A Meeting of Demigod and Gnome

Very very, very, very, late in coming - Its just I ran out of inspiration but now…grins evilly I got it back! I've still been reading Eyeshield 21 so the ideas for each upcoming character is taking form.

Now we just need to finish the NASA part and then go on to the Kyoshin Kingdom plus another filler chapter that explains exactly what happened to Hiruma and Kid so many years ago.

Enjoy!

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Mamori was jolted from a pleasant sleep by someone rapping emphatically at her door.
"Mamori? Where here! We have reached Takekura Ravine!" Monta yelled through the door.

Marmori yawned and stretched her arms above her head and groggily rolled out of bed. "I'm coming, I'm coming," She grumbled as she opened the door.

There stood the satyr with an eager look on his face. He grabbed one of Mamori's hands and began to drag her off quickly towards the stairs. "Come on! You have to see it! It's maxi-huge!"

Mamori followed with a small smile as the boy dragged her down the spiral staircase, past the fountain, and towards the door at the far end of the entrance hall.

Monta pushed open the wooden plain looking door among all the elaborate decorated ones to reveal Yukimitsu chatting good naturally with Sena.

"So then my mom asked if I wasn't taking my studying to be a mage seriously and then she got this scary look on her face so I lied just so I wouldn't have to deal with her wraith."

"She sounds like one those people ye be thinking are pleasant and really aren't." Sena replied gazing upwards. "Pretty high cliffs up there…"

Monta let go of Mamori's hand and moved to the side of the wagon and stared downwards. "This is maxi-awesome!" He exclaimed like a child at Christmas.

The brown haired girl joined the satyr and gazed down. It was truly a long way down from this narrow ledge they were on. The bottom of the takekura ravine could not be seen in the dark gloom, but the trickling of water suggested a raging river of some sort that had probably caused this ravine in the first place.

Mamori glanced up and stared in awe at the smooth sided walls of rock that were smoking in the morning light as the dew was evaporated off. It seemed as if this ravine was more then just a crack in the earth, but a long forgotten temple or city from the past.

"Wow…" Mamori whispered, completely awe-strucked.

Sena grinned and glanced up, "A wonderful natural wonder this be. It was here that Musashi the savage practiced, or so legend says."

"Also the home of the Grunt Grunt Gnomes." Muttered Monta looking around as if the gnomes were already leaping onto the wagon.

"What is so bad about these gnomes? Are they bad tempered?" Mamori asked curiously.

Monta and Sena shared a disbelieving glance before turning to stare wide eyed at Mamori as if she had grown another head. "Are you serious?"

"These gnomes not only can't speak in complete sentences but also throw wagons and people of cliffs!" Yukimitsu exclaimed.

"That's over doing it a bit…before you know it; the gnomes are going to be spitting fire and sucking your blood." Someone muttered from the doorway.

Turning the four, beheld Shin leaning against the frame with a bored look. Monta blinked at the white knight with a wide eyed look, "Really?!"

Shin rolled his eyes skyward, "No."

"Oh…" Monta said with a low voice and with a bit of embarrassment.

Mamori gazed ahead at the narrow path that traveled parallel to the sheer cliff on the left. She wasn't about to admit to the others that being this high up on a narrow ledge in a swaying wagon was a little bit terrifying. It seemed with just one little push they would all plummet to their dooms.

"Well, maybe we did fib a bit about what gnomes can do, but they are-"

The ravine shook as if a violent cough had taken it, sending boulders, rocks, and dust rolling down the slick walls of the canyon with a fury.

"Watch out!" Yukimitsu shouted diving to the ground as debris began to rain down on them.

Yet the bard didn't realize his crucial error until the panicked ponies had run off down the trail as he gaped in open shock, "Oh no…"

Another shudder went through the ravine and the wagon wavered on the edge of the trail overlooking a sheer drop to certain death for everyone in the wagon.

"Quick! If we all sit on this side of the wagon, we might be able to shift the weight!" Yukimitsu exclaimed flattening himself against Shin who was the heaviest person at the moment. The rest of the party sitting up front complied and the wagon slowly began to tilt back to the path.

Mamori held her breath waiting for the tell tale thud of the wagon returning to equal leveling. It had almost reached that point when Sakuraba poked his head out, pushing open the heavy wooden door, "Is something wrong?" He questioned before the wagon tilled the rest of the way off the cliff.

The world began a dancing swirl of gray with flashes off color to Mamori as she clung desperately to the first handhold she could find as the wagon plummeted. Her mind raced with frantic thoughts and regrets but the one thought that screamed out the loudest was, "I don't want to die here!"

Yet the wagon was not controlled by thought, or else it would have stopped in midair from the desperate pleas they were all thinking as the wagon hit another outcropping sending into another spin into the air.

Mamori shut her eyes to block out the swirling world which was causing her stomach to whirl around in a gymnastic routine. Another bang and the brown haired girl felt her grip loosen on whatever it was and she began to fall free.

Her eyes flew open and she let out a panicked scream. Mamori stared at the floor of the ravine inches away from her nose and glanced up. The wagon was hovering just above her and by there wide eyed looks, they hardly believed that they survived.

Mamori inched out from underneath the shadow of the wagon and peeked up the cliffs trying to figure out who or what had saved them. The sunlight filtered down from above casting beams of light briefly in some places along the ravines floor. The river, a few feet of way bumbled happily along.

The shadowy figure that stood a few yards above the levitating wagon, one hand rose above its head in a clenched fist that had an orange aura.

Mamori couldn't see any defining features about this figure even though he had saved them from an untimely death. The glow around its fist disappeared and it turned and nodded at Mamori as if they were long lost friends before a sudden wind picked up and seemed to blow the figure into oblivion.

She blinked, staring at the spot the man had been a few minutes in confusion. Who was that man?," She wondered briefly.

Shin leapt of the carriage and glanced up the cliffs almost as if he also knew something or someone had intervened.

"Arg…what just happened?" Sakuraba moaned holding his head in his hand, "I've felt like someone tossed me in a whirlpool."

"We fell of the cliff and somehow landed at the bottom uncrushed, not dead, and perfectly fine." Yukimitsu said with an air of relief.

"No…someone stopped it." Mamori quietly said. The others stopped and their attention zoomed in on the girl who still was staring upwards.

"I…I didn't see him but he had an orange aura." She supplied off handedly.

"Hmm…not a demon. All demons have red auras and neither was it a naga." Shin mused out loud.

"An odd color indeed." Sakuraba stated, "Usually no one has that color of aura unless-"

"there a demi-god." Finished Yukimitsu with a worried look.

The wind blew a shrieking gale threw the canyon like a haunting melody played by a skilled musician. The air seemed to drop a few degrees colder as the knowledge sunk in.

"A demigod…a person born of heaven and earth untouched by the burning hells." Sakuraba recited, "I never thought one would save us."

"Yeah but I thought that the demigods went extinct with nagas and demons long ago." Monta piped up curiously.

"Well Hiruma is still around and that naga back at Taiyo didn't look too dead so I guess demigods are still around too." Sena said with a shrug, "But there be no records of any demigods around her other then Musashi the Savage."

"You mentioned him before but you said it was only a legend." Mamori pointed out.

"Yeah…according to historians, the two demon lords, Musashi, and the God monster of the sea fought in the Battle of Titans against the nagas over six hundred years ago. But something happened and everything between those three powers fell apart after the demon lords somehow betrayed everyone else." Yukimitsu described with the air of a teacher, "That was when the great arch mages sealed Hiruma and the Kid. Although no one knows where either one is now."

The wagon door opened again and Rui leapt out with an agitated face. "What the hell just happened?!"

"We fell off a cliff but it seems an unexpected ally saved us." Shin answered simply.

"Oh…er…was it Hiruma?" Rui quavered already searching for the demon lord.

"No. Actually I haven't seen him since Taiyo." Sena divulged rubbing the back of his head.

"Probably is terrorizing some town for kicks." Rui muttered under his breath, eyes still scanning for the elusive demon.

Mamori sighed and looked off down the river, "Maybe we should follow this river since I doubt where going to scale these sheer cliffs back up to the trail."

"But what about the wagon? I don't think we can go very far without the horses pulling it." Yukimitsu asked eyeing the wagon incredulously.

"Friends!" A harsh voice suddenly yelled.

The group whirled around as a short blur rushed towards them that hit Kurita and latched itself to his leg.

"Er…" Sakuraba muttered pointing at the short slightly hairy person clinging to the half troll's leg, "What is that?"

"A gnome." Shin answered bluntly, "I saw one once when I was sent to help battle the Spider of Spire Peak."

Sena knelt down and stared at the gnome, "I never saw one up close…" He muttered in curiosity.

The gnome turned and looked up at them, his red nose gleaming slightly from the sun shinning down from the top of the ravine, "Daikichi Komusubi!" It yelled as it jabbed a finger into its chest.

"Huh?" Monta queried staring at the gnome in confusion, "What does Daikichi Komuwasbi mean?"

"It's his name." Shin stated.

"How can you tell? Do you speak gnomish or something now?" Rui snarled at the knight with a look of contempt.

Shin nodded ignoring the contempt in the bandit lord's voice, "Of course. Gnomish is the language of true men."

Sakuraba shrugged in confusion, "Well we will go with that. So what does it want?"

The gnome turned and pointed at the sky, "Naga! Kicker! Big Fight! City gone!" Komusubi barked.

Mamori's brow furrowed, "A naga and a kicker…." She though out loud.

"A weird choice of words indeed…It seems a legendary kicker and a Naga where battling and the city of the gnomes were totally wiped out like Taiyo." Shin said.

Mamori blinked as the realization of who they were talking about hit her like a ton of bricks, "Musashi!" She exclaimed.

The others looked at her funny as she stood in shock at this sudden revelation, "Musashi is here! That is the legendary kicker he was talking about. It couldn't be anyone else!"

"Slow down lass! We aren't certain about that." Sena said, "This legendary kicker could be…but now that you mention it, who else could take on a naga other then a demigod?"

Monta nodded in agreement, "Demigods are high on the list of powerful beings so of course one would try to protect the gnomes from a bloodthirsty naga."

The earth shook again and rocks piled in around them. Rui leapt aside barely as a huge boulder came crashing to a stop where he had just be standing. "Geeze! All this shaking is going to get us-"

A huge shriek filled the air as a white blur flew over there heads about fifty feet up. Mamori watched in aw as a Chinese dragon looking creature whooshed by over head, its blue eyes matching the wild blue mane of its hair glaring venomously at a small figure leaping towards it.

"NAGA!" Sakuraba yelled diving for cover. The rest of the party dove out of sight as the awesome creature streaked back towards them.

Then nagas jaw opened wide revealing curled white and a cracking blue flame issued from its maw. The figure leapt impossibly high into the sky and nimbly dodged the incoming barrage.

The naga hissed and it coiled itself around an outcropping on the wall, "You have guts demigod." It roared angrily, "Master Agon will have your skin for this!"

"I do not fear your king." The figure answered its voice rumbling with a distinctive male voice, "Nor do I fear any demon. Now fight you cowardly serpent!"

The naga hissed again and lowered its head in a threatening manner. A circular bright red scale in the middle of its forehead gleamed dangerously, "Know this well demigod trash! I am Ikkyū Hosakawa of the nagas of Christmas Bowl. This world will fall to the nagas so you better smarten up and aid us or end up like the demons and humans!"

With that the naga let out one last shriek and jetted off into the sky before seemingly blowing away in the wind piece by piece.

The figure sighed and dropped his hands to his side, "Nagas. Never a good sign."

"Um…excuse me?" Mamori squeaked as she peaked out from behind a rock, "Are you Musashi?"

The figure nodded before throwing back its hood revealing the familiar features of the devil bats kicker, "Greetings arch mage and well met. I am Musashi the savage at your service."

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He was a tireless man, a strong man, an iron man. He had not moved from this spot for hundreds of years due to the magical chains, but now they where weakening and disappearing. This odd tingle of strong magic that was very familiar crept into his consciences with the last words his master had said to him; Get help! Find Hiruma and Mamori!

From out of the marshes arose a man of iron with set features and a purpose to his stride. He knew now where the arch mage of demon was and where the true king of Christmas Bowl was. He knew now what he had to do to save Kid.

He had to find them.

Tetsuma ran through the marshes, not even caring when a swamp swallowed him up or a bramble caught around his neck. He felt nothing on his iron skin and only heard the words of his master and the beating of his iron heart.

"Find Hiruma and Mamori….Find Hiruma and Mamori…." The voice echoed in the wind faintly and Tetsuma nodded. He would find them. He would find them to free his dear friend and Master Kid.

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"So the Savage one has dared to defy my will." Agon murmured, one hand clenching slightly into a fist.

Ikkyū nodded, "He holds dear his principles of honor and to protect the weak." The smaller naga piped as he shrunk into his human form.

"No matter," Agon said with a dismissing wave, "He wasn't that important anyways. Has my brother, Unsui, reported in from Kyoshin?"

"No my lord, he has not but the Haha Dragon has reported the complete destruction of the Deimon country. Nothing is left but barren wastelands now." Ikkyu reported with a small grin.

Agon smirked and pulled out a slightly worn book with an odd language printed on the front cover, "Excellent. Everything is going according to plan and soon, "He paused and his grin increased, "Not even the combined might of the realm will be able to stop me!"

Ikkyu grinned and bowed slightly, "Now if you would excuse me, I have to complete some unfinished business."

"Of course. Make sure to give the savage on my regards." Agon said with an unpleasant leer.

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The suspense! The drama! The author (me) always ending chapters with cliffhangers!