Disclaimer: Slayers is the property of Kadokawa Shoten.

Faces: Finale

Chapter 10

Brave Words, Braver Deeds



Zelgadis couldn't move.

He tried exerting his muscles, coaxing them to move even a hair, but they wouldn't budge. Pain throbbed and echoed throughout his entire stone body, focusing in his head as one sharp, lancing, searing pain. Through this pain, he managed to open his eyes. Despite his weakness, he was moving, though not of his own power or volition. He was face down in the bed of a wooden carriage. Chains connecting to shackles on his arms and legs held him tightly to the bottom of a flatbed wagon. There were no bars or walls on this carriage, so he could turn his head and look around.

He was surrounded by berserkers walking alongside the carriage as it made its way down a hilly path. Zelgadis could see trees below them on his right and surmised that they were moving him through a mountain pass of some sort.

One of the kunoichi, the one in red, appeared alongside him, paying him no mind at all.

"Oi," he called out weakly. "What are you going to do with me?"

He was answered by a furry paw striking the back of his head and slamming his jaw into the bottom of the carriage. "Quiet, freak!" Gandrav growled. The werewolf was standing at the back of the carriage behind him, out of the chimera's sight.

Zelgadis spat blood onto the wood floor in front of him. Before he could retort, the convoy stopped. He felt the carriage shake as Gandrav jumped off it and walked ahead.

Straining to hear, the chimera could just make out voices at the head of the carriage.

"Reinforcements, eh?" Gandrav asked.

"Hunting party." a voice hissed. A berserker. "We have quarry going back to Father, and we're sick of carrying them."

He heard Gandrav grunt. "All right. Toss 'em in the back."

Zelgadis heard movement as several creatures approached. Suddenly, two forms landed roughly on the flatbed in front of him. They appeared to be children no older than twelve. Their hands and feet were tied together, and they were unconscious, but this wasn't what caught Zelgadis' eye.

Beneath their golden hair jutted two pairs of pointed ears.



Lina adjusted her pack, stood still for a moment, then nodded and unslung it again. "This should do it," she noted.

"You managed to fit all our food in that little pack?" Naga asked in amazement. "I am seriously impressed, Lina chan! OOOOOOOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHO!"

The redhead growled. "If that's what you want to think, go ahead, but it's gonna get awfully hungry on that road if you do."

"Oh, no complaining, Lina chan!" Naga chastised. She opened the redhead's pack and began adding more stuff to it.

"Will you cut that out?!" Lina complained, swiping the pack from Naga's grasp. "I'm not your little shadow, here to do all your work for you!"

The bondage queen of darkness put her hands on her hips and adopted a stern expression. "Hey! I pull my weight! Who's been tracking you down for the last year trying to warn you about Zero?!"

"Yeah and you did a real good job too," Lina spat back.

"Excuse me," Adara interjected, simultaneously checking the tips of her arrows with the palm of her hand. "But how does this help rescue dearest Zelgadis?"

"Miss Adara's right, Miss Lina. I don't know what you and Gracia Oneechan.."

"Naga! My name is NAGA!"

Amelia looked taken aback. "Er..Sorry...I don't know what you and Naga Oneechan have in your past that makes you want to tear each other's throats out, but couldn't it wait until AFTER we find Mister Zelgadis?"

Lina's look was acidic. "Fine. A truce until we find Zel. After that, it's back to the status quo!"

"Fine!" Naga replied, her arms over her chest.

"I wonder what this is all about," Jeffrey whispered to Shadow Lina. "I mean, when I first met them they were kind of hostile to each other, but I've never seen them like THIS."

Shadow Lina shrugged. "I don't know. I guess something must have happened after you left their group."

Lina readjusted her pack again and nodded. "Okay, we're just about ready." She looked out the window of the palace dining room and noted that the sun hadn't even risen yet. They'd make good time today. As soon as Gourry got back from waking Sylphiel, they'd be off.

"Right!" Naga suddenly announced. "Now, to make maximum use of our resources, Group B, that's your little gang of thugs, Lina chan, will circle around the Turtle's Forest to the east in case Stony decided to take the road after all, while my Unbeatable Heroes will make a straight run through the forest to pick up his..."

"Excuse me," Lina said darkly. "Who the hell put you in charge?"

"It's just common sense, Stump," Naga huffed back.

"We decided on the route last night," Lina said darkly. "Don't go fucking with the plan at the last minute!"

"My plan is better!"

At this moment, Gourry appeared in the dining room. "Um...Lina?"

"Yes?" Shadow Lina replied. Gourry ignored her.

"You better be reading this loud and clear, Naga," Lina was growling, her finger an inch from the brunette's nose. "You pull any of this one- upsmanship shit on the road, and I'll.."

"You'll do WHAT?!" Naga demanded.

"Um..Lina?" Gourry tried again.

"Yes?" Shadow Lina replied again.

Gourry ignored her.

"Don't confuse things," Lina hissed. "You helped us take down Shabranigdo, and Phil's grateful, but it doesn't change ANYTHING between us!"

"Of course it doesn't! You always were an ungrateful bitch!"

"You.." Lina's hand went to her dagger.

No one really saw anyone else's hands move, it was just one second everyone was unarmed, and the next everyone had a weapon or a spell ready. Jeffrey had Razor Blade out, but it wasn't really pointed at anyone. Shadow Lina was biting her nails. Amelia's hands glowed with a Vis Farank spell, the glowing letters on her fists spelled out the words, "WHAT THE FUCK?!" to match the puzzled look on her face.

Adara, standing closest to the two, had an arrow pointing at Lina's throat. Gourry's sword, in turn, rested at hers.

The elf didn't seem fazed. "I don't know what she is to you, Miss Lina," she said quietly. "But to us she's one of the saviors of the Zarak people. So I'll thank you to take your hand off your dagger."

Lina continued to stare at Naga, and Naga right back. "Okay," Lina said quietly. "I see how it is. You take your group whatever way you want. Me, Gourry, Amelia and Sylphiel will go by the original plan."

"I think Sylphiel should decide," Naga said. "After all, Stony is her.."

At that second, Adara dropped her bow and covered her elf ears with her hands. She shut her eyes and started screaming, "I'M NOT LISTENING! I'M NOT LISTENING! LALALALALALALALALALALALALALALA!!!!"

The entire group stared at the elf in complete shock.

"Um.." Lina managed to get out.

"Lina!" Gourry tried for a third time.

"What is it, Gourry?!" both Lina's cried at the same time.

"Oh...Well, it's about Sylphiel," he began.

Silence.

"Well?!" Lina urged.

"She's..um....gone."



The grass was soft and warm and made a perfect bed in Sylphiel's opinion. The sun was shining brightly, birds were singing and there wasn't a dark cloud for miles around.

And Zelgadis dear's lips on her neck made it only more perfect. She sighed as she felt them move down her arm and removed her violet glove to caress him with her bare fingers. His lips found her fingers and kissed them.

She sighed again. "Zelgadis dear, you're far too good at that," she remarked quietly.

Her eyes snapped open as she felt his stone hand take her wrist and begin to squeeze. She looked up at him in shock and cried out silently as she felt the bones in her wrist begin to break.

"What's wrong, Little Bird," she heard HIS voice ask. Zelgadis looked at her with glowing red eyes. "I thought you liked it when I did this."

She screamed.

And sat bolt upright in her sleeping roll.

Darkness met her along with the sound of crickets and the distant hint of thunder.

"Trouble sleeping?"

She turned her head toward the voice, but couldn't see the owner, even though she knew she was only a foot or two away. "Yes," she replied meekly, pulling her knees to her chest. She found she couldn't pull them quite all the way. She was beginning to show.

Vanya grunted next to her.

"What about you?" Sylphiel asked. "Did I wake you? I'm sorry."

She could almost see the kunoichi shaking her head in the negative. "I wasn't sleeping."

"Oh." Sylphiel tried staring through the inky blackness, but still couldn't see the woman. She could imagine, however, Vanya lying in her sleeping roll with her hands behind her head as she stared up at the dark and cloudy sky. When Vanya had come to her room and told her she was going after Zelgadis, Sylphiel had tried to persuade her to join the group, to go after him in force, but Vanya had refused.

Then the ninja had told her something she couldn't believe. Zero had told her that Zelgadis was captured and being taken to Scarrin's fortress in the northern mountains.

Sylphiel had to make a choice. So she chose to go with Vanya.

She was already surprised by how much like Zelgadis she was. They had similar demeanors. Right down to their mutual gruffness.

The shrine maiden lay back down in her sleeping roll and took a breath, afraid to close her eyes.

"Tell me about him," she asked suddenly.

She could feel Vanya's eyes on her as she asked.

"What do you mean?" the ninja asked her.

"You knew a completely different Zelgadis dear than I did," Sylphiel explained. "I just want to know what he was like..as a child."

She heard Vanya grunt again. "He was a nice guy," she said. "You know what they say about nice guys finishing last? Well, Zel fit it to a T. Maybe if he had been more like the other boys, they wouldn't have picked on him so much. All I know is..he was always nice to me."

"I see," Sylphiel replied. "I guess it was hard for him."

"Your turn," Vanya said.

Sylphiel blinked. "What do you mean?"

"I knew him as a kid, but you know him as an adult. All I know about him are the lies Zero and Scarrin told me."

Sylphiel turned in her sleeping roll until she was facing in the kunoichi's direction. "The first time I met him, he was saving our lives." She paused. "I think that says a lot right there."

Another grunt. "I guess he finally got to be a hero."

"But," Sylphiel continued hesitantly. "He was very...guarded. Very abrasive. At first I thought he really was a monster. Or a mercenary. But thinking back on it, I remember now when I first saw him as a man."

"What do you mean?"

Sylphiel smiled in the darkness. "During a battle with some rock golems in Sairaag, Lina and I were being attacked. Zelgadis dear and Miss Amelia appeared out of a hole in the astral plane and fell in a heap right in front of us. The first words out of his mouth were, 'Are you okay, Sylphiel?' Then Lina began yelling at him for not asking about her, and he actually blushed." She blushed a bit of her own.

"Caught asking about a cute girl," Vanya remarked. "That actually sounds like something he'd do."

Syphiel blushed brightly enough to be seen in the pitch black night. "I didn't really make anything of the comment at the time. I just assumed he was blushing because Miss Amelia landed on top of him."

"I see," Vanya said. "My brother gets around with the ladies, doesn't he?"

"Not at all!" Sylphiel said quickly in a rush to defend Zelgadis dear's honor. "Well," she amended a moment later, thinking of Adara and Amelia, "Women find him attractive.."

"The sun's coming up," Vanya told her, changing the subject. "We should go."



The sun was rising, and the elf children still hadn't woken up. The cart rumbled inexorably along the path. The convoy had passed through the mountains in the night and was now moving through forest.

The berserkers that had joined their group were different from the others. They wore red tunics and carried no shields. The other berserkers seemed to shy away from them. Zelgadis wasn't sure what made them different. Perhaps they came from a different tribe. It was hard to tell.

The cart stopped suddenly. Zelgadis craned his neck to the right and saw the red kunoichi running back among the others. She whispered something in Gandrav's ear, and the werewolf nodded.

"WEAPONS!" he shouted.

At that moment, the trees around them exploded. Trolls leapt from the cover of the brush and into the midst of the convoy. Zelgadis watched as a pair of berserkers were squashed as a large blue troll landed on them...

And right in front of the carriage.

The troll raised his hammer over his head and brought it down on the front of the cart. The carriage exploded as if it had been hit by a fireball. The donkeys pulling it brayed in fright and ran. Zelgadis didn't see which way the elf children had flown. All he knew was that he was chained to several pieces of splintered wood and lying on his back in the mud. Able to move more now, he tore at the chains to no avail. Lying on his back, he could feel why. One of the mystic daggers that could sap his chimera strength was still embedded in his shoulder blade.

He watched as, not far away, the blue ninja woman kicked at the back of a troll's leg and forced him to one knee. Another leg sweep from the small woman put the troll on his back, his head landing near the woman's feet. The kunoichi dropped to one knee, flipped her sai downward, and plunged it into the troll's face.

Gandrav was swinging a heavy axe at another troll, snarling ferociously.

And then something landed next to Zelgadis.

Looking up, he froze stock still.

The Avian shook its wings out before folding them behind him and drawing its rapier.



Lina barged into Sylphiel's room as if she owned it, followed by several shocked men and women and Naga. Realizing they had followed her, she turned on them quickly.

"STOP!"

They all stopped and stood very still.

"No one move," she whispered. "I don't want to disturb anything." She pointed at the blonde in the back. "Gourry, was the door broken into?"

Gourry shook his head. "No. The window was closed and the door was locked."

"Okay, so either she was teleported out or she opened the door, turned and locked it again. Let's hope it was that." She looked around the room. Dresser drawers were open, and Sylphiel's pack was missing. "She left in a hurry," Lina whispered.

The others watched as the redhead walked across the room, examining things. "Okay," she said. "I'm Sylphiel. I wake up in the middle of the night and decide I need to leave in a hurry without telling anyone. Where to? That's a given. After Zel." She turned and looked through the dresser.

"She had time to pack everything she needed," Lina whispered. "But why? We were leaving together in a few hours anyway. Something made her decide she had to leave RIGHT NOW."

"Lina chan, look at this."

Lina turned and found Naga at Sylphiel's bed. "What is it?" she asked, all trace of their earlier conflict was gone. It was back to business.

Naga held up a piece of the blanket from the foot end of the bed. There was a white stain on it. Lina sniffed it.

"Bird droppings?"

"I don't get it," Naga said quietly.

Lina thought for a moment, then suddenly turned and ran to the window. Throwing it open, she looked down at the sill.

Sitting on the window sill was a collection of bird droppings from the pigeons that made their roost in the castle crevices. In the middle was a foot print.

"Sylphiel had a visitor," Lina whispered.

Naga joined her at the window. "But who would.."

They turned to each other in realization.

"GREYSWORD!"

"Miss Lina!"

They turned and found Amelia standing near the desk that sat opposite the bed. Lina and Naga moved toward it and found what had made Amelia excited. There was a note on the desk, obviously written very quickly for there was only one word on it.

North.



The Avian either hadn't noticed him or didn't care yet because it quickly turned to two of the berserkers that had helped capture Zelgadis and opened its beak. A ball of fire leapt from its mouth and struck one of them, exploding and roasting both reptiles at once.

Zelgadis watched as three more berserkers approached the Avian, these wearing red shirts. The giant eagle fired another fireball, and Zelgadis could only gape in amazement as it struck the berserkers and dissolved.

"Cepheid," he whispered.

The reptiles launched themselves at the stunned bird creature, dragging it down to earth. Swords rose and fell, and golden brown feathers were soon stained red.

Zelgadis climbed unsteadily to his feet. The chains made moving awkward, but he could walk. He watched as the red kunoichi engaged another Avian, cutting one of its wings off with her twin katana before making a horizontal slash that took the creature's head off.

The red ninja turned and saw him. She leapt at him, and Zelgadis didn't hesitate. He swung his arms out, chains, wooden boards and all.

The ninja woman was struck across the face in mid-flight and hurled to the ground. Her veil was ripped from her face by a wood splinter and floated lazily to the ground.

Zelgadis walked cautiously up to her and saw the unconscious face of Greysword looking up at him.

He knelt down and picked up one of the katana. He turned just in time to see one of the green kunoichi's nunchucks swing and connect with his face. The chimera literally flew ten feet and slid another five before coming to rest at the feet of the blue ninja. He looked up and found the ninja staring down at him, her veil likewise torn during the fighting and flapping in the breeze.

Greysword's face.

He looked back at the green ninja, and though her face was still veiled, the same sapphire eyes as Greysword's stared back at him.

"What the.."

At that point, the blue ninja knelt down and punched him in the face with the butt of her sai.

Zelgadis was welcomed once more into darkness.



The rain had begun early in the morning and three hours later showed no sign of relent. It was hard to see through the grey sheets, but Vanya led the way without pause. Mud squelched beneath her boots. Her brown cloak was saturated with water, making it all but useless in the deluge. She readjusted it anyway.

She stopped and waited for Sylphiel to catch up. A moment later, Sylphiel was standing next to her, breathing raggedly. Vanya turned and studied her face. The shrine maiden looked paler than before. She turned back to the road.

Sylphiel fought down a growing sense of nausea. Since the rain had begun, she had been feeling worse and worse. Looking back on it, she had only herself to blame. She was coming straight out of a horrible ordeal, was pregnant, hadn't eaten right or rested for several days and the weather had suddenly become cold and wet.

She wished she had a warm cup of tea and a fire. What she needed mostly, however, was someplace warm to rest and recuperate. She could use a healing spell, but the effects wouldn't last as long as the conditions making her sick persisted.

"Is it far?" she asked, trying to take her mind off it.

Vanya nodded. "We'll keep going for a few more hours, then look for a place to take shelter."

Sylphiel nodded. "Right. Lead the way."



Lina rushed forward and knelt next to a depression in the mud. Her green cloak was dripping wet, and she felt soaked to the bone, but despite the weather, she had decided to push on after Sylphiel and Greysword.

She peered into the depression while the others waited for her on the road not far away. Her fingertips moved over the mud while she muttered to herself. Finally, she growled and slapped the mud puddle with her hand.

"Dammit!" she cried in frustration. "This rain is screwing up any track Sylphiel might have made! We'll never find them this way!"

"Then what do we do?" Shadow Lina asked.

Lina thought for several moments. "We find an inn, I guess, and wait for the rain to stop."

"But that will widen their lead," Gourry pointed out.

"Not if they stopped as well," Lina replied. "It's cold, it's miserable, it's wet. Any normal person would stop and wait it out."

"Sylphiel isn't normal. And neither is Vanya," Naga pointed out.

"If we keep going, we could walk right past them and not even notice in this weather," Lina told her.

"But if they're still moving..." Jeffrey began.

"Okay, we'll split the difference!" Naga announced suddenly. "Flaming Heroes with me. We'll keep moving and make signs on which way we've gone. Then you can follow after us later and look for signs that they've holed up. Best of both worlds."

Thunder cracked overhead as Lina thought on this idea. She had been trying not to split the group up. Knowing Scarrin the way she did, she knew there was strength in numbers, but...

"Okay," she said quietly.

Naga nodded in satisfaction. "Let's go, Unbeatable Heroes! OOOOHOHOHOHO!!!" she called. Shadow Lina and Jeffrey quickly ran forward as Naga started down the road.

Adara, oddly enough, stayed.

"Why aren't you going with your friends?" Lina asked her.

"Screw that! It's cold!" Adara complained, her ears shivering quickly. "Besides, I'm after dearest Zelgadis, not your runaway shrine maiden." She hopped up on her horse and turned it. "There was a road not far back," she announced.

Lina turned and stared after Naga and the Unbeatable Heroes.

"Lina?" Gourry asked.

"I feel like such a coward, Gourry," she whispered.

He wrapped a wet arm around her. "Come on, Lina. You're probably right, you know. No one in their right mind would stay out in a flood like this."

"Yeah.. Maybe..."



The sun was beginning to go down behind the rain clouds, but it was still pouring. Sylphiel was shivering uncontrollably, and it was only going to get worse as the temperature dropped.

She had tried eating some wet travel bread, but couldn't keep it down. The shrine maiden had stopped trying after awhile, seeing it as a waste of food. They hadn't come across any towns or villages, and it was starting to appear that they would have to spend a cold, wet night in the wilderness.

Vanya pointed off the road to their right. "It looks like there's a farm over there." She turned in that direction and started walking. "We'll take shelter there."

Sylphiel nodded, but couldn't say anything through her chattering teeth. She held her wet cloak tightly to herself as the two entered a corn field. Endless rows of corn stalks went in every direction, but Vanya didn't seem turned around at all. She kept moving forward, and Sylphiel followed.

After fifteen minutes of marching through corn stalks, they emerged into a field of mud and grass. Ahead of them, perhaps only a quarter of a mile or less, sat an old farmhouse and a barn. Lights burned brightly from the farmhouse windows, visible even from the road.

The two squelched onward. Lightning lit up the sky as they approached the house, illuminating the man standing in the doorway, a crossbow in his arms.

"Who you be?" he called out.

Vanya turned to Sylphiel whispered, "Stay here. I'll handle it." The shrine maiden nodded and continued shivering. Vanya started up to the man.

"Well?" the man asked. He fit the term, 'old codger' like a glove. He wore working suspenders and a beat up sun hat over his grizzled features and smoky beard.

"We're travelers," Vanya told him. "We got caught in the storm. My sister is sick. We want to shelter in your barn, if it's all right."

The man chewed on this thought as he looked Vanya over. "Maybe," he said at last. "Depends on what I'm getting out of it." The pervert looked over the kunoichi again.

Vanya gave an inward snort of disapproval and turned. "I'll be right back," she said and started down the stairs.

As she walked back to where Sylphiel was waiting for her, she explored her options. She could kill the man, sure, but who knew how many neighbors or relations would track them afterwards looking for payback? That was crap Vanya didn't need right now. And quite frankly, Sylphiel's condition worried her. Who knew where the next inn or farmhouse was?

Sylphiel looked up as Vanya approached. "The old coot says we can use his barn. Go on in and start a fire if there's any wood. Get some rest."

"Where are you going?" Sylphiel asked her.

"Old man has some maps of the area I'm going to look at," the ninja lied. "I'll be back shortly."

Without another word, Vanya turned and walked back to the front porch. Sylphiel watched as the man touched her arm and showed her inside. The door closed, and Sylphiel made her way to the barn.



It was cold and dark, and Zelgadis still hurt. Only this time, he hurt in an entirely new position. He was lying over the back of a donkey with his hands chained to his ankles under the animal's belly.

"Great," he muttered. "Just great."

He heard footsteps approach and saw Gandrav walking up to him, a wooden bowl in his hands. The werewolf held the bowl out. "Eat."

Zelgadis gave him a "are you fucking kidding me" look and said, "Untie my hands."

Gandrav growled and walked away, Zelgadis assumed for good, until he returned a moment later pulling an elf girl by the hair behind him. The girl's ankles were shackled together, making it impossible for her to walk, but her hands were unfettered. She whimpered as the creature dragged her.

"Leave her alone!" Zelgadis spat.

Gandrav threw the girl down in front of him and thrust the bowl in her hands. "Feed him," he ordered.

The girl hesitantly took the bowl and pulled a piece of meat from it.

"What's on the menu?" Zelgadis quipped, staring hatefully at the wolf.

Gandrav growled and knelt down until his snout was an inch from the chimera's face. "Bird!" The werewolf laughed and walked away. Zelgadis quickly wondered what happened to the Avians that had attacked the convoy and decided he didn't want to know.

The elf girl held a piece of meat up to him, and Zelgadis hesitantly took a bite. For now, he'd assume that Gandrav meant chicken. He needed to eat. "What's your name?" he asked.

"Lara," she whispered. "You're Zelgadis Greywords," she announced.

"How did you know?"

She looked from side to side, searching for listeners before continuing quietly. "You're one of the saviors of Zarak," she whispered. "We learn about you in school. The Man of Stone, the White Witch, the White Serpent, and the Demon."

Zelgadis smiled, not quite sure how Sylphiel would like being labeled, "The White Witch." Thinking of Sylphiel forced his face to fall. "How did you get here?"

"My friend, Yana, and I were walking in the woods when those lizard things attacked us."

Zelgadis thought as he chewed another piece of bird meat. There was something wrong here, and he was just now beginning to get the bigger picture. Any of the events he had witnessed alone he could have seen as an aberration, but all of them, the elves, the red-clad berserkers that were immune to magic, the copiis of Greysword and the presence of the Avians all added up to something.

"Scarrin," he whispered. "He's building an army. An army that's immune to magic. He's using chimera vats to fuse elf tissue with berserkers." That part made sense to him. "And the Wind Dragon King is trying to stop him."

Lara's ears twitched at the name. Zelgadis knew that the Wind Dragon King had been an elvish boogieman since the end of the War of the Monster's Fall.

But what about him? How was he connected? Scarrin must have someone knowledgeable of chimeras working for him if he can produce both chimeras and copiis.

He still didn't know.

"I have to get out of here," he told Lara. "Whatever Scarrin wants from me, it's not something that's going to benefit anyone but him. Can you undo these chains?"

Lara licked her lips apprehensively, but looked over the chains quickly before shaking her head. "They're locked."

Zelgadis licked his lips. "Do you think you can get the werewolf's keys?"

Lara shook her head fearfully at the idea.

"Listen to me, Lara," he whispered. "We have to get away. We have to warn someone about all this. I know you're scared, but if you don't get those keys, they're going to use us to create more of those berserkers. You have to help. YOU have to be the savior of Zarak now."

The elf girl swallowed nervously but nodded.



Vanya plopped down on her sleeping roll and rolled over. Sylphiel had set it out for her and put a soft bed of hay beneath it for padding. The shrine maiden had also managed to get a fire going in the blacksmith's forge at the end of the barn; she had cooked and left some soup for the ninja. Sylphiel herself was resting on her own sleeping roll not far away, seemingly asleep.

The ninja nodded in satisfaction. Hopefully by morning Sylphiel would be feeling well enough to travel again. She curled up in her roll and closed her eyes.

"Why did you do that?" Sylphiel suddenly asked quietly.

Vanya blinked in surprise. She hadn't noticed that Sylphiel was still awake. "Do what?" she asked with a yawn.

"Give yourself to him," the priestess elaborated.

Vanya shrugged. "Didn't feel like killing him."

"You didn't have to," Sylphiel told her. "We could have gone on to another town or..." She broke off. "You didn't have to do that for me."

"I didn't do it for you," Vanya replied deadpan. "In case you've forgotten, that's my nephew you've got there."

The shrine maiden said nothing. "You still didn't have to."

"Whatever," Vanya yawned. "Get some sleep. We have a long march tomorrow."

Vanya listened closely for several minutes, making sure that all she heard was the crackle of the fire and Sylphiel's slow breathing. Content that all was well, the kunoichi allowed herself to relax a bit. Despite how scandalized Sylphiel felt about it, Vanya wasn't broken up by having to sleep with the codger. It was something Aeka had broken her of as part of her training.

"A woman's two most valuable assets are her mind and her body," Aeka had taught her. It was actually part of the curriculum for the Order of the Royal Teardrop, and Vanya, committed to learning the skills she would need to get along in the world and find her brother, had taken those lessons to heart.

One of the tests she had to pass was to prove she could use her body effectively. Dressing in rags, Vanya had had herself thrown into a prison cell with a bandit that had encroached on Femille territory. She had cried, telling the man how she had been caught stealing and sentenced to death, told him how frightened she was and how, oh, couldn't the big strong man help her?

The bandit, to his credit, wasn't an ogre, and had hugged her, telling her how he was going to break out and that he'd take her with him if she liked.

Vanya, overjoyed by the promise of rescue, kissed him and allowed her hands to explore him. She caressed him as she had been trained, held him fiercely and whispered all the tender things that the Order had learned tugged at most male heartstrings.

The bandit, being a typical male, took the invitation and made love to her. He had been Vanya's first.

Afterward, as he slept soundly, Vanya reached over, took his head in her hands, and snapped his neck.

Aeka was proud of her for it. She told Vanya that very few kunoichi, herself included, found themselves able to kill their first.

She rolled over and looked at Sylphiel. "How heartless have I become?" she wondered quietly.

Sylphiel couldn't understand. Her first had been a man she was in love with, Vanya's brother. If things went well, the only problems she'd have to face in her life would be how to afford school for Junior or should she can the leftover peaches or make them into a pie. She had never held a knife at someone's throat. Never used her body to get close to a target. Never whispered tender words to a man she would kill an hour later. It was beyond her comprehension.

"Perhaps I'm the real monster after all," she whispered before falling into a gentle slumber.



Gourry rolled over and opened his eyes to painful candlelight. It was close to midnight, and the rain still pounded ferociously outside. And through it all, alone in their tiny room in the tiny inn they had found, Lina was adjusting her pack and cloak.

"Oi, Lina," he called. "Where are you going?"

"Go back to sleep, Gourry," the redhead replied, not even looking up. "You'll be able to catch up with me later." She turned to walk out the door.

"Whoa! Wait a second!" the mercenary cried, bounding out of bed. Lina had opened the door, revealing the rain outside, and Gourry pushed it closed and held it before she could walk through it. "What are you doing?" he asked, mystified.

She still wouldn't look at him, her face concealed by her cloak. "I'm going out after him," she said quietly.

"Are you crazy?!" he asked. "It's pouring, it's pitch black outside, and you have no idea where...Wait, did you say 'him?'"

He saw her wipe her nose with her hand and realized for the first time that there were tears hidden beneath her cloak along with her face. "It's my fault," she whispered. "Don't you see? If I had listened to you...I should have listened to you..."

"What are you talking about?!" he cried, latching onto her arms in confused desperation. "What do you mean, if you had listened to me?!"

She looked up at him, tears streaking down her face. "You told me we should go after him! You tried to tell me, and..and I was so mad at him that I.." She reached up and pounded her fists against his bare chest. "You were right. Now he's out there, and who knows what Xelas or Scarrin or Zero is doing to him?!"

"Lina, it's not.."

"And what have I ever done for him?" she whispered. "How many times has he saved my life, or helped me defeat some Mazoku?" Her whisper lowered and became accusatory. "How many times did I help him search for his cure? How many times did I divert us to some local diner or treasure when I should've been helping him?"

He shook her, trying to snap her out of it. "Listen to me!" he hissed. "Remember when you told Sylphiel that Seyruun wasn't her fault? Well it's the same thing now! This isn't YOUR fault! Zelgadis knew what he was doing every step of the way, and he NEVER asked you to do anything he wasn't willing to do himself! We'll find him! Do you hear me?! We'll find him!"

"But what if we don't?" she asked. "Then what? Xelas attacks Seyruun? Scarrin kills Zel? Sylphiel's kid grows up without a father? And if I had only listened..."

"What did I know?!" he asked her with a strained smile. "You know me! Pudding for brains! Every rule in the book said I was wrong! It was just me being my usual stupid self!"

She looked up at him angrily. "You're not stupid," she whispered to him. "I know what I've said in the past, but you're not stupid, do you hear me? Never say that about yourself again!" Gourry looked at her in shock. "I was the stupid one," she finished.

He shook his head and tried smiling again. "You're the smartest person I know!"

"I made too many assumptions," she said. "Jumped to too many conclusions. And I'll never do that again. But first I have to find Zel. And I can't ask you to come with me."

"You don't have to ask," he told her. "I've always been there for you, Lina." He reached out and wiped a tear away with his fingertip. "And I always will be. And so will Amelia and Zel and Sylphiel and Filia and even old Xellos!"

"Gourry..."

"And there is NOTHING in this world that you have to face alone."

The dam broke, and weeping, Lina Inverse collapsed against him. "Gourry!"

"We'll set out tomorrow," he promised her. "After the rain lets up. We'll all go together, right?"

Lina hugged him, but didn't answer.



Scarrin watched from his tower as the storm to the south raged against Seyruun. He tapped his finger against the windowsill and took a breath. Greywords was on his way. All he lacked now was the last piece of himself. And as soon as Zero got back..

"How long is he overdue now?" Diol asked from the doorway.

"A day," Scarrin growled. "And not a peep from Greysword either."

Diol nodded in understanding. "You know, it's possible that the storm delayed them." He took Scarrin by the elbow and turned him so that he was facing the grizzled old scientist. "They could be dead."

Scarrin smiled. "You don't honestly think that..."

"Lina Inverse is involved," Diol interrupted. "And you would think that young, hot-headed Mazoku would learn to stop underestimating her."

"KEEP YOUR TONGUE BEHIND YOUR TEETH, YOU DODDERING OLD FOOL!" Scarrin snapped, pushing him away. "Don't think for a second that your usefulness will save you from such remarks!"

Diol said nothing for a long moment, then, "My Lord," he said respectfully, "I've gone up against Lina Inverse before, and there's one thing I've learned from it. If you give her the initiative, she'll take it...and ram it down your throat."

Scarrin arched an eyebrow.

"The first major batch is ready," Diol told him. "Are you suggesting we wait?"

The chimera regarded the scientist for a moment. "No," he said. "Send them out."



Diol smiled as he walked up the steps to the stage he had erected. Years he had waited, and now he had done it. He had created a weapon no nation would be able to stand against. A soldier no sorcery could defeat. Not even the sorcery genius Lina Inverse.

He took his place at the podium and looked out over the two hundred red- shirted berserkers gathered before him. They looked up at their father- creator with respect and awe...as it should be.

"Your Lord Scarrin has given you life!" he pronounced to the berserkers. "He has given you purpose! He has given you power! You have pleased him much already! Now he requires of you a new task! Find the mate of Zelgadis Greywords! Find her! And bring her here."

The berserkers roared their approval of this and beat their swords against their chest plates.

Diol smiled again as he stepped back from the podium. There was just one more small thing to take care of. A more personal matter..

He found the berserker clan leader, a larger reptilian wearing black stripes on his red tunic to signify rank. He took the reptile aside, putting his arm around the beast in a fatherly way. The creature drooled and looked at him in puzzlement.

"Greywords' mate may be traveling in a group," Diol warned. "Among them may be a short, foul-tempered redhead and a tall, large-chested brunette." He waited for the lizard to nod in understanding. "I want these two brought here alive...and undamaged. Kill the others."

"Yes, Father," the berserker hissed.



"Zelgadis dear?"

The chimera opened his eyes and found himself in a barn. Not just any barn..THE barn. He was lying on the same patch of hay he and Sylphiel had spent the night on on Zarak Tor. The night he first realized he loved her.

"Zelgadis dear?"

He groggily rolled over and reached out, his fingers touching a lock of purple hair. "I love you," he murmured sleepily.

"Give us a kiss, babycakes!"

His eyes snapped to full wakefulness to see someone who was definitely NOT Sylphiel lying there. He was on his feet in a second, swearing like a sailor.

"Damn you," he growled. "You can't even leave me alone in my DREAMS?!"

Xellos smiled up at him from the hay pile. "Oh, come now Mister Zelgadis! After all we've been through together, you can't even admit in your own dreams that you're fond of me?"

"What do you want?" the chimera growled. "Can't you leave me in peace?"

"Peace," Xellos whispered, almost regretfully. "Have we ever known anything like peace in our lifetimes, Mister Zelgadis?"

Zelgadis blinked and looked a little harder at the demon. There was definitely something different about him. "You changed your hair," he accused quietly.

Xellos blinked and smiled, fingering a golden lock on the left side of his head. "I was thinking of making it permanent, but didn't really get the chance."

"What do you want?" Zelgadis asked again. "I really don't have time for your tricks or games."

"I'm just passing through," Xellos told him with a regretful smile. "I won't be bothering you anymore after tonight."

"I may weep openly."

"Of course you will!" Xellos said with a grin. "After all, what is your life going to be like without me?!"

"Adjectives fail me..."

Xellos smiled and looked down at his lap. "You know, Mister Zelgadis, I like to think that given enough time, we might have grown to be friends."

"Will you get to the damn point already?" Zelgadis asked exasperated. "There's always a game with you! Always some scheme or some obtuse angle you're trying to play! Just once, drop it!"

"Everyone dies," Xellos suddenly said. It was so quiet that Zelgadis almost missed it.

"Pardon?"

"You don't see the beauty of it, Mister Zelgadis," Xellos told him. "The elegance of it. There is ONE thing that your world and mine have in common. Our defenses are all based on sorcery."

Zelgadis waited for him to continue.

"Seyruun's army is what? Sixty percent sorcerers? The most powerful people in our worlds are sorcerers or based on elements stemming from the astral plane. It's been a part of all of us so long that it's become our most natural part."

The chimera said nothing.

"Now imagine that it didn't work anymore. Imagine the kind of chaos that would ensue if suddenly, all our great powers were nullified. Not taken away, mind you. Just made irrelevant."

"Zarak Tor," Zelgadis breathed.

"The trees of Zarak Tor were more a threat than you realize, Mister Zelgadis. It wasn't a matter of having an edge over the Shinzoku or they having an edge over us. Their very existence would unravel our worlds as we know it."

"You're talking about those berserkers now, aren't you?" Zelgadis asked.

"Imagine what they could do in force, Zelgadis," Xellos told him. "Seyruun would fall in a day. Imagine an enemy that even Lina Inverse, with all the power of the Lord of Nightmares at her disposal, couldn't frighten, or hurt or kill."

"So what does that have to do with me?" Zelgadis asked bitterly.

"Because you have to stop it."

"I'm busy," he hissed. "You may not have heard, but your boss has me running a little errand for you."

"If he knew the peril, he would agree with me."

"Well he doesn't know. So fuck you, I'm going to WolfPack!"

"You'd turn your back on the world?"

"Yes!"

"For Miss Sylphiel?"

"Yes!"

"And the other millions of people who would die?"

"I don't care!"

Xellos looked at him, for the first time Zelgadis could remember, with sympathy. "Yes, you do," he whispered. "Say, by some miracle, you get to WolfPack Island," he continued. "Past the Watchers, past Jinnar and Iffy. Then what? Say by some act of the Lord of Nightmares, the Ruby Eye abides by his word and lets Sylphiel go. Then what?"

"I've heard enough," Zelgadis muttered. He turned to go. He was stopped suddenly and turned. Xellos was standing right there, holding his arm.

"Let me tell you 'then what,'" he hissed. "Then Sylphiel gets to share the fate of every other sorcerer, Mazoku and dragon in the world. She gets to huddle under a table somewhere in a dark room, listening, watching and praying to whatever god she believes, in her naivete, will protect her that THEY don't check THAT room."

Zelgadis stared at him.

"But they will," the demon finished. "There will be no hiding place. No sanctuary. No Dragon Slave to protect her. Because all the magical power in the world will be nothing to them."

Finally, Xellos released him, and he turned, heading for the barn door.

"Why are you so hard up on this?!" Zelgadis demanded.

Xellos stopped in his tracks and turned to him. "Because you and I have something else in common, Zelgadis," he said quietly. "Neither of us wants our children to grow up in a world like that."

Then he was gone.

"Mister Zelgadis?"

The chimera opened his eyes again, this time to the nightmare he had left when he first fell asleep. Hanging over the side of a donkey, staring at the cold earth.

Lara was sitting there next to him, working at his chains with something. It took him a moment to realize it was a key. She had done it! She had gotten the key off Gandrav.

"We have to get out of here!" she whispered. "They're all asleep except for their outer sentries. Yana is waiting in the brush for us." She continued working the key around in the lock.

His dream came back to him as Lara worked, and suddenly, he reached up with his chained hands and took hers. The elf girl looked up at him in surprise.

"Go," he told her. "Go get help. Do you understand? Go to Seyruun. Ask for Lina Inverse."

She shook her head. "I don't understand. It'll just take a minute to unchain you..."

He took the key from her and palmed it.

"I'm not leaving, Lara."

Author's Notes:

Send C&C to Davner at doscher009@earthlink.net. Thanks for reading. ^_^