They all met the next morning (even Xelloss decided to show up). Sirius, who wore a long cloak to cover him from prying eyes, watched him suspiciously, but knew there wasn't much he could do about the monster. Everyone else was dressed as they always were, the only change being that Kardray wore a plain black cloak. Phil was there to see them off (and give his daughter a long, tear filled hug). Kardray shook her head at the display, but showed neither approval nor disapproval. When she caught Xelloss watching her, she smiled the same smile as when he'd first met her. He smiled back at her in response before Lina got everyone's attention and started walking (she was well fed and thus very happy).
Very little talking went on while they walked. Kardray was often vague on her past, but otherwise open about herself. Xelloss was often watching her or he seemed to be (it was hard to tell with his eyes closed all the damn time). They stopped at noon for lunch, Goury having had to carry the provisions (there was only a few hundred pounds of food…). Kardray ate sparingly and her attention was elsewhere.
"Is something wrong Kardray?" Zelgadiss had always been observant.
"Something feels…off around here. We should be careful along the next bit of travel." She popped a bit of bread in her mouth and stared off into space once more. Her statement worried the rest of the group and most of them readied spells in their minds. After lunch, they started moving again, each keeping their eyes out for anything.
A few hours later, when everyone was relaxing his or her guard, a fireball came hurtling into there midst. No one was seriously hurt; they were all just thrown about. Everyone looked up, seeing as that was were the spell came from. Above them floated a familiar form, at least to most of them.
"Valgaav!" Lina was astonished. Last she had heard, Filia was doing well as mother to the young ancient dragon, who'd had no memories of what he had previously done. "What are you doing?"
"Lina Inverse. I've come to kill you." He powered another fireball in his hands, a cruel smile curving his lips.
"What about Filia?" Amelia had made a protection spell around her and Zelgadiss who had landed near her.
"Who?" For a moment, he seemed confused and the spell in his hands started to slip. Then he shook his head and launched it at the princess.
"He doesn't remember?" Lina spoke quietly to herself, readying her own spell. Valgaav was a powerful adversary. If someone had manipulated him into fighting them, they were in for one hell of a fight. She suddenly had to launch herself from where she was as he began throwing spells in all directions.
"Fireball!" Lina hoped to distract him more than anything else. He just shrugged the spell off.
"It will take more than that to get me Lina Inverse." He launched a ball of red energy at Lina, who only just managed to get out of the way.
"What do you think?" Lina had ended up beside Goury. Zelgadiss and Amelia were firing spells at Valgaav, who seemed amused at the efforts. Sirius was readying his own spell. Kardray and Xelloss were no where to be seen. "How typical of Xelloss, things get rough and he leaves. Where is Kardray?"
"Darkness born from a true dark soul, blended with fires crimson as blood," they heard the strange spell over their heads in a tree, and there was Kardray, crouched on a branch with a black ball forming in her hands. Xelloss wasn't far from where she was, his eyes wide as he watched her. "Flames of Darkness gather in my hands! Black Fireball!" A ball of black flame formed in her hands and was shot toward Valgaav. He tried to move out of the way, but it caught his arm, tearing through his shield and injuring him. He put his hand to the burnt wound and disappeared.
Everyone slowly got to their feet as Kardray jumped down from the tree. There was no sign of Valgaav, but they were more concerned with their traveling companion. They all looked at her for some sort of explanation. She looked around at all of them and shrugged her shoulders, which earned her a smack from Lina.
"What are you doing shrugging! What the hell was that spell? I've never seen it before!" Lina was glaring at the taller woman, who had the good grace to look sheepish.
"Sorry. It was a blend spell. There aren't many, and few people know about them. Fewer still can control them. I thought it the best choice against this Valgaav. You seemed to know him." Kardray looked up at where he had been. She knew he was an Ancient Dragon, or part at least. It seemed as if someone had 'tampered' with him, for lack of a better word.
"Ya, well, we fought him a while ago. He was living with a friend of ours named Filia, and was fine from what we had been told. I wonder what could have happened to him." Lina seemed worried, as did everyone else.
"What about Filia?" Amelia suddenly burst out.
Zelgadiss looked as alarmed as she did. "That's right. If Valgaav is wandering around without knowing who she is, she may hurt or even killed! We need to hurry to the port city and get a boat to go check on her."
Everyone nodded agreement, even Kardray. Xelloss got down from the tree then and started walking, not waiting for anyone else. Lina came up behind him and got a chokehold.
"Yes Lina?" Xelloss squeaked out.
"What do you think you were doing hiding up there? When we fight a guy like Valgaav you are supposed to help us!" She was practically yelling (what practically, she was yelling!) in his ear, and that probably hurt more than the chokehold.
"Yes, well, I was getting ready to do something when it looked like Kardray had everything under control." He smiled up at Lina, one eye open.
"We really should get moving Lina." Again, Kardray's voice seemed to cut through Lina's anger. She let Xelloss go and got up.
"Alright. Let's get going everyone!" She turned and began running down the road. Everyone hurried to catch up except Xelloss and Kardray.
Kardray helped Xelloss to his feet. "She really does seem to abuse this group, doesn't she?" Kardray helped dust him off.
"I actually think it's her own odd way of showing how much she loves us. After all, she always kills anyone who tries to kill us." Xelloss looked thoughtful suddenly, "That, or she feels that no one is allowed to hurt us but her. Oh well!" Xelloss threw his arms into the air in not caring. Kardray shook her head at him, amusement softening her eyes a bit.
"It's going to be murder to catch up with them you know." She started walking after the dust cloud that had already gotten a considerable length away. Just then, Xelloss grabbed her about the waist from behind and floated into the air. She placed her arms over his around her waist thinking he might mean to drop her, but trembled at being so close to him.
Xelloss held her close to his body and felt the tremor run through hers. He held her a little tighter in response, breathing in the scent of lilacs from her hair. He realized he was really quite attracted to her, and being aware of the curves of her body did not help his self-control. He leaned in close to her ear; "I'll take us to some point ahead of them, no running required." His voice was low, almost a growl, and caused another tremor in Kardray. With that, they vanished instantly, reappearing beside a field just outside the forest they'd been in. Xelloss lowered her to the ground and reluctantly let go his grip, allowing her to step away from him.
"Thank you." Kardray muttered to him, hardly turning in his direction. Her face was flushed and her breathing faster than it had been. Xelloss immediately vanished from her presence and she sank gratefully to the ground to sit, seeing as her legs didn't seem quite able to support her. Kardray had felt his power then, and she knew now, even though no one had told her, that Xelloss belonged to the monster race. What was more of a shock to her was the intense attraction she felt. It had never happened before, with anyone she knew. There were many men who had tried to court her, but none of them had stirred such an emotional or physical reaction in her. She sighed; wondering what she had gotten herself into now.
A glass of water was suddenly presented to her. Xelloss had returned with it, the smile stronger in his amethyst eyes than on his face. She took the offered drink and swallowed half immediately. He sat down close to her, not touching, but close. "I didn't meant to scare you with the teleporting." He was staring forward at the road, which was right before them. Lina and the others still had not reached there.
Kardray swallowed another bit of water, her mouth suddenly somewhat dry. "You didn't. I wasn't scared of that, or you Xelloss."
Now he looked at her, his head tilted to the side slightly. She found herself looking at his eyes, wondering how anyone could get such a lovely color (incidentally, he had thought the same thing more than once of her own eyes). "Then why were you afraid all of a sudden?" He closed his eyes as if deciding something and then opened them to regard her once again. "I can't read your emotions like other people, unless I'm touching you skin to skin." He held up his hand to show he wasn't wearing his gloves like always. "I could feel clearly that you were afraid."
Kardray was silent and moved to look at her own hands. Finally she spoke. "Where I'm from, and everywhere I've traveled, I've never been…well…attracted to anyone. I felt something when you were so close, and the feeling frightened me." She said the last quietly, not liking to ever admit her feelings to anyone, but Xelloss deserved to know she didn't fear him, just the things he inspired in her.
Xelloss was confused beyond everything. One: she liked him evidently. Two: she was afraid of what she felt. Three: she had never felt for anyone before. "Why are you afraid of liking someone?" His confusion was evident in his voice. "Is it because you're a virgin?"
Kardray turned beet red. "No, you perverted lunatic!" She looked at him and laughed a little, seeing he was smiling, trying to get such a reaction out of her to make her feel more at ease. "No." Kardray took another sip of water. "My mother, you see, she was raped by my father. He'd been mad with grief over the loss of his m-…wife. He left after that and my mother died in childbirth with me." Even if Xelloss couldn't at that moment sense what she felt, he could see it, and how telling this made her very sad. On impulse he moved closer and put his arm around her shoulder. She stiffened at first, but then relaxed into him, feeling better already. To her, Xelloss felt calming.
"So, you're afraid because you think I'm no good in bed, or a complete animal, right?" She looked up at him before bursting into laughter. A few tears escaped from her eyes, and Xelloss moved closer to taste one. Kardray caught her breath at the move, her heart loud in her ears as she looked into Xelloss eyes. Her own had darkened nearly to black. She trembled slightly as Xelloss moved slowly to kiss her, letting her pull away if she wanted. He closed his eyes as his lips touched hers, savoring the soft texture. Encouraged by her kissing him back, he deepened the kiss just a bit, wanting a better taste of this unusual woman.
"Lina slow down already!" Zelgadiss' voice broke into their moment, making both of them pull apart quickly. Lina and the others came into sight then, right before them. Lina stopped and looked at them puzzled before trotting over, everyone else following her. Kardray was slightly flushed and Xelloss was staring murder at Zelgadiss (much to the chimera's discomfort. He'd certainly never seen the priest really angry).
"How did you two get here?" Lina sat down by Kardray and stole the last sip of water from her glass.
"We got left behind, so Xelloss brought us here." Kardray was more under control and said this calmly. Lina looked over at Xelloss, only to find he had disappeared.
"Well then, I'm gonna sit here and rest for a few minutes since I did all that running." Lina lay down next to Kardray, her arms behind her back, and closed her eyes.
Zelgadiss looked ready to strangle her. "But you were the one who started running in the first place!" Lina made no response, so Goury shrugged and went to lie down as well, Amelia not far behind. Zelgadiss finally gave up and sat on the other side of Kardray, determined to talk to someone in a civilized manner right then.
"That was unusual behavior for Xelloss, being nice." Zelgadiss had taken to whittling lately and took out his latest piece, which would eventually be something like a fish, which he intended to give to Lina (running joke here between them).
Kardray was staring ahead of her. "I don't know. From what I understand, he's usually quite unpredictable." And he certainly kisses well.
Zelgadiss snorted. "Of course, he usually does things to further his own goals. You need to be careful around him." Zelgadiss looked up from his knife and wood when he heard Kardray sigh. "Something wrong?"
She took her time answering. "No. Nothing is wrong. I was just thinking that you are right, I do need to be careful around him." She turned and smiled at Zelgadiss, who smiled back before returning to his work.
Xelloss sat in a tree next to the field. He could see the group clearly, though his attention was solely placed on Kardray. She was different from any woman he had ever met, and that might have explained the attraction, or so he told himself. To say Xelloss was unused to such emotions was the understatement of the millennia. He also wasn't quite used to the idea of jealousy. Poor Zelgadiss didn't know how close he might have just come to being incinerated. Thankfully, Kardray didn't look at his as she might a prospective mate…or husband. Xelloss figured he should think in human terms, not monster. Well, he'd just have to go slow and see how things panned out. Xelloss lay back in the tree, watching the little group through his astral vision.
The group stayed for about an hour, until the sun began to go down in the west. There was a town not too far that they should be able to reach just before dark. Lina wanted to spend as much time in a bed as possible before they were on the boat and had to camp. So they all got up (Goury was a little hard to wake, but Zelgadiss managed it). The town they came to was small, but pleasant. The food was good (according to Lina, not that they thought she really tasted it, it went down so fast). Xelloss hadn't joined them the whole time, but no one thought much of it (besides Kardray, who kept it to herself).
It was getting late when Kardray excused herself. Since the town was on a somewhat remote lane, there were no other patrons at the inn, so everyone got their own room. Kardray was glad, since she was still unused to the idea of being around people with such consistency. She put on a long loose shirt, one more suited to a man of Goury's build, and climbed into her bed. Curled on her side, she lay thinking about nothing, just not sleeping. This was normal for her; she rarely slept a whole night, if at all.
Warmth settled against her back in the shape of a person. She recognized Xelloss' power quickly and swallowed a lump in her chest. He spoke before she could though. "I just want to lay here next to you, knowing your safe and away from all other men." She laughed lightly. "What, didn't you know I'm the jealous sort?" He settled his arms around her, holding her close to him so that he could feel her heart as it beat out a steady rhythm. Kardray adjusted his arm a little and then lay still. She was soon fast asleep while Xelloss stayed awake, mostly watching her.