After escaping their prison the group scrambled to find their weapons that had been taken from them. With help from Amelia the lost weapons were quickly discovered, then Lina and the rest made a mad dash out of the palace. A few 'borrowed' horses and wind spells later, they were well on their way out of Seyruun trying to make up for lost time.
Zelgadis clung onto his stolen steed for dear life, not having ridden horses for a long time. "Who had the idea to take horses?" he asked as he continued to hang on for dear life.
"It's not usually my preferred method of travel either," Lina huffed from nearby, also holding on as well as she could to her horse, "But you've got to admit they'll help us cover more ground! We can't afford to use any more magic than we already have. I'm just about drained myself."
"Yeah, I am starving!" Gourry lamented from his saddle, seemingly at ease despite his horse's fast speed. "They hardly fed us anything that whole time we were down there."
"No doubt they didn't care what happened to us, considering what we were charged with." Lina grumbled.
Sylphiel nodded from her spot, which happened to be seated behind Gourry gripping onto him tightly, much to Lina's annoyance. "The whole palace was in an uproar," Sylphiel said, letting out a small "eep" every time the horse jerked, "I doubt they even thought of you through all of the panic."
"Just my luck," Lina sighed, "The great sorcery genius, doomed to death by neglect and starvation!"
Amelia hadn't made a single sound during the entire escape, causing Zelgadis to worry. He could still feel her presence, but it felt very subdued. "Amelia," he thought, not wanting the others to hear, "is everything all right?"
He instantly felt her perk up, as if realizing his presence for the first time. "I'm fine, Mister Zelgadis, just thinking."
"What are you thinking about?" He decided to prod her on, anything to take his mind off of the thought of falling from his horse.
Amelia sighed. "I'm thinking about Daddy. You're riding his horse..."
Zelgadis did nearly fall off! "Why didn't you say anything? If I had known I would have left the horse in the stable."
"No, don't say that! Daddy wouldn't want his favorite horse to be left behind if it could be used to aid the greater good. I'll be okay. It just brought back memories..."
Zelgadis could tell Amelia was crying, but he decided it best not to say anything else to her. Her silence seemed to confirm she was done talking as well. He knew there wasn't anything he could do for now. He would just have to keep striving forward until they were able to track down Xellos and get back Amelia's body.
"Sir Gourry, stop!" Sylphiel suddenly cried out, Gourry instantly obeying as he pulled on the reins to slow his horse down.
Lina also tugged on her horse's reins and came to a stop next to Gourry's horse. "What's wrong, Sylphiel?" Lina wasn't keen on stopping. If any of the guards from Seyruun's palace had chased after them, they wouldn't be far behind.
Sylphiel looked over Gourry's shoulder and pointed a ways down the road. "I'm sorry, Miss Lina, but there's an injured man there." She tried to dismount, but slipped, still managing to land on her feet as she stumbled off to aid the fallen man. The others quickly dismounted their horses and moved forward.
"We don't really have time for this, Sylphiel, we need to-" Lina gasped as she got a good look at the man laying on the side of the road.
"Zangulus?"
(Beautiful scene break...)
Lina and Gourry sat around the dining table, completely content now that they had eaten their fill, leaving a mountain of dishes stacked on the table. Soon after finding Zangulus unconscious on the side of the road, the group had taken him to the town they were heading to , Lina and Gourry leaving Sylphiel to heal him so they could likewise recover.
"That feels so good," Lina practically squealed with delight as she rubbed her full stomach, "I never thought I would eat good food again."
Gourry just leaned back in his chair, a content smile on his face as well. He looked up when he heard footsteps approach.
Zelgadis had been upstairs to assist Sylphiel in any way possible, mostly because Amelia had refused to let him leave when somebody was in need of help. Now more than anything he wanted to rest, but Amelia wouldn't let him do that, either. He stopped at Lina and Gourry's table, letting out a small sigh.
"How is he?" Gourry asked, now sitting upright and looking concerned.
Zelgadis stifled a yawn. "He's awake now. Sylphiel says he'll be all right."
Lina also sat up and looked at Zelgadis. "Did he say anything? Why was he all by himself? What happened to Martina?"
Zelgadis shook his head. "At this point he's not very clear. He said something about being attacked by demons. Sylphiel made me leave after that to try and calm him down. I think she wants to let him sleep before we can learn more from him."
Lina sighed. "I suppose we don't have much choice." She yawned, "We should all take Sylphiel's advice and get some sleep. We need to leave here as soon as possible in the morning if we're to have any chance catching up to Naga."
Zelgadis and Gourry both nodded their consent, Gourry standing and stretching.
Lina smiled. "Okay then, we'll meet up again tomorrow, learn what happened to Zangulus, then we're off. Until then, good night." She then got up and made her way to her room.
Gourry made to follow Lina's example, but paused when Zelgadis didn't follow. "You coming, Zelgadis?"
Zelgadis yawned, but waved him off. "Not yet. Unlike you two, I haven't eaten yet. I'll be up in a little while."
Gourry gave a small wave, then left to go get some sleep.
"You didn't tell them."
"I didn't think it was needed. We don't know exactly what Zangulus meant when he said his army was attacked, and if I had said anything more Lina most likely would have stormed up there and questioned him." Zelgadis waved down a nearby waitress and ordered a small meal as he seated himself at a small table, waiting for Amelia's response.
"I guess you're right. Still, I don't like leaving Miss Lina in the dark."
"Sometimes it's necessary, Amelia. Don't worry about it. We'll all learn more in the morning." Zelgadis ended the conversation when his order came, trying to prevent himself from inhaling his food when he realized just how hungry he was.
Amelia contented herself by just taking in the atmosphere, unable to do much else while Zelgadis was busy elsewhere. Tomorrow seemed to be a long way off...
(Return of the Scene Break)
Everyone woke early the next morning, practically barging into the room Zangulus had been peacefully sleeping in.
"Okay, up and at 'em, Zangulus! We don't have all day to sit around chatting." Lina shook the poor man.
Zangulus seemed dazed for a moment upon waking up until he focused on Lina's face. He yelled and dove under his covers in response.
"Hey!" Lina tore his sheets off the bed. "You can't just hide!"
Gourry came up from behind Lina and placed his hand on her shoulder. "Take it easy, Lina."
Lina huffed, but settled down. "Okay Zangulus, what's up? Why were you out there in the middle of nowhere knocking at death's door?"
Zangulus continued to look at Lina in fright. "She didn't send you, did she?" At Lina's look of confusion he seemed to calm down some as he sat up. "I'm not even sure exactly what happened myself. I had led my army out of the city to meet up with what I thought was to be a small delegation from Seyruun, but then we were attacked!"
"Oh?" Lina quirked an eyebrow. "What attacked you?"
"At first we thought it was Seyruun's army because they looked human." Zangulus shuddered. "But they didn't act human. They were merciless as they slaughtered my men. It was all I could do to get Martina to safety before they tried to kill me."
"You had Martina with you?" Lina's eyes bugged out. "What kind of husband sends his wife into battle?"
Sylphiel woke up from her seat in the corner, listening in on the conversation.
Zangulus waved Lina off. "No, it wasn't like that! We were to have a peaceful meeting with Seyruun. We weren't expecting an attack at all!"
"Hmm..." Lina thought for a moment.
"My sister. What about my sister? If it was Seyruun's army that attacked, she would have been with them!"
Zelgadis winced at Amelia's volume, but she had a point. Zelgadis stepped closer to Zangulus' bedside. "Did you see Seyruun's Crown Princess?"
Zangulus shook his head. "No, I didn't."
"Naga wasn't there? Huh..." Lina thought a moment, but then continued, "But what happened after that? After they attacked you? Did you see where they went?"
Again Zangulus shook his head. "I fled as far from them as I could. I didn't want to die. I had to abandon my men in the process, but most of them had been struck down already."
"I take it this royalty thing is still new to you," Lina remarked.
Zangulus scowled at Lina's remark, standing up off the bed to his full height. "Now wait, what good is a king if he's dead? I regret leaving my men, but most of them were already dead! I didn't want to join them. I would have left my beloved wife alone..." Zangulus trailed off in thought for a moment. "Besides, I did return when I thought it was safe."
"Go on," Lina seemed more subdued, feeling bad for her remark.
"I had barely escaped death myself, but I was still hurt. Even so, I had to rally what survivors there were. It was the strangest thing, when I returned to the clearing where I had seen so many of my men be struck down - there was nothing! Not a single body! No discarded weapons or anything!" Zangulus had a look of shock and horror on his face.
"Wait, nothing?" Zelgadis couldn't believe it. "How long were you gone?"
"Not more than a few hours. I waited until the sounds of battle had ended." Zangulus replied. "But I don't understand. Who or what could have removed all of those who had fallen so quickly?"
Lina felt Gourry's grip on her shoulder tighten, his face hidden from view. She placed a hand over his to calm him down. "I wish I could say I don't know, but I have a really bad feeling about all this."
"Lina?" Zelgadis looked at her, curious.
Lina's voice had taken on an air of authority again. "We need to head out, now. We can't waste any more time. Zangulus, do you think you can travel with us?"
"Uh, I think so, I feel well enough." Zangulus seemed cowed by Lina's presence. "Yes, I can. I need to get back to Xoana to be sure Martina is safe!"
"Glad to hear it." Lina smiled at Zangulus, then turning her attention to setting off again. "Okay everyone, let's go! Sylphiel, you better ride with Zangulus in case he needs any more help."
"But we don't have enough horses, Miss Lina." Sylphiel protested.
"We have plenty. I'll just ride with Gourry so you can take mine. Understand?" Lina gave Sylphiel a look telling her to do as told. Lina smiled at Sylphiel's silent nod. "Good, now let's go!"
(Thus the chapter reaches its end...)
Author's notes: Let me start off by saying...college is very counterproductive to writing! (Now I finally understand so many authors that are slow to post while in college.) I'm nearly at the end of the semester, so I've had a lot of work to do. Also, writing like a journalist is much different than normal writing. Right now it would be easier to write something like...
SEYRUUN CITY, Seyruun—Three suspected
murderers broke out of jail last night, causing panic
throughout Seyruun Palace as they fled.
"It was the scariest thing I ever saw," said a guard
on the scene, "Lina Inverse herself, coming at me like a
demon! I'm lucky to be alive!"
Residents reported sightings of Lina Inverse and
her lackeys, indicating the trio also stole the royal family's
prized horses.
"She may have escaped for now, but we'll get
her." Thomas Wright, head of the local militia, said.
Anyone with information with Lina Inverse's
whereabouts are to contact local authorities.
Wow, that was fun... But see what I mean? Very different from what I had been doing previously. I fear it might have changed the tone of my story a bit, but this wasn't exactly an exciting chapter anyway.
Oh, just to clarify a few things, Zangulus freaked out because last he knew Lina was working for Seyruun. Since he had just been attacked by what he thought to be Seyruun's army, he feared Lina had been sent in to finish him off. the 'She' he mentioned is none other than our currently missing Crown Princess...
As for Gourry being so silent while Zangulus told his tale, he used to work as a mercenary, and it's basically fact that he fought in many battles (if not wars). Zangulus talking about fallen soldiers brought back unpleasant memories for Gourry, and it just seemed appropriate for him to react. I figure Lina would know why he was reacting, so I had her react in turn. (Now to plug for the Slayers novels. If you haven't read them yet, READ THEM! They give so much more information than the anime or manga ever could! Not to mention they are excellent.)
I'm on my spring break for a whole three days, so maybe I'll be able to update this again soon. I'm hoping to get this story wrapped up soon, but we'll see what happens. See you all next chapter!