Obsession: A Xelloss story
From part 2...
"Saygram!" Lina snarled delectably. "I though I killed you before!"
Me too. No sweat, I was confident that she could take care of him now... and then, Lord Gaav reared his really ugly head. Damn! How did this guy suck up every available demon into his power structure?
-- Part 3 –
Yeah. All in all, I had things under relatively tight control. Lina and her friends had located Gaav, in a way, once I lured them to his general area of influence. Lina surprised me with her concern for my safety. It was very touching. I was touched inside and out. I was also getting considerable damage from the cruel pummeling delivered by the Demon Dragon Lord himself, but (and this was the essential question) did Lina care for me enough to use her most destructive spells to save me? Was I confident that our relationship ran deep enough already?
Lina-dear looked wholesome with a bloom on her cheeks that revealed her actual startling youth. Her face had gentle angles, one rosy thing sloping into the next, and it suggested none of the hardness I knew her to have experienced. It seemed as though she were determined to stay innocent, to hang back even through life was dragging her painfully forward. And my conjecture bore out because she looked up at me and tried to ask, "You okay?" She choked it out but couldn't continue. Oh, this was enough to make me love her, because I was right with her, understanding every second and longing to step in.
But then... Ah, Gaav, you didn't have to give away my identity, you disloyal apostate! Yes, even the dumb swordsman figured out my secrets after that. There was the humble, harmless priest me and now the extremely powerful demon me was out there, exposed. I wasn't really all one or the other. And yet...both of them were me.
The real me and a false me were competing with each other to win what? I wondered if I would have to blurt out in a packed courtroom that I had been swooning in a lovesick haze over Lina the sorceress and therefore this was a crime passionel. I calmed down after telling myself that any action taken against me would probably be civil and not criminal, and if I screwed up this assignment the action could become pretty un-civil.
I also wondered when Lord Gaav was going to ask me a question to which I wasn't going to lie.
"What are his plans for Lina?" he insisted.
"My Lord Phibrizzo doesn't tell me everything about his plans," I smiled, marveling at my ability to answer truthfully with the same barefaced sincerity as I'd displayed on my five previous whoppers.
"I demand to know Hellmaster's plans!" Gaav demanded with another knockout punch to my face.
Seeing my chance to destroy my alter ego once and for all, I answered, "That's a secret!"
Now, at this point many things were coming together. Lina was considering conjuring up that Giga Slave-- that was the main one. Martina falling over herself to, once again, foolishly defend me against Lord Gaav was the other, the unfortunate one. Unable to have my Demon Blood amulets, Martina apparently crafted one of her own. I couldn't even pronounce its name much less keep a straight face when she marched up to Gaav and announced that, "Zoamelgustar will protect us!"
Lord Gaav's furious response, however, wiped off any veneer of a smile I might have glossed on. This was going to be over in an instant, unless Lina knew the quick-shot version of her spell. But I had discounted Lina's old auntie. She was much more than she appeared on the surface. It was she who channeled a spell, the nature of which I did not recognize, through the false amulet. She saved us all, twice. Me, included. Maybe she knew that her fight with Lord Gaav would destroy the sea of Claire Bible tablets, I don't know. It would explain why she passed on to Lina the location of the last depository of the Claire Bible in the Katahto Mountains. She was, it turned out, an apparition, the coalesced remains of the Water Dragon King, and now I owed her my life.
For all my bravado, there was little holding me together; I had to escape to the astral plane for reconstruction purposes. The damage Gaav had inflicted upon my astral side was far more extensive than it appeared. However, I was extremely mindful of the passing of time. Every minute I was gone was a minute Lina was on her own.
Remember, I was still an extremely formidable, though now 'outed', high order demon. So, despite being still on the mend, I rejoined Lina and her companions. I located the group gathered at a table (surprise) in an eating establishment. Showing up there before I was fully healed was a demonstration of my transcendence beyond mere human limits. I was the most elite member of my race she was ever to befriend. That was bound to impress Lina.
Alas, all Lina wanted from me was the same information Gaav had been unable to extract and then I was attacked by the princess' song of life and hope. Ruby-eye! I might as well have stayed at home and recovered completely. On the bright side, my being non-human with a lofty position in the demon hierarchy broke Martina's heart.
It all went from bad to worse soon after that, when who should we run into on the street outside, but my boss, checking up on me. I recognized him from his aura, since he had altered his human form to appear as a prepubescent boy. Thankfully, he left after imparting some useful travel information, but not without getting his hands all over my Lina while giving her a 'massage.' I know he did that on purpose to vex me. I certainly couldn't exact a counterattack on Lord Hellmaster now, could I?
For crying out loud, would the man not leave me to my job in peace?! I really preferred the Lord Beastmaster's style, laid back and non-interfering. I hoped to return as her devoted servant as soon as my current assignment with Phibrizzo was over.
Oh, and I knew that at our destination, the top of Dragon's Peak, I would meet an old enemy of the past. In fact, I relished meeting the intractable dragon leader after many years of estrangement. I mean, when you've lived as long as I have, you get to know the other immortals and appreciate their persistence.
I stunned Lina with my worldliness and near-encyclopedic knowledge. "Milgasia and I go way back. He will be glad to show you the way, Miss Lina." I met Lina's eyes, and then looked up at the tall dragon man confidently. Just give me a reason to wipe out this valley of dragons, my innocent smile said.
I was a violent son-of–a-bitch, and the dragon man knew it. He called me by my title 'Beast Master', although being second to Zelas technically made me 'the Lesser,' establishing his justifiable fear of me and my power. Of course he'd allow us entry into his valley. Of course he'd lead Lina to view his priceless artifact concealed within the bowels of the mountain retreat.
Of course it wouldn't be that easy...
Saygram, came to interfere. I offered to take him on so that Lina would feel unencumbered and be free to make good use of her time viewing the Clair Bible inside the mountain. Anything to benefit my dear Lina in her quest for knowledge. Learning the key to the powerful spell that would enable her to destroy the world was my choice for Lina's gainful employment. This could be it, the moment I had been waiting for, right? Which brought me to the next point: how, then, to get her to fire it off?
Saygram, was one of Gaav's minions and of vastly of inferior strength compared to me. I considered him to be fair game under the circumstances, if he attacked first, which he did. I held Saygram on the astral plane long enough to take him through my line of reasoning, as follows, 'do what I tell you or die at my hands.' Saygram grudgingly agreed to be her guinea pig; that is to say, Saygram wisely agreed to be my sacrificial lamb on Lina's enchanted altar on our return to the action.
And then, just as I was on the cusp of success, who should break in on the scene but that damnable, interfering little Martina woman dragging along none other than Lord Phibrizzo like a wayward tot. Why employ me to do the job if he was going to interfere at every turn? Talk about difficult working conditions! I really didn't need HIM breathing down my back!
Lina scared the bejeebus out of Saygram when she turned her powerful Ragna Blade on him. But at that same moment what I detected, and she didn't, was a dark magic spell aimed at her from Saygram, the untrustworthy scum of a traitor. So I stabbed him in the back. Served him right.
Lina was a tad miffed that I hadn't given her the opportunity to show off, but the spell turned out to have originated from Lord Gaav, appearing out of nowhere, and not Saygram. (So, I was wrong about Saygram. He wasn't duplicitous. Ah...well...my mistake. I'm allotted one per century.)
Gaav liked the idea of throttling me to within an inch of my life. "Save your life, tell me the Hellmaster's plans!"
It was lucky for Lina that she had not expended all her strength on Saygram. She would need it for Gaav. I had hopes for my Lina. But, Lina was not ready. She was not yet strong enough to defeat a demon of Lord Gaav's strength, even with her terrifying use of the deadly Ragna Blade. And as for her use of the Giga Slave, I really didn't want to test her depth of feelings for me.
With my boss looking on, however, sacrificing myself was in order. I conjured up an inscrutable smile and replied, "That's a secret."
Displeased with my answer, Lord Gaav carved off half my body in a cowardly attack from behind. I cracked out half a sob, drawing on the intensity of belief that I had employer who could put me back together. For dramatic effect, I reeled backward onto the ground and caught sight of him, Phibrizzo, snickering atop a rock, and then I disappeared. As much as I preferred working without Hellmaster sitting in judgment of my every move, if he wanted to be the one to take Lord Gaav down alone, fine. I mean, the demon had a piece of Shabranigdo in him!
Oh, and I honestly didn't know Phibrizzo would kidnap the lame-brained swordsman to use as bait in order to test Lina further; that is to say, I wasn't sure he'd use my suggestion. I considered doing something along those lines myself, but I think I must have given away my feelings. I don't think Phibrizzo trusted me or my motives entirely. I didn't.
Unfortunately, I was once again in absolutely no shape to help Lina. It would take time to repair the amount of damage I had incurred at Gaav's hands. My Lord Phibrizzo might have generously diverted Gaav's leftover astral power my way, but he didn't. To replace the missing aural material, I had to beg off a bit from the Lord Beastmaster Zelas, no simple or cheap trick. Coercion, pressure, and taking advantage of her irrational impulses– the things I have had to do for some demons!
It gave me time to think. I wondered if Lord Phibrizzo had absorbed Gaav's lost power himself. That would make the Hellmaster extremely dangerous. If I didn't return to his service, he might consider me to be weak and a liability. However, I didn't like his deep interest in my Lina. I wanted to protect her from him.
Then I wondered if I had made a miscalculation; I worried that it might be dangerous for Lina to endure the stress of losing her close associate, the blond swordsman, now, when she was most inclined to recover her strength and sling out a string of spells directed at me, for instance.
Damn that swordsman. Damn Hellmaster. As long as I was under contract with him, I couldn't get in his way. My hands were tied! I couldn't interfere but if I didn't DO SOMETHING Lina would blame me for everything. Well, if I couldn't be an obstructionist, I didn't have to help the now obviously insane, obscenely powerful demon lord.
I feared that I had arrived too late. My Lina, my dearest, was gone. I didn't know what to make of the mix of emotions I was experiencing. She had been taken over and away by the Lord of Nightmares, someone I couldn't fight or argue with. But the bearer of the Sword of Light was too stupid to understand that, and so he chased after her. I admired the strength of his convictions and envied the depth of his love for Lina. Then he too was gone from sight in the brilliance of her Lord of Nightmare's exalted light. Gone, but not forever.
At that moment I felt a request summon me elsewhere to action. I really needed the distraction from my own ruminations. Lina...gone? My Lina was...gone?
"Find the Sword of Light, my child, and I shall grant you your heart's desire." It sounded something like that. The kind of request you act on immediately and without question.
So, I chased down the swordsman's treasure, the Sword of Light, at great personal risk. Hellmaster had stowed this most dangerous weapon away for safe keeping, replacing it with a second-rate facsimile. Gourry was carrying the fake now, probably too impassioned to notice. Since the magical sword could destroy a demon but not be destroyed BY a demon, Phibrizzo had hidden it well. Naturally, I was missing during Lina's crucial time having to face HER END alone, but I was understandably busy. I'll tell you, scanning the astral plain for a sword is like combing the sand at the beach for that one special infinitesimal grain...
But I located the weapon, freed it from the Phibrizzo's convoluted web of incantations intended to disguise and confine it, and returned it to it's human owner, after he had saved Lina and returned her to our dimension– all this while continuing to heal the missing pieces of my body.
That Lina was whole and alive again gave me great spiritual buoyancy, but I felt my endeavors were under appreciated. Before I could complain or pout over my sorry state, though, Lord Beastmaster Zelas recalled me to Wolfpack Island. She wanted a complete run-down of the Lord of Nightmares incident leading to the demise of her peer, Lord Hellmaster. Then she wanted me to chase down a few errands for her. Then she needed to waste my time and talents on any number of useless tasks any number of sub-demons could have handled. So petty. What a showing the Demon Lords made! Insane, narrow-minded, unimaginative, and just plain stupid. No wonder they hadn't won the war against the dragons!
I completed my assignments with dispatch, asked for some time off, was granted one day and night, and then hastily scanned the astral plain for my obsession. With so little time remaining to devote to Lina, I was mad with impatience. I located Miss Lina indulging herself at an inn. Her aura had changed. She had been the vessel holding the maker of us all, the Lord of Nightmares, and it had left her altered in a most desirable way, like a demon aphrodisiac. Just one more amazing reason to love her. I was sipping a glass of water, alone at a table for two, wishing Lina would join me. I heard footsteps headed my way. Lina's hand touched my shoulder and I turned.
"I just wanted to say thank you."
"Oh," I said. "I didn't do anything."
She leaned in toward me. I watched her lips part and close; I heard her breath between the words. In close, her voice changed. Lower, more resonant, like wind across a bottle top. In close, her beauty trebled. Her hair fell forward and scattered the hard light on her face into softer shadows.
"You returned Gourry's sword; that was something." She looked momentarily puzzled. But this was such a tiny bewilderment at the end of doomsday it hardly mattered.
Her open admiration for my beneficence warmed my heart. I decided not to tell her about the circumstances; that I was only following orders from above and only because I was promised...something special.
She retreated into the midst of the dining room, joining her rag tag companions. "Hey, come over here with us!"
I was being included?
"You got a room here tonight?" Lina asked.
"Yes. A double," I added quickly. I thought it important that Lina know that there was room for two, if that was what she was asking.
"Hey, that's great. We got the last room, but it's just a closet. Plenty of room for a guy like you. We'll trade, eh?" Her hand rested, palm up on the table, waiting for my room key. The pale side of her wrist was lost and wan, longing for the sun.
Under no circumstances would I allow that man in my bed with my woman!
"Is it going to work, Miss Lina? I'm about to drop. I'll sleep on the table if..."
The little princess and Lina sharing my bed? Oh, well...that was nice. "Okay," I agreed and dropped my key into her hand. We both knew she was only a spell away from breaking and entering the room anyway, but it was thoughtful of her to ask first.
And then Lina added a wonderful thing: she said, "See ya." I had to stay there a second and take her in before I was able to unstick my feet from the floor.
As midnight closed in on us, the extraneous sounds of footfalls on the stairs, doors slamming, the tinkling of bar-ware from the dining room unwove themselves from the night. I closed my eyes. I thought of the two women in my bed effusing the mattress and blankets with their magical femininity. My body curled and tightened, bowl-shaped. I gasped for breath in my tiny cupboard of a room. I pictured myself stretched over Lina like a blanket, but I was watching from the astral plain.
I realized what I was missing, Martina. Of course, it was her wedding to some mediocre sorcerer that they had been discussing at the table. How timely! I couldn't help but think that my new availability could only heighten my desirability in Lina's eyes.
In the morning, Lina and her entourage slipped away like a caravan leaving an oasis. I was left adrift. I wondered how I was going to fill the time until I could reasonably excuse my joining them again. My existence revolved around Lina. I formed habits to keep the other demons at bay, because her touched-by-the-Lord-of-Nightmares aura called out to them, hordes at times. Well, that and she was now held responsible for the deaths of Rezo the Red Priest, Mazenda, Kanzel, Lord Gaav, and Hell Master Phibrizzo. I knew better. Lina was good, but she had only outsmarted Rezo in his madness, I took out Mazenda but let it appear Lina had, Phibrizzo destroyed Gaav, and the Lord of Nightmares consumed Lina and granted Phibrizzo his death wish. Lina's real claim-to-fame was her unanticipated comeback from the Lord of Nightmares incident.
It was, in fact, a long time (from a mortal's point of view) before I had the opportunity to locate and follow Miss Lina again. The Lord Beastmaster Zelas sent me on a number of missions, one to determine the cause of an astral disturbance of extreme proportions. The Demon Barrier to the outer world had fallen, she thought, due to Hellmaster Phibrizzo's destruction. There was also a growing demon presence in the desert she wanted me to look into. Perhaps, with some trickery, I could lure it out for Lina to attack?
Of course I could do that for my Lord Beastmaster. I sent out a horde of minions to pass the word: 'Lina Inverse, demon slayer (with a full but, as I pointed out, incorrect list of names of her victims) is on her way.' Then I investigated the barrier, finding the reports as to its disappearance to be true. Where it had been protected from our neck of the woods by the 'barrier' since the end of the War of Demon and Dragons, the Outer World was now exposed. I had not passed through those settlements in over 1000 years, and since I so rarely encountered anything novel, I looked forward to exploring the area with youthful anticipation.
To my delight, my investigations soon intersected the passage of Lina and company. This time, Lina was in business with a young, and ignorant, Golden Dragon, the stink of which nearly gagged me on first contact. We played a little game of cat-and-mouse, the dragon lady and I, me doing the catting about and her suspecting something and frustrated that she couldn't expose me. Apparently the dragon nations were aware of the change in the barrier, too. What bad luck to have them to contend with! My only consolation, and it was an important one, was that my contract with Hellmaster had concluded with his death. I was solely under Lord Zelas. Oh, and I no longer had that human leech attachment in my bed.
When I reported back to my boss my discoveries and findings, she recommended that I ignore the dragon nuisance. I should continue my previous course of action, which was to develop Lina's powers and then lead her into tempting situations. Since this was exactly what I wanted to do, I complied immediately. Of course, the situations Zelas had in mind for Miss Lina were likely to have been magical, destructive ones, whereas the ones I had in mind leaned heavily to, but was not strictly of, a carnal nature. I located my heart's desire, and transported instantly.
I appeared just in time to catch her friendly, sidekick swordsman, mid-fall. How lucky. Lina had noticed, though, and smiled upon me. There was nothing I could do to thwart her growing regards for the owner of the Sword of Light, but I had one advantage he did not; time. One day he would die. I needed only bide my time while improving myself in Lina's eyes, and she would be mine, eventually. What had seeped its way into my consciousness, however, was harder to accept: Lina-touched-by-the Lord of Nightmares would not love a demon. There was nothing I could do about my composition.
Stepping into the circumference of Lina's influence, I let her aura engulf me and was overcome with pleasure. When my delirium abated, I approached her, my movements deliberate as a chess move. But my thrill over her aura clashed with my obsession for her soul, and my extremities turned cold. My hands trembled uncharacteristically. I felt greatly unbalanced and widened my stance to keep from reeling. I breathed deeply to calm myself, but instead, my pulse raced into the danger zone. If I'd allowed my body to do what it wanted to do, it would have fallen on its knees and kissed her feet.
But instead, I harnessed my inner demon, marched on, spurred by inertia and the infinitesimal recollection that I had recently been awash in good feelings and not died. Each step up and down pitched me into the empty wasteland fires of hell and lifted me into the exquisite tortures of the sunlit sky and Lina's golden-hued aura. My persecutors were Lina's friends and my redeemers were my fingers clenching my staff for support. I could feel the hair at the nape of my neck dampen with sweat.
We were not alone.
I stole the occasional glance and could see Lina was looking my way, expecting me to say something. Each eyelash was clearly defined against the crisp background of rock and sky. She was a riot of color in a desert of pastels, her skin with its pink underglow set against the blacks, reds and yellow of her costume. I assembled from the sight of her, from memories of her, a clear picture of Lina's most touching quality: her denial of defeat. Lina also saw through my ruse. I could sense this intuitively. She knew I was using her and her friends to draw out the source of suspicious activity in these parts. She didn't know why. She didn't know I was leading her to my race's ultimate objective, obliteration of her world. She also didn't know how she affected me personally.
Now, as she listened to what the green-haired demon told her, defiance slithered across her face. The creature's name raised my suspicions, ValGAAV. I decided to reach deep down to the wellspring of my charisma, which had been too long undisturbed, and dip in. My voice deepened and my testicles lowered.
"Valgaav, whatever you are, fight me, not the young human," I said. I wondered where it was that this bad-tempered character had materialized from. I rarely met another demon that I didn't recognize and that I so thoroughly disliked on first acquaintance.
With Valgaav, I met my match, although I didn't think so at first meeting. I just knew he was one tough, arrogant, son-of-a-ruby-eye-only-knows-what demon I had never crossed forks with before. I could taste Lord Gaav's essence on him; Valgaav must have absorbed the demon lord's power at his death. Lord Phibrizzo, the idiot, hadn't routed the demon lord's astral essence my way, that was certain. He should have. What the hell did this whelp do to deserve Lord Gaav's power as a reward?
But there was something more to the Valgaav creature than simply having his powers augmented by Lord Gaav. There was also something more to the situation. Almayce! A being of no known astral signature, but I could sense phenomenal power pulsating from Almayce, and it frightened me. Not good. Very bad. Fear made me vulnerable, so I transported far away to consider the situation further.
Valgaav blamed Lina for the death of his Lord and master, Gaav. Well, at least I knew my minions had done their jobs getting word out. This was what I was luring out of the wastelands to test my Lina. I wasn't sure she could defeat Valgaav in a fight, but I knew she hadn't a chance with that Almayce thing protecting him.
I also wanted to get the Golden Dragon out of the equation. I nearly succeeded, too. I lead them to a town outlawing dragons, teased her into revealing her race, and watched her become incarcerated. And that would have been that, had Lina and the others not gotten involved, causing themselves to be included in the mess. My dear Lina... In the end, I had to tease the silly, hot-headed dragon unmercifully until she destroyed the town, thus saving Lina from certain delay. I got so into it, I'm afraid, that I overdid the torment and ended up in a frolicking chase across the realm with the dragon, instead of accepting Lina's grateful thanks for saving her.
I watched the band of heroes following Lina into the desert with interest. They had been wandering for a month getting no further along on my goals. When I learned that they were determined to reach the temple of the Fire Dragon King, I left them to their own devices while I transported ahead to engage in a little espionage of my own. Here was a place I had never been. How wonderful an opportunity to learn the secrets of my enemy! Of course, I reported my activities back to my master. No reason to leave her guessing about my motivations when entering enemy territory.
Lina arrived, as I knew she would, but the dragon lady's attitude really set me off my feed, and so I had to leave my dearest's presence for a short time. I didn't go far, just to the astral plain to observe in peace and quiet. Whatever the dragons' scheme was, it seemed to require Lina's particular skills and assistance.
Well, I needed Lina too, making this was quite an awkward predicament. It became more so with the reappearance of Almayce, wherein I learned of his origins. Not only were the dragons involved, but creatures from another universe where the demon lord Darkstar ruled. This Almayce wanted to collect a few particular weapon artifacts which together unlocked or locked the gateway between our universes. I was proud that my Lina found this preposterous and refused to hand over the Sword of Light. Not after all the trouble I had gone through to recover it!
Then, to my complete surprise, that Valgaav enigma crashed the party wanting a part of the action and no special deals. Why, even the dragon lady showed some worthiness when she agreed with Lina and defied her dragon council– she would offer them no cooperation. When it was clear that their magic was going to be ineffective against Almayce, I transported to their assistance.
Let's just say that once I learned of Valgaav's dragon-demon resurrection background, I nearly felt sorry for the atrocity that he was. The man was in pain. The waves of it nearly bowled me over. Nearly. Then I decided that I wanted him to serve me. I was short some help and he showed the kind of devotion and dedication I was looking for in a retainer. He would need some help with his demon-dragon transformations first.
But then he took off for places unknown, most likely out of embarrassment for his poor showing just then. A demon who cannot stand and take a little pain and punishment once in a while is a sorry, sorry thing.
I felt we all needed a break. I certainly did. The dragon walls were closing in on me oppressively, probably adding to Valgaav's condition. So, in order to give the pitiful guy a break, I suggested to the company that we retreat and regroup elsewhere, say... in a place with 'magic vessels to strengthen yourselves for battle.' I dropped the Claire Bible insinuation, since I was sure it was getting stale by now, and made up something less preposterous sounding.
I can offer up advice at a moment's notice. Like candy, it's only a fleeting cure for the starving man. But, believe it or not, there was such a place, or pair of places, called the Kingdoms of Baritone and Alto (Alto being the high one in the mountains and Baritone being on the flats, lower down– I didn't make that up!)
In Alto, Lina, the dragon lady, and the swordsman were greeted by the sounds of battle and were soon arrested and thrown in jail. I noticed this, but since it was the swordsman's fault, I decided it was his duty to get them out of it, and if he couldn't, then I would come to Lina's rescue, naturally.
Across the bay in Baritone, the chimera and the princess had been invited to a royal banquet, which sounded more comfortable, so I joined them. As everything seemed under control for the time being, I chose this time to report back to my Lord Beastmaster. She should know about Valgaav and my desire to 'bring him on board'. With her permission, I returned to see how my Lina was fairing.
She was at the center of chaos and looking as alluring as ever. Somehow, she and her friends had picked up one big ugly hunk of beast tainted with Valgaav's aura. How nice. Also they had attracted a furball, also a minion of Valgaav's. So, Valgaav would come complete with his own entourage? Fine. I wouldn't kill them then. Lina could if she wanted, though.
I was amazed. Lina had no idea how old those magic vessels were. She was only a child. I told her that they were from the War of the Dragons and Demons and that if their magic were to be fused, the melding of Holy and Black Magic would result. This thrilled Lina and horrified the dragon lady, which was most satisfying for me. I thought Lina should try it since it might result in a powerful weapon. It was an amusing show of magic, which left the vessels broken and Lina in need of something more to do.
This time, it wasn't I who suggested their next entertainment. When Lina was told of the strange legend of a powerful weapon secreted up at Mount Coronay, I was skeptical. In all my years, I hadn't heard any such legend. I assumed it to be fraudulent, and so agreed to follow along, just in case it was one of Valgaav's traps. I had been unable to locate him anywhere so this seemed to be the easiest way to find him. I was right, partially. His furball minion had some feebleminded scheme for pairing us up in such a way as to weaken our defenses. I would have nothing to do with it! Under no circumstances would I allow myself to put up with that nasty dragon woman's insults or company, so I transported away to look for Valgaav hidingaway inside.
I located Valgaav by his agonizing roars. His lair resided beneath the pillar of light, a place I recognized from my earlier searches. I didn't stop to say 'hello'; he was preoccupied with himself. Instead, I hunted for Lina and her gang. They were not far off, lost in a maze of tunnels.
"Xelloss! Have you seen Jillas? He has Gourry's sword!" Lina shouted out.
"I suggest you hurry, this way," I said, drawing them in the right direction, perhaps, until we came to an unfamiliar division in the road.
"We'll go this way," Lina indicated herself and the swordsman-no-longer.
"Zel, you and Amelia go that way." Oh, how I loved her voice of command!
"Xelloss, you take Filia and take that last tunnel!"
"Huh?"
"You heard me, go!" Lina ordered without regards to my feelings on the matter at all.
It went something like that. I really can't say now. I was upset by the whole thing. However, my Lina was looking more relaxed by the minute, so I deferred to her whims.
End part 3.