Capriones 7/28/2006
Capriones (ca-pree-OWN-ees): A roaming people of the Seyruun City-State region comprised of mixed race and heritage sharing common facilities and traditions. Said to have their own culture and to live outside the laws of any land they move through, they fight mostly amongst themselves in order to improve individual ranking in their encampments.
Disclaimer: We shall make use of several of the characters from The Slayers, none of whom belongs to us.
Chapter Five – Strange Arrangements
Lina approached the nearby tent and again wondered whether to scratch on the canvas or just shout, when the flap door snapped back and a partially concealed face poked out.
"Come in, quickly."
"Yeah, sure," Lina grumbled, but stepped inside. She gave her eyes a moment to adjust to the low light. "You like it pretty dark, huh . . . ah . . . Zel?"
"Not particularly. I thought you'd prefer not to have to look at me," he said daringly. He was challenging her to say differently.
"I'd rather see who I was talking to," she replied honestly.
From her brief scan of the room's interior she was able to discern many magical items of questionable application, and that Amelia wasn't present. She watched as Zelgadiss untied a couple lashes and two flaps opened high above, allowing a minuscule amount of light to stream in.
"All right?"
"Yeah, thanks. What kind of magic user are you? I don't recognize all this stuff."
He strode over to block her view, frowning. "You always examine people's private rooms?"
Lina smiled gamely. "When I can."
He chuckled lightly and stepped over a pile of worn pillows. "I guess I would too, coming to a strange place like this." He sank on a trunk across from her. "You can sit, if you'd like. I'm a shaman, only slightly less acceptable in society than a sorcerer."
"Oh," Lina nodded, sinking onto a pillow. "Well, that's interesting."
She knew that at one time, every village had their own shaman to interpret the weather, set things right with the evil spirits, and cure minor ailments. As the White Shrine grew in importance and its influence spread, the priestly sect grew too. There would be no room for both to exist, and so the beloved shamans were pushed to the edge of society to live as hermits in remote locales about the countryside. Passing on their traditions was outlawed. The time of the shaman's influence was fading fast.
"You're pretty young for a shaman."
Lina looked past his scars and met his guarded eyes. They were beautiful. A deep, blue-green color and large and intelligent and troubled. In spite of his earlier insistence for her attention, he now appeared suddenly unable to speak.
"You had something to share with me?" she urged him.
A blink and the eyes became hooded. "Yes. Yes. . ." He sighed and looked away a moment. "I am going to trust you."
The silence was drawn out; the tension palpable. Slowly, those eyes, now cold and accusing, met Lina's fiery red ones.
"What I'm going to tell you could put Amelia, the princess, in grave danger." He paused to test Lina's reaction.
"Okay . . . "
"I have kept my true identity a secret from everyone but Xelloss."
Lina waited impatiently, thinking he had better divulge his secret before she would be reduced to pounding it out of him, when he sank closer to her, kneeling at her feet. She jumped back in surprise at his intensity.
"I am searching for something," he said, voice held low, "a magical thing that I think you have. It appears to be a trifle, but it is not and I am willing to trade for it."
Lina fumbled, figuratively, through her mind's catalogue of bandit loot. Some gems, jewelry, a fragment of . . . something, and a tiny statuette. Many trifles. Worth little, but then Zelgadiss didn't look to be well off. What he did have that she might want in trade?
"I will help you free Amelia," he began the bargaining.
Lina shrugged. "That's great, but I need to make a living."
She wanted to know just how valuable an item it was that they were dealing with. She suggested that he pay her an unimaginably high sum for what she was certain was worthless trash.
His face clouded over with shock, then disappointment, then anger. "That's ridiculous! No one can get their hands on money like that!"
Lina shrugged carelessly and the young man crumpled in despair, murmuring, "You don't understand . . . "
"Try me," she insisted.
Zelgadiss drew a long steady breath, and let it out. "I'm in love with Princess Amelia," he explained. "I want her free and returned home."
Lina was relieved that the man the princess seemed infatuated with had the decency to admit his feelings, if only to gain Lina's trust. "And this thing I have will help you?"
"It is a thing of power which Xelloss can use to our advantage, among other things."
"Xelloss, huh? And he's aware of your plan to free the princess? It doesn't make much sense considering that he could have traded for the gold and let us take her back already. Instead, he's the one that has, in effect, entrapped her."
"There is more. When you showed up, plans altered accordingly. He needs you. What you can do, more precisely."
"So I've been told by both Valgaav and Gourry. Geez, you'd think Xelloss would be man enough to talk to me himself. Anyway, so you want something, a magical thing, I take it."
"It is imperative that we keep this . . . item . . . out of the hands of–of . . . " Zel's voice cracked.
"The self-seated Minister and Priest of Justice, Cardinal Rezo," Lina offered, while Zelgadiss appeared lost in a dream, eyes glazing over a moment as if he was he was reliving a horror in his not-so-distant past, which he was.
His eyes cleared, sharpening once again to brilliant blue-green, and snapped back to meet hers. "He is my grandfather. He . . . did this . . . scarred me. He is a sorcerer. He wants to be the most powerful one, the only one, and to control everything."
"GRANDFATHER!" Lina swallowed back the rest of her stifled cry and cleared her throat which had suddenly tensed. "So Rezo's trying to eliminate all other magic users, leaving--"
"--just him. That's right. And the item I believe you have, unwittingly, could boost his power, enabling him to surpass anyone else."
"Why?" Lina asked.
"Why what? Why does Rezo want to control the world? I can't guess a madman's motives."
Lina sat up and leaned forward. She put a hand on his tunic-covered arm and repeated her question. "Why did he do this to you?"
He squeezed his eyes shut, blocking the flow of tears, then in control, he said, "To make me stronger. He excused every horrible, onerous action of his. But he was using me as he always had. When I was just a little kid, he'd drag me around to villages; I'd be limping due to some incantation he'd applied to my legs. He'd be the great healer and demonstrate that belief in the White Shrine ways would heal all. He'd whisper a spell, do some slight-of-hand, pretend to call on the White Shrine gods, and I'd be cured; I could walk again. What a fraud!" His voice trailed off and he shook his head so as to release the bad memory.
His words triggered recollections of Lina's, though. When she was just a child, five or so, the great Red Priest visited her birth town of Zephillia. The small town was a famous a wine-making community, which offered gifts of wine in gratitude for his services. Yes, she could picture his whole show. She thought it was magic at the time.
"Oh, no, dear," her mother had assured her. "He's the greatest healer of all time. Your sister is leaving us to receive training. Luna is to become one of his cherished Cepheid Knights to carry out his cause. Casting spells is evil. You heard what he said!"
Rezo had worn a crimson cape, quite eye-catching, and by the tall man's side had been a small boy about her age. Lina could recall him in perfect detail still. At the time, she had been mesmerized by the pretty child with dark hair and beautiful blue-green eyes, and the magic. She had recognized that he was using magic, regardless of what anyone else believed, and wanted to learn it herself. Funny, Rezo had set her on the path opposite to what he preached by that visit.
But it was the boy's eyes that she was thinking of now, when she realized in shock that she was looking directly into that little boy's eyes right at that moment.
"OH! That was you? I saw you when you were really young. You were so beautiful. Oh, gods, I'm sorry." Lina stuck her fist in her mouth to stop herself from saying more.
Zel waved her to silence, then spoke, clearing his throat intermittently as it tightened with emotion. "I learned shamanism on the sly to counteract what he was doing. Sometimes I disrupted his acts. He became more determined to control me and applied stronger spells until one day . . . He told me not to cry. He promised to make me stronger and then . . . my skin hardened and scars appeared, my hair stiffened and went nearly white, and my ears, well you can see for yourself I'm a freak. But he could not undo the damage this time. I knew he was afraid that people would wonder what had happened to me, possibly think I'd been cursed, which of course I had. So, he took me away. We traveled to a distant land, where he acquired an amulet said to boost his power. I don't know from whom or how, but before he could use it to cure me, we were beset by bandits– thieves in the night. Rezo and his guards killed them all, or so they thought, but it turned out that one got away with the charm."
"And you think I took it off some bandit in turn?" Lina asked.
"Yes," Zel folded his arms across his chest. "Rezo directed me to form a search party and find the charm. I was at it for a month or two, when my men were ambushed and was I captured by Xelloss and the Capriones. Xelloss knew whom he had captured, and I understood him in a roundabout way. Although Xelloss was thinking of using me for ransom, I'm sure things changed when he discovered the depth of my hatred for my kin. So, I bartered my allegiance in trade for my men's release and, well, here I am, in essence, a slave to Xelloss– but a willing one."
"He must trust you, too. He called you 'brother'." Lina wondered if Zelas was aware of his kinship to Rezo and if that was why she hated the young man. "Does Zelas know who you are?"
"Yes. She wanted me tortured then executed, but Xelloss convinced her I was of more use alive and saved me. I owe him my life, and that of my men whom he freed."
Lina could see the pain cross his expressive face, despite the scarring, and wondered if their mutual friendship would survive in the event of Xelloss' marriage to the woman Zelgadiss loved.
"Why do you think, no... why are you so certain I have it?"
"Xelloss sensed something when he was holding you, er, your arm, disarming you. A magic masking spell, but not one of your creation. He thought it was curious enough to mention when we were getting into the caravan for the ride back. I know what I'm looking for and although I don't have his... aptitude for detection, I know the item I want is cloaked in such a manner."
Lina liked this man of strong loyalties and honor, feeling a kinship with him in some way. He had his pride but he could live with his weaknesses, or work around them and not let them cripple his abilities. For that reason, she reached under her cloak into a hidden recess and pulled out a small assortment of items.
"Well? Anything look promising?"
"No," he said without a moment's hesitation. "Have you any others?"
Yes she did. She withdrew scads of interesting objects for his perusal, at least she thought so, but none received a second glance. On the third try, Zel's eyes lit upon a plain black statuette.
"That could contain it," he said.
"How . . . ?" Lina started to ask, but with lightening speed he knocked it from her grasp and dashed it upon the hard-packed dirt floor.
"Hey! You'll break it, you idiot!"
It hit hard and the outer case shattered, revealing at its heart a shiny black stone with a drilled hole at the top.
"Oh!" Lina gasped as Zel lunged for it.
They fought and claimed ownership alternatively with such vengeance that they nearly came to blows, when they were interrupted. A minor, but firm blast of a wind spell threw them apart and to the ground.
"What on earth are you doing?" Xelloss hissed at Zelgadiss. "You want to alert the entire camp that there is a treasure worth fighting for in here!"
Zelgadiss bowed his head. "I'm sorry. I lost my head."
Xelloss smiled. Swinging pendulum-like from his hand was the stone on a fine silver chain. "You lost your prize."
"That's mine!" Lina jumped to her feet. "How did you get that? And where did the chain come from?"
"Magic," he smiled continually. "Now, let's talk about how we are going to use this to our advantage."
Zelgadiss, Lina, and Xelloss looked at one another suspiciously. Lina heaved a sigh, breaking eye contact first. She had no better option but to cooperate under the circumstances.
"Okay, I like Zel here and trust him, and more importantly, I understand his motives," she said.
"And not mine?" Xelloss asked with a knowing smile.
"I trust that you have motives which might lead you to promote a cause I'm interested in," Lina said, cautiously. "So, if you'd elaborate on what makes you tick, I'm all ears."
"Well, that's a secret. You want me to trust you with my secrets?" he asked.
"That would be nice."
"And you'll be happy to reveal all yours in exchange?"
Her eyes flew wide in surprise, and then narrowed as anger brewed just below the surface.
"I see," he said with a knowing smile that irked her further. "Well, then, how about we call a truce and put our differences aside for the time being. If we put our heads together for a serious planning session, we'll have the best chance of success."
Lina couldn't fault his logic. As strange as the arrangement was, it provided Lina with new opportunities. Zelgadiss could make a great addition to her team of outlawed magic users. Xelloss had demonstrated knowledge of magic beyond hers; she could learn from him, possibly. If she simply escaped with Filia and Sylphiel, then she'd have nothing to show for her time. To get paid, she had to return Princess Amelia to her father. And besides, Xelloss had the magical stone.
They agreed one hundred percent that first on the agenda was to send messengers back to Prince Phil, asking him for more time. Xelloss explained what was going to happen in the next few days.
"Zelas will command me to offer Prince Philionel a 'bride price' to compensate Amelia's family for her loss, which will most likely involve the return of that trunk of his own money."
"Which we won't actually do, right?" Lina asked for clarification purposes.
"Right. I'll think of something else. Also included is the marriage offering in writing sealed with a bottle of wine wrapped in a necklace of coins and beads and a silk handkerchief. If the necklace is returned, then the marriage is agreed upon. When the princess is wed, she will wear the necklace, and it will be clear that she is no longer available to other young men. I figure to send him a few bottles of our clan's brandy. In one of these bottles, I will hide a note explaining what we are attempting to do, in brief, and a request for the return of the necklace to close the deal."
"I'd like to write that note," Zel began.
"No, I'd better do it," Lina broke in. "He knows me and might believe a subplot if I'm behind it."
"Makes sense," Zel agreed. "Did you know Amelia is wearing the royal seal on that bracelet on hers?"
"No, but an impression from that to seal this note of ours would go a long way to proving she's a part of our plan," Lina said.
"Or being used," Xelloss pointed out. "I think what you have to say will be the most influential. Make it short and--"
"Perfect. Got it. Leave it to me." Lina smiled confidently. "What next?"
"Magic training, what else?" Xelloss smiled to match her own.
"Oh, yeah . . . my sword, and my friends' weapons, too. We want them back."
"I'd like to know how do you plan to use the power amulet, now that you have that which is mine?" Zelgadiss asked.
"That, my friend, is a secret, for now!" Xelloss told him. "But I daresay it will see use in battle, and it had better be used by our side. So, Miss Lina, the sun will be setting soon, time to return you to your accommodations for the night."
He leaned closer, opening his eyes, assuring Lina's undivided attention. "Need I remind you that you must remain in your tent all night until someone comes to get you in the morning?"
"No, not that I'd want to go wandering around anyway," Lina grumbled.
What Lina wanted now was to get back and find out what her comrades had learned from the other Caprione men. She would abide by his rules tonight, but after that, there was no telling what she might do. Or when.
End Capriones, Chapter Five