Chapter 8: Try Again

Leodin gave a heavy sigh as he pinched the bridge of his nose, water dripping over his eyebrows and onto his hand. The rain had only gotten heavier, and it continued to fall on him and Naga, soaking their clothes and hair.

"They took the treasure…"

In the commotion of the battle, Leodin had dropped most of the sacks of jewels and gold he had picked up from the tomb. They had thankfully filled their personal wallets, but that had just been a fraction of the total. Now all that they could see was a muddy road with some footprints on the verge of being washed away.

"Uhg, the nerve of some people," Naga scoffed with a shake of her head, hands on her hips and somewhat oblivious to Leodin's mood. "I'll just have to severely punish them for-"

"Enough talking!" Leodin snapped before he crouched to examine the footprints; they were going north. "Come on, I'm not letting them get away!" The warrior took off in a sprint as he followed the footprints, each step he took splashing dirty water and silt.

"Leodin, wait for me! Oh…!" Naga ran after him, doing her best to keep up. Even with her long strides Leodin was faster. "Rey Wing!" The sorceress left the ground and flew up beside the blond. "Hey, you almost kicked the bucket. Maybe you should come up with a plan of attack. Not that I need a-"

"I don't have time!" Leodin shouted, his heart pounding, raindrops splattering his face. "Ambush 'em, beat 'em, interrogate 'em!" He grunted as he pushed himself to run even faster. Naga frowned, her brow creasing as she flew up behind Leodin and grabbed him by the arm, pulling her into her air bubble.

"Hey, what gives?!" Leodin growled as he was carried up. "Put me back down!"

"Shut up and let me help you," Naga replied sternly. "You're just going to get killed again if you try to fight them all out of breath, and I don't think I have another Resurrection spell in me. You're welcome, by the way."

Leodin's winced at that. He kept his mouth shut and his eyes on the road. At the very least, flying over the muddy road was more efficient than running. Squinting at the horizon line between the grey sky and dark, wet grass, the warrior finally saw a town ahead, small and rustic, nestled not far from the foot of the mountains. "There, that must be where they went!"

Naga nodded and picked up speed. They flew up to the town, the Rey Wing spell shielding them from the rain, and landed in front of the main gate. Leodin saw the footprints of Oulette, Tekanta, and the two men enter only to become lost in a sea of tracks from the local citizens and livestock. He grit his teeth in frustration, but he was expecting this.

"We need to start looking and asking around," the blond said as he marched into the town square where a statue of a hero in a winged helmet with a spear stood on a pedestal in the middle of the street, which had turned from dirt into hard cobblestone. Leodin's eyes darted back and forth frantically until he spotted an older man in a raincoat carrying a crate of milk bottles. "You! Did you see a sorceress in white and a girl with a mohawk pass through here?"

"H-huh?!" The man was taken off guard. "Uh-uh a sorceress? Well, I think I might have heard about some adventuring folks coming through earlier-"

"Are they still here?!" Leodin asked as he approached with a mad glint in his eyes. "Where are they? Which way did they go?!" He roughly grabbed the milkman by the collar, making him yelp.

"I-I-I don't know, that's just what I heard!" The man answered timidly, the milk bottles rattling as he began to tremble. "Adventurers pass through here sometimes, it's not that unusual. There are bandits in the forests if that's who you're looking for, Vhizam's gang, but they usually stay clear of town and stick to the mountain pass. Y-you might want to check the shops or the local inn though!"

"That's all? Gah…!" Leodin huffed loudly, letting go and turning away as he threw up his hands in frustration. "Useless!" The older man took the opportunity to flee back to his business.

"Leo, if you scare the locals like that, you won't get anything out of them. I think the poor guy almost wet himself," Naga tutted, earning a glare from her companion. "You should instead scare them with an aura of dominant authority like I do! OOOOhohohoho-"

"Take this seriously!" Leodin barked. "If you really want to help me then please, no messing around…"

Naga ceased her laughing. She stared into Leodin's eyes, then noticed how he clutched the long fang hanging from his neck. The sorceress let out a tired sigh and shrugged.

"Very well, we can ask around the markets if they've seen anything," Naga replied with bemusement. "Then we can check the inn and maybe grab a bite. It's almost lunch and I'm starving."

"Damn it," Leodin cursed under his breath as he slammed his tankard down on the wooden table after taking a big drink. "If I'd been just a little faster…" Naga raised an eyebrow at him while she sipped her own drink, letting her companion seethe in silence.

Naga and Leodin had asked the locals if they had seen the sorceress Oulette and the roguish Tekanta pass through. The townsfolk remembered the two striking women's appearances but little else. While they had indeed stopped to pick up some supplies, the two had not stayed at the local inn and seemed to have left as quickly as they came. Several of them thought they might have been associated with a local bandit gang, one that usually stuck to robbing rich travelers going between cities, but it was all irrelevant to Leodin. With no leads, they were now in the tavern waiting for the rain to clear. Needless to say, Leodin was in a particularly sour mood.

"Hey," Naga spoke up, quickly getting Leodin's attention. He looked up at her irritably, about to ask her what she wanted, but her piercing gaze stopped him. It was about now that Leodin really noticed how oddly quiet Naga had been for the last hour. "I think it's time you told me what's really up with you and this Grohl character."

Leodin flinched and sucked in his breath before turning his gaze away from her. "He betrayed me and left me for dead," Leodin mumbled. "That's all you need to know."

"I already figured that much," Naga replied more sternly as she leaned across the table to point at him. "But I'm going to need some more details. I've met my share of revenge seekers, but few I've seen lose their heads like you did at the mention of a name."

Leodin clenched his jaw tightly, staring at nothing in particular for a moment before he dared to glance back at Naga's piercing ice-blue orbs. He let out an exasperated sigh as he shifted around to face her. "Why do you even care…"

"I care because I don't want you flying off the handle and getting me killed," Naga replied and leaned back in her seat. "Or at least causing us to lose our treasure again…come on, I saved your life twice now, I think I more than deserve your trust."

Leodin's expression softened a moment as he felt a brief pang of humility. The blond took another long sip of his drink and gave another long sigh as he relented. "Fine, I'll tell you, but don't go telling anyone else…" He reached for the long white fang that hung from his neck, thumbing the edge and the sharp point. "Do you know what kind of tooth this is?"

"Huh?" Naga was not expecting such a question. "No, but it looks like it came from some massive predator. A dragon?"

"No, a gwazi," Leodin replied softly. "It's like a lion or a tiger, but way bigger. They're very rare, at least around here. This fang belonged to a gwazi I killed…ten years ago."

"Wait, ten years?" Naga asked as she squinted suspiciously. "You would have been, what, twelve? I find that hard to believe. Not that I haven't met some powerful children."

"Yeah well believe it, now let me tell the rest of the story," Leodin said with slight annoyance. He composed himself and continued. "You're right, I was a kid, wandering from village to village, until I met them…Grohl's Brigade. Back then it was just about five of them, but they were known around the Kataart Mountains as some pretty tough slayers."

"You lived in the Kataart Mountains?" Naga asked. "Those are swarming with demons. No place for children."

"There are still people living at the edges," Leodin replied tiredly. "The desperate kind of people, driven out of normal society. That or they're just crazy, or brave enough. You need to be pretty tough to make it in that wilderness, and Grohl's Brigade was the toughest." He frowned and clenched his fist as he stared at the bottom of his tankard. "I wanted to join them so bad…and they let me. At least I thought so…"

"So what happened then?" Naga asked as she stared intently at Leodin and sipped her drink, growing more intrigued. "You must have done something that impressed them."

"No," Leodin shook his head bitterly. "They were just humoring me, letting me tag along after I bothered them. I guess they thought I was funny, when I wasn't being a pest…" He felt the gwazi fang. "I knew I had to prove myself to them somehow, so they would take me seriously."

"And what did you do?" Naga leaned in, all ears. Leodin noticed her eyes shimmering, making him feel a tad uneasy, but not in a bad way…

"I wanted to show how strong I was by killing a monster, on my own," Leodin continued. "One day, while we…they, were in a village to cull some dire wolves, something else came that night to raid their livestock, the gwazi. That's when I knew I had my chance."

"And you did kill it, right?" Naga asked. "I mean, how does a kid without any magic take on a monster? Did you use your axes? Did anyone train you?"

"I didn't have my axes then," Leodin replied. "I didn't have any combat training either. Just a dagger and some good survival skills. It was pretty stupid of me to think I could hunt down a gwazi, I should have died…"

"But you're not dead," Naga stated with a hint of irritance. "So stop leaving me in suspense and tell me what went down."

"I'm getting to it," Leodin huffed. "I tracked the gwazi to its lair, a cave on the side of a mountain. It was asleep. I thought about trying to just stab it in the heart or slitting its throat, but I knew my blade wasn't long or sharp enough. I'd just wake it up and it'd eat me. So, I came up with a plan, a trap."

"A trap to capture it?" Naga asked, resting her chin on her palms. Leodin tried not to let her distract him. He shook his head.

"Capturing a gwazi would have been something, but no," Leodin began to explain. "Lucky me, there was a landslide just waiting to happen right above the cave entrance. I didn't know if there were enough rocks to cover the cave mouth, or if the gwazi could just dig out. I had to time it just right. So, I killed a deer, laid it outside the cave as bait, climbed above, and waited."

"A landslide…?" Naga was quiet a moment, as though a thought had come into her head, an expression of slight confusion on her face.

"Something wrong?" Leodin asked. Naga shook her head.

"Not at all, please, I want to know what happened next!"

"Okay…well, I waited a while, watching from above, ready to push a big boulder once the gwazi took the bait," Leodin said. "The monster came out and started feeding on the carcass, but there were two problems…"

"It was a mother and had two babies with her!" Naga interrupted with an excited grin and pointed at him. "You killed a mother and made orphans of her cubs. How horrible of you. I think you were the real monster!" Leodin glared with tired eyes, his veins throbbing as he resisted the urge to throttle the sorceress.

"That's not what happened, now let me tell the story," Leodin sighed. "My two problems were one, a deer is a quick meal for a gwazi, and two, a boulder is a little too heavy for a twelve year old to push. I struggled to even make it budge. I accidentally let a pebble fall and the gwazi saw me. I thought I was done for when the monster jumped up and started scaling the mountain toward me, but then…"

"But then?"

"Just as it was reaching me, the gwazi pulled a rock loose and slipped. The boulder loosened along with the rest of the rocks. I watched as the gwazi went tumbling down, smashed and buried beneath a ton of rubble."

"So you survived through sheer dumb luck. I'm not surprised," Naga said, crossing her arms and nodding sagely.

"It wasn't dumb, it was a good plan," Leodin replied grumpily. "I just…didn't think things through all the way…" He became sullen as he remembered the rest of the story. "After I killed the gwazi, I thought I had finally proven myself. I scaled back down the mountain and took its fang as a trophy. I was so excited to tell Grohl…and then I saw him and the brigade right there…"

"Did they already track the gwazi down?" Naga asked. "You beat them to the punch by a hair, is that it?" Leodin looked down and shook his head.

"No…they already knew where it was, the entire time…" Leodin gripped his tankard tightly, his shoulders trembling. "They had lured the gwazi there, they had been luring it towards the village, letting it attack so they could come in and save the day and collect the reward…"

"I see, so that was their scheme," Naga whispered. "Very underhanded."

"Yeah, and they weren't happy to find out I had just squashed their meal ticket," Leodin muttered through grit teeth. "And I wasn't happy when I found out they weren't the heroes I thought they were…Grohl told me to give him the fang, said no one would ever believe I killed a gwazi. I refused, but Grohl wasn't going to let me off without paying some kind of price…"

"Then…what did he do?" Naga asked softly, in all seriousness, staring at Leodin intently.

"He challenged me to fight for the right to claim the kill," Leodin answered. "I knew he was full of it, but right then I was so angry, I just wanted to fight him anyway. That was another stupid decision, but I didn't care…"

"You didn't win, did you?" Naga remembered how large and imposing Grohl was when she had last seen him. A child would have stood no chance.

"No, but…" Leodin grasped the gwazi fang hanging from his neck. "Grohl toyed with me, dragging out the fight. He knew I was too small to really hurt him. Grohl wanted to wear me down, but I wouldn't give up. All the while the rest of the brigade just stood by and watched. No one spoke up for me, not even Vulk…"

"So, he beat you down?" Naga asked. "That's what happened to you?"

"Not just that," Leodin replied. "When Grohl was finally tired of messing with me, he went to take the fang. I still had plenty of fight left in me though, and when he let his guard down…" He took a deep breath and a long exhale. "I slashed him in the face with the gwazi fang, and I took his eye…"

"You're the reason he's missing an eye," Naga whispered.

"And he made it into his sigil," Leodin said bitterly. "Most people think he lost it to a monster, not a little kid…but after that, Grohl stopped playing games. He decided to let me take the fang, right down to the bottom of a ravine."

"Huh?" Naga was confused. "What do you mean?" Leodin hunched his shoulders and winced as the memory came back to him.

"We were still atop a steep, rocky mountain," Leodin explained. "Grohl had me in his grasp, one hand around my neck, holding me up like a ragdoll. I couldn't escape. He carried me over to the edge, and then he just…let go, like it was nothing…"

Naga blinked as she watched Leodin go quiet for a moment. He refused to make eye contact. Leodin ran his hand through his sandy blond hair before taking another gulp from his tankard.

"I fell…I could only look up as they watched … then I hit an outcrop, then another…and another…" Leodin took another deep breath, this one shakier than the last. "I tried my best to ball up and protect myself until I finally hit the bottom. I just saw a glimpse of the top of the cliff before I passed out."

"You're lucky to be alive," Naga commented. "So they just left you there?"

"Yeah, they were long gone," Leodin muttered. "It was cold, and snowing, but I managed to crawl out and I swore I'd make Grohl regret what he did. I'll take more than just his eye…" Leodin chugged down the rest of his tankard and wiped his mouth on his sleeve. "I'm tired and filthy. I'm gonna wash up and take a rest."

"Already? It's still the middle of the day," Naga protested as she stood from the table. "That can't be the whole story either, what did you do after?"

"Sorry, I don't feel like talking anymore," Leodin replied without looking back as he climbed the stairs to head for his room…or rather their room since by this point it was cheaper and frankly easier to just share one with Naga.

The sorceress pouted as she watched him go and sat back down to finish her drink. Leodin's story was not hard for her to understand. He had high hopes and they were crushed, nothing complicated about that. Naga was expecting Leodin's motivation to be that Grohl had killed Leodin's parents or had stolen a priceless relic from his home instead. She sighed as she leaned back in her chair.

"So he got beat up and thrown off a cliff," Naga mused to herself. "He ought to at least be happy he lived, even got a good hit in…" Her frown deepened. "Uhg, I can't stand people who wallow in their own self pity. I'm gonna set that boy straight!"

Naga got up from her table and marched up the stairs toward their room. It was much like the room at the Purple Posy, just as large with similar furnishings though a bit more plain and rustic. Naga opened the door quietly, hoping she could surprise Leodin. She looked around and saw Leodin's leather armor hanging off a chair, the bathroom door left open just a crack. The purple haired beauty grinned to herself as she got an idea to break Leodin out of his funk and give him a good shock.

Naga creeped up to the cracked door and peered inside. She saw Leodin sitting with his back turned, still mostly clothed. He seemed to have not heard her come in, or he just did not care as long as she did not bother him. Naga watched as Leodin began to pull his shirt up and over his head. Just when he least expected it, she…she would…

Naga's mischievous grin faded and her eyes widened when she saw the jagged scars which crossed the skin of Leodin's back, shoulders, and arms. He touched one large scar on his left shoulder blade, pressing his fingers into his flesh to test the lingering numbness. Leodin gave a heavy sigh as he hung his head low and sat quietly alone with his thoughts. Without a sound, Naga carefully pushed the door shut and turned her back to the bathroom.

"Hmph…nevermind," Naga whispered to herself as she crossed her arms and tapped her foot. She gazed out the window to see the rain had stopped and the sun peeking through the clouds. "I'll just have to think of something else…didn't that milkman mention something about bandits…? Aha!" She snapped her fingers as an idea came to her. Naga grabbed a piece of parchment from the nearby writing desk, dipped the quill into the ink, and quickly scribbled a note before heading out the door.

"Huh?" Leodin had just finished undressing when he heard Naga from the other side of the door. He shook his head and focused back on cleaning himself up. The warrior did not have time for Naga's shenanigans. She was downright exhausting to be around…though admittedly the sorceress had been more low-key since their battle. Leodin supposed he should be grateful for that…definitely grateful that she had cast a Resurrection spell on him. The warrior never knew such a spell even existed…did he really die? No, people don't come back from death, they just get very close…

The blond sighed again as he took a damp cloth, dipped it in a bucket of warm, soapy water, and used it to wash himself. His fingers traced over each and every scar as he wiped down. Not all came from the same incident, Leodin had gotten plenty of nicks over the years, perhaps too many, but he had survived them all. He still wished some of the deeper scars were not quite so numbing though.

More than just cleaning up, Leodin needed some time to clear his head. He felt some guilt over frightening the townsfolk with his angry questioning, but they would be fine, he told himself. Leodin just needed to try and figure out where Tekanta and Oullette might have gone next. He could check the roads for clues, once he was refreshed. Naga did have a point; he needed to be ready if he was going to fight Tekanta and especially Oullette again.

Leodin finished washing and slipped on a new shirt and pair of pants before heading for the door. "Naga, if you're in here, please be decent," he said as he opened it and stepped into the other room. He was sure he heard the sorceress earlier, but she was nowhere to be seen. The only thing that caught his attention was a note placed on top of his shoulder pad. Leodin picked it up and read the surprisingly elegant handwriting.

"Leodin, since you're in such a terrible mood, I've gone out for some bandit hunting to get us a little treasure. Maybe I'll even run into your enemies. See you later!

Your ever beautiful and powerful mistress,

Naga the Serpent"

The warrior frowned with bemusement and snorted. "I'm not surprised. Tch. I'll do this without her… she'll be fine, she's handled bandits…" Leodin began to strap his leather armor over his arms and shoulders. "If there even really are bandits. How much trouble could Naga get into?" He slid on his boots. "...is she low on energy? We didn't eat that much just now…if she did run into those two…" Leodin picked up his twin axes, lost in thought a moment before letting out a frustrated growl.

"Krom help me…Naga! ARGH…!" Leodin holstered his axes and briskly exited the inn, trying to discern which way the sorceress had gone…

"Not a bad haul today boys," the bandit boss Vhizam said as he sat atop a wine barrel he and his men had taken amongst a pile of other treasures. He was a tall, reedy man with stringy black hair, sallow skin and red eyes wearing an armored black leather coat and a scimitar on his hip.

The bandits were holed up within an abandoned quarry, overgrown with moss and vines, nestled within the foothills. A bonfire was lit in the center of the pit, a large spitroast constructed over it, made from kindling kept dry within a tool shed once used by the quarrymen. The dark plumes of smoke rose into the sky along with the sounds of off key singing and poorly played instruments. The bandits were having a drunken victory party after successfully ambushing a convoy transporting goods between the cities of Solaria and Telmoord. The rain provided good cover.

"You don't think we went a little too far this time, do ya Vhizam?" Asked the leader's right hand man, a short, bald fellow with a gold tooth in a sleeveless vest. "This was a big hit, but those rich folk, they might send people to take their stuff back."

"Hah, bring 'em on," the tall boss said as he drew his scimitar, the blade glowing with black magical energy. "Just stick with me and we'll be taking a lot more than this. Why I…" His ears perked and he stopped short. "Hey…you hear that?"

"...ooooohohoho….ooooohohoho…!"

"What the- a ghost!?" One bandit asked as he dropped his drink.

"OOOHOHOHOHO!" The laughing echoed through the cathedral. The bandits were rattled, some drawing their weapons, others cowering in fear.

"A banshee, come to curse us!" Said another bandit. "I knew we shouldn't have sacked that church! You should never desecrate a holy building!"

"Wrong!" A commanding voice came from behind. The bandits looked up to see a figure standing at the top of the quarry pit, cape billowing behind it. "I am far greater than a mere banshee! It is I, Naga the Serpent! Freeeeeeze, Arrooooow!"

"This is so stupid," Leodin grumbled as he followed Naga's footprints down the trail through the trees. Luckily her footprints were fresh, and he was familiar with them; large feet for a woman, but light. "I should be looking for Tekanta. What the hell am I even doing…"

BOOM

Leodin's thoughts were interrupted when he heard an explosion nearby. He looked to see smoke rising above the evergreen trees, followed by the shouts of angry men.

"That didn't take long…"

"Flare Arrow! Freeze Arrow! Fireball! Oooohohoho!" Naga shouted as she let loose a barrage of spells at the bandits from the middle of the open quarry. The men scattered, most trying to flee, some trying in vain to attack Naga but none could get close. Behind the sorceress, unbeknownst to her, an archer notched an arrow to his bowstring, drew back, and lined up his shot from atop one of the outcroppings.

"I've got you now you loudmouth bi-" the archer muttered, but was cut off when his bowstring was sliced. He looked at his bow in shock, then up to see Leodin just as a searing hot axe swung down. The archer let out a cry as he was felled. Naga's ear twitched and she turned to see Leodin standing over the defeated bandit archer.

"Oh, Leodin," Naga said with a little surprise. "Did you get my note?"

"Yeah, I got it," Leodin said before he leapt down from the outcropping. "You shouldn't just run off like that."

"I will do as I please. Freeze Arrow!" Naga replied before blasting a fleeing bandit. "What, think I can't handle some run of the mill brigands?"

"No, but what if you ran into Tekanta and Oullette?" Leodin asked before smacking away a thug that tried to sneak up on him with the blunt side of his axe. "You're low on magic power, aren't you?"

"Aw, were you worried about me?" Naga teased with a smirk before tossing an Aero Bomb into the fray. Leodin frowned and tried to hide his blush.

"I just don't want you fighting those two without me," Leodin answered and delivered a thrust kick to the gut of another attacking bandit, causing him to keel over. "It's my battle, no one else's."

"Well too bad, I'm already in this whether you like it or not," the sorceress declared with her hands on her hips. "Just as well, you still owe me quite a lot by my estimations, and as I have said before I can't have you dying before you've paid off your debt to me. Now, help me clean up these bandits so we can take their loot."

"I think they're pretty much done," Leodin stated as he looked around at the carnage. The criminals were either frozen, knocked out, or had fled already, leaving their treasure pile ripe for the taking. "Let's just- SHWOOM- whoa!"

From behind a slab of granite whistled an arc of dark energy. Leodin and Naga jumped to the side as it flew between them and struck the quarry's wall, leaving a long, clean gash in the rock. They looked to see Vhizam brandishing his scimitar, hair and clothes lightly frosted, and furiously baring his teeth.

"Alright you bitch, you might have suckered punched me, but now you're gonna get it!" Vhizam shouted as he raised his scimitar, the blade turning black with a red outline and crackling with electricity. "Get ready to taste the steel of my black magic blade, the Reaper's Talon!"

"Such a low class, uncouth insult," Naga said as she raised her hands to cast a spell. "I'll have to teach you some manners…hm?"

"I'll handle this," Leodin said as he held out his axe and stepped forward, coldly glaring at Vhizam. "I've got some things I need to get off my chest…" The warrior removed one of the fire gems from his axe handle and replaced it with an air gem as he slowly approached. "...and there's something I want to try."

One axe glowed red hot while the other surged with lightning. Vhizam sneered and pointed his scimitar at Leodin. "You think those little glowy hand axes can compare to the Talon? They're as lame as you are. I'm gonna kill you little man, and then that overgrown skank, now die!"

Vhizam charged at Leodin, swinging his blade wildly and unleashing a barrage of black magic at him. Leodin remained calm and skillfully deflected the incoming magical attacks with his twin axes, waiting for the right moment.

"I'm not little, I'm regular sized," Leodin said softly as he swung his air axe and shot out a blade of wind, striking Vhizam in the chest and stopping him cold. Vhizam grunted and looked down to see his leather armor had been cut through, almost to the skin. He had but a moment to look up to see Leodin had rushed up to face him head on. Vhizam let out a battle cry and swung his scimitar down at Leodin's neck only for Leodin to catch it under the beard of his air axe.

"And she isn't a bitch or a skank. She's a sorceress," Leodin continued, his voice rising in restrained rage. His air axe crackled and a surge of lighting coursed from his blade, through the scimitar, and into Vhizam. "She might be dumb, but she's a lot greater than you'll ever be!"

The bandit leader cried out as he was electrocuted and paralyzed in place. He could do nothing but watch as Leodin hooked his fire axe around the other side of the scimitar. The blond pincered the scimitar blade between the beards of his axes, and with one good tug, Leodin broke the black magic blade like a twig.

"No, how?!" Vhizam cried out as he stumbled back, falling on his behind, holding just a hilt with a broken blade. "That merchant said this sword was unbeatable!"

"I guess it's not Dwarven forged then," Leodin replied scathingly as he crossed his axes in front of his chest, both blades alight with magical power. "And my weapons aren't lame. They're the Roaring Lions."

Vhizam's eyes went wide with fear as he tried to crawl away and make his escape, but the quarry offered few routes of egress. Leodin brought his axes up to his right as he watched Vhizam try to climb up the tall, rocky steps of the quarry. With a shout, Leodin swung both axes horizontally, and the blades' combined shamanistic magics unleashed a whirling tornado of fire at the bandit leader.

Naga watched in awe as Vhizam was engulfed in flames. He let out a shriek and flailed about until he fell back down the steps, landing ass-upwards with his clothing burnt away, his skin singed and his hair much shorter.

"There, that'll teach him." Leodin said. "Was wondering if I could mix air and fire." He turned to see Naga with her usual smug smirk, unsure how impressed she was by his new move.

"Ooohohohoho, how undignified!" Naga said as she dashed over to the wine barrel. "Dibs on the first drink!" Leodin sighed as he holstered his axes and followed after her. The sorceress grabbed two clean cups and filled them with the contents of the barrel. She took a sip and licked her lips. "Ah, a fine year this one. Full body, not too dry, and just the right level of sweetness. Here, have some!" She enthusiastically held the other cup to Leodin. The blond was a little taken back, but he accepted the drink and took a swig.

"That's not bad," Leodin said after tasting it. "I don't know how wine can be dry though."

"It's superb, Leo," Naga chided as she was already filling her second cup. "Honestly, you need to culture yourself, learn to enjoy the finer things in life. Good thing we didn't let this be wasted on the palette of common thugs."

"As long as it can get me good and drunk when I need to be, I'm not too picky," Leodin replied firmly before downing the rest of his cup. He stared at the pile of treasure, mostly from a chest that had its lock broken. "Hm, I guess this should last a while…" Leodin refilled his cup from the barrel and sat down by the now smoldering bonfire. Naga, already on her fourth cup, sat down next to him, taking the wine barrel with her.

"Don't you want to go after Tekanta?" Naga asked. "You were so determined earlier."

"The trail's practically gone cold," Leodin answered simply. "Footprints washed away, no one knows where they went. They could have gone anywhere. Best chance I have of finding them is to just keep going in the same direction…" He sighed and ran his fingers through his light brown quills. "...what about you though? Doesn't seem like you're even trying to find Lina Inverse."

"Oh I'll run into her eventually, I always do," Naga replied with a carefree smile. "It's just taking a little longer than usual. Maybe you should just let things come to you and not waste so much energy."

"Easy for you to say. Luck's always on your side," Leodin said bitterly and sipped more of his drink. "I can't count on luck, or else I'd be dead. I've got to fight for everything…" He let out another long sigh. "I still just wish things would go my way for once."

"Leo please," Naga said haughtily, snapping him to attention. "While you may not be as mighty as I am, you're far too hard on yourself. You really need to work on your self-confidence."

"I'm confident enough-"

"Shush," Naga put a finger to his lips. "You've survived bandit hordes, greebles, some weird zombie lizard and a ghost warrior, and yet you let one little setback absolutely tilt you."

"I'd call it more than a little…" Leodin grumbled and stared into his drink. "The things I really want just keep slipping through my fingers."

"Stop acting like you're the only person who has ever had a bad day," Naga said sternly, getting right into his face so he could see how serious she was. "Even I have had my share of losses and tragedies, but you won't see me ever being so down in the dumps."

"Yeah well, what do you know…" Leodin muttered under his breath.

"You say you can't count on luck, and yet, you've been graced by Naga the Serpent, the greatest sorceress and warrior in the universe!" Naga shouted triumphantly as she stood, almost making Leodin spill his drink. She pointed down at him with authority. "And even luckier, the great Naga has taken pity on you! I hereby swear I am going to fix you and your confidence issues until you're as proud, fearless, and shameless as I! Ooohohohoho!"

"...great…"

Author's Notes

I realize that this is kind of a short chapter for all the time it took for me to write it. Truth be told, I had a hard time deciding how I wanted to proceed from the last chapter. I have plenty of ideas, but none of them seemed to really fit as a follow-up. After thinking it over, I decided it was time to reveal Leodin's origin story, or at least some of it. I'm not giving it all away just yet though. It was just high time I revealed something more about his past. The other thing is that I had to decide if I wanted to tell the origin as a flashback, but I thought it would be nice if I had him tell it to Naga himself as a sign of trust. Leo's story is something partially based on my own experiences, so I really wanted to get it right and convey the sort of trauma Leodin's going through. Vhizam was sort of a last-minute addition to cap things off, but it did give me an opportunity to finally reveal the names of Leo's axes and show off a new ability.

Things will lighten up by the next chapter, where I'll get to finally write a plot I've had in my mind for many months now, and from there I can do a couple more silly, episodic sort of Slayers episodes. Hope you're all still enjoying things, and please leave a review!