Battle! Mina's Rage Peaks
The three continued searching through the forest as the night crept in on them. When the sun went down, Mina ordered a halt. She figured it would be better to wait it out and try for Seyruun once again in the morn. Then, she ordered everyone to get to work. Sandi had to find a good amount of twigs and branches to make a fire with. Noel had to sort out all three of their rations into a reasonable dinner. It was Mina who had to light the fire and do the cooking. So, once Sandi brought back the firewood, she used Fireball on it.
"Now let's see," Noel stated, "Sandi has a package of jerky, a candy bar, and some gum. Mina and I each have a small pack of trail mix and a few mints. Doesn't look like much of a meal to me." He gave a look to tell the girls how hungry he really was. They hadn't eaten since the luncheon after the tournament.
"Wait! Is that a Water Spirit I feel? There could be a stream nearby. Maybe we can go fishing," said Mina. She walked off towards the east a little, and discovered the stream she was looking for. The only problem was that neither she nor Noel knew how to fish. It was said that Lina Inverse had a spell to aid in catching fish, but they didn't know it. Certainly, she had never taught Amelia or Zelgadis her little trick.
Sandi grabbed a branch from the ground, and reached into her pocket. She told the others, "I have some string in here as well as a pin that can serve as a hook. That's all we need. For bait, we can use my jerky. Don't worry; I'm an expert at this. Master Ian taught me all about how to survive in the woods alone."
The swordswoman went to work and soon there were a lot of fish in their bag. Once the jerky ran out, Sandi still was able to catch a few with some simple motions of the hook in light created by Mina. So they ran back to camp to cook up what they wanted. After feasting for awhile, Mina and Noel took some of the salt packets they had with them for seasoning--Noel loved things extra salty--and preserved the rest.
Then it was time to settle down. All three told stories around the campfire; some were the usual scary tales, while others were childhood anecdotes. Finally, they decided to divide the night into three parts so each could take a watch. Sandi went first since she didn't like sleeping. Mina was second because of the darkest and most dangerous part of the night was in the middle. Noel took the time before dawn broke.
. . .
Mina awoke to a funny sound. She noticed that she was still in the clearing with Sandi, but Noel was nowhere to be found. As she listened closer, she realized that the sound was a muffled scream, as if a captive was trying to call out for help. Ten to one it was Noel, so she woke Sandi up to help her find him.
The girl was nervous, she knew something was wrong. "They must have attacked him from behind while he was on guard. We think he's the reason why the carriage was attacked and we were split from his parents in the first place. For some odd reason, the trolls were more intent in following us than in fighting Amelia and Zelgadis, who were attacking them. Something isn't right, and Noel is at the center of it all."
Soon, they arrived at a clearing. The girls could see Noel hanging from a tree; tied and gagged as well. Around the captive stood a few Lesser Demons, and a strange man. But Mina knew he was definitely not human. He didn't feel like a Mazoku either. Nor was he a Dragon. The enemy was a type of spirit being that was as different from Mazoku as the Mazoku were from Dragons. However, he was still evil.
"Bah, I can't believe how easy it was to capture the key," the man muttered, "This child was all by his lonesome while his girlfriends slumbered. Sounds like their little plan turned on them. Now then, all I need is one more key and then the curse will be completed. Now where can the other one have gotten to?"
"How dare he do something like this to Noel? If I was only a little older, I'd go Lina Inverse on him and cast a Dragon Slave. I'll definitely have to learn that spell one day if I'm to ever become worthy of trying to cast the Ultimate Spells of Chaos that she knows. We've gotta trick him somehow," Mina whispered.
But then she saw the man coming closer to Noel, ready to hurt him for whatever plan he had. Even though Mina got nothing out of his conversation--no idea what he meant by "key"--she knew her friend was in danger. Suddenly, her whole body caught on fire with her anger, and her eyes turned to a blood red color.
Sandi warned, "Mina, be careful. What if he sees you? Or worse off, what if the Demons see you? You'll be fried in an instant." But her pleas fell on deaf ears. Mina walked off into the clearing, announcing her presence to the world. All the Lesser Demons saw her, and began to move in towards Mina to kill her.
But the fire seemed to give Mina more strength than she'd ever had before. Casting a Dill Brand, the girl managed to toss all of them at once. As they lay on the ground, stunned, the girl cast Flare Bit to burn them to a crisp. Sandi was shocked; a normal Flare Bit shouldn't cause that much damage to a human target much less a Demon. Some other force was greatly increasing the power of Mina's magic.
The leader heard the commotion, and turned to investigate. "What are you doing here? You have no right to come barging into my camp and burning all of my men. You're going to taste my fury now, brat. Once you're out of the way, I'll be on mine. Nothing is going to stop me from completing my ultimate plan."
"You should never have tried to hurt Noel," Mina informed him, "All those who oppose me and try to hurt my friends get fried. Darkness beyond twilight, crimson beyond blood that flows. Buried in the flow of time is where your power grows. I pledge myself to conquer all the foes that stand. Before the mighty gift bestowed in my unworthy hand. Those who oppose us shall be destroyed by the power you and I possess. DRAGON SLAVE!" With that, the great spell that called upon the power of the Dark Lord that ruled their world, Shabranigdo, began to form in Mina's hands. It sped towards the wicked man, pushing him back.
"Mistress, I am sorry that I failed," the man gasped out. Then, he died and faded away for good.
Sandi had taken this opportunity to cut Noel down from the tree. It was only after this that she saw Mina crumpled in a heap on the ground. Noel went towards his friend as he worried about her condition. He informed Sandi, "She shouldn't be able to cast that spell, the only Black Magic she knows is Valiss Rod. So why has she suddenly called upon the power of Shabranigdo? Darn it, I don't think I can help her. The energy she used to cast the Dragon Slave is enormous. At her age and power level, it was too much. So she was injured badly, just like the time where Lina Inverse was injured casting the True Ragna Blade."
Suddenly, Noel's hands began to glow with a light from another source. He felt his own power level grow, and all of the extra strength seemed to flow into Mina's body. She sat up, and held her injured head. "Man, that was a trip. I wonder how I did that. I don't even remember how to cast the spell. Oh well, I don't have enough energy to do so anyway. Maybe in a few years I'll go to a guild and learn that spell for real."
- - - -
Teefa's Last Words…
I can write a real good mystery, can I? My friends would all be stumped if they weren't privy to the inside information. Unfortunately, everyone else will have to wait awhile to see it resolved. What are the "keys" the man spoke of after taking Noel? Who is his mistress? And what happened to give Mina and Noel such extra bursts of strength when they needed to help the other? All of this is found in the resolution of the story. By that I mean the third installment of the trilogy.