The Fight Begins! Kassandra or the pendant?
"Ahh!! What are they?" Amelia asked, shielding Kassandra from the flying forms harassing them.
"They're bats," Zelgadis responded, swing his sword in attempt to strike the creatures down. "There's too many of them, Amelia take the kid and run."
"But Mr. Zelgadis…." Amelia began but an usually large bat flew at her and cut her words off.
"Just go!" the stone man shouted, irritated at their situation.
Amelia ran holding the child's hand through a candle-lit corridor but the bats followed them anyway. Amelia pushed ahead into an empty chamber and crouched over the little girl, waiting for the claws and bites of the winged creatures. After several tense seconds Amelia opened his sapphire eyes and looked at Kassandra.
"What?" Amelia wondered, look up to where the silent girl was pointing. High above them bats were circling the barrel vault ceiling. Amelia watched them with a strange fascination. What were they waiting for?
"Amelia!" Zelgadis' voice rang through the empty room. He ran in, sword back in its sheath with a light orb hovering above him. The bats flew at him but stopped short and flew back up towards the ceiling in a panic. "Amelia, are you alright?" he asked her, keeping an eye on the large creatures.
The princess nodded. "They just started flying in a circle until you came in," she told him.
Zelgadis's eyes narrowed in suspicion. "This doesn't look good," he said before a rumbling behind them told them that their only entrance had closed. "A trap!"
"That really isn't good," Amelia stated, looking around in the dark. She summoned a light orb to join Zelgadis's only to have the large bats scatter in the air above them in a frenzy.
Lina rubbed her head and checked on Alyssa, next to her. Seeing that they were both fine, the sorceress cast a light spell and looked around. It seemed that they were in a corridor after falling through a trap door. Somehow, those never failed to open up under her wherever she was.
"Which way do we go?" Alyssa asked, also casting a light spell.
"This way," Lina decided, going right. Some feet ahead they spotted a door. "Wait behind me," Lina told Alyssa and blew the door up.
Amelia and Zelgadis looked at the door in alarm then both had sweat drops by their hair when they saw their rash red-haired friend.
"Nice way to enter a trap," Zelgadis commented dryly. Kassandra ran from them and clutched onto her elder sister's pants.
"Thank goodness you're all right," Alyssa said, smoothing her sister's hair. She looked up and gasped. "They're enormous!"
A high laugh echoed in the chamber and the group's attention was drawn to the dark figure of a woman standing on a ledge. The flying bats made it even more difficult to see their host.
"Welcome to my home," came a sultry voice from the ledge. "I'm glad you all made it in one piece for my new pet to tear you apart." On cue, the pet joined the group on the ground, growling fiercely. Lina gasped though she knew something like this would happen. "Try whatever you want," the woman said from her hiding place, "He's under my control now."
"Why are you doing this to Mr. Gourry?' Amelia shouted, keeping an eye on their lost friend.
"You have something I want," the woman said simply, "aside from destroying Lina Inverse!"
"Why me?" Lina mumbled to herself as she tried to think of an exit. She glanced at the door she blew up and whispered to Alyssa. The girl shook her head and stayed in place.
"Enough dallying! Attack!"
Gourry charged at Amelia, claws outstretched only to be butted by Zelgadis.
"Gourry, fight that monster!" the stone man shouted, hand on sword but hesitant to pull it out.
"He can't be really gone, can he?" Amelia asked, reading to use a spell. She prayed inwardly that she wouldn't have to. For all of Gourry's faults he was a good person and one of her only three friends, five now counting the sisters.
Gourry let out a high pitched sonic scream that reverberated off the walls and sent the group on their knees. Alyssa covered Kassandra's ears, squeezing her eyes shut to concentrate on protecting her little sister.
"Stop!" shouted a little voice, though no one heard…except Gourry and the monster bats.
"What is this?!" the woman asked her minions. "Why have you stopped attacking?" The bats now clung to the high ceiling and remained motionless. After a moment, everyone else noticed something had gone in their favor. In fury, the woman jumped down to the ground and glared down at a docile Gourry. Now everyone could see the woman clearly and took up their guard. She had pale skin, dark disheveled hair, and red slitted-eyes.
"I should have guessed you were a mazukou," Lina said in disgust. They never failed to show up around her either.
The demon smiled and with a powerful swing of her thin arm she sent Gourry flying into the wall behind her. "Useless," she said. She turned back towards Lina and locked her eyes on the little girl behind her. "At last."
Almost too quick for them to see, the mazukou was beside Alyssa and snatched Kassandra from her. With a cold laugh, she held the bat totem in one hand and Kassandra over the ledge in the other.
"No! Don't let her go!" Alyssa shouted, running under her sister.
"Monster!" Zelgadis shouted, casting a Raywing and flying towards the child and woman.
"With this, I will destroy you all!" The totem pendant glowed softly then turned into a dark glow. The bats squeaked and began to fly about in frenzy again, aiming to hit Zelgadis and the others below. Gourry sat up and joined in the attack. Zelgadis was pelted with large bats and tumbled to ground, losing his concentration on the spell.
Alyssa fired a light spell above her head and it seemed to have stunned the bats. Just as she was about to tell the others, the bats began to attack in earnest, the light only infuriating them. Swords were slashing and parrying but it only wore Lina and Zelgadis out.
"Amelia, get to Alyssa and distract these flying rats for a bit!" Her sword took two bats down, "Zelgadis, hold of Gourry as long as you can," she took down another bat, "I'm going for the pendant."
With little time to insert an argument, Amelia shouted to the sorceress to be careful and made her way towards the defenseless new-mage. Zelgadis turned his sword towards Gourry and engaged him in battle.
"Alyssa! Cast another Light spell," the princess instructed as she cut her way towards her with her dagger. Alyssa raised her arm weakly, being severely scratched and bitten and cast a light orb into the air. With home slide, Amelia cast a temporary bubble barrier to cast Recovery on Alyssa. When Alyssa was healed enough to continue casting spells, the bubble burst.
"Get the pendant!" Alyssa shouted to Lina, who was flying straight above them. "Kassandra can control the bats!"
Amelia glanced at Alyssa before firing another Fire Ball at the bats. "Are you sure Alyssa?"
Alyssa cast a weak Fire Ball but it managed to burn the wings of a persistent bat. She answered, "The totem belongs to her, and except for that monster, anyone else wouldn't be able to use it,"another spell, " at least that's what the elders told us about the totems."
The mazukou laughed. "You want the girl?" She tossed Kassandra out into the air. "Try to save her now." Kassandra screamed.
We are approaching the end, I hope all you readers have enjoyed it so far. Thank you to all who review. It lets me know that someone is reading what I write and liking it (I assume). It keeps me writing chapters because I know from those who review that you look forward to what happens next. Thanks again.