Zelgadis' Gambit
Chapter: 13
The Hunt
Let's check back on some of the other characters.
The bandits laughed as the ale flowed from the kegs they had relieved from a local bar. The ruckus spewed out of the cave that they had made their home as the group continued in their drunkenness. The bandits sat around the inside of the cave with no one on guard since they felt that no one would dare bother them. The boss of the group sat by the kegs in the back so he could have direct access to the alcohol they had acquired. The bandits laughed again as the boss raised his glass, "Good times boys. Drink up and enjoy."
The group gave a shout as they all took a long drink of the ale. As the mugs came down the bandits were greeted by a stranger among them. The man was tall with long purple hair that came down to his shoulders. His dress was that of creams and blacks and looked to be a traveling priest. His eyes were closed and his lips were arched into a smile as he replied, "You seem to be enjoying yourselves. I hate to interrupt but I would like to ask you a question."
The boss looked at the man before saying, "We don't care what you want. Now, hand over that nice staff of yours and get out before we decide against letting you live."
The group laughed lowly as they began to surround the man. The priest did not move or flinch he just stood there smiling at the boss. After a moment one of the bandits rushed forward with his dagger drawn. As the bandit was about to thrust forward the stranger swung around and punched him in the face. The bandit flew back and into the wall of the cave with a huge crash. The priest turned back to the boss while slowly opening his eyes and saying, "Let's try this again. I have a question to asked and you will answer me."
The bosses eyes grew wide as he looked at the slit eyes of one of the monster race. He held up his hand to tell the men to back off. "What do you want to know?"
Xellos smiled before saying, "That's better. I'm trying to find a man by the name of the Black Wolf. I have come to understand that you were a lackey of his and that I might find some information on your former boss."
The bandit boss looked at the man before saying, "You're wasting your time. If the Wolf doesn't want to be found then you won't find him. I ran with him for a while, got some decent money, and left after that witch girl attacked us."
Xellos quickly shifted in front of the man before saying, "So you were there when Lina attacked."
The man's eyes grew wide as Xellos was less than a foot away with a smile on his face. The man replied quickly, "Look, she attacked us and then went after the wolf...that's all I saw."
Xellos picked the man up by the neck as he straightened to his full height. Xellos opened his eyes and stared at the man before saying, "Are you sure you didn't miss anything? Like say the direction the wolf ran in when Lina came at him?"
The man grabbed Xellos' wrist to keep from being strangled as he replied, "No...He was in the underground lab...there was no other way out then through Lina Inverse."
Xellos let the man fall before he turned on his heel. "Thanks for your time," came Xellos' snide remark before he phased out of the cave.
Amelia sighed as she looked out over the landscape as she looked at the map she carried. She had marked off another country as she started to think on her next move. 'It's like Miss Lina just disappeared. No one, anywhere that we have searched, has seen Miss Lina since that night,' Amelia thought to herself as she turned around and sat on a nearby rock.
As Amelia continued to ponder over Lina's disappearance she looked to her traveling companion. Gourry, who was working on building a fire for the night, had been silent through most of the search. He only spoke up when anyone would not speak about what they knew about the missing sorceress. Amelia continued to watch Gourry as he went about his task without looking up or saying a word. 'Mr Gourry is getting worse. He won't interact with anyone unless he has to...we need to find Miss Lina soon.'
As Amelia was about to move a shadow was cast over the camp site. Amelia looked up to see a gold dragon slowly make its descent towards the campsite. Amelia smiled as she saw the large, pink bow that was tied on the dragon's tail. After a moment the dragon landed before turning into Filia. The young woman smiled as he golden hair shone in the setting sunlight. She looked at Amelia before announcing, "I have a lead!"
Amelia's eyes brightened and was about to ask about the lead when another voice broke into the conversation, "And, here I thought you were just wasting time sampling tea," as Xellos appeared next to Filia.
Filia glared at Xellos before turning and saying, "And, you smell like you've been skulking around a bar for a few nights."
Xellos smirked as he meet the dragon with another remark, "Well, when you are actually doing your job there is a need to stay around some sketchy individuals."
Filia huffed and turned her chin away from Xellos before saying, "And, look where that got you. No lead and smelling bad."
Xellos was about to fire back when Amelia shouted, "Enough!"
Both of the group stopped their quarrel and looked at the young princess after her loud outburst that even got Gourry to look up. After all had gone silent Amelia inhaled before saying, "Now, what is this lead?"
Filia smiled, as if to get the last jab on Xellos, before saying, "I've heard rumors of a powerful sorceress that is gaining fame in the land of Freysa. She matches Lina's description. The only problem is she is calling herself by the name of Rose."
Amelia thought for a second before saying, "That is strange...someone that looks like Lina, and strong like Lina in the new world. Anything else?"
"Yes," Filia continued, "She has a companion by the name of Grey that is said to be a powerful shaman."
"And, what does this Grey person have to do with this," Xellos replied.
Filia smirked before replying, "Grey is a chimera made of stone."
Amelia's eyes grew wide as the connection was made, "But, their is only one chimera like that."
"So Zel is with her," came the unexpected voice of Gourry.
Everyone looked back to see Gourry smiling for the first time in a couple of months. He stood up before saying, "If Zel is there then we know that Lina is safe."
Amelia nodded before saying, "But, why is Zel there? Why are they using assumed names? Are they hiding from something?"
Filia shrugged before replying, "Not much is known about the two other than they are loyal to the king of Freysa and are powerful mages."
Amelia smiled before posing on the rock and pointing to the air, "Then for justice and friendship we will head to Freysa!"
The carriage continued down the road as the platoon of soldiers continued to march in step with the rolling box. Inside the two mages sat as they rolled down the road towards their destination. The seating arrangements inside the carriage had changed as now Grey sat on the backseat with Rose next to him. The red haired sorceress sat with her arm intertwined with Grey's as she laid her head on his shoulder. Rose breathed slowly as she enjoyed being close to Grey. She breathed in again to catch the earthy smell that was a part of Grey. Rose sighed before lowering her hand to Grey's hand and took hold. Rose squeezed Grey's hand before looking up at the chimera and saying, "Well, now the ride doesn't seem as bad."
Grey smirked as he looked down at Rose. He ran his free hand through her hair before saying, "The ride was never going to be the bad part of this job."
Rose lifted her head and looked at Grey before smiling and saying, "No matter what happens we'll get through it. We will make peace one way or another."
"I'm more worried about how they'll react to us. Seeing as how powerful mages and chimera are pretty much non-existent in this area of the world," Grey replied as brought his head down on to rest on top of Rose's head.
Rose smiled as she heard Grey inhale into her hair. She sighed as she stayed near and said, "I know...but we can't worry about that. We are here for Freysa and that's all that matters."
Disclaimer: Any characters or ideas from The Slayers do not belong to me. I am not selling this material, just writing for the heck of it as I go.
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