirits of twilight and crimson, I call on you to lend your power to this blade. In the great name of the Golden Queen of Chaos, I call you to my aid! GOLDEN BLADE!"   At the completion of the spell, Anya's blade started to glow a mixture of gold and crimson. For the next three hours, it would slay any Mazoku on whom she could land a solid blow. She noticed that as she had cast the spell, a delightful feeling of power had spread through her body. Had she really called upon the aid of the Lord of Nightmares? She began to wonder what would happen to her when the spell ended, and set out to find someone to intimidate. She wanted answers, she wanted to find Titania, and she wanted to spill Mazoku blood.

***

Cardanis drew his sword and cast a Lighting spell on it. He knew that on an island full of Mazoku, a torch was about all the fine Seyruun-crafted blade would be good for. With Valgaav nowhere to be seen, he realized he was completely on his own. Since he couldn't really fight the Mazoku before running out of energy, he would have to find ways to avoid them. Muttering a spell to silence his footsteps, Cardanis headed down the corridor. He knew he was going north, but not knowing the layout of the complex it didn't help him at all.

Behind him he heard the sounds of spiders – big spiders. He was hoping they hunted by sound, but he wasn't going to count on it. He closed his eyes for a moment to try and sense for Mazoku, but the whole island reeked of their presence so much it was impossible to make out individuals. Quickly finding a cubbyhole in the corridor, he ducked inside just as two enormous spiders passed him by.

None of this was helping him find Titania, visions of whom filled his mind. He would need to take a more direct approach. There was a Shamanist spell that could be used to locate a particular person over long distances. He wondered if the stench of black magic about the place would interfere with it, but he decided it was worth a try. He began to chant the incantation.

He was so wrapped up in the spell that when the club hit his head, knocking him unconscious, he didn't even notice.

***

Half an hour later a large, husky Mazoku carrying a club dragged Cardanis into a throne room. Beastmaster, with a wine glass in her hand and a cigarette in a holder handing from her lips, seemed puzzled. "Did you bring me a corpse?"

"No corpse." Said the Mazoku. "He still breathes.  I don't understand it – why didn't he die?"

Beastmaster stepped down for a closer look. "This is no ordinary man – he's a chimera. Xellos!"

Xellos teleported to her side. "Yes, Mistress. I am here. What do you wish of me?"

"Explain THIS!" she said, pointing a long finger at Cardanis. Xellos examined the inert but still-living body.

"This chimera was traveling with Titania," he said. "Apparently he is a member of the Seyruun royal family."

"Did you bring him here?"

"Certainly not! He got here entirely on his own. If such devotion were not a human trait it would be almost admirable. If eh is here, it is possibly the dragon boy is here too."

"Find and slay him!" Beastmaster commanded. "And slay this one too."

"Mistress, much as it pains me to question a direct order, perhaps this chimera can still be of some use to us. He could be the very means by which to make Titania more cooperative."

Beastmaster took a draw on her cigarette. "Intriguing. Go on."

"Titania seems to care about this man a great deal. Humans will sacrifice anything for those they care about – even their own humanity."

"Disgusting trait," Beastmaster muttered. "So you're suggesting we offer her his life in exchange for her becoming a full Mazoku and entering our service?"

"Exactly, and then when she is purged of her human qualities we kill him anyway. After we play with him a while. May I suggest we chain him to that wall? That way we can keep a constant vigil over him until the time comes."

'Excellent! This way everyone gets what they want!" And Beastmaster's laughter filled the room.

***

Anya had lost count of the number of Mazoku she had slain. It seemed that every time she turned a corner another beats was charging at her. Unfortunately, none of them had told her anything about what she really wanted to know.

Around the corner in front of her she heard a strange sound. She raised her sword, rapidly turned around and saw – "Valgaav!"

"Don't hit me! I'm not that bad, I promise!"

"Valgaav, what the bloody hell are you doing here?"

"Do you think I'd leave you alone in a pit of monsters? I promised your mother that I would bring you back in one piece, and that's what I'm going to do. Look out, there's one behind you."

Anya wheeled around and slaughtered the charging beast. "Thanks. But this is getting us nowhere. We need to run into something intelligent that will tell us where Xellos is."

"Why Xellos? Much as I'd like to take a few pieces out of his dirty Mazoku hide, is that going to help us find Cardanis and Titania?

Anya frowned. "I think Xellos is the key to this whole puzzle. He knows where Titania is being kept. He knows what happened to Cardanis. And he knows what his game is. If I can find out what his game is…."

Valgaav appeared to sniff the air. "You may get your wish, Anya. I think he's coming."

"Prepare yourself. It may be us or him."

"I would rather it were him."

In between Anya and Valgaav, Xellos suddenly appeared. "So there you are." He said. "Everyone's been looking all over for you. Breaking out of your room was not very wise, Anya, but I suppose I should expect nothing less from the daughter of Lina Inverse."

"Leave my mother out of this! And tell us where Titania and Cardanis are or, I swear to L-sama I'll kill you where you stand."

Xellos blanched. "You swear by the Lord of Nightmares? You must be especially brave, given how she collects on her bargains."

Anya smiled grimly. "I never thought I'd see this – Xellos frightened. It's a wonderful thing."

"Now, there's no need for threats here. If you kill me you'll never get out of here. But have you considered that the game may be already lost? I am going to achieve my goal very soon. And I will let you watch as Titania graduates and becomes an adult. Follow me, please."

"I'll follow you," Anya said, "but if you harm anyone – so much as a hair, this enchanted sword is going straight into your back, and I'll follow it up with some really nasty spells."

***

After what seemed like a long walk, Xellos emerged into the Beastmaster's throne chamber. "You should be honored, Anya Inverse. Not even your fabled mother got to lay eyes on Beastmaster Xellas Mentallium."

Beastmaster, who looked like a well-built young woman in a very skimpy outfit and fishnet stockings, with a wineglass in one hand and a cigarette holder with a lit cigarette in the other, appeared actually surprised. "Xellos, I did not instruct you to bring the boy to me alive."

"It's more delicious this way," said Xellos. "Think of this as the graduation feast for Titania. Their despair on realizing the thoroughness of their defeat will be a banquet for all of us." At that moment Xellos teleported, just in time to get out of the way of a wicked thrust from Anya's sword.

"How boring," said Beastmaster. "We can't have our audience playing around with weapons, can we?" With a wave of her hand, Anya's sword was ripped out of her hand and flew to the ground at the Beastmaster's feet.  "Incidentally, I have also sealed off your formidable magic powers, young lady. And as for your, young dragon, you will find that both your breath weapons and your transformative abilities will not work here, so don't even try."

Xellos reappeared beside the Beastmaster. "Allow me to call your attention to the far wall.", and he pointed his staff to where a familiar figure was chained spread-eagles to the wall.

"Cardanis!" Anya cried. "What have you done to him?"

"That is a secret. Aside from which, your places await." Suddenly hands of invisible force lifted Anya and Valgaav and lifted them to the wall on either side of Cardanis. Chains appeared from the wall and clasped around their wrists and ankles.

"XELLOS!" cried Anya. "You son of a bitch!"

Xellos turned to Beastmaster and smiled gleefully. "And now, the final player in our drama – the guest of honor, if you will."

Suddenly Titania appeared in the middle of the room. The very first thing she noticed was her three friends chained to the wall. "Cardanis! Anya! Valgaav!" She turned to Xellos. "Why? Why have you done this?"

"That's not important," said Xellos. "What do mere humans matter to the likes of you? Besides, I wanted you to meet your grandmother."

Beastmaster stood from her throne, walked up to Titania, and took her hand. "I am charmed to meet my granddaughter. You've been dreaming all this time that you were a mortal girl. It's time we woke you up."

TO BE CONTINUED…