Chapter 2: Mistaken Identity is Kind of Annoying
The next day, Amelia had a stroke of luck. A merchant wagon that had been spending the night in the town happened to be traveling in the same direction Amelia was. They agreed to take her to the trading city of Sheston (Which was close to Stone Ridge) in exchange for hiring her as a bodyguard. Better yet, they expected to get there in 10 days at the most.
Amelia sat in the back of the wagon, feeling rather bored. It had been an uneventful 4 days since she had left the town, and she'd had very little to do since then. In all, she was traveling with two merchants. One was a gruff, elderly-looking bearded man, named Garrett, who spent most of the trip manning the reins. The other, Amelia gathered, was his grandson, Kito, a soft-spoken young boy who always had his nose in a book (though where he kept getting them from Amelia had no idea). The only thing the pair of them seemed to have in common was that they only spoke when they deemed it absolutely necessary. From Amelia's perspective, they couldn't get to Sheston fast enough.
Still, she reasoned, I should probably consider myself lucky. We've made excellent progress. I'll get to Stone Ridge in the half the time I originally thought. But there was still a nagging doubt in the back of her mind. In her experience, this sort of luck was the kind that was too good to last. So something bad should be happening very soon…
Right on cue there was an explosion. Kito screamed like a little girl, and in front of the wagon Amelia heard the horse neigh in terror as Garrett swore loudly. From somewhere outside the wagon came the sound of insane laughter. The wagon spun out of control, and Amelia quickly chanted Levitation and flew out of the wagon just as it crashed on the side of the road.
The source of the insane laughter turned out to be one of the bandits from the bandit gang Amelia destroyed a few days earlier. The Tornadoes she believed they were called. This guy was probably the leader of the Tornadoes.
He grinned maniacally and pointed a finger at Amelia. "You!" he shouted. "I'm gonna make you pay for what you did to my gang you little witch!" he cackled some more, before adding: "And don't think you can beat was with your little sorcery tricks either! This time, I brought a sorcerer of my own with me!" He gestured towards a tall man wearing long flowing robes standing next to him, and grinned evilly. "Lina Inverse, prepare to die!"
Amelia blinked and looked around wildly. Was Miss Lina somewhere nearby?
"Duclis," the robed man said sharply. "This isn't Lina Inverse."
The bandit looked puzzled. "She isn't?"
"No," the sorcerer shook his head. "She doesn't fit the description at all. Lina Inverse is red-haired, flat-chested, and dresses more like a sorceress."
Duclis pouted. "You mean to tell me you caused that explosion, and I made that whole evil villain speech, all for nothing?"
The sorcerer looked back at Amelia and smiled icily. "Not necessarily. You are Amelia Wil Tesla Seyruun, correct?"
Instead of responding, Amelia unleashed a volley of Flare Arrows. It wasn't that she was so against revealing her identity. It was just that she'd chanted the Flare Arrows in the middle of Duclis and the sorcerer's little banter, and it had been at the precise moment he'd asked her that she was forced to release the spell.
The sorcerer levitated into the air, bringing a panicky Duclis with him just as the fiery arrows hit the exact spot he'd been standing in. "Well," he said mildly, "Regardless of who you are, you are certainly a formidable opponent. My name is Morris. I'm sure we'll meet again." He switched to Ray Wing and vanished into the night.
While Amelia had been dealing with Duclis and Morris, Kito and Garrett had managed to get out of the fallen wagon to safety. They hadn't escaped the crash without injury, but it was nothing Amelia couldn't handle.
Amelia climbed inside her bedroll and gazed at the stars, pondering the day's events. Why had Duclis and Morris attacked her? She already knew that it was partly because Duclis wanted revenge. But that didn't explain Morris. He couldn't be a bandit himself. Because of their magical abilities, sorcerers were capable enough to make a living through far more profitable means than banditry. But he might be a mercenary, hired by the bandits… Yes, that seemed much more likely.
Yet even with that in mind, there were still things Amelia didn't understand. For instance, when Duclis and Morris had realized she wasn't Lina, Duclis had worried their efforts were "all for nothing." That didn't make sense. If revenge for beating them up was his real goal in attacking her, why should it matter who she really was? Unless they had some other reason for attacking her. Or rather, some other reason for wanting to attack Lina.
It was all very confusing, and Amelia couldn't make sense of it. She wondered what she should do next. Warn Lina, or continue looking for Zelgadis? Miss Lina can take care of herself, she decided finally. I need to know Mr. Zelgadis is safe first.
A/N: Nothing much to say. Hope I've kept things in character. R&R please!