Here's a change of scenery . . . Say hello to the "bad guys" . . .
I do not own Lina, Zelgaddis, Gourry, Amelia, Rezo, or any other "Slayers" characters. To the best of my knowledge, they belong to Hajime Kanzaka.
Jedere didn't look up from his scrying when a monstrous chimera entered his tent. "How dare you disturb me during my work?" he asked in a soft voice.
The huge monster trembled with fear and stuttered, "G-gomen nasai, Jedere-dono. But the girl . . .
Jedere did look at the creature now, and noticed it was carrying the winged woman in its massive arms. "What is this? What is wrong with Tira?
"I do not know, my lord, we discovered her outside her tent, unconscious.
The black sorcerer could not hide his concern as he directed his minion to set the young woman down on a futon. He was relieved when his careful check of her body revealed nothing more serious than snapped tendons in her right knee. "Wake," he commanded.
Tira opened large green eyes and looked around in confusion. Fixing upon her master's face, she asked, "My lord?
"I sent you into Illidar to find the weak points of the Great Temple. I assume, by your condition, that you failed?
"Hai. I was attacked.
"By whom? The city guard? or the priests?
"Neither. I was attacked by a-- a golem.
"I see," Jedere murmured in his softest, most deadly tone. "You were defeated by a single doll." The woman stayed silent. There was no acceptable excuse for failure. "If you have hampered my plans in any way . . ." Jedere abruptly squeezed her injured knee. She gasped at the pain and stared at him with wide eyes. "Report.
Tira rattled off the number of city guards, the location of guard posts around the city and the width of each of the four gates in the city wall. Her master closed his eyes and nodded; her report confirmed information from other spies. There were enough guards to slow the army down considerably and kill approximately twenty of his chimera. He would have preferred to attack a gate far from the main guard post, but it seemed that was impossible. The main post was beside the main gate, which was the only gate wide enough for an effective assault. Although Jedere as little for the lives of his chimera as for the lives of any other pawns, the monsters were too valuable to send them through a small gate two at a time, so they could be picked off easily by archers or sorcerers. "Tomorrow night," Jedere told the winged woman, "I will launch a full-out attack on the front gate. We will march to the temple; then, you must steal the amulet and bring it to me.
"Hai.
Jedere's face broke into a rare smile. "I am counting on you, daughter. But I warn you: do not fail me again.
"Hai, father." Dismissed, Tira tried to limp to tent flap, but her right knee couldn't hold any weight. In the end, she crawled the fifty feet to her own tent before attempting a healing spell. When, exhausted but no longer in pain, she closed her eyes to sleep, the young woman was once again staring into the blue eyes of a chimera that claimed to be his own master.
I do not own Lina, Zelgaddis, Gourry, Amelia, Rezo, or any other "Slayers" characters. To the best of my knowledge, they belong to Hajime Kanzaka.
Jedere didn't look up from his scrying when a monstrous chimera entered his tent. "How dare you disturb me during my work?" he asked in a soft voice.
The huge monster trembled with fear and stuttered, "G-gomen nasai, Jedere-dono. But the girl . . .
Jedere did look at the creature now, and noticed it was carrying the winged woman in its massive arms. "What is this? What is wrong with Tira?
"I do not know, my lord, we discovered her outside her tent, unconscious.
The black sorcerer could not hide his concern as he directed his minion to set the young woman down on a futon. He was relieved when his careful check of her body revealed nothing more serious than snapped tendons in her right knee. "Wake," he commanded.
Tira opened large green eyes and looked around in confusion. Fixing upon her master's face, she asked, "My lord?
"I sent you into Illidar to find the weak points of the Great Temple. I assume, by your condition, that you failed?
"Hai. I was attacked.
"By whom? The city guard? or the priests?
"Neither. I was attacked by a-- a golem.
"I see," Jedere murmured in his softest, most deadly tone. "You were defeated by a single doll." The woman stayed silent. There was no acceptable excuse for failure. "If you have hampered my plans in any way . . ." Jedere abruptly squeezed her injured knee. She gasped at the pain and stared at him with wide eyes. "Report.
Tira rattled off the number of city guards, the location of guard posts around the city and the width of each of the four gates in the city wall. Her master closed his eyes and nodded; her report confirmed information from other spies. There were enough guards to slow the army down considerably and kill approximately twenty of his chimera. He would have preferred to attack a gate far from the main guard post, but it seemed that was impossible. The main post was beside the main gate, which was the only gate wide enough for an effective assault. Although Jedere as little for the lives of his chimera as for the lives of any other pawns, the monsters were too valuable to send them through a small gate two at a time, so they could be picked off easily by archers or sorcerers. "Tomorrow night," Jedere told the winged woman, "I will launch a full-out attack on the front gate. We will march to the temple; then, you must steal the amulet and bring it to me.
"Hai.
Jedere's face broke into a rare smile. "I am counting on you, daughter. But I warn you: do not fail me again.
"Hai, father." Dismissed, Tira tried to limp to tent flap, but her right knee couldn't hold any weight. In the end, she crawled the fifty feet to her own tent before attempting a healing spell. When, exhausted but no longer in pain, she closed her eyes to sleep, the young woman was once again staring into the blue eyes of a chimera that claimed to be his own master.